T. K. Arispe

 

Zoltan Arnyek, the darkness-aligned Halloween Kyrii battlemage from my Neopian Times series Shadow Play (the link goes to part 1; you'll have to navigate to subsequent Times issues to read the rest). I've actually also written him into a few other Neopets fics that I never submitted to the Times; I'll put them here on the blog eventually.

Zolt looks like a villain, but he's actually a goodhearted warlock who cultivated his dark powers and let the wild turn him into a Werekyrii in order to gain the upper hand against evil magic users that he spends most of his time hunting down in the Haunted Woods. He's an old associate of Isengrim's, and while at first in Shadow Play he's grouchy and distrustful, Terra's family helps him understand that it's okay to have friends, and while it's noble to put other people first, it's also important to take care of yourself so you can be there for the people who need you.

Zoltan has absorbed so much darkness magic that it quite literally flows through his veins and causes glowy streaks in his skin and mane. Between his mastery of spellcasting and his excellent swordsmanship, he's not somebody you want to be up against in a fight. He's also a great example of how none of the Neopian magic elements are inherently good or evil; it's got everything to do with the intentions of the spellcaster (Skoll, for example, was a rather nasty earth mage). 

Also, he's surprisingly good at embroidery; the designs on his cloak and vest are his handiwork. It's not just for fun, though--the designs are actually protective spells, which he uses in lieu of armor. Zoltan was a fun character to develop and I enjoy writing him when he pops up on occasion.