November 4, 2017

Symat, Prince of Siania

Ayn's brother needed a full treatment for a while now, and some of you had been asking a fair bit. So I owe it to him to doodle a little more and flesh out his markings, full body appearance, personality some, and more. I always liked the idea of a mute character and what changes that would befall them. Seems like a rare occurrence these days.

Sym is Ayn's older brother by a few years, and as a child, suffered in a shuttle re-entry disaster which injured his vocal box beyond even the most advanced medical repair. My current iteration of the story is that radiation from space and the atmosphere mutated his genes and made it extremely difficult to operate on, and by the time it normalized, he had grown to accept it as part of who he was, and the injury became permanent. This to me made more sense than 'vow of silence' or 'mental trauma' for an otherwise pampered prince who could've had the best medical facilities available. Only something rare and extreme I think could prove 'beyond repair' for one of his status. As a result he's very humble, spent a lot of time working out, learning on his own in the palace. Princes  are kind of powerless in the political layout as they don't inherit anything, so usually their roles become framework for the female line. Side pieces, trophies, etc. or at best, given roles around the palace. 

I'm still not 100% sure on all of this though. It's late and I'm rambling some. Enjoy!