Mother

Mother, or Evie/Evelynn, is a leadership figure to Lathan in the book, The Last Soul. Once Lathan arrives on Oreniah, he is mysteriously contacted through a mental link by a woman. This is the first person that he comes into contact with, albeit remotely.

Once Lathan arrives on a secluded island and meets Mother, readers are introduced to an elderly, homely, and dark-skinned woman. She is short with long grey hair, braided down her back. In all the scenes involving Mother, she is seen wearing nothing more than a roughhewn sack with twine for a belt. As her name implies, Mother is a caring figure and helps to guide Lathan, as a parent would.

As a personification for Mother Nature, Mother is gifted with the abilities of growth and life. Of course, vague abilities like that span a wide range of potential. For the most part, Mother can meet any of those potential abilities because her abilities are broad and all encompassing. However, introducing an all-powerful character like that early in a series, can lead to power scaling issues. So, I’ve decided to write Mother as a character that is living a half-life. Also, part of growth comes innovation and advancement. These are subtler layers to her skills and personality.

At one point, Lathan begins asking Mother questions about her past and she is confused about how to answer and often, simply avoids the question. She makes subtle comments about how she isn’t who she once was. A shadow of her former self. I have big plans for when we get to see Mother in all her powerful glory but for now, she is a meek and good-natured version of her previous self.

Near the end of the book, Mother is embroiled in a battle on Limbo Isle and there, we get to see a glimpse of some amazing power. She easily creates a barrier around her enemy and combines her skills with Dormir for an incredible offensive. We also get smaller and gentler snapshot of her abilities in the nurturing of her garden. We are also introduced to a form of life that she cultivated in the form of Hydras. Mother keeps these Hydras under a secure sealing ability. She also hides the location of the sealed box they are stored in. Later, we see several characters training against them and discover that they are truly fearsome beasts. Mother even explains that they have a near limitless potential for growth. If left unchecked, they will devour and conquer everything in their path.

Looking at Mother’s past, she is one of the first souls to complete her cycle of reincarnation and to arrive on Oreniah. She is the First Pillar’s Lifecrafter. Each Pillar has a “champion” and that individual is basically the closest embodiment of what that Pillar stands for. Because of their closeness with their Pillar, these champions are imbued with deep wells of Will and a broad range of abilities. If you don’t remember or haven’t read, The Last Soul, Will is the energy used for abilities that my characters utilize. Its basically soul power and to relate it to an existing power you may be aware of, its kind of similar to Reiatsu/Reiryoku. Soul or spirit power usage is from popular titles such as Bleach, Soul Eater, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Street Fighter.

In Mother’s past lives, she always lived according to a code of providing care and compassion. However, she was and still is a warrior, one that is fiercely protective of her flock. Mother is from the first generation of people to populate this universe. Because of her early involvement in the development of human life, all the legends, myths, and spirituality based around Mother Nature, was inspired from her various lives. Also, because she was part of the first generation, these peoples were more connected with Will. Which means that as she moved through the cycles or reincarnation and became closer to her ascension to Oreniah, her power grew. Mother was harnessing Will and fantastical abilities before her ascension, when Will was plentiful throughout the universe. Meaning that the exaggerated events surrounding Mother Nature’s lore, wasn’t as exaggerated as some might assume.

Another aspect about Mother that readers may have missed, is that she has been crafting life since her arrival on Oreniah. She is the creator of the Fairy beings that live on Limbo Isle and Oreniah. I don’t go into a lot of detail about this. To reveal the cause of this, I’ll give ya’ll some insight to this process. Just as the Pillar’s created the universe itself, the champions of those Pillars have also combined their efforts to accomplish things. Mother and the champion of the Twelfth Pillar – Death, teamed up and created the Fairy or Fae. These beings were meant to keep the few residents of Oreniah company and act as servants to them. That is why Cara was so excited to see Mother.

As the story stands now, we don’t even know who all the champions are, as a matter of fact, some of the champions don’t even know what they are. The Pillars are myth among most residents on Oreniah because for all intents and purposes, they have disappeared. Before, when the Pillars were active on Oreniah and their champions were basically sidekicks, there was a lot more cooperation between them. Leading up to and after the Cataclysm, Oreniah was changed and has since been dying. It’s a slow death but as readers are introduced to Oreniah in The Last Soul, the world is on its last legs.

The Pillars were scattered and their champions tried to continue holding the torch, leading the world. The efforts failed and eventually, Oreniah devolved to where we see it in The Last Soul. There are only a few who even know the history of this heavenly body and fewer still that try to do anything about it. Most residents of Oreniah are ignorant, their sheep like mentality only helps those that wish to manipulate the last vestiges of power that exist.

Back to Mother, many of her abilities are going to be Hydra based. I like the idea of naming attacks and skills so a few of hers are as follows: Hydra Carnivore, Hydra Bloom, Hydra Spore, and Hydra Synthesis. Most of her fighting skills are based on the manipulation of wood, roots, and vines. Obviously, she will control Hydras as well. Early, after her arrival on Oreniah, Mother helped to craft immortal weapons, known as Sovereign Keys. Other types of weapons mentioned to be on Oreniah are called Key Souls, these are imitations of what Mother accomplished and thus, are far less powerful. Although, some hold unique abilities that are quite effective.

Final insight about Mother’s past – Spoiler! Once she grew tired of creating weapons and causing death in the war against Chaos, she withdrew her vast Will and appeared as an old woman. This created some memory loss from the splitting of her soul. If you’ve watched the TV show Fringe, think about Walter Bishop. When we meet her, Mother is only at 10% of her potential power.