A Magical Roommate/Characters
Aylia of Umbria
Our heroine, sent to her mother's world to learn there. Not too happy about this.
- Author Avatar: Word of God states that a great deal of the things Aylia has done while at college were things she really wanted to do herself, but didn't dare to (Mainly because unlike Aylia, she actually cared about her GPA).
- Deadpan Snarker
- Eureka Moment: When Aylia turns twenty, she realizes that she doesn't have to obey her parents any more.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Aylia doesn't want to be the Child of Prophecy.
- Rapunzel Hair
- The Smart Guy: Word of God has stated that Aylia is something of a magical genius.
- Weirdness Magnet
Duke Joralan
Aylia's father, the youngest child of the Umbrian royal family.
- Abusive Parents: He's this to Aylia- he won't back her up, doesn't recognise that his daughter's a genius and takes his wife's side in everything, even when he knows she's wrong.
- Hidden Depths: He sucks at magic, but he's actually good at magical artifacts- he makes a wolfbane pendant for Albert that holds off his lycanthropy, and it works perfectly well.
- No Accounting for Taste
Duchess Letitia
Aylia's mother, who is from our world.
- Abusive Parents: Her parents were horrible.
- She also unintentionally acts like this to her own children. She means well, but her Cloudcuckoolander nature makes her incapable of realizing that her children have their own interests and resent her arbitrary and ill-planned micromanagement of their lives - such as her decision to have Aylia, who wanted to be a wizard, being held back from going to the wizard's academy for two years, and then be sent to a college in the non-magical world - and arbitrarily signing her up as a home economics major.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Kawaiiko
- My Beloved Smother
Alassa of Umbria, AKA Zangaria
Aylia's younger sister, who is studying magic at the school Aylia wanted to go to.
- Alpha Bitch
- Arranged Marriage: To a man who has to be bullied into being faithful. She didn't care.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter
- Brilliant but Lazy: Inverted. As the author puts it,
She's also so determinedly convinced of her superiority that she refuses to put forth any work to improve at anything, which is half the reason she's such an idiot; she'd have average intelligence if she didn't work so hard at being stupid.
- Complete Monster: And then some.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Her entire life is devoted to one-upping Aylia. It doesn't work.
- Spoiled Brat
Jenny
One of Aylia's first roommates, who later marries Albert.
- Abusive Parents: Her mother is a dominating bitch.
- The Chick
- Happily Married: To Alfred.
Nicole
One of Aylia's first roommates, who moves out at the end of the semester.
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Running Gag: Crazy things always turn up at Nicole's door (like Aylia's father accidentally moving trees to her dorm room)
- Weirdness Magnet
X
Real name Elzandra Ayra Umbria (Alexandra A. Underwood according to her birth certificate), X is one of Aylia's first roommates. She turns out to be Aylia's cousin.
- Bad Liar: Because of her monosyllabic speech patterns, it's hard to tell a lie from the truth when she says it, but she puts so little effort into her lies that they're easy to uncover if you try. For example, as seen below under Blatant Lies, her pretending to be a fairy gets exposed when several other fairy students point out that the teachers at the school should be able to undo it, and she runs into a student whose focus (think major) is shapeshifting, who points out that there is no kind of possible accident that could have done such a thing.
- Berserk Button: Don't try to blackmail her or make her face unpleasant truths. Also, don't call her Alexandra.
- Blatant Lies: She pretends to be a fairy who got stuck in a shapeshifting accident to avoid taking a fluency test in a language she doesn't know.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Is so afraid of losing her place as the most important person in her sister's life that she tries scaring away her boyfriends with explosives. Alexis is not amused.
- This is why Alexis made sure that X didn't learn that she was engaged until the day of the wedding.
- Also, related to the 'clingy'- she follows Aylia to the wizarding school because she doesn't like being alone and Aylia is her only other friend.
- Deadpan Snarker: Of the monosyllabic kind.
- For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: After she and Alexis grow fairy wings, Aylia suggests that they dress as human-sized black fairies for Halloween. X loves this, as such a costume requires zero effort on her part.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Well, more like two percent, but it's enough.
- Heavy Sleeper: She stays awake for months at a stretch, and then hibernates for a few weeks. Once asleep, she can't be woken up without magic.
- Made of Explodium: More like 'makes the explodium and throws it on whatever she wants'.
- One-Letter Name: One letter nickname, anyway.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- The Quiet One: She has never used a sentence with more than four words or six syllables in it. Maybe the reason she doesn't like the name Alexandra is because it has four syllables in it.
- The Reveal: She's Kuralla's Child of Prophecy.
- Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: X tries to invoke this during her sister's wedding - with explosives. Alexis, knowing about X's Clingy Jealous Girl behavior from incidents with previous boyfriends, had Aylia on hand to stop her.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Regularly
Albert Charming
Aylia's cousin and Cecelia's brother, the Crown Prince of Umbria.
- Big Secret: He's a werewolf.
- Happily Married: To Jenny.
- Non-Action Guy: He runs away from anything scary.
- Spare to the Throne: Originally this (Cecelia was the Crown Princess) but he didn't mind so much.
- Took a Level in Badass: His epilogue states that he eventually becomes a competent and capable king after suffering through the stress of an epidemic and having nobody else around to help.
Professor Witzig
Aylia's long-suffering Philosophy professor.
Felincia
A werewolf from Umbria. Ends up as one of Aylia's roommates (though she doesn't study at the university).
- Berserk Button: Her werewolf form is quite small, and she doesn't like being reminded of it.
- Big Ol' Unibrow
- Happily Married: To Reg.
- Insane Troll Logic: Initially, she believes that anyone who becomes a werewolf must love everything werewolves do, and actually seems to run on a policy of 'Because I say so' when arguing about it. Reg manages to wear her down with his practicality.
Edwardine
Jessi and Jenny's mother- also Letitia's old babysitter.
- Abusive Parents: To Jenny and Jessi.
- Control Freak
- My Beloved Smother: Well, not beloved, but she's a hell of a Smother.
Jessi
Jenny's confident, outgoing and rebellious sister.
Reg
An old friend of Loretta's who ends up marrying Felincia.
- Abusive Parents: His mother never takes any notice of him and his father pretty much turned him out after he refused to follow his footsteps.
- Badass Normal: He hardly ever gets flustered, no matter what happens, takes everything in stride and manages to sort out any problem he runs into.
- Berserk Button: Don't insult Felincia.
- Like Brother and Sister: He and Loretta, much to their parents' chagrin.
- Only Sane Man
Alexis
Real name Elzaris. X's twin sister.
- Evil Twin: She likes to think that X is her evil twin.
- For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: After she and X grow fairy wings, Aylia suggests that they dress as human-sized black fairies for Halloween.
- Half-Human Hybrid
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Only Sane Man
- Secret Relationship: Had to do this with her eventual husband to keep him safe from X until the wedding.
- Spare to the Throne: She and X are in line for royal succession between Albert and Cecelia, and Aylia and Alassa.
- Twin Switch: She and X cover for each other if one of them can't attend a class.
King Richard
The King of Umbria, Cecelia and Albert's father.
Queen Tilia
The Queen of Umbria, who pretty much runs the place.
- Control Freak: She's bossy and gets everything done her way. This is a good trait for a queen, but it doesn't make Corinn want to come back any time soon.
- Only Sane Man: Nothing takes her out of stride, and she always finds a solution.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
Loretta Goldwater
One of Aylia's roommates. Is quite rich, but utterly generous and kind. Has a strange obsession with swords. Ends up as Linnea's roommate.
- Berserk Button: Do not mess with Loretta's swords. And for the love of all that is holy, don't damage them.
- Cargo Ship: Loretta/sword.
- Like Brother and Sister: With Reg.
- Meaningful Name: Her last name is Goldwater, and she's rich.
- Unstoppable Rage: Which usually leads to her chasing people around with swords. This eventually gets them taken away from her, because she's chasing people around with deadly weapons over minor things.
Lionel
Loretta's younger brother. Shares her obsession with swords.
- Loophole Abuse: He keeps finding ways to visit Loretta even when she puts limits on him.
- Spoiled Sweet: He's spoiled as hell, but generally a nice kid.
The Gorgon/Hthfthgthssfathssggathsfths
One of Alassa's roommates.
- Arranged Marriage: She quite likes her intended husband, though.
- Berserk Button: She doesn't like children who disrespect their parents or parents who pretend their children don't exist.
- She also doesn't like people who shorten her name or get the name of her species wrong.
- Culture Clash: Her lack of knowledge about how Aylia's society works (and vice versa) leads to some bad fights- specifically, over the respect she feels that children owe their parents (and Aylia's lack thereof) and vice versa (and her parents' lack thereof).
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Her mother's a priestess, and since her culture is a theocracy, that gives her a very high rank. The Gorgon is directly responsible for the first wave of diplomats sent to our world by anyone from the other world.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Because no non-Gorgon can pronounce her real one. In fact, her fiance doesn't address her by name either, instead addressing her by a Gorgon word which means "Female to whom I am engaged". She addresses him by the masculine equivalent of that word.
- Overly Long Name: The more syllables you have, the more respected you are.
- The Reveal: She's a spy, sent to the wizard school after our world was discovered to find out if there are Gorgons in our world. She eventually leaves the school for fear that she could be used as a scapegoat by the Umbrian government.
- The Unpronounceable: And mispronouncing or shortening the name of a Mountain Clan Gorgon is considered a serious insult. Fortunately, it is acceptable to address one by a title or accurate description (Which is why she is known as The Gorgon).
Lullela
A pink fairy who is studying to be a fairy godmother.
Relagor
One of Felincia's siblings. He is something of a bully.
Kuralla
The Oracle of Umbria, a young, timid teenage girl.
- Break the Cutie: Her epilogue states that centuries later, she is captured by a rogue Sage and held prisoner by a warlord who horribly mistreates her.
- The Chick
- Exact Words: Kuralla's prophecies need to be taken in their entirety.
- Last of His Kind: Well, alright, Oracles are always turning up, but at the time of the main plot, Kuralla is the only public Oracle (the Oracle of Lycanth is a recluse).
- There Is Another: The aforementioned Oracle of Lycanth.
- Oracular Urchin
- Non-Action Guy
- Wild Hair
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: And she hates it, thus leading her to often run away from her shrine.
Counsellor Tranin
A noblewoman who frequently annoys the hell out of Queen Tilia. Discovered Kuralla.
- Finders, Rulers: A variant thereof- Tranin thinks that because she found and brought Kuralla to the Court, she is entitled to much more prestige and respect. Everyone else thinks differently.
Victoria
A purple fairy, the heir to the throne of the fairy kingdom of Daironya. She wants to marry Mordran but can't.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: She often bosses around Lullela and others despite the fact that she has literally no power outside of her kingdom.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Victoria shouldn't be dating her bodyguard.
- Regent for Life: To her son after he takes the throne, acting as the power behind the throne until he gets sick of it and manages to get her out of the country. She takes this as a sign that he's all grown up.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: They're just not meant to be together... if you look at it from their families' point of view.
Mordran
A black fairy who wants to marry Victoria but can't. Attends the wizard school.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Mordran is meant to be protecting Victoria, not dating her.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: They're just not meant to be together... if you look at it from their families' point of view.
Cecilia
Aylia's cousin, who became a dragon and had the transformation made permanent so she could raise Gavin.
- Adult Child: In the eyes of the dragon community for a while, who see her as too young for her body (the age of her body is the dragon equivalent of that of a young adult, but she's still only in the 18-25 age range, and they find this disturbing.)
- Happily Married: In her epilogue.
- Involuntary Transformation: Was accidentally turned into a dragon by her father.
- Promotion to Parent: Then she adopted the child of an actual dragon.
Gavin
The dragon Cecelia raised.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: "Party!"
Bobby
An Umbrian boy who sort of dates Alassa.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: Alassa turns him into a mouse so she can kill him by getting a cat to eat him.
- Rant-Inducing Slight: Mentioning marriage to Alassa got him in the above situation.
Daria Hotfire
Gavin's aunt, Daria becomes a roommate of Aylia.
- Cloudcuckoolander:
- Genius Ditz: Should be used as the definite example.
- Magitek
- The Smart Guy: Word of God says that Daria is actually about twice as smart as Aylia, and even better at magic- she just has the attention span of a speck of dust.
- Stuff Blowing Up
- Verbal Tic: Daria often repeats a word.
Sage Hinkarilin
One of the two Sages who search the lands examining those who claim to be Oracles. Ends up being a father figure for Kuralla.
Sage Laraneth
The second Sage. Becomes a father figure for Kuralla.
- The Reveal: He was brought up by the Oracle of Lycanth
Sissy
One of Aylia's more annoying roommates. Refuses to believe in magic whatsoever, under any circumstances.
- Berserk Button: Don't call her Melissa. It's Sissy.
- Moral Event Horizon: At least in Loretta's eyes- Loretta leaves her swords on Sissy's side of the room. What does Sissy do in response? Put them back on Loretta's side? Ask Loretta to move them? No. She puts them in a dumpster instead, breaking one in the process.
- Spoiled Brat: Demands that everyone do everything for her.
Stefanee
One of Alassa's roommates. Annoys the hell out of everybody.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Has no serious side.
- The Reveal: She's a mermaid.
Elesseran
A black fairy who married Corinn. X and Alexis' mother.
- Apron Matron
- Cloudcuckoolander:
- Interspecies Romance
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Ran away to marry Corinn.
Corinn
Joralan and Richard's brother. He is the father of X and Alexis.
- Berserk Button: Don't ask Corinn to go back to Umbria.
- Deadpan Snarker: Corinn was the sarcastic, rebellious son.
- The Dutiful Son: What his parents wanted him to be- as the middle child, Corinn was their backup if something happened to Richard. However, the constant reminders and pressure on him made him run off.
- Interspecies Romance: He marries a black fairy.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He marries a black fairy in a world where mixed-species marriages are looked down on.
- Spare to the Throne
Adelaide
One of Stefanee and later Alassa's roommates- a studious fairy.
- Badass Bookworm
- The Smart Guy
- Technician Versus Performer: A literal case, and it annoys Stefanee a lot- she prefers to study theory over practice, and thus doesn't cast spells.
Eric
Linnea's boyfriend, a nerd who befriends Daria and begins to learn magic with Linnea.
- Agent Mulder
- Beware the Nice Ones: He zaps his older brothers with a spell that glues them to the ceiling before they can attack him.
- Cloudcuckoolander
Linnea
Eric's girlfriend, a studious girl who is one of Aylia's classmates. Becomes Loretta's roommate.
- Berserk Button: Linnea will accept and believe in things that can be logically and actually proven. Asking her to believe in something while offering no proof whatsoever is a bad idea.
- Also, don't tell her that her relationship with Eric won't last because he's a geek.
- The Smart Guy
Dron
One of the founders of the magical school. He's an incredibly old dragon and is very well respected.
- Badass Bookworm: Dron accomplished some incredibly amazing things.
- Berserk Button: Don't fall over yourself praising and being respectful to Dron. He won't like it.
- Due to the Dead: The school honors his passing by constructing a new school building on campus shaped like a life-sized statue of him. He would have hated it... But he also would have found the fact that the roof leaks hilarious.
- Exact Words
- Our Dragons Are Different
- Trickster Mentor: Though not always in a good way- he tries to shake his students out of the 'learn what they tell you and don't think for yourself' mentality by forcing them to question everything and everyone, but fails to see that students need something reliable to trust, or they can't do anything.