Mason Monteith, Author Blog

In my upcoming book, The Final Born, there are three main characters. A cursed princess, a secondary heiress, and an amnesiac guard. Calypso Pallas, Ophelya Nephus, and Leandre Elias. As these three characters try to forge their own path and control fate – they also hold the fate of their empire in their hands. Will they change the ending to their stories? Or play right into their expected ends as the struggle against it? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out! But for now, lets discuss the characters…

First off, we have Calypso Pallas the cursed royal scion. When I first started working on Calypso for The Final Born – I was reworking a character from another project I had abandoned. Same for Ophelya, their friendship crossed from one project to the next! It began with a few art practice pieces which helped me start fleshing out her character until I decided to write a book around her.

Calypso Pallas was honestly a fun character to write. She’s fierce, she’s strong, and she doesn’t take guff. Her inner turmoil of being seen as a cursed princess paired with her fierce desire to be a warrior to a people who fear her made her quite a challenge to work on. And while she is not seen as conventionally beautiful by Vasylian standards, it doesn’t make her any less beautiful. She is like a warrior goddess.

Extra Facts:

• Calypso Pallas is 20
• She has six half-siblings
• She has had the MOST art commissions done for her character.
• She was originally the only main character until the second draft.
• She has been the test MC for a few other projects – this is her first main project.

Next up is Ophelya Nephus – the secondary heiress. Ophelya, like Calypso, began in a side project or two before being used in The Final Born. Originally, she was quite the damsel in distress who would be saved by Calypso and was also far younger than she is now. Her character has undergone the most changes from the first draft to the final.

Ophelya is brilliant, she observes and learns quickly and can easily outsmart those around her. As the daughter of a Lord in the emperor’s court, people have very high expectations of her. She is quite clever but mistrusts people too quickly at times – besides Calypso and Leandre, her only friends. She may not have brute strength like Calypso but she has the sharp wits needed to survive in Vasyla.

Extra Facts:

• Ophelya is 24, and the oldest of the main trio.
• She was the most difficult to write as her scenes involved more focus on body language.
• Every early reader ADORED Ophelya and many called her a queen.
• If she began a cult, she would have many followers including myself.

Finally we have Leandre Elias, the amnesiac guard. Leandre started with The Final Born, unlike Calypso and Ophelya he was made specifically for this project. At first in the early drafts, I wanted a side guardian character for Calypso like Link is to Zelda – but he quickly spun out into his own fully fleshed-out character and became a main POV. Think Link but angsty.

Leandre is the youngest of the main trio and, therefore the most spontaneous. He distrusts any strangers but has a fierce loyalty to Calypso and Ophelya. His biggest struggle stems from his inability to remember how he came to be a knight or where he came from and he goes through the most development across the events of the story.

Extra Facts:

• Leandre Elias is 18 and is the youngest of the trio.
• He has the most inner monologue moments.
• I have to channel my angst music phase to write his scenes. Think “Ghost” or “My Chemical Romance”
• I cannot express how angsty this guy is – yet early readers love him!

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There you have it! The Golden Trio of The Final Born! The book will be releasing sometime in April or May, so be sure to keep an eye out for news and updates if you want to see the journey these three misfits will find themselves in!