Pronoun Problem

Today I promise you relief from my long rambles about a video game. I’m focused on a much smaller problem.

The latest story has been slow to get started. The main character is an air elemental who appears in the form of a cloud. A sorcerer who runs a circus has it displayed in a glass globe in their sideshow. Since the character is trapped there, everything else in the story has to happen in the sideshow, where Vayle can witness it. That might be one thing that was holding me back. I think I have that part solved.

However, the smaller, detailed problem is the elemental’s pronouns. Vayle is neither male nor female. In fact, it doesn’t have to look human at all. What is the pronoun for such a being? “It/its” sounds more like an object than a thinking being. “They/them” would be the standard usage, but it could get confusing. When interacting with a bunch of carnies, will “they” (the carnies) let “them” (Vayle) out of the globe?

With either choice, sentences get complicated. Using Vayle’s name in every mention would also be repetitive. This gives me a lot of awkward paragraphs to try and finagle. Maybe I’ll research some of the other genders that have been suggested around the Internet. They just can’t sound too contemporary for my fantasy story.

Sure, it’s a challenge I gave myself when I decided to write about a non-gendered being. I’m interested in your thoughts, though. What pronouns would you use for a character like Vayle?

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