I adhere to this tradition (and resemble that description).
But I also built a website ahead of time to try to help.
Another tradition I try to adhere to is "Keep it Simple Stupid" (KISS). And to that end, this page should lead you to info on any of the characters that dance in the first half of the novel.
PCs: Player Characters. The Company is made up of all the characters my friend B.C. and I created during our early campaigning. They are 'the good guys' but not the only good guys.
BBEGs & other Bad Guys: Big Bad Evil Guy/Gal (or more specific to gaming, Big Bad End Guy/Gal): Truth is, you're not going to meet the BIG BBEG in the first half of this novel. And in the second half (if/when I ever get to it) we'll only meet their top lieutenant (who, I suppose, IS the BBEG for this novel). We'll have to wait 'til the second novel to meet, greet and try to defeat The Company's real BBEG.
NPCs: Non-player characters. Throughout a D&D game the adventurers meet a diverse set of characters who might provide information, hire them, lure them to traps or try to seduce them. Bad Guys are NPCs too, but they have the specific goal of wanting to defeat or otherwise do harm to our protagonists. For our purposes, NPCs are any characters who are neither in The Company, nor intentionally trying to harm The Company.
The Company (PCs)[]
Rocco, a stoner, farmer, warrior and reluctant Lord. He has a pretty cool sword.
Valantino (Val), a psychic-delic wizard who may or may not suffer from PTSD induced Dissociative Identity Disorder (he was lost in a Minotaur's Cave all alone for a very, very long time with nothing to eat in the dark but the mushrooms … and the Minotaurs). He has a fondness for fire.
Sammy, an odd halfling (some might even call him queer). He has a penchant for leather and I–IV–V.
Ar-Raguel and Eartha-Raguelle, half-elf twins, one a Holy Knight, the other a knavish hero. In a pinch that's like one whole elf, right?
Billy, a rogue with 25% more Drow than most. She most decidedly does not wear "bikini armor".
Dudley … is there anything sadder than a Dwarf with a broken heart? Alright then, how about I throw in he’s a class warrior having been cast out of his own land for stirring up trouble between the mining and noble classes? Hi-ho! Hi-ho! Workers should run the show!
The Bad Guys (BBEGs BEGs and li'l EGs)[]
Everyone Else (NPCs)[]
Deities & Demigods[]
Immortal[]
On Gaearth, the term "Immortal" does not mean a being that can never die, only one, that if not taken by disease, accident or other extenuating factors, never dies on the material plane (not unlike some species of trees on Earth). Elves are assumed to be immortal in this way, but no one is 100% sure. Elfkin seem to die of old age, but some, who remain in the forests with their forest family, live so long as to forget exactly how old they are (and they do age more considerably than their pureblood relatives). Dragons may also be immortal in this fashion. However, immortal beings of this type, when killed on the material plane are dead. Their bodies begin to decompose and their spirit moves to other planes unless powerful magics are used to repair the body and recall the spirit.
Divine[]
Divine beings are more than simply immortal. It is unlikely that any being other than another Divine could ever cause harm to a Divine. These include 42 judges that Gaea put in place after some of the earliest beings she placed on Gaearth developed magic so powerful they risked destroying the world and came very close to once - hence the rings around Gaearth, and hence Gaea's raising up the these powerful beings and granting them their own planes of existence to do with as they please. But there are other beings beyond the 42 acclaimed by Gaea for whom death is no longer a concern and who curry dedication from mortals in exchange for minor miracles. And clearly some are more dangerous than others (but by and by they all keep each other in check).
The first of these great wizard-priests was Apollo, who learned how to harness the energy of the sun. Although not evil in the typical sense, he was very dangerous to himself and to everyone else on Gaearth and so he was made the first divine being by Gaea and Omni, taken from Gaearth and placed in a special realm of his own (akin to the elemental plane of light).
Over time, as Gaea notes when other beings acquire planet-breaking powers (a process that takes tens of thousands of years) she removes them from the planet. These are the Divine, akin to Gods in the Greco-Roman or Egyptian or Celtic Pantheons. They are immortal in the sense that they will never "die" unless overwhelmed with an even greater power than they possess. It has come to pass that Divines have killed each other, so the 42 judges number is flexible in that some take each other out and others are added by Gaea over time.
Demi-Gods[]
Demi-Gods are specifically the offspring of Divines and mortal beings. Half-gods. They are immortal in the same way elves are but also capable of leaving the material realm and visiting the realm of their parents - and possibly other divine realms. Many Demi-Gods establish themselves as demons, devils, angels, legendary heroes etc. Some are in constant tension with their parents; others are favored daughters and sons. The Divines, having all been mortal at one point, are often as fickle and shallow as mortals.
Godlings[]
Godlings, a step down form the Divine, are those beings who have developed their knowledge of the arcane and divine arts to such a degree that they rival the powers of Demi-Gods and may even receive favor from a Divine. These Godlings may have created pocket planes or phylacteries to store their spirit and essence should their mortal body fail. Beings from Lichs to a Paladin's Steed can fall under this category, which is also used sarcastically to refer to the Divines. A Godling might be considered among the '1%' of magic users on Gaearth, some with the potential to ascend to divinity. But more often than not, Godlings practice the Dark Forest hypothesis and on the rare occasion they venture forth, they have a terrible tendency to slay each other, regularly reducing the number of beings that may someday develop planet breaking powers. This is according to Gaea's plan.
Omni & Gaea[]
There are only two true, eternal Gods in the universe where Gaearth spins away. In truth, they may simply be two aspects of the same entity but on the rare occasion they make their presence known, they do tend to appear as separate entities. Omni is everything. He is all the stuff in the universe. As he likes to remind people, he does nothing but exist. And chat with Gaea. Gaea is the Creator God of this universe. She takes Omni's stuff and turns it into everything that has any sense of order or pattern to it. From atomic particles to planets and suns, she creates. She considers herself an artist and Omni the medium. Together they produce evolutionary art. They have always been and yet have no known history. That's what makes a God a God after all.
NB: While Omni identifies as 'he' and Gaea as 'she', that's largely for convenience's sake. They are eternal, mortal beings and not bound by such binaries. Omni is matter, Gaea energy. Either can be transformed into the other and there are many states in between (is a photon matter or energy? Yes! What the hell is plasma? It's matter with lots of free electrons in its soup and every time an electron changes position in the soup, it emits ... photons!). They are complements of one another, and over time, simply chose to emulate some of the favorite partnerships they witnessed on Gaearth. And since their partnership regularly results in new life, they became both fascinated by and deeply concerned by how many of Gaea's creations gave so much of themselves to their children.
Gaea and Omi could relate.
But no. They're Gods. They have whatever naughty bits they want at the moment or none at all.
