Dramatis Personae, Part IV

Rioti’ordan Domain

In’06, a race of hideous creatures, the Tiords, appeared on the scene to be the servants of the primary villain.  The reason for their transformation is one of those details unfortunately lost amongst a mess of drafts and emails, but transform they did, and magnificently.  Tolkien fans will appreciate the significance of a comparison of Uruk-hai becoming Numenorians—for those of you don’t know Tolkien, suffice to say that grotesque humanoids became almost superhuman beings, to put it simply.  The Rioti’ordane are now a people of beauty, pride, and power.

Da’el Acvez: young Lord Supreme (Commanding General) of the Rioti’ordan Army and son of the Rioti’ordan Lord of Karanai, bondmates with Eytan

Character Development: (dah’el ahk-veth) Acvez is the oldest and only surviving Rioti’ordan from their earliest incarnation.  His original name was Bordacvez (bor-dahk-vehz), which became Bordan Acvez in the ’08 TRoL.  His given name, however didn’t really sound Riot’ordan, so after a while of playing with the surname, I came up with Da’el, based on Daniel.  Acvez has always been a man of honor, even in the early days, and is even now not a true villain.  He’s a general (actually Commander-in-Chief) who is passionate about his job and is doing his duty to his King, his people, and his Maker.  Acvez is also rather inspired by Star Wars’ Grand Admiral Thrawn, as well as a good friend of mine (with his blessing).

Mikai Aryn: Lord, Minister of War, Dienri’s maternal cousin

Character Development: (mih-keye ah-dhin) Aryn, like most of the Rioti’ordan characters, was created in ’08 for TRoL, and rather inspired by Gordon Currie’s performance as Nikolai Carpathia in the Left Behind films.  Yes, he’s one of the bad guys.

Eyanza Serezen Beitel: Princess of the Rioti’ordane, Resistance operative in Atar’ante

Character Development: Eyanza (eye-yahn-thah) was another character created in ’08.  She was a very new type of character to me: a Princess right around the age of 40, the mother of a teenager, and a widow.  Plumbing Eyanza’s depths is never easy, but always interesting.

Jeseya Beitel: 17-year-old Prince of the Rioti’ordane, son of Sir Kalev and Eyanza Beitel

Character Development: Jeseya (jeh-say-ah) is classically prince-who-doesn’t-want-to-be-prince, much to his mother’s chagrin.  His name comes from King Josiah, the boy-king who returned the Southern Kingdom of Judah to God.  However, Jeseya’s name can also be derived from another Hebrew name, Yesha’yahu, or Yeshaiah.  In English, that name is Isaiah, and means Yahweh is Salvation—a fitting name for the young prince.

Sir Kalev Beitel: late husband of Princess Eyanza and son of the lord of Geyona, knight, Resistance operative in the Domain

Character Development: (kay-lev bay-ih-tel) Unfortunately, not much—the only times we ever actually see Sir Kalev are in flashbacks.  Kalev was named after Caleb, one of the two Israelites of the first generation who survived the forty years of wandering in the wilderness to enter Canaan (Joshua was the other).

Deno: Lieutenant General of the 5^th Corps

Character Development: Deno (day-no) is a character whose existence was slightly inspired by Admiral Piett from Star Wars: a supporting role, a man who is not evil but is on the wrong side.

Eytan: black Dragon, member of the Karanai Corps, bondmates of General Acvez

Character Development: Eytan (eye-tahn) is an interesting character to work with, considering what he is.  The rules are slightly different with him—“he’s not a tame Dragon.”  Eytan, believe it or not, is derived from Ethan.

Lycana: 19-year-old Royal Agent, favored by Dienri

Character Development: (lih-kahn-ah) Her name is derived from Lycaonia, meaning she-wolf.  Lycana has only a small role in the first installment of The Phoenix and the Dragon, but her character will become more important in future episodes.

Dienri Serezen: King of the Rioti’ordane

Character Development: (dee-en-ree ser-eth-en) The readily evident villain.  One might not call him evil right off the bat—nevertheless, his philosophies are completely wrong.  He and his daughter Eyanza are two of the very few Rioti’odane with completely made-up names (Dienri was originally Dienre).

Yanna: Rioti’ordan with a trace of Evayan, operator of an orphanage in Atar’ante, Resistance contact in Atar’ante

Character Development: Yanna (yahn-nah) is inspired by a real-life person, the Irish missionary Amy Carmichael: Yanna’s orphanage parallels Amy Carmichael’s work with the orphans of India in the 19^th century.  Yanna was originally fully half-Evayan, but that changed when it was decided that the Fire-of-Skies children would be the only people living who were half-Evayan/half-Rioti’ordan.  Yanna is the feminine form of the Breton and Cornish Yann, or John, meaning God is gracious.