Founding Member: Lucas Mirriam
This entry is designed to launch a series of posts dedicated to pivotal characters in the history of the Sy’Arrians. It not only helps to further solidify the foundation of the story in the minds of readers but serves to flesh out more details while I finalize the outline for book two of the series, The Fury of Ages.
I may have mentioned this in a prior post, but I tend to work backwards in world building, which I believe is a common occurrence most content creators experience. A rough concept comprised of first names, last names, descendants, and who did what had been initially developed from the beginning. I did not start digging deep to create more thorough backgrounds until roughly two years ago, which coincides with the release of The Cradle of Destiny.
Most of my characters where created well over a dozen years ago, so my greatest challenge has been hammering out the details of their names to fit accurately into their background stories. I have a humorous tale, one I will not recount here to keep the post to a reasonable length, highlighting my journey to alter the names of the Mirriam family to makes sense with their lineage. My advice is to use resources such as Sherriyln Kenyon’s book, The Writer’s Digest: Character Naming Sourcebook second edition, from the very beginning of character creation. Trust me, your mind and characters will thank you.
The Mirriam family line combines a naming convention common to immigrants who left their native-born countries on Earth to occupy the North American continent, specifically in the country formerly known as the United States. Efforts to assimilate seamlessly into their new life often meant switching first names to adopt a new last name or altering first names so they appeared more in line with their adopted culture. Lucas’ family was no exception to this facet.
In keeping with his father’s Norwegian ancestry, Lucas’ birth name of Lukas Solheim, initially was not entered in official records due to a clerical error when his mother, Miriam Hasson gave birth to him in 1990. This provided his parents an opportunity to rethink what kind of life they wanted their son to experience due to what they viewed as emerging signs of xenophobia.
After researching popular names and noting commonalities in various regions, Lucas’ father Hallam, felt it prudent to utilize his mother’s first name as their last, changing it slightly to Mirriam while altering his first name to Lucas. When the government finally caught the clerical error, official birth and citizenship records reflected their newly adopted names of Henry, Rose, and Lucas Mirriam. Lucas’ mother had pulled from her Scottish last name of Hasson to create her first name.
Lucas had studied with various practitioners of the martial arts and Zen philosophers, which enabled him to approach life’s barriers in a pragmatic way. Already having a broadened sense of self at an early age allowed the young man to look beyond emotionalism and embrace sensibility when interacting with those who had opposing viewpoints. Formalized studies in the area of sociology, anthropology, and philosophy would unknowingly make him ideally suited to be one of the original founders of the first Cri’lin Council.
As Akasha began to manifest in the various cultures on Earth, Lucas was the one who pointed to the cultivation of an individual’s spirit, citing it was the key element in understanding how to work with the other four elements of fire, water, earth, and air harmoniously. This shift in thinking would eventually save the Sy’Arrians from self-destruction.
Prior to Lucas’ revelation, those who could touch and wield Akasha to do miraculous feats, often displayed signs of what was originally called schizophrenia, resulting in highly destructive acts. The ever-growing paranoia and stereotyping of Akasha using individuals is what lead to the passage of the Vestal Law in 2500, crafted by Senator Randolph Vestal who could not move past the death of his own son who had been consumed after using Akasha in an act of self-defense. This law labeled users of the known elements as Manipulators, forcing them to register in a planetary database and face prosecution for using their abilities.
Although Lucas had already been working with numerous groups of Akasha practitioners with no reports of calamitous events for well over 45 years, the law still passed due to widespread misinformation from media outlets and biased, appointed officials in the highest offices of the United Terran Republic. When the United Terran Security Force (UTSF) illegally used lethal force to apprehend Michael and Tyler Sha’ran, resulting in their father’s death in 2526, Lucas realized the opinions of Earth’s citizens towards them would not change.
In 2580, the Sy’Arrians left Earth and eventually colonized Hyprus in 2625. Lucas was instrumental in establishing the Sy’Arrians entire social structure to include the Andaris Academy and the Sacred Pledge earning his place in history as the Father of the Sy’Arrians. Prior to his death in 2730, Lucas joined with life partner Tyra Weir who gave birth to children, Augustas, and Liara Mirriam.
Feel free to post your questions or comments. I will respond, if need be, when I able.
Resources:
Character Naming Sourcebook:https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Digest-Character-Naming-Sourcebook/dp/1582979200
