Category Archives: Characters

The Drache Girl: Zurfina

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Zurfina the Magnificent is a character in the Senta and the Steel Dragon series.  In Book 3: The Drache Girl, as in Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land, Zurfina appears, but itsn’t around all that much.  It is, after all, Senta’s story.  When Zurfina is present though, she is really fun.  She is one of my favorite characters because she is so seriously messed up.  She’s self-absorbed to the point of being psychotic.  She’s sexy and wild.  And of course, she’s extremely powerful.  She lives by a few basic guidelines.  If you’re powerful enough, you never need to explain yourself.  If you’re powerful enough you never have to do anything you don’t want to.  Nobody is as important as she is.

The Dark and Forbidding Land – Eamon Shrubb

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Eamon Shrubb is one of my favorite characters.  He’s just a big lovable lug.  When I originally plotted out the story, he was only in the second and third parts (which became books 3 & 5).  When I spread it out to five books, I didn’t really have much for Eamon in The Young Sorceress, but I got to write his meeting with Saba in book 2.  I had a great time doing that.

“Colbshallow, right?”
Saba looked up to see a big man standing a few feet from him.  Saba was six foot three and this fellow was just as tall, but with broader shoulders and a thick muscular chest.  Though the man was a few years older than Saba, he was only a private.
“That’s right.”
“I’m Shrubb, Eamon Shrubb.”
“Nice to meet you, Shrubb.”  Saba slowly stood up and stretched out a hand, which Shrubb took.
“What’s your Kafirite name, if you don’t mind my asking?” asked Shrubb.  “Um… you are a Kafirite, aren’t you?”
Saba nodded.
“I’ve never seen so many zeets before.”
“I don’t much care for that word,” said Saba, icily.  He was still thinking about Yuah and was predisposed to dislike anyone whom he thought might be aiming an insult even in her general direction.
“Quite right.  Quite right.  As I say, I’ve never met many zee… Zaeri.  I don’t have anything against them though.  I never understood that whole ‘killed Kafira’ thing anyway.  I mean, didn’t she come back from the dead?  That’s a big part of the church.  How could she have come back from the dead if nobody killed her?  All worked out for the best, as far as I can see.”
“Do you always talk this much?” asked Saba.
“No.”  Shrubb looked pensive.  “Quite uncharacteristic really.”
“Good.  My first name is Saba.  What would you say to some fish and chips?”
“I don’t generally talk to my food.”
“Come on.”

The Drache Girl: The Writers

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Books play an important role in Senta and the Steel Dragon, and quite a few fictional authors and their books appear throughout the series. One author mentioned in a previous book actually is a major character in books 4 and 5. ::grin::

Phoebus Dodson is the author of several scientific works that we usually see Hero enjoying or Senta dreading. I imagine his books are huge, with heavy leather bindings, and are usually dusty because nobody wants to read them. His books include: Time and Space, Matter and the Elements, Gravity and Light, and The Contracting Universe.

Dillan Westmacott is the author of a racy novel entitled The Pursuit of Perfection. (Spoiler Alert) This is of course also a reference to the relationship between Terrence, Yuah, and a certain otherworldly winged woman. (End spoiler)

The most often referreed-to author is Kasia Garstone. She is a scandalous muck-raker (and some say socialist or communist. Her books include Steam, Revenge, Sacrifice, and Privilage and Sacrifice. Practically everyone reads her works, but almost nobody admits to it. My favorite line about Garstone actually doesn’t appear until book 5, but I’ll give you a little preview.

“Kasia Garstone says wizards are tools of the oppressors.”

The Dark and Forbidding Land – Mr. Vever

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Mr. Vever is one of those characters who are just around in the background, though he has a fairly large part in Book 5: The Two Dragons, and even gets an action scene.  His part in Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land is mostly as the jeweler who sells Terrence Yuah’s engagement ring.

Though he had yet to move into his shop, Mr. Vever had been for some time working from his home, a small single room house just inside the great wall about half way between the gate and the eastern beach.  Here he cut gems and crafted jewelry, occasionally working on watches though that was not his specialty.  He opened his door to find Yuah and Terrence on his front step.
“Mr. Dechantagne, what a surprise,” he said, motioning them inside.  “And Miss Korlann, it is always a pleasure to see the most beautiful woman in Birmisia.”
“Back off Vever,” drawled Terrence.  “That’s Mrs. Dechantagne now.  We’ve just been married.”
The little man squinted through his spectacles at first one of them and then the other and then back again.
“Funny,” he said.  “You two don’t look like newlyweds… Well, what do I know?  Come in.  Come in.”
“Thank you,” said Terrence, as they stepped inside.  “We’re here to buy a ring.”
Yuah began to feel a bit faint and looking around saw a small chair near the door, which she dropped down onto it, sitting sideways so as not to damage her bustle.  She waved off Mr. Vever’s concerned look.
“Um, well, what type of ring were you looking for?”
“We need a pair of wedding rings,” said Terrence.  “Fourteen karat, I should think.  Simple but stylish.  Not too big.  I don’t suppose we need an engagement ring…”

“We bloody well do,” said Yuah.

The Dark and Forbidding Land- Mr. Parnorsham

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Senta stepped inside the door as the bell hanging above it jingled.  Miss Lusk followed and the bell jingled again as the door closed.  Mr. Parnorsham looked up from behind the counter where he was rearranging costume jewelry in the glass case.  He squinted through his bifocals and wiped his hands on his white apron. 
“Good day ladies.”
“Good day Mr. Parnorsham.”  Miss Lusk politely feigned interest in the costume jewelry.  “I’m in need of some two inch lace today.”
“Let me show you what I have.”
Senta wandered over to look at the toy counter.  It was a small twenty four inch square counter divided into six inch square compartments, each with a different type of toy.  There were rubber bouncing balls, toy guns, tin soldiers, doll sized tea cups with saucers, and wooden ponies with yarn tails.  Senta picked one up and made a horse noise by blowing air between her lips.
“That’s just the one I need,” said Miss Lusk from the other aisle.
“How much is the toy horse, Mr. Parnorsham?” called Senta.
“It’s a toy pony and it’s five pfennigs.  Oh, by the way Miss Lusk, I just got in some more tins of butter biscuits.  I know how much you like them.”
“Yes I’ll take one of those too.”
“Just one?”
“Just one,” she peered around the aisle at Senta and whispered loudly.  “I won’t need that bustle if I keep eating these.  Aren’t you a bit old for a toy pony?”
“It’s for Bessemer.  He’s been playing with my doll lately and I’m afraid he’s going to bite her head off.”
“Do you have five pfennigs?”
“Yeah.  I just don’t know if I want to spend them.  I guess I will though.”  She picked up the wooden pony and brought it to the counter.
“That will be seventy five P, Miss Lusk.”
“We’ll have two of those as well,” said Miss Lusk, pointing at a large framed picture of a brown bottle emblazoned with the words “Billingbow’s Original Sarsaparilla and Wintergreen Soda Water.”  Then she winked again at Senta.

“Well that will bring you total to ninety seven P.”


Mr. Parnorsham is around in all the books, a comfortable background character.

The Drache Girl: The Finklers

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Ada Finkler and her son Aalwijn are, like Hero and Hertzel, escaped Zaeri from Freedonia.  Mrs. Finkler, a renowned cook, has set up a bakery and cafe in Port Dechantagne.  She is mostly a background character, seldom actually seen but often referred to.  Aalwijn on the other hand, becomes a fairly important character by the end of this book.

These characters did not appear in my orignial draft of the series.  As I was writing The Voyage of the Minotaur, I threw in a single line about Mrs. Finkler supplying food for Zeah Korlann.  Later, when I needed an eating establishment, I fleshed them out and they became regular characters.  You will probably get a hint of why Aalwijn becomes important toward the end of this book, but you will clearly see it in the next.

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Terrence

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This book covers part of the story that, when I originally plotted out the series, I had not intended to write.  For Terrence it was both the time of his blindness and his marriage to Yuah.  That being said, when I got around to writing it, I really had fun.

They walked across the grounds of the base toward the temporary City Hall, which was nothing more than a converted barracks building.  Though there were a few who called out a greeting, such as “Hello Captain”, Yuah was unhappy to see that most of the people they passed just stared at the woman leading the blind man.  Terrence was silent as they crossed the militia grounds and Yuah had the impression that he somehow knew that people were watching them.  When they reached the door of the roughly-made twenty five by two hundred foot building with a small painted sign identifying it as their destination, he suddenly stopped and took her by the elbow.

“Do you still want to marry me?” he asked.

“I don’t recall ever saying that I wanted to marry you in the first place.”

“You said that you loved me.”

“That’s not really the same thing, now is it?”

“Don’t you want to marry someone you love?” he asked.

“I want to marry someone who loves me,” she replied.

“We could have your father do it right now.  He’s the mayor.”

“Why do you suddenly want to get married?” asked Yuah.  “You’ve never shown two figs of interest in marrying me, or anyone else come to that.”

“I’m a blind man.  There’s not a lot I can do…”

“You are going to get your sight back.  It’s just a matter of time until we have the curse lifted.”

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  In any case, I can still provide for a family.  I’m on my way to being disgustingly rich.  You could be rich with me.  And if you have six or eight children, you might even plump up enough.”

“What about religion?”

“I don’t care about that.”

“How would we raise the children… I mean, if there were any?”

“However you want.  I leave that entirely up to you.”

She looked at him with one eyebrow cocked.

“I can’t appreciate the look you’re giving me,” he said.  “I’m blind.”

“You still haven’t said that you love me.”

“Is that a deal breaker?”

“Yes,” Yuah said, rather forcefully.  “It most certainly is.”

“I love you then,” said Terrence.

“Oh, this is stupid!” she shouted, pulling her arm from his grasp.  “You’re playing some game with the poor little Zaeri maid.”

“I’m not.”

“We’ll see,” she said, taking him by the arm and opening the door.

She pulled him into the small room inside and past her father’s pinch-faced secretary, despite the beginnings of protestations coming from the woman’s surprised face.  She opened the door to the office beyond and found her father sitting at his desk, surveying a series of papers laid out side by side.  He looked up, his face shifting from one of surprise to one of pleasure.

“Yuah, how lovely…”

“Papa, we want you to marry us,” Yuah interrupted.

“Muh, muh, muh…”

“Right now.”

Zeah Korlann stood up from behind his desk.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

“What?  Why not?” Yuah demanded.

“Um, well… I was hoping to make a better match for you.”  Her father shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

“You’re not likely to find a better match, Papa.  They’re practically royalty.  You know that better than anyone.  Our family has worked for them for generations.”

“He means that I’m not good enough for you,” said Terrence.

“That’s not what he means,” said Yuah.  “That’s not what you mean, is it, Papa?”

“Well, yes it is.  And of course there is the question of religion…”

“It’s been settled,” said Yuah.

“You’re too young to get married,” said Zeah.

“I’m almost twenty seven!” shouted Yuah, with a slight edge of hysteria to her voice.  “I’m already an old maid!  If I wait any longer, my insides will shrivel up and blow away!”

Zeah stared at his daughter for a moment, watching her flushed face as she gulped for air, her corset and her excitement combining to take her very close to a swoon.  Then he looked at Terrence, searching his face for some inkling of motivation.

“I can’t appreciate his look either,” said Terrence to Yuah.

“There’s no hurry,” Zeah said at last.  “Why don’t you plan a spring wedding?  We can have it done right.  A big wedding.  Everyone will want to be there.”

“We are doing it now,” said Yuah.  “There is no Zaeri Imam, so you have to do a civil ceremony.  If you won’t, we’ll go and have Brother Galen marry us under Kafira’s watchful eyes.”

“We need a best man and a maid of honor.”

“You can have your secretary stand in, and get one of the soldiers outside to be the best man.  We don’t care who it is.  Anyone would be proud to stand up for a Dechantagne.”

Zeah took a deep breath and stepped close to Terrence.  “You must take care of her.”

“She will always be provided for,” said Terrence, though it sounded to no one in the room as if they meant the same thing.

It was only a few minutes later when Zeah unhappily began the civil marriage ceremony for his daughter and Terrence Dechantagne, framed on either side by his secretary Cadence Gertz and young Saba Colbshallow.  There wasn’t much to it, really.  He asked Terrence if he would love and cherish, and then he asked Yuah if she would honor and obey.  They both replied “I will”.

The Drache Girl: Hero and Hertzel

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Hero and Hertzel Hertling are twins who appear in Senta and the Steel Dragon.  They first made a small appearance in The Voyage of the Minotaur, and by The Dark and Forbidding Land, they had become Senta’s good friends.  The twins, along with Senta and Graham, form a core of characters for The Drache Girl.

In addition to watching the relationships of kids at school, I think I owe a debt to J.K. Rowling for the way these kids connect in the book.  Of course in the later books their relationships change as they do for all of us in real life.

I have always like the name Hero for a girl, no doubt from my love of Shakespeare and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I picked out Hertzel’s name from a baby name website.  I just needed something to go with Hero.  The twins are Zaeri, which is my fantasy stand-in for Judaism and they have escaped Freedonia, which is my stand in for the Third Reich.  Hero is shy and delicate and I had plenty to draw on for her.  I don’t know where I got the idea for Hertzel to be mute, but it just seemed to fit.

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Yuah

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“Well, you can rest…”  Terrence suddenly felt Yuah stiffen.  She turned around to look behind her, and then came to a halt, halting him as well.

“What is it?”

“It’s those horrible birds.  There’s a pack of them following us.  I just saw one off to the left and there are two more behind us.”

“Velociraptors?”

“No, the bigger ones.  The ones with the brown feathers.”

“Deinonychus.  You can bet that if you see three, there are three around here that you can’t see.”

“Will they attack?”

“Maybe.  Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”  Terrence reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a forty five caliber revolver.”

“Wonderful,” said Yuah.  “It’s enough I have to worry about killer birds.  And now a blind man with a gun.”

“It’s not a gun.  It’s a pistol,” said Terrence.  “And I’m not going to shoot it.  You are.”

“I can’t shoot a gun… a pistol.”

“Don’t worry.  I’ll guide you through it.”  He took her by the wrist and placed the revolver, handle first, into her small hand.  “Where are they now?”

“Two are in the road about thirty feet back.  I don’t see the one in the woods anymore.”

At that moment a squawk came from the woods to the left, and was answered by a similar call in the woods to the right.

“Well, we know they’re there.  Hold the pistol in your right hand, and cup your left hand under the grip.”

Terrence stepped behind her and reached around to hold her hands in his.  His body pressed against her backside so that her bustle collapsed inward and her dress ballooned out somewhat in front.  She could feel his breath on her neck.

“Pick a target and line it up with the sight at the end of the barrel.  Do you have it?”

“I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry.  I have you.  Do you have the bird lined up?”

“Yes.”

“Then gently squeeze.  Don’t pull on the trigger.  Just squeeze.”

There was a tremendous boom and a cloud of metallic smoke.  The gun’s kick had pushed Yuah back, but Terrence’s body hadn’t moved.  She leaned backwards into him.

“Did you hit it?”

Yuah opened the eyes that she hadn’t even realized she had closed. 

“Oh, no.  Now there are three of them.”

“Do you see any in the woods?”

She glanced to either side.  “No.”

“How about behind us?”

“No.  I hear something moving in the woods now though.”

“Yes, I hear it too.  Let’s take aim again at the one we missed.”

“I don’t know which one it is.”

“Just aim at one Yuah.”

Yuah took aim down the barrel of the pistol at the deinonychus which was closest to the center of the road, and just as Terrence had instructed before, squeezed the trigger.  Again there was a tremendous boom and a cloud of smoke.  This time as the gun pushed her back, Yuah leaned into Terrence’s body.  He didn’t move.  The birdlike creature that she had aimed at was hit.  Its chest exploded and it was flipped end on end.

“We got it,” said Yuah turning her head so that her face was only an inch from Terrence’s.

“Good,” he said, but made no move to take his arms from around her shoulders or to turn his face away from hers.

“Should we shoot another one?”

“I don’t know.  What are the others doing?”

“The other two on the road are sniffing it.  Wait… three more are coming out of the woods, but they’re not looking at us.  Do you think they’ll eat their friend?”

“Maybe.  Proper animals wouldn’t resort to cannibalism, but these Birmisian creatures… Let’s get out of here anyway.  If they don’t decide to eat it, they might come after us yet.  And something else might come along.”

Terrence unwrapped his arms from her and took the gun, putting it back in the pocket of his great coat.  They continued down the road.  As they walked, he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.  Yuah looked back once to see that the deinonychus, now six, were still sniffing at their dead companion’s body.

The Dark and Forbidding Land is a high point for Yuah.  As I’ve mentioned before, she has the most drastic story arc of the major characters and this is still just the beginning, but I so enjoy writing about her.

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Mrs. Colbshallow

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I was just telling my wife how much I love the minor characters in Senta and the Steel Dragon.  Mrs. Colbshallow is one of those.  She starts in Brechalon as the cook for the Dechantagne Family.  In the first draft of The Voyage of the Minotaur, she was just called “Cook”.  By The Dark and Forbidding Land, Mrs. Colbshallow has come to be the lizzie wrangler of the household.

“I Tisson,” he said, then pointed to each of the others in turn.  “This Sirrek, Kheesie, Cissy.”

“Wonderful!” shouted the human, clapping her hands together.  “My yes, you are a fine fellow.  Excellent.  You will all come along with me.”  She waved for them to follow and then started across the base towards the great wall.  “My name is Mrs. Colbshallow, though I don’t imagine you’ll be able to pronounce it.  You can say ‘Lady’, yes?”

“Lady.”  Each of the four lizzies tried out the word.

They reached the edge of the base when they were suddenly waylaid by a soldier with one of the big weapons slung over his shoulder.  The four lizzies instinctively shrunk back and tried to look small.

“Did you get a good selection, Mother?” the soldier asked Mrs. Colbshallow.

“Yes, yes.  No need to worry about that.  I’ve been hiring servants for nearly forty years now.  I know how to spot a good one, be he man or beast.”  She turned to the four lizardmen.  “This is my son, Saba.”

“They don’t need to know my name, Mother.”

“Of course they do.  You’ll be coming to dine at the Dechantagne house at least once a day.

“I’ve got my own house in the works you know,” replied the soldier.  “And besides, I don’t think the Dechantagne house will ever be finished.”

“Oh hush.  It’s practically done now.  A bit of paint here and a bit of plaster there.  My room will be ready by next week.  In fact, we’re all moving in next week.  We’re going to squeeze in downstairs until the upstairs is complete.”

“Well I just hope you don’t freeze to death, Mother.”  The soldier walked away and Mrs. Colbshallow led Cissy and the others off the base and up the street toward the great gate.

“Did you understand that conversation, Tisson?” asked Mrs. Colbshallow.  “How fluent in Brech are you and the others?”

“I talk lot words.  I understand.  Cissy talk.  Sisson, he understand, no talk.  Kheesie understand little, no talk.”

“Excellent.  You will make a fine majordomo.  You may explain to the others anything that they might not understand.”