The Characters
Smiths, gods, and those who walk between them
A blacksmith with a debt, a king of gods who is dying, four rivals, and a few small, brave things caught in between.
The House of Teiran
Teiran Vaele
The Ironsmith of Hearthmoor
A tired, decent smith who inherited his father's forge and a debt larger than it is worth. He is proud of small things, like a hinge that never squeaks, and has never believed the gods much cared about a man like him.
An ironsmith of Hearthmoor. When his father died, Teiran inherited the forge, its tools and a debt to the temple-steward that is larger than the forge is worth. For eight years he has paid it down without getting ahead. He is practical and tired, proud of small, honest things, and he prays out of habit rather than passion. Somewhere along the way he decided that nothing he does could matter to the gods.
- Home
- Hearthmoor, in the Iron Country
- Age
- 32
- Wants
- To clear the debt and keep his family fed
- Fears
- That his life has never mattered to anyone who counts
- Known for
- Work that does not fail: a hinge that never squeaks
Marenne
Teiran's wife
Strong, sharp-tongued and practical, she keeps the household's accounts, and Hearthmoor's rumours, firmly in hand. She is nobody's afterthought.
Teiran's wife and the backbone of the household. She is the one who knows exactly what is owed, to whom and by when, and she keeps Hearthmoor's rumours in the same sharp, orderly hands as its debts. She argues with Teiran because she believes in him, and she has never once let him forget it.
- Home
- Hearthmoor, in the Iron Country
- Wants
- A safe house and a debt paid in full
- Fears
- Losing her husband to something bigger than a forge
- Known for
- A sharp tongue, and a memory for every coin
Liora
Their infant daughter
Teiran and Marenne's youngest, wrapped in a patched blanket. She is the reason Teiran can never simply walk away from what is coming.
Teiran and Marenne's baby daughter. She is too young to know what her parents are afraid of, and she is the reason they are afraid. Every choice her father makes, he makes with her small face in mind.
- Home
- Hearthmoor, in the Iron Country
- Age
- About eight months
- Wants
- Warmth, and her mother's voice
- Known for
- Being the one thing Teiran cannot walk away from
Kesa
The girl from the street
A scrappy orphan Teiran took in when he could barely feed his own family. Watchful and quick, she understands more than the adults give her credit for.
A street girl Teiran took in when he could barely feed his own children. She is small, wiry and watchful, and she notices everything: who is lying, who is hungry, who is afraid. She belongs to the family now, even if she is not yet sure she is allowed to say so.
- Home
- Hearthmoor, in the Iron Country
- Age
- About eight
- Wants
- To belong, and to keep it
- Fears
- Being sent away again
- Known for
- Quick eyes, quick hands, and a special bond with Nim
Nim
The Emberkin
A tiny living ember, no bigger than a child's hand, born in Teiran's forge. Curious and warm, and brighter when it feels strongly. It learns to speak by copying Teiran's grumbling.
A tiny ember creature, born in Teiran's forge on a night nobody there will forget. Nim is small enough to sit in a cupped hand, warm to the touch and brighter when it feels strongly. It learned to talk by copying Teiran's grumbling, so its first words are funny, and the questions it asks later are not.
- Born
- In Teiran's forge, in Hearthmoor
- Kind
- Emberkin, a people not seen in an age
- Wants
- To help, and to stay close to the people it loves
- Fears
- The cold, and being left behind
- Known for
- Answering Teiran's low bellows-hum before anything else
Five gods, one crown
Ilmarion
The Just, King of the Gods
The oldest and most loved of the gods. His peace has outlasted every empire. Everyone trusts him, and not everyone knows what that trust costs him.
King of the gods, who has ruled the Oathlands in peace for six thousand years. He answers every prayer and forgets none of them, and his Hall of Open Doors on Aurendell stands open day and night to anyone who needs him. He is the most loved of the gods. Lately he has been standing on his balcony at night, listening for something the others cannot hear.
- Seat
- The Hall of Open Doors, Aurendell
- Domain
- Peace, justice and the keeping of the world
- Wants
- A world that stays safe after him
- Fears
- Being seen to fail those who trust him
- Known for
- Rain for a shepherd, and every promise kept
Caelthar
The Heir, God of Law
Stern, upright and afraid. He believes the world must be kept exactly as Ilmarion kept it, and he cannot bear to imagine the chaos that would follow if it were not.
The god of law, and the first to arrive wherever Ilmarion is troubled. Caelthar believes the world is held together by rules, and that the peace of the last six thousand years was the rules working. He is stern and upright, and under it he is afraid, because he can picture exactly what would happen if the rules slipped.
- Seat
- Caelmar, the marble realm
- Domain
- Law and unbroken order
- Wants
- The world kept exactly as Ilmarion kept it
- Fears
- Chaos returning
- Known for
- Arriving first, and bringing his laws with him
Sylvaine
The Favored, Goddess of Mercy and Harvest
The youngest of the gods and the one Ilmarion loves best. She is the only one who has never asked when the crown will pass, and she is afraid of what it would make her.
Goddess of mercy and harvest, and the youngest of the gods. She is Ilmarion's favourite, and she loves him without calculation. She is the only one of the four who has never asked when the crown will pass, and she is quietly afraid of what she might become if it did.
- Seat
- Elowmere, the orchard and river country
- Domain
- Mercy and the harvest
- Wants
- Nothing for herself; to keep those she loves from harm
- Fears
- What power would make of her
- Known for
- Green pears, and knowing more than she says
Morvaen
The Usurper, God of Storm and Sea
Patient, weathered and bitter. He holds that the old order left the sea voiceless and that the gods' justice has never been even. His claim may be the fairest, and his methods the harshest.
God of storm and sea. Morvaen believes the old order left the sea without a voice, and that the justice of the gods has never been even. Much of that grievance is true. He is patient, watchful and bitter, and his people, the Tidebound, follow him because no other god ever listened to them.
- Seat
- The Drowned Coast
- Domain
- Storm and sea
- Wants
- For the sea to be heard, at last
- Fears
- Being dismissed again
- Known for
- A just cause, and the hardest means of pursuing it
Oriel
The Forgotten, God of Thresholds and Lamplight
Quiet, tired and knowing. He keeps the crossroads lit and says far less than he knows. He believes nothing is ever inherited cleanly.
God of thresholds and lamplight. Oriel keeps the crossroads of the Hollow Roads lit and says far less than he knows. He believes nothing is ever inherited cleanly, that everything powerful has a past, and he has learned that being ignored is its own kind of danger.
- Seat
- The Hollow Roads
- Domain
- Thresholds and lamplight
- Wants
- To be heard before it is too late
- Fears
- Being ignored until the moment it matters
- Known for
- The Lampwrights who tend his lamps, and the oldest of maps
Those who walk it
The Oathsworn
A soldier who has begun to doubt
A battle-scarred veteran bound by oath to a claimant god, whose sigil she has started to scratch off her armour. She holds the line, and her doubts.
A veteran soldier sworn to a claimant god whose cause she has begun to doubt. She still carries his sigil on her breastplate, though she has scratched most of it out. She is scarred, steady and unsentimental, and she holds the line even while she is deciding whether it is worth holding.
- Role
- The fellowship's sword
- Wants
- To know whether her oath is worth keeping
- Fears
- That she has served the wrong cause for too long
- Known for
- A plain sword, a scarred cheek, and a scratched-out sigil
The Listener
A priest who hears only silence
An old priest of Ilmarion who has listened for the god's voice all his life. Now it has fallen silent, and he needs to know why.
An old priest of Ilmarion who has listened for the god's voice every day of his life, and heard it. Now there is only silence. He is gentle, patient and frightened, and he needs to understand what has happened more than he needs to be comforted.
- Role
- The fellowship's conscience of faith
- Wants
- To know why the divine voice has gone quiet
- Fears
- That his faith was never answered at all
- Known for
- A small bell, a cupped hand, and endless kindness
The Thief-Scholar
The one who reads between the lines
Quick, curious and light-fingered, with ink-stained hands and too many pockets. The first to see what the pieces add up to.
Quick-fingered and quicker-minded. The Thief-Scholar has stolen from half the libraries of the Oathlands and read what they took. Light-hearted on the surface, they are the first to see how the odd pieces fit together, and the last to say so out loud.
- Role
- The fellowship's reader of riddles
- Wants
- Answers, whatever they cost
- Fears
- Understanding too late to matter
- Known for
- Lockpicks in the hat band and too many pockets
The Lampwright
Keeper of the crossroads
A tall, quiet keeper of the crossroad lamps, neither wholly mortal nor divine. A guide who is always honest about what their help will cost.
One of the tall, quiet keepers of the crossroad lamps, neither wholly mortal nor divine. Lampwrights shelter travellers and keep the oldest map to the stone at the heart of the story. They help for reasons of their own, and they are always honest about what that help will cost.
- Home
- The Hollow Roads
- Serves
- Oriel, god of lamplight
- Wants
- Travellers kept safe, and lamps kept lit
- Known for
- Honesty about the price of their help
The Tidebound
A daughter of the sea-folk
Born to Morvaen's people, whose lives follow the tides. She is proud and wary, with a grievance against the gods that is not wrong.
A woman of Morvaen's sea-folk, whose bodies and lives follow the tides. She is proud, watchful and slow to trust. She carries a real grievance against the gods, and she knows it is justified, which is what makes it so hard to set down.
- Home
- The Drowned Coast
- Serves
- Morvaen, god of the sea
- Wants
- Justice for the sea-folk
- Fears
- That the grievance will harden into hatred
- Known for
- Tidal markings, shells in her braids, and a bone-handled knife
Crowns and ledgers
The Mortal Claimant
A queen with reasons
A war-weary ruler whose people have suffered under the gods' order. She wants a say in what comes next, and she is hard to hate and harder to trust.
A queen whose land has suffered under the gods' order, and who believes it has earned a say in what comes next. She is weathered, sharp and war-weary. She has real reasons for what she wants, which is what makes her so difficult to hate and so difficult to trust.
- Rules
- A kingdom that has paid dearly
- Wants
- A voice for her people
- Fears
- That the suffering was for nothing
- Known for
- A plain iron crown, and no patience for gods
A Ledgerkeeper
Memory of the world
Stone-skinned and patient, a Ledgerkeeper remembers every oath ever sworn. They do not lie, bargain or pity. They only ask for the truth.
The memory of the world. Ledgerkeepers are stone-skinned and endlessly patient, and between them they remember every oath ever sworn. They will not lie, bargain or be moved by pity. They judge only by the truth, and their standard is honesty, not cruelty.
- Kind
- A people of stone and memory
- Wants
- The truth, recorded
- Known for
- Never lying, bargaining or yielding to pity
- Carries
- An enormous book of oaths