~characters: the children~

The second generation are also major characters in the story of OneLand. Sorry if these are kind of all over the place, I get scattered when I start writing about them. It's not my specialty. Updated December 01, 2008.

Melora is actually a name I thought I made up, then I found it in an Arthurian Encyclopedia, and then I found out it was a real name thanks to the musical group Rasputania.

Melora is the daughter of Urack and Keireia. She's the older sister of Dyluck and Indra and later marries her somewhat adopted brother, Korin. She is, as far as anyone knows, the only non-celestial in thousands of years that it able to use magic. Some would say she's not great at it, even though she has great powers, it's just that her abilities are rather strange. It's hard for her to have any kind of focused attack, but she can create a kind of aura that greatly amplifies Korin's own magical abilities. She is, however, without an doubt, an amazing swordsman (a trait she shares with her father.) She often duel wields two saber or rapier-like swords which she can enchant as she uses them. She's also proficient with other weapons; like claws and crossbows. She has a companion wolf named Brindal or Brin for short. Brin is a magical beast and is able to understand speech. She's also huge so, in an emergency, Melora can ride on her for short periods of time. ..Or all the time when she's younger. In this world Brin does age and eventually dies when Melora is around her 30's. Having a hard time living without a wolf, or an old wolf that can't travel with her, she adopts a wolf pack and they travel with her and her warriors.

She has twins with Korin and they take over the rule of all the world. She believes in stating the truth, it's part of her being, and works well for her because she's wise about what she says. Like her mother, she loves to dance. She's far more like her father's dragon blood though and, probably in part to do with that, it's really hard for her to deal with Korin. His culture is very free, I'd say hedonistic, and to him, she's a bit barbaric in her beliefs. They love each other deeply but fight and separate often.

She's the only person from the world of OneLand to travel to its parent world of Morning. Depending on the tale, she dies at some point and is taken there by it's gods, to be trained and taught. Brin is one of the God beings from this world. Being the first child born of the united blood actually makes her an empress. She assists Korin in reclaiming his country and then helps him survive fighting the darkness, which is his part in the legends. She's family oriented and aloof at the same time. She loves her children and is a good mother, but like a wolf, doesn't mind letting others take care of them. After she has the twins she's still training female warriors and helping her brother, Dyluck, use his army to mop up the remaining resistance. His army is infatuated with her too, especially his general, and Dog Star Island Warrior, Devin; who views her as a goddess.

 

Okay, so Dyluck is a pretty odd name, but I didn't make it up, so blame Squaresoft too if 'ya don't like it. Truth is Dyluck was a character from Secret of Mana, or Seiken Densetsu 2, back for the SNES. Saying that I loved this game is an understatement, and even though Dyluck was a sub-character, he made a big impression on me. In the game Dyluck was a blonde haired solider, (and that's about where the similarities, between their character and mine, end) he was in love with the main girl, Purim. Her father, the mayor (or king?) didn't approve of their relationship so he sent Dyluck off on a mission. When the troops disappeared, Purim set off to find him, and thus her role in the game begins. More happens between them, but if you don't know, you must not have played the game, and you REALLY should- so I'm not going to spoil things for you.

I'm a little ashamed that I'm using the name of a Square character, even though it's old, and might have been taken from yet another source (SS tends to borrow names for most everything) it still doesn't really sit right with me. The character he's become in my mind, and in my art, is quite different though, and I wouldn't’t be surprised if I do eventually cut all ties and change his name. If I changed it to anything, it would be Rylyn. That's Urack's, little brother. He died in an attack when Urack was 3, so I guess you could say it wouldn't be completely unimaginable for him to subconsciously recall the name and use it for his son. Plus, Dyluck and Rylyn's souls share something in common. They're the only two people that the Knights of the Crescent Moon would pledge their loyalty too.

Dyluck is Urack and Keireia's son. He is Melora's younger brother and Indra's older brother, so, being the second child, his symbol is the crescent moon. His heraldic color is green and his banner often depicts a white stag on a green background with, of course, a silver crescent placed aesthetically. You'll often see him depicted with a circlet around his head and a broach or necklace shaped like a crescent moon. Dyluck is left handed and incredibly intelligent -not just smart, but wise and logical. He's really into learning the sciences of the world. Things like his math and astronomy skills end up making him a great sailor/map maker/strategist. You could also say that he's one of those guys who looks a bit like his mom, and stays looking like a little kid well into his teens, so... in my drawings, he often looks really girlie when he's young (I can't help myself, I think it's cute.) As he grows older he really bulks out though, and the facial hair helps him look a bit more manly, ...I guess. He's definitely a born leader and gets really frustrated with stupidity and people with a lack of fore-sight. When he's young he's always being brushed off by others. Eventually he's able to prove himself and then it's hard for people not to take him seriously. He's very loyal to his friends, in turn, he gains loyalty and respect- but he usually doesn't let emotions get in the way of his decisions.

If he's not with his friends, he's probably reading anything he can get his hands on. His quest for knowledge is never ending. And because of his devotion to his studies and his homeland (He's deeply patriotic) his relationships with women hardly last long. It's true, he's just really not there on an emotional level. He does get married once or twice, depending on the story- but the one girl he really falls in love with is never his, she marries another guy and for once he's hurt by a woman, not the other way around. His closest friends are Drywidden, Hawk and Devin, along with his mystical allies Nala (the horse) and Nayl (the owl/cat). He looks up to his step-brother Korin, even if all Korin does for him is encourage him to venture towards more natural "bad" habits. He has a deep respect for his wise mother, and a bit of resentment towards his brash and impetuous father. He and Twall have loads of respect for each other and Twall graces him with opportunities he would never have on his own. Unfortunately, Twall wants him to marry his daughter, Chelsea, because he really can't imagine leaving Neiking to whom ever she picks out. They have nothing in common and it just makes for an awkward mess.

In some legends Dyluck becomes the leader of the armies of the world, along with his own mystical branch of loyal followers "The Knights of the Crescent Moon." In these tales he eventually renounces his royal title in order to alleviate the pressure for him to marry and become the high king; instead of his sister and brother-in-law Korin. He has a lot of illegitimate children; one of the reasons he renounces his blood rights. Some of these kids grow up to expand on his marvelous break through's in science, invention, industry, and astronomy. Dyluck is actually kind of responsible for the second end to the world: After his generation swordsmen become obsolete because guns and bombs start with him- canons and fireworks had only been invented in his life time but he expands on them all the way to rifling and flintlocks. The odd thing is- his name get's lost to history. His inventions and breakthroughs are all, eventually, credited to others. He also builds the city of Zenith: A place for all types of learning, world exploration, and training knights. In others tales, he's just a boy who doesn't have any knowledge of his bloodline, or didn't exist at all...

Indra is Melora and Dyluck's frail little sister. She doesn't look like her parent's or her siblings, but she is identical to her grandmother, Ingrid. She's a very quite and elegant person, spending much of her time daydreaming, or in the forests playing with the creatures that dwell there. Of these I should note are the fairies, elves, goblins and other magical beings. Because of this, and her other abilities, she is what some people would harshly call a witch, but in truth, she's just very in tuned to the earth around her. She can understand its workings quite naturally, things most people simply choose to over look, so she is immune to many of the trouble causing forces. If evil tricks are harming another, she can often dispel any supernatural curse or magic that is the true cause of it and can make potions to cure disease and illnesses.. if she bothers, for the truth is, she hardly looks out side of the realm she is happiest in. Few can see such magical places, and those who do often don't return.

Indra is the least "used" of all the main characters. In many stories she was never born, and the one's she is in do not even feature her predominantly because of her reclusive nature. It's hard to know if she dies, Elwren, a prince of the fairfolk, falls in love with her and she spends more and more time in his unearthly realm. Her family hears less and less from her over time, she barely ages, and eventually seems to disappear.

She likes making teas and potions. She loves lacey complicated clothes and jewlrey made of very natural, and comon, things. You'll often see her with some woodland creature sleeping on her lap, bed, or hidden in her sleeve- and it's often a different one than from the day before. They just like her. Her symbol, as the third child, is a Mullet- the classic 5 pointed star. (Sometimes I use a 6 pointed one bacuse they're nice looking for her.) She has a ring for each kind of metal, carries trinkets with various herbs in them, and a small iron knife- all this to help protect her from evil spirits. You'll often catch her saying "don't eat anything that's offered to you." Twall is her god father in the "Other Story;" Keireia probably would have died in childbirth but his doctirs saved her, and the baby, so she asked him to name her. He's very fond of Indra, and his daughter Chelsea really likes her- even though she usually only likes people who party or who are in the top of the "popular" crowd. Indra spends a lot of time at Urack's work, and the master smith he works for is really charmed by her too. He'll often stop working to show her how to make silly things like glass beads or shape jewlery from metal scraps. It's a mjor point of insecurity for her that she doesn't look like anyone in her family and, living in the Unicorn lands, it's really odd to see a girl with black hair that isn't from the Lion Lands. When she finds out that her father's mother looked like her- it was an overwhelming moment of joy.

Korin is an exiled prince, his mother coming from one of the two ruling tribes in the Lion Kingdoms, his fatheris from the other. He and his father were ousted when a rival king (Lyonal) invaded and took the Queen as his wife. After only exiling them, meant as a display of mercy with the intent of pacifying his new queen into cooperation, Lyonal secretly sent out a small party with orders to kill the two. They evaded the hunters for a few years but Kush was finally killed and Korin had to escape his homeland by the way of the heavily contested "Tail" area and into the Dragon lands. The dragon landers HATE lion landers so it was hard to get through the country to Neiking- where he had heard lion landers could find refuge. It is somewhere during this time, depending on the story, when he meets and is adopted by Urack and his family. In many stories he is given diplomatic immunity, with heavy restrictions, thanks to Keireia's request to Twall. Korin and Melora, who is sometimes 3-9 years younger than him, fall in love and despite the difficulties due to racial tensions, are eventually married. They have twins, a girl and a boy; Phaedra and Sebastian I can't decide if their names should be Rama and Sita though. Once he's older, and with the help of Melora, he does reclaim his throne.

Korin's mothers bloodline symbol was the Lion and his fathers was the Crow. Korin adapted the crow as his own, and even has a pet one; "creatively" named Torin. Their family colors are yellow or gold and black.

Korin is one of the few Celestials (his father's blood) that still has the ability to use magic. The kind he specializes in is mostly elemental and attack based. He's fated to fight the dark powers that came to OneLand, and made it what it is.