Meet the Islanders

Simon and Charles became best friends in 2nd grade when they had to work on a history project together. As a kind, enthusiastic, and adventurous child, he was naturally the target of many a school bully. He is not much of an academic, but supplies a courageous spirit that Charles lacks, and always tries to see the best in his friends. Although he worries about the odd monster attack, he is not truly capable of being cynical. He continues to see Chronesia as a wonderful opportunity, practically a godsend. Which, if you look into Chronesian history, the Island somewhat is.

Jordan Cogsley
Born: 1987
Height: 157 cm
Fact: Twice attempted unsuccessfully to sneak out to punk rock concerts in the next town

Jordan became a tutor for her town’s children at her parents’ bidding, and many of her students believed that she was quite precocious. This job combined with the fact that she was homeschooled led her to feeling quite isolated. Disillusioned with her life of resumé-building and being her parents’ trophy child at social events, Jordan was delighted but also a little frightened by the arrival of the Gateway. Although she took many online classes during her childhood, these courses did not always teach her applied science, but she is in the process of learning about this field at the Castle.

Marqus
Born: 1919
Height: 185 cm
Fact: Feels like his predictions about the downfall of society have come true

Marqus was a fisherman in Portland, Maine in his time on the Mainland. One day he was swept out to sea and found himself in sight of an unchartered island. It was on this island where he founded the settlement known as Chronesia. He had dreams of creating a utopian society that gave everyone a meaningful job and where the pursuit of knowledge was a valued and noble goal. In the quest for such an ideal, he tried to discourage “Mainland” cultural practices from persisting on the Island. His death devastated the Chronesians, but he was miraculously reincarnated as an incorporeal being that guarded the Gateway, the portal between dimensions that usually lies beneath the Castle.

Katrina Veracini
Born: 1975
Height: 155 cm
Fact: Is a bit jealous of people who got to take history classes in high school

Born on the Island in an especially dangerous time in Chronesian history, Katrina is nevertheless confused and wary of Mainland life. She tends to be solemn and analytical, and took over the role of Castle Overseer when her father went missing. She is interested in history, particularly of that strange country that lies to the left of her land: the United States. Katrina hopes that exploring the history of another country that has been in frequent war will help her understand matters of the Island. She is sometimes plagued with self-doubt as she must continually send her people into the field to fight dangerous creatures.

Samuel Fett
Born: 1946
Height: 216 cm
Fact: Believes the quality of new Chronesians has declined in recent years

Samuel was one of the first residents of the Castle, arriving at the Island at only 6 years of age. He never talked about his biological family on the Mainland, and no one even knows what state he originally came from. He grew up to be a fearsome warrior who takes his mission of protecting everyone in the Castle very seriously. He has the Sight, a mysterious power that allows him to get glimpses of the future, although he suspects that there is something more sinister to the ability than he first believed. He has a rather arrogant and gruff persona, since he would rather the Castle residents be annoyed by him than fear him.

Anthony Campbell
Born: 1967
Height: 178 cm
Fact: Believed the doughnut shop where he worked was a perfect location for a first date

The middle of three siblings, Anthony grew up in constant (and sometimes violent) conflict with his brother and sister. Growing up, when he wasn’t watching sitcoms he was arguing with his siblings. After graduating from high school, he halfheartedly attended a community college where he was studying computer science. As he worked in a fast-food chain on the side, he spent most of his money on alcohol and Hawaiian shirts. Ten years in the World of Illusion changed him. When forced to live in a harsh, capricious world for a decade, he finally decided that harassing his siblings really wasn’t the best use of his time. Furthermore, he found that after he returned from the World of Illusion, his memory and mental capacity had increased, and he had the strange urge to…read things.

Angie Stone
Born: 1976
Height: 168 cm
Fact: Wholly embraces the idea of platonic marriage

As a child, Angie often heard her father say that the last thing he wanted for his children was for them to serve in the military. Angie went on to become a human resources worker for a firm in Boston, until one day her roommate was shot in a mysterious confrontation that plunged her into the mysterious world of the Island. Upon arriving at the Castle, she found that she was quite skilled and combat, and soon found that she was not content to let the other members of her family do all the dangerous work. She began to train with the intention that she would someday also take up arms to be sent on a mission to defend the Castle. Although she was a strong believer in astrology and other mystic things prior to her time on the Island, she found that the Chronesian model of the universe made more sense than the beliefs she picked up from her high school friends.

Gina Veracini
Born: 1941
Height: 150 cm
Fact: Sometimes wishes she grew up in a society where there were more rules to break without risking death

Growing up in a strict Roman Catholic family was difficult for the rebellious and relentlessly questioning Gina. She was in almost constant conflict with her parents because of her strong personality and her rather outspoken atheism. What better way to escape such a dreary existence than to be mysteriously transported to an unchartered island? She learned how to sharpshoot and build bombs, and tag-teamed skirmishes with her husband, Clyde, before an accident left her wheelchair-bound. However, that does that stop her from picking off enemies with a rifle from the top of the Castle. Vincenzo (Katrina’s father) is her twin, and she is the older one, a fact that she always keeps in the back of her mind.

Clyde O’Connor
Born: 1942
Height: 180 cm
Fact: Sings a pretty mean rendition of Port Lairge

Clyde, like his wife Gina, was originally a Bostonian, and his family knew the Veracinis back when he lived in that city. As a child he was quite shy, but evolved into a more talkative person in order to talk to Gina. After a confrontation with the villain Dophos at the Battle of Olsen’s pass, his personality changed once again into a more childlike, less sane version of his former self, but the skills he learned over the course of his life were left intact.

Tom Finney
Born: 1957
Height: 183 cm
Fact: Worked with a famous nutritional scientist at Cornell. If you know the field, you know who it is

Tom was born in Rhode Island, and his parents always hoped that he would go into finance. But because he wanted to improve humanity, he decided on a different career path. He attended Cornell University, where he was the star backstroker on the swim team as an undergraduate and then a doctoral student in nutritional sciences. It was at university that he met George, since they frequented the same bar. At the Castle, he was “drafted” to be the doctor, and spends a lot of his free time learning how to treat potential wounds that might be inflicted on his fellow Chronesians. This is a task he enjoys far less than working with the cooks to plan health-sustaining meals for the Castle residents.

George Sychev

Born: 1963
Height: 177 cm
Fact: Discovered his passion for science by finding information to disprove his parents’ belief in the paranormal as a young child

George spent his childhood in the USSR before his parents managed to flee to the US. He displayed a strong aptitude towards working with mechanical devices from an early age, sometimes to the annoyance of his parents and neighbors. He wanted to work on improving the design and efficiency of solar panels, and began a Master’s program in electrical engineering at Cornell University. Although he was far more reluctant than Tom to begin life at the Castle, he eventually decided that it was the best life he and his partner could have hoped for, although the strange physics of the Island forever frustrates him.

Mike Yang
Born: 1958
Height: 175 cm
Fact: Believes that Gustavus Adolphus is the best of all Swedes

Mike spent his childhood working in his parents’ restaurant, and dreamed of a military career of valor and glory. When he tried to enlist in the army, he was not accepted due to his long-running issue of anxiety. Yet on the Island, he found a new opportunity to become a glorious military leader, only to find that the Castle Overseer found Mike’s skills as a cook to be far more valuable. Still, Mike dreams of a future where he has replaced Samuel as the respected and fearsome leader of all missions. One of his major “enemies” at the Castle is Anthony, especially since both of them worked in restaurants prior to their lives at the Castle.

Olive Baird
Born: 1955
Height: 172 cm
Fact: To her, modern music is akin to what would happen if you poured bleach on a thriving garden

Olive’s upbringing prepared her perfectly for life on an unchartered island. Her parents were disgusted by the rampant consumerism characterizing society in the post-WWII era, and moved to the wilderness of Aroostook County, Maine. She learned how to live off the land without electricity or running water. Olive grew up hearing about the evils of regular society. She learned how to play a banjo from her father, and miraculously learned how to play and sing many ’60s protest songs despite living in the middle of nowhere. She never has spoken of the religion of her upbringing, but many people at the Castle suspect that she is a pagan.

Paula Solis
Born: 1959
Height: 160 cm
Fact: Found her still-extant pet iguana in a box near a gas station

Born in New Brunswick as a member of the Maliseet First Nation, Paula grew up in an environment that gave her valuable skills that she then instilled in the Castle population. She and Olive met occasionally before their time on Chronesia because both frequented the same small town in Maine. Paula set up the crafting economy in the Castle in order to bring extra revenue for the residents. After the Battle of Olsen’s pass, Paula lost all of her memories of her life prior to Chronesia, but also developed synesthesia. At first she wanted to hear a second-hand account of her past from Olive, but eventually decided that learning about all of the memories she’d lost was too painful. On one particular trip back to the Mainland with Samuel, she found an iguana abandoned in a box and brought it back to the Castle as a pet.

Jeremy Jack Olsen
Born: 1985
Height: 176 cm
Fact: Once in a while wonders how he would look with blue-tinted lenses

A silent and contemplative character, Jeremy Jack tends to make the other Chronesians nervous. Everyone knows the story of how he was orphaned, and few people in the Castle like to discuss it. He seems to have few hobbies beyond wandering around the Castle and appearing out of nowhere, and takes just enough interest in school to get by. However, he does have an unusual connection with the World of Illusion and a grudge against the Pedisimans.

Iris Velasquez
Born: 1980
Height: 170 cm
Fact: Wants Olive to have a more scientific take on plant life

As a child, Iris was talented at both soccer and playing the harmonica, but as a teen she wanted to found a startup in the area of crop sciences. Mathematically gifted, she enrolled in the University of New Hampshire at the age of 16 as a horticulture technology-computer science double major, but not two years into her degree she and a professor from the forest science department discovered a strange new room in one of the university’s laboratories. After weeks of dealing with Marqus’ tests, Iris decided to accompany Katrina to Chronesia and the professor went to Pedisima with Natalia.

Ted Green
Born: 1956
Height: 180 cm
Fact: Probably would have eventually become involved in illegal tropical bird trading

For years, Ted worked in a pet store in Pittsburgh, and always loved the birds at the shop most of all. He owned several conures, lovebirds, and a macaw over the years, but a gambling problem meant that he was often in debt. He brought with him to the Island three canaries. After the Battle of Olsen’s Pass, he did not speak again until he had read two complete dictionaries, and from that time onward he has only spoken in extremely verbose terms.

Michelle Grayson
Born: 1975
Height: 166 cm
Fact: Enjoys talking about being a radical, but was never involved in any particular movement

Although Michelle only dresses in black, she enjoys experimenting with dying her hair vibrant colors. She often dreamed of going to the London College of Fashion, but knew that she would probably have to settle for something closer to home. She worked on the clothing floor of a department store in Boston, and shared an apartment with Angie. Somewhat a Pessimist, her views on humanity were only enhanced when her first experience with people from the Island was having one of them shoot her in the side. As the Castle tailor, she is always a little disappointed that most of the Castle residents want functional rather tan fashionable clothing.

Julia Olsen
Born: 1961
Height: 163 cm
Fact: Experiences moments of both dismay and approval at the Castle’s collective reading tastes

Julia was born on the Mainland, but came to the Island at a very young age, so does not have any strong ties to places other than Chronesia. However, she never forget those many weekends when her parents took her to the library in the town of Bangor, Maine. As she grew up in the Castle, she became determined to give that same experience to any young children growing up on the southern part of the Island. She made sure that the books were sorted using the Dewey Decimal System and pushed for more of the monthly luxury funds to go to book purchases. Although she mostly reads everything, she doesn’t much like science fiction and fantasy since she finds that Chronesia is so much stranger than any of these worlds.

Sven Olsen
Born: 1962
Height: 184 cm
Fact: Inherited his sense of direction from his map-making father

Sven grew up hearing about his father Kyrre’s exciting cartography voyages when people were just arriving on the Island. As his father undertook more and more dangerous mapping expeditions, Sven began to grow apart from Kyrre, but was still devastated when his father was killed by Shadows. He did not let himself be consumed by sorrow, however, because he had the task of raising three children with Julia.

Björn Olsen
Born: 1985
Height: 172 cm
Fact: Would never say it aloud, but often enjoys his science classes with Tom

Björn is very knowledgeable of the brave deeds of both his grandfather and his father, and is frustrated with his struggle to continue this tradition of valor. Although he does better in school than his brother, Jeremy Jack, that really doesn’t matter to Björn since he wants to be a fighter, not a scholar. He likes learning about punk culture from Michelle and wants to imitate it, much to his mother’s disappointment.

Kye Olsen
Born: 1996
Height: 109 cm
Fact: Views all of the middle-aged Castle residents as his aunts and uncles

Kye is irrepressibly curious about everything and everyone in the Castle. He feels left out every time that there is a major battle and he must be hidden somewhere safe. He does not quite understand that there are many lands beyond the Castle, but when he does, will surely want to travel to all of them.