Primary frontrunners
Jack Dawkins
Formerly known as Kerry. Aged 32. English. Trans man. Brought up in a village in Sussex, divides his time between Oxford and Eimeiseidele1. Writer, artist, philologist, philosopher, graphic designer, cook, Angry Feminist™ and typography enthusiast. Married to James. Best friend is Hess. Noël’s adopted sibling. Father of Katie and Florian. Doesn’t suffer fools well. Fairly opinionated. Lives in a large household composed of two couples (Hess/Yumi, James/Jack), their respective children and Noël. Loves queer theory, languages, technology, cultural studies, politics and crap pop music. Social democrat. Is somewhat patriotic but hates nationalism. Hates fascism, illiberalism, laissez-faire capitalism, country music, Windows and bad typography. Reads style guides for fun. Existentialist witch. If he were at Hogwarts he’d be a hatstall – or something close to it – 2 between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Mostly gay. Pronouns: he/him/his.
Yavari Caralize
32 years old. Biaritzan, from Quercia Province (Fuchuruseidele in Yei). Demiguy. Gay. Of Yoruba, Arab, English and Ashkenazi Jewish descent. His father is Richard and his half-sister is Lilly. Yavari’s other sister, Elizabeth, is a former frontrunner. Lives in the Wood Between the Worlds and goes to Eimeiseidele to work. Works for the University of Eimeiseidele’s Artificial Intelligence department as a research assistant. Loves electronic music and Eighties music. Definitely autistic. Involved with disability politics. Fairly lefty. Mostly asexual. Panromantic. Atheist. He’s a Ravenclaw. Pronouns: he/him.
Hess Sakal
Aged 38. Of Russian, German, Chinese and Buryat (indigenous Siberian) descent. considers Biaritza his adopted country and will tell you he’s Biaritzan if asked. Cis male. Temporal physicist, amateur political analyst, philosopher, rabble-rouser and comic relief. Grew up in London until he moved to Biaritza at 18 to go to the University of Eimeiseidele. Married to Yumi since April 2008. Father of Sophie. Best friend is Jack, whom he found on one of his time-travelling trips. Generator of far-fetched ideas. Swears a lot. Thinks English is a very weird language even though he speaks it natively. Democratic socialist. Vaguely theistic. Occasional magic-user. Bisexual. Probably a Slytherin. Pronouns: he/him. Neurodivergent in some way, possibly ADHD.
James Dawkins
42 years old. American. Cis male. Grew up in Manhattan; has lived in New York, Boston and Hampshire (not New Hampshire. The original one). Parents are British; they lived in the US during James’ childhood before moving back to the UK. Father of Katie and Florian. Currently lives in Eimeiseidele with Jack, Hess, Yumi, Noël, Katie and Florian. Vaguely spiritual. Married to Jack. Interested in design, art, typography, mathematics, philosophy, and political science. Considers himself a “political rationalist,” though in practice he’ll say that he leans toward being slightly left of centre. Has some classical liberal tendencies. Excessively pedantic, but tries not to be a jerk about it. Moderate left. Hates potato salad and loves egg creams. Can often be found listening to Nicki Minaj. Heteroflexible—Jack may be an exception to his usual rules, but he’s the best exception James could have. Ravenclaw. Pronouns: he/him.
Noël Dawkins
Age indeterminate, but knows he’s young for his species. Non-human. Naturalised Biaritzan. Jack’s adopted sibling. Counselling student who previously studied Art History. Lives with Jack, James, Hess, Yumi, Florian, Sophie and Katie. Likes art, language, disability advocacy, philosophy, poetry, cephalopods and cats. Listens to floaty dream-pop and twee folk music. Reasonably lefty. Ex-soldier, now mostly a pacifist. Vegetarian. Asexual, not sure of romantic orientation. Ravenclaw. Pronouns: he/him.
Support Staff
Richard Ghia-Wilberforce
Aged 72. English. Grew up in Oxford. Scientist, teacher, aesthete and classical music aficionado. Formal, friendlier than he sounds in writing. Former system head. Married to Carmen, Posey and Misato. Has five children: Yavari (from a previous relationship), Lilly, Albert, Perpetua and George. Closest friend is Garili. Straight, but poly. Atheist. Politically moderate. Doesn’t front as much as he used to, but is close enough to know what’s going on. Ravenclaw. Pronouns: he/him.
Em Flynn
34 years old. American. Californian. Grew up in Oakland. Non-binary. Queer. Loves sociology, neon, loud prints, politics, queer theory and racial justice advocacy. Atheist. Snarky and opinionated. Loves to rant. Definitely neurodivergent. Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Fairly lefty. Doesn’t front as actively as they used to, but enjoys poking their head in once in a while. Pronouns: they/them or xie/xir.
Lilly Ghia-Wilberforce
Aged 23. British/Biaritzan. Cis female. Like Hess, she’s likely to tell you she’s Biaritzan if she’s asked, as she’s spent most of her life there. Originally from Oxford, she’s spent most of her life in Eimeiseidele. Cheerful and friendly, with a bit of a cheeky streak sometimes. Works as an intern at an artificial intelligence research company. Lesbian. Pagan. Witch. Doll collector. Lover of chocolate and sweets. Left-libertarian. Listens to lots of folk, melodic metal and the occasional black metal song. Essentially a Perky Goth. Gryffindor. Pronouns: she/her.
Sketches and artwork
Drawing of Yavari by Setsu, a friend of ours in another system.