Introducing: Tseiri

My first OC.

Tseíri Dzyoni (IPA: [t͡seɪ̯.ɾ̠i.d͡zjo̞.ni]) is from the planet Eàkyn. She is of the Devi people, and speaks only Devīshc. The letters above her head are Devīshc for "Tseíri" (ts + eí + r + i)
If you are interested in learning about her language, click here.

The humans on Eàkyn are biologically identical to those on Earth, because both planets were created by God (Abrahamic) in my universe. The only exceptions are those who have ties to magical families (explaining Tseíri's orange eyes). These characters are not meant to be aliens that miraculously look just like humans.

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Bio:

Tseíri was born in a small village called Okēva. It is in the Northwest border of Etokem, the central region of Devokem. As of now, that means nothing to you, so let me fill you in...

Devokem is the homeland of the Devi people. It is temperate, but cloudy almost all year, except the summer. The land consists mostly of broadleaf forests and grassy plains. Etokem is where most of the population lives, in various villages, and the capital resides in the middle. The lands around Etokem are sparsely populated, with few villages. Okēva is in the "border," which means there are relatively close villages, but it is still isolated compared to inner Etokem. Okēva is situated in a forest, but is not more than half an hour's trek from a wide-open field, further Northwest.

She was born in a small magical family living in a mundane village. You see, early in history, the original magic users established households to train their descendants. As those families got larger over time, they founded exclusive villages to live in, allowing only family members and their spouses to live there. As they got larger, not everyone even learned magic. They still needed farmers, builders, carpenters, traders, etc. As you might expect, some villages became very elitist, purist, and did awful things to maintain power over the inhabitants. Others were rather open and generally great places to live. Tseíri's great grandparents were from one of the better family villages. They got bored of the crowded large village life, so they asked permission to leave the village permanently. The permission was granted, even though they knew the family's magic. They traveled a little bit, but eventually fell in love with the small village of Okēva, so they settled there.

Most magic users from families try to keep it secret. There is usually some sort of prejudice for magic users. Some villages see them as vile or egotistical by default. Others expect magic users to be able to solve every problem, creating a lot of pressure. Still others don't really care, which is the way it was in Okēva. People who escape from stricter villages keep it secret at all costs, because they most definitely have bounties on their heads. And if they know the family's magic, there is an assassin, maybe even multiple, actively trying to find them and end their life at all times.

From here on, I will refer to magic as Aídzov, the Devīshc word for it. Tseíri's great grandparents decided to be public about their Aídzov. They were rather carefree, and had no stigma nor assassins to trouble them, so why not? They used it to help protect the village when threatened by creatures, and helped with farming, medicine, and even toys for children. They raised their children to be respectful of all people, and practice their Aídzov. Tseíri's grandparents were kind, too, but a bit stricter. They had an image they wanted to keep. The trend continued, and Tseíri's parents had great Aídzov ability, and firmly cemented the Dzyoni family as great protectors and helpers of the village. Now finally, we get to Tseíri herself.

Tseíri is 38 years old in Eàkyn years, which is about 21 in Earth years, when we first meet her. She has different ideals than most people in the village, including her parents. They expected her to continue the legacy of being a great Aídzov user, but she wasn't drawn to it. She took her lessons without fuss, but outside of them, she didn't give it much mind. Others had spent all their free time practicing it. Her parents were disappointed, but they were kind, so they let her do her own thing. There were moments when they got angry at her because of this, but those moment were few, so Tseíri never became resentful of Aídzov.

In her free time as a child, she played with toys and wandered around the forest. She never had any friends. As she got older, she got into writing poems, but continued to wander the forest, further. She spent most of her time alone, and became rather socially awkward. She valued truth, and was rather frank, and was humble, but she also had no need to downplay her strengths. So when she rarely got into a social interaction (always initiated by another person), her words seemed rude or arrogant even though she didn't mean them to be. But as she learned that frankness and giving oneself due credit was socially unacceptable, she came to dislike the social ideology of Okēva. She went from being normally introverted and shy to actively avoiding social interaction.

But, at around 30 years old (almost 17 in Earth years), she began to feel lonely. Solitude had stopped being comforting. Sure, she was still introverted, but she needed at least one person to talk to. But, because she sheltered herself from society so completely, it allowed her ideals to grow on their own, and she was always at odds with society. She walked about town more often, and talked more. But they were just passing comments with kind people going about their day. Her solitude led her to be seen as eccentric by everyone who knew about her. She found some people to talk to more deeply, but they got mad at her when she answered them honestly. Society expected everyone to be exceedingly kind, and if the truth is hard, ignore it. But she couldn't. So she never developed any friendships.

The people of Okēva were genuinely kind, it wasn't just an act, but the social customs became more and more out of control. But it wasn't just kindness going overboard that Tseíri couldn't agree with, it was their aspirations.

The people had stopped believing in heroes. They were fine to do whatever task they had to do, and in spare time talked to each other and recounted stories of the past. The tales and songs spoke of great battles, towering castles, brotherhood stronger than steel, and the defeat of evil at the hands of the good. Innocent people became ruthless slaughterhouses, and villains saw second chances and took them. The world was so grand, and so many names were known for what great things they did. But the people telling these tales, singing these songs, were themselves content to day after day continue their mundane work.

Tseíri wanted to be known. Not because of some cheap sense of pride, but because that would mean she did great things. She wanted to write poems to help people through the struggles of life all around Devokem, and maybe even in the North. She spent all her time trying to write poems, and eventually stories, but she failed often. She would crumple up her failed work, and burn it in the candle flames. Sure, there were a few good works, but her constant failure (and high standards) caused her to become despondent. And she grew ever more lonely, longing for another person who thought like her. The harder she tried, the less clearly she thought, as she desperately hoped to do something, anything, worthwhile. But she failed more.

For a while, she was resentful of the fools around her wasting their lives. But at the age of 34 (19 in Earth years), she realized that not everyone had to aspire to live that way. Farming, working, and helping the town was their task, and their reward was companionship and a nice modest life. Sure, their tendency to be overly kind instead of looking at the truth was an objective problem, but they were good people. She still never made any friends, because she was so socially unaware, but she came to love Okēva and its people much more.

She had another realization, too. She didn't have to achieve her goal instantly. It was fine to fail at writing. She was never a very adventurous see-the-world kind of person, and was usually ridiculously calm. How had she gotten herself so swept up in her ideas of greatness that she lost herself?

So she began to wander more again. Through the forests, but also out to the fields to the Northwest. After all her time alone, she knew herself very well. Now was time to learn about the world. She got many books on philosophy, and learned about the ideals of different villages and nations, past and present. She learned of things she never thought about before, and decided which stance she took on them. She thought up theories on how to fix the world, because outside of Okēva, there were many places with greedy rulers and cynicism. Then she tore down those theories as she learned of their flaws, and worked ever closer to learning how to help the world.

She also just enjoyed life. She realized quickly in her research that she needed a break from her work. She took time to just sit, feel the sun on her skin, the gentle breeze comfort her, the raindrops to hug her. She often fell asleep under a tree or in the fields, and woke up satisfied with life. But the loneliness never quite left her.

Through all these years, she learned Aídzov faithfully. She never once tried to skip a lesson. And by now, she was becoming able to do some nice things. Due to her other interests, as always, she didn't practice outside of lessons, so she was definitely not great. Everyone knew she would not be another great Dzyoni magician. But now, she had enough skill at least to aid crops in growing faster, and heal scrapes and small cuts. She often went out to help people who needed it, but weren’t considered worth the time. If a child fell and scraped their knee, that is hardly worth bothering the head magicians over. But Tseíri was happy to help. She could also create purple fireballs to hurl if she ever needed to defend herself or village. They were small and slow, though, so they would only be good for scaring off wild animals. Tseíri was the first with the ability to use fire, so she had that going for her. The fireballs could also warm up and boil kettles of water. But it couldn't melt metal or produce useful light.

One day, wandering the forests, she found a large tree. It towered twice as tall as the others in the forest. It possessed Aídzov. In addition to there being normal Earth life present on Eàkyn, there were magical beings. Some, like the tree, were similar to other beings. Others were warped creatures and plant that resembled no other creature.

So, under this tree, Tseíri sat and eventually fell asleep. She was more refreshed than usual, and decided to return. It became her favorite spot. She also seemed to gain a bit of knowledge about Aídzov. Subtle, and in the back of her mind, but nonetheless knowledge.

As time passed, she still had that loneliness. And it grew. She often cried, and felt unmotivated. But it didn't hinder her learning. The peace she acquired from nature helped her stay strong. It was almost as if she was happy and depressed at the same time. Sometimes, as she walked, she would be hit by her loneliness like a brick wall, and skip around, tears streaming down. Positivity and negativity were intertwined. She was a walking contradiction.

But the sadness grew. She knew she could not save the whole world herself, and she accepted that. Even with everyone working to fix things, there will never be perfect peace, and she accepted that. But slowly it began eating away at her, the fact that peace is impossible. It was irrational, a result of her depression, and she knew it. But that didn't change anything. She couldn't ignore the feelings. She needed someone. Humans are social beings, and her mind and soul had been severely damaged due to her solitude.

She felt uncomfortable around people. She would naturally wave and smile at people if she was in town, but in conversation, she just felt... wrong. She didn't like being around people for too long, even her family, because of it. And yet she wanted someone. She was truly a paradox.

And because of that, she never shared her struggles with anyone. Who could she even go to, anyway? She loved her parents, but she wasn't very close to them, absolutely speaking. Now, relative to her, she knew them the best of any human. She could talk to them without feeling a pit in her stomach, or thinking she was single-handedly bringing about the consummation of time.

That is where I shall leave off, for now. Tseíri is a decent magician, looking into how she can help the world, and outwardly helps a lot of people, but inside she is suffering severely. But she has not lost hope. And things are going to change drastically, very soon...

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General Comments:

Tseíri's story is subject to change. So is the entire fictional world. I don't even have a map. But that also means that there are less terms and details you need to know. Let me know what I can do to improve the introduction to my world. Maybe I could write it on Wattpad, so that I can just focus on my characters rather than explaining Aídzov and Devokem. Unless what I have works.

I will add to the story as I post new pictures, and because this was the set-up, it will likely be the longest story.

As for the drawing, I know for sure I need to work on the hair and shading. The hair doesn't lend itself to the anime shading I want. So I know I have to change the shape. Perhaps I need to envision where the scalp is, so that I can detail it better. Because black lines in solid-colored hair is not going to cut it.

I also need to work on the rest of the body. The arms were all weird in width, though the length was fine. The only reason I didn't post the whole body was because it was unfinished, and this piece is around a month or more old. I think it is better for me to move on and learn rather than try to fix an old drawing that I lost focus on. If I just made it, I would carry on the momentum and finish it completely, trust me. But I let this go too long.

And yes, the lines are drawn with a Bezier curve tool. I don't have a tablet (I just got into art), and I won't be able to afford one for a while (if I even feel like I need it). I need to play around with thickness, but other than that, I like the lines. Some may find them too perfect, but as of right now, I can't fix them (unless I use a mouse, but that looked absolutely horrendous, even with a stabilizer, trust me).