The World of Aeser

Tetrine Reish was born with the unique ability to read and write Nell marks, a magical language which was forbidden to mortals during the time of the old Empire. The ability was kept secret in her family for so long that knowledge of it was all but forgotten; all she knows is that she isn’t supposed to speak of the Nell or the Other World whence magic comes.

She was born in the sister city-state of Auros, but traveled to Asher to study at the university a few years years prior to the events of Asher, in which she is a playable character. She is also playable in Winter's Trumpet, and appears in Tell a Demon.

Kalevel Venhera was born mortal in the Mevayrean Isles hundreds of years ago. For a time, the Empress was ignorant of the little string of islands, and so Mevayrea flourished. When the Empress discovered the island, she was outraged, and demanded that Mevayrea send children to be “fostered” at the Imperial court, Kalevel among them.

According to Aeserian legend, Kalevel slew the Empress a hundred years ago—proving that the immortal Empress wasn’t so immortal after all. Kalevel is a playable character in Winter's Trumpet and Tell a Demon. She also appears in Asher.

Telleni “Tell” Turius was born in Cupra prefecture, a rural, largely agricultural sector of Asher city-state. A few years ago, her cousin died, causing an even deeper rift in her family than was already there. During Imperial times, Tell’s family were designated ‘Melia.’ Melia families possess a partial talent for magic which made them less of a threat to the Empire, and many Melia families were given gifts of land or titles.

All that is gone now. Tell is curious about her family’s past, which has caused untold arguments between her aunt and her mother and which she doesn’t fully understand, but as Tell herself possesses no magic at all, she isn’t very concerned about it. Mostly she just wants to get away from Cupra prefecture and get the chance to spread her wings. She is a playable character in Tell a Demon.

Julius Ramsii was born in Cupra prefecture. An outsider, as his family was only recently of Cupra, his childhood isolation was made worse by tragedy after tragedy. Finally, the death of a childhood friend inspired him to escape the bad memories, and he went to the city proper to make something of himself.

Only his luck never improved. To make up for it, he fell in with a woman named Aya Gavial and took to helping her “find” old demon artifacts—a vocation that proved more lucrative than he ever imagined. He appears in Asher and is a player character in Tell a Demon.

Markaius is an ancient demon of the “court kind,” or the immortal elite that allegedly once ruled Aeser. He is also known as the Empress’ Knight, a title that comes from the legend of the making of Aeser. Before she was the Empress, Mara Seita met a demon on horseback at a crossroads. That demon, Markaius, offered to help her make a world that was all her own, and over which she would have complete control. She accepted this bargain, but she tricked Markaius so that he got the worser deal, and he became her servant.

Markaius appears in Tell a Demon and Asher, and is playable in Winter's Trumpet.

Mishel is an ancient demon of the “court kind,” although not as old as Markaius. Like Kalevel, he is one of the few of the court kind never to have possessed magic, a lack more than made up for in his uncanny ability to negotiate nearly every situation—including tricking others of the old court while appearing not to do so. At times he has been considered the Empress’ Diplomat, or her Advisor—he had the Empress’ ear, when she was alive, and her trust, despite that she destroyed all reason he might have to be trustworthy. He certainly does not mourn her now, and probably played a role in bringing about her end.

He appears in Tell a Demon.

Devne Reish is Tetrine’s older brother. When their mother died, the Reish children were faced with high inheritance taxes—and no income. So Devne took up a bootlegging in order to convert their childhood home into a boarding house. In Auros, where alcohol is still illegal, bootlegging can be quite lucractive—and quite deadly. Of course, it wasn’t violence that finally brought his criminal career to an end.

Devne appears in Asher and Winter's Trumpet.

Rosemary came to Asher to act in radio, theater, or silent pictures—whatever would have her. She briefly attended university during the events of Winter's Trumpet, where she roomed with Tetrine. University was never her goal—she longs for the glittering limelight.

A warm friend to Tetrine with perhaps too much interest in Tetrine’s love life, she also appears in Asher.

Sabina has traveled all over Aeser learning about magic, finally arriving in Asher, once the capital of Aeser, and the location of one of the last living teachers of the Melia arts. Sabina comes from a Melia family—and thinks the magic can be used for good despite that the Melia once willingly served the Empire. She appears in Tell a Demon and briefly in Asher.

Aya Gavial was born to one of the few remaining teachers of the Melia arts. A practitioner of no small talent herself, she is obsessed with the rewards she once might have had—had she been born during Imperial times. As ruthless as she is resentful, Aya uses her talent to find magical and hidden artifacts, and isn’t above thievery—or worse. She appears in Asher and Tell a Demon.

Kialee is the mother of the shadow kind. Like the old court kind, the shadow kind are immortal, but were given immortality through the Empress’ cursed bloodline. Kialee, also known as the Empress’ Shadow, controls and commands the shadow kind from her magical prison in the old palace ruins. She appears in Asher and Tell a Demon.

Mara Seita, the once immortal, now dead Empress of Aeser. All of Aeser was once hers—between the Dens, or the Demon’s Teeth, in the East, to the Torquis, an impassable mountain range in the West—everyone who lived in between was Aeserian, and all Aeserians were the Empress’ playthings. But her time is gone. The Empress appears in Asher and Tell a Demon.

There is a nameless goddess in the city-state of Asher. Some say her bones are buried in the ancient catacombs that lie beneath the city. Some say it was she to whom the court kind made their sacrifices, and that even the immortal Empress was afraid of her. She appears in Tell a Demon.

Over a hundred years ago, the Empress had King Graen, Oona’s father, murdered. Oona took up his mantle as a self-styled pirate queen and rallied her father’s fleet. Until her death in the Imperial dungeons of Asher, Oona gave the Empress no shortage of trouble. Kalevel once met her. Oona appears in Tell a Demon.

“Gran” Hailie Reish came to her fortune mysteriously. Originally from Asher, she took herself—and her fortune—to the city-state of Auros. She still haunts the old Reish house, along with her granddaughter, Tetrine’s mother, Nysa Reish. While Nysa left behind a ghostly imprint because she regretted leaving her children—her death rendered them destitute when laws of inheritance changed in Auros—Gran Hailie’s fragment is occupied with one thing and one thing only: a special written contract she lost in life. She is mentioned in Asher, Tell a Demon, Winter's Trumpet, and appears in the short story, Ghosts of Reish House.

Antonine is one of the ancient court kind—known as the Proprietor, because he owns everything in Aeser. Everything important, that is, from motion picture studios to newspapers, vast acres of Imperial vineyards to railroads to other natural resources. Once, he managed the Empress’ vast holdings—strangely, despite her death and the apparent fall of the Empire, little seems to have changed. He appears briefly in Tell a Demon.