Keep Calm and Soldier On!

Erik Weitz

The Tin Soldier

“I’m just a dumb kid who doesn’t know when to quit!”

Mechanical eye and silver patch on the right. Funny T-shirt, jeans, plaid overshirts, crooked top hat and a torn black velvet frock coat w/lapel daisy. Mordecai’s child. Milo and Ann’s adoptive brother. Due to a childhood accident, has difficulty speaking, flips his letters around, and gets random updates from the gods. Cheerful demeanor totally unwarranted by his experiences.

Mordecai Eidel

The Musician

“I’m a cynic, which means I’m an idealist with experience.”

Frail, smallish, three piece suits w/ tie, jury-rigged metalwork in his lungs that tries to kill him in cold weather. Erik’s uncle. Milo and Ann’s adoptive caregiver. (Don’t call him Dad.) Reformed manipulative bastard and participant in two wars, one of which he started. Severe emotional issues and curdled idealism hiding under a thin layer of sarcasm.

Hyacinth

The Medic

“I’m not a real doctor, I can do all kinds of harm.”

Goggles, cheap shoes, overalls, ragged bob haircut in need of conditioner, smug expression. Practicing ex-medic, virtuoso metalworker and compulsive fixer-of-things. Dumped in the custody of a bipolar drag queen after a childhood head injury. Prone to blaming her brain damage and ignoring her emotional damage.

Milo Rose

The Engineer

MACHINE [BROKENX3, GOOD, SMARTX3]

Glasses, suspenders, monochromatic wardrobe, quiet and shy, flat affect. Calliope’s almost-husband. Dave and Lucy’s dad. Erik’s adoptive brother. Mordecai’s adoptive responsibility. Makes cheap watches on an assembly line, part-time. Likes pretty dresses and shoes. When in a dress he changes into a completely different person: Ann. Prefers nonverbal communication, like sign language, writing, and drawing.

Ann Rose-Otis

The Singer

“I’m a born performer! And so good at smiling!”

Frilly dresses, pretty shoes, long hair in finger waves. Dave and Lucy’s mom. Calliope, Euterpe and Erik’s adoptive sister. Mordecai’s adoptive responsibility. Sings at the Black Orchid, a drag club, part-time. Essentially Milo in a dress, but more than the sum of her parts — a reflection of  what he is, and what he is not. Never uses one word when three will do.

Calliope Otis

The Artist

“I’m the Queen of the Lawyer-Clowns! I do civil unions and parties!”

Reading glasses, paint stains, black trousers. Often appears in clown paint and a bowler hat with a paper flower. Milo’s almost-wife. Dave and Lucy’s mom. Euterpe and Ann’s sister. Creative, independent, and prone to following her bliss right off a cliff. Knows she’s weird and has made her peace with it. Will “Mom” you within an inch of your life if you require it.

Lucy Otis

The Daydreamer

“Call me Princess Lucy! I’m a magical girl!”

Long, straight hair, denim skirt and T-shirt. Narrowed eyes indicate she’s going to have some fun at your expense. Milo, Ann, Calliope and Chris’s daughter. Dave’s sister. Proud to be weird and determined to stay that way. Can be attentive and practical, but that goes right out the window when she’s interested in something. Fiercely protective of Dave, but also the most likely to run him over and annoy him.

Dave Otis

The Changeling

“What?” I/ME [SIX, BUSY, ANNOYED]. “Don’t box me in.”

Pixie bob, hand-me-down corduroy overalls or frilly dresses and tights, serious expression w/ brief moments of excitement followed by regret. Milo, Ann and Calliope’s son. Lucy’s brother. Still working on this whole “gender” thing. Smiles, play, giggling and chattering are for close personal friends only, loud people will get demoted to acquaintance.

Euterpe Otis

The Wanderer

“Can I get a burger, some fries, and a chocolate malted?”

Resembles Calliope. She clearly cribbed her clown look off of him, but he has a flatter hat, and a long black coat with patches instead of paint stains. Dave and Lucy’s “Uncle Terp.” Calliope and Ann’s brother. Considered the weird one in a very weird family. Incurable drifter and screwup, but willing to hang out if his favourite sister needs him. Unless he forgets.

Maggie D’Iver

The Wiz

“I’m your best friend or your worst nightmare. You pick.”

Big and tall, w/ a mop of tight braids, purple lipstick, hoop earrings, and a nose stud. Turns into a magpie. Erik’s girlfriend. Sanaam and the General’s daughter. Clever, well-trained and rebellious, w/ a wicked sense of humour. Trusts her skills to get her out of trouble, to the point where she’ll get into trouble with no forethought or exit strategy. Cool under pressure, but she will lose her temper and start making mistakes if she gets rattled – her mother blames her lack of combat experience, which really isn’t her fault.

Brigadier General Glorious D’Iver

The General

“I am one of the Marselline Army’s premier countermagical virtuosos. Retired, for now.”

Heavyset, military bearing, thick glasses with yellow-tinted lenses. Turns into a golden eagle – but rarely, due to issues with distance vision. Maggie’s primary caregiver and teacher. Sanaam’s wife. One part cold logic, one part idealism, and two parts sheer stubbornness. Still bitter about the circumstances of her retirement.

Sanaam Sadiq

The Sailor

“I’m a ton of fun! I’m a world traveller, I’ve got a brilliant family, and I’m responsible! Ish!”

Big and tall, stretched earlobes, gold tattoos. Captains a small, fast vessel repurposed for trade after the war. Is not often home. Miraculously able to reconcile his freewheeling personality with the General’s stiffness. Has a strong marriage in spite or because of his frequent absence.