Okay so, because I said I'd do this: a thread about the main cast of my Argentum in Aqua trilogy (Blood on the Snow, Silver in the Ashes, Fire in the Sky).

All the art is by @IllustratedJai , my wonderful partner in crime (and IRL partner), who /might/ also be illustrating AiA.

Up first: Sabbat and Archer.

These two are pretty much a double-act, hence the double portrait. Despite being from very different worlds, they've been best friends for pretty much a decade at the point the story starts - though it helps that they were both pirates when they met

They're.... also both kinda massively in love with each other and utterly failing to deal with that fact (ignoring it and hoping it goes away counts as dealing, right?)

In terms of that 'different worlds' comment above: Archer's a gentleman magician from a noble family who's legitimately related to the ruler of the city. Sabbat's a thief and assassin who grew up in a brothel in the slums and ran away to sea as soon as he was old enough.

Sabbat's also trans - not a massive thing in this world, given magical transition is both possible and free, but part of why he ran away to sea quite so soon. Far easier to reinvent yourself in a port where no-one knows your name or whose 'daughter' you supposedly are.

By the time the story starts, they're both living in the city (not in the same rooms, for all Archer's attempts to get Sabbat to stay with him) and working for the Order - the secret society of magicians working to safeguard magical practitioners from those who'd do them harm.

Oh, and Archer's perfectly well aware what Sabbat does for a living - in fact, he provides information, alibis and disguises for his friend on a regular basis. It helps that a lot of Sabbat's work is for the Order, of course, but that's not why Archer's helping him out.

To take them on their own merits:

Archer's a vampire, though one who's currently getting by on animal blood (yellow-eyed vampires can do that. Red-eyes not so much). He's also very much the gentleman scholar trope, given longer life means a deal more time for book-learning.

Back when he was younger, he was a soldier - specifically, a mercenary in the company of the woman who'd later go on to become the Regent of the city-state.
He was also fairly heavily involved in the coup that made her Regent, which is why he was out pirating for a while after.

As a person, he's polite, somewhat deceptively calm, and rather inclined to listen to his head over his heart (except when Sabbat is concerned).

Which makes him a perfect foil for Sabbat, who's very deliberately rude, very... not calm, and very inclined to listen to his gut.

As far as Sabbat's concerned, he knows exactly what half the city thinks of folks like him, and it doesn't make him very inclined to play nice.
It also means he won't go out of his way to stop them underestimating him - at least, unless it's funny to puncture their assumptions.

(He's also dealing with a fair amount of chronic pain - a mixture of inherited stuff and a whole lot of injuries that never quite healed right - which doesn't exactly make his temper any sweeter. Archer's used to it, though other folks aren't so much)

For both of them, anyone harming the other is something of a beserk button.
The difference is this:

If you hurt Archer, Sabbat will kill you.

If you hurt Sabbat, Archer will /unmake/ you.

(And yes, this does come up)

Moving on: Viola

Viola Cervanso is the bodyguard and lady's maid to Lady Amelia Luciel, only child of the most powerful non-royal family in the city.

She's also an Order operative, primarily working as an enforcer. Oh, and she's a werewolf.

Viola's an uncomplicated person at heart - mostly what she wants is a good fight, good friends, the chance to go for long moonlight runs in wolfshape, and a girlfriend to cuddle with.

Unfortunately, she's currently up to her neck in politics and hating every second of it.

She and Amelia grew up together - her mother and father were servants to Amelia's family - and so, for all Amelia's technically her mistress, the two of them view each other as sisters.

Viola also has a twin brother, Sebastian, whom she loves and despises in equal measure.

And speaking of Amelia...

Lady Amelia Luciel is a student magician, the only child of a very influential family... and a very sharp political operator who's not nearly as much of a sheltered little rich girl as she lets certain people believe.

(For this trilogy she's /technically/ a secondary character, but she's important and has art, so)

Amelia's an interesting one - sharp, politically savvy, but also impulsive and very prone to following her heart in ways which cause Viola no end of headaches.

She's very aware of the weight on her shoulders, and she does try very hard to live up to the expectations her parents have for her - but she's also very quick to flare up when she feels as though she's being coddled or treated differently because of her status.

And now, on to the folks with no art yet (I'll add their portraits in the replies when they exist)

First up: Fest

Jonathan Amaranth Fest, to be specific. Red-eye vampire, seventh child of a backwoods noble family, student magician, and currently in /way/ over his head.

Fest's the only one of the main cast who isn't an Order operative at the start - in fact, he starts out convinced that the Order doesn't exist (though rather wishing it did, because Adventure and Excitement and Being A Hero sound like a whole lot of fun)

He... rather quickly finds out that a) the Order /does/ exist, b) it's /very/ interested in him and c) Adventures and Intrigue are a whole lot less fun and a whole lot more sickeningly terrifying when they're actually happening to you.

Thankfully for him, he has allies in the form of everyone else in this thread (though certain people are a wee bit happier to be helping him than others), as well as the last person I'll cover tonight (I'll add others when they actually show up in the book).

And that last person is...

Anneke.

Anneke is a priest of Ashkenta, the goddess of liminal spaces and learning. Which means, like all of Ashkenta's priests, they're nonbinary. They're also an excellent research magician, a specialist in curses, and... not very good at people.

On the other hand, neither is Fest - the two of them end up bonding fairly hard over a) Everything And Everyone Being Far Too Anxiety-Inducing and b) academia, as well as c) both being red-eye vampires, who're fairly rare in the city

(Oh, and a thing: while most of my characters have some autistic traits [because an autistic person is writing them], Anneke is 100% canonically autistic)

And given this thread is now... very very long, I'm going to call it here for now. So:

1) Chapter 1 of Blood on the Snow is here: https://saranadosfiction.wordpress.com/2018/05/19/aia-book-1-blood-on-the-snow-teaser/
2) I'll add more characters to this thread when they show up in released chapters
3) If you have questions, ask away :D