Secrets of the Gem Council

Secrets of the Gem Council (shortened to SOTGC, or just "Gem Council"), is another one of Mana's stories. Originally created with the idea of a gem-themed council of rulers, the idea slowly evolved into a story involving a young wizard and a murder mystery.

## Chrisis Info

### **Symbol**

The symbol for SOTGC is a shield shape, though it is unused as such. The shield represents the family crests of the characters, that prove their rank and family name. The family crest can be found on the uniforms of the Gem Council, an important group in the story.

Prince Azurite's family crest plays a large role in the story, and the colored version of the symbol is colored to Azurite's family crest.

## Description

Silver Moonstone has become a legend to the people of Lapidae, being known as the self-taught Mancer. People can only assume what the infamous Mancer with the title of "The Artist" could be capable of. Traveling with her corvid-Bestia Rook, Silver aims to figure out the mystery of council member Azurite's disappearance. However, multiple bounty hunters are out to make sure Silver doesn't find out the truth. On the other side of Lapidae, Aurum Sunstone has become a part of the highest ranking magic classes, with her friendship with "The Artist" being a distant but fond memory for her. However, when prodigious Belle Starrose has her eyes set on her lost friend, Aurum can't help but make sure Belle doesn't harm her. When a mission between the two sets of partners goes wrong, they have no choice but to come together as a group of rogues. Will they find the truth, or will Silver succumb to her thirst for knowledge?

## List of Characters

Silver Moonstone

Aurum Sunstone

Rook Onyx

Belle Starrose

Prince Azurite

Princess Onyx

Prince Chrysocolla

Cascade Ocean

Angel Aura

## Trivia

* The concept of the Gem Council has existed before the story plot.
* Initially the main characters of SOTGC were Silver, Azurite himself, and Aurum, though Mana felt like this was too small for a cast.
	+ Mana wanted to emphasize the mystery by having Azurite out of the picture, and instead aimed to add two more kids to the group, inspired by Team RWBY from RWBY.
* The Onyx family were always going to be a group of corvid-named characters, but it was only when Mana researched other birds in the corvus family where Rook was created.
	+ Rook was meant to be the youngest of the Onyx family, as Mana had always wanted to make twin OCs called "Crow" and "Raven", and felt that Rook would've been better as a younger sibling.
	+ The gem "Onyx" was chosen as a surname due to having the word "Nyx" in it, meaning Night, adding to the space theme of Silver's Rogues. However, the actual onyx name comes from the Greek term for "claw".
		- Other unused gemstone surname ideas were "Blackstar" (named after Black Star Sapphire) and "Jet".
	+ Despite being from a corvid-named family, Mana debated on keeping the name Rook or naming her after the Latin word for "iron", where iron is known as "Black Steel" in Japanese. This would've also added to the metal names of the cast at the time, which only consisted of Silver and Aurum.
	+ Her main inspiration is Blake Belladonna from RWBY, but with a more birdlike theme.
	+ Rook is meant to look "thief-like".
	+ Rook was one of the hardest characters to design alongside Aurum.
* Belle is the most recent addition to the cast.
	+ In trying to think up a concept for a 4th rogue, the theme of being named after a gem with Asterism was in mind, but Mana couldn't decide which. Eventually she decided on a Star Rose Quartz, shortening the last name to Starrose.
	+ When designing Belle's character, Mana initially went for a cutesy "pink girl" style due to the lack of personality in mind, but in the middle of character designing, Mana got the idea of a good-for-nothing scoundrel with a massive ego and thirst for power. Mana redid her design to be more intimidating, and Belle was created.
	+ Mana was aiming to have another character inspired by the rose flower, but Mana's only reference was Vepris Minerva from AuAg (a headstrong delinquent with a heart of gold) and Rose Morganite from DOTS: DR (a small pacifist with a gentle personality). Mana ended up creating something new with Belle, making her the megalomaniac she currently is.
	+ The name "Belle" was suggested by a baby name site, though Mana also believes it to be tribute to Lux Rainbowflare's unusable human name, "Belle".
	+ Before an explicit concept for the 4th rogue was created, other ideas were a nature-Mancer, who was possibly named after a peridot. Other concepts was adding onto the metal theme, with the 4th rogue possibly being named, "Copper".
* Unlike other rivalries, Silver and Aurum have a silver and gold color scheme rather than red and blue.
	+ Lux Rainbowflare and Nix Frostshard also have a purple/blue color scheme as rivals.
* SOTGC was made into a short film for Mana's animation class, called Silver and Gold. The film focused on Silver enchanting Azurite's family crest, which floats away to her distress. Unlike the actual story, the film is lighthearted and does not mention the murder mystery concept.
	+ In the same year for animation, Mana's final project for the class included some of SOTGC's darker elements.
	+ The designs for Silver and Aurum were designed primarily for the short film. Silver's design was colored for the short film, and Aurum's design was created with the help of the short film. They exist as the two girls' younger forms, as the two were eventually aged up to be 17.
* Silver's initial design and original personality was mostly based off of Young Moon from SVTFOE, though she is also inspired by Edward Elric from FMA:B and Day Wing from the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu.
* Silver is nicknamed "The Artist" by people, because her magic is self taught like most artists.
	+ Mana also believes that her nickname of "The Artist" was also chosen by the people to represent how artists in our modern society are typically seen as "going down a wrong path", as Silver goes against the norm by being a self taught Mancer.
* Aurum is based off of Mana's first OCs, also named Aurum. The character was based off of the name Aurum, which Mana found interesting in 5th grade. This version of Aurum had long flowing golden hair and magical powers, sort of akin to "Queen Mana"'s super saiyan form. Mana reused the concept of a character with long flowing golden hair for Aurum, now without self-insert connotations.
	+ The old version of Aurum was also the basis for Nex Dimgale and Diem Zephyrdust's designs.
* Azurite has slowly gotten older over the creation of the story, from being immortal at 22 to being immortal at 26 to possibly being as high as 30 in the future.
* Originally the naming system for SOTGC was going to be purely gem-based, though because of Steven Universe's popularity Mana changed the gem-related names to be surnames, with fantasy yet somewhat nature-based first names.
	+ None of the Gem Council members have a revealed first name.