Have we talked about Khor? (Patreon)

You've probably all figured out by now that Sumi, Khor, and Silus were Aspen's companions when he was a Necromancer. They decided to stay with him even though Atae wasn't compelling them to do so any more, and Gina used her power to allow Aspen to continue communicating with them (because she's nice like that).

I'm leaving Khor and Sumi behind for most of this book. We needed someone to hold down the fort, as it were, but also I'm going to be adding in a LOT more characters who will pass in and out of the story, and I had to narrow things down a bit. Sometimes I have to make lists of who's in a room so that I can remember to drop a line about what they're all doing while the current active characters are, um, active-ing.

In spite of Khor's currently inactive status, I really enjoy writing him. He's the only voice where I get to be as cranky as I want, so I'm looking forward to using his perspective when I do a 'what's been happening at the farm' arc later.

In any case, Khor, Sumi, and Silus came about because Aspen was a Necromancer, and I was looking for unusual side-kicks who were traditionally related to death or the underworld. Other options I tossed around included toads, vultures, crows, cats, and owls. Some of them have been used a little too often, and some just weren't interesting to me.

Silus and Sumi were easy, but I wanted three, and Aspen's team really needed a tank, plus having someone big enough to ride or pull a wagon would be a bonus. So, goat it was!

Khor is based on a markhor goat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markhor which is not only the biggest goat in the world, but has those awesome twisty horns, and its name literally means death eater in the local language!

Just look at that face. You can't tell me that face doesn't beg to be cranky.