I have quite a backlog of art for the series, but very little of it has ever been polished or frankly presentable as finished work. What I do have, however, are collages of works gathered over the years.
I’ve made an effort to only use my own images for the purposes of this page. Even in my personal collages on my computer (yes, that’s a thing!), I try to emphasize hand-drawn art whenever possible, even if they’re idle sketches or clipped from an immense page of mini-portraits. Aggravatingly, some of those minis are among my best representations.
Photo-real portraits are from ArtBreeder, which is an AI tool that only uses its own internal image dataset and whatever you upload. Uploads and galleries can also be made private, which is a nice feature. I only use them here if I happen to like the results, or if it’s one of the only pictures I have. At least one of them is actually a composite of 2 images and a little repainting in Photoshop. I did these before the current generative image engines went public, and under the current climate of widespread evil practices I haven’t been back. I do not consider these to be art. I take pride in doing my own work, and I stand by that. This was no more than an experiment which turned into a massive and highly addictive time sink.
3D characters are from HeroForge, which I’ve had too much fun with, and Soul Calibur V. Weirdly, I got really great results from SC5, plus my entire cast actually fought and behaved in a manner appropriate to each character. I used to set up matches and watch them argue and fight with each other. You can rag on 5 all you want, but I had an absolute blast with it.
I started doing collages as references for future artwork, especially for certain characters that I struggle with. I had a terribly time nailing down the look of certain characters like Bernard and his cousin Mike, who’s very important in later books. Then I started doing mood boards, and adding other elements associated with each character, and plastered them all over my desktop so they’d be there whenever I open my laptop, reminding me that I should be writing and not screwing around on ArtBreeder and HeroForge. The ease of creation has made them addictive, so much so that all of my saved AB junk is filed away under the label “Timesink.”
Collages have helped me get an idea of where my art is weakest, and which characters desperately need new pictures. I avoid sharing my complete collages online, however, because they often do contain a lot of copyrighted images. Bernard’s, for example, contains a lot of images from clothing and jewelry sites. His character evolves towards a more personalized style, and I needed a visual feel for that’s going to look like. I also have a lot of references for the real-world vehicles that appear throughout the series. The top part of Mike’s collage is just cars, a corner of Bernard’s is devoted to boats, and Silver’s has several images of a 1930-ish Indian Scout motorcycle.
I’ve been wanting to do a character overview page for a while, now, but it didn’t make sense to me without some context. Early versions just felt empty and awkward. Like an extension of my book the way my friends see it (“Look at my art! I know you can’t see the writing for context, but I promise it’s cool!”). Now that I’ve got a chunk of my first book available to read and I’m working on getting the rest ready for an editor and publication, I thought it’d be a good time to share.
Enjoy!
Maxwell Bernard Sparker
b. April 6th, 1980
As a small child, he was targeted and abducted by escaped alien lab experiments, who conducted various experiments of their own. All of that was supposed to be erased from his memory, however, and he’s a teenage D&D geek who enjoys bow hunting and deep sea fishing. The son of a white Nebraskan mother and a Texan father of Filipino-Chinese descent, his greatest struggle in life has been dealing with the racial isolation that comes with living in the Southern US without his father … until his past comes back to haunt him.
Mireia Durant
b. May 6th, 1979
Bernard’s childhood friend. Their mothers are close friends, so they’ve always been like family. Usually patient, and tries to be a voice of reason. Her mother is from James Island, South Carolina, and her father is from Nebraska, but still has family in Southern France.
Jesebelle “Jez” and Ruben Thomas Blackwood
b. November 5th, 1981 & February 10th, 1983
Bernard’s cousins through his mother’s sister. Jez is short, temperamental, and worries about Bernard a lot. Her brother is around the same height, but being younger he will eventually be taller.
Ruben tends to be soft-spoken with most people except for Jez. He’s also very sensitive to energetic fields, though no one believes him.
Lacoren AKA Loren Sanchez
Raal-Osa, Marasuchus lilloensis
A young Raal-Osa (Immortal), his parents were born on Earth and have lived difficult lives, owing greatly to their diminuitive size. Being born in a Ryozae refugee colony has given him a unique, multifaceted view of the galaxy that helps him adapt to new situations, and makes him well-suited to work with Bernard. He’s very good friends with Saara, even though they argue about everything.
Sekirrandr Hhuarrosso AKA Saara Emerys
Nasouryozae, Shadow Stalker, distantly related to Utahraptor
Born on Dormnasar, the most heavily populated Ryozae world, she and her brother are the last surviving members of her family. She has powerful maternal instincts, and strong feminist opinions. Despite being very open-minded and caring when it comes to human cultures, she tends to be very suspicious and judgmental of other Ryozae, readily reflecting the insular opinions of her brethren.
Zicuar AKA Dr. Zachary “Zick” Maesera
Kagurral, Star Runner, from Deltadromeus agilis
Zick is the wayward son of a long, proud, purist line of warrior Ryozae that’s gone sour. Hated by most other Ryozae cultures and terrified of his own, he mostly keeps to himself, only opening up to those closest to him. An accomplished herbalist, he seems to have a tea recipe for every situation.
Fond of Opera, Classical, and Folk/Rock. Spends lavishly on fine dining and bespoke goods, but otherwise lives very modestly. Forced his author to spend countless hours studying men’s formalwear and maddeningly expensive hats.
The Ryozakkan
Samra Rizek (AKA Samantha Kago) & Daniel Kago Rizek
Rakzakkan (hybrid)
Daughter of one of the most powerful and influential families on Zeron, and a respected warrior,
Her husband Daniel is a human from Refvrenzo, but with a few secret tricks that help him get by in Ryozae society. A marine biologist, he has an passion for technical details that can be as useful as it is exhausting.
Sylvester “Silver” Rizek
Raal-Osa, Velociraptor mongoliensis
Silver, his wife, and siblings were born on Earth. Because of this, Silver claims Mongolian heritage in his human form, and passes himself off as “Samra’s half-brother’s visiting uncle” during his stay from 1984-1990, even though she and her brother had the same parents. He’s actually her great uncle, as the younger brother of her grandfather. (His wife Ruzummu is actually V. osmolskae, which was found in China. Silver has always been Mongolian, so I’m reluctant to change that, but the existence of a second Velociraptor species is too good to miss.)
Often considered the head of the Rizek Family, he’s really the lowest behind his 3 siblings and his own wife. Silver is a Sorcerer of Xal Enjhi, but he has made a few very serious mistakes in his time that have cost the lives of countless Ryozakkan. Worse: he has no memory of it. He seeks redemption for his past, both from his people and his own family, especially his son.
His charisma has won him a place as the family figurehead, but as a gynandromorph, an animal born both male and female, his place is often questioned by a matriarchal society that not only prefers his wife, but has both reasonable and unreasonable cause not to trust him.
Although he is technically non-binary, he typically chooses a male identity for personal reasons, but considers this to be a flux condition that he’s free to change whenever he wants. His identity has changed several times over the years, until it arrived at something he’s currently happy with, so although he has an official Terran alias registered with ETHICS, he hasn’t used it since 1990. He also answers to Nerasa or (more begrudgingly) Silvia, but prefers if the names were buried, the first because of the person he was when he used it, and the second because it wasn’t his choice, and the person who bore the name has been dead for a very, very long time.
Known to have trained Bernard during the period of alien abductions known as the Nightmare Case.
Silver is the oldest persistent character in the Ryozae saga, with written material dating back to at least the mid-90s. His story was recorded in a trilogy many years before the Alliance series. The first book was penned in 1999, along with prequel material that laid Xal Enjhi’s foundation, and the others were drafted in short stories and outlines between 2000-2004. A brief overview can be found here and here.
Neither Silver nor any of his family members have feathers. Many Immortals do not, often due to environment exposure, but sometimes as a result of genetic manipulation. All is not lost, however. He is searching for a way to get them back.
Sirrim Rmarrh AKA Rex Marimoor
Samra’s childhood friend. Has a crush on her, but respects her marriage and fights by her side as a loyal companion. Known for being cocky, though time and training have tempered his impulses. Sirrim is a “Wind Listener,” descended from the dinosaur Concavenator. Though the dinosaur has only been found with a few quills on its forelimbs, Sirrim’s body has numerous quills akin to whiskers, and his entire body is extremely sensitive to air movements, which helped his people detect ambushes and aerial assaults during the long-running Ryozae War.
Stationed in Wales. Answers to fellow Ryozakkan Ginthr’re, stationed in Louisiana as Jethro Rasemundo.
Kadin Athaonemouna AKA Dr. Kasimir Adenaur
Zick Maesera’s supervisor, mentor, and guardian since childhood. Kadin was born during the Ryozae War, and is a formidable warrior. Because of this, he is often considered a model male, despite being a Rakzakkan. And in spite of this, or perhaps because of it, he keeps a secret close to his heart that would crush many a female’s dreams. He leads a quiet, private life, having lost a lover in the war, and having no intent to seek another.
Kadin is stationed in Hamburg, Germany. He has an unruly younger brother, Tidan, in Brooklyn, New York and close friend Iriiki in Morioka, Japan. She has tasked herself with looking after his brother so he can focus on being there for Zick.
ETHICS
The Extraterrestrial-Hhianmiikan Immigration Control System is a network of agents from all three Ryozae worlds, coming together to protect Earth, the land of their ancestors, while also using it to help their people escape from the dire situations of their modern-day homeworlds.
Sherine
Nasouryozae, distantly related to Riojasaurus
One of the founders of the Ryozae organization known as ETHICS, and Head of Terran Operations. Not much is known about her, but she is highly respected by many.
Julie Hanon
Unknown Background
Daniel’s supervisor. No one knows anything about her life before ETHICS, except for Daniel, Samra, and Sherine. She was royalty, according to Sherine, but lives an average, modest lifestyle. All she really wants is to be left alone.
Sam hates her, deeply.
Glenda Vern
Unknown Background
Head of ETHICS’ mental health department. Kind-hearted and good at reading people. She poses as a phone-in psychic when she’s not counseling. It’s widely believed that she’s from Dormnasar like Saara, but she has never confirmed anyone’s suspicions.
Taladay Arts 
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