The first part of the Taraxacum Trilogy, "At the Feet of Justicia" is now available for purchase on Amazon in paperback and kindle edition. In previous posts we looked at the geographical and post-apocalyptic setting of this series, as well as the primary inspirations that led to its creation. This post will provide a short character reference to help distinguish the various personalities and "factions" that you'll meet in Neukonstanz.
Protagonists
There are two main characters who drive the plot and whose actions and interactions with the other characters (including each other) form the core story that is told over the course of the three novels.
Jonah Resnik
We first meet Jonah in prologue as a mute seven-year-old who is collected by a mysterious "Lady in Blue" introduced to him as his mother. 15 years (and a Great Cataclysm later), Jonah arrives in Neukonstanz as a freshly graduated teacher ready to begin his first job at the notorious Taraxacum Institute and correction facility for young offenders. But Jonah didn't come all this way just to work; his hidden motivation is a more personal one. His mother, now a fugitive in a faraway land, promised to find and reunite with him here as soon as she is able. In the meantime, Jonah has to deal with his own struggles of social anxiety, low self-esteem and neurotic guilt. Not exactly an easy burden to bear in a prison-like boarding school where misbehaviour is punished in one of the most painful and humiliating ways imaginable...
Iris Brandt
Pardon me. Major Iris Brandt (please address her by her full military title at all times!) The authoritative and domineering director of the Taraxacum Institute. A firm advocate of corporal punishment, Iris maintains that justice should always come before mercy ('mercy'? What's that?) A former child-soldier who later survived the Great Cataclysm at age 25 before pursuing her career of choice in the military, Iris has arguably experienced more terrors and hardship than any of her contemporaries in Neukonstanz. And if she hadn't lost one of her legs in a skirmish gone dreadfully wrong, she would probably still be rallying the troops on the battlefield to this day. Oh well... At least, there are plenty of deviants and delinquents at Taraxacum upon whom she can exert her own rigid interpretation of law, order and justice...
Taraxacum
The Taraxacum Institute is a place with many faces. As Iris explains to Jonah in the opening chapters, the institute is divided into four blocks:
Block A - Administration (contains offices, staff rooms and the infirmary)
Block B - Dormitories (student dorms, teachers' bedrooms and the canteen)
Block C - The 'School Block' (classrooms)
Block D - The 'Prison Block' (solitary confinement)
For ease of reference, I've ordered the various staff members (Iris' subordinates and Jonah's work colleagues) in accordance with their capacities at work. I will provide more detailed character profiles in later posts.
Administration
Iris Brandt - Director (Later demoted to c0-director upon May Ashwood's arrival)
May Ashwood - Co-director and head of student affairs
Penny Hopper - Iris' secretary
Guards
Robert Thielmann - Captain of the Guard and Iris' right-hand man
Marlene Fischer - Thielmann's Deputy
Miscellaneous Guards (named and unnamed)
Senior Teachers
Ruben Domingo ("Dom") - supervises Jonah during his first few weeks
Birgit Sellner
Silke Grau
Claudius Vigny
Ordinary Teachers
Jonah Resnik - teaches literature and orthography
Mia Hangstrom - biology and nutrition
Nick Tremaine - Maths and P.E.
Genevieve "Gen" Gabikus - geography and geopolitics
Miscellaneous (Alex, Tim, Emma et al.)
Medical Staff
Dr Samuel Loew - Chief MD, works in the main infirmary in Block A
Dr Rosa Crocetti - MD and psychiatrist in Block D
Milly - mute daughter of Rosa Crocetti. Medical assistant in the infirmary
Mallik - medical student working in the infirmary
Spiritual Directors (employed by May Ashwood)
Father Pio Neri
Sister Felicity Labouré
Students/Prisoners
Cleo Lavigne - 18-year-old terrorist. Interred at Tarax until upcoming trial
Davidas Lavigne - younger brother of Cleo, also interred for terrorism
Benjamin Klein - former student later involved in an assassination attempt
Miscellaneous (Hannes, Rico, Andreas, Jan, Huldah et al.)
Neukonstanz
The city of Neukonstanz is a noble republic ruled by a High Council which resides in the Castle on the hill and is chaired by the Lord Mayor. The Castle also houses the head offices of the Neukonstanz Acadameny (of which Taraxacum is a faculty).
High Council Members
Ferdinand de Maine - The Lord Mayor
Cornelia Dallapiccola - Speaker of the Council and Head of the Committee for Arts and Culture
General Elias Drossel - Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces
Most Rev. Clemens Broglie - Archbishop of Neukonstanz
Neukonstanz Academy
Phoebe Laurenti - Public Relations Officer
Tiffany Laurenti - Public Relations Officer. Phoebe's sister
Tobias Venault - HR manager
Other Citizens and Townspeople
Julius Ashwood - May's younger brother
Constance - May's housekeeper
Klara - coach driver
George - castle guard
Staff and patrons at the Edelweiss (guesthouse)
Staff and audience at the movie theater
From the Prologue
Apart from a seven-year-old Jonah, five other characters appear in the prologue which takes place 15 years before the main story:
Dr Anton Shelley
Dr Regina Villanova
"The Lady in Blue"
12-year-old boy
9-year-old girl
The prologue is broken into three parts which are placed at the beginning of each novel in reverse order. You'll understand what this means when part 2 is released.