The Shard cast - Alvanaria

Alvanaria is an important character in my novel, though not one of the POV characters. She is an elf, and due to the unusual connection the race of elves have with the magic of this world she is immortal unless slain. At the time of my story she is slightly more than forty thousand years old.

Elves in this world do not know just how long they have been around. They know that there was a point in history when they became 'aware', and the elders of their race are those who were alive to experience the coming of awareness. The elves witnessed various other tribes of semi-intelligent creatures migrate from the hot southern areas of the world. Some of those tribes went extinct, but others evolved over time and became the races of dwarf, troll, orc, goblin, and man.

Elves seldom have children. It is rare for an elven woman to bear more than a single child during her life. Such low birth rates cause the race of elves to shun war as much as they possibly can. Thus, when one tribe of men moved into what became the Known Lands, the elves withdrew into their forests and did not contest ownership of the realm. So secretive have the elves become that most men view them as mere legends.

Elves do not marry, and other than the bearing of children they do not differentiate between males and females with any roles. Alvanaria bore a child with the great elf hero Kathkalan, but then lost her lover when he attempted to slay the great black dragon that had destroyed the whole eastern region of the Known Lands. Kathkalan brought the magical shard with him, hoping it would aid him in his quest to slay the dragon. He was never seen again.

At the beginning of my story, the wizard Xax sends a message to Alvanaria to let her know that he intends to seek the lost shard. Alvanaria wants to know what happened to Kathkalan, so she breaks the laws of her people and departs the elf realm to meet with Xax and attempt to recover the shard. Although she is the only major female character in the novel (due to the fact that the race of men do not allow their women to be warriors), Alvanaria is by far the strongest warrior of the group.

In honor of the lovely Alvanaria (and since I posted pics of my sons in my last post), I will post a couple shots of my wife, the most amazing woman in the world. The first is in San Diego (smelling mint plants in Balboa Park) and the second on a cruise of the Bosphorus in Turkey (with our sons at the rail behind her). Happy Mother's Day, my love!