Caithnard, City of Riddles

CAITHNARD
Caithnard, an important trade-city, is situated in a crescent of land between two lands.  It may have originated as a supply port for the city of Lungold or grew with trade.  The city consists of a port, inns and shops, and on a thrust of cliff forming one horn of the moon-shaped bay lies the College of Caithnard. The city itself is filled with people from the many different lands of the High One's Realm.

There are salt beds above Caithnard, and the salt from them is traded to places such as Hed.

College of Caithnard

The college of Caithnard is dedicated to studying and answering Riddles. The study of riddlery is based off of books recovered from the ruins of the School of Wizards.  The college rests high on a thrust of cliff forming one horn of the moon-shaped bay. It is described as a "dark block of a building built of rough dark stones." The building is at least three stories high with a library on that floor. It is massive as a piece of broken cliff itself standing placidly among tall, wind-twisted trees. The entrance are double doors of thick oak.

The interior is composed of low arched corridors with wide leaded windows at each end of the corridor. The walls are composed of stone a foot thick. Rows of closed doors run down each side of the hall. Set on these doors are wood slats with the name of the occupant carved on it.

It is forbidden to use the Great Shout at the college; however, since the shout is a thing of impulse rather than premeditation, there is really no way to avoid using it.

RIDDLES

“The writings of the Lungold wizards—those that were not destroyed here (School of Wizards)—formed the base of riddlery.”

A Riddle is composed of three parts: the question, the answer, and the stricture. The masters of the college apparently keep a list of riddles, though it could be only of unanswered riddles.

KNOWN RIDDLES
Unfortunately, not all riddles in the Riddle of Stars series are given in complete form. Here are the known riddles.

An Riddle

"See with your heart what your eyes cannot, and you will find the door that is not."

-Stricture of an An riddle.

Arya of Herun

“There was a woman of Herun, a hill woman named Arya, who collected animals. One day she found a tiny black beast she couldn’t name. She brought it into her house, fed it, cared for it. And it grew. And it grew. Until all her other animals fled from the house, and it lived alone with her, dark, enormous, nameless, stalking her from room to room while she lived in terror, unfree, not knowing what to do with it, not daring to challenge it— She died of fear.”“And the animal? What was it?”“No one knew. It wailed for seven days and seven nights at her grave, in a voice so full of love and grief that no one who heard it could sleep or eat. And then it died, too.”

-Riddle of Arya as told by Morgon

Belu & Bilo

"Who were Belu and Bilo, and how were they bound?""Two Ymris princes who were born at the same moment, and whose deaths, it was foretold, would occur at the same moment. They grew to hate each other, but they were so bound that one could not kill the other without destroying himself.”

-Ancient Ymris Riddle as told by Morgon


Ilon of Yrye

"Who was Ilon of Yrye?""Ilon was a harpist at the court of Har of Osterland, who offended Har with a song so terribly that he fled from Har out of fear of death. He went alone to the mountains, taking nothing but his harp, and lived quietly, far from all men, farming and playing his harp. So great was his harping in his loneliness, that it became his voice, and it spoke as he could not, to the animals living around him. Word of it spread from creature to creature until it came one day to the ears of the Wold of Osterland, Har, as he prowled in that shape through his kingdom, and there he found Ilon, playing at the edge of the world. The wolf sat and listened. And Ilon, finishing his song and raising his eyes, found the terror he had run from standing on his threshold.""And the stricture?""The man running from death must run first from himself."

-Riddle of Ilon of Yrye as told by Morgon.

Ingris of Osterland

"Who was Ingris of Osterland and why did he die?
"Ingris of Osterland angered Har, the King of Osterland one night when he appeared as an old man at Ingris's door, and Ingris refused to take him in. So the wolf-King put this curse on him: that if the next stranger who came to Ingris's house did not give his name, then Ingris would die. And the first stranger who came after Har left was --a certain harpist. That harpist gave Ingris everything he asked for: songs, tales, the loan of his harp, the history of his travelings--everything but the name Ingris wanted to hear, though Ingris demanded in despair. But the harpist could give him only one word, each time Ingris asked for his name, and that word, as Ingris heard it, was Death. So in fear of Har, and in despair of the curse, he felt his heart stop and he died."

-The Riddle of Ingris of Osterland as told by Deth

"The stricture is: Give what others require of you for their lives."

Kern of Hed

"Hed had the dubious fortune of being pursued one day by a Thing without a name. Perhaps it was the effects of Herun wine. The Thing called his name over and over. He ran from it, going into his house of seven rooms and seven doors, and locking each door behind him until he came to the inmost chamber, where he could run no farther. And he heard the sound of one door after another being torn open, and his name called each time. He counted six doors opened, his name called six times. Then, outside the seventh door, his name was called again; but the Thing did not touch the door. He waited in despair for it to enter, but it did not. Then he grew impatient, longing for it to enter, but it did not. Finally he reached out, opened the door himself. The Thing was gone. And he was left to wonder, all the days of his life, what it was that had called out to him.""Kern didn't open the door. The stricture, according to the Riddle-Masters at Caithnard is this: Answer the unanswered riddle. So I do."

-The Riddle of Kern of Hed as told by Morgon

Osterland Riddle

"Who paid for his shape with the scars on his hands and to whom?"

-Question to an ancient Osterland riddle

Peven of Aum

"Who won the riddle-game with Peven of Aum?"

The answer is Morgon of Hed. The riddle he used was of Kern of Hed.

Riddle about the Earth-Masters

“Do you know the riddle of the man who opened his door at midnight and found not the black sky filling his doorway but the black, black eye of some creature who stretched beyond him to measureless dimension? Look at us again. Then go, quietly, leaving the Star-Bearer and our kinswoman.”

-Riddle as told by an Earth Master


Sol of Isig

"Who was Sol of Isig and why did he die?"
"Sol was the son of Danan Isig. He was pursued through the mines of Isig Mountain one day by traders who wanted to steal from him a priceless jewel. He came to the stone door at the bottom of Isig, beyond which lay dread and sorrow older even than Isig. He could not bring himself to open that door, which no man had ever opened, for fear of what might lie in the darkness beyond it. So his enemies found him in his indecision, and there he died."
"And the Stricture?"
"Turn forward into the unknown, rather than backward toward death."

-Riddle of Sol of Isig as told by Morgon

Star-Bearer Riddle

"Who is the Star-Bearer, and what will he loose that is bound?"

This is the riddle that the fourth Morgol Rhu died trying to answer. This riddle is 2,000 years old.

Star-Bearer Riddle

"What will one star call out of silence, one star out of darkness, and one star out of death?"

This riddle was posed to a man from Lungold by the Wolf of Osterland, Har.

Rhu of Herun

"What are the seven circles of Herun and who built them?"
"Rhu, the fourth Morgol, structured the city, planning a circle for each of the eight riddles his curiosity set to him and he answered. His journey to answer the eight riddle killed him."

-Riddle of the Seven Circles of Herun as told by Morgon

Ylon of An

"Oen's land-heir was not his own son, but the son of some strange sea-lord, who came into Oen's bed disguised as the king. Nine months afterward, Oen's wife bore Ylon, with skin like foam and eyes like green seaweed. So Oen in his anger built a tower by the sea for this sea-child, with orders that he should never come out of it.  One night, fifteen years after his birth, Ylon heard a strange harping from the sea, and such was his love of it, and desire to find its source, that he broke the bars on his window with his hands and leaped into the sea and vanished. Ten years later Oen died, and to his other sons' surprise, the land-rule passed to Ylon. Ylon was driven by his own nature back to claim his heritage. He reigned only long enough to marry and beget a son who was as dark and practical as Oen, and then he went back to the tower Oen had built for him and leaped to his death on the rocks below."

-Riddle of Ylon of An as told by Raederle


ROBES, a Mark of Rank
The robes the students dress in are indicative of their standing at the College. The robes themselves are described as bright and voluminous. The color of the robes and their rank is as follows:

• Red of Apprenticeship

• Blue of Partial Beginning

• White Robe of Beginning Mastery

• Gold Robe of Intermediate Mastery

• Black Robe of Mastery

THE MASTERS
There are at least eight who wear the black of mastery at the College of Caithnard at this time. The Master's library has a vast ancient collection of books running the length and breadth of its walls. In addition, Deth claims that he took the black of mastery as well.

Master Ohm
A master at the College of Caithnard.  In actuality, Master Ohm is the wizard Ghisteslwchlohm, the founder of Lungold.

Master Tel
This master is described as having a frail voice. His face is sparse and parchment-colored.

Rood 
He took the black of mastery.

Former Masters
Master Laern - He was a master who went to Peven's Tower and failed to win the game against him. As a result, he forfeited his life.

Peven of Aum - Peven of Aum took the black of Mastery from the College.

Lungold, City of Wizards

LUNGOLD
Ghisteslwchlohm some time before his founding of Lungold and the School of Wizards, sojourned to Erlenstar Mountain to ask the High One about the dream of a dead Earth-Master's child beneath Isig Mountain.  He arrived only to find the chambers of the High One empty, deserted.  Immediately, he assumed the mantle of the High One.  He began to formulate a plan to become High One in actuality, not merely name; thus, this would begin his plan which would lead him to the founding of Lungold and its School of Wizards and the College of Caithnard.

The School of Wizards was, supposedly, a center of learning founded around 9 tenets, 9 strictures.

• The first stricture of the Founder of Lungold: the language of truth is the language of power--truth of name, truth of essence.
• The third stricture of the Founder of Lungold: The wizard hearing a cry for help turns away, the wizard who watching an evil does not speak, the wizard who searching for truth looks away from it: these are the wizards of false power.

It was headed by the most powerful human wizard, Ghisteslwchlohm.  Lungold most likely would have benefited economically and politically from the presence of the School of Wizards.  It was also likely home to many non-wizard scholars.  It is unknown if Caithnard existed at this time, although it is likely.  Caithnard probably served as a supply port for Lungold, most trade in the Realm of the High One is conducted by sea.

The School of Wizards in Lungold housed the most powerful practitioners of the arcane arts in all of the Realm of the High One.  The school of wizards was found one thousand years before the start of the Riddle of Stars series by Ghisteslwchlohm as a means to control the powers in the realm and the knowledge of the Star-Bearer; thus, he earned the name the Founder of Lungold or more simply the Founder.  He lured wizards to Lungold with promises of power and knowledge, in direct contrast to his true intentions.  In exchange, they had to, and did, place their names in his mind, giving him some measure of control over their power.

Among the most powerful of the wizards Ohm attracted were Aloil, Iff, Nun, Suth, Talies, and Yrth, who ironically was actually the High One in disguise.  They are also the only wizards of the School of Wizards to survive Ohm's massacre.  Aloil had served the kings of Ymris, Iff the Morgols of Herun, Nun the kings of Hel, Suth served Har in Osterland, Talies the kings on An and Aum, and Yrth served Danan in Isig.

Slowly the wizards realized that the principles that the School of Wizards was founded on were false and that Ghisteslwchlohm had been manipulating them.  It is not known who struck first Ghisteslwchlohm or the other wizards; however, it is known that a bloody and violent battle ensued three hundred years after the founding of Lungold.  From this battle, Ghisteslwchlohm emerged the victor, with most of the wizards killed or imprisoned.  The only wizard to escape this fate was Suth, most likely due to his extraordinary shape-shifting abilities. He, however, was forced into hiding for one thousand years.  The sudden disappearance of the wizards would eventually become a riddle to be sifted over by the Masters at the College of Caithnard, who were ironically being controlled by Ohm.

Before and during their time spent at the School of Wizards, the wizards wrote many books.  A great many of these books dealt with spells, some may have been compilations of the works of earlier wizards.  Some of these books may have covered areas ranging from philosophy to politics.  Most of them were locked magically and required some specific audio stimulus to open.  A famous collection of some of these books, housed at the College of Caithnard, contain the poetry of the wizard Aloil.  Much of this poetry was written to the wizard Nun.  For the most part these books are owned by the College of Caithnard, many of which form the basis of the study of Riddlery, or by the various land-rulers and land-heirs of the Realm.  The Morgols owns books written by the wizard Iff, and Astrin Ymris owns a book by Aloil.

Lungold itself is situated on the shores of the first of the Lungold Lakes.  The city is surrounded by a great and ancient wall.  Surrounding these walls are fields, pastures, and orchards that help to sustain the city; and, in turn, these fields, pastures, and orchards are surrounded by pine forests.  The walls themselves have seen better days.  Originally, these walls stood tall and whole, but, now there are a great many openings in its structure.  Buildings have been allowed to grow against the walls and even on top of the walls.

One thousand years before the start of the series, it was a series of great importance.  Wizards, kings, and even the High One passed through the city.

The city, apparently, was not planned out but allowed to grow naturally.  The cobbled city streets form a maze within Lungold's walls.  The burned out husk of the School of Wizards rests on a hill that is clear of all other buildings.