The Wild Republic
Dramatis Personae
Dramatis Personae
Alcindarias
Species: Gryphon
Political Affiliation: Wild Free Alliance of Mythical Beasts
Occupation: None
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: It's from the special onomastic component of the Diertanii language, and means literally 'very masculine glorious fierce joy of flight beauty in darkness beautiful male with skilful forepaws guided by an acute mind.' Feel free to find a more idiomatic translation.
Varia: He remains pretty aloof, but this is largely because no one else is quite his equal in intelligence and gryphons are fiercely proud. Knows lots of languages and is very knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects.
Aldonza
Species: Seal
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Chapter leader
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Longtime best friend of Silver
Source of Name: It was a secret for a long time, but she eventually did tell me.
Varia: She doesn't talk much to anyone outside the Mini Republic because she is very private, but she is by all accounts frighteningly competent, and her chapterlings are very loyal to her.
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Chapter leader
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Father of Beppe. Widower of Laura.
Source of Name: He's an alpha wolf, and also Italian.
Varia: A world-renowed wolf-tenor in his not-exactly-copious spare time. Has never recovered from the tragic death of his wife. Worries incessantly that he's a terrible parent to his son. Rather neurotic.
Amos
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Secretary
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship:
Source of Name: He looks perpetually sad.
Varia: He suffers from OCD, which causes him to be anxious much of the time, though it also contributes towards making him a pretty damn good secretary.
Angel Joe
Full Name: Sir Angel Joe, Order of the Silver Gentian
Species: Ermine
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Field agent on medical leave
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Former partner-in-the field of Winidavefred
Source of Name: It came to me in a dream about football. Seriously.
Varia: A national hero, thanks to the torture he received in order to allow his partner to escape with vital documents (which has left him permanently scarred), he is slowly recovering from PTSD and writing his memoirs, which he does by dictating them to himself and then taking his own dictation.
Argantry
Full Name: Argantry Iqbal Elessdill
Species: Harbour Seal
Political Affiliation: Wild Fascist Dictatorship
Occupation: Former professor of Economic Philosophy turned non-violent political activist and refugee
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Thorn in the side of Ebenezer Popcorn
Source of Name: I made it up. It's very pretty.
Varia: She was convinced to flee her homeland (where she'd been under house arrest) before she could be seized and executed by the Popcorn regime, and sought asylum here. Now she's writing her sixth book, giving speeches and lectures, and generally trying to draw attention to the dire plight facing her countrymen. She is amusing to talk to because she uses lots of Game Theory metaphors.
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Public relations; fire marshal
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: He plays various low-pitched instruments, and also sings baritone.
Varia: An accomplished musician, particularly on bari-sax and trombone. Favourite type of music is jazz. Something of an attention slut. Also really likes puzzles. It may also be worth noting that the only reason he's not counted as Mini Republic is his intense insistence that elephants are never "mini". Everyone kindly avoids pointing out that he's like half the size of Beppe.
Beppe
Species:Wolf
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: n/a
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Son of Alfredo and the now-deceased Laura
Source of Name: He's Italian, he's peppy, and his father's name begins with "alf-."
Varia: Has been earning praise as a wolf-treble. Too young for official schooling, apart from his voice lessons. Very energetic and rather prone to inadvertently causing trouble.
Butterfinger
Species: Teddy bear
Political Affiliation: Teddy Bear League
Occupation: Teddy bear and chocolatier
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: It says so on his shirt.
Varia: Like all teddy bears, his mauling instincts have been replaced by hugging instincts. He is sometimes a bit aggressive as a result.
Cami
Full Name: Chalcedony
Species: Jaguar (black)
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: The patterns on his fur.
Varia: Extremely sensitive in every way. Can be very shy and anxious. Highly intelligent; has ludicrously high test scores.
Casper
Full Name: Casper Reed
Species: Tiger
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: erstwhile Secretary/Vice-Secretary of Culture; now retired
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: May or may not be involved in a relationship with Seymour.
Source of Name: Unclear
Varia: Seems the epitome of a dignified elder statesman now, but was apparently quite the hothead in his younger years. But always very debonair, of course.
Chandra
Species: Snow leopard
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Officer from the Ministry of Arts and Culture
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: One of the Three Musketeers, alongside Chaya and Suraj.
Source of Name: "Chandra" is the Sanskrit word for "moon," and snow leopard colouration seems moon-like.
Varia: Devoted to promoting art and culture, he invests much of his spare time in writing an immensely popular column about various (and frighteningly diverse) subjects in his period of expertise. He is not an artist himself, but he is very learned and well-respected as a critic. His specialty is allegedly Comparative Feline Dancing, but he knows so much about so many other things that one wouldn't realise this without being told.
Chaya
Species: Jaguar, black
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Data analyst (possibly means "spy")
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: One of the Three Musketeers, alongside Chandra and Suraj.
Source of Name: "Chaya" is the Sanskrit word for "shadow," and he's a melanisitic jaguar, so that works.
Varia: Ostensibly he works as a statistician and demographer, but there is reason to suspect that he also engages in some sort of espionage on the side. This is not to say that anyone doubts the veracity of his claims about his employment. He doesn't talk much, but it's not clear whether this is because he's shy or because he's usually thinking about something else.
Chupacabra, the
Full Name: unknown
Species: Chupacabra
Political Affiliation: Wild Cryptic Confederacy
Occupation: unknown
Residence: Northern Domicile
Varia: He - she - it? mysteriously materialised in Cambridge back in March of '11, and as it - she - he? speaks only Spanish and Cryptic and has a severe phobia of rodents, exactly how it got here and why it arrived remains a mystery. She - it - he? enjoys watching Mexican soap operas (which it - he - she? finds hilarious) and can allegedly be trusted around goats.
Dante
Species: Tasmanian devil
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Philosopher and Security Specialist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It evokes the Inferno.
Varia: Quite violently deranged, he spends most of his time foaming threateningly at the mouth and generally freaking everyone else out. It is generally impossible to have a conversation with him because of all the snarling. However, he is also a very highly regarded philosopher who publishes prolifically on highly esoteric subjects.
Desmond
Hebrew Name: Binyamin ben Mattityahu v'Miriam
Species: Manatee
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Mediator, Spiritual Advisor, and Chaplain-in-Waiting
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It just suits him somehow.
Varia: A rabbinical student in his spare time; hopes to be ordained soon. Generally a pillar of good sense and steady temperament amongst less-stable animals.
Flurry
Species: Snow leopard
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He's a snow leopard, and also very energetic and excitable.
Varia: The youngest of the official students, he is somewhat lacking in powers of concentration yet, but makes up for it by being insatiably curious and perpetually excited. He thinks pretty much everything is fantastic.
Gilly
Full Name: Gilbert
Species: Red panda
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Intern in the Ministry of Inventory
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has a littermate named Arthur.
Source of Name: He was given to me by EHC, and I couldn't figure out how to make her name masculine, so since she loves G&S, I decided that so did Gilly's parents. So he's named after Gilbert.
Varia: Cunning and a bit mercenary, he ruthlessly exploits his fabulous adorability to get what he wants... or tries to. He is worringly susceptible to advertising and prone to developing fixations on various material goods, most notoriously mattresses, banquet halls, motorcycles, and Oriental rugs.
Gus
Full Name: Augustus
Species: Glyptodon
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic, Ice Age Division
Occupation: Event planner (recently promoted after a period as Leprosy's apprentice)
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship:
Source of Name: AJD picked this one, because "glyptodon" reminded him of Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - not that our Gus has much in common with Augustus Gloop.
Varia: He is a remarkably well-adjusted character, considering that he is tragically extinct; he seems to have the gift of appreciating what he has in the moment. Despite his generally placid, down-to-earth nature, he enjoys parties and trying new things. He also really enjoys watching carnivores try - and fail - to bite through his formidable shell.
Gyork
Species: Gnu
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: IT Specialist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: Apparently we have a sub-theme of bovines having names that are references to New York, and... he's a gnu, so.... credit to WMPT.
Varia: He is something of a legend in IT circles, as his systems never crash or develop viral issues. The Mini Republic's computer system is sufficiently different from any other known computer systems that the rest of us aren't really able to benefit from his expertise as much as we might want to.
Henri
Full Name: Henri-Philippe de Rimbault
Species: Girrafe [sic]
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Inventory manager
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has a productive creative partnership with Winslow.
Source of Name: It just suits him somehow.
Varia: Bouncy, excitable, and just a bit neurotic, he can be a bit of an alarmist, but this tendency is countered by the ease with which he gets distracted. He and Winslow have an idea for a television series involving a giraffe that sails the ocean on the back of a beluga, having adventures; they are sure that it will be Very Popular once they receive funding. Important: though he looks like a giraffe, he is in fact a girrafe, the crucial difference being that girrafes, unlike giraffes, are carnivores.
Hrithik
Species: Ring-tailed Lemur
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Cartographer
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship:
Source of Name: Lemurs have only semi-opposable thumbs, so he's named after the SUPER-HOT Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, who has a sixth finger.
Varia: His patriotism for his homeland of Madagascar is so ardent that one sometimes wonders how he managed to leave. He has recently taken up a very loud and tremendously obnoxious form of meditation that somehow manages to get his friends to "win" on Jeopardy! a lot.
Humphrey
Species: Walrus
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Commodore, retired to desk duty
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It seems appropriate for a gruff old seaman.
Varia: He's a gruff old sea dog who can sometimes be a bit pretentious and is rather suspicious of new-fangled ideas... but he's a softie at heart. He also has a lot of rather long-winded stories of his days at sea, some of which are entirely true and others of which are entirely not; it's not clear whether he remembers which is which at this point.
Ilari
Full Name: IllarionSpecies: Black swan
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Psychologist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He's Russian and majestic, and it seemed to fit.
Varia: He was a professional ballet dancer on the side while he was in school, and still gets requests for autographs even though he retired once he received his PsyD. In addition, he is an accomplished practitioner of voodoo.
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Headmaster
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: Felines apparently must all have nature names (thanks to the Three Musketeers), and his colouration seemed right for the stone jasper.
Varia: In addition to his illustrious credentials in the world of education - he holds a master's in education, and before he came here, he was first an award-winning physics teacher and then the headmaster at an all-boys school for felines - he is a world-ranked kick-boxer.
Khamsin
Species: Cheetah
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: A khamsin is a particularly strong, fierce desert wind, which seems right for a cheetah.
Varia: Easily the best athlete amongst the younger set (okay, let's be honest: he's the best athlete around), he is also the most laid-back of the kittens by a considerable margin, and has no ego problems whatsoever. He's older than he looks and totally uses this to his advantage when it comes to snuggling with older women.
Lady Artemisia
Full Name: Lady Artemisia Lapis-LymeSpecies: Caracal
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Cultural attache
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Longtime best friend of Lady Faraday. Daughter of the Earl of Kereswicke. Descended on her mother's side from the untitled but very wealthy and influential Tarragon family.
Source of Name: Her first name just seemed to fit her, and cats need nature names anyway... so she has two, albeit one of them a translation of her mother's family name. Her surnames are references to her blue eyes and the contrast between her black ears and the rest of her pale fur.
Varia: Although she is employed by the Foreign Office, it's not clear what her official capacity is, or why she's here. She's tough and she's brilliant (particularly in mathematics), and has a reputation for being a bit of a hellion, though she's managed to avoid scandal. She is also a renowned painter.
Species: Serval
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Vice-Chair of the Ambassadorial Delegation from the Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Girlfriend of Sir Tristan; longtime best friend of Lady Artemisia. Daughter of the Earl of Basselton
Source of Name: It had the right attitude somehow. Elegant but a bit unconventional. Her surname comes from the patterns on her coat.
Varia: Thanks to her unique combination of ruthless competence and unspeakable elegance, she is clearly destined for an illustrious career in diplomacy, and it's an open secret that she will be promoted into the prestigious position currently held by her long-time mentor, Sir Theo, upon which she will almost certainly be inducted into the Order of the Porcelain Delphinium. She also manages to be a perfect lady despite being the second-best poker player around.
Laszlo
Species: Moose
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Officer of the Ministry of Security (high-ranked)
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: Well, he's Hungarian, you see.
Varia: He is one of the saner, less zany personalities around, and takes his job very seriously, but he's also an accomplished tap dancer, and very much enjoys showing off. Currently he's missing his best friends, Leprosy and Rochester, both of whom remained in Philadelphia when the rest of the Greater New Jersey Chapter was relocated to NYC. This has forced him to suddenly learn all about Instant Message services, with mixed success.
Leprosy
Species: Platypus
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Master of ceremonies; former Officer of the Treasury Department, now retired
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: I happened to be holding him while explaining about the mosquito bites on my arm; I'm allergic to mosquito bites, so they looked pretty awful, and I said, 'I have leprosy.' WMPT said, 'You do understand you'll have to call him that now, right?'
Varia: Serious and stern, he takes everything, including himself, very very seriously, and has little patience for those who are more inclined towards fun. Unsurprisingly, his sense of dignity is much stronger than his sense of humour. He was quite relieved when the kittens were shipped off to New York City.
Magick
Full Name: Ruthven Jet Shadwater, Earl of Ebonwood
Species: Leopard (black)
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: "Cultural attache"
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Longtime best friend of Sir Tristan. Son and heir to the Marquess of Blackthorn
Source of Name: He's black and mysterious.
Varia: He is the archetypal historical romance hero: beautiful, brilliant, titled, wealthy, successful with women, skilled at gambling, more than a little dangerous, and oh-so-very mysterious. Exactly why he is here remains a source of much speculation, though it seems to be connected to some sort of scandal.
Mahler
Full Name: Cirrus Mahler
Species: Clouded leopard
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: His first name comes from the fact that he's a clouded leopard and therefore needed a nature name; with clouded leopards there were a lot of available choices. The second just seemed right because he has an impressive tail.
Varia: The eldest of the students, he is suffering through a rather awkward adolescence with a decided absence of Girls His Age. He has a bad case of hero worship for Magick and an unfortunate tendency to fall madly and unsuccessfully in love with any female felines to cross his path.
Meph
Full Name: Mephibosheth
Species: Fox bat
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Officer of the Ministry of Transportation
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: It's a minor character in the Tanakh. Everyone thinks bats are all sinister, so this way we got to poke fun at that: it sounds like it might be short for Mephistopheles, but then it isn't. Bats, we concluded, have a thing for really long Hebrew names.
Varia: He's good-humoured, cheerful, perpetually positive, and generally everything you would never think about bats.
Mimsy
Full Name: Mimsy Borogovich
Species: Woolly Mammoth
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic, Ice Age Division
Occupation: Librarian and archivist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He's a very small mammoth, in the grand scale of mammoths. Rather like a mimmoth, really. Also he's kind of zany.
Varia: Of the three Ice Age animals, he's easily the one adjusting least well to being extinct; in fact, he's more than a little unbalanced, which manifests mostly in being zany and erratic. He also nurtures a deep, festering grudge against elephants, whom he refers to as "bald mammoths" in a decidedly derogatory fashion.
Murchison
Full Name: Cotton Murchison
Species: Arctic fox
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Secret agent
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He's very white and fluffy, just like cotton balls. The surname is a reference to the "Tony and Control" secret agent skits from A Bit of Fry and Laurie.
Varia: All we really know about him is that he's mysterious, taciturn, and a secret agent. Ironic, isn't it?
Navarre
Full Name: Judah Navarre Androcles
Species: Lion
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student and Heir to the Throne
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Son of King Judah Kilimanjaro Androcles and Queen Sekhmet Goldenrod Androcles. Has two elder sisters, Sekhmet Nemea Androcles and Sekhmet Nittany Androcles
Source of Name: I got myself locked into this "cats need nature names" meme, and it turns out lions are hard, so we bent the rules a lot. There is a whole post about this.
Varia: He may be young, but he takes his position as heir to the throne very seriously, so he's always studying hard, even in his spare time. His sense of seriousness and decorum governs most of what he does, except for when his serious rivalry with Rusty kicks in. His favourite movie is of course The Lion King, and he has recently taken up photography (which he was initially somewhat embarrassed about).
Nicodemus
Species: Goat
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Administrative Liaison
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: My cousins used to have a black cat, so it seemed like a good name for a white goat.
Varia: Because goats tend to be working-class citizens in the highly complicated Wild Parliamentary Monarchy class system, he has a bit of an inferiority complex and is constantly trying to prove himself. Sometimes he accidentally slips and reveals his roots (e.g. his accent, or the habit of randomly eating things), and this always makes him terribly embarrassed.
Omri
Species: Sloth bear
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Professional Object Finder
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: I had minor characters from the Tanakh on the brain at the time, and it seemed to fit him.
Varia: It's apparent to everyone that his real aspiration in life is to become a dancing bear, and object retrieval is a distant second choice. We know this because he's not really very good at his job, but seizes every opportunity to dance.
Parsley
Species: Okapi
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Officer of the Ministry of Communications (including Telegram operator)
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It matched his face.
Varia: He's pretty high-strung and prone to panic attacks especially where zebras are concerned (although meeting Quixley seems to have helped with that a bit). Also he has a really adorable crush on Sandra Day Okapi.
Pedro
Full Name: Sir Dr Pedro, Order of the Alabaster Orchid
Species: Capybara
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Physician
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It references a line in The Twenty-fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Varia: A brisk, efficient, no-nonsense sort, he is generally unflappable. Most of his diagnoses are done via his acute sense of smell.
Plouie
Species: Adelie penguin
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Postmaster
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It has the right sort of wacko flavour to it. It's Welsh. Sort of. The name Probert is 'ap Robert'; Pugh is 'ap Hugh'; Pritchard is 'ap Richard.' So we concluded that Plouie would be 'ap Louie.'
Varia: He is absolutely batshit insane, and more than slightly confused about most things, especially those pertaining to avians and avianoids. He is also very religious, but we're not sure whether his worship of the Blue Penguin of Happiness is typical of his species or something he made up. He believes the Chupacabra to be a divine figure (the Footman).
Quixley
Species: Zebra
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: IT Specialist
Residence: Southern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has two younger sisters, Quincilla and Quelira; Quincilla is also his best friend and penpal
Source of Name: We didn't want to give him a name started with "z" and decided to emphasise this by insisting that zebras prefer "q" and "x." Then we needed a name with those letters.
Varia: Generally a pretty chill guy, he's our resident geek. He's particularly into gaming of all sorts (except LARPs, although he enjoys tabletop RPGs quite a lot), Lord of the Rings, and anything Joss Whedon. He's also an LGTB activist.
Raffy
Full Name: RaffertySpecies: Meerkat
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: IT intern
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It needed to be sort of scampery, because meerkats are scampery.
Varia: Although trained by the best, he's constantly overwhelmed by the enormity of his job, and always terrified he's going to screw up everyone's computer systems. By and large he's doing totally fine, but even the slightest problem makes him worry that he's a failure. In his spare time, he's the straight (and generally worried) man dragged along into Gilly's zany schemes.
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has a much-larger elder brother, Robulus
Source of Name: After naming Vim, we concluded that polar bears favour names that are nouns derived from oblique Latin case forms, and this is another good one.
Varia: Polar bears average two cubs per litter, but his litter had four, and he was very much the runt. He's still extremely small, so he's had to be twice as tough as everyone else, but fortunately he had a large older brother to teach him the ropes.
Reggie
Full Name: Reginald
Species: River otter
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Officer of the Ministry of Inventory, mostly retired
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has a nephew, Barmy, who often writes him
Source of Name: River otters are playful and a bit daffy, so we wanted something that evoked that, and decided that a sort of Woodhousian twit name would work. But he's clearly an older otter, so he needed something that was also a bit dignified.
Varia: A bit daffy, but very earnest, he's still playful, chipper, and easily distractable despite his age. He's the only member of the older generation to have embraced all this newfangled internet stuff with great gusto, although he's prone to making humourous mistakes.
Rochester
Species: Bison
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: newly promoted to sub-chapter head of the Southern Domicile; formerly Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Resource Allocation Division
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: The alternate name for bisons is of course "buffalo," which is also a city in upstate New York, a region where AJD does lots of research.
Varia: Bisons apparently like to head-butt each other to demonstrate affection, and no one has ever been able to train him out of this. He has recently discovered Avatar: The Last Airbender and has become a huge Appa fanboy.
Rusty
Full Name: Marco Sequoyah
Species: Tiger
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Has a younger brother and sister, Garnet and Dax, who hero-worship him and send him funny drawings
Source of Name: The colour of his fur. It was insufficiently nature-like, I felt, so we also gave him a nature surname that reflects redness.
Varia: Arrogant, aggressive, and scrappy, he's constantly in trouble over one thing or another, and he's obsessed with being the best at everything. This particularly comes out when he's around Navarre. He manages to be very loveable despite his tendency to randomly pounce on everyone, but clearly his ego is going to cause him grief one of these days. Like Mahler, he has a bad case of hero-worship for Magick, but he also has a bad case of hero-worship for Skandar, who more or less ignores him.
Seal
Species: Sea lion
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Former President pro tem of the Senate, now retired
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: I didn't really get the difference between seals and sea lions when I was three. In my defence, neither did my parents.
Varia: My oldest friend in the universe, as well as the first thing I ever purchased with my own money: he considers the former, but not the latter, to be important. He's the highest-ranked denizen of the local chapter, but since he's retired, he mostly stays out of the fracas. Recently he discovered that he is Elizabethan.
Seleucus
Species: Bactrian camel
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Auditor/Accountant
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Scion of the Bactrian royal house; can trace descent back to the camels of their human counterparts (including Princess Roxane, wife of Alexander the Great)
Source of Name: After the death of Alexander the Great, his generals divided up the empire, and Bactria was part of the empire that the general Seleucus ended up with; he then gave his name to the Seleucid dynasty. Since this is a royal camel, it seemed apropos.
Varia: Despite being a bit overly conscious of his royal heritage, he's generally pretty good-natured about mixing with lesser mortals. The others have learned to accept his gracious nods in the spirit they are offered rather than grumble about him being condescending. He is also a fervent Zoroastrian.
Seymour
Full Name: Seymour Cascade
Species: Mountain lion
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Chief of Staff of the Wild Republic; now retired
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: possibly in a relationship with Casper
Source of Name: Unclear
Varia: Another elder statesman, he has taken advantage of retirement to learn all about geology, and has some difficulty understanding that not everyone finds the subject similarly fascinating. He's generally calm and unflappable; we don't see much of him, but his experience as Chief of Staff make him pretty good in a crisis.
Silver
Species: Seal
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Longtime best friend of Aldonza
Source of Name: The colour of her fur.
Varia: Playful and a bit cheeky, she's a lot more social than her fearless leader, and often serves as her mouthpiece in addition to her official job duties. She paid for college and accounting school by being in the circus, and hasn't forgotten a thing of her old tricks.
Sir Theo
Full Name: Sir Theophilus Pearl, Bart., Order of the Amethyst Carnation
Species: Lynx
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Chairman of the Ambassadorial Delegation from the Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Mentor of Lady Faraday
Source of Name: He gets his surname from the almost pearlescent quality in his fur. The rest just seemed like a good name for someone of his general demographic.
Varia: He is a jovial, avuncular chap who gives very comforting pats and is enjoying his last assignment prior to his much-earned retirement. Recently he has become just a bit addicted to online Dominion.
Sir Tristan
Full Name: Sir Tristan Rivers, Bart., Order of the Amethyst Carnation
Species: Ocelot
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Consular Official
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Boyfriend of Lady Faraday; longtime best friend of Magick
Source of Name: The first name just seemed to fit. As for the surname: we needed a nature name (cats! argh!), and ocelots, unlike most feline species, enjoy swimming.
Varia: Serious and dutiful, he always does everything by the book. Since he knows the books better than anyone else, he tends to get away with quite a lot. He's a very dignified, proper, perpetually correct diplomat who escapes being stuffy thanks to having a first-rate sense of humour and a surprisingly open mind.
Sithri
Full Name: Sithri de Saphir
Species: Siamese cat
Political Affiliation: Citizen of the Wild Republic
Occupation: Opera singer
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Girlfriend of Skandar; has a littermate sister cum professional rival cum best friend named Smitra
Source of Name: It just fits her.
Varia: She's one of the most famous divas in the opera world, although she's currently on leave so that she can record a few albums of solos. This is taking her rather longer than it should because she keeps making out with Skandar instead. She is, as one would expect from her breed and profession, high-strung, melodramatic, and rather spoiled, but she's also surprisingly generous, very canny, and often unexpectedly useful.
Skandar
Full Name: Skandar Birch
Species: Tiger (white)
Political Affiliation: Citizen of the Wild Republic
Occupation: Rocker
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Boyfriend of Sithri
Source of Name: It's an Indian form of "Alexander," and he is arrogant enough that being named for Alexander the Great seemed appropriate. His fur, meanwhile, is quite birch-hued.
Varia: He's a rock star famous for his boozing, brawling, playboy lifestyle, which has kept him in the tabloids ever since his group first hit big when he was still barely more than a kitten. These days he spends most of his time making out with Sithri instead of recording his solo album, but he always manages to belt out a new song when someone tries to slyly bug him about it, so possibly he finds his love life inspirational in multiple respects.
Skwidjit
Species: Cat
Political Affiliation: Honorary Citizen of the Wild Republic
Occupation: Trained as a choral conductor; now a housecat
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: Named for the sound effect "skwidjit" for giving someone an affectionate pat on the head; she is just the right size to sit on someone's head, so this makes sense.
Varia: She spends most of her time on the windowsill in AJD's room, which has gained her a not-totally-justified reputation for aloofness and an occasional unrequited infatuation from Mahler. She's attended a couple of HRSFA Masquerades dressed as Puss In Boots and has grown very fond of the costume; she wears boots most of the time these days.
Species: Giant panda
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student, on medical leave
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: His facial expression really makes him look totally asleep. So we assume he's never been awake enough to reveal his real name.
Varia: He was pretty jet-lagged when he first arrived from China, and somehow never recovered, so he sleeps most of the time. Consequently, very little is known about him except that he seems to dream about being James Bond a lot.
Stal
Full Name: Stalactite
Species: Smilodon
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic, Ice Age Division
Occupation: Tutor in Archaic Feline and Poetry
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: His teeth are shaped like stalactites.
Varia: He's in the rather unique position of being one of the most renowned of ancient poets despite writing in modern times. This is one of the consequences of extinction. Being a poet, and a soulful one at that, he channels most of his extinction angst into odes and elegies. Currently he's at work on an epic based on an episode in the history of his clan, but he's a little afraid of its reception because one of the books features a mammoth hunt.
Suraj
Species: Cheetah
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Officer of the Ministry of Infrastructure
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: One of the Three Musketeers, alongside Chandra and Chaya.
Source of Name: "Suraj" is the Sanskrit word for "sun," and this fits his colouring.Noteworthy Relationship: One of the Three Musketeers, alongside Chandra and Chaya.
Varia: The most outgoing and energetic of the Three Musketeers, he always seems to be in seven places at once. It's not clear whether he ever sleeps, either: in addition to putting in an insane amount of overtime, he manages to have a number of hobbies, including chess, drag racing, and the manufacture of priceless porcelain masks. A now-retired champion sprinter, he also spends a lot of time dashing around to keep in shape.
The Chameleon
Full Name: ???
Species: Chameleon
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation:..... (it varies)
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He's too inconstant for a name, really.
Varia: We don't know much about this guy. He's different whenever we try to talk to him.
The Fox
Full Name: the Fox
Species: Red fox
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Former Senator; now Freelance Philosopher
Residence: Southern Domicile
Source of Name: cf. The Little Prince.
Varia: Wise, crafty, and very cuddly, he's pretty good at staying out of most of the madness that goes on in the Southern Domicile, but he has sufficient natural curiosity and sense of humour that he can sometimes be persuaded to participate in shenanigans.
The Snark
Species: Anteater
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Public relations specialist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: He looks a lot like the Sneak in the old-timey Strong Bad cartoons.
Varia: His perpetual sarcasm makes him an entertaining if not always comfortable conversationalist. He's a bit of a busybody, but very loyal to his chaptermates.
Tibby
Full Name: Tiberius Claudius Pingo
Species: Emperor penguin
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Scion of the Imperial Penguins
Source of Name: An emperor penguin needs a good emperor-sounding name, and the Julio-Claudians were the most interesting dynasty, so we gave him a Claudian name, with a cognomen that sounded like a variant of the word for penguin.
Varia: Earnest, studious, and clever, he's clearly headed for one hell of a career. Unlike some of the others of exalted heritage, he's pretty chill about his imperial status, although possibly it's easy to be relaxed and laidback when you're divine.
Twilby
Full Name: Hrothgar Q. Hornbeam, Viscount Twilby
Species: Snow owl
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Scholar and Ambassador
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: I was aiming for something unconventionally odd that would suit a nobleman who was also a scholar.
Varia: As an expert in comparative politics (among all sorts of other things; none of his degrees are in politics at all), he divides his time between his diplomatic and scholarly careers and manages to be very accomplished in both. He's a terrible public speaker, being far too long-winded, but he's really a very excellent tutor.
Vim
Species: Polar bear
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It's an English word derived from an oblique Latin case form, and it sort of fits a playful baby polar bear.
Varia: For a very long time, all of his playmates were kittens, and he's developed a few oddly feline mannerisms and behaviours as a result. Recently he discovered that he enjoys LARPing.
Winidavefred
Full Name: Sir Winidavefred, Order of the Silver Gentian Species: Badger
Political Affiliation: Wild Parliamentary Monarchy
Occupation: Former field agent; now on leave
Residence: Northern Domicile
Noteworthy Relationship: Former partner-in-the-field of Sir Angel Joe
Source of Name: A parlour game AJD and I made up based on a conversation I had with JVK, in which the syllable "dave" is infixed into other names. It was too fun not to use. We decided all badgers have names derived this way.
Varia: Currently on leave from being a field agent following a particularly heroic episode, he is slowly recovering his equanimity while helping his erstwhile partner write his memoirs. He is very knowledgeable about gardening, and has enjoyed having time to devote to it for once.
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Archivist
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: Unclear
Varia: Serious and quiet, he is also extraordinarily tenacious: once he gets an idea in his head, he will not relinquish it until he has exhausted all possibilities. He and Henri have an idea for a television series involving a giraffe that sails the ocean on the back of a beluga, having adventures; they are sure that it will be Very Popular once they receive funding.
Zebulon
Full Name: Zebulon Artaxerxes Chulalongkorn Wainscotting Tollemache-Tollemache-Liszt-Tollemache
Species: Aye-aye
Political Affiliation: Wild Republic
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: It's a Biblical name that nevertheless sounds like Martian, and he's a pretty out-there character.
Varia: He is reputed to be one of the finest legal minds of his generation, despite being completely insane and speaking almost entirely in the utterance "aye." Apparently his legal publications, which are many and legendary, are somewhat more varied in vocabulary. He insists on wearing a very large bow tie to court.
Zorri
Species: Striped skunk
Political Affiliation: Mini Republic
Occupation: Physician and Officer for the Ministry of Health and Safety
Residence: Northern Domicile
Source of Name: One of my favourite books as a kid was A Skunk Called Zorri, so I named him after that skunk. It's actually just the Spanish word for "skunk," if memory serves.
Varia: Most of his chaptermates try to keep him from getting too excited, because when he is excited, there tend to be problems. This is sometimes easier than others, as he is manic-depressive. He is also phenomenally lucky.
Offstage Characters
Archimedes (former pupil of Lord Twilby's, now tutor to JKS; a horned owl)
Arthur (Gilly's littermate brother)
Barmy (Reggie's nephew, a river otter)
Arthur (Gilly's littermate brother)
Barmy (Reggie's nephew, a river otter)
Basil (Ebenezer Popcorn's right-hand sadist, a dhole)
Dax (Rusty's younger brother)
Dax (Rusty's younger brother)
Ebenezer Popcorn (Evil fascist dictator sheep)
Garnet (Rusty's younger sister)
Garnet (Rusty's younger sister)
Laura (Alfredo's deceased wife, a wolf)
Nemea (Navarre's sister, a lioness/goth)
Nittany (Navarre's sister, a lioness/talks on the phone a lot)
Quelira (Quixley's much-younger sister)
Quincilla (Quixley's near-twin sister, best friend, and pen pal)
Robulus (Rebus's brother, a polar bear)
Quincilla (Quixley's near-twin sister, best friend, and pen pal)
Robulus (Rebus's brother, a polar bear)
Smitra (Sithri's sister, an opera singer)
