Velgarth
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Velgarth is a fictional world created by author Mercedes Lackey, and is the setting for the "Valdemar Universe" series of books. The name of the world Velgarth first appeared in the novel Arrows of the Queen. It is very rarely, if ever, referenced after that novel. According to Lackey's official bibliography, there are 26 novels and 3 short story collections set in Velgarth as of 2005-06-09. As with any fantasy world, certain conventions regarding the setting hold true throughout the series.
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[edit] Supernatural Abilities
Velgarth's supernatural abilities can be classified into two main categories called Magic and Mind-Magic; though a number of abilities fall outside of either description.
[edit] Magic
Magic, in Velgarth, refers to the ability to use a normally-invisible form of energy to produce fantastic results. This energy, also referred to as "Mage-power", is present both in living beings and the environment. Powerful streams of energy, known as ley-lines, may be utilized by some mages; and only the most skilled "Adept-level" mages can control and use the powerful nodes, or reservoirs, where two or more ley-lines meet. These lines and nodes can occur naturally, or can be created by extremely skilled mages. From these nodes, the energy is slowly siphoned into a desolate nether plane called the Void; and later returned to the world (Storm Warning).
Magic in Velgarth is accessed in a number of ways. Anyone with the ability to see magic (Magesight) can manipulate it; the difference in power levels being that of skill, patience, and natural ability of the user. Various means of achieving the desired results are mentioned throughout the novels, including:
- Spontaneous Direct Manipulation. This type of magic is taught by the Tayledras mages, and by some of the original Herald-Mages.
- Extraplanar Proxy. Explained by Kethryveris in the Vows and Honor trilogy, the White Winds school of magic often requests the aid of beings from different planes of existence to facilitate the use of magic.
- Artifice. Characters have been shown to use both magical diagrams, ceremonies (Oathbreaker), and devices (Black Gryphon, Storm Breaking) to trigger specific magical effects.
- Divine Magic. Never fully explained in detail, Divine Magic is the magic of the priest and shaman. In By the Sword, Captain Kerowyn notes that it is sufficiently different from other types of magic to have captured war spoils examined by both mage and priest.
- Blood Magic. A taboo form of magic that allows the practitioner to gain power by causing pain and death. Unlike the others in the list, this is a source of power, as opposed to a technique or school. The power can be channeled through the other forms of magic. Notable Blood Mages in the series include Leareth (Magic's Price), King Ancar of Hardorn, and Mornelith Falconsbane (Mage Winds trilogy). Typically the users are evil, but there are exceptions. For example, Shin'a'in shamans have been known to commit self-sacrifice for the good of their clans (Mage Winds trilogy). It could also be argued that the "last ditch" method of taking out an enemy by magic known as Final Strike in which the caster suicides using all their power and the power of their own blood magic to attack their enemy, not even the highest adepts can survive final strike and there is normally no trace of the caster left apart from a pile of ash. Herald-mage Vanyel in Magic's Price calls down Final Strike on Leareth.
[edit] Psychic Abilities
Psychic abilities, called alternately mind-magic, Gifts (usually capitalized), or Herald's Magic, are encouraged in Valdemar and presumably the little-discussed southern nation of Ceejay. The Empire had no tradition of mind-magic, and (until faced with Valdemar) assumed Gifts were charlatan's tricks
Gifts are accessed by sending energy through channels in the mind (Magic's Pawn). These channels are dormant in most people; those who manifest Gifts have active or open channels. This is the same energy used by Mages, though those without the "Mage Gift" can only use the natural power within themselves (life or blood magic) except in rare cases where Companions can feed power from themselves to their Herald. Due to this limitation, those who over-use their gift quickly collapse or die when they overspend their own natural energy.
The most common of these channels allow for Mind-hearing , and the corresponding Mindspeech. Other abilities include Farsight, Foresight, Fetching, Empathy and Firestarting and Magesight (Mage Gift). Gifts can be strengthened to a point by repeated use; but pushing a person beyond their usual abilities can result in a debilitating "reaction headache" or worse.
[edit] Healing
Healers use "healing energy" on a small scale to "encourage a person's body to do quickly what it would do anyway". For the recipient, this results in the near-instantaneous healing of minor injuries. Major injuries, such as those received by Queen's Own Herald Talia (Arrow's Fall), may take months of Healing sessions.
Healing energy can repair damages due to injury or illness, but cannot replace a missing limb or reverse birth defects. Healing energy only speeds natural recovery. Scarring may be reduced by the use of magical Healing but not eliminated.
A specific type of Healing called MindHealing focuses on the maladies of the mind and emotions, rather than the physical well-being of the patient.
[edit] Bardic Magic
Bardic Magic in Velgarth seems to be related to other Gifts, especially Empathy. The use of Bardic Gift is usually embedded in performing music. "Talented" Bards, those with the Gift as opposed to extremely talented musicians, can influence people's emotions or behavior with their music; letting them experience the song.
[edit] Earthsense
A rare form of additional perception, Earthsense is the ability that allows one to "see" or "feel" the condition of the land around him. Examples of this are Herald-Prince Darenthalis (By The Sword), King Tremane (Storm Breaking), and Firesong K'Treva (Mage winds and Mage Storms trilogies). Traditionally, the monarch of Hardorn is required to possess Earthsense in potential, which can then be awakened by ritual. Also, All Tayledras Healer-Mage adepts have Earthsense as well, which allows them to sense hurts in the land and use their mage gifts to help heal them.
[edit] Divine Intervention
Deities are real and take an interest in the Velgrath setting; this interest can range from granting abilities to their priests to large-scale protection like the Iftel border and shielding of Iftel and Karse by Vkandis and the Dhorisha Plain by Kal'enel during the Mage Storm trilogy.
[edit] Non-Human Races
[edit] Companions
Companions appear as white horses with silver hooves and blue eyes. The Companions first appeared from a grove near the palace in Haven, seemingly in response to King Valdemar's prayer (see History of Valdemar). Though the first companions were all Grove-Born, later generations were born in the manner of normal horses. In "Present-Day" Valdemar (Reign of Queen Selenay), only three Companions are revealed to be Grove-born: Gwena (Companion of Herald Elspeth), Rolan (Companion of Talamir and later Talia), and Rolan's predecessor Taver (Companion of Talamir).
Though the true nature of the Companions has not been fully revealed, it is inferred they are both the returned spirits of departed Heralds and Companions, as well as divine agents or "avatars" of the gods. In the novel Oathbreakers, the Shin'a'in goddess specifically refers to a Companion as the "[child] of my other Selves." That being said, Companions take great pains to reveal that they are both fallible and mortal. When a Companion or Herald dies, he or she is sent to a "resting place" where they can recover from their recent life. After a time they are given the choice of returning as a Companion, with all memory of their past life intact, or to lose all of their old memories and become a human baby destined to become a Herald. Not all Heralds are returned from previous lifetimes, many are "new souls" who are then judged/weighed by the Companions to join the ranks of the Heralds.
These spirits are not allowed to return as Companions within the lifetime of the people they knew to avoid emotional entanglements such as Choosing their own child, or revealing themselves to their former lover. When they return as Companions they often use some variation of their former human name, but not exactly. When Herald-Mage Savil returns as a Companion to Choose Kerowyn, she goes by the name Sayvil.
Companions "Choose" Herald trainees; though the exact nature of the "Companion's Choice" is not stated explicitly in the novels. Various Choices have been described as "being weighed and measured", "falling into [the Companion's] blue eyes", and "finding something I didn't know I was missing". The Choice bonds Companions to their Heralds into a mutualistic relationship, and the bond can affect both parties' spiritual and physical well-being. The joining is known to strengthen the Herald's Gifts, especially Mindspeech. The Choice is, for the most part, permanent; it can be broken while in its early stages, although doing so will physically and emotionally scar both parties. After the initial phase, however, the bond becomes so important that the loss of either Herald or Companion is followed by depression and almost always death.
The exception to this is the Monarch's Own Herald and his or her Companion. The Companion to the Monarch's Own Herald is always a Grove-Born Stallion, and is considered the leader of the Companions. This Companion, currently Rolan, has the ability to bond with a second Herald if the Monarch's Own dies; as Rolan has Chosen both Talamir and Talia (Arrows of the Queen). The Monarch's Own is also subject to this; if his or her Companion dies, it is possible for the Herald to bond to a newly-arrived Grove-Born Companion. Also, presumptive Monarch's Own who are also Heralds are only temporarily bonded to their first Companion; though the exact nature of this bonding is not explored (Magic's Promise). The Monarch's Own Companion is not a reborn Herald, They may be a true Avatar. There seem to be several who take turns. Rolan was Monarch's Own Companion during Brightly Burning, two hundred years later Taver has replaced him, and Rolan returns when Taver is killed in battle.
The only Grove-Born mare since the time of King Valdemar is Gwena, who seems to have been "newly created" for the purpose of being the Companion to the first Herald-Mage in four hundred years.
[edit] Firecats
Firecats are similar to the Companions in that they are the returned spirits of the Sons of the Sun, the head of the the church of Karse, effectively the head of the country. Because there are far fewer Sons of the Sun, there are fewer Firecats. Firecats do not make any attempt to hide their nature and use the name they were known as when they were Son of the Sun.
Firecats are assigned (presumably by V'kandis) to accompany a human, usually to designate a new Son of the Sun, and to advise the Son of the Sun as a direct representitive of the sun god. Firecats will also accompany and advise individuals whom V'kandis believes to be figures who are likely to be central in coming eventsthat the Sunlord wishes to influence.
Firecats resemble very, very large Siamese cats. They have the ability to appear as a common cat, become invisible and to transport themselves long distances by teleportation. They can also transport a human, although the extra "load" tires them greatly. Like Companions, Firecats are mortal, must eat and sleep and grieve.
Only two Firecats are seen in the canon stories, Altra, Firecat to Karal, Karsite Ambassador to Valdemar, and Hansa, Solaris' Firecat.
[edit] Gryphons
The gryphons are a race of primary avian/secondary feline-based creatures created by the Mage Urtho (also know as the Mage of Silence) in the time before the Mage War trilogy. Gryphons, which are quadrupedal, winged, sentient beings, have the ability to fly and the potential for both magic and mind-magic. Urtho considered the gryphons both his children and his greatest accomplishment.
Gryphons give birth to living young (often twins), can grow rather old and come in various shapes, depending to a large part on the avian influence. Examples of the early generations are the hawklike Broadwings and the unique Gryfalcon-female Zhaneel. Obviously, later generations are larger then their progenitors, they reach at least the size of a heavy warhorse (Treyvan, Hydona). Usually, all four legs of a gryphon end in taloned feet of great strength. In some cases the forefeet are more handlike and useful for fine manipulations. Their heads appear very similar to those of raptors, just broader and topped by a set of feathered ears. Gryphon tails are feathered and sometimes end in tufts, not unlike those of lions.
Gryphons are deadly fighters and, save for a Cold Drake, there seems to be no creature that is a match for them without the aid of ranged weaponry, magic, a surprise tactic or a large dose of sheer luck. They also work as scouts and messengers, using their superior senses and speed. Two gryphons together (or a single one, supported by weight-reduction magic)are able to carry a harness or a sled with a human for several hours.
Gryphons, being created creatures, have unusual physiologies often requiring the presence of specially trained healers known as "trondi'irn". One very interesting aspect of gryphons is a built-in birth control system, designed by Urtho to prevent undesired gryphlets after he witnessed too many unloved children born as a result of one night stands ("The Black Gryphon"). The "condition" was originally overcome by a fictional "fertility ritual" designed by Urtho. Skandranon, the legendary Black Gryphon, learned the secret of the ritual near the end of the Mage Wars, and it was swiftly distributed through the ranks of the gryphons. In "Present-Day" Velgarth, gryphons reside primarily in Iftel and as members of k'Leshya, as well as in the wild.
[edit] Kyree
The kyree are a race of wolf-like creatures that are found in the Pelagirs region and elsewhere. Kyree have a natural talent for mind-magic, and have the distinction of coming in three genders: male, female, and neuter. Warrl, the kyree companion of Tarma and Kethry in the Vows and Honor trilogy, is neuter. A den of kyree is also mentioned in Magic's Promise known as the Hot Springs Clan which is within a few days traveling distance from the Ice Wall Mountains during the Last Herald-Mage trilogy. The kyree not only have powerful mind-magic but also produce among there numbers kyree born with the ability to become Mages, Healers, Shaman, and God-Touched.
In description the kyree have "rather blunt, wolf-like heads and bodies like a cheetah, with tails and coats like wolves." and they live for "about as long as humans"
[edit] Hertasi
This is a race of short lizardlike people allegedly created by accident by one of Urtho's predecessors ("The Black Gryphon"). The race is known for friendly relations with the Tayledras, as well as making up a substantial part of the population of k'Lysha. The race as a whole has a compulsion to serve, such as cooking and serving of meals and the cleaning and repairing of clothing, pathways, or housing. They are not subservient in this, more along the lines of down-to-earth friends who realize the great mages will forget to eat, sleep, and change their socks if it weren't for these little allies. There are also clans of Hertasi that live out of the Tayledras Vales, usually in marshes or caves.
Hertasi farm crops (for example: rice) and also do extensive fishing. They are proficient in the use of fishing spears and small hooked daggers, and can swim well. They are able to use Mind Magic, and some of them become Healers and mages as well. Hertasi are active in the summer, and if they do not live in a Vale, they get sluggish in winter like all other cold-blooded animals. During the cold months they sleep as well as craft, making wooden carvings, clothing, and other utilitarian and decorative objects.
A Hertasi is credited with the expansion of the White Winds school of magic.
[edit] Other Races
Tervardi are a race of flightless, anthropomorphic bird people. Known Tervardi settlements are found among the Tayledras and as members of k'Leshya.
Dyheli are a race of stag-like creatures with a talent for offensive mind-magic. Dyheli herds are led by the male with the strongest mind; and in times of crisis the leader can and will psychically control the entire herd. Dyheli herds can be found near Tayledras vales and as part of k'Leshya.
[edit] Notable Countries
[edit] Valdemar
Valdemar is named after the country's first King. Haven is the nation's capital, as well as home to the three Collegia; a boarding school for Bards (Bardic Collegium), Healers (Healer's Collegium), and Heralds (Herald's Collegium). The country is ruled by a monarch with the advice of a council consisting of representatives from various areas of the country, guilds, and the Heralds. The Heralds hold a special position in the government: they act as arbitrators, spies, militia trainers, and at times executioners. The reigning monarch is required to be a Herald, as are any named heirs.
[edit] Karse
Karse is technically a monarchy, but the actual governing is done by the Church of V'Kandis Sunlord. The Church of V'Kandis is led by a figure known as The Son of the Sun, called the embodiment of the Sunlord in the world.
The Son of the Sun was originally marked by being accompanied by a Firecat. However, since the time of Herald-Mage Vanyel, no Firecats have been recorded. Since around the same time, the Son of the Sun has been chosen by a council of high priests.
The current Son of the Sun is the High Priest Solaris, the first female Son of the Sun, and the first to be accompanied by a Firecat since the time of Herald-Mage Vanyel. Solaris has taken the unprecedented step of making peace with both Hardorn and Valdemar.
The Karsite culture is vaguely analogous to the Ottoman Empire, but with a decidedly Old German/Holy Roman Empire twist.
[edit] Rethwellan
The Monarch of Rethwellan is traditionally chosen from the current Monarch's children by a magical sword. However, the sword was stolen and considered a legend until the events in Oathbreaker.
King Faramentha took the crown during Selenay's reign, depending on the source either shortly before (Exile's Valor) or shortly after (By the Sword) his brother Karathanalan's death. Faram installed his brother Darenthalis as the Lord Marshall of his army. Daren was Chosen during Valdemar's second war with Ancar (By the Sword), and married Queen Selenay of Valdemar. He is Prince-consort and the father of twins Lyra and Kris, the current Heirs-presumptive.
[edit] Hardorn
Sharing a border with Valdemar, Hardorn was for many years ruled by Alessandar and was peaceful. Alessandar was murdered by his power-hungry son, Ancar in Arrow's Fall. Ancar waged a long and devastating war against Valdemar (By the Sword, The Mage Winds Trilogy), holding a personal grudge against Queen Selenay and her daughter Elspeth. It was discovered that Ancar was being manipulated by agents of the Eastern Empire with the purpose of weakening Hardorn and making it ready for Eastern conquest. At the death of Ancar by Elspeth, the Eastern Empire began conquest (The Mage Storms Trilogy). The conquest was headed by Tremane, the heir presumptive of the Empire as a task to show his worthiness to rule. Mired down by bad weather and hit-and-run attacks from the Hardornens who remember Alessandar and being free and further disorganized by the arrival of the Mage Storms, Tremane fortified his position. By making himself popular with the locals he eventually was named King of Hardorn. His honesty sealed by a curse of truth set by Solaris using Divine Magic and by his bonding to Hardorn with Earthsense, Tremane allied himself with the kingdoms of the west and severed his ties with the Empire.
[edit] The Kaled'a'in "Cousins"
Three groups of people in "modern-day" Velgarth are descended from a nomadic people called the Kaled'a'in. Shortly after the Mage Wars ended, all the Kaled'a'in except for k'Leshya (Spirit Clan) gathered at the edge of the crater now called the Dhorisha Plains. k'Leshya were thought lost, and the remaining clans split along ideological lines. The clans which shunned magic became the Shin'a'in, and the clans which accepted it became the Tayledras. k'Leshya settled at White Gryphon, a fortified city built into the side of a cliff, and allied themselves with the "Black Kings".
The Shin'a'in, the Guardians of the Plains, have no true organization above that of a clan. However, the each clan has a number of elders that deal with other clans. Shin'a'in are known by their name and clan; for example Tarma shena Tale'sedrin would be Tarma of the Clan Tale'sedrin. The Shin'a'in guard the Dhorisha Plains, and are known as shrewd traders and excellent horsemen.
The Shin'a'in are strongly analogous to the native Plains peoples of the United States, such as the Apache, Comanche and Sioux.
The Tayledras, also called Tale'edras, or Hawkbrothers, their most common name, have little organization above that of their Vale. Vales are villages built around a Heartstone, a melding of the physical world and a magical node. The Heartstone is used to power a number of set spells; most important of these is the Veil, a weather-shield surrounding the entire Vale. Vales are "ruled" by a council of elders, which consists of representatives of various trades, Mages, and Scouts. Tayledras are known for their bondbirds, who are larger and have enhanced intelligence (compared to normal birds) and limited Mindspeech.
The Tayledras are strongly analogous to the native peoples of the more wooded Eastern United States, such as the Mohawks.
[edit] The Eastern Empire
Founded by a group of stranded mercenaries in the years following the Mage Wars, the Empire is a military and magical powerhouse stretching from the eastern borders of Hardorn and Iftel to an undefined sea. Ruled by the Emperor, the Iron Throne is passed to the Emperor-elect in the final years of an Emperor's reign. Administrations can last upwards of a hundred years, for the Emperor must be a mage of at least Master-class, and as such has access to life-extending magics.
Until the Mage Storms, the Empire was known for their prolific use of magical Portals. The Mage Storm effectively eliminated the use of these portals, causing massive chaos throughout the Empire.
This group is culturally similar to and vaguely analagous to the Roman Empire.
[edit] The Northern Tribes
The Northern Tribes live in and beyond the Northern Barrier Mountains, the northern border of Valdemar. are the same people who were repelled by Vanyel in his final stand in the northern mountains. In Vanyel's time, the Northern Tribes were united, mostly by force, by an evil mage whom is presumed to have been one of Ma'ar's reincarnations.
In the Owl trilogy the Northern Tribes return, this time as refugees into Valdemar. The Mage Storms have torn apart their land and structure, and illness has weakened them. There is not one culture or language, but many, differing by small regional tribal affiliations. They are vaguely analagous to the far northern Earth tribes such as the Inuit peoples of Siberia and far northern North America and the Lapps of northern Europe.
[edit] People
[edit] Kethry and Tarma
Kethry and Tarma are the heroines of the Vows and Honor Trilogy. In the beginning, Kethry is a Journeyman-class mage (meaning that all power from her magics comes from within) who is soul-bonded to the magical sword, Need. Need forces Kethry to go to the aid of any female in trouble and cannot be used against another woman. Need turns Kethry into a skilled fighter by does nothing to protect her from magic. Tarma is the only survivor of the Tale'sedrin clan. The clan was wiped out by bandits while returning from the annual horse fair. Tarma, raped, beaten, and voice destroyed, takes a religious vow and becomes the essentially sexless Swordsworn. She heads out to track and destroy the bandits who killed her family and friends.
Tarma and Kethry meet and together destroy the bandits. Finding their partnership beneficial, they become oathsisters and start new careers as free-lance mercenaries. After some time of free-lancing, the two join Idra's Sunhawks mercenary company. When Idra goes missing, Tarma and Kethry track her to her home kingdom of Rethwellan. There, they become involved with a coup that removes the tyrannic current king and installs his brother. Tarma and Kethry then retire from the mercenary company and found a school for training both mages and fighters. Kethry marries Jadrek and has six children--the beginnings of the new Tale'sedrin clan. Kethry and Tarma eventually retire to a stone fortress where they take one or two students of exceptional ability. Kethry's granddaughter Kerowyn and Prince Darrin of Rethwellan are two such students. Though it is never explicitly stated, Tarma and Kethry are both assumed to be dead in "present time" (the reign of Selenay). A character who is inferred to be Tarma appears in Storm Breaking as a spirit Swordsworn sent to protect those in the Tower of Urtho.
[edit] King Sendar
Father of Selenay, son of Roald. Sendar lead Valdemar during the Tedrel Wars, and in a valiant but suicidal charge of the enemy, turned the tide of battle to the advantage of Valdemar. Sendar was killed in the battle, but the war was won.
[edit] Queen Selenay
Selenay is the daughter of Sendar and the Chosen of Caryo. Selenay becomes Queen at the death of Sendar during the Tedrel Wars (Exile's Honor). Grief at the death of her father and the lack of anyone trustworthy to confide in leads Selenay to make an ill-considered marriage to the charming but untrustworthy Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellan. After giving birth to a daughter, Elspeth, a year after the marriage, Selenay is nearly assassinated by her husband. Quick thinking by the Heralds (especially Herald Alberich of Karse) saves her life (Exile's Valor. Selenay neglects her daughter both because she does not feel very motherly toward the child and because of the memories the child brings up. Some years later, Selenay leads her people in war against Ancar of Hardorn, marries Prince Karathanelan's brother Prince Daren (who is Chosen by the Companion Jasan), and gives birth to twins.
[edit] Herald Talia
Herald Talia is the main character of the Arrows trilogy. Talia comes from a group of people known as Holderkin. They are very conservative and believe in polygamy. At the age of thirteen, Talia was presented with the choice of marriage or service to the Goddess, both of which she rejected. After running away from home to avoid these undesirable fates, Talia was Chosen by the Companion Rolan and taken to the Collegium in Haven. There, she learned that she had, by Rolan's choice, become a Herald. In fact, she was the Monarch's Own Herald, the monarch's closest and most trusted advisor. Over the next few years, she underwent Herald training, discovered her Herald gift of empathy, and assisted in the upbringing of Queen Selenay's oldest daughter, Princess Elspeth. Even as a trainee Herald, she assisted the Queen with advice and the revelation of plots against the throne and Heralds. After her collegium training, she interned with Herald Kris, riding circuit through the northern lands of Valdemar. During this period, she suffered a crisis of confidence that almost destroyed her future as a Herald, but was able to regain control of herself to become a very powerful Queen's Own Herald. Eventually, she was able to take her place at Queen Selenay's side. She later married Herald Dirk and appeared briefly in some of the other Valdemar books.
[edit] Herald-Mage Elspeth
Elspeth is the daughter of Queen Selenay and Prince Karathanelan and the Chosen of Gwena. In her early years, Elspeth was known simply as The Brat as her nurse, Hulda, an agent of the Eastern Empire, did her best to turn the child into a little monster who would never be Chosen. With the arrival of Talia and the dismissal of Hulda, Elspeth's disposition improved dramatically. When she was thirteen, she was Chosen by the newly grove-born Gwena and named Heir. During the first war with Ancar of Hardorn, Elspeth learned from Talia that Lord Orthallen, a trusted adviser of Sendar and now Selenay, had been giving information and help to the enemy. Elspeth executed him for treason as he attempted to kill Talia to keep her from divulging her knowledge to anyone else. During the second war with Ancar, Elspeth was assigned as an aide to mercenary Captain (later Herald-Captain) Kerowyn. As war with Hardorn continued, Elspeth realized that Valdemar must have magical defenses to add to the pure Mind Magic currently practiced. Along with Herald Skif, she set out to find mages to help with the cause. Elspeth eventually ended up with the Hawkbrothers and was discovered to have Adept-class Mage potential. Elspeth received training from the Hawkbrothers, defeated an evil mage named Mornlithe Falconsbane, and fell in love with Darkwind, a Hawkbrother mage. Upon returning to Valdemar, Elspeth abdicated her position as Heir, and along with some of the Hawkbrothers who came with her, went into Hardorn and killed Ancar to end the war. Elspeth and Darkwind are mated and have begun teaching magic to Valdemarans.
[edit] Herald-Captain Kerowyn
Grandaughter of Kethry, Kerowyn is thrown into a new life when her brother's wife is kidnapped from the marriage feast and all able-bodied men murdered or incapacitated. Armed with her grandmother's sword, Need, Kerowyn rescues her sister-in-law and begins training with Tarma to become a mercenary. Trained with Prince Darrin of Rethwellan, their initial animosity toward each other soon become friendship. Kerowyn completes her training and joins the Skybolts as a scout. After several years with the Skybolts, the captain of the company is killed and the replacement captain nearly decimates the company with her stupidity. Kerowyn is elected the new Captain. During her years as a scout, Kero had been trapped in Karse for an extended time. While avoiding detection, she had managed to rescue Herald Eldan and form a life-bonding with him. Knowing they were on different paths, Kero returned to her company and Eldan to Valdemar. When Queen Selenay requested help from Rethwellan in her war with Ancar, Kerowyn and the Skybolts were hired. In the course of the battle, Kero lost her Shin'a'in battlemare and was Chosen by the Companion Sayvil. She retained captainship of her company and the company was permanently detailed to the Hardorn border. Kero became assistant weaponsmaster at the collegium and serves as an unofficial adviser to the Queen and Consort.
[edit] Lord/King Tremaine
A distant cousin to the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, Tremaine was the Emperor's first choice as Heir to the Wolf Throne. Tremaine was expected to complete the military invasion of Hardown to make his position as Heir formal. He was chosen because he was ruthless, but not too ruthless, an intelligent military commander and able to inspire the loyalty of his underlings. Tremaine knew that the mission was dangerous and that those on his lands were likely to be punished if he failed, so he gave orders to the people of his lands to evacuate once he left.
After the Mage Storms begin, Tremaine is isolated from the Empire and, at the request of the people, responding to his leadership and fair rule, make him the new King of Hardorn. Tremaine creates alliances with Valdemar and Karse to survive the Mage Storms and eventually gains independance from the Empire.
[edit] Herald Alberich
Alberich is the bastard son of an inn worker who was conscripted into the Karsite army. He fought his way through the ranks eventually ending up as commander of a troop of the Sunsgard. Unfortunately, the Karsite policy of burning all those who display "witch powers" catches up with Alberich when he uses his foresight one time too many. He is rescued from the fires by the Companion Kantor and spirited away to Valdemar. There, Alberich earns a place as the Weaponsmaster's Second and unofficial spy in the seedier parts of Haven. Alberich serves as bodyguard to Princess Selenay and it is partly through his Foresight that the Tedrel Wars are finally won. Alberich continues to serve as Weaponsmaster and manages to ferret out a plot against the Queen (Exile's Valor). On the personal front, Alberich enters into a tentative relationship with the Herald-Chronicler Myste. Alberich's position as Karsite in Valdemar and his devotion to his religion often put him into direct conflict with what his duty as Herald requires of him, especially while Valdemar is at war with Karse. Alberich is able to reconcile these conundrums through his deep faith and once a personal interview with what is inferred to be a manifestation of Vkandis Sunlord.
[edit] Son of the Sun Solaris
Solaris was a priest of Vkandis Sunlord before being made Son of the Sun. During a ceremony on the most holy day of the year, the former Son of the Sun (or False Son) was struck down by lightening and vaporized. Before anyone could do anything, a statue of Vkandis Sunlord came to life (rippling muscles and all), removed the crown on his head, shrunk it to human size and placed it on Solaris' head. The statue then resumed its former place, crownless. Solaris immediately set about cleaning house. She removed all the laws that were purely human constructs, ended the cleansing fires that were used to burn children displaying "witch powers", and returned the religion to its original state. Solaris is companioned by a Firecat named Hansa. Solaris also made Herald Talia into a Sunpriest, and upon the instruction of Vkandis, sued for peace with their hereditary enemy, Valdemar. During the Mage Storms, Solaris visited with Tremane in Hardorn and placed a curse on him requiring him to only tell the truth.
| Books in the Velgarth series by Mercedes Lackey |
|---|
| The Mage Wars: The Black Gryphon | The White Gryphon | The Silver Gryphon The Last Herald-Mage: Magic's Pawn | Magic's Promise | Magic's Price |
