Paradox City
The city lies on the edge of nowhere and the beginning of everywhere. The sun rises at night in the west and sets every morning in the east.The trees die in summer and come back to life in the frigid winter.
King Valiant, who fears his own shadow, sits on the throne. He only ventures out on days when the moon is hidden behind clouds. Valiant's mother waited to name her children until their true natures had been revealed, as all mothers in Paradox City do. His younger sister, Princess Whisper, never speaks below a shout. She drinks honeyed tea to prevent vocal strain.
The people of the city endeavor to be contradictions, for on the day of their deaths, the tale of their life is told to those who have gathered, and it would be delightfully embarrasing to have behaved in accordance with their name.
Valiant never thought he would shame himself with an act of courage. Nothing much at all happened to him, on account of his solitary and sedentary existence.
He was wonderfully wrong.
On his death day, Valiant saved the life of his only campanion, a young dog of fifteen years, from dashing into the path of a carriage. He was struck in the process, and his broken ribs punctured a lung.
The story of his cowardly life was shouted by Princess Whisper, until she got to his last, terrible, valiant deed, where her voice dropped several decibels.
The ignominy killed his mother several days later.
Honoria
Honoria "Norie" is a princess of Myria. Her country is the largest in the eight Kingdoms, and it's a place of great magic. The first king of Myria saved the life of a dragon and earned its loyalty. Ever since then, members of the royal family have bonded with a dragon at birth. Norie bonded with a dragon named Bane, who got his name because he is particularly vicious. The humans in Myria have to be careful of other dangerous magical creatures, and Norie and Bane travel the country protecting the humans and keeping the peace. She's fierce, loyal, brave, but she has trouble forming relationships with other people. Her family wants her to take on a more political and public role, but all Norie wants is to keep traveling the continent with Bane. She has to grow and compromise.
Norie is of average height with black hair, brown eyes, with tan and freckled skin from spending so much time outside. As she gets older, her skin will become weathered from all the flying she does with Bane.
Montgomery Magic
The Montgomery family has always been strange. People in town know it, and act accordingly. The other schoolchildren are not allowed to play with Vivian or Henry Montgomery, and the adults remain coolly polite to Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.
Everyone knows that something about them just isn't quite right. But they never would have guessed that they are witches and warlocks.
They own a store in town filled with curious items. Only a few people in town have bought something from them, and most of what they purchased caused strange things to happen.
Mrs. Thompson, for instance, bought a beautiful hand carved grandfather clock. Ever since, she's been insisting that every day is Friday the twelfth or November.
Jillian Hanley purchased a box of chocolates tied with a silver bow that was just too pretty to pass up. She's been eating a piece a day for months now, and it's always back in the box by the time she opens it again.