by Gwynn White
Ultras will release by itself early 2018, and the plan is to have the next two books ready by then.
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Blurb for Ultras (Cipherverse, Book One)
by Timothy C. Ward
Forbidden Memories. Ancient Powers. Galactic Uprising
Long ago, the Rucien people were spirited away to the safety of a distant planet. The discovery of technology that uses memories to fold space has brought back the danger they left millennia ago.
Now Cullen, the exiled son of the Rucien Star General, is given a way home. But first, a mission: rescue a family from prison and escort them through a jungle full of genetic experiments gone wrong. No problem.
In their escape, Ehli and her son, Emmit discover strange powers and the dark secret behind Ehli's husband's death. As an ancient power creates unstable abilities, their destiny wrestles with tragedy on the edge of a cliff.
If the dangers they face in Jehu Jungle are only the beginning, the tales of their glory may be short lived.
Bonus Material - NEW YORK
JC Andrijeski
Includes the following:
Character sheets on the two main characters in the novel / series
(Revik and Allie), which includes details about their histories, personalities, quirks, likes/dislikes, their pasts and their weaknesses and strengths.
Short interviews of each of the two main series characters
Short, somewhat random interviews of either of the two characters, following the more detailed breakdown of their personalities in the character sheets.
Character Breakdown: REVIK
BASICS:
Character’s full name: Dehgoies Revik (family name comes first in seer names - Revik is his given / familiar name)
Character’s nickname(s): Revi’, Dags, Dehgo (Revi’ most common/affectionate)
Race: Seer (Sarhacienne)
Birth date: June 13, 1900
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
Age: 112
How old does he appear: early-mid thirties
Weight: approximately 230 lbs.
Height: 6’9”
Body build: athletic
Shape of face: narrow, angular
Eye color: clear / colorless
Skin tone: on the dark side
Distinguishing marks: extensive scars on his back and shoulders, most of which are from his childhood (although some from adulthood as well, he’s been in some form of military most of his adult life). Includes an older scar that ends in a question mark on his neck. “H” tattoo on his inner arm (to pass as human), seer barcode
Other: Large tattoo of the Sword & Sun (traditional / religious version) on his back, armband tattoo with seer writing on his left bicep, clan tattoo on groin area
Predominant features: almond-shaped, very light-colored eyes, high cheekbones, narrow mouth
Hair color: black
Type of hair: straight, thick
Hairstyle: usually short, but occasionally grows it long (tends to curl a bit when longer)
Voice: deep, has a German accent when he speaks English
Overall attractiveness: attractive without being conventionally handsome. Striking looking, in part because of his eyes, but also due to his height / overall presence which comes off as a fighter. Often put more in the “sexy” than handsome category. As an infiltrator, he’s able to make himself pretty unnoticeable if necessary, but can also make himself appear more attractive through his abilities as a seer
Sexual preference: straight – mostly (he’s a seer, so this is a bit blurry)
Other physical notes: he’s highly trained in seer martial arts, so moves like a fighter, carries himself like one, tends towards the grace of a martial artist
Usual fashion of dress: nondescript, dark colors, military / functional wear, tends towards ore urban soldier type wear, has expensive taste
Favorite outfit: fairly functional with clothes (practical, as in most things, but wants high quality if it’s in any way functional). He will dress up if he’s trying to impress someone, or seduce someone. Has several favorite guns
Jewelry or accessories: unmarked silver ring on his left smallest finger
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Languages Spoken: Prexci (the seer tongue), seer sign language, German (1st human language learned, so still has a German accent), Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Hindi, Tibetan, Polish, French, English, Nepalese, Arabic, smatterings of Spanish/Italian/Portuguese, some Czech, Hungarian, Romanian
Occupation: surface occupation (what he does for pay): Lecturer and professor of inter-species warfare at the Royal College of Defense Studies (London, England). He also works as a freelance infiltrator and makes some money as a seer prostitute on the side (seer fetish). His “second” (or shadow) occupation: works for the Seer Council of Seven as the bodyguard to Alyson Taylor, for reasons that are highly classified.
Current location: legal residence is in London, just off Belgrave Square, in the penthouse apartment of a building owned by his employers, the British Government. He’s lived there for about 12 years.
Currently living with: A human manservant named Eddard
Their relationship? Highly impersonal. Revik assumes Eddard is spying on him for his human employers.
PERSONALITY
Good personality traits: loyal, compassionate (but extremely practical), kind, good sense of humor, determined, focused, hard worker, persistent, extremely intelligent (more than he knows/ acknowledges), spatial in thinking, creative, can also be playful/fun when he’s not working, sets extremely high standards for himself in terms of integrity/ accountability, relentless, “never give up” kind of personality, strong protective instincts, polite (old school manners), passionate, strong feelings, romantic, likes kids and is good with them, traditional family values in many ways, but also very much a feminist. Likes strong women, doesn’t mind taking orders from women, sexually confident, strong will power.
Bad personality traits: fairly closed off from others, racist (underlying, against humans primarily), can be highly possessive, paranoid, untrusting, violent, anger issues, can be condescending, arrogant, can be elitist, often sees things in black and white, underlying depression issues (can border on suicidal), lashes out when feeling threatened, self-hatred/blame can be excessive, judgmental, intolerant, predatory, can be overly secretive, withholding to the point of being dishonest, overly conventional/ traditional/ rigid at times, hierarchical, has impulse-control issues, especially related to sex, has addiction issues (sex, drugs at different times, alcohol), can be very immature.
Mood character is most often in: emotionally distant/shut off (work mode)
Sense of humor: dry, tends towards dark
Character’s greatest joy in life: work (puzzles, solving tactical problems, complex infiltration tasks), sex, companionship (has often been lonely / alone in his life)
Character’s greatest fear: losing someone he loves, being betrayed by someone he trusts / loves
What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? Falling in love, getting married again.
Character is most at ease when: working
Most ill at ease when: being forced to relate in a personal way with anyone he doesn’t know very well, especially humans
Enraged when: feels powerless, feels pushed to act in a way that goes counter to his “code,” or sees any kind of harm, death, suffering that is purely wasteful, that is totally unnecessary, or that feels unjust to him. Hates feeling trapped / in a cage.
Depressed or sad when: feels like he is a bad person (irredeemable), or feels like the world is run by immorality, violence, waste; humans who don’t see or acknowledge the suffering they produce, (e.g., slave trade in young seers, rape of seers, etc.)
Life philosophy: The most important thin
g is to live morally, to pay for your sins, and protect the innocent from harm.
Character’s soft spot: romantic love, wants children/a family
Is this soft spot obvious to others? No! (lol)
Greatest strength: Integrity. He is actually highly moral, despite his past, and will sacrifice himself to do the right thing, if necessary. He has a deep compassion for others, especially those who can’t defend themselves.
Greatest vulnerability or weakness: Despite the above, a part of him really gets off on power/violence. He has a predatory side that craves a good challenge, something to sink its teeth into, that likes flirting with the dark.
Biggest regret: that he left his wife vulnerable during WWII by leaving her alone while he went off to fight, that he put her in that kind of danger by marrying her (she was human, he is a seer).
Biggest accomplishment(s): He managed to leave the Rooks, a dark terrorist seer organization, despite intense brainwashing by them. Moreover, he managed to purge himself of the worst of their influence, and rebuild his life. He’s also proud of his role as Allie’s guardian and protector.
Past failures he would be embarrassed to have people know about: He tries to hide the fact that he mainly gets his sex from transactions (either being paid or paying someone else). He is also embarrassed of his relationship with his adoptive family (especially his adoptive father), since they’re a prestigious family that’s made it more than clear they don’t want him and resent being forced to take him in. He is deeply ashamed that he became a Rook, sees it as the ultimate in weakness. Feels he killed his wife by bringing her in to the humans to care for her when she was ill (she died under their care).
Who is he, in his social world? He’s really low on the totem pole, in terms of social status among seers, mainly from having been a member (and high up in the hierarchy) of the Rooks. Technically, he’s in “penance,” a sort of shame / gray status for seers; he has been since he defected. The Rooks themselves view him as a traitor for defecting, of course, and traditional seers view the Rooks as a dark / evil organization, so they see him as “corrupted.” His adoptive family was assigned to him, and did not want him to begin with, something they did not hide from the seer community. His association with the Rooks caused them to disown him entirely. After that, many seers wouldn’t interact with him, and a lot of females shunned him. Since he is forced to keep his role as Allie’s guardian a secret, most only know him for his “race-traitor” job working for the British government, which doesn’t help.
GOALS
Drives and motivations: to redeem himself for what he did under the Rooks, to somehow help turn the current trajectory of the humans into something more positive, that will help them evolve into something less dark/violent/destructive, to counteract what he perceives as the negative impact he had on this as a Rook.
Immediate goals: Keep Allie safe and out of the hands of the Rooks.
Long term goals: bring down the Rooks’ hierarchy (what they call the Pyramid)
How the character plans to accomplish these goals: Keeping Allie safe is his job. He protects her from detection behind the Barrier (so no one discovers what she is), and monitors her to keep her safe physically, both from other seers and from humans. At the appropriate time, he will deliver Allie to the Seven (the high council of seers) in India, and act as her bodyguard for the Council. To bring down the Rooks’ hierarchy, he’s been trying to retrieve his lost memories from the time when he was a Rook. He is hoping he can remember who the leader or “Head” of the Rooks is, so that he can kill him, and throw the network of the Rooks into instability/chaos.
How other characters will be affected: Allie, who thinks she is human, has her whole life pretty much ripped apart when Revik takes her back into the world of the seers. Galaith, the head of the Rooks’ network, and Terian, an old colleague of Revik’s from the Rooks, both will do whatever possible to prevent Revik from harming the Pyramid of the Rooks.
PAST / PERSONAL HISTORY:
Hometown: Pamir mountains (Asia, Western China)
Type of childhood: Most of it was pretty grim. He has few clear memories of his own childhood. At a very young age, he traveled with his parents all over Europe in the years following First Contact between seers and humans. He witnessed their death at the hands of a mob who killed them for religious reasons (calling seers “Children of Nephilim”). He was then forced to continue the tour without them. He was owned again after that (also by humans), although he was eventually returned to Seertown and adopted by cousins of his parents.
First memory: his parents being killed in France.
Most important childhood memory: Of being locked into a cave, of being trapped and having no way to get out. He suffers from claustrophobia due to this half-repressed memory.
Childhood hero: Balidor, the head of the Adhipan (elite group of seer infiltrators, seen almost as “holy warriors” for the seers).
Dream job: working for the Adhipan
Education: He had some formal education when he was younger, including attending a human military academy while working undercover for the Seven prior to WWII. Most of his education is from his own work/research however, so is (somewhat) self-selected. Strong background in mathematics and chemistry, in addition to the military side of his education, as well as some in engineering, language, and bio-engineering (more from the seer side of things, in terms of how organic machines are designed). Extensive education as an infiltrator (meaning seer skills in espionage, construct creation, pushes, etc.)
Religion: follows Code, believes in the Myth of Three (the seer version of that religion, not the human versions that came later).
How religious? He’s quiet about it, but he’s actually very religious. He doesn’t talk about it to anyone but his mentor, an old monk named Vash.
Finances: fairly well off for a seer, mostly because he’s a pack rat and extremely cheap. He’s also supplemented his income working for the British government by doing odd freelance jobs as a seer, and by prostitution.
Family
Birth Mother: Dehgoies Ilynna (deceased)
Relationship with her: barely remembers her
Birth Father: Dehgoies Guntuer (deceased)
Relationship with him: barely remembers him
Adopted mother: Dehgoies Yelde
Relationship with her: distant, she pretty much ignored him
Adopted father: Dehgoies Tulend
Relationship with him: Antagonistic. His “father” never wanted him, and only took him in due to tradition/social contract and the request of Vash/the Council of Seven. He resented Revik for it openly. He viewed raising Revik as his “duty,” and Revik himself as incorrigible and corrupt. After Revik joined the Rooks, he disowned him entirely and refused to allow him in their house.
Sibling: brother Whelan (adopted)
Relationship with him: Distant. Not openly hostile but condescending. Whelan was the “real” son. He was a young lord type and saw Revik as beneath him.
Spouse(s): Elise Stulpnagel from Uckermark (human) ~ deceased April 24, 1942
Relationship with 1st wife: He was madly in love with her. He was sent off to Russia as a soldier in WWII and she was blackmailed while he was gone into becoming the mistress of Revik’s superior officer, a human named Blauvelt. Revik felt betrayed by Elise’s decision to go along with Blauvelt, even though she did it to protect him after Blauvelt discovered his true race (the Nazis persecuted and murdered seers, in addition to Jews and other human groups). Elise becomes pregnant with Blauvalt’s child, which also devastates Revik, in part because he can’t have children with her and wants them. She dies in childbirth and it basically sends him over the edge.
Other important family members: Revik’s aunt Tarsi, who loves him a lot, (his mother’s sister). Vash is also important to him, and while not a blood relative, acts as a kind of surrogate father to him.
HABITS:
Hobbies: organic machines, Barrier structures/constructs, chemistry, metalwork
, likes to cook but rarely has time to do it
Plays a musical instrument? No
Plays a sport? Mulei (seer martial art), target shooting, archery, likes to swim, mountain climbing, rock climbing
Other abilities? Pilot, horseback riding, decent dancer, good at chess
How he would spend a rainy day: probably reading, eating, messing around in the Barrier, sketching Barrier structures/schematics, having sex
Spending habits: extremely thrifty
Smokes: yes, but only hiri, (seer cigarettes), pretty different from the human kind
Drinks: yes
Other drugs: has in the past, but not currently
What does he do too much of? Drinks, casual sex
What does he do too little of? Hanging out with friends, making friends, spending time doing things just for fun, relaxing, going on vacation