Puppet/manipulator icon By sachin modgekar, IN, the Noun Project.
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Minyune (33)
Project: Fantasy novel (Soluna trilogy Book 1: Dark is Noon)
Known as: Minyune
Real name: Unknown (even “Minyune” may be a title)
Group affiliation: Sorry, can’t tell you yet
Physical description: Minyune is over six feet tall and a striking figure. His eyes (almond shaped and dark), cheekbones, chin – basically all his features are sharp and well-defined. His jet-black hair is never out of place and he wears fine clothing frequently with embroidery of magical creatures (even when wearing practical clothes, they are obviously on the premium end). He exudes dignity.
Personality: Minyune is reserved and controlled. Those around him wonder if he even experiences the normal range of human emotions. There is, however, an intensity about him. He chooses his words carefully and it is clear he expects them to be heeded. Those who serve him respond to his requests quickly – and few have the courage to see what happens if they don’t.
What most don’t know is that Minyune is a master thespian. He is gifted at disguises and still more gifted at pretending to be all sorts of people. When he took Joshua to the Salingtons he was an earnest, sincere, and desperate figure. He slipped away so completely in part because he was no longer that person when he left Greentop.
He is tremendously manipulative and definitely believes the ends justify the means.
History: The other members of the Order of Destiny do not know Minyune’s origins – only that he became their leader by order of the Emperor. The Order has existed for centuries and its mission is to uncover prophesies, evaluate their likely accuracy and value, and then manipulate them to the Empire’s benefit (the Empire is an ocean away from the kingdom ruled by the Salingtons, and they have very little contact). As such, the Order’s influence over the Empire waxes and wanes with how compelling the prophesy is currently driving their activities.
The truth is that Minyune grew up in the Order, but between his abilities as a chameleon and his long absence people don’t make these connections. While away from the order he worked in the emperor’s spy network (further honing his disguise skills). Whether it was chance or planning, Minyune was molded into the ideal leader for the Order. He has tremendous knowledge of prophesy and its interpretation but also wide knowledge of the world and political connections.
Both due to Minyune’s leadership and the fact a number of powerful prophesies seem about to be realized, the Order is currently at the zenith of its power in the Empire. Minyune’s primary focus concerns the prophesy of the Soluna. He believes that the prophesy speaks of a celestial event of a known cycle. That is, he has a prophesy of a great power being born and he knows the date it will occur. This gives him a rare opportunity.
Minyune’s plans go beyond identifying and manipulating the Soluna. As he knows that this prophesy is well known, he also wants to create false Solunas to confuse and manipulate others who seek the Soluna. Years in planning, he gathered many mothers who would be expecting around the prophesized date (and even manipulated things to generate a few of these mothers). Those born on the right day, or near it, were then taken to further suggest that they were the prophesized ones (e.g., marked with gold and silver – the sun and the moon). Thus, while he hides away the true Soluna, he has released into the world multiple false ones (including some in faraway lands).
But his machinations go beyond even this. He not only means to cause confusion, he has created some false Solunas to be specific traps for specific groups. A very small number of his false Solunas are not even strictly human but rather magical creatures in human form. These are functionally timebombs, waiting for the crucial moment for Minyune to set them off.
Joshua is one of these.
Role in the narrative: Minyune is one of the main antagonists. His machinations might have benefit to a large group of people down the road, but he treats people like game pieces. He will gladly sacrifice about anyone to meet his goals. This means that he is a real threat to our protagonists.
Abilities: As noted above, he is a gifted manipulator and actor. He is extremely knowledgeable and intelligent, and his study of prophesy has made him an extraordinary strategic thinker. He also has tremendous resources at his disposal – human and financial.
Inspirations: Prophesy is a staple of the fantasy genre (e.g., the Song of Fire and Ice, the Wheel of Time, LoTR). In fact, they are even considered by some to be cliché and a sign of bad writing (the prophesy I dashed out on the Character Index for this project is certainly an example of bad – I’d really have to rewrite it were I ever to actually write the book). I do think they are often tropes and clumsy foreshadowing, and you should probably find another way to motivate your characters. I’m enamored with the idea of a group of people in a fantasy story who try to manipulate prophesy, however. I think it could make for a good story. Likely I’ve seen this somewhere before, but I can’t recall what I am proposing exactly off the top of my head (note – even if I haven’t seen it before, I’m quite sure it has been done).
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