Ideas that go unused PT2: Rising Seas Characters

Now that more people have read, and are reading, Rising Seas, I feel like I have a good opportunity to share more thoughts on some characters in the novel.
I want to focus on just four characters today. They are: Magal and Lyle Tulliver, and Roland and Ismae Winters.
Lyle and Magal did have extended roles within Rising Seas at one point. Ideally, they were going to join Vladimir up until the boat ride and then die protecting him. Then he'd swear vengeance against Sinclair for their deaths. I had even penned a scene where they had visited their ailing father before falling victim to Sinclair's hypnosis.
In the end, I am satisfied with their passage into hypnotized death. Yeah, I know it's a little sad that they die like that. My original plan was to have an enemy nation attack the boat and THEN the Devil-Lord summons a kraken to attack the boat.
There was also more to do with Manticora, the enemy nation, but I avoided that too in the end. That's for another "Ideas that go unused".
My second set of characters that I wanted to mention, Roland and Ismae, changed a lot more than the Tullivers.
Originally, Roland and ISHMAEL were a court wizard in hiding and a meek boy having bully trouble. Ishmael would find Vladimir on the beach and Vladimir would enter his mind. From there, he could pilot Ishmael when he needed and even dispatched some bullies. Roland, however, would be dragged from his humble life when Ajatar called upon his services once again to combat Levi. He'd take Ishmael with him, and eventually they'd meet a mirror wizard who removed Vladimir from Ishmael's mind.
Crazy ideas. Yeah...
They'd help in the battle against Levi, when Levi was still evil. (Let me tell you, he DESERVES an ITGU for all the nonsense I change with him! Another time sadly.) Roland would even teach Locke and Ishmael to use magic while he and Vladimir argued about magic. (When Vladimir could use it).
Eventually, I decided that there were too many boys in the party and changed Ishmael to Ismae, the young girl who wanted to be a pirate.
In the final stages of Rising Seas, I decided that I had enough of Roland and Ismae and <spoiler>ended up killing them off to streamline everything. They fed the Devil in the end. Sorry, Rol-Mae fans! :(</spoiler>
This all reminds me of how much in Rising Seas changed over the years.
Here's a little bonus tidbit, Rising Seas' original title was Fallen Angel-Child. I changed it was the plot changed and it didn't quite roll off the tongue well...
Thanks for reading, and see you around!