Sari (character post)

Book 1....
Name: Sari Godtouched

Job: Paladin of the Goddess of Innocents

Special Power: Sari can hear the gods. All of them. Constantly. It's not really a power, it's a madness. And it's driving Sari not just insane, but to the point of suicide. She wants to die just so she can get some peace and quiet.



Book 2..... (20 years later)
Name: Sari Fallen

Job: Freelance demon hunter working for the Vondrin police department. She's technically a detective but due to budget cuts she isn't listed as a full-time employee anymore, which really messes up her chain of command. It doesn't keep her boss from calling her in from hot dates to fight recently summoned bad guys. Or keep Sari from listing skimpy negligees from Lacey's Promise on her expense account (hey- someone ruined the bra and those things are not cheap!)

Special power: Making people angry, minor magic, and hearing the gods (still).



The background....

Sari is actually a "rescued" character. Originally the character's name was Sari Justice and she was a vigilante in a rather sappy epic fantasy I started between semesters at college. When I went back to school the novel went in a drawer. And when I was finished with school and back to writing I decided I wasn't into fantasy enough to ever finish the piece (Flame of Winter if you're wondering).

I did love the fiery, roguish character Sari Justice who was the love interest of Flame's MC. I took the name Justice for an MC in the sci-fi novel Demand's of Justice and had Sari floating around. I also had the personality on the loose and looking for a plot like a ghost searching for a good place to haunt. So I picked up the pieces from the hold fantasy epic and retooled the personality a bit to fit an urban fantasy setting.

In my NaNo novel, Dungoen Crawl: The Fall, Sari starts as a paladin. She's not as devoted as much as she is hag-ridden by the presence of her goddess. Some people have that annoying voice of their inner editor whispering in their ear, well, Sari has the spoiled brat of a goddess whispering in her ear, demanding devotion, and commenting viciously on everyone around them.

Writing these scenes is a lot of fun because there's an excellent dichotomy between the goddess's vicious nature and the laws she gives her followers. Medea may strike down the unfaithful, but Sari as a paladin isn't allowed to harm anyone or anything. It isn't until Sari breaks faith with Medea (or vice versa) that she really comes to stand on her own and make her own choices.
This is fun to write too because I get to show a grown woman stumbling very suddenly into adulthood. She's always been told what to do, and then Sari winds up in the middle of a battle forced to choose sides and make very mature decisions.

In the second part of the NaNo novel Sari finally stands up to her old goddess and stops being a victim. There's more to the plot than that. In fact, there's dead bodies, stalkers, demons drained of blood, and an attacking army. But standing up to Medea is the really juicy scene.

That and the kiss with the berserker. I have that scene all planned out!

This is Sari Fallen, MC of Dungeon Crawl: The Fall. My word count for NaNo 2009 is 5,789 and the body count is still zero. But that's going to change!


Photos and artwork courtesy and copyright of their respective artists. Some minor photo manipulation done. Original artwork can be found here, here, and here.