Thoughts on Characters 3/n

My brain is being unusually rebellious but then again it *is* that dead time immediately after dinner... so what the heck..

Iliiryana N'Shad-Daermon was originally Cylithera and Ilithara's half-sister, with her sharing fathers (an elven wizard of noble and somewhat inbred ancestry) with Cylithera and mothers (a dark elven enchantress) with Ilithara, and originally Iliiryana was a figure who was torn between being a wilderness vigilante like Cylithera or embracing a more light-hearted way of life like Ilithara. Over the years, Iliiryana took on a more feral aspect and became more and more ambitious. In her current incarnation, she is still Ilithara's half-sister with a dark elven enchantress as her mother (Tanilthara N'Shad-Daermon) and a human wizard as her father (Baelnorn Clawstaff). She also grew up alongside Cylithera and is slightly more "mature" because of her human blood. I had wanted a "High Priestess" of the Eternal Huntress (prior to Cylithera taking that mantle) and decided that Cylithera was too focused on her archery to really dedicate any time to being a priestess. So Iliiryana was created to fulfill that role and to serve as a foil to Cylithera despite their outward similarity. I always saw Iliiryana as the type to claw her way to the top and given her family history (Clawstaff trying to be a god but failing miserably), it seemed to make sense that she'd try to attempt the same... and succeed in becoming the Clawed Fury and creating her own race who embody her very ideals. I can honestly say she's one of my favorite villains because of the combination of noble intentions, strong convictions, raw fury, and willingness to do whatever it takes, even more so than Cylithera.

Baelnorn Clawstaff is another long-time character, having first originated alongside Killer Parakeet as "the evil brother" but gradually evolving into more than just "the evil brother who must be killed to save the world". In the earliest (and unfortunately lost) of stories, he was more of a comical villain with brainpower comparable to his twin, but gradually he became a much more powerful figure. He starts off as a sickly mutant parakeet like Killer, but in the same D&D campaign that Killer Parakeet was first shown to have once been human, we find out that he is Killer's twin brother. Unlike the parakeet, though, he never becomes a parakeet, having escaped being turned into a (were)parakeet. Among the other sources of inspiration for developing Clawstaff's character were Raistlin Majere from the Dragonlance series and Elminster from various Forgotten Realms books as well as certain professors I've had over the years. He still maintains a bit of his comical roots with his numerous ailments, which were the result of a spell he had cast on himself to prolong his life and his attempt to reach godhood (and failing by his own choice). Like Killer, he is the butt of many fart jokes, mostly because I couldn't resist them and I wanted a powerful figure who still had his own set of problems. I'm hoping to eventually flesh out Clawstaff's story, some of which came about from the D&D campaign with my friends that led to the creation of the Shadowhawk legend. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, the next project after Morgenstern will revolve around Clawstaff now that I'm feeling more comfortable with a strong leading male character.

And now back to work...