Could your excellency please introduce himself? 

Dorilian: It would be more appropriate to have my secretary Mirrez answer the question.

Mirrez: His Thrice Royal Grace, Dorilian Derlon Amynas Valyoran Sordaneon ê Nemenor, Hierarch of Sordan and Sansordan, Prince of Caerdon, Bas of Kheshazen and Harad-Rebir, Archon of Katalderan and Warden of Tussah. Godborn. Bound to the Rill.  

How would his Grace define your relationship with Marc Frederic?

Dorilian: My most confounding enemy; my truest friend. If I could have chosen any man to be my father, I would have chosen Marc. If I know anything about love, I learned it from him. He is still so real, so present, I cannot excise him from my life. He lives within me, a part of the decisions I make, the relationships I build. I think he wanted to shape me that way, and that is why I do not fight his continued influence. It’s my way of keeping him alive.  

How do you deal with the fact that you are a Highborn?

Dorilian: You mean with the fact that I am extra-human? That I heal quickly from all wounds is quite a fine advantage and I have no difficulty with that. The other things, though, are more of a problem. My mere presence among humans affects them in profound ways they might not even recognize. I am a projective empath; if my anger becomes great, humans feel that anger and respond to it. They may become angrier themselves and volatile, easily moved to violence—or they may fear me irrationally. If I hate a person they feel it, deep within. I can chill their hearts. I can inspire great loyalty in my followers, or vast hatred from my enemies… and I must live with the consequences. Will I ever know if a person I want sexually wants me? Or does what they feel merely conform to my desire?

For these reasons I keep a tight rein on my thoughts, my emotions, even my physical responses.

It’s easiest for me to be with others of my kind. Other Highborn, or people who have been born into and grown up with Highborn families. There are no Highborn females, you know, only males. And today even Highborn males are scarce. Pure humans find me uncomfortable to be around, so I have few friends.

Would you say your relationship with your family is well, normal?

Dorilian: Perhaps for me, but… no. Triemperal politics and the Rill have warped both me and my family. I disliked my father, and he disliked me. My brother had a traumatic birth and was quite strange; after his body failed, I kept his lifeforce within me for a while until he could be reborn. I was forced to marry a woman who found me abhorrent, and I didn’t think much of her either, so my heir-seeking father slept with her instead. I am now raising their son, who is my reborn brother. Don’t even get me started about my wife’s brother.

What do you like to do to have a break from your obligations?

Dorilian: Because my obligations are heavy, I like to have time to myself, to be alone. I have a private estate, Rhondda, on the south side of Sordan island, left to me by my mother. I retreat there with just a few loyal staff and enjoy the privacy. I run along the beach. I ride games of pelekys.I also enjoy being with children, but that time is difficult to come by.

If you could travel to only one place on the Triempery, where would you go and why?

Dorilian: Gustan Manor. Marc Frederick’s home. His estate, his house, and lands. I have not been there since… everything happened. But I have so many memories there, deep ones, that I would welcome a chance to explore.

Could you tell us a little bit more about yourself, something that you would say, defines you?

Dorilian: My bond to the Rill Entity has become so strong it threatens to overwhelm me whenever I am too near it. I cannot be casual about it, ever. The general population, merchants, and wealth-bloated magnates—even the Epoptes who study and revere the Rill’s origins and function—have come to think of their Entity as a machine. My Entity, however, the one I know and feel making its incursions into my skin, bones, and nerves, is not a machine. It is a chimera, just as I am—as all Highborn are… and it wants to claim this body as part of itself. It would claim my mind, too.

I called upon the Rill to save me and Sordan from our enemies, and it did. But I barely survived. I’m not sure at all that I survived intact. My actions following that encounter were the stuff of madness. I fear what might happen to me or the World should I call upon it again

What would you like to do in the future, if you get free of the pressure of the current rulers?

Dorilian: Of Stefan who hates me? Of Nammuor, my wife’s evil brother, who wants to harvest my blood and lifeforce into his monstrous device? If I could be free of them…

Unthreatened, unpursued, I might have a chance. I would like to grow into this body of mine and explore its potential. If I do not need to spend all my waking hours and energy fighting to protect my family and people… I could explore and expand on my godborn gifts. It might be possible for me to grow strong enough to turn the Rill into my ally, not my nemesis. I could ally with the Wall Lords, do the holy work for which the Entities were born, and perhaps create new lands, cities, even empires to help heal this broken World.

I would like to finish what the Three started and fully restore the Creation. And maybe father a child. I think I would like that also.

Personally, I want to say thanks to L.L. Stephens for their collaboration to create this content, and for allowing us to know more about one of the most important characters in the Triempery Revelations series. I recommend you follow them in their different socials:

Website: https://www.triempery.com/blog

Twitter: @triempery

Remember that the best support you can do for this kind of content is sharing it, which is free. Now that Christmas is coming, a book is an excellent gift.