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Drakengrad & Allies
Denizens of the realm of Drakengrad, once a floating kingdom in the sky, before an anomaly called "The Descent" stationed it on an African coast. With technology and culture reminiscent of the High Middle Ages, Drakengrad remains an outlier in the modern world, but welcomes visitors. In addition to humans, two races found nowhere else are native to Drakengrad: the Aldra-Sa, human-looking manifestations of light with powerful magic at their command, and the Drakens themselves, sentient bipedal draconoids with a shamanistic culture. Also listed here are allies to the kingdom, such as the citizens of Kalar, another monarchy tied to Drakengrad by marriage.Sly and his son Rick Yardic (Whelkshore Alliance) are lifelong friends of Valon and the kingdom.
Valon Dorai Lorsha
Played by: DL
- The Atoner: He massacred Neo Tech City while possessed, and now seeks to repent for it.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Silver Magic grants control over precious metals.
- The Good King: Formerly The Wise Prince. Though as the trope page warns, this does come with an occasional serving of Honor Before Reason.
- Signature Scent: The use of his powers is identified by pleasant natural scents, especially rainfall and blooming flowers, which strongly keys his powers as being aligned with goodness.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Valon Lorsha, King of Dragons, Lord of Drakengrad.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Zig-zagged. He seems to be extremely well-liked among the common citizens on a personal level, yet resented by many of the nobles, who in turn emphasize his flaws as a ruler.
Marius Solidad
Played by: DL
- The Beastmaster: Snakes, specifically.
- Empathy Pet: His Tracker dragon.
- Foreign Cuss Word:"By Aou'n, what's happened to her?"
Nadeshi V (Davra Surhamgiak Nadeshi Maëltios)
Played by: Lugiasian
- Actual Pacifist: In contrast to Valon, Nadeshi is stringently devoted to problem-solving through nonviolent means above all.
- Hidden Elf Village: The kingdom of Kalar is much more isolationist than the relatively open Drakengrad.
- Sesquipedalian Smith: Inverted. And Davra Surhamgiak is actually his title.
Theren Vanlith
Played by: DL
- Color-Coded Patrician: His signature hue is red.
- Evil Chancellor: Well, Toadying Chancellor with Anger Issues, at least. In any case, he definitely doesn't come across as a good one.
Yhel Daxos
Played by: DL
- The Good Chancellor: She comes across more like this than Theren, being defiantly intent on protecting the people of Drakengrad.
General Edos
Played by: DL
- Quit Your Whining: Spoken in as many words. Valon obviously values his brutal honesty."This is not how my king behaves and I refuse to listen to you throw a wine-fueled tantrum. Is this going to solve anything? You're better than this Valon. That's something that I would expect from you as a child. You're a man now, a father, a king. Take responsibility for your choices! Quit your whining and act like the man that I know you are!"
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Even though Valon can lose his temper when called out, Edos knows perfectly well he can speak as harshly to Valon as the king deserves and face no punishment.
Kallista Leral
Played by: DL
- Altar Diplomacy: A dedicated altar diplomat, to the chagrin of her children.
- Claustrophobia: A mild example, but Kallista is very uncomfortable in the cloistered hall where she regularly meets with her fellow lords and ladies. True to her house, she prefers wide-open spaces.
- Disappeared Dad: Her husband, and the father to their children, died around the time Kairon was born.
- Non-Idle Rich: She's led House Leral through a massive economic/industrial expansion, promoting the family from managers of the city's water supply infrastructure pre-Descent to the masters of sea commerce, travel, and naval defense in the new world.
Isara Leral
Played by: Pohatu
- Child Marriage Veto: She shares this in common with Kairon: both have resisted their mother's attempts to marry them off. In Isara's case, this is because she's too fascinated by the possibilities of the world (newly open to them since the Descent of Drakengrad) to want to settle for a spouse within the kingdom.
- Color-Coded Patrician: Dressed in deep navy blue and silver, she represents House Leral.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The diligent sister to Kairon's carefree brother.
- Meaningful Name: Out of universe, she was named after the Isère river
, located in France - so chosen because one of its tributaries is the Drac. - Non-Idle Rich: Isara is extremely hands-on in helping her mother with House Leral's duties to the city (as well as a few side projects of her own, it seems). It's the main reason she's found it hard to leave the kingdom for so many years despite wanting to see the world.
- Proper Lady: She certainly plays this part for new acquaintances, regardless of her internal reactions. However, she shows other colors toward Gladdig (brusque and impatient), Magden (relaxed and amiable), and Kairon (stern but affectionate). Naturally, in her role of the Proper Lady she's apt to curtsy.
- Wild Card: She doesn't show any animosity toward her own house or toward the kingdom at large, but Isara has reasons to resent Valon's ruling style, and there are hints to an apparently secret connection between her and House Avrae, the least trusted of the major houses.
Kairon Leral
Played by: DL
- The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest and only male child of House Leral.
- Child Marriage Veto: He shares this in common with Isara: both have resisted their mother's attempts to marry them off. In Kairon's case, it's because he's got no interest in marrying Princess Sabriel as Kallista hopes; there's another love interest, yet unidentified, in his life.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The carefree brother to Isara's diligent sister.
- Heir Club for Men: As Kallista's only son, the pressure is on for Kairon to continue the family line once he comes of age – but he notes this also gives him leverage in choosing his own partner, knowing his mother can't afford to veto the match forever.
- Rebel Prince: He's got a very freespirited air, and has no intention of following along with his mother's plan to marry him to Princess Sabriel.
Urhur Lenn
Played by: DL
- Animal Motifs: The nickname associating him with rams seems to be on point given his burly physique, mass of hair, and stubborn temperament.
- Four-Star Badass: He's head of the house that prevails over Drakengrad's military. While the "badass" part hasn't yet been proven in-universe, one look at the guy suggests he didn't get the job by sitting around.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Old Ram".
Balasar Avrae
Played by: DL
- Cloak and Dagger: House Avrae's modus operandi, to the extent that their sigil is a pair of crossed daggers intertwined by a chain.
- Not Me This Time: Of course he would deny any involvement in the murders, but his argument is pretty convincing: if he were behind them, no one would have even found out until after the fact.
- Obviously Evil: He definitely comes across as shady enough to live up to House Avrae's sinister reputation. That said, both Gladdig the fishmonger (who's heard rumor that Balasar is ordering assassinations in an effort to protect the throne) and Isara (who's simply weary of hearing a hundred accusations against House Avrae) have debated his status as too obviously evil.
- The Social Darwinist:How else are we to gain what we want in this world if we are not willing to reach out and take it?"
Magden Mitroch
Played by: Pohatu
- Seadog Peg Leg: Downplayed - no peg leg, but she does walk with a bit of a limp.
- The Storyteller:Isara smiled at this, and nodded. "You'll find there's no captain worth his weight in herring-heads can't spin you five fabulous tales before you've finished your soup," she said. "And as captains go, good Mag is worth her weight in pearls. It follows her tales are all the more fabulous."
Vec
Played by: Moose
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Vec" means "foul" in the Draken language. We don't yet know his actual name.
Bebeodan Thistledown
Played by: Lee
- Animal Athlete Loophole: A comically straight-faced variant. Bebeodan takes pains to point out that humanity is not a required quality for certification to practice law in the Archipelago.
- Indentured Servitude: To House Lorsha, before being released by Valon's grandfather Akamai. We can assume a Magically-Binding Contract must have been involved.
- Occult Law Firm: Thistledown and Associates, stationed in Greffant Village, is literally an occult law firm, being headed by a faerie. She has, if nothing else, also worked for the magical Lorsha family of Drakengrad for two hundred years, so the more conventional interpretation of this trope (dealing in cases with a supernatural twist) is also in effect.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Not as outright dark as The Fair Folk, but extremely serious and sophisticated.
- Time Dissonance: She evidently measures her life in centuries. Her term under House Lorsha lasted some two hundred years.
Esther Damrosch
Played by: Pohatu
- Blessed with Suck: Her branch of magic, logomachy, derives its power from her vocabulary. That would be awesome for her if she didn't hate heavy reading. She obsessively tears through books for new words while rarely particularly enjoying and understanding the material.
- Innocent Flower Girl: Her first onscreen spell, based on the word "floriferous", causes her debut to carry some shades of this.
- Motor Mouth: An unusual example: she speaks extremely quickly, but she's not actually talkative — anything but, in fact. She's usually quite terse and tight-lipped.
- Petal Power: Subverted by her first spell, based on "floriferous": chains of flowers blossom forth from her hand, but they appear to be completely useless. She plainly isn't too bent up about expending the word once she sees its effect.
- Shipper on Deck: In her opening conversation with Terrian, a question of hers implies she's taken him and Blaise to be a couple. Terrian's response doesn't do much to clear the air:The girl's next rapid-fire question, without the merest smirk or arched eyebrow, was: "Is she here with you?"
Terrian blinked. Then he laughed. "What? Oh — No! No no. She's in America. The States, I mean. She's not — here. No. I don't think so, anyway. Maybe she is! I'm not sure. Haha." - Ship Tease: When she departs into the parade in Crystal 2, one flower is left on the ground behind her. She either dropped it carelessly or as a gesture toward Terrian. Of course, he doesn't show any signs of interest in her and indeed, more than once in their two conversations, registers how untoward it would be to make any advance on a girl not far from a decade his junior — but as Pohatu considered on Formspring long before Esther's debut, there's no reason why she couldn't develop a passing unrequited thing for him.
