Step 1.3
Uncover the Characters
The cover does not need to include a character.
Strong concepts, symbolism, or atmosphere alone are completely valid approaches.
Examples could include:
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Pan’s tattooed hand holding her dagger
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A close detail of her armour, showing the sigil on the right side of her chest (a clenched fist with the index finger extended)
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Objects, textures, or symbols that carry meaning without showing a full figure
These approaches can be more powerful than a full character illustration.
If you choose to include a character, the most appropriate choices are:
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Pan
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Pan and Kaelen
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The Crone
Main Female Character: Panithea (a.k.a Pan)
When I had eventually gotten the courage to look at my face again, I noticed the few white hairs behind my right ear, like the very life of me was draining away by the secret grief I carried. And every day, the white patch got larger. I often wondered if, when all my pitch-black hair had finally turned white, I would just lie down and die.
*
My neck strained as he held my face, his eyes darting between mine. Like after a lifetime of looking, he still couldn't decide which he liked more: the blue one or the green.
Physical Details - Must
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Long, wavy black hair - with a distinct white streak starting from behind her right ear (not in the fringe). Hair is often worn in a simple braid.
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One sapphire blue eye and one dark teal green eye
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Pale skin
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A thin, tight iron collar worn like a choker, with a black inlay
These details must be accurate.
Other Key Characteristics
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Serious expression, often scowling
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A dagger with a black hilt, named Stabby.
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Always wears leather armour, worn and practical, not decorative. Embossed on the chest of her curiass is a symbol of a clenched fist with the index finger raised.
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She had indigo blue rune tattoos on her fingers (in the space between the knuckle and the first joint).
Pan's Magic
She can enter and read minds through touch, experiencing fragments of another person’s thoughts, memories, and skills. This is overwhelming and not something she uses lightly. To her, it looks like colour threads of power she pulls into herself.
Visual Direction (If Used):
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Minimal, restrained golden light
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Fine, thread-like detail rather than large effects
What To Avoid:
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Bright glowing hands
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Floating particles or magical effects
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Lightning, fire, or energy bursts
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Anything that feels powerful in an obvious way
Pans finger tattoos:
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In the space between the knuckle and the first finger joint - one rune per finger (excest the thumb)
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They are indigo blue runes.
Right hand
Left hand
Main Male Character: Kaelen
He was much younger than the last emissary, who had been a hairy middle-aged man with a ridiculous handlebar moustache and an affinity for whores.
This one, however, had a ruggedly handsome face. A hard jaw shadowed with several days of dark stubble. Dark brown curls that were an unruly sprawl, the kind of hair that defied a comb, except the sides that were cut meticulously short, a clean fade that turned wildness into precision. It did nothing to distract from his dark, assessing eyes, almond-shaped and tilted slightly at the corners.
His skin was deeply tanned, with an ochre undertone that didn’t come from a week in summer. It came from living beneath a harsher sun than this grey, misty shithole ever offered. Something in his features tugged at memory, paintings I’d seen of the people on the far side of Valmere, a semi-nomadic tribe who called the endless, whispering steppes of golden sea grass home.
The Horse Lords of Vesta.
Physical Description:
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Tall, broad-shouldered, and strongly built
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A hard, defined jaw with several days of dark stubble
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Dark brown hair, thick and slightly unruly on top, with the sides cut short in a clean fade
Face and Expression:
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Dark brown eyes, almond-shaped and slightly tilted at the corners
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His gaze is sharp, observant, and assessing
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He should not look soft or expressive.
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His emotion is restrained, carried in stillness rather than movement.
Skin and Tone:
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Deeply tanned skin with warm, ochre undertones
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He is not caucasian
What To Avoid:
Clean, polished “prince” appearance
Overly styled or perfect hair
Soft or romantic expressions
Exaggerated fantasy armour
The Crone
(God of death - namesake of the book)
Out of the darkness, a figure emerged. Her cloak was the night sky itself, a black so deep it devoured the light, scattered with tiny, flickering stars like constellations that seemed to move as she prowled closer towards me.
Her face was impossibly beautiful, full lips painted black, white satin waves tumbling to her waist, cheekbones sharp and angular, but her eyes were solid black wells.
Face:
Strikingly beautiful, but unnatural
Sharp, angular features
Full lips, painted black
Long white hair, smooth and flowing, falling to her waist
The beauty should feel wrong.
Too perfect. Too still.
Eyes:
Completely black
No visible whites or pupils
The Crone should feel:
Unsettling
Quietly powerful
Inevitable
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