The Drs Downer

Boronymous Jubbly Bullgriffs

The Drs Downer

Names: Dr Ahgnes-Lihn Downer and Dr Angus Trevor Downer

Species: Human / Buggane

Age: 51 / 53

Job: Sorcologists / husband and wife / reluctant emissaries to the Pundlian government

Appears In: Game of Plagues

The Drs Downer - see more at Instagram

Ahgnes and Angus met at Edynbaggle University - something neither of them appreciated at the time. As know-it-all rabble rousers with a lust for life, the pair had the chance of becoming best friends or bitter enemies. This latter option came to pass when the pair launched simultaneous pranks that ended up clashing with one another. The ensuing chaos saw the pair suspended for a week (it also resulted in the accidental summoning of a flock of crocken that remain active in the Edynbaggle sewer system to this day).

Crocken by Zuza Gruzlewska

After finishing university, the pair went their separate ways. Ahgnes travelled the Tumultiverse working as a sorcologist for the United Realms; Angus got a job ridding the Edynbaggle sewer system of beasties - not least of all the crockens he'd unwittingly unleashed. After a decade of this, his team managed to reduce sewer monsters by some 75%. They stopped there as monster-free sewers have a tendency to attract ninjas.

Fifteen years into their careers, Ahgnes and Angus met at a sorcology convention in the mountain town of Duzulspimk. After angrily circling one another like alley cats, the pair burst out laughing and proceeded to get mortally inebriated. They married twelve months later in the same spot.

Recently, the Downers have worked as sorcologist advisers to the Scotian government. Given the sort of thing they've had to advise on, they've since come to regret it.

You can buy Game of Plagues in eBook or paperback by clicking this link

Creation Notes

I didn't plan either of these characters in advance - they just showed up in scenes when I needed a sorcologist to vainly speak common sense to power. They both arrived pretty much fully formed, so it ended up being easy to fit them in elsewhere. I also liked the name 'Drs Downer'.

If you wondering why I made them Scotian (the equivalent of 'Scottish'), it's because in real-life the English government's scientists squandered their credibility when they supported the herd immunity strategy (and then pretended not to have done that). Not everything they subsequently did proved terrible, but still, what a mess!

If you're unfamiliar with the 'herd immunity' concept, it involved as many people as possible getting infected - a plan which would likely have:

Led to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of deaths.Overwhelmed hospitals - leading to more deaths.Possibly not even worked because we didn't know if people could catch coronavirus more than once (turns out we probably can).
Yes - so given all that - and the Scottish government's greater proclivity for keeping its citizens safe - it just made sense to have these characters hail from Scotia.
Here's hoping the Scotians get independence from Grand Pundlia in a subsequent book!