Zarae Alywind

Zae

Age (as Vol I begins): 25
Birthday: April 9th
Height: 5’8”
MTBI: ENFP
Gender: male (he/him)
Sexuality: pansexual, panromantic
Race/ Title/ etc: human, civilian, jack of all trades

Light blonde hair, average to curvy build, expressive and light brown eyes are physical qualities Zarae presents, alongside light skin and a soft explosion of freckles over his face and shoulders. He tends to dress casually, in an open jean vest or cardigan, with light colors and sporting logos, giving off skateboarder and coffee shop vibes. He often accessorizes, wearing a nice hat or beanie, sometimes suspenders, simple earrings and an old threaded bracelet gifted to him by Maevis years ago.
Zarae tends to operate on bright/ impulsive energy, and anxiety. If there’s a social lull, he’ll fill it. If a thought crosses his mind it most likely will be tumbling recklessly from his nervous smile. Silly, friendly, and gooey-soft, Zarae also has a huge heart. He’s passionately supportive to those dear to him, and brightly kind to strangers. However, it is sometimes difficult for him to focus his empathy. His scatter-brain tends to move faster than he can process.
Zarae loves and feels with his whole self. So, it’s incredibly rare to see him hiding his emotions. Normally, he’ll feel deeply and loudly, actions led by his emotions.
Asteria is where Zarae grew up and has always lived. For as long as he can remember, family has always been him and his mom, together against the world. But that didn’t always bring light into their lives. His mother worked hard to give him the best life she could, where he would never be without what he needed, and always feel loved. This would nearly always be contradicted when her ex would pop back into her life without warning, only to disappear the same way. Zarae hated it, but no matter what he would say, this guy held a harmful power over his mother. A handful of times, Zarae and his mother have left in the middle of the night, moving into a new place without much preparation. And a handful of other times, Zarae would find himself getting into a fight with her ex, unable to hide his feelings when the guy mistreated or harmed Zarae’s mother.
His strength to fight and protect was usually all spent on protecting his mother from her toxic ex. This left him with no further confrontational energy for others. Zarae was often bullied in school, with little to no desire to fight back. This changes drastically when Maevis enters his life.

Tsura

Tsu

Age (as Vol I begins): 29
Birthday: November 20th
Height: 5’11”
MTBI: ISFJ
Gender: gender fluid (he/they)
Sexuality: demisexual, panromantic
Race/ Title/ etc: unknown, advisor to Princess Yanira of Yuneira-Su, is a talented baker

As the story begins through book I, readers won’t learn too much about Tsura. All in good time, don’t fret.
Hair resembling the color of moonlight, Tsura sees the world with warm auburn eyes that reflect red in the light. His skin is pale, with a single freckle lateral to his right eye, colored ebony. Tsura stands tall with a slender to average build. His fashion-sense is quiet but eye-catching. Adorned in a handful of ear piercings, Tsura tends to choose form fitting outfits with layers and accessories (hats or scarves or jackets or vests, or feather or ribbon or etc). He pays close attention to the colors of hit outfits as well, so they contrast in a quietly aesthetic way (black with red or gold accents, or greys with blues, etc). He will also apply eyeliner–sometimes eyeshadow and concealer if he’s attending an event. By those who cross paths with him in their capital’s castle or private political meetings, Tsura is viewed as a dangerous and quiet beauty, not unlike Princess Yanira.
Growing up in Yuneira-Su’s castle amongst the royal family and scientists, Tsura learned to approach most things cautiously, to live with nearly impenetrable walls and to keep all others further than arm’s length. Another revelation that dawned on him as he was still a child, was that the method in which he came to be living was far from traditional or common. At least, that’s how it seems. He’s never found concrete confirmation of his suspicions.
The only relationship in his life resembling anything family adjacent would be Yanira. She tends to not employ sappy or loving words, but Tsura knows they both love one another as siblings. He knows they’re the closest thing to a fond/ important relationship either of them have.
Tsura rarely socializes with those other than Yanira, and when he does do so, he hides behind a wittingly passive aggressive, teasingly deterrent, and honeyed theatrical vibe. With Yanira, he’s far more casual, soft spoken, and teasing in a playful way. The two grew up together, with the majority of their pleasant memories and feelings being isolated to only the time they spent together, without expectant and judging eyes from other politicians, famous people, and rich figures of Yuneira-Su’s court.
Despite being the advisor to Yuneira-Su’s princess (Yanira), Tsura is almost a myth with how little he is seen or spoken of with politics considered or by territories outside of Yuneira-Su’s capital. Even when Yanira is seen before civilians to speak on something they organized together, he avoids the cameras. This started off as a personal preference. Until around age 20, Yuneira-Su’s king took advantage of his ‘mysterious/ enigmatic presence’. That's all we'll say on that for now.
Tsura’s time off is almost always spent in a house he had built outside of the city, or with Yanira, cooped up in her room. Both provide a much needed social break, where he can relax without the usual worries and masks he wears around others.
As readers make their way through this first book, Tsura isn't keen on sharing much with the audience or his fellow main characters. You’ll just have to stick around, and read book II to find out more.

Yanira Cyzar

Nira

Age (as Vol I begins): 30
Birthday: January 1st
Height: 5’10”
MTBI: ISTJ
Gender: female (she/her)
Sexuality: asexual, gay af
Race/ Title/ etc: human, royal bloodline, Princess of Yuneira-Su, grows difficult-to-care-for plants/ wants to be a botanist

Yanira is another character whom readers won’t get to know too well in this first book. As we dive deeper into the series, her silhouette will melt into the complex character she is.
Much like the icy winds and snow covered mountain tops of the territory she rules over, Yanira is seen by most around her as both intimidating and beautiful. Long silver hair is cut into bangs just above her matching eyes, while the rest is often pulled back into a loose bun. Most of the time, Yanira wears contacts, but when she doesn’t plan on leaving her room, she’s wearing these thin framed round glasses to see. With pale skin and a slender frame, Yanira is rather tall, even as one of the few around the castle who never wear heels.
Yanira’s freetime is mostly dedicated to reading books about adventure or binge watching murder mystery movies/ series.
She dedicates time each day to tend to her plants, often naming them after the antagonists in the books/ shows. To her, it represents the difficulty of keeping the plants healthy and alive in such a cold environment. Of course, there are plenty of flora native to Yuneira-Su that have evolved to thrive in its cold environments. However, Yanira prefers to challenge herself by raising plants better known to the warmer areas of Aether and more humid areas of Yuneira-Su. Yanira can often be found in the botany wing of the castle’s research labs, aiding in experiments to learn more about adaptability in plants.
Surviving harsh environments, and growing to do so more effectively. This is something that feels heavily familiar to Yanira. There’s a part of her that hopes the better she understands these plants, the more likely she will find a way for herself to thrive as well. However, this is a desperate and hopeful thought kept buried and ignored on the surface by the princess.
Yanira tends to live a rather isolated life. She socializes, of course, beneath an icy mask as she works with politicians and scientists who work for her family. However, the only time she truly relaxes and feels safe to be herself, is when she is alone with Tsura. She’s known them since she was old enough to make memories. They grew up together, and became one another’s closest confidants. Of course, their responsibilities differed, until Yanira was old enough to appoint Tsura as her official advisor.
Tsura is the only person Yanira knows nearby who she fully trusts. She loves him; he’s family to her. Not that she’d ever admit that outloud.
With Tsura’s help, Yanira is able to make an impact on the political environment of Yuneira-Su. Over the years she’s cultivated a reputation as one of the very few in power of Yuneira-Su who puts the safety and happiness of her citizens first. She will push against the plans of the other officials, against the wishes of the king Erik Cyzar, until the political wall in her way crumbles. This has earned her respect from many citizens. However, it has also landed her in a jail cell overnight a handful of times, or on the receiving end of black eyes or letters filled with death threats. There are times where she begrudgingly listens to Tsura and lays low for a stretch of time, avoiding the whole scene. For her safety, for his safety, and for what he reminds her is the future safety of her people. Despite the uphill battle with miniscule rays of light to show for the work, it’s something she takes pride in, and gives her a small piece of hope to cling onto in moments she feels utterly helpless. Eventually, she will become the queen. Eventually, she and Tsura can really change things for their citizens. At least, she desperately hopes.

Lukaiya Utaara

Luka

Age (as Vol I begins): 28
Birthday: July 7th
Height: 5’8”
MTBI: ESFP
Gender: female (she/her)
Sexuality: bisexual, biromantic
Race/ Title/ etc: aiken/ human mix, royal bloodline, Princess of Aether, loves fashion, blessed vessel of Midifia and Naga

(Brief bio on the way...)