The Story Behind the Storm, Part II: Erzulyn
an in-depth look at the creation of the "Barbarians of the Storm" saga
For the second installment of The Story Behind the Storm series, I thought that it would be best to feature Erzulyn. While I want to cover things other than characters, I thought it might be best to cover the absolute top tier characters in the series first. Erzulyn, after Fenrik, is the main character of the Barbarians of the Storm saga. Especially, from Book II onward. But why? And how did she come to be? I’ll explain all that here.
When I was writing Dan the Destructor, I knew that the primary villains were going to be fairly generic and that they weren’t as important as Fenrik and Dan, as well as some of the other heroes I had plans for down the road. I knew that Shakon-Kazoth, the main antagonist was going to die, but I also knew that I wanted the manner of his death to be surprising and quite gruesome. To do that, I wanted there to be a big betrayal. I also wanted to rob the protagonist of this task, so I needed someone else to do it. Someone that previously had very close ties to the protagonist, as well as a questionable past. That person was Erzulyn, who at first glance, comes across as a generic evil sorceress type.
When I came up with the idea for her, I wanted a dark sorceress in the vein of Evil-Lyn from the Masters of the Universe franchise. However, I had other characters on my mind as well, such as Sarah Douglas’ Queen Taramis from Conan the Destroyer and Lyranna from Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time. I also thought of Jadis from the Narnia books, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Morgan le Fay, Queen Gedren from the Red Sonja film, and a slew of others. However, as I got passed the first book, I thought of Mara Jade from the Star Wars expanded universe a lot.
Additionally, I knew that Erzulyn’s true allegiance was going to be mysterious and her nature very grey instead of simply being wholly evil or wholly good. I also had an idea on her backstory, which would illustrate why she took such a unique path in her own personal quest for what she feels is righteous and just from her point-of-view. I also knew that buried deep within that darkness is a young girl that survived horrendous shit and had to sever ties from the good in her life in order to bring about a greater good. She had to lose herself to bring justice to her world. From her perspective, what became of her and her reputation did not matter, as long as she could make the true villains of her world pay for their crimes.
While she started as a villain, she really isn’t. I think that becomes clear as her story and her character develops. Being that I am a big fan of redemption tales, I chose her to be that in the Barbarians of the Story saga. Now, whether she succeeds at that fully or not, is yet to be determined. I know where her path leads, but that’s not something I am going to spoil. However, there is clearly great evil in the universe, some of which she is very closely aligned to.
For me, everything changed for her, when I wrote the first few chapters of Atomic Beasts and Where to Kill Them, the second book in the BotS saga. I knew generally what I wanted to do with her, but it was in the opening of that book where I really cemented it and fell in love with her character. In fact, by the time I got done writing her origin in the anthology Eyes in All Shadows & Other Stories, she had become my favorite character to write.
I know that people hunger for villains that are just simply villains. Erzulyn is not that simple, but I also have a lot of villains that are purely villainous, which readers have discovered already. The thing is, you also need characters that aren’t just basic archetypes because that can get boring, stale, and predictable. Frankly, I think that with Erzulyn, I have crafted a really complex, unique, and interesting character. At this point, I’d even say that she is the character I am most proud of. She also seems to be the one that resonates with the most people from the second book onward.
Paired with the Black Iron and the ancient knowledge of her witch mother, she has already evolved into a character that is almost god-tier in her abilities. With that, comes specific challenges, as I strive to put her in situations where her typically overpowered abilities are still put to the test. There’s always a bigger fish and as Erzulyn continues on her amazing journey, she will continually come face-to-face with those bigger fish.
I have a big Side Quest book planned for her down the road. However, I still have to get through a few other books first. But the idea for her solo story is pretty damn epic.
So, what are your thoughts on Erzulyn, thus far? Feel free to comment below.