Loyal. Fierce. Cavalier.
All wrapped up into a witty shifter, who loves a good fight.
Origins
One of the first characters I ever created in the Comstock Chronicles, Teague will always be one of my favorites. From the start he was charismatic, with a devil-may care smile that would cause girls to go weak at the knees. Much has changed about him since he formed on the page, but those two things remained throughout the series.
I had the idea of “skin-changers” or “animal shifters” in my novels after watching an episode of “Planet Earth” focused on snow leopards. Watching how these creatures risked two-hundred foot falls from steep cliffs to obtain food, I knew I had to give one of my characters this sort of tenacity.
Teague evolved from the idea of a charming woodsman who found a princess in the forest into the cocky, witty character we know and love. Soon he became the Pathfinder he is in my published stories, with one small, but key difference. Originally, he was Nienna’s love interest, not Tellen.
In the original concept of The Earthspark, Teague had the role Tellen now occupies. He was supposed to be the one to win the day, and the love of the princess.
But stories are funny. You, as the author, may start with an idea that you love, yet the more you dive into what the story needs, things take unexpected turns. Characters take on different traits and develop distinct personalities that you never planned.
So after Teague shifted from being my main character to a strong secondary one, I was left with many questions as to who he was now.
As I explored this avenue, I knew Teague needed a strong woman to put up with him. However, if it wasn’t Nienna, then who? Further thought on this topic created Cyra, the daughter of Aros, the Sky Guardian. She is impulsive, hot-tempered, and loves Teague deeply, even if she has a unique way of showing it.
This passage from The Raider’s Curse from Nienna’s point-of-view sums up their relationship well.
Teague’s Genealogy
As the series progressed, I found more questions I needed to answer about Teague, such as
- Who were his parents?
- Did he have siblings?
- Where did he grow up?
- What happened to him after the Guardian’s disappeared?
- What role did he play in the story? In the series?
- What are his weaknesses?
Really it was just diving into his character sheet (you can steal my character sheet below).
During this process, Teague gained a twin sister who was just as eager to fight as he was. They fought nonstop, but always had each other’s back. They also did everything together, including joining Tellen’s pack as Pathfinders, just like their father.
When I dug into who Teague’s parents were, I found his mother was the eldest daughter of the emperor, Greyson Amalfi Comstock, who had four children. Farah (Teague’s mother), Saul (Nienna’s ancestor), Bose (Married the Water Guardian), and Pryder (founder of the Ballitine kingdom).
Farah, as the eldest, was supposed to be the next ruler, but Tulio Demetrius, a woodsman with no royal blood, had no desire to be emperor. Because of Farah’s love for Tulio, she gave up her claim to the throne. It earned the respect of her father, but threw the empire into chaos.
Farah’s renunciation of the crown caused turmoil, punctuated by her brother Saul’s betrayal. This power-hungry man betrayed his entire family, and everyone he’d once cared about all to become emperor as he felt was “his right.”
After a years’ long war that left Tulio dead and the empire shattered, Greyson split the empire into three, one section of land for each of his sons. Saul got the fertile valley of Tellidus, Bose inherited the western coast and islands, and Pryder took the lush southern lands of Ballitus.
This, however, wasn’t good enough for Saul, so he joined forces with the Fire Guardian, Fiora Moratis, and this is where we join their story with The Queen of the Night.
What happened to Teague after the downfall of the Guardians?
Many people have asked me this question, but I haven’t researched Teague’s past sufficiently to give a good answer.
However, what I can say is that he spent most of that time hunting down Fiora’s dark creatures, losing himself in revenge and hate. He blamed himself for the invasion of Peroma, and Tellen’s medallion going missing. He also resented Fiora’s plan to destroy Tellen’s work.
To give these thoughts more weight, after Teague’s father, Tulio, died in the war with Saul, Tellen filled the void of father for Teague. One that filled a hole for Tellen as much as it did for our cavalier cat.
So when Tellen was also taken from Teague, the Pathfinder lost himself to his grief. If he would have turned to Cyra instead, his story would have gone much differently during this time.
I may yet explore his story deeper after I finish writing the next two series planned for the residents of Zephralos, but not anytime soon.
