Sacred Band Character of the Week: Shamshi

Shamshi

Shamshi is a military character in the Sacred Band of Stepsons fictional universe and in the Thieves’ World shared fictional universe. The illegitimate son of Datan, the Nisibisi sorcerer, and Adrastus Ajami’s Mygdonian wife, Shamshi falls under the sway of Black Nisibis early in life, helping his father trap and hold the Froth Daughter, Jihan, during Tempus’s assault on Wizardwall. Bold and willful, Shamshi takes part in several plots aimed at the destruction of the Sacred Band of Stepsons until he is taken hostage first by Askelon of Meridian, and then by Tempus at the end of the Wizard Wars. Niko, Tempus’s partner, pleads to take the boy to Bandara where he can be trained as a secular adept, and Tempus relents and allows it. Niko brings Shamshi and two other trainees of his back to Lemuria just before the Battle of Chaeronea, after which the Sacred Band, including Shamshi, travel to Sanctuary. There Shamshi falls once more under the influence of Askelon, lord of dreams, and deserts the Sacred Band, becoming first a sniper set on vengeance and later a pawn of the angry Fates, who use an ancient poison to transform Shamshi and, through him, make an end to much of the evil he embraces.

To learn more about Shamshi and the rest of the characters in The Sacred Band go to the freebase site at www.sacredbandofstepsons.freebase.com

Sacred band Character of the week: Jihan

Jihan

 

Jihan, wind-charmer and Froth Daughter, is a military character created by Janet Morris in the Sacred Band of Stepsons universe and the Thieves’ World shared fictional universe. Jihan is the daughter of Stormbringer, primeval god of wind and wave. She came to earth from her home in the sea to consummate an arranged marriage with Askelon, lord of dreams, which never took place because Askelon chose at the last moment to wed Tempus’s sister-in-arms, Cime, instead. Having agreed to remain in human shape for a year, Jihan decides that Tempus must repay her for her loss of a husband by providing her a year’s companionship. Preternaturally powerful, passionate, childlike, and headstrong, Jihan stays a year with Tempus, fighting at his side in every battle, bringing her more-than-mortal strengths to bear in his cause. After a year with the Sacred Band of Stepsons, Jihan returns to her father’s sea. Twice more she comes and goes, fighting beside the Sacred Band when it suits her, trying to convince Tempus that they should have a child. Eventually she does have a child by him, and raises it beneath the sea at the edge of time. When this child escapes and comes seeking vengeance upon his absent father, Jihan follows, returning to the Sacred Band once again. Her son eventually joins the Stepsons, and Jihan too rejoins Tempus’s forces intermittently thereafter, where she uses her power over cold and water to aid the Band on several occasions, including the Battle of Meridian.

Gender:

  • Female

Place of Birth:

  • Sea at the edge of time

Character Created By:

  • Janet Morris

Appears In These Fictional Universes:

  • The Sacred Band of Stepsons universe
  • Sacred Band of Stepsons
  • Thieves’ World fictional shared universe

Also known as: Wind-charmer

Notable Quotes:

“Time is so…fluid where I live” -Jihan, The Sacred Band

“I am always yours to call, wherever the sea can reach.” -Jihan, The Sacred Band by Janet Morris & Chris Morris

“My father has relented. He’s given me leave to come back and be with you, poor lonely, sleepless man — eternally.”- Jihan, Beyond Wizardwall, by Janet Morris

“Don’t forget, Riddler, how I love thee. Or all we shared together. Or that this sea and all other seas can lead you back to me.”- Jihan, City at the Edge of Time, by Janet Morris

“Shed your mortal skin and let me take you beneath the waves.”-Jihan, City at the Edge of Time, by Janet Morris

“What’s holding us up then? I’ve had my fill of babies and monks and twaddle. Let’s get out into the World and see what wrongs we can find to right.” She grinned. “Or vice versa.”-Jihan, Tempus, by Janet Morris

Check out more information on Jihan and all the other Sacred Band Characters at the Sacred Band Freebase site HERE.

Sacred Band Character of the Week: Randal

Randal

Randal, the Tysian Hazard-class mage, first appeared in the Sacred Band of Stepsons universe when Tempus took his warriors north to Tyse (Beyond Sanctuary, 1985). Randal joined the Band in Tyse, becoming the first and only warrior-mage ever to serve with Tempus’s Sacred Band of Stepsons. Under orders from the Band’s commander, he served as the rightman of Stealth, called Nikodemos. As such, he fought in the Wizard Wars and in the coup at the Festival of Man. After the Wizard Wars, Randal was among a small contingent of Stepsons who returned to Sanctuary. Once there, he took a post as Sanctuary’s First Hazard (in Thieves’ World universe anthology volumes, 7 -11). After the Stepsons withdrew from Sanctuary for a second time, Randal rejoined the Band at their base of operations in Lemuria. When Tempus brought the Sacred Band of Thebes to Sanctuary for training (The Sacred Band, 2010), he summoned Randal. There Randal was reunited with one of his former apprentices, Merricat, and fought in the Battle of Meridian. Randal can become any kind of animal, but he is allergic to animal fur and this weakness hampered his early career. From Askelon of Meridian, he acquired a charmed handkerchief that for a time kept his allergies in check and a blade called a ‘kris’ that parts fire and issues hornets from its tip. He briefly possessed the Nisibsi globe of power that was his portion of the spoils from the assault on Wizardwall. Randal has a platonic love for Niko. He is not as robust as the shock troopers in the Band and they call him “Witchy-ears.” Randal came up through the Mageguild apprentice system, rising from “Junior Hazard” to “First Hazard.” He taught at Mageguild schools in Tyse, Ranke, and in Sanctuary, where the young adept, Merricat, apprenticed to him. Randal’s mental skills, bravery, and fierce loyalty more than make up for any lack of physical prowess in the eyes of the Stepsons.

Also known as:

  • Witchy-ears,
  • Junior Hazard,
  • First Hazard,
  • Third Hazard,
  • Sacred Bander,
  • Stepson,
  • Mageling,
  • Hazard,
  • Randal, Hazard-class mage,
  • Fifth Hazard

Notable Quotes:

“The universe forgives those who give until their hearts are aching and their spirits weak, and finds a way to renew all strength and cure all ills, in this world or the next, if a soul can just have faith.” -Randal, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris, (c) 2010 Perseid Publishing

“Some nights, valor and cold purpose aren’t enough.”- Randal, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris,  (c) 2010 Perseid Publishing.

“These warriors of the Sacred Band were inscrutable; they loved their war and death and picking through the bones of time to sort out right from wrong, good from bad, holy from profane, honor from dishonor.” -Randal, from Beyond the Veil,  by Janet Morris, (c) 1985

“Some nights, one wants to tell beloveds everything that’s been waiting to be said. Some nights, a man needs flesh and blood and warm breath and a loving heart.” -Randal, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris, (c) 2010 Perseid Publishing.

“One man can make another’s life so much better.” -Randal, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris, (c) 2010 Perseid Publishing.

“Live and die, shoulder to shoulder, back to back. For the honor of serving by your partner’s side. For the glory of dying by your partner’s side. Honor and glory meant everything to these men. And whatever else Randal might be, he was a man.”- Randal, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris, (c) 2010 Perseid Publishing.

Check out more information about Randal, and all the Sacred Band characters at the freebase page HERE.

Sacred Band Character of the Week: Straton

Straton

This week’s featured character from The Sacred Band tales is Straton.

Straton is a character in the Sacred Band of Stepsons fictional universe who has been with the Stepsons since their formation. Straton is considered by many of the professionals in Tempus’s forces to be the deadliest warrior among them. Straton has fought in every engagement undertaken by the Stepsons with the exception of the period during which he served in Sanctuary as Tempus’s interim commander, and again when he fought at the Battle of Shaga while the Sacred Band Stepsons was between missions. Straton and Critias became a Sacred Band pair during the Wizard Wars and maintain a very close bond despite Straton’s infatuation with Ischade, the necromant. Perhaps feeling responsible for Straton being bolt-shot twice in the same shoulder, Ischade gave Straton his ghost horse, a mount who cannot die and cannot be harmed by mortal weapons.

Also known as: Strat.

War name: Ace.

Rank and Titles:

Notable quotes:

“The gods gave us horses so we wouldn’t have to fight on foot.” -Straton, from The Fish, the Fighters, and the Song- girl, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris.

“It makes me irritable when people come around asking for trouble and I don’t have any ready for them. Now I’ll have to go find them and deliver some.” -Straton, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris.

“Something awful is always going to happen, Arton. It’s Sanctuary. You’re a Stepson. Awful is a big part of your job.” -Straton, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris.

“By Enlil’s third and fuzziest ball….” -Straton  from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris.

“I see all sorts of things when I’m clearing my pipes.” -Straton from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris.

By Enlil’s prong, give the boy a chance.”- Straton, from The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris & Chris Morris

Check out more facts and details about Straton, and all the characters at the Sacred Band Freebase website HERE.

Sacred Bander Character of the Week: Ischade

Ischade

Ischade is a fictional character in The Sacred Band of Stepsons universe and the Thieves’ World shared fictional universe. The necromant Ischade, cursed ages before she arrived in Sanctuary, has a touch that kills her lovers before the next sunrise. In Sanctuary, she’s known as a vampire, a raiser of the dead, and a witch. She ensorcels Straton, the Stepsons’ interim commander in Sanctuary, and he becomes her lover. Together they oppose the agents of Black Nisibis and Roxane, the sorceress known as Death’s Queen. Ischade’s power in Sanctuary grows as her minions multiply and her association with the Sacred Band brings her into direct conflict with Roxane and her allies. She confronts and imprisons Roxane, but Niko implores mercy and Tempus decrees that the Roxane must be freed. When the Sacred Band of Stepsons heads north to battle Black Nisibis, Roxane stays on in Sanctuary. When the Band returns, all their old enemies, mortal and preternatural, follow close behind and Ischade is drawn into a final confrontation between Tempus’s forces and the armies of their enemies. In the final battle, Ischade seres the Band by dispatching the mortally wounded, but when Straton, her lover, is critically hurt, Ischade cannot save him. For her service to the Sacred Band of Stepsons, she is commended and rewarded by the Band’s commander.

Notable quotes:

“Men make their own fates — it’s personal, not a matter for debate” -Ischade, from the book, Tempus

“It’s all right. Things as they once were will never be again, but it’s all right.” -Ischade, from The Sacred Band

“Order is its own reward.” -Ischade, from Tempus

“Something is going on everywhere, most of which no one understands.” -Ischade, from The Sacred Band

Learn more about Ischade and the rest of the characters from The Sacred Band series at the Freebase website HERE.

Featured Sacred Band Character of the week: Critias

Critias

Critias is a military person and military character in the Sacred Band of Stepsons fictional universe. The Stepson ‘Critias’ is not to be confused with Plato’s uncle or Plato’s book by that name. Critias, called Fox, joins the Sacred Band of Stepsons as a single mercenary shortly after its formation and remains with the Band for the rest of his career, taking a Sacred Band partner, Straton. Critias participates in every major engagement joined by Tempus’s forces, fighting in the Wizard Wars, the Mygdonian Campaign, and the Great War (including the Battle of Chaeronea, the Downwind Sweep, and the Battle of Meridian). The brightest, coldest, and boldest of the Stepsons, Critias is initially Tempus’s task force leader and second in command and later becomes his executive officer. As the Band grows and the warriors mature through a series of conflicts, Critias remains one of Tempus’s mainstays. In “The Sacred Band” (Paradise Publishing, 2010), an uneasy relationship exists between Critias and Nikodemos, Tempus’s partner, which comes to a head when their commander is wounded at Chaeronea with Niko by his side. The tensions between these two senior officers persist, unabated, throughout the Sacred Band’s return to Sanctuary and the missions undertaken there, exacerbated by the integration of the Theban Sacred Band remnants into the Riddler’s forces. Nevertheless, Critias’s unflinching determination and unflagging devotion over so many years of war-fighting and his exemplary service record make him an indispensable member of Tempus’s cadre and among the most valued of the Sacred Band’s leadership.

Notable quotes:
“Survival has its own etiquette.” -The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris and Chris Morris.
“Hug my crack.” -Beyond Sanctuary, by Janet Morris”Don’t, boy. Draw that sword on your left hip now and everything changes — for the worse, for you and all your brothers.” -The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris and Chris Morris.
“Death’s easy to find. If She wants you, you’ll meet Her here as well as anywhere.” -Beyond Sanctuary, by Janet Morris”No mercy goes unpunished by the angry gods.” -The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris and Chris Morris.
“To save something, where precious little can be saved. Again and again. To tip a balance, change destiny, trick fate.” -The Sacred Band, by Janet Morris and Chris Morris.
“Haste breeds error; error breeds woe.” -Beyond the Veil, by Janet Morris

To learn more about Critias and the rest of teh Sacred Band characters, go to the Sacred Band freebase webpage here.