Okay then.
Yesterday I fleshed out a character that I already knew to a certain extent. I'd had him rattling around in my brain, I just had to work out a few details. Honestly the result of that surprised me. I did not have any intention of making him the child of a home broken by physical abuse. But once the idea occurred to me, suddenly it couldn't be any other way.
I wonder if other writers have these kinds of surprises when they write. I mean when you're writing you have to assume that there are things happening in the world the audience doesn't see, but that doesn't mean that as a writer you have any more notion that they're happening. But of course when you fill in those details later so that it suits the story, everyone thinks you're a genius. I often wonder how much of the back-story J K Rowling really had. I mean sure there were some fairly big things she had to know like about (--redacted--) or how (--redacted--) was really (--redacted--) because there are allusions to it in the story. But some of the fine details had to have been fleshed out on the fly.
But today I have a different task in mind. Today I need to create a character from scratch. I have a good number of characters for my Magic World so far, but one that I've been missing, is the leader of the little group of misfits. I don't have much of an idea, except that she is a woman, and I'm leaning toward ex-military, which is what I'm thinking for most of these characters. That might might go either way though, so we'll have to see.
But one thing I'm pretty good at is making up D&D characters from Zero concept to fully formed character, which someone might have to do if their character is somehow unceremoniously *ahem* decapitated for example. So I'm thinking of approaching this as a D&D build, which means I need a Race, Class, and Concept. So let's just start filling in the blanks
Name: Rachele Raffaella Albini
Race: Elf
Gender: Female
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 110 lbs
Eyes: Black
Hair: Blonde
Alignment:Sarcastic Neutral
Affiliation:
When I come up with a character for the first time, and I don't have a concept in mind, it helps me to find a living base, a person around whom I can build the idea of the character, who embodies the concept I'm looking for, or who fits SOME of those concepts, but who also has other qualities that may help to inform other aspects of the character. So for this character I had several ideas ranging from Milla Jovovich, Kate Beckinsale, Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Anwar, Lena Headly, even Daryll Hannah when she was in Kill Bill.
But finally I settled on Maria Bello. She seems to have the particular thing I'm looking for where she can be charismatic, sarcastic, sexy, yet haggard, as if life has treated her a bit roughly but she's gotten by because she's learned to play rough too. She also reminds me a bit of Carrie Fisher, back in the Star Wars era, with the voice, they sense of humor. And she's not afraid to get her hands dirty.
So let's start the back-story.
Rachele was born to Italian immigrants who came to the US a few years after World War II, (putting her in her 60s, elves age just a little slower than humans with median death age being around 90-110, which would make her the human equivalent of early 40s.) Her parents both died of Polio when she was 4. They were working in hard conditions, her father was a coal miner, and her mother a seamstress, both working for very little pay in hard conditions in very close proximity to others. It's unclear who contracted the disease, but one gave it to the other, and both died without seeing their daughter again.
Rachele was in communal care with several other children of immigrants who were working to pay off their debts for their transport to the US, but when her parents died she was put into an orphanage. Her life there was difficult, with both boys and girls thrown together. Most of the children there were several years older than her, their parents having died in WWII, and they were resentful of the younger children whom they always felt got better treatment. She learned to fight to survive, but also to defend those who weren't able to defend themselves. By the age of 7 she had earned the respect of all the younger children, for being a defender and an organizer, and among the older kids, who she treated fairly and with respect after having kicked their asses.
When she was 14 she had to leave the Orphanage when the new caretaker took an unhealthy interest in her and the other girls. She was the only one who was brave enough to go out on her own, and she knew that the other girls would be in trouble, so before she left she stole the cyanide that was used to poison the rats in the sewers beneath the orphanage. She'd read up on the dosages, and knew how much it would take to kill the new caretaker, and she used two-thirds that amount in the wine he drank with his dinner the night she left. As he sat writhing sickly a few minutes after he had downed the glass, she came in the window, shoving his face gleefully into his food. She told him about the cyanide, and explained to him exactly the dosage she would need to kill him, and that she would be checking up on the girls, and that if she ever found out that he had done anything to any of them, he would have to check his food and drink for the rest of his life, which, she promised, would be quite short. She smiled casually as she told him all this, then tossed the antidote kit that was kept near the cyanide bottle on the table and calmly left out the window.
The following four years she traveled the country, hitchhiking mostly, doing odd jobs, and seeing the backroads and trails from the cabs of mac trucks and vans, and other vehicles. She dealt violently with those who tried to take her by force. She was not squeamish at all about hurting people, and managed to steal a knife from a drunk asshole who wasn't really sober enough to try to fight her. Leaving his drunk ass without his wallet on the side of the highway was how she had gotten her first car too, a 1968 firebird, when she was sixteen. She forged his name on the title and signed it over to herself, claiming she had paid $200 for it. When she flashed a little elven cleavage at the county assessor, he smiled and signed off on the paperwork, reasoning that there was no way a skinny little elf girl could possibly steal a car from a man.
When she turned 18 she joined the Marines Womens Reserve, and spent a few years working as auto mechanic, a skill she picked up keeping the Firebird in good repair. Her unit was involved in several engagements, and in most of them she managed to acquire one of her male compatriots rifles, against orders, and assisted in defending their unit. A few times she was promoted for valor and demoted for insubordination, once nearly at the same time. The hypocrisy soon wore thin on her, so when the CIA approached her after she had come to their attention, she took up their offer, and left the Marines (though she got the tattoo on her shoulder before she left.)
The CIA appreciated her self-reliance, and willingness to do violence, and she spend the next several decades learning languages and fighting styles, and firearms, tactics, but more importantly influence. She learned how to manipulate people, and put ideas in their heads, and soon she was leading a team of her own. She operated in the deteriorating soviet block during the last part of the Cold War, and managed a few coups that allowed a few countries to gain independence, "all for Uncle Sam" she would say sarcastically. She worked with a Military Magical Engineer for a while, but much of her records during that time are classified (meaning I don't want to try to flesh that part out just yet.) And following that, she was offered a choice of a desk in Langley, or Forced Retirement. She chose the latter, traveling the world, doing work for the vast network of international informants and allies, to generally help out the underdogs, and work with the military forces of any country that was fighting for independence.
The she got a call that an old friend had died, and headed back to America.
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Well that was interesting! Again, just kinda came out of nowhere. This was a bit difficult because I had wanted her to be a badass, but for the time period I wan't sure how I would get her into combat. Thank goodness for the CIA who is willing to use anyone, so long as they can do the job. At least in my version of the world. In reality women weren't really recruited till the 80's though the info I saw may have just been a clever ruse.
EDIT: 1/9/2014 After reading something written by Jim Butcher about how to write, I wanted to go ahead and add some details about Rachele's character to make the character more interesting and to fill out some details. The first thing is adding TAGS, which are key words tied to that character, and used almost solely in conjunction with that character and TRAITS which are concepts or things associated with that character, almost a trademark, like certain clothes, hair, attitude, and other types of things that are easy to imagine.
TAGS: Haunted, Sardonic, Lean, black-eyed, unsettling.
TRAITS: Dirty Blonde Hair, Half-smile, Faded chestnut-brown leather jacket, blue jeans, Quick Temper, sarcasm,
Exaggerated: Quick Tempter, (able to control when the stakes are high) Moody, wicked sense of humor, "been in the game a long time," knows how to lead, how to encourage.
Exotic Position: 60 year old elf in the CIA.
Anyway, I'm done for the night. I get very few comments or suggestions, so don't be shy people, they are welcomed. And as always...
Thanks for Reading!
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