Character Interview: Oran

Today I'll be doing as suggested and interviewing the character Oran, with the goal of learning more about the character than even I knew and thus having a more clear sense of her when writing her. I'll be relying heavily on K.M Weiland's 100+ Questions to Help You Interview Your Character. If you missed the character profile I did for her and Natal you can find them here and here. If you missed chapter three where we introduced the characters feel free to go back and read through it quickly and leave some much needed criticism! So without further preamble lets dive into the character interview.

"We're sitting down now with one Chaplain Oran, to try and learn a little bit more about her. I'm glad you could join us." said a wrinkled old man with a crown of white hair and spectacles three sizes too large for his face. He was sat at a field desk, a stack of parchment in front of him fresh dipped quill poised above.

"R-Radiance enlighten you, I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure what's going on?" Oran said with a raised eyebrow, as an after thought she gestured Divinity. She had just been told to report her from Lord Marshall Jhev, apparently a Keeper had arrived from Kamok and was looking for her.

"Radiance enlighten us all, now let us begin." He smiled at her while gesturing Divinity in return, but his missing teeth turned it into a disarming gesture. "I've come because the Dawnsingers have been singing your praises throughout Kamok, and you've gained the attention of the High King-Priest. I just have a few questions for you and then I'll be on my way."

"A-Alright, What can I help you with?" She gestured respect after the mention of the High King-Priest but changed to Divinity mid gesture and came up with something profane. The interviewer raised an eye brow before setting quill to parchment.

"Now, where were you raised Chaplain Oran?" he questioned without looking up from his writing.

"Raised, well I attended the Abbey at Waterford under the ministry of Priest Bo..."

"I seek to know where you were raised before being sent to us my dear" He smiled, gesturing apologies absentmindedly.

"Oh... well, I was born to a third family, My f... his name was Harold, her name Gail. Their farmstead was in a small parish named Oakhill. It was a quiet place a few days ride from the Capitol." She watched the interviewer write, hardly paying attention to her it seemed. Her own gesture for apologies went unseen.

"Yes, a small parish indeed. How did you end up with Priest Bonat in Waterford from Oakhill? Would not The Academy have been closer?" His tone was unchanged but Oran still felt the accusation.

"Friar Gould had noted my gift at singing and sent a letter to Priest Bonat. I should say, that I never thought much of my own singing, I rarely do so now." She frowned out the crown of his head.

"Oh I should think that it wasn't quite the skill of your singing, but what happened when you did that caused the Friar to send note to Waterford. Let us move on to your time at the Abbey then, how did the Divinities and Virtues take to you?" The scratching of his quill had set to rhythm now and he hardly glanced at her.

"I took to the Virtues within the first week, Gail had long preached them despite being the Third of her family she was quite educated in their ways. I did have a trouble with Strength, but with the help of Kelvin I was able to gain mastery of it by the first month." Her tone softened, while she reclined into the seat she had been given. Her hands gestured divinity as she continued.

"I hadn't been forced to do many manual chores, Harold gave those to his Second and Third, leaving me mostly to learning Virtues such as Scribing and Spirituality under his wife. When I arrived and Waterford and learned of the Virtues in their entirety I was a poor disciple of Strength. Priest Bonat taught that most Keepers mastered three of the Virtues while practicing the others, that few would Master Six, and that only the most favored of the Divinities would master all twelve. That merely set my determination. I believe Kelvin had the same goal, at least that was what he said when he suggested helping each other. He'd help me master Strength and I'd help him master Scribing..." She'd forgotten herself, here she was being interviewed by the High King-Priest's own and she speaking of Kelvin. She gestured apologies, which the Interview acknowledged with an askew head.

"Kelvin is no stranger to me my dear, though I did not know you had knew him so. Our loss was great when he fell during the Sunrazing Crusade. There are indeed so few favored of the Divinities among us Keepers now. How did his death affect you my dear?" He gestured Divinity with his free hand while renewing the scratching with the quill.

"I... It has been a great many years. I most remember feeling angry, vengeful." She paused abashed, gesturing Divinity.

He glanced up at her pause, then noted gesture with a sweep of his hand. "Please my dear, even us few who've mastered a mere fourth of the Virtues still lapse in them in moments of greatest test. How did this anger shape you, that would be a test of your mastery I would expect."

She thought about it then, for she hadn't done so in more than a decade. She had been angry, she hadn't thought about the Virtues then, she'd merely wanted revenge for losing Kelvin. She had blamed her self, regretted not being there for him. Yet these were not responses one gave to the interviewer of the High King-Priest. "It strengthened my resolve, it was in these moments that I first spoke with Betsol. She came to me in my grief worth words of strength and of purpose."

The interviewer nodded in knowing, "Yes, your witnessing of Betsol is well known at Solace. What was it she said to you again? Stand child, there is work to do?"

Oran blushed, she had not thought to hear the words of Betsol from this man, but he spoke true. "Yes, she urged me to action and guided me to a point of weakness in the Vulk defenses."

"You brought about the end of the siege of Blackridge, It was at that time that The Keepers sent for you. However Betsol intervened on  your behalf then, and had you sent to join the Duskbreakers in the east for their Crusade. It was of no small matter to Solace, that Betsol would command her Circle for a mere Dawnsinger. How did you feel, knowing that Betsol had maneuvered your fate." He watched her now, eyes discerning, quill resting on the desk.

Was that jealousy? distrust? "I felt honored, but my mastery of Humility stopped me from acting brash. I thought the station above me, I am still a simple Dawnsinger but who am I to question the Divinity."

"Who indeed..." The man was tapping his chin with a slender bony finger with a nail she found too long. "Well, your time with the army and the Keepers has been well documented, I've been sent to know you better. Her Highness has asked of you and so I shall prepare this so that she might come to know you."

"If you could do anything, if Betsol freed you from her service and the Keepers, what would you do?" He'd picked up his quill again but those eyes were still searching her.

Surely this was a trick, perhaps they thought her a traitor like Jhev and his army. "I would ask Betsol to return me to her Radiance so that I might serve her further."

"Yes, I suppose you would. What do you do to occupy your free time, after readings and ministrations?" The interviewer was working on a second sheet, where he'd wrote the last two questions.

"I read, mostly of the Divinities, but I have a few choice works from the Keepers. Argella's work on the Vulk for instance. Outside of my studies I continue my honing of the Virtues, to ensure I keep mastery of them. I've also kept my Hymn book, The Light of Dawn."

"What things bring you joy? What do you care most about?"

Joy, she hadn't known joy in some time. "I enjoy reading, hearing hymns, the conversation of the soldiers. I care about the Virtues, the People, and the Keepers."

The scratching stopped as he looked up to her. "No, this won't do. What makes your day, and what things would cause you despair if you lost them?"

"I enjoy marching through fields of flowers, the scent of unwashed soldier being replaced by floral scents that remind me of Waterford. I like opening new books, the feel of fresh parchment under my fingers and reading by candle light. The scent of beeswax and honeycomb bringing me back to my days at the Chapter. The rising overture of the marching song Back to Sunset and the chorus of Farmer's Wife" she gestured Divinity after that last one. "I enjoy the feeling of exhaustion after completing the full Rising Sol, the sense of serenity after the Evening Readings, the nothingness after the Held Sun..." She paused looking at the smile on the interviewer's face.

He looked up from his writing, before gesturing for her to continue. "Now we're getting somewhere."

 "I fear the day Betsol stops communing with me, the day I've served my purpose. Not because of some sense of self importance but for fear of not being able to help. What I fear most however, is that I might fail Betsol. That I won't have the strength to finish the path that she's set me on. This fear, is what motivates my continued mastery of the twelve Virtues." Oran exhaled fully.

"What has been your greatest success, your greatest failure?"

"I consider my mastery of the 12 Virtues my greatest personal success, to be favored of the Divinities and to receive communion with Betsol. While I've achieved no small amount of glory for the Siege of Blackridge, I do not attribute that success to me, what I accomplish as the vessel of Betsol's will should perhaps not be judged as me." Her failure, the death of Kelvin... "My greatest failure would be allowing those Virtues to see Mercy given to Vorcinerex at the end of the Siege, leading to neccessity of this Crusade and the death of many of our people and Keepers." It was what they expected, it was what they said.

"Your Mercy has been a thing of study among the scholars of Solace. It is not often a Virtue is viewed as being a negative, or having caused a failure for it is rather the failure to uphold a Virtue that results in failure." He seemed pleased with himself, so Oran figured she'd answered appropriately.

"That is indeed why we're here Chaplain Oran, your failure."