Behind the Characters

Recently, I took a step back to my "roots" so to speak. Several years ago, I had started to play an online RPG called "Legends of Cosrin". Yep, www.legendsofcosrin.com.
It is a text based MUD and one that I feel played a pretty significant part in my writing. Character development is my absolute favorite part of writing. Getting inside the head of someone totally opposite of myself and the challenge of writing about them in a way that sticks to their personality....oh! It is so fun.

Anyway, Cosrin is pretty fun. I took a hiatus for a time and as I said, I just went back this last week. One of my old friends happened to be sitting there and we got to talking. When I logged in, it sparked something. In a good way. I had started writing again after getting involved the role-playing aspect of Cosrin. I wrote short stories for my characters on the forums. I had a blast but there is always a downside, so I stopped for awhile.

I started off writing with the idea of writing books set around the city in Cosrin and the characters. Thought it would be fun, then it just grew from there. My little map of the city ended up being a map of a kingdom, which then progressed to a continent. I got permission from my friends to use their characters, many of whom I had to change their names for obvious reasons.

So while talking to my friend, I thought, you know...I should post somewhere the characters I have used from Cosrin and the names I use for them in my writing. So, with that being said, here goes!

Kayta: From Cosrin, my character, name not changed, just race and storyline.

Nightshadow: From Cosrin, my character, name not changed, storyline unchanged.

Laria: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name not changed, storyline slightly changed to suit some purposes.

Farrehn: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Ariosh, story and background are similar.

Vendras: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Dahak, story slightly altered, will someday continue with storyline from Cosrin.

Alabassin: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Ninny, story altered.

Talaver: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Firesong, story altered.

Tyren: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Tyrus, story slightly altered, closer to the original.

Nikkolani: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Protean, story altered.

Geralmin: From Cosrin, a friend of mine, name changed from Goldenaxe, story altered.

Sorcha: My character from Society for Creative Anachronism, name changed from MacGregor to Lilanthroe.

Other characters I have based on Cosrin characters include Elendil, Bast, Kain and a few others that sort of escape me at the moment. I enjoy writing about others, especially ones that I have played with in games like Cosrin. However well I know them, I know my own creations just as well. I enjoy listening to them whisper their story in my ear, telling me how they would respond to something, how they would react. Lots of people seem to struggle with character development, I absolutely revel in it. Happy writing!