My oh my, May is rushing by so fast! The days keep getting longer, the heat keeps rising, summer storms start appearing on the horizon, and with them, we're getting into the third week! And you all know what that means! It's time to interview a Side Character!
 |
| You wouldn't notice in this form tho |
 |
| She seems experienced in dragon handling |
He comes from Mae McKinnon's fantasy novel "The Damsel and the Dragon", a book that you can easily find on Amazon following this link. Mae is active on Twitter as well (and you should totally follow her there through this link), and has a site where you can take a look into her thoughts. You can find her site following this link right here!
But with that being said, let's get right into it!
------
May is heading towards its end, and now that we’re three weeks into it, it’s time to spend some time with Side Characters as well! And to do that, we have a brand new guest on this blog! Would you mind introducing yourself, your book and your author to us?
Of course *bows* I am Kaheiron. Some say I am a great and powerful Mage - others, hmm, do not. My home is in “The Damsel and the Dragon” and if you did not already realize, my world is rather fantastical. My author - well, she does the typing…
Well met Kaheiron! I definitely can see how your world is way different than ours, and I do love to explore varied realities myself! So, you’re a great and powerful Mage - of what sort? How does magic work in your world?
Excellent. Wise travellers are always welcome - though do watch out for those that would like to invite you as lunch rather than to lunch, dragons included. Not all of my brethren are enlightened. You ask devious questions, human. It would take many years to explain fully, but there is only one type of Mage, but many other practitioners of magic: Wizards, Keches, Necromancers, Sorcerers and so forth. Magic appears to be inane, related to the eather...umm, to put it simply, it exists and if you have an affinity for it you can use it.
Oh, this is intriguing - Necromancers are actually a recognized practice of Magic? How does the moral quandry of dealing with the dead work?
Needless to say, they and others of dubious repute practice magic regardless of if we would like them too or not. There are a few of the more decent ones on my staff, but usually they prefer to work against the rest of the world - but then there are a fair amount of mages who can be unscrupulous. It’s a difficult choice to make, every morning, waking up, I imagine.
You mentioned you have a staff. Are you of particularly important social or economical stature? How do you earn a living?
Of course. Perhaps I should have introduced myself properly. My apologies. As an Archmage I head up a little research institution of magic called the Twin Towers where those wellversed in the arcane arts may come. As for stature, let’s just say that the last time the King’s taxman came to call, he left in a hurry and not in the same shape as he arrived. What we earn, fees, gifts and other trinkets, we keep, unless we choose to do otherwise.
Heh. I guess wherever you go, taxes aren’t particularly popular. Doesn’t a behaviour like this put you and your organization in conflict with the local government, though? How do you handle the possible diplomatic issue?
Indeed. The only ones who truly like them tend to be the ones receiving them. But I digress. Hmm *strokes chin* Power is about balance, yes? We are needed and the governments depend on us but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they like us. There are yearly diplomatic excursions - I believe you would call them balls - to ensure the status quo.
Oh, full on diplomatic balls! They tend to be very interesting, especially for all the deals that are done on the side. Speaking of which...do you run your operation completely legally? Or...well, I can imagine some reagents and other materials might be very hard to come by in a practice like Magic…
You are right, of course. One of my protegees managed to get himself stabbed at the last one. *sighs* But, yes, I do try to keep things right. The laws in these lands deal with more ordinary, mundane, matters, so sometimes certain, less desirable, practices need to be stamped out hard. Anyone in my house who wants to use dragonwings or other, even worse, materials, will find themselves unwelcome.
I can completely understand. Magic can be a very dangerous practice, and having people do stuff without being careful can screw things over for everyone. So! Let’s get back to the book. You’re listed as a secondary character. How did you get engaged in this plot? What’s your thoughts on the main character and the antagonist?
It certainly requires well enforced chambers in which to experiment, lest the building comes down, yes. Hmm, yes...I always believed myself to be more of a main character, but I suppose that this isn’t my story. I didn’t even intent to take part in it, until I found this scrawny human hiding out in one of the barns. Linandra, Linadra is *ahem* a curious mix of fire and something less inflammable, the word escapes me right now. She’s quite the good person at heart … once you peel away all the outer layers. I’m ashamed to say the antagonist was once one of our own. A gifted user of magic whose ego unfortunately caused his own undoing. Not a nice man though. Cruel to animals *frowns*.
Is it the first time that something like this happened? That a student let his or her ego take the best of them and became a threat to your organization or society as a whole?
I imagine that, down through history, it has happened many times, but yet - this was the first time in several hundred years this has happened here. Usually I can see the signs much sooner.
Are there no historical records of other occasions? And what is your stance on this matter? Will you keep records of the events of your era so the posterous generations can have a recount of what’s going on and perhaps avoid certain mistakes?
There have been many occasions. And a good tome is a wizard’s best friend, so we try to record matters for the future as well, not merely spells or other interesting things. My library is lined with treatises...but not so much on history. When you have lived a long time, I’m afraid that you become complacent in matters of mere centuries.
Understandably so, and I’m glad to hear you’re still keeping records. As an educator, I guess it does fall under your duties. Then again, one could make the argument that knowledge of history might make it easier for it to repeat itself - look at serial killers, copycatting is a serious issue. Are there any sort of events or knowledge you have to go out of your way to...let’s say keep under the rug?
Nature likes to repeat itself. You need only to look at the cycles of the seasons or the moons (yes, we have several). A complicated dance that not even the participants can always clearly understand. Hmm...me personally? Yes. Keeping my identity a secret can be somewhat taxing. Magic users tend to be either incredibly astute or utterly blind to anything other than their latest interest. I like to keep that knowledge, about my past, from them and others if I can. Oddly enough, people have much easier to accept a mage throwing a fireball after them than a dragon doing so.
That’s quite interesting. What’s the reason for this secrecy? I mean, you should have enough allies to at least get a campaign to accept your true nature, between your position, knowledge and expertise. Are dragons...not very well liked in your world?
Knowing about a secret weapon rather ruins the surprise don’t you think? *smiles* I don’t share it because it’d turn against me but because it is such a formidable secret to wield. Also, it can be rather amusing to see the reactions *coughs delicately* Also, most of our dragons tend to be content within their own societies - though some of the smallest ones are, sadly, extensively hunted.
That is saddening, knowing they are hunted. Anyway, I’m afraid we’re running out of time for tonight’s interview - is there anything you’d like to say to our audience? Whatever you want, no censorship or barred topics!
Of course. It’s been a pleasure to visit. *thinks hard* As for a word of wisdom..never look a gift dragon in the mouth unless you’re truly confident...even a friendly one might mistake you for something tasty.
That sounds like a very sound advice in your world. Thank you again for your time! It’s been a pleasure to have you here tonight, and I hope you pass a good night! Can’t wait to read more of you in “The Damsel and the Dragon”!
*bows*
------
And that does it for this week of #CharactersTell interviews! Next week, we're gonna take one of the faceless crowds to put on the spot, so be ready!
As always, a quick reminder that YOU can have YOUR characters interviewed here! Just send me a message on Twitter (Link is on the right hand sidebar!) and I'll sort you out!
Until next week~ Toodles!
Great review and a fun read. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteGreat review and a fun read. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete