THE PEOPLE OF BLOOD

Slender, graceful except for his limp, courageous, wise beyond his years...Stefan. What can I say about Stefan? He is physically slight, 5’6”, dark haired, fair-skinned, with eyes that are unusual because the pupil and iris are both black. He is a gifted musician, and sings like an angel. He speaks to the animals, and has visions of the future. He was not always the hero. Originally, he was no more than a plot convenience in Roland’s story. In the very first draft, when I was no more than twelve—and I think younger—he was Roland’s brother instead of Mendana’s. However, the idea that Frederick would make his own son a page, no matter what the circumstances of his birth didn’t work, so he became the long-lost heir to Andundal’s throne. He doesn’t remember anything from the time before Frederick found him at the Lake of Sighs. He is older than Roland, but because the elves age differently, appears younger. He has always taken his position as Roland’s page very seriously—as he approaches everything in life (though he is not without a sense of play)—and this was one reason he put the prince’s life ahead of his own in the incident with the dog. It shows his character that he was permanently crippled protecting Roland. It also limits some of the things he can do and gives him a great obstacle to overcome. His limp helps defines him as a person. He would not be Stefan without it.

Spoiled, willful, quick-tempered, good-hearted, Roland. He is an only child, and his mother also died when he was young. His father has sheltered him all his life, and he is younger emotionally than his years. Roland has red hair and green eyes. He is sturdily built, muscular rather than slight, and 6’ tall. He is full of curiosity, and the wanderlust that affects most young men who have been too sheltered. He is used to getting his way, and has to learn in the story to accept the fact that he won’t always. It was originally his story. He may even grow more than Stefan in the course of the action…but it is no longer his book. He is quick to judge people, and luckily is usually right. He falls in love with Mendana perhaps too quickly, but it grows deeper as he learns more about life.

In a word, psychopath. In two words, lonely psychopath. Norfulk is the bridge between the worlds of the elves and humans. He is the half-elven son of Roland’s uncle and Stefan’s aunt, but his true parentage is not known to the world at large. He has the height of the elves, being about 6’4” or 6’5”, and their slender build. He has long, dark hair, and copper-brown eyes. He feels that he has been denied his heritage by both sides of the family, and is out to set the wrong right. He is an accomplished sorcerer and a bad man to cross… He would just as soon kill his cousins as look at them (with the possible exception of Mendana). He wants to rule the world. But he is frightfully lonely, and he did love his mother.

Mendana is a queen in her own right, having inherited her mother’s throne over Moonrise Wood, but the elves have drawn back into Starlit Wood, and her kingdom is currently abandoned. She is content to sit at her father’s side. Tall for a woman at 6’, she has black braids that fall to her knees, pale skin, and eyes of a bluish-green color characteristic of her mother’s branch of elves. She is slender and graceful. Mendana is an accomplished healer, and a follower of Andailia—elven goddess of healing. As a young girl, she had a crush on her older cousin Eeonathor, but she was resigned to the fact that she would probably be the last of her line until she met Roland, and he stole her heart. She is a cool, competent young woman who can shoot the eye out of a sparrow with her bow at twenty paces, if she has to.

Arrogant, willful, and vain, Ravenwing is every mother’s nightmare—a smooth-talking, handsome wizard. He is typically elven tall, about 6’ 5”, and slim. He has dark hair and the sea-green eyes of Mendana’s Starlit elves. Unlike most of the other elves, he has a deep tan from his wanderings. He favors black and white clothing rather than the traditional greens and browns of the other elves. He is a very good wizard—but he’s not as good as Norfulk, and he knows it. He has his own agenda to right the wrongs that Norfulk has done. He is a manipulator from his first appearance. He gets his name from his ability to shapeshift into a raven.

A sixteen-year-old orphan rescued by Ravenwing from a party of slave-traders. She is small, about 5’ tall, blonde, and plain. She can, and often does masquerade as a boy. Daerci has had no formal education, but has been Ravenwing’s apprentice in matters of healing. She is very forthright, and not afraid to speak her mind, but she longs for a real home. She is an accomplished thief, unless she wants to be caught, and a deadly shot with her sling. Daerci is one of those girls with inner beauty, and Stefan sees it from the beginning. She has been half in love with him from Ravenwing’s stories before they ever meet.

Collyn is a very enigmatic man. He is a philosopher, a teacher, a trader, a fisherman, a farmer…he is Roland’s new mentor when Stefan can no longer be his conscience. Tall, muscular, blond, gray-eyed, ruggedly handsome, Collyn is someone Roland can aspire to emulate. Originally, he was one of the raiders who attacked the raft, and Roland bullied him into helping him get Stefan to the doctor—but that didn’t work out, and Collyn joined the crew of Neuton’s raft. He has a personal enmity for Norfulk, and a past history with Andundal. He has roamed pretty much the entire continent, and been places Roland has only dreamed about. He will continue as Roland’s advisor when Stefan must leave Woodbridge Point to rule his own kingdom.

Dčodar is Ravenwing’s younger brother. He is the youngest elf ever to be made a Warder (guard) in the king’s service, and he is extremely proud of this accomplishment. He is estranged from his brother due to a misunderstanding, and Andundal and Mendana are his only other family before Stefan is found. Rather short for an elf, Dčodar is only about 6’2”. He has dark brown hair, and the sea-green eyes of his House. He also is deeply tanned from his outdoor duties. Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, Dčodar is a merry soul who is usually laughing, but he is also a brave and courageous friend, and accepts blame that is not his to save Roland despite the personal cost. When he was younger, he had a crush on Mendana, and was devastated to find out she loved his brother. He has long since gotten over that disappointment, and is now her closest confidante.

The King of the Starlit Elves is an imposing figure of 6’7”. He is stern of visage, and commanding in nature. His black hair is now shot with silver. He shares the black eyes that Stefan has. He is powerfully aware of his dwindling race, and that burden is always with him. He maintains his borders with a fierce determination borne from a desire to save whatever possible for as long as he can. But he is a compassionate man torn by decisions he cannot avoid making.

The King of Woodbridge Point is not as large as his counterpart, but is still a commanding, well-built man about 6’3”. He has chestnut hair streaked with silver, and warm brown eyes. He dotes on his son, especially since the death of his beloved queen, and has unwittingly been overprotective, leading to Roland’s naďveté. He is beginning to age, and his health is failing somewhat in the course of the book, brought about by fears for Roland, and Norfulk’s treachery.

The youngest elf, he is Raethan and Sylvania’s son. Seventeen-years-old, he has the confidence of his age, and the arrogance of a being who thinks his race is superior. He out-grows this attitude, as he becomes friends with Collyn in Woodbridge Point.

Leader of the rafters that Roland and Stefan travel south with, Jarome is King Frederick's boyhood companion, which argues nobility in the blood, though he puts on no airs, and treats everyone with the same hearty friendship.

Widowed at an early age when Raethan was killed in the raid at the lake, Sylvania has raised her son with the aid of the entire elven conclave. She rules the communal kitchen, and has a great, albeit unspoken, fondness for Dčodar.

Kitchen wench at Woodbridge Point Castle, Sarah has been duped by Norfulk into helping in his schemes against his cousin Roland. She truly believes the wizard will make her a queen.

An elven bard who is an honorary member of his kinsman Andundal's Guard. Raethan is murdered by Norfulk in the prologue of the book.