James from Keys to a Kingdom

In the Discworld universe, James (a character who I use continuously) is an ambassador to Ankh-Morpork from the small country of Myrrna- known for its musicians and textiles and the fact that it cannot be conquered. It amuses me in this fanfiction James is turning out to be a lot like he originally was written in the long forgotten work of "Tales of an Empire", although he's older now, and the events that would have taken place there (but never did because I got three chapters in, decided to turn it into a graphic novel, and never got around to it) have mellowed him out from the big, nasty ball of rage he started out as. James is one of those few characters who I have arguments with while I'm writing him; I'll want him to do this and this, and he'll want to do that. This could be a sign of a serious mental disease on my part, but he hasn't told me to go kill anyone yet, so he's staying. Right now he's mortified that he's sorter than Carrot; He's 6'4" and Carrot's 6'6", and the only other person James has been forced to look up to is the minotaur Bellephont (and Detritus), who deserves looking up to for being in a relationship with the only assassin in Myrrna, and have sofar survived to be the unheard of age of 68 as a mercenary.

*Spoilers for chapter three and on of Locks and Doors*
James wasn't originally an ambassador (a position normally held by his brother-in-law, Jakrobis), or even the consort of the Queen; he was the head of the Guild of Mercenaries of Myrrna, arguably one of the best on the Disc, since every time Klatch, Sto Lat, or any other empire decided that they didn't like paying import costs on such fine textiles, they ended up running with their tails between their legs. But James has no gentlemenly ideas about his profession; he's been quoted on equating mercs to guild prostitutes- they both sell their bodies for money; the services just generally vary. In fact, this is the original reason James hates Lord Downey; he feels that assassins masquerading as gentlemen and putting down the other guilds in the process is stupid. That, and James' formal outfit is completely black (save a few ornaments in silver), much to Downey's outrage.

In this Character Sketch
The main picture is how the audience is introduced to James, and is actually an outfit that shows up in multiple universes. I think it's because I'm a mod at heart, and just really lurve men in suits. The white stripes in hair are a little premature, but he's gone through a lot in his nearly thirty years of life. The earring is NOT an accessory; nearly all incarnations of James wear one for containment reasons. The black band, however, is. He got carried away with the clerk look, which is amusing because he hates all this gentlemanly nonsense. It took Sara six months to get him to accept the title of consort- advisors had wanted 'prince', 'king', 'duke' or even 'knight'. He split the advisor's desk in two with one punch. He likes being hands on- the musician's guild can't get over the fact that he's teaching a beginners class.

The Angry bust is only a sketch from various survivors' descriptions, as no one had an iconograph around during the war. The picture may not be completely accurate, because if you got this close to him while he was looking like this, well, you generally did not come home with your limbs attached. Ouch.

The bottom one is both a contrast to the upper bust to show how age has tempered one man's bloodlust, and to show one of the rare times James smokes. He doesn't do it often; Sara refuses to let him in the house with them. His nicotine craving generally kicks in as soon as he's kicked out of the house, or he's having a meeting with someone else he can bum one off of. Not exactly sure where he is at this point, but I suspect its after an all night council meeting. He and Sam Vimes probably should never be left alone together with a pack of cigars.

'Keys' and 'Lock and Doors' are both up on FF.net.