– Dante: One of the main characters, father of Zach and April. He is the son of Nora and Christophe Arturo, and Landi is his great-grandfather and grandmaster. Dante is a blood-born fire warlock and the master of Artri House. He has a history of past lives with Tani Ryuzo.
•Nora Arturo: Dante’s mother, grandmother of Zach and April. She is married to Christophe Arturo and is the matriarch of Artri House. Nora is knowledgeable about fire magik and runs a side hustle where she sells artifacts she has charmed to Aero for auction.
•Zach: Dante’s son with Viola. He is mortal and does not have the gifts of Dante’s bloodline.
•April: Dante’s daughter with Viola. She is also mortal.
•Viola: The mother of Dante’s children, Zach, and April. Dante was in a relationship with her when he was in college and right after. Their relationship was not one of mutual love, and Viola leaves him out of frustration. She is mortal and not welcome at Artri House.
•Landi Arturo: Dante’s grandmaster, grandfather of Christophe and his wife, Nora. He has firepower in his bloodline and was helped by Tani in his youth. He keeps journals of the family history. Landi’s true father was Onnik Kinno, the ekho fire god Kinon.
•Tom King: He is Amu Izuna | Ryuzo’s ward. He works at Elderwood Conservancy. He is close to Hera and Tani, they are family to him. Tani relies on him to do a lot of administration work and manage legal matters in the family. He has Earth magik.
•Hera Ryuzo: She is Tani’s ward and has a daughter named Deniz. She works with Tom at the conservancy and lives with Tani, Amu, and Deniz. She has been part of his life since she was a baby. She has water magik.
•Amu Izuna|Ryuzo: He is Tani’s uncle, also known as Amu Ryuzo in the mortal realm. He is the brother of the fox goddess and was born of the Fox Lord Nua Izuna. He is a diplomat and considers Tani his son. He does his best to protect Tani’s interests, no matter what they are, including anyone in Dante’s bloodline.
•Tani Ryuzo: The Main Character. He is a deviant ekho forced to live in the mortal realm. He has been in a relationship with Dante in nine past lives. His parents are the Immortal Clan’s Immortal Lord Sunu and the Fox Clan’s Goddess Anit. He is serving a sentence in the mortal realm for daring to love a mortal and bond with him.
•Cale Ryuzo: He is the ekho realm’s god of calamity. He is Tani’s uncle and his warden, tasked with making sure Tani stays in the mortal realm without breaking his promise to the Septum. He is Sunu’s blood brother. His home is called the Dark Fort.
•Durante: A Past Life of Dante. He was the first of Dante’s souls to break Tani’s heart.
•Hakan: Hakan is Deniz’s father, who has been able to commit to a life with Hera and Deniz. Tani considers him an outsider and a bringer of trouble. Tani spends most of his time hoping Hera can move on from Hakan. Hakan is the reason why Hera was disowned by her family.
•Eren: She is the ekho Goddess of Earth. She is from the Immortal Clan and one of the Septum. She was involved in placing cuffs on Tani for his thousand-year calamity. She believes the charge was right, as she would not like to see more ekhos making the same choice.
•Kinon: The Ekho god of fire. He founded the Artri lineage by pretending to be a mortal named Onnik Kinno. Later, he interferes with Dante’s bloodline to make sure Dante is born as an ekho-blessed warlock. Strong enough to face Tani’s true character.
•Justina: Works with Dante at the university.
•Thomas: Works with Justina and Dante at the university.
•Christophe Arturo: Nora’s husband and Dante’s father. He is a warlock who spends most of his time away from Artri House. He is said to be managing the school where Dante learned how to control his magik.
•Artri House: The name of the Arturo Family’s house. Artri is also the name of the first of their family’s bloodline. The house itself has sentience and is partial to Dante’s preferences.
•Aero: An Ekho from the Dragon Clan who visits Artri House. He deals in sourcing items and running a magik auction. He has cultivated a relationship with Nora Arturo.
•Sunu: Lord of the Immortal Clan and emperor of the Ekho. He is Tani’s father and Anit’s beloved.
•Deniz: She is Hera and Hakan’s daughter.
•Selene: She is Tani’s neighbor at the apple orchard. She is an Ekho with two different parents and knows about Tani’s heritage. Her brother is Aero.
•Anit Izuna: She is the Fox Goddess and Tani’s mother. She is Nua Izuna’s daughter and rules Gralia, the fox clan lands.
•Zoe: Dante’s neighbor at his apartment in Istanbul.
•Lua Wadi: A fox working for the Anael Sentinel Branch in Gralia. He is related to Fox God Nua. He caused trouble for Tani and Dante throughout Tani’s thousand-year-old calamity.
•Sahdrina: Guardian of the Palladium Gates. She is a daughter of The Namib. She is as old and secretive as Cale and governs the border into the Ekho with great authority. She also serves as the guardian of lost souls who wander to the gates.
•Delphina, Gaia, Baltazar, Kreon, Matlan, Shugo: Members of the Anael Sentinel Branch who were imprisoned by Zal. Shugo was a candidate in the latest leadership election. He triggered suspicions for the Bao Sentinels when he disappeared.
•Zal Izuna: Head of the Anael Sentinel Branch. He orchestrated a plot hoping to be named as the future heir of the fox clan. He is Anit and Amu’s older brother.
•Tara: Vice head of the Anael Sentinel Branch and Zal’s assistant.
•Nua Izuna: Fox Lord and father of Zal with Dran, a woman from a lesser fox clan who lives at Waterside Cross, near the beach in the lower lands of Gralia. Nua is the father of Anit and Amu with his bonded mate Meljean, who is a powerful fox goddess in her own right.
•Meljean: Nua’s mate.
•Dran: Zal’s mother.
•Nela Bao: Works for the Bao Sentinel Branch and is Anit’s most trusted aide.
•Moon Bao: Nela’s uncle and a wise member of the Bao Sentinel Branch. He heads the Bao Sentinel Branch.
•Reima Sentinel Branch, Amyritas, and Sandu: Sentinel branches in the Ekho Realm.
•Anael Sentinel Branch, Bao Sentinel Branch: Sentinel branches of the Fox Clan.
•Inter Clan Court: A governing body in the Ekho Realm, based in the Fox Clan’s territory.
•Septum: A governing body in the Ekho Realm, based in the Immortal Clan’s territory.
•Gralia: The land where the foxes (Ekho) live.
•Taesi: The capital city of Gralia, where the Inter Clan Court is based.
•Zona Forest: A forest bordering the Fox Clan and Immortal Clan territories.
•Immortal Clan: One of the main Ekho clans, ruled by Lord Sunu.
•Fox Clan: Another main Ekho clan, currently led by the Fox Goddess Anit.
•Ekho Realm: The realm where the Ekho live. Mortals cannot enter it easily.
•Elderwood Conservancy: An organization that protects beings like Dante’s family.
•Artri House Lineage: A book detailing the Artri family history
•Kur Auction: Owned by Aero. It is taken over by Selene when Aero is apprehended for his misdeeds. Selene and Nora form an ownership partnership.
•Palladium Gates: They are the border and connection between the mortal realm and the Ekho Realm. They are in the vast sandy dunes of the oldest desert in the world, the Namib. They are guarded by Sahdrina, the daughter of The Namib. She is as old and secretive as Cale and governs the border into the Ekho with great authority. She also serves as the guardian of lost souls who wander to the gates
•Dark Fort: This is Cale’s domain. He prefers it to any other place.
•Ekho-blessed: Individuals with a connection to the Ekho, like Dante’s family, Hera, and Tom King. The level of connection to a strong ekho defines how strong personal magik will be.
•Kara ot: Kara ot is a highly dangerous parasitic weed from the Ekho Realm with devastating effects on both living beings with Ekho blood and the mortal environment. Its appearance in the mortal realm is typically a result of intentional, often malicious, actions by Ekho individuals. The creator of Kara ot is mentioned as living in the Dark Fort and was a purist who sought to harm those of mixed Ekho and mortal heritage.
•Artri grimoire: A family book that contains hereditary magik spells and any warnings the family’s ancestors might have for their future generations.
•Ekho: Beings from the Ekho Realm, sometimes referred to as “immortals” in the context of their lifespan compared to mortals.
•Bloodborne warlock: A warlock with inherent magical power in their bloodline. In Dante’s case, he is born from a line with ekho fire magik, and his mother is also a powerful witch with fire magik.
•Warlock: A mortal who practices magic.
•Hybrid: Tani is a hybrid due to his parentage from two different Ekho clans. Selene is a hybrid because she is half-fox and half-dragon. Dante becomes a hybrid as he is an ekho-blessed mortal who bonds with the most powerful being in the ekho realm, becoming a fire ekho.
The Ekho Realm Map
Time – So, people’s ages are quite scary in this novel. I had to engage in some math for it all to work out, so here is a breakdown of the time between the realms. Please note: Dante is already 35 years of age in the mortal realm. He is a very consenting adult when he is with Tani, even though he might as well be a young adult in the Ekho Realm. Okay, here is some math for you. Remember, this is fiction, and well, just go with it; these are all made-up rules of the Thousand Years of Hope world.
•Time moves more slowly in the Ekho Realm.
•One month in the Ekho Realm is equal to a whole year (twelve months) in the mortal realm.
•Time in the mortal realm moves faster relative to the Ekho Realm.
30 days in the Ekho Realm = 365 days in the mortal realm.
Now, let’s convert this to hours:
•30 days * 24 hours/day = 720 hours in the Ekho Realm.
•365 days * 24 hours/day = 8760 hours in the mortal realm.
So, 720 hours in the Ekho Realm = 8760 hours in the mortal realm.
To find the equivalent of one hour in the Ekho Realm in mortal hours, we divide the total mortal hours by the total Ekho hours:
1 hour (Ekho Realm) = [8760 hours (Mortal Realm) / 720 hours (Ekho Realm)]
= 1 hour (Ekho Realm) ≈ 12.17 hours (Mortal Realm)
One hour in the Ekho Realm is approximately equivalent to 12.17 hours in the mortal realm.
And so, Tani’s 1000 years in the mortal realm is approximately equivalent to 83.33 years in the Ekho Realm.
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I hope I got everyone on the list of characters. If not, share it in the comments. It was my privilege to share this story with you.
As always,
Thank you,
Sui.
Sui Writes 
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