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Aylia of Umbria

Our heroine- the daughter of a royal Duke of Umbria, who is sent to the world of her mother (i.e. ours) to go to college. She's not too happy about that.

  • Abusive Parents: Her mother is delusional and refuses to believe that her children are not what she thinks they are, and instead of trying to be a good husband, her father just resorts to backing his wife under all circumstances, even if he knows she's wrong.
  • Author Avatar: Word of God states that a great deal of the things Aylia has done while at college were things she really wanted to do herself, but didn't dare to (mainly because unlike Aylia, she actually cared about her GPA).
  • Blue Blood: Her father is the youngest of three royal sons, so she's technically in the line of succession, but that's about it.
  • Broken Pedestal: She thought the wizard school would be a place of pure study and that when she started TAing, she'd be in the company of people who really cared about the subject matter. Instead, most of the other TAs turn out to be catty and snide, who only care about who is better at magic than whom.
  • A Degree in Useless: Actually, it's her opinion toward the degree she's doing- she doesn't care about it, doesn't want to study it, wouldn't if she had a choice- but she doesn't, and so she's just whiling away the time waiting to turn twenty.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: When Aylia turns twenty, she realizes that she doesn't have to obey her parents any more (under the laws, noble children must obey their parents up until they turn twenty (unless they A, get married, or B, have parents who abuse their authority in some way, like trying to get them married without their consent)). She subsequently tells them both to get stuffed and goes to the school she always wanted to.
  • Fish out of Water: When she first gets to our world.
  • The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Aylia's the smart one, Alassa's the pretty one. Unfortunately, there's two complications: one, their mother believes that they're actually the opposite and operates on this belief while ignoring everything they say, and two, Alassa is a genuinely unlikeable sociopath.
  • Hypocrite: When Alassa tries to murder her sort-of-boyfriend by turning him into a cat and placing no safeguards on him, Aylia is shocked and horrified. Her aunt then points out that Aylia's been turning people into animals without their consent too, and while Aylia first protests that she meant them no harm, she finally admits that it was wrong.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Aylia doesn't want to be the Child of Prophecy. Unfortunately, until the vital part turns up, it looks like she's the only valid option.
  • Incompletely Trained: By her magical genius of a grandfather, who died. She's forced to teach herself until she turns twenty, but without a teacher, she winds up being sadly behind in her magic level.
  • Pride: Something of her biggest flaw. A lot of her actions seem to be fuelled by the belief that since she's the one doing it, it's obviously OK (turning people into animals without their consent, forcing her mother to attempt to reunite with her abusive parents without considering that maybe there's a reason why they don't talk) and this often backfires. Hard.
  • The Smart Guy: Word of God has stated that Aylia is something of a magical genius.

Duke Joralan

Aylia's father, the youngest child of the Umbrian royal family.

  • Abusive Parents: He's this to Aylia- he won't back her up, doesn't recognise that his daughter's a genius and takes his wife's side in everything, even when he knows she's wrong.
  • Hidden Depths: He sucks at magic, but he's actually good at magical artifacts- he makes a wolfbane pendant for Albert that holds off his lycanthropy, and it works perfectly well.
  • No Accounting for Taste: Dear God, look at his wife.
  • The Unfavorite: As the third son, he was neither heir nor spare, and never really gifted.

Duchess Letitia

Aylia's mother, who is from our world but has been happily living in the magical world for several years.

  • Abusive Parents:
    • Her parents were horrible.
    • She unintentionally acts like this to her own children. She means well, but her Cloud Cuckoo Lander nature makes her incapable of realizing that her children have their own interests and resent her arbitrary and ill-planned micromanagement of their lives - such as her decision to have Aylia, who wanted to be a wizard, being held back from going to the wizard's academy for two years, and then be sent to a college in the non-magical world - and arbitrarily signing her up as a home economics major.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: And not in a good way. She's genuinely delusional.

Alassa of Umbria, AKA Zangaria

Aylia's younger sister, who is studying magic at the school Aylia wanted to go to.

  • Arranged Marriage: To a man who has to be bullied into being faithful. She didn't care.
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: Dear God.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Inverted. As the author puts it,
    She's also so determinedly convinced of her superiority that she refuses to put forth any work to improve at anything, which is half the reason she's such an idiot; she'd have average intelligence if she didn't work so hard at being stupid.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Her life is devoted to one-upping Aylia. It doesn't work.
  • It's All About Me: When Aylia turned ten, Alassa destroyed all of her presents because they weren't for her, and that's just the start.

Jenny

One of Aylia's first roommates, who later marries Albert.

  • Abusive Parents: Her mother is a dominating bitch.
  • Fish out of Water: Has to deal with a whole new world, but also with becoming a crown princess.
  • Happily Married: To Alfred.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: According to her epilogue, her and Albert's first year as rulers goes terribly, and then they get hit by a plague. After their three children become sick, Jenny effectively quits being queen and spends all her time with her kids.

Nicole

One of Aylia's first roommates, who moves out at the end of the semester.

X

Real name Elzandra Ayra Umbria (Alexandra A. Underwood according to her birth certificate), X is one of Aylia's first roommates, and by far the most bizarre one. She turns out to be Aylia's cousin.

  • Bad Liar: Because of her monosyllabic speech patterns, it's hard to tell a lie from the truth when she says it, but she puts so little effort into her lies that they're easy to uncover if you try. For example, as seen below under Blatant Lies, her pretending to be a fairy gets exposed when several other fairy students point out that the teachers at the school should be able to undo the 'magical accident' that caused it, and then she runs into a student whose focus (think major) is shapeshifting, who points out that there is no possible accident that could have done such a thing.
  • Blatant Lies: She pretends to be a fairy who got stuck in a shapeshifting accident to avoid taking a fluency test in a language she doesn't know.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Is so afraid of losing her place as the most important person in her sister's life that she tries scaring away her boyfriends with explosives. Alexis is not amused.
    • This is why Alexis made sure that X didn't learn that she was engaged until the day of the wedding.
    • Also, related to the 'clingy'- she follows Aylia to the wizarding school because she doesn't like being alone and Aylia is her only other friend.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Of the monosyllabic kind.
  • For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: After she and Alexis grow fairy wings, Aylia suggests that they dress as human-sized black fairies for Halloween. X loves this, as such a costume requires zero effort on her part.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Well, more like two percent, but it's enough.
  • Heavy Sleeper: She stays awake for months at a stretch, and then hibernates for a few weeks. Once asleep, she can't be woken up without magic.
  • Made of Explodium: More like 'makes the explodium and throws it on whatever she wants'.
  • One-Letter Name: One letter nickname, anyway.
  • The Quiet One: She has never used a sentence with more than four words or six syllables in it. Maybe the reason she doesn't like the name Alexandra is because it has four syllables in it.
  • The Reveal: She's Kuralla's Child of Prophecy.
  • Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: X tries to invoke this during her sister's wedding - with explosives. Alexis, knowing about X's Clingy Jealous Girl behavior from incidents with previous boyfriends, had Aylia on hand to stop her.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: She is the poster child for this trope.

Albert Charming

Aylia's cousin and Cecelia's brother, the Crown Prince of Umbria.

  • Non-Action Guy: He runs away from anything scary.
  • Spare to the Throne: Originally this (Cecelia was the Crown Princess) but he didn't mind so much.
  • Took a Level in Badass: His epilogue states that he eventually becomes a competent and capable king after suffering through the stress of an epidemic and having nobody else around to help.

Professor Witzig

Aylia's long-suffering Philosophy professor.

Felincia

A werewolf from Umbria. Ends up as one of Aylia's roommates (though she doesn't study at the university).

  • Insane Troll Logic: Initially, she believes that anyone who becomes a werewolf must love everything werewolves do, and actually seems to run on a policy of 'Because I say so' when arguing about it. Reg manages to wear her down with his practicality.

Edwardine

Jessi and Jenny's mother- also Letitia's old babysitter.

Jessi

Jenny's confident, outgoing and rebellious sister.

Reg

An old friend of Loretta's who ends up marrying Felincia.

  • Abusive Parents: His mother never takes any notice of him and his father pretty much turned him out after he refused to follow his footsteps.
  • Badass Normal: He hardly ever gets flustered, no matter what happens, takes everything in stride and manages to sort out any problem he runs into.
  • Like Brother and Sister: He and Loretta, much to their parents' chagrin.

Alexis

Real name Elzaris. X's twin sister.

  • Evil Twin: She likes to think that X is her evil twin.
  • For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: After she and X grow fairy wings, Aylia suggests that they dress as human-sized black fairies for Halloween.
  • Secret Relationship: Had to do this with her eventual husband to keep him safe from X until the wedding.
  • Spare to the Throne: She and X are in line for royal succession between Albert and Cecelia, and Aylia and Alassa.
  • Twin Switch: She and X cover for each other if one of them can't attend a class.

King Richard

The King of Umbria, Cecelia and Albert's father.

Queen Tilia

The Queen of Umbria, who pretty much runs the place.

  • Blue Blood: Actually averted- she's a commoner.
  • Control Freak: She's bossy and gets everything done her way. This is a good trait for a queen, but it doesn't make Corinn want to come back any time soon.
  • Only Sane Man: Nothing takes her out of stride, and she always finds a solution.

Loretta Goldwater

One of Aylia's roommates. Is quite rich, but utterly generous and kind. Has a strange obsession with swords. Ends up as Linnea's roommate.

  • Meaningful Name: Her last name is Goldwater, and she's rich.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Which usually leads to her chasing people around with swords. This eventually gets them taken away from her, because she's chasing people around with deadly weapons over minor things.

Lionel

Loretta's younger brother. Shares her obsession with swords.

  • Loophole Abuse: He keeps finding ways to visit Loretta even when she puts limits on him.

The Gorgon/Hthfthgthssfathssggathsfths

One of Alassa's roommates.

  • Culture Clash: Her lack of knowledge about how Aylia's society works (and vice versa) leads to some bad fights- specifically, over the respect she feels children owe their parents (and Aylia's lack thereof) and vice versa (and Aylia's parents' lack thereof).
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Because no non-Gorgon can pronounce her real one. In fact, her fiance doesn't address her by name either, instead addressing her by a Gorgon word which means "Female to whom I am engaged". She addresses him by the masculine equivalent of that word.
  • Overly Long Name: The more syllables you have, the more respected you are.
  • The Reveal: She's a spy, sent to the wizard school after our world was discovered to find out if there are Gorgons in our world. She eventually leaves the school for fear that she could be used as a scapegoat by the Umbrian government.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Her mother's a priestess, and since her culture is a theocracy, that gives her a very high rank. The Gorgon is directly responsible for the first wave of diplomats sent to our world by anyone from the other world.
  • The Unpronounceable: And mispronouncing or shortening the name of a Mountain Clan Gorgon is considered a serious insult. Fortunately, it is acceptable to address one by a title or accurate description (Which is why she is known as The Gorgon).

Lullela

A pink fairy who is studying to be a fairy godmother.

Relagor

One of Felincia's siblings. He is something of a bully.

Kuralla

The Oracle of Umbria, a young, timid teenage girl.

  • Break the Cutie: Her epilogue states that centuries later, she is captured by a rogue Sage and held prisoner by a warlord who horribly mistreates her.
  • Exact Words: Kuralla's prophecies need to be taken in their entirety.
  • Last of His Kind: Well, alright, Oracles are always turning up, but at the time of the main plot, Kuralla is the only public Oracle (the Oracle of Lycanth is a recluse).
  • With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: And she hates it, thus leading her to often run away from her shrine.

Counsellor Tranin

A noblewoman who frequently annoys the hell out of Queen Tilia. Discovered Kuralla.

  • Finders Rulers: A variant thereof- Tranin thinks that because she found and brought Kuralla to the Court, she is entitled to much more prestige and respect. Everyone else thinks differently.

Victoria

A purple fairy, the heir to the throne of the fairy kingdom of Daironya. She wants to marry Mordran but can't.

  • Prophecy Twist: She's the princess who X will do 'a great service' for (i.e. helping her pull off the wedding/coup), instead of, say, Jenny or Cecelia.
  • Regent for Life: To her son after he takes the throne, acting as the power behind the throne until he gets sick of it and manages to get her out of the country. She takes this as a sign that he's all grown up.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: They're just not meant to be together... if you look at it from their families' point of view.

Mordran

A black fairy who wants to marry Victoria but can't. Attends the wizard school.

Cecelia

Aylia's cousin, who became a dragon and had the transformation made permanent so she could raise Gavin.

Gavin

The dragon Cecelia raised.

Bobby

An Umbrian boy who sort of dates Alassa.

Daria Hotfire

Gavin's aunt, Daria becomes a roommate of Aylia.

  • Dark and Troubled Past: When she was a baby, an Oracle from Andra had a vision marking her as a Child of Prophecy. Andra was at the time a vassal state of Dragoria, and the Oracle was a freedom fighter who wanted to see her country free- so she told the King of Dragoria that Daria would become a military genius who would bring Dragoria to its knees. The King, incensed, went dragon hunting. End results: maybe five or so dragons dead, including Daria's parents- but Daria herself lived, and thousands upon thousands of Dragorians were killed by the dragons in retaliation.
  • The Smart Guy: Word of God says that Daria is actually about twice as smart as Aylia, and even better at magic- she just has the attention span of a speck of dust.
  • Verbal Tic: Daria often repeats a word.

Sage Hinkarilin

One of the two Sages who search the lands examining those who claim to be Oracles. Ends up being a father figure for Kuralla.

Sage Laraneth

The second Sage. Becomes a father figure for Kuralla.

  • The Reveal: He was brought up by the Oracle of Lycanth

Sissy

One of Aylia's more annoying roommates. Refuses to believe in magic whatsoever, under any circumstances.

Stefanee

One of Alassa's roommates. Annoys the hell out of everybody.

Elesseran

A black fairy who married Corinn. X and Alexis' mother.

Corinn

Joralan and Richard's brother. He is the father of X and Alexis.

  • Deadpan Snarker: Corinn was the sarcastic, rebellious son.
  • The Dutiful Son: What his parents wanted him to be- as the middle child, Corinn was their backup if something happened to Richard. However, the constant reminders and pressure on him made him run off.
  • Interspecies Romance: He marries a black fairy.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He marries a black fairy in a world where mixed-species marriages are looked down on.

Adelaide

One of Stefanee and later Alassa's roommates- a studious fairy.

  • Technician Versus Performer: A literal case, and it annoys Stefanee a lot- she prefers to study theory over practice, and thus doesn't cast spells.

Eric

Linnea's boyfriend, a nerd who befriends Daria and begins to learn magic with Linnea.

Linnea

Eric's girlfriend, a studious girl who is one of Aylia's classmates. Becomes Loretta's roommate.

Dron

One of the founders of the magical school. He's an incredibly old dragon and is very well respected, but he's got a very whimsical sense of humour.

  • Badass Bookworm: Dron accomplished some incredibly amazing things.
  • Due to the Dead: The school honors his passing by constructing a new school building on campus shaped like a life-sized statue of him. He would have hated it... But he also would have found the fact that the roof leaks hilarious.
  • Exact Words: In one notable strip, he failed a very good student who learned everything about the subject herself. He explained that he was failing her because he was assessing the students not on what they knew about the subject, but what they learned from him, and since she'd learned nothing from him, the only logical thing he could do was to fail her.
  • Trickster Mentor: Though not always in a good way- he tries to shake his students out of the 'learn what they tell you and don't think for yourself' mentality by forcing them to question everything and everyone, but fails to see that students need something reliable to trust, or they can't do anything.

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