KACY (pronounced: Kay-see)
Race: Shaftan and Blackwing
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Black
Wings: Mottled black and white
Distinctions: Because of his mixed parentage, his wings are stunted and unable to support his weight in flight
A rebellious and spiteful child, Kacy was born a slave to his manipulative BlackWing mother and forced to accompany her followers on frequent raids of the Shaftan cities. During one of these raids, he learns the whereabouts of his estranged father, Fenwyn, and finds an opportunity to rescue himself from the abusive clutches of his former life. Eager to protect and cherish his lost son, Fenwyn offers him a home with his new wife and daughter. At first, Kacy is wary and disdainful, but with patience and kindness Fenwyn gradually earns his trust. Love and care mellow Kacy’s temper over the years and teach him to adapt to the Shaftan lifestyle and return the affection freely shown him.
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PATCH (real name unknown)
Race: Shaftan
Eye color: Teal
Hair color: Brown
Wings: White, with a spreading black patch across them
Distinctions: He wears a glove to conceal his withered right hand, a lingering result of his narrow escape from the Blackness
Sali‘s uncle and only surviving relative from the last Purge of Shafta, Patch is deeply scarred both physically and mentally by an ever-consuming ailment. Marked by his contact with the Blackness, he cannot hide the growing stain of black on his white wings that earns him the nickname “Patch.” Regardless, he remains faithful to a promise he made his lost sister, and raises his little nephew Sali to the best of his ability. Living under a carefully constructed tents in a small, secluded alley in Shafta’s main city, Patch oversees a group of other young outcasts and teaches them how to survive. Though he resents the lifestyle they have all been forced into, he nonetheless teaches Sali to be happy with what life offers, to be kind to others and never to complain. Before his death, he ensures that Sali will find a new home in Julian’s household, and grow to adulthood under the watchful protection and guidance of the werewolf Kristoff.
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REMY (pronounced: Rae-mee)
Race: Shaftan
Eye color: Green
Hair color: Brown
Wings: Light-brown
Distinctions: He is irreversibly mute, and strangely resembles Danathen
Once a peaceable and slightly adventurous Shaftan living at the edge of the great city, his life became unexpectedly tangled up in affairs beyond his comprehension the day Luke entered Shafta. Because Remy uncannily resembled Luke’s manservant Danathen, the Elder had several malicious games planned around this coincidence. But when Luke escaped his clutches, the Elder soon tired of his experiments. He dropped Remy onto Julian’s doorstep one evening, intending for Remy to be the visiting vampire’s next meal. When Remy awoke, dazed and confused in a strange place with a strange person hovering over him, his first reaction was to flee, though he soon learned that there was nowhere to go. Traumatized and disoriented, with no memory of his past and somehow unable to communicate verbally, he avoids contact with everyone and becomes a solitary, violent rebel akin to Valance.
But Julian is sympathetic to Remy’s predicament, and pursues him with an invitation to join his household. At first, Remy is scornful and reluctant, but curiosity and a lack of other options eventually convinces him to set foot inside the mansion and see all that this otherworldly creature has to offer him. Immediately intrigued by Julian’s extensive library and all the tales and pictures of a place called “Earth,” Remy accepts Julian’s invitation and moves into the mansion, if only to be within reaching distance of the library.
He soon becomes strangely enthralled with cookbooks. His kind have never bothered with such curious arrangements and combinations of food, since Shaftans are given all they need by the Elder, and the idea fascinates him. Books in tow, he commandeers Julian’s kitchen and begins to try out different recipes, encouraged by the compliments Kristoff gives his more successful attempts. Julian finds it amusing and constructive, and does not object when Remy starts to refer to the kitchen and everything in it as his own. Remy quickly establishes himself as the resident cook, and in his spare time develops a fondness for tea and reading in windowsills. His rebellious spirit mellowed over time, he goes wherever Julian’s library goes, and so long as nobody bothers him or interferes with his cooking and reading, he has no qualms with life.
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ZEPHYR (pronounced: Zeh-fur)
Race: Shaftan and human
Eye color: Green
Hair color: Black
Wings: White
Distinctions: Slightly pointed human ears, sometimes wears her hair in ponytails
Zephyr is Kelly and Fenwyn‘s beloved first child. Rambunctious, playful, and quick to laugh, she gets along well with her half-brother Kacy, who reserves his overt love and attention just for her. Her carefree, tender spirit and love of flight characterize her as a true Shaftan, but her rounded ears perhaps foreshadow a more turbulent future.
Zephyr is copyright © Kelly Kilbourn
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THE ELDER
Info coming soon…