All about one of my characters: Asseah

Religious and aristrocratic. Responsible and proud. Kindly and liberal. Asseah is the queen of the valkyries and has a minor role in book 2, a significant albeit small role in book 3, and a large role in book 4.
When first introuduced she is a mere princess of nineteen or twenty years. Then her mother dies and she assumes the throne. Asseah spends most of the series as the queen of the valkyries. She is also fated to be the last of the royal line since she is childless when he valkyrie race loses its ability to reproduce. It falls upon this poor woman to lead her race into a dignified extinction as its last ruler.
Asseah is more religious than most characters and often turns to the valkyrie goddess Lunas for guidance. She prays a lot and makes many religious offerings to her goddess. She also ridigly adheres to religious traditions with the exception of one. Being a race of females, the valkyries are commanded by their taboos not love a man. Asseah finds herself smitten by Anar to the point where she believes she has angered the goddess. Though when the choice finally comes to choose between honoring love or the goddess, Asseah turns to Anar.
Asseah's attachment to the Erayic boy causes turmoil throughout books 2, 3, and 4. Her justification for loving Anar? According to her, now that the valkyries are unable to reproduce they would have to change their customs if they are to avoid extinction. For obvious reasons Asseah resents the idea of the valkyries dying out.
She is the manistestation of feminine power in the series. As well as being Anar's love interest she is also a key player in the war against Usor'an, taking on important policial roles in her homeland of valkyrie-controlled Chazz. It is her lands that get invaded by the Demon Empire and thus she has to take it to herself and her people to save themselves.
She is concerned with the survival and comfort of her people first and foremost, sometimes putting more importance in that than defeating demonkind. There is one instance where she throws a liberating army out of a valkyrie city so it could be repopulated pronto, denying the city's use by the military. As a ruler she allows no one to push her around!
Asseah looks like, and this is directly from the description in book 2: her hair is long and blonde, her skin is pale, she is delicately built. Her legs are her major phyisical flaw. She lost her legs in an accident and goes around in a wheelchair.

Peoples: House Jara

The great valkyrie philosopher Saffron Koshest once said "To place faith in a Jara is as burning oneself with fire and twice as foolish".
The Jara, alongside the Usor, are one of the destroyer houses within the Demon Empire. Just like the other 12 destroyer houses the Jara share a piece of power within the Demon Empire. The Jara are the least politically influencial destroyer house not only due to their small numbers (a mere 9000 individuals) but also by their isolated lifestyle.
When the Demon Empire was founded the honor code that would bind the demons together as a society was proposed to the destroyer houses. This honor code would turn the demons from a disorganized and fractured society into a rigid and lawful one where personal character as well as duty defined one's worth. All accepted the honor code except the Jara because their lifestyle was incompatable with the code. Why? The Jara rule their lands with networks of spies and assassins. Where other destroyer houses encourage undying loyalty and egotistical pride in one's character which could make each of its adherents almost chivalrous, the Jara are dishonest, cheating, stealing, manipulative liars.
Jara destroyers will stoop to any level to make a profit taking advantage of their honorable cousins, lying and scheming to get rich fast. The Jara enforce their will with complex networks of assassins who "subtract" rivals with a carefully placed strike.
Jara controlled cities are watched over by ruthless vigilantes and run by secret lords from their lairs deep in the underworld. Visitors to these cities are often warned to interact as little as possible with the locals.

Assassins are what the Jara are known for. They are said to be the best anywhere. They are among the most disgusting demons anywhere, even worse than the man-farmers of house Stora or the torturers of house Rarus. They are in love with killing, slaughtering other demons to satisfy their lust for blood. They follow a distinct set of traditions and rules: a vile parody of the honor code:
-Assassins always quickly whisper "death by Jara" to their victims just before killing them, usually as they make the killing blow. If doing so would alert the victim, they say the words to the corpse.
-"From the shadows we come" is the motto of the guild as well as the whole Jara household.
-Each assassin maintains a dark red sword which is a replica of their symbol. The symbol is inspired by a legendary blade whose owner bled all over it after being killed by Jaranaxifus, the first ever Jara.
-Assassins never give their real name to anyone, always making one up on the spot. Stories abound of Jara assassins who gave fake names to their own children, sometimes a different name to each child before disappearing into the night forever.

Done book 5

Quick post: in the first hours of July the 15th 2008 I finished book 5. w00t. Now I have the first drafts of 4 books finished. I have started book 6 and will resume work on book 4 soon.

Soon to be Finished: Book 5

My goal for book 5 is 250 thousand words. I am at 238 thousand and the story is just entering the climax (update: 250000 words reached July 12th). The last bit of book 5 is just about to be finished and soon I will have finally finished the first draft. It is already longer than any of the others at almost 500 pages in reading format.
Despite this, I have not yet finished book 4. I have books 1-3 completed (first draft) but not book 4. Why? I started books 4 and 5 at the same time under the idea that both could be written at the same time, that when I ran out of ideas for 4 I could work on 5 and vice versa.
But there was a problem with that. I loved book 5. I love all my works but book 5 really drew me in like no other story had. It was what book 5 was about that drew me in. Its themes have helped shape the way I look at the world and the emotional themes were so powerful that sometimes I would just stand up and wander the house while thinking about what I've wrote or just lie back in my chair. Sometimes I really upset myself when writing the sad scenes, I really did! Of all my works book 5 is my new favourite.
Despite its length, importance to the storyline, and strength, book 5 is the only one (so far) that I will not discuss on this blog. It gives away too much about what eventually happens during the other books. I have personal ban on publishing material related to book 5 here. In fact, of all the excerpts I have in my excerpts posts, only one is from book 5.
Now that I am coming close to the end of book 5 I can do one of two things. One, I can start book 6 which I have already named and made a cover for. Two, I can finish book 4 which I haven't worked on for months. Three, I can start book 6 and work on it when I feel like it while focusing on book 4. I really got to finish book 4, I really do.
I look forward to writing the second draft of book 5. It would mean I get to read it.