Young Writers Society

This is a project I've been working on for a while, but I'm going to cheat and keep using it as my NaNo project too and just try to ramp up the pace at which I write it

Jerica Ainsley is a 17-year-old girl who not only serves as King's Assassin but is also the General of the Archers for the country of Atraya. Her Uncle Derik is the War Lord and his son Rekard is the General of the Swordsmen. Together they are fighting in a war against the Nykerians, who showed up on their doorstep with an army after Atraya refused a marriage proposal with their Crown Prince.

Now Jerica must stay alive amidst the battle -- and also balance her relationship with Uncle Levin, the King of Atraya, and his Head Advisor, Lord Biryn -- both of whom loathe nothing else in the world more than they hate her.

1. Name: Jerica Kehlani Ainsley

2. Age: 17

3. Height: 5'8"

4. Eye color: Green

5. Physical appearance: Black hair that is cropped short, but long enough that it can get messed up. She's very muscular and lean, with sharp features and a harsh expression most of the time.

6. Strange or unique physical attributes: She's a bit bulky with her muscles since she trains so much.

7. Favorite clothing style/outfit: She doesn't get much pick over her outfit. She generally dresses in a black tunic and black trousers. Occasionally she gets forced into a dress but hates that.

8. Where do they live? What is it like there?: She lives in the country of Atraya, which is split between plains and the desert.

9. Defining gestures/movements (i.e., curling their lip when they speak, always keeping their eyes on the ground, etc.): She glares a lot and tends to bit her lip when she's thinking about what to say.

10. Things about their appearance they would most like to change: She's not particularly insecure about her physical appearance, although I guess she'd like to be darker-skinned than she is.

11. Speaking style (fast, talkative, monotone, etc.): She tends to speak pretty quickly but only speaks when she has to.

12. Pet peeves: Men xD

13. Fondest memory: When Uncle Zander came for a visit and brought her a new horse.

14. Hobbies/interests: She enjoys playing the violin and dabbling in the science lab.

15. Special skills/abilities: She's an insanely good warrior.

16. Insecurities: Not having parents.

17. Quirks/eccentricities: She's really passionate about smashing the patriarchy, which not a common vibe in this world.

18. Temperament (easy-going, easily angered, etc.): She's really short-tempered most of the time, but when she's with people she loves she's really gentle and patient.

19. Negative traits: Gets angry easily, is brash and impulsive, tends to dissociate while she's working.

20. Things that upset them: Women being mistreated. Being bullied. Not having her parents.

21. Things that embarrass them: When people point out her weaknesses or failures, especially in public.

22. This character is highly opinionated about: The role of women in society.

23. Any phobias?

24. Things that make them happy: Akeno and her horse, Asri.

25. Family (describe): Her parents are dead. Uncle Levin (Dad's side) is the King and his son is Levi, the Crown Prince. Uncle Derik (Dad's side) is the War Lord and his son is is Rekard, the General of the Swordsmen. Her cousin Lyiaza is also orphaned. Uncle Zander (Mom's Side) comes by for infrequent visits.

26. Deepest, darkest secret: She hasn't actually cursed.

27. Reason they kept this secret for so long: Her family forces her to.

28. Other people's opinions of this character (What do people like about this character? What do they dislike about this character?):

Akeno - really admires Jerica for her strength and how much she cares about the people who allow her to care about them.

Derik - really admires Jerica for her bravery and also feels very protective of her.

Rek - also really admires Jerica and views her as a sister more than a cousin. They're best friends.

Levin - views Jerica as a mouthy necessity but he hates the fact that he has to have her around.

Biryn - views Jerica as an exhausting brat, but enjoys experimenting on her and thinks of her more as a lab rat than anything.

Levin and Lyiaza - don't know her very well. They think they're better than her, and are at the same time terrified of her.

29. Favorite type of music: She really enjoys fast-paced songs, particularly folk songs that carry a bunch of culture with them. She's passionate about learning about music from different regions.

30. Favorite movies: N/A

31. Favorite TV shows: N/A

32. Favorite books: She reads a lot of books to help her improve herself, such as learning new languages or learning the latest scientific discoveries.

33. Favorite foods: Need to come back to this one.

34. Favorite sports/sports teams: N/A

35. Political views: Men suck.

36. Religion/philosophy of life: She's a mix between an atheist and agnostic. She'll reference the "gods" when she's angry but otherwise tends to live her life as if they don't exist.

37. Physical health: Excellent. She's incredibly fit and strong.

38. Dream vacation: Anywhere away from Levin and Biryn.

39. Description of their home: She lives in the castle, but is generally mistreated and tries to stay to herself.

40. Description of where they sleep: Her bedroom is pretty sparse. She has a large post bed.

41. Any pets? She has her horse and keeps various reptiles that she finds but none long term.

42. Best thing that has ever happened to this character: The best thing will be when she gets captured. I guess at this point her relationship with Akeno is up there near the top.

43. Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Lord Biryn's experimentation on her.

44. Superstitions: She's not particularly superstitious.

45. Three words to describe this character: Brave. Stubborn. Exhausted.

46. If a song played every time this character walked into the room, what song would it be?: Savage Daughter

1. How do they know the protagonist?

He is her Lieutenant General. He was just an enlistee (although one who had been around for several years) when she noticed his shooting ability and started mentoring him and then promoted him to be her Lieutenant. They sprang up a romance after that.

2. What do they love about the protagonist?

That she is fierce and intelligent. He absolutely adores getting to watch her in action and is always eager to learn from her and just be around her in general.

3. Do they disagree with the protagonist about anything?

He's really worried about the way she lets her family members walk all over her. He thinks she should be bolder about actually standing up for herself rather than yelling and sulking and then obeying.

4. Similarities to the protagonist:

They're both incredibly good warriors and good at leading troops. They both care about their men deeply and are dedicated to training them to be the best they can be. He fully supports Jerica's mission to educate the soldiers.

5. Differences from protagonist:

He is very level-headed and thoughtful and considers the implications of his actions before he does them.


1. How do they know the protagonist?

Her cousin. They grew up together and are basically best friends.

2. What do they love about the protagonist?

The ferocity with which she is loyal to the people she cares about. He knows that he could tell her literally anything and she wouldn't rat her out to anyone, even if she were questioned by the king himself.

3. Do they disagree with the protagonist about anything?

He doesn't think that she sees her own value and is concerned with the reckless risks she takes because of that fact.

4. Similarities to the protagonist:

They've got really similar senses of humor and interests. They enjoy training with each other, just for fun. They both were forced to grow up wayyyyy too fast and have a ton of responsibility on their young shoulders.

5. Differences from protagonist:

He tends to respond to uncomfortable situations with humor, where she tends to grouch around about it. As a result, he tends to be much better liked than she does since his jokes are better received than her attitude. He's also very physically affectionate where she very much is not.


1. How do they know the protagonist?

He's her uncle and her boss, as War Lord of Atraya.

2. What do they love about the protagonist?

How passionate and focused she is about the things she cares about. She's constantly striving to make herself better, and also to improve the quality of lives of the men under her authority.

3. Do they disagree with the protagonist about anything?

He dislikes how impulsive she can be. But also she tends to be pretty open to his guidance about things, one-on-one, so there's not a ton about her that frustrates him since she's teachable (by him).

4. Similarities to the protagonist:

They're both bad at emotional expression and tend to keep each other at an arm's length even though they love the other very much.

5. Differences from protagonist:

He's a much better natural leader and can keep his cool even in difficult situations. His impulse is to pull away and assess his options, while hers is to dive sword-first into a battle and think about things later.


1. How do they know the protagonist?

He is her squire.

2. What do they love about the protagonist?

He admires her ability on the battlefield and also how much she cares about him. She plucked him off the streets and brought him a lot of safety by watching over him.

3. Do they disagree with the protagonist about anything?

He's too scared to admit it if he does.

4. Similarities to the protagonist:

He's also really dedicated to self-improvement.

5. Differences from protagonist:

He's very timid and still learning his own voice and forming opinions.

Found some images I want to save for my a e s t h e t i c for when she's with Aerik!

These are the Tianzi Mountains from China.











Then this is just a random house I'm thinking of maybe including...

The aesthetic pics are BALLER! Also, y i k e s, she,,,probably made the right call to refuse the offer of marriage if ya boy had an army LINED UP AND READY TO GO in the event of her refusal. I'm so curious to see why her uncle and his advisor hate her so much!

I'm inspired by your "cheating" and also going to continue a project I already started! I think it's a great way to lift it up. This thread really keeps me motivated.
Good luck, Shady!!

Ahhh! I didn't see this! And I had no idea she was so young, I thought she was at least early 20s!

BluesClues wrote:The aesthetic pics are BALLER! Also, y i k e s, she,,,probably made the right call to refuse the offer of marriage if ya boy had an army LINED UP AND READY TO GO in the event of her refusal. I'm so curious to see why her uncle and his advisor hate her so much!

Thanks for the hype, @BluesClues! In my first couple of drafts of this, I just had it being a normal, remote mountain but I'm really excited to re-write the setting to be s p o o k y

omer wrote:This thread really keeps me motivated.

Eyyy, I'm glad to hear that @omer! I'm excited to see what you do for NaNo

Vil wrote:Ahhh! I didn't see this! And I had no idea she was so young, I thought she was at least early 20s!

Yeahhhh @Vil I need to play around with the ages. I started writing this back when I was 15 so I was like yeah 17 that's totally reasonable, but now I've got 4 different stories that converge so I really need the ages to line up and I think I need to re-evaluate how old they are xD But also she is Very Young either way to be in her position, which might explain why she's such an immature brat sometimes xD

Thanks for all the love, y'all! You're encouraging me to keep going at this

*pops your hand* She's not a brat >.>