Character Inspiration Concepts

[CJB]

ITSUKI

[spoiler]

A Balimoran, Itsuki is quiet, measured, and the oldest of the “core Mountaineers” at 42. He supports his wife and daughter as a risk analyst. He’s mentioned his daughter Kura on the forum.
Itsuki has a newfound passion after what mountaineers learned from Brandon Lachmann, that magic is created in the space between things - the hidden connections. He started Campfire on the forum to explore this with others through the creation of new ‘magic’ (writing, drawing, music, etc.) He is a keen amateur digital musician and likes to create what he calls “soundscapes.”

His parents are retired now, but they met when his mother moved to the UK from Japan with her family. Itsuki lives in the countryside now and commutes into London. He has a degree in mathematics and became involved in the Mountaineers almost by accident. He was playing an online rpg in the mid 00’s and fell in with a group of gamers. They started to tell him about their beliefs and he realized they were things he’d believed his entire life. He has a distinct childhood memory of two trees wrapped around one another, one living, the other dead. The crest of Balimora.

Itsuki is the perfect example of a Balimoran. A sharp mind for mathematics and a passion for music, a lover of structure who in turn also embraces the chaos of creation.[/spoiler]

[Furia]

Dang! I would have imagined him as a girl also with black hair and having a small daughter

[grimangel53]

i was going to imagine him as at least part asian due to the name, and probably as a quiet contemplative due, in his 30s.

oh well. thats another one i dont really have to do, (but will to add things i think he’d do in some cases, like aesthetic choices and general actions.) I am doing that for endri.

[TheBellsAreRinging]

Do we think it would be useful to perhaps… make our own drawings of the characters? Of course taking into account the overall character design, but we could add those drawings to the wiki.

[CJB]

Love that idea.

[grimangel53]

im writing up aesthetics to go with the descriptions, like what i could see around the people, and or what they might be doing in a space.

[grimangel53]

This is what I’ve got so far.

Ascender:
Appearance – Short black hair, full beard (trimmed, clean, but still full), Blue eyes, taller, built frame, carrying a backpacking backpack, dressed to hike, flannel, and jeans, sturdy boots.
Aesthetic – A chilly day, sun waning in the clear blue sky, the smell of pine and oak wafting around, hiking trails, and a secluded place atop a small mountain. He made his way up here, walking by the couple little lakes in the mountains, to find his next place for camp. He takes a breather before beginning, to admire the beauty of the sky, and to check his phone, though he knows that he hasn’t gotten many messages lately. He pauses, and with a sigh, begins the process of setting up camp.

Endri:
Aesthetic - A Cozy hipster Coffee Shop, A library, Free Wifi, half-done hair bun, the smell of coffee and a warm cup sitting in sight of a laptop. A legal pad sits on the table opposite the coffee mug, full of notes on an obscure piece of literature. She pauses for a moment, staring at the forums on her screen. A small smile plays on her lips for a moment before she clicks over a tab and returns to work. A small hum of conversation buzzes around her. She hums a small tune as she works, one of her own invention.

Itsuki:
Aesthetic – A lazy Saturday afternoon in a cluttered home office, with a large desk, monitor in the middle, sound equipment to his left, and a few sketch pads to his right, a coffee mug on his desk on a coffee ringed napkin. He’s caught between his work, some things he brought home from the office, and his next soundscape. Speakers are hidden in the bookcases and a small sub is placed on the windowsill. Books, sketchpads, and a few different CD sets sit on the shelves around him; easily in reach should he decide to need them. He absent-mindedly picks up his mug with his left hand and guides a pencil on the pad to his right, trying to parse what he will do next while sketching something familiar.

Bash and Eaves are next

have fun!

[TheBellsAreRinging]

If I’m honest, for me discussing all this just feels strange. I know they aren’t real but they sure do feel like it! Each have really distinct personalities. With Endri always "heart"ing almost every single post its like we are talking about them behind their back Anyways, carry on!

[CJB]

EAVES

[spoiler]

A Gossmere, Eaves is the heart of the Mountaineers. Kind, funny, light-hearted, and compassionate. Qualities that are in stark contrast to his upbringing. His parents were found unfit to care for him as a child so his uncle raised him as his own until he died. He’s been on his own since then. But that tough midwestern childhood never hardedned him. Now in his early 20s he still sees the best in people, even when it hurts him, like when Ascender left.

Eaves works in a customer service call center, listening to hundreds of people’s stories every day, helping if he can. Even if he isn’t supposed to. Like Endri, the Mountaineers are his family, but part of him is still trying to find someone to look up to who can tell him who to be, and how to find his place in the world.

He’s quick to make friends and builds lasting bonds easily. But he worries if he sometimes uses human connection as a way to protect him from the truth, that no one can tell him who he’s supposed to be, but him.[/spoiler]

[Chordie]

Visually, that’s actually pretty spot on. I imagined him as a little older, but then, I haven’t been around here too long.

This is the kind of person I could very easily get along with for sure, but I think that might be because he and I have a lot in common.

[grimangel53]

i envisioned him with one of those faces that always has a bit of a smile playing on it, and he doesnt let the bad get him down for long.

time for an aesthetic!

[CJB]

DEIRDRE

[spoiler]

You know Deirdre.

I have this image pinned above my desk. Spending the past year creating her, and learning about her as I’ve gone, has been a very strange, rewarding experience as a writer. I feel really protective of her. And now that she has the chance to learn the truth about her father, the world, and herself, it’s like watching a child leave home. I’m excited, sad, proud, and terrified.

She’s got quite a journey ahead of her. And if we’re going to help her, so do we.[/spoiler]

[CJB]

For the record, I don’t think all of these people are beautiful and idealized, it’s just hard finding beautiful and inspiring art based on regular folks. More than beauty, I chose these images over the past couple years because they capture something essential about the character.

[CJB]

COLE

[spoiler]

A good guy with a childhood that haunts him and a broken relationship with his father, Cole is another “orphan” like Deirdre, Endri, and Eaves. He’s had to pull the Mountaineers out of a few tight spots, and his willingness to jump into a strange or dangerous situation to help other people says a lot about him. He has a good heart and wants to connect, wants to belong, but something keeps him from fully reaching out. Even to Deirdre.

In a way, Cole feels like he’s never belonged anywhere. But this ordeal with The Book of Briars, with Deirdre, has given him a sense of purpose. He had to be there for the fraylily, he had to be there for the obenhedge, the bridge, the clocks, the library. For once, what happened to him in the past isn’t a burden, but maybe a clarion call for his future.[/spoiler]

[OracleSage]

LOVE THIS!
His story is so spot on and very Gossmere, although I always pictured him younger, like in his late teens. With a wide grin, tan hair, and green eyes mabye? I also see him to be the most likely to have a tattoo, perhaps with some old Gossmere symbol?

[OracleSage]

I love that you sought inspiration for characters in art (I’m not alone! )
Endri seems very believable and relatable, noticed we haven’t seen Bash or ascender but I see bash as not being overly beautified. I think Cole and Deidre are perfect, pretty and believable. I was shocked and happily suprised Ituski was a boy, my only qualm with any character is Eaves age like I said:)

[CJB]

SpiritSeer

SpiritSeer sees herself as:

SpiritSeer is:

[Augustus_Octavian]

SpiritSeer is one of my favorite characters to date, TBH. I’m always amazed by your ability to channel different voices/personas into your characters, and I feel like SpiritSeer takes that to another level. The emotions of her rejection from the Low and the self-effacing disbelief that the Mountaineers would take her in runs though all of her posts, well beyond when she simply references it.

[Tinker]

I love all of this so much