More New Characters!

I'm getting more and more excited about my 2017 NaNoWriMo story, with Terence's future offspring. And I just completed another basic design for two more characters: Tyrell's father and paternal uncle, who also have Terence's blood running through their veins. I present to you Romulus and Tallis.

I see a great deal of potential for these two.

To start off, Romulus is the oldest, and not just because he's the tallest and has the gray hair. In fact, he's not really that old; his hair has always been grayish anyhow. (One way you can tell if somebody's related to Terence is if their hair is gray or white even at a young age, or if they have incredibly blue eyes.)

The two brothers live in the same castle, with Tallis as the king and Romulus as a sort of adviser. But anyone would think it ought to be the other way around. Romulus does all the difficult, less glamorous work; Tallis is quite content to laze around on his throne, or not even be on the throne at all. If Tallis had his way, life would be nothing but one great big party for him and his subjects.

So, in essence, Romulus is doing Tallis's job for him.

Even in their boyhood, Romulus always felt the need to look after Tallis, to protect him, or to at least keep him from doing anything stupid. Tallis never liked rules or hard decisions, and is always expecting somebody else to pick up the slack. Romulus, against his better judgment, caves every time. If not for his brother's sake, he does it for the sake of their empire, which would have long since gone to pot otherwise.

Tallis is not a bad guy. But he's most definitely not a good king. His parenting skills are far from ideal, too. Romulus may not be a flawless father himself (what father is?), but you can just tell his kids turned out way, way better. Both sire three children, with three sons for Tallis and a son and two daughters for Romulus. Tyrell, the big bad, is Tallis's oldest and most beloved.

The wives are alive and well, too. Tallis is married to Ann, and Romulus's wife is Kyla. Both women's designs have yet to make it to paper.

A pretty dysfunctional family, but a fascinating one all the same. I can hardly wait until November, and I don't think I'll even wait until then to get started.

For now, I'm satisfied with the image I posted. Would I sound too nuts if I admitted that I harbor a slight crush on both these guys?