Meet Charlotte (Patreon)

Hello, Legionnaires! Here’s a new character that came together during some of my AI experimentation this last week.  One of the prompts I tried was a generic redheaded princess becoming a werewolf.  Unfortunately I rarely can come up concept like that without a backstory forming in my head, and the generic werewolf princess gained a new angle and a (slightly) less formal look, as seen above.

Charlotte (her current working name—I‘m also considering Katrina or Katarina) is a Princess of a small fictional European country that borders Transylvania—yes, that Transylvania.  On a diplomatic visit to their neighbors during one of the periods where their most famous ruler was… not active… Charlotte’s father managed to offend a Draconi Sorceress (Draconi are cultists that American pop culture often regrettably refers to as gypsies, but are in fact enemies of tru Romani… and, well, pretty much everyone else), who placed a curse on his family that would rob him of an heir and ultimately his throne.  His unborn child would become a beast incapbale of bearing the throne, his wife would die before bearing him another child, and he would be afflicted with an illness that would keep him from ever remarrying.

Sure enough, the wife would die in childbirth, but the baby, through either divine intervention or pure dumb luck—defied all expectations, and grew up to be brilliant, beautiful, brave, and compassionate. The people loved her, and as the king’s health started to deteriorate, they looked to her as the head of their country.

Charlotte was all these things, but once she learned of the curse that had been placed on her family, she threw much of her energy into finding a remedy, and also an answer to why she seemed to have been spared.  However, while attending university in the United Kingdom, on the eve of ther 18th birthday, the truth was revealed, and Charlotte transformed into a werewolf for the first time.

Charlotte is not the kind of person to let something like that stop her though.  While her wolf self is wild, savage, and viscious, something in her subconscious has, so far, directed its wrath at those who are a direct threat to her or others. Still, she uses her resources to contain the issue, including retreating to a woodland refuge during the full moon cycle, and finding a rare charm that can suppress the wolf side, even under the full moon for a time.

But the pressure on her is growing. As her father’s condition has worsened, she has found herself the head of state.  Facing the end of her bloodline and wishing to leave her people with a more stable and just society, she has been working to introduce democracy to her homeland, but is resisted by many of the aristocrats who benefited from the old ways.  She can’t be sure how much to trust the prime minister her father appointed to run day to day affairs, who claims to share her goals but may be seeking to seize power for himself.  The neighboring Transylvania, meanwhile, has suddenly cut all diplomatic ties as rumors of a dark new power seizing control there swirls around.  And, to make matters worse, a large deposit of a rare and valuable new metal has attracted the unwanted attention of governments and businesses all over the world.

Clever as Charlotte is, these new challenges often put her in direct danger, and she has no way out but to rely on the beast she has discovered within her.  But the mysterious appearance of this wild and vicious creature rising up to destroy her country’s enemies has revived talk of another prophecy—that of an ancient guardian who appears in dark times toprotect the land.  With only her head of security, her handmaiden, and her ailing father aware of the truth, Charlotte must navigate both the political intrigue and supernatural threats that plague her beloved homeland while seeking a permanent solution to her own savage curse…

What do you think? Would you like to see more of Charlotte? Does one of the other names suit her better? Let me know in the comments!