Burning Ember Inn Character Sketch 6: Sandra Songg
Our assortment of heroes and adventurers continues to grow!
“Where are we going?”
“I will show when we get there.”
“I want to know now.”
“Well you'll have to be patient.”
“OK.”
And then the lights came on and Sandra could see inside as people danced to a man playing a mandolin and another beating a drum. A third sang in the corner, one they called Giovanni or “the Minstrel of God,” a much-beloved wandering monk.
Sandra watched for a moment and then her older companion Tanniana moved her along to a table.
"Wait for a moment, I'll go and get us two beers."
So who is this Sandra? What's her deal?
Well, I'm not sure yet, you need to tell me what her purpose is going to be in this story. And I can't even really picture her yet.
What color is her hair?
Redhead.
Like full-blown fiery type?
Yes. Just totally electric.
Maybe we should make it actual fire.
No, no, that's absurd. Shut your mouth and let me figure this out. OK, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help. I know, but you're really stupid sometimes and should just shut your mouth and let me figure this out.
But I want to contribute to the story too. I have just as much a right to create characters as you do.
Fine, like I care. You can have this character then. So what is she going to look like?
…
See, you don't know what to do here. I have to get the work done.
OK, you do it then. What's she look like?
I'm not sure we should focus on her now, maybe it would be more interesting to develop us as characters. But we're narrators, we're supposed to just sit on the edge and describe what is happening. We're not suposed to be characters too.
Well it's a little late for that now isn't it? This is going to be some meta-modernist fantasy fiction now isn't it? After all, you all are brainstorming in public. So why not make the narrators characters too and give them some personality and make them argue with each other?
I don't know, this sounds a bit too meta and weird, why can't you just do something normal for a change?
OK, OK, let's get back to Sandra. What's her deal?
We need a barbarian in the mix. So how about we make her sort of a smaller barbarian noble woman. She has an animal hide, a brown cloak around her shoulders with a hood hanging down, her wild red hair sprouting in varous directions, weird and in every direction, but exciting, like her personality and ethos.
A thick bow hung across her chest with a quiver of heavy arrows on her back, some so large they could pierce armor. She also kept a machete-length blade at her side, and shorter daggers in each of her boots. She did not bother to hide any of this personal cutlery, instead entirely broadcasting that she was armed to the teeth and not to be messed with.
She also wore thick iron bracelets welded around her wrists, a ritual of her tribe, to wear the permanent battle bracelets that her people had mastered the art of skull smashing with them alone.
Sandra Songg also kept her left eye wrapped with a painted cyan ring. Her people were known for their rings and circles of sorts. She kept one on each of her fingers, some with blades, others with magical sybmols.
Tanniana returned with two thick mugs, each with two inches of foam on top, like dollops of ice cream.
Sandra's eyes widened and her mouth crept open.
"What in heaven's name is that!" she declared, her words dropping out of her mouth like spit ball bearings, commanding attention.
"This is the best beer you will ever taste my dear sister."
Tanniana stood a full 20 inches taller than Sandra - the 4'11" Sandra compared to Tanniana towering over most men at 6'7".
The irony of their relationship for years had been that while Tanniana danced around like a bronze goddess warrior, with long, muscled legs and a gold armor over her chest and shoulders, intimidating men who looked up at her, Tanniana knew that her tiny sister packed the real power.
With those arrows, Sandra could fire one off with precision and speed, shattering a skull and splattering brains all over the wall of any tavern. And those rings, those amazing rings around her wrists and fingers - she knew every spot on any body to hit them to deliver the most pain, to break bones, even to induce strange hallucinations and black-outs.
"So are we supposed to meet someone here?" Sandra asked, wiping the foam from her nose.
"Yes." Tanniana looked around surveying faces. She saw Professor Roderick Unheim sitting in a booth nursing a tall, black bottle of some concoction or other. She could not read what it was exactly, but she suspected he was enjoying himself.
"Hey Roddy!" she yelled.
He looked up and it was as though sunshine struck his face as he rose from a dark pool where he'd held his breath too long.
"Oh, my dear Tanny! What a delight to see you again! And is this your sister you told me about?"
Sandra saw a man looking to find his humanity again, striving to return to life after too many deep dives into a pool of death.
Could he be the right one to add to their company next?
She was not sure yet that he had it in him but Tanniana had inisted that he was brilliant and looking for a new mission to apply his brilliance.
Sandra tipped her beer to him.
"Wonderful!" he declared.
Tanniana looked around the tavern to see if any of the others she had heard about had arrived yet. There was a Nocris Redmont, who had defected from a mountain clan of assassins, and then two paladins of the Lord, brothers she had heard, Hilaire and Thomas.
She did not see them yet, nor did she see their usual barkeep, the celebrated Lion Lady Lenore.
It may have been one of her nights off and her cranky brother may have been manning the booze instead. Most people disliked Lester, but Tanniana and him had develop a rapport, he appeared to have some sort of combination of respect and attraction to women he had to look up to in order to address.
So there you go, we were supposed to just make one new character and you got three and also wove in the others who have been birthed so far. I suppose you did a decent job. These seem interesting enough. Well, I'm glad to have your approval. Perhaps you will trust me more next time I want to make a character?
Fine, fine, you've proven yourself. Sorry for giving you such a hard time.
It's all right, I know you're just trying to do your best to maintain the integrity of the story.