Character Portrait: Alexis Striken
I was surprised to discover a lack of meaningful description related to my main antagonist in The Cradle of Destiny, Alexis Striken. It is an interesting exploration of the creative psyche when you become increasingly wrapped up in menucha, you forget to create the most basic facets of a character: eye and hair color, facial structure, general physical appearance, etc. In my own experiences, I do well in establishing mood, demeanor, and personality only to realize I did not nail down the basics. Case in point, I did not finalize Lourous Mirriam, my protagonist’s overall appearance, until the end of The Cradle of Destiny.
Alexis Striken was poised to inherit a legacy carved from the chaos of the Unification of the Races, also known as the Amalgamation Conflict, which began in the year 2800 when James Striken left his home planet of Hyprus to unite the scattered races based on the concept of universal collaboration and cooperation. Many of the other races in the universe felt this to be an overt display of power, expressing the Sy’Arrians had overstepped their authority in matters of cultural politics.
Despite their criticisms, many of the races were so intrigued with James’ vision, they often provided a variety of resources to support his cause. It took considerable tenacity and humility to garner such diverse support. In 2933, after nearly 133 years of conflict, James Striken achieved what many had considered impossible; a universe less divided, where races could breathe easier and focus on developing their culture and society in relative peace.
An imposing figure at a height of 189 centimeters and roughly 104 kilograms, Alexis Striken's dark green eyes along with his thick, black-gray shoulder length hair is not what would typically be seen in his Sy'Arrian brethren with their tightly trimmed hair styles and eye color ranges in the blue to brown spectrums. As he matured and became more self-aware of his particular talents in the use of Akasha, a rare trait would surface, serving to set him apart even further.
His birth came earlier than expected in the year 2785, while his parents, James Striken and Liara Mirriam were visiting the Sy'Arrian homeworld of Hyprus. During his early infancy, Alexis experienced sporadic periods of distress, resulting in the early manifestation of Akasha. In most situations, the end result was an early death for a Sy'Arrian child, but Alexis survived, largely due to a miraculous technique employed by his parents.
When Lucas Mirriam established mandatory meditation practices for all Sy'Arrians due to its ability to calm the often-violent flow of Akasha within them, the consideration of how to address infants with early onset Akasha had not been explored. Invariably, death was the end result for any Sy'Arrian who chose for one reason or another, not to practice the necessary meditative techniques designed to tame it. Realizing no practical options were at their disposal, James and Liara employed a technique designed to impart their knowledge of meditative techniques to Alexis even though he was mere months old.
Dubbed the soothing by those who had officially witnessed the act being performed for the first time, James and Liara created a sllair barrier around Alexis and modified it to allow for their own unique connections to Akasha to flow within it, essentially bathing Alexis in their thoughts and perceptions. This effectively created a type of telepathic link, where James and Liara could use their learned meditative techniques on Alexis to aid in calming the torrent of Akasha's waves within him. This technique was used with great success up to the beginning of his fourth birthdate, when he began to meditate successfully on his own. This technique would later be adopted by the Sy'Arrians to assist other parents in similar situations.
In his early years, Alexis received training in areas most expected from one destined to lead the Telerin Confederation; diplomacy, political and social ideology, Sy’Arrian warrior tactics, economics, and cultural norms of the known races. Although raised primarily on Terakia, he progressed through the academic system developed by Lucas Mirriam as if he were on Hyprus. Sy'Arrian practitioners from the Andaris Academy would often stay for several years to teach Alexis the various subjects all Sy'Arrians needed to know for progression to their next stage of development. Liara personally saw to his development in the Sy'Arrian Warrior arts, allowing James to contribute when he was able due to his involvement in the Amalgamation Conflict.
In 2813, only a few years into his third phase of training, Alexis began his pilgrimage on the planet of Pyraya to live, train, and learn from the race of assassin's known as the Pylogi, staying until his 53 birthdate in 2838. Both James and Liara understood the optics of such a decision but utilizing such an unconventional approach, they hoped it would provide their son with a unique insight regarding a race many feared out of ignorance.
During his stay on Pyraya, Alexis would learn to tame and come to a deeper understanding of an ability he had kept hidden from those closest to him, including his parents. Alexis was the first Sy'Arrian to be born with the ability of premonitions. Prior to leaving for Pyraya, he confided in his mother, who had already suspected her son had a unique gift. The Pylogi would instruct him on a number of techniques to hone his ability and keep it in check. After learning about their culture, Alexis continued viewing the churning of life through the lens of compassion until the Altrum Mining Tragedy of 3081.
In the months following the tragedy, Alexis morphed into a cold and calculated tactician eventually dissolving the Telerin Confederation to form the Telerin Government with himself as absolute ruler. His most nefarious act came in 3087 with the near genocide of his own people.
This is merely a snapshot of Alexis, and more insights can be gleaned by reading The Cradle of Destiny. My intent with character portraits has always been to provide very rough glimpses into what it takes to develop proper backgrounds for prominent characters. Even if you have short-lived characters, all need a properly fleshed out framework; it makes them relatable, believable, and explains why they act the way they do.
What I mention above may seem a tad obvious but when you look at how other content creators treat their characters, be it mainstream network programming and certain movie genres, it may not be so obvious.
Feel free to post your questions or comments. I will respond, if need be, when I able.
