Seeker of the Four Winds: A Galatia Novel

by C. D. Verhoff

  Dr. Simon Steelsun: Nathan and Blanche Steelsun’s oldest son. He was born inside of the bunker. Simon is thirty-six years old when the bunker is destroyed. Originally with the Fade Brothers Group, but leaves for Tectonia, with a few hundred Galatians to form the Steelsun Group. When he hooks up with the Wakeland Group again, he’s forty-five years old. His wife is Marianna. Lars is their oldest son. As a young man he was the Fight Club Champion three years in a row. Scholarly, and charismatic—he’s a respected man in the community, but his family often comes second to all of his activities.

  Dr. Vanan Patel: A native of India with a Hindu background, Dr. Patel is forty years old when he enters the bunker. He handpicked Simon Steelsun as his student and successor. Although he’s eighty years old when he goes topside, he remains active in his profession. He arrives on Future Earth with the Wakeland Group.

  Elizabeth Fade (formerly Elizabeth Wakeland): Her mother was Asian, her father was European. Is in her mid-seventies when they exit the bunker. Red Wakeland the First was her second husband. Her first husband died in the plague as did her little boy. After the plague, before humanity went underground, she took in an orphaned eight-year-old named Michael Penn. They joined up with a man named Redmond Wakeland—who would later be remembered as Red Wakeland the First, the man who laid down his life for the survival of the bunker. Elizabeth and Red the First adopted Michael Penn. Elizabeth went on to have a biological son (Red Wakeland the Second) with Red the First, but sadly, Red died before his namesake was born. During the final showdown with the Celeruns, Elizabeth was the one who led the team into the control room of the bunker and entered the launch code. In the bunker, she’s known as “the women who nuked the world”, a title she loathes. She became the first mayor of the bunker. Elizabeth married again—a man named Jacob Fade. They had two sons together—Barrett and Bryce. She has severe arthritis of the spine now and must use a walker to get around. Veronica Albright and Elizabeth were best friends before entering the bunker and still are. Elizabeth is retired now. She enjoys being a mom and grandma.

  Father Bob (Robert Donovan): In the pre-bunker days, he was friends with Red Wakeland the First. He’s thirty-five years old when the town of Hewego flees the Celeruns. The boy Michael Penn convinced him to help smuggle his jewelry collection into the bunker. For a while, he lives with the Fade Brothers Group, but he is eager to get away from their nonsense and leaves with Dr. Steelsun. He’s eighty-five years old when he hooks up with the Wakeland Group.

  Feenie Hyancinth Fade (formerly an Albright): Feenie is short for Jospehine. Her mother is Veronica Albright. Jo is her older sister. Josie is her younger sister. She is eighteen years old when the bunker is destroyed. She is part of the Fade Brothers settlement, a group that arrives in the future ten-years ahead of Mayor Red Wakeland and his group. Four years after leaving the bunker, she marries Barrett Fade. Unable to conceive children, Feenie and Barrett turn to the warlock, Magus Mull, for assistance. However, when the Fade Brother Group reunites with the Wakeland Group, Josie learns that Feenie died a few years ago in a wagon accident.

  Fundo: One of the two Celerun prisoners. Fundo escapes the bunker and travels in chains with the Wakeland Group.

  Geoffrey Spaulding: Josie’s father. Never married her mother. Didn’t have a lot of contact with Josie in the bunker. He doesn’t return to Galatia, electing instead to stay in Tectonia with his Commoner wife, Bianca, and their two children.

  Gizmo: His real name is Zayan Ghaffari. A young and brilliant Galatian engineer. His parents are Muslim. He always has one shirt tail tucked in, the other out, and smells like engine grease.

  Hogard (Basher of a Hundred Skulls): He’s a Bulwark Warrior and laborer. His velvety fur-covered body is a rusty brown color. He joins the mission to find the Blood Map. His weapon of choice is a war hammer.

  Isaiah Wakeland: Red and Susan’s oldest son. Age twenty-two in book two. Dark hair, caramel-colored eyes, he’s a forager (could have been a hunter except for the fact his sister is one too and his father didn’t want to be accused of nepotism). His fiancé has recently dumped him for Luke Steelsun. He is part of a rock band called Phoenix Rising.

  Jacob Fade: Elizabeth’s third husband. The biological father of Barrett and Bryce. Step-father to Michael Penn and Red Wakeland the Second. He died in an industrial accident years before the bunker was destroyed.

  Jake Steelsun: Lars’s younger brother. Age 9.

  Janpu: A humanoid race with frog-like characteristics. Large round eyes that bulge from the top of their heads. Thick necks as wide has as their shoulders. Covered with dry gray-brown skin. Wide and lipless mouth. No discernible nose, just big holes for his nostrils. Gills on the side of his neck. They live in the watery areas of the Midzone. Powerful legs enable them to jump great distances.

  Jarod Steelsun: Lars’s younger brother. Age 10 when he arrives on Future Earth.

  Jessica Penn: Michael’s wife

  John: A young Commoner prisoner on a slave ship

  Josephine Hyacinth Albright (married name is Fade): Everyone calls her Feenie. Her mother is Veronica Albright. Jo is her older sister. Josie is her younger sister. She is eighteen years old when the bunker is destroyed. She is considered a real beauty. Although they fight a lot, Feenie and Jo are devoted to each other. Four years after leaving the bunker, Feenie marries Barrett Fade. When the Fade Brother Group reunites with the Wakeland Group, Josie learns that Feenie died on Future Earth a few years ago in a wagon accident.

  Josephine Lily Albright (Armstrong): Veronica’s oldest daughter. Tall, blue eyes, blonde hair. Also, considered a beauty. During her bunker days she worked on computer systems. She fell in love with Dante Armstrong on the job. They got married and have two children—Nicholas and Shasta.

  Josephine Rose Albright: Everyone calls her Josie. Youngest daughter of Veronica Albright and Geoffrey Spaulding. She is sixteen years old when the bunker is destroyed. Josie has a different father than her two sisters. The only thing they share in common look-wise are the cornflower blue Albright eyes. She isn’t ugly, but cannot compare to her gorgeous sisters. She’s a student at the top of her class, but her peers think she is quirky and possibly a lesbian. Josie eschews makeup, wears her coal black hair in a short pixie style (which grows out over the course of the story), and dresses in drab hoodies and T-shirts. Her passion is reading, collecting witty sayings in her notebook labeled Josie’s Witty Witticisms, singing, and playing the guitar.

  Katherine Fleck: Sister of Marianna Steelsun. Lars’s aunt. She dies at age 52 en route to Galatia. At one time she had enjoyed being social, but her charisma was the ability to hear people’s thoughts. The trouble was she couldn’t shut it off. She eventually became a hermit, living a very lonely life. Lars didn’t know her very well, but he volunteers to help dig her grave.

  King Doyle of the House of the White Rose: King of Regala D’Nora D’Nala, which is northeast of the future nation of Galatia. They nations will be each other’s nearest neighbor. That is why King Doyl has a vested interest in the people that settle there. He rules from the city Abrolasia, Regala D’Nora. Prince Loyl is one of his many children.

  King Elrod Saberhart: Ruler of the Kingdom of Tectonia. His oldest son is Valdor.

  Lacy Steelsun: Lars’s sister. Age 14 when she arrives on Future Earth.

  Lady Sandora of the Bountiful Vineyards: A Regalan historian and archeologist.

  Lady Roham of the Shimmering Water: A talkative Regalan advisor and scholar, silky black mane. Yellow eyes with slit pupils. In Regala D’Nora she teaches primary school. She’s an excellent archer, but hasn’t been the same since a Gargantuan picked her up over its head and snapped her kneed. She now walks with a permanent limp.

  Larsen Drey Steelsun: His parents are Simon Steelsun and Marianna. His grandparents are Blanche and Nathan Steelsun. He has Erb’s Palsy, nerve damage to his right shoulder because of a birth injury, which makes it difficult for him to lift his hand over his shoulder. His arm looks normal at a glance, but if
you look closely you can see his elbow is slightly crooked. When his shirt is off, his right shoulder blade looks wonky. When he uses the charisma, his right arm is as strong as his left, but when he’s using ordinary muscle power his right arm is considerably weaker. He is tall and thin like his father. Brown hair cut in a crew cut (but sometimes he lets it go shaggy). Intense brown eyes. His personality is considered aloof, but one of his unique charismas plagues him with other people’s intense emotions. When linked to someone else’s emotions, he discovers that he is also linked to some of their motor functions. For instance, if he itches his nose, the person he links to itches her nose. Lars planned to be a mechanical engineer, before the destruction of the bunker.

  Lindsey Burning: A tall, slender, former classmate of Josie Albright’s. She’s pretty and popular. Her shooting skills earns her the job of leader of Josie’s foraging unit. Josie considers Lindsey to be her nemesis.

  Magic Slayer: A person on Future Earth who knows how to counter magic spells and incantations.

  Magus Mull: Magic User, specifically a warlock. Advisor to Barrett. Commoner. Long, greased-back, black hair. Slim nose. Pointy chin. Smooth pale skin with a slightly sickly pallor. Straight white teeth. Lips the color of raspberries. He makes Red uneasy. He looks like the lead in a Dracula movie, down to the black widow’s peak hairline. His eyes were mesmerizing copper color. He had four fingers on each hand, which was apparently the norm for Commoners. Two sashes of dull chain mail crisscrossed over his chest, beneath a decorative shield the size of a dinner plate. A red sun with a yellow corona was enameled onto the shield. Fundo takes one look at Mull and recognizes his Volaxan heritage. Volaxans were kept as slaves on their Celerun ships. The Volaxan ability to crawl up walls, hang upside down on ceilings, and contort their bodies at unusual angles made them useful to have around.

  Master Casey: An elderly bulldog-jowled humanoid covered in shaggy white fur. A pair of wire glasses rested on the end of his snout. His species is called the Kaninder. He’s a teacher at the Royal Academy in Tectonia.

  Melwick: a Bulwark trainer with Bayloo’s theater group.

  Michael Penn: His brothers and close friends call him Mike. He is fifty-two years old when the bunker is destroyed. He lived on the surface of the Earth during the modern age. As a boy of eight he witnessed his entire family die in the Celerun plague, which kills off 99% of the population. Alone and scared, wandering the streets of suburbia, he met another survivor—a young woman named Elizabeth Wakeland who had just lost her husband and young son. She takes him under her wing and the two of them struggle to survive under the weight of a collapsed civilization. They meet up with a man named Redmond Wakeland (later known as Red the First) and his dog, Zena. Red and Elizabeth marry and adopt Michael. He keeps his old last name in honor of the parents and siblings he lost. He’s twelve-years-old when the last of humanity enters Galatians Bunkers. Elizabeth is pregnant with Red the First’s son when they enter the bunker. Michael becomes very protective of his new brother, Red the Second. Elizabeth later remarries in the bunker, a man named Jacob Fade. Elizabeth and Jacob have two sons together and a daughter. Jacob favors his biological children over Red and Michael. Michael has always struggled to find a place in his blended family. He remains close to Elizabeth and Red though. When Red the Second becomes the mayor of the bunker, Michael becomes his assistant. Michael has the common charisma of increased strength during times of need. He also has prophetic dreams and the ability to make plants grow at an accelerated rate. His ability to see the past through other people’s perspective is the reason why Red the Second makes him the official Scribe of Galatia. With is busy blonde beard, his kids tell him he looks like a Viking. Others have compared him to Grizzly Adams. He’s the narrator of the Galatians Arise. When he talks in first person, he’s sharing events through his own eyes.

  Nathan Steelsun: Some people call him Nate. Lars is his grandson. His wife is Blanche. Simon Steelsun is their oldest son. Michael Penn – Red Wakeland Sr.’s and Elizabeth’s adopted son. He considers their son, Red Jr., a brother, but they are not blood relatives. He was fifteen-years-old when the plague hit and nineteen-years-old when humanity went underground. This makes him sixty-nine-years old when he returns to the surface. His charisma allows him to pull electricity from the ground and send it elsewhere. Red Wakeland the First was a good friend of his. Nathan and Blanche are the godparents of Red Wakeland the Second

  Nicholas Armstrong: Usually called Nick. Dante and Jo’s five-year-old son (pre-evacuation). Josie’s nephew. He’s fifteen when Josie meets him again.

  Prince Loyl of the House of the White Rose: His father is the ruler of Regala D’Nora D’Nala. He lives in the capital of Regala D’Nora, Ambrolasia. He is a prince, but he’s fourth down the line for the throne. His oldster brother has the title Major Prince, designating him as the natural heir. Loyl’s title is Minor Prince of the House of the White Rose.

  Professor Ven Sweet: Professor of Law. His wife is Dr. Katerina Sweet. They were separated after the bunker’s evacuation.

  Regalan: A civilized race of humanoids with cat-like characteristics: perky feline ears, retractable claws, slit pupils, wild hair that sticks up like a lion’s mane. They have feline grace, lightning fast reflexes, and heightened senses of sight, hearing and smell. They are known for their accuracy with bows. The Regalans are Galatia’s closest neighbors.

  Rolf Marshall: He’s the ‘horse guy’. He came to Future Earth at the age of thirteen. His formal education ended at that time, but he is knowledgeable about how to survive on Future Earth. He arrived with the Fade Brothers Group, living them for the last ten years, until the reunite with the rest of the Galatians. He’s twenty-three-years old when he joins the Red Team. His physical characteristics include straggly blonde hair and a gap between is two front teeth.

  Ruby Penn: Michael and Jessica’s nineteen-year-old daughter.

  Nora Harvey: A Galatian who lived with the Fade Brothers Group when she came to Future Earth. Her husband is Sam.

  Professor Dale Daynor: He has devoted his life to the study of literature, history and the arts. Fed up with the politics of the Fade Brothers Group, he joined the Steelsun Group, and spent a lot of time in Tectonia’s library and traveling in search of information that might help them figure out the history of Future Earth.

  Redmond Wakeland the First: Red Wakeland the Second’s biological father, Michael Penn’s adoptive father, and the second husband of Elizabeth. He was instrumental in defeating the Celeruns and gave his life to ensure the future of Galatians Bunker. Josie sometimes dreams of him and his dog.

  Redmond Wakeland the Second: His father is the fallen hero of Galatia. His mother is Elizabeth. She’s half Asian. His physical characteristics include black hair, gray eyes (like his father), and a star-shaped birthmark near his left eye. His oldest brother through adoption is Michael Penn. His two younger half-brothers are Barrett and Bryce. Red, Jr. has many mystical gifts. He is the mayor of the bunker when the earthquake hits. He uses his charisma to save everyone during the evacuation.

  Sam Harvey: Husband of Nora Harvey. He arrives on Future Earth ten years ahead of the Wakeland Group and lives in the Fade Brothers Group.

  Seleth: Mr. Bayloo’s Regalan companion.

  Slaughterhouse: A humorless amphibious humanoid of uncertain race with a bald blue-green head, yellow eyes, and a heavily scarred face. He’s a trainer in Mr. Bayloo’s theater company.

  Mrs. Snippy: A grayish mole humanoid, with a pink nose and white whiskers, wearing a monocle over one pink eye. She works for Mr. Bayloo.

  Susan Wakeland: Wife of Red Wakeland the Second.

  Shasta Armstrong: Dante and Jo’s four-year-old daughter. Separated from her parents during the evacuation of the bunker, Grandma Veronica and Aunt Josie take care of her on Future Earth.

  Sliven: A descendant of the Celeruns with a heavy mixture of other unknown races. Slivens are about half the size of Celeruns, but they are sinewy and strong. Their skin is dark green and
spotted with brown. They are a vicious and superstitious race. The Slivens hate all humanoids, especially the Bulwarks.

  The Angel of Galatia: He appears to several Galatians in their dreams. Josie sees him forging crystal swords inside a great cathedral.

  Veronica Daisy Albright: The mother of Jo, Feenie and Josie. She was the computer guru of the bunker. Up on the surface, the job is obsolete, but her organization skills quickly put her in a position of authority again.