Meet the main characters that feature in the amazing world of FORESTIUM. Click on a name below to read their back-story and other characteristics.
For more detailed information about the world of FORESTIUM, see also the Timeline …
Character type | Woodsman (in training - yet to complete the trials) |
Age | 16 |
Home village | Morelle |
Weapon | Slingshot |
Best trait | Sees the good in others |
Biggest weakness | Poor aim |
Joshua was born in Morelle in Forestium's far west. He is the firstborn child to Merinder and Sojath. Joshua grew up an only child but survives a sister that died during childbirth. Joshua's sister was not named and he was never made aware of her brief existence.
Sojath was a Morelle warrior and went off to battle when Joshua was just three years old but did not return. Although he was very young at the time, Joshua still has fond memories of his father and seeks to learn more about what happened.
With no other male role model in his life, Joshua grew up with many questions and somewhat unsure of himself. Had there been an older brother, Joshua may have chosen to become a fixer but ended up settling on being a woodsman like his father - perhaps with the ultimate aim of one day becoming a warrior. Despite his chosen direction, Joshua has an aptitude for being a fixer and regularly debates with the other fixers of his village.
Until he neared the age of decision, Joshua never had any romantic interests. Most of his time in recent months has been spent sharpening his forest woodsman skills with his best friend, Andrew. The two young men have been preparing to take part in the ritual trials that will see them through adolescence and into their rightful place as Morelle woodsmen.
Character type | Woodsman (in training - yet to complete the trials) |
Age | 16 |
Home village | Morelle |
Weapon | Slingshot |
Best trait | Climbing |
Biggest weakness | Quick to judge |
Andrew was welcomed into the village of Morelle as an orphaned baby when he was just two years old. Both his parents were killed in an earlier skirmish during the tribal feuds that plagued the North and West back then.
Andrew spent much of his earlier years getting into mischief, but his cheeky smile and playful nature always seemed to keep him out of any serious trouble. The tenders of the village provided him with guidance and it was Joshua's mother's that introduced him to her son when the two boys were about eight years old. The pair of would-be woodsmen have been inseparable since, and have developed an extremely strong bond.
Despite his earlier troubles, Andrew developed into an extremely loyal and dependable friend to Joshua, and has looked out for him ever since. He has little time for girls and even less understanding of them. He is a proficient climber, and has developed some very good forest woodsman skills.
Character type | Fixer |
Age | 16 |
Home village | Jemarrah |
Weapon | Any |
Best trait | Ingenuity |
Biggest weakness | Talks too much |
Sarah is the only child of Serelle and Albert, now the Elder of Jemarrah. Although they have no other children of their own, Serelle and Albert took in an orphaned girl, Isabelle, when Sarah was very young and raised the adopted family member as their own. Sarah and Isabelle consider each other sisters and are very close. Sarah's mother was killed during a raid on Jemarrah when she was just a toddler. She has very little recollection of her mother and has grown up under the fierce protection of her father ever since.
Sarah is a natural born fixer with a real talent for just about everything she turns her hands to. She is extremely intelligent and adept at solving practical problems. She can also cook just about anything she finds and often experiments with new recipes. Very well versed in the ways of the forest, she can readily live from whatever natural resources are available at the time. Although a proficient hunter, she has yet to capture a wild wood-boar, despite attempting to do so for some time.
Sarah has a soft spot for all the creatures of Forestium - flaps in particular. She has little knowledge or understanding of the dark forces of the underworld. Her happy-go-lucky outlook on life often sees her rambling on about anything and nothing.
Character type | Imp |
Age | 37 |
Home village | Southern Tip |
Weapon | Slicing wit |
Best trait | Loyalty |
Biggest weakness | Liquorice moss |
Originally from the Southern Tip, Galleon has been travelling around Forestium since the Goat banished all the imps to another realm about 10 years ago. Having only managed to narrowly escape the Goat's onslaught himself, Galleon has since spent most of his time on the road hoping to find others of his kind.
Since most Forestium inhabitants, especially the younger ones, have never seen or heard of imps before, Galleon has found himself unwelcome and mistrusted at many of the places he's visited.
Prior to the banishing of the imps, Galleon served as first mate aboard the trading ship The Southern Seas. He spent several years working the trade routes into and out of the Southern Tip and would probably have made captain if he continued with that career. He chose instead to find his feet on dry land but meandered from job to job for a couple of years doing ad-hoc work here and there.
Character type | Magical being |
Age | Uncertain |
Home village | Somewhere in the depths of the underworld |
Weapon | Magic |
Best trait | Mental discipline |
Biggest weakness | Anger |
A mystical and reclusive magical being, the Goat is the embodiment of evil and malevolence. His origins are unclear. Half-man and half-goat, he spends much of his effort jealously guarding against anyone discovering the hidden power behind various magical artefacts hidden throughout the worlds connected by the Portallas. The Goat fears the loss of power that might come about should others learn the secrets he possesses. More than this, he fears what will happen should the Portallas be opened between realms and people are able to move freely between them.
Although he keeps himself to his own realm, he does have the power to communicate with people in Forestium through some of the magical artefacts that exist there. He is able to communicate telepathically through the Orb of Vision, for example. Through intense discipline of mind, he can force anyone that has an orb experience to see and hear things he wishes. He is a skilful manipulator and uses this skill to great effect. The Goat can also reach through the Mirror of Prophecy to extend physically into Forestium.
The Goat commands an army of dark creatures of the underworld. In Forestium, for example, he can summon blood-bats as need be, who act as his ears and eyes in that realm. Blood-bats are loathsome and blood-thirsty creatures that will attack and maul savagely and relentlessly. The Goat commands other creatures of the underworld in other realms too.
Character type | Tender |
Age | 22 |
Home village | Jemarrah |
Weapon | Knife |
Best trait | Loyalty |
Biggest weakness | Hunting skills |
Adopted as an orphan from a young age, Isabelle was taken in by the Jemarrah elder after her parents and two older brothers were killed during a tribal feud. The Jemarrah elder took part in that skirmish and was at least partly responsible for the deaths. Feeling deeply remorseful about his actions that day, he wanted to do right by the child and took her as his own to be raised and loved as his own daughter.
Isabelle and Sarah were inseparable growing up and often found themselves getting into mischief together. After his wife's death, their father, an otherwise stern and very masculine figure, often found it awkward bringing up two young women and the two girls often relied on their own motherly instincts. With Isabelle being the elder of the two girls, she filled something of a motherly role towards her younger sister.
Isabelle never developed the same wanderlust that Sarah did and was content to fill the role of one of the village tenders. Like Sarah, she's a good cook. When she's not performing her village tender duties, she helps out with looking after the children at the village school.
Character type | Trader |
Age | 32 |
Home village | None - lives in an isolated hut |
Weapon | Bow and arrow |
Best trait | Family loyalty |
Biggest weakness | Too trusting |
Formerly a successful trader, Melachor now lives a reclusive life tucked away in a secluded hut deep within the forest somewhere in Northern Forestium. Once a devoted and loving family man, Melachor's life took a turn for the worse when he found himself in the Southern Tip when the imps were being banished by the Goat. The family had travelled there in hopes of finding a metamorph, an elusive and near mythical being believed to have the power to heal. It was the day the Goat banished the imps and Melachor barely escaped with his life that day but believed he had lost his wife and children in the onslaught. Overcome with grief, he soon locked himself away and was not heard of for many years.
Melachor had escaped the clutches of the Goat by using the Orb of Vision he acquired not long previously, although he never knew what it was called nor what the orb's significance was. A few years ago, Melachor learned of the Mirror of Prophecy and was told it could be used to see into the future. Believing this would be the key to finding out what happened to his family, he spent the next few years trying to track down the mirror.
When Melachor finally learned that Joshua had acquired the magical mirror, he caught up with him and offered to trade it with the Orb of Vision still in his possession. Having convinced Joshua to part with the mirror, Melachor returned with it to his secluded hut and waited several days for fear of having been seen and/or followed. When he finally peered into the mirror, the hopeful man got much more than he bargained for.
Character type | Innkeeper |
Age | 41 |
Home village | Fable & Florelle's Inn |
Weapon | Knife |
Best trait | Making wood-wine |
Biggest weakness | Pessimism |
The son of a wealthy trader, Fable inherited his father's fortune when he was a teenager and used it to set up an inn in the south of Forestium. Having lived in his father's shadow for most of his life, Fable found himself to be quite successful at being an Innkeeper and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom to pursue his own happiness. The location he chose ensured a steady stream of regular visitors that kept the inn profitable. He met and fell in love with Florelle, a Tender from a nearby village, not long after the inn first opened and the two have been running the inn ever since.
Fable's fortunes went from strength to strength when he inadvertently stumbled upon a recipe for a rather delicious, if not somewhat intoxicating, brew for what he dubbed as the 'best wood-wine in all of Forestium'. This turned out to be a move of pure genius, as Traders would come from far and wide just to partake in the delicious beverage and would often end up staying the night at the inn because they were too drunk to move on.
Fable's positive outlook on life took a bit of a tumble when the Innkeeper came into possession of the Mirror of Prophecy, after a Trader with the mirror died whilst staying at the inn. Not knowing that the artefact possessed magical powers, Fable peered into it and believed he saw his own horrific death at some indeterminate future point. Seeing this took its toll on the Innkeeper and he rapidly became sullen and depressed. Nowadays, Fable is a grumpy and moody man who's not the most cheerful person to be around.
Character type | Inn-keeper's wife |
Age | 38 |
Home village | Fabel & Florelle's Inn |
Weapon | Wooden spoon |
Best trait | Healing injured animals |
Biggest weakness | Fabel |
Florelle grew up in a small village in the south and was content to enjoy life as a village tender when she met Fabel. He had just opened 'Fabel's Inn' not far from her village and she was swept off her feet by his enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit. The two quickly married and ran the inn together, which was renamed to 'Fabel & Florelle's Inn'.
Florelle's natural compassion and a tendency to mother people went down well with the inn's clientèle. This, together with Fabel's famous wood-wine, quickly saw the inn develop a very good reputation and the pair enjoyed life together for many years. Her love of forest creature also saw her taking in stray and injured animals and she quickly developed a reputation likewise.
The honeymoon lasted for quite a while before the pressures of maintaining the constantly busy inn started to take its toll on both of them. The romance faded after a while to the point that the two now barely speak to each other.
Character type | Oracle |
Age | Unknown |
Home village | Valley of Moross |
Weapon | Alliance with metamorphs |
Best trait | Can see into the future |
Biggest weakness | None |
An enigmatic being, the Oracle of Forestium takes the form of a small blue flame that levitates . Hidden deep inside a secluded cave in the Valley of Moross, the Oracle's location is difficult to find unaided. If close enough, the Orb of Vision will pulsate and glow when near the entrance to the Oracle's cave and, if lucky, can be used as a beacon to find it.
For anyone fortunate enough to find the cave, it's not a foregone conclusion that an audience with the Oracle will be possible, as she will only reveal herself to those that she considers are pure of heart and worthy. With mystical powers and the apparent ability to see into the future, the Oracle may choose to grant the worthy that addresses her, information that they can use to fulfil their destiny - even though that information may not always be welcome.
When speaking, the Oracle emits a bright orange flame with sparks trailing wisps of smoke as each word is sounded. For the truly pure of heart, the Oracle may chose to reveal specific information directly and in a more personal manner. As the Oracle has chosen so very few people to reveal herself to, the exact nature of how this works is not clearly understood.
The Oracle has a close alliance with the metamorphs, a curious race of creatures with healing powers and the ability to become other things.