History of the Realm of the High One

Millennia before the start of the Riddle of Stars, the Earth-Masters had a great and thriving civilization centered around what would become the land of Ymris.  They mastered Earth, Fire, and Water.  Tir, the High One, masters the Wind.

Millennia before the start of the Riddle of Stars, the Earth-Master Civil War occurs.  The land is ruined, the Earth-Masters’ children are stripped of their power, and the great Earth-Masters’ cities fall.  Tir and his followers, who died during the war, emerge victorious.  Tir strips the Earth-Masters of power, leaving them with little more than they were born with, and seals them into the sea.  Tir takes the dead children to Isig Mountain to give them a dying place.

Somewhere around a thousand years after the Earth-Master Civil War, the land has recovered from the devastating war. 

Sometime after, the Year of Settlement of man occur.  Danan Isig becomes ruler of his land and Har founds the land of Osterland.  The High One rules from Erlenstar Mt. for a time.  An army from North Ymris attacks Herun in an attempt to seize its mines.  The Morgols’ golden eyes that allows them to see through objects begins to develop.  Kale becomes the first king of An.

The Earth-Masters escape from their prison.  The High One goes into hiding.

Sometime before the Founding of Lungold, The High One takes the name Yrth, poses as a wizard, and takes service with Danan Isig.  Talies takes service with the kings of An and Aum.  Suth takes service with and teaches Har of Osterland.  Nun takes service with the kings of Hel, and Iff takes service with Morgols of Herun.

Sometime before the Founding of Lungold, Ghisteslwchlohm learns of the prophecy of the Star-Bearer from the dead children of the Earth-Masters’ beneath Isig Mountain.  Upon journeying to the High One, he finds the chambers empty.  He assumes the mantle of the High One. 

Sometime before the Founding of Lungold, Morgol Dhairrhuwyth, or more simply Rhu, founds the Crown City, with a circle for every Star-Bearer Riddle answered.  On his way to the High One to get his eighth riddle answered, Ghisteslwchlohm warps the mind of his horse killing him.

c. 1900 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Aloil takes service with the kings of Ymris.  Sometime in between this and the Founding of Lungold, Caerweddin was sieged.  King Galil Ymris refused to follow Aloil’s advice and as a result Aloil’s tower was burned.  So Aloil made a stone in the plain above Caerweddin speak for eight days and nights in such a loud voice that men as far as Umber and Mermont heard it, and the stone recited all Galil's secret, very bad attempts at writing poetry.  This was how King’s Mouth Plain got its name.

Centuries before Lungold’s founding, Yrth creates the Starred Sword.  He entrusts it to his son Tirnon.  Danan Isig opens the upper mines of Isig Mountain (Sol was born long after this).

1100 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Yrth creates his Starred Harp.

1000 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Ghiseslwchlohm founds the city of Lungold and its School of Wizards.  He does this to control the knowledge and power of the wizards.

700 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Lungold’s destruction occurs.  The remaining wizards go into hiding.  The High One takes the form of a harpist who died in the fighting.

Sometime after Lungold’s destruction, the College of Caithnard is founded.  Ghisteslwchlohm begins to take control over it.

600 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Oen of An conquered and annexed the kingdom of Aum.  Ustin of Aum, the last king of Aum, dies in sorrow.  Corrig sires Ylon with Oen’s wife.  Ylon sires an heir and then jumps into the sea, killing himself.  The Witch Madir lived during this time.  She lived for nearly two hundred years eventually siring a child with one of the seven kings that ruled during this time.  Nemir of the Pigs, a king of Hel, lived sometime during this 200 year period.  Morgol Ylcorcronlth, or more simply Cron, was ruler of Herun.  His harpist was named Tirundeth, or Deth.  The High One takes his name and enters Ghisteslwchlohm’s service.

500 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Peven kills seven of his sons with misused wizardry and then himself in sorrow and shame.  He is bound to his tower by the kings of An.

300 years before the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Uon was a harp-maker in Hel.  Sol Isig is murdered by Earth-Masters upon exiting the Cave of the Lost Ones.

Six months before the start of the series, Althol of Hed and Spring Oakland, Morgon’s parents, are murdered by Earth-Masters on a return voyage to Hed.  Upon the passage of the land-rule to him, Morgon travels to Peven’s Tower and wins the Crown of Aum from him.

Riddles in the Realm of the High One

“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.  Riddles play a crucial role in the Riddle of Stars series.  They are both a way of recording history and a guide to living life.

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

Ballads of the Realm of the High One

Harpists play a major role in the Riddle of Stars series; however, only these few songs are known to us.

Ballads
The Lament for Belu and Bilo
This is an ancient ballad.

"Belu so fair was born with the dark
Bilo, the dark; death bound them also.
Mourn Belu, fine ladies,
Mourn Bilo."

Deth's fingers drew the tale faultlessly and traced the path of Bilo, helpless in turbulence, the death he left in his wake, the death that trailed him, that rode behind Belu on his horse, ran at his horse's side like a hound.

"Belu so fair followed the dark
Bilo; death followed them so;
Death cried to Bilo out of Belu's voice,
to Belu, out of Bilo . . ."

The Love of Hover and Bird
This is a gentle ballad of Hed composed of eighteen verses.  It does have a vocal part.

Characters in the Riddle of Stars

• Acor of Hel - He was the third king of Hel.
• Aia - She is Har's wife.
• Aloil - He was a wizard of Lungold. Aloil was a wizard is service to the Kings of Ymris for nine hundred years before he went to Lungold.  He vanished along with the entire school of wizards seven hundred years before the start of the series.  Aloil is described as a poet who wrote poetry to the wizard Nun.
• Anoth - Lady Anoth is a physician in the court of the Yrmis kings.  She is an elderly, comforting, dry-voiced woman.
• Arin Amory - She is perhaps the daughter of Wyndon Amory.  It may also be that Cannon Master has a crush on her.
• Arya - She was from Herun.  She is the subject of a riddle.
• Ash - Son and land-heir of Danan Isig.
• Ash Strag - He is a trader from Kraal.
• Astrin Ymris - brother and land-heir of Heureu.  He is described as a young man with lank white hair and white eyes.  When Morgon first meets him he is described as having skin stretched taut, hollow across his strange proud face.  He enjoys exploring the ruined city of the Earth-Masters on the Wind Plain.
• Athol of Hed - Former Prince of Hed.  His wife was Spring Oakland, and he was father to Morgon, Eliard, and Tristan.
• Auber of Aum - a descendent of Peven of Aum.  He went to the the tower of Peven to try to win back the crown of Aum and found the crown gone.  Auber told Mathom of this.
• Awn of An - King of An who deliberately burned part of An to keep it from his enemy.  He lost his land-rule and hung himself.
• Belu - a doomed prince of Yrmis.  He was the twin brother of Bilo.
• Bere -He is the ten or eleven year old son of Vert. He has blunt, black hair and grey eyes. Bere has broad shoulders and a grave, placid face. He trains under his uncle, Ash.
• Bilo - a doomed prince of Ymris.  He was the twin brother of Belu.
• Bri Corbett - He is the ship-master for Mathom of An.
• Cannon Master - He grew up with Morgon of Hed.
• Col of Hel - Col is an ancient lord of Hel.  His harpist owned one of the five surviving harps of Uon of Hel.
• Corrig - He was a shape-changer killed by Morgon at Herun.  He was also a harpist.  He fathered Ylon, King of An, and is thus an ancestor of Raederle's.
• Cron - See Ylcorcronlth.
• Cyn Croeg - He is the lord of Aum with lands in east Aum.  He is a descendant of the kings of Aum.
• Cyone - She was the wife of Mathom of An and the mother of Duac, Rood, and Raederle.
• Danan Isig - Isig is the land-ruler of the land that is likely named after him.  He is well over a thousand years old.  He was as ancient as a tree when Lungold was founded.
• Deth - Name the High One took while hiding from the Earth-Masters' and serving Ghisteslwchlohm. 
• Deth of Herun - See Tirundeth.
• Dhairrhuwyth - or more simply called Rhu, was the fourth Morgol of Herun who built the circles of the City of Circles, or the Crown City.  He structured the Crown City, planning a circle for each of eight riddles his curiosity set to him and he answered.
• Duac - Son and land-heir of Mathom of An.
• El - See Elrhiarhodan.
• Eliard - Eliard is the land-heir of Hed and brother of Morgon.  Eliard is two years younger than his brother Morgon.  He has his father Althol's broad shoulders and big bones, and his fair, feathery hair.
• Elieu of Hel - He is the brother of the Lord of Hel.  He came to Isig two years before Morgon first travels to Isig. He trains under Ash Isig. He has recently begun to do inlays, designs.
• Elore - One of the dead Earth-Masters' children beneath Isig.  Her mother was Rena.
• Elrhiarhodan - or more simply called El, is the current Morgol of Hed.  She is a tall woman with blue-black hair drawn back from her face, that falls without a ripple.
• Eriel - She was the fiancee of Heureu Ymris.  She had dark, shy eyes.  She was killed by the Earth Master who took her form five years before the start of the series.
• Evern the Falconer - An ancient king of Hel.
• Farr of Hel - He was the last king of Hel.
• Fenel of An - He was an ancient king of An.  He lived sometime in the two hundred years after Oen's reign.  It is said he was almost to busy fighting to sire a land-heir.
• Galil Ymris - He was a king of Ymris during a time when the wizard Aloil still served said kings.  He made a great house out of the stones of the Earth-Masters' cities.
• Ghisteslwchlohm - He was the founder of Lungold, the College of Caithnard, and the false High One.
• Goh - She is a guard in the Morgol El's service.
• Grania - She was the wife of Danan Isig.  She is buried in the mines below Isig Mountain.
• Grim Oakland - Morgan's portly overseer.  He is a farmer of Hed with a storage barn like many other farmers of Hed.  He is described as having red-grey brows.  He made have been related to Spring Oakland, the mother of Eliard, Morgon, and Tristan.
• Hagis of An - He was the King of An and grandfather to Mathom of An.  Hagis died in Peven's tower for the lack of a riddle.
• Hallard Blackdawn - He is a lord of An, with lands in east Hel.
• Har -  Har is the land-ruler of Osterland.  He is well over a thousand years old and was ancient at the time of the founding of Lungold.
• Harl Stone - a farmer of Hed.  He is described as having a shock of hair grey as a grindstone and a body like a sack of grain.
• Hegdis-Noon - A pig in the pig herds of Hel at a time when Nun tended the herd.  What made him special was he had the ability to talk.
• High One, The - Earth-Master and supreme ruler of the land.  He was originally known as Tirnon but has taken the names Deth and Yrth.
• Heureu Ymris - He is the king of Ymris and brother of Astrin Ymris.  He is described as lean, big boned, with dark hair.
• Hugin - The son of the wizard Suth and a vesta.  He has white hair and purple eyes, typical of a vesta.
• Iff - A wizard of Lungold.  He was in service to the Morgols of Herun before going to Lungold.
• Ilon of Yrye -  Ilon was a harpist at the court of Har of Osterland, who offended Har with a song.  In fear his life he fled and harped by himself in the wilderness.  He is the subject of a riddle.
• Ilona - She is one of the dead Earth-Masters' children beneath Isig.
• Imer - She is a guard in the Morgol El's service.
• Ingris - 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.
• Jarl Aker - A big, red-haired trader with a weal across his face.  He has been dead for two years.  An Earth-Master took his form.  He was missing one of his front teeth.  He got the weal when a loading cable snapped and hit him in the face.
• Kale of An - He was the first king of An.  In despair over the number of the enemy he used a Great Shout and won the battle.
• Kara - She is one of the dead Earth-Masters' children beneath Isig.
• Kern of Hed - Kern was a prince of Hed.  In addition, he is the last known prince of Hed to have had a crown.  The crown was made of silver, with a green jewel in it shaped like a cabbage.  He traded if for twenty barrels of Herun wine.  No prince of Hed has worn a crown since.  The only known riddle to come out of Hed is about Kern.
• Kes - She is a grandchild of Danan Isig.
• Kia - She is a guard in the Morgol El's service.
• Laern - He was a master from the College of Caithnard who went to Peven's Tower and failed to win the game against him.  As a result, he forfeited his life.
• Lathe Wold - The great-grandfather of Eliard, Morgon, and Tristan.
• Lathe Wold's Daughter - She was the grandmother of Eliard, Morgon, and Tristan.  She was a slender, proud woman from south Hed who, like her grandson, had a way of looking at people, remotely, like a fox glancing up from a pile of chicken feathers.
• Lein - He is a kinsman of the High Lords of Marcher (in Ymris).
• Lyle Orn - He is a trader with a ship that has red and yellow sails.
• Lyra - See Lyraluthuin.
• Lyraluthuin - or more simply called Lyra, is the daughter and land-heir to the Morgol El.  She is a girl of fourteen or fifteen. She is a member of the chosen guard of the Morgol.
• Madir - She was a witch who had in her possession books of wizardry that once belonged to the Lungold wizards.  Oen of An built a tower to trap her.  She lived for nearly two hundred years. The land-rulers of An are descended from her.
• Map Hwillion - He is a young lord with lands in south Aum.
• Mara Croeg - She is Cyn Croeg's wife and the Flower of An, the most beautiful woman in the Three Portions of An.
• Mathom of An - He is the land-ruler of An and a talented shape-shifer.
• Meroc Tor - He is the high lord and ruler of Tor.  He is a subject of Heureu Ymris.
• Morgon - Morgon is the Prince of Hed, the Star-Bearer, and later the High One.  Morgon has hair and eyes the color of light beer and takes more after his grandmother than anybody.
• Nemir of the Pigs - An ancient king of Hel.  He could speak the language of both men and pigs.  He had for his pig herder the witch Madir.  He lived either before the time of, during, or sometime in the two hundred years after Oen of An.
• Nun - She was a wizard of Lungold.  She was a wizard in service to Hel.  Her favorite pig of the pig herds of Hel was the speaking pig, Hegdis-Noon.
• Oen of An - King of An who conquered the kingdom of Aum six hundred years before the events of the series.
• Ohm - a shortening of the name Ghisteslwchlohm and the name under which he controls the College of Caithnard
• Ohroe the Cursed - An ancient king of Hel.
• Peven of Aum -  Peven was a Lord of Aum.  He was bound to his tower, by Oen of An and has remained bound by the Kings of An for the past five hundred years.  Peven was forced to wander the earth as a ghost after he killed seven of his sons with misued wizardry, and then himself in sorrow and shame.  Peven had a standing wager going that no one could win a riddle-game with him.  If he were bested in his riddle-game the challengers reward would be the crown of the Kings of Aum; however, should the challenger lose they paid with their lives.  Many from the three portions of An, and even some riddle-masters from Caithnard have challenged him and failed to defeat him.  Morgon of An is the only person to ever have defeated Peven.  Morgon even told him the names of all his sons, since Peven could no longer remember them all.  Peven took most of his knowledge from books of wizardry that had belonged to Madir, and before that to the Lungold Wizards.
• Raederle - She is the daughter of Mathom of An.  She has a pale, high-boned face and a long, fine mass of red hair.  She is known as the second most beautiful woman in An, after Hap Hwillion's sister.
• Raith of Hel - He is described by Rood as having a "face beaten out of gold and a heart like a rotten tooth." 
• Re of Aum - He offended an ancient lord of Hel, and in trying to insure his safety, allowed the lord of Hel to trap him on his own estate.
• Rena - She was an Earth-Master.  According to her daughter Elore, she could speak every language of the earth.
• Rhu - See Dhairrhuwyth.
• Rood - Son and later land-heir to Mathom of An.  He studied at the College of Caithnard and took the black of mastery.
• Rork Umber - High Lord of Umber in Ymris.  He is described as a tall, richly dressed, bright red-haired man.
• Rustin Kor - He is a trader.
• Seric - He is the High One's watcher; trained by the wizards at Lungold.
• Sil Wold - A farmer of Hed.  He is likely a relative of Eliard, Morgon, and Tristan.
• Snog Nutt - He is Morgon's pigherder.
• Sol - He was the son of Danan Isig.  Sol was killed by Earth-Masters near the heart of Isig Mountain.
• Spring Oakland - She was the wife of Athol of Hed and the mother of Morgon, Eliard, and Tristan. 
• Suny - The young daughter of Vert. She is a toddler with black hair.
• Suth - He was a wizard of Lungold.  In his youth, he is known to have been 'wild'.  During these wild years, he tutored Har in shape-changing.
• Talies - He was a wizard of Lungold.  Before going to Lungold, he was in service to the kings of An and Aum.
• Tel - He is master at the College of Caithnard.  This master is described as having a frail voice.  His face is sparse and parchment-colored.
• Teril - He is the son of Rork Umber.
• Thisten of Aum - He is the current Lord of Aum.  He is described by Rood as being "soft as a bay and too old to climb into be without help." 
• Tir - Son of Tirnon, the High One.  He gives Yrth's Sword to Morgon.
• Tirnon - Master of Earth and Wind.  This is the original name of the High One.  His son was Tir.
• Tirundeth - He was the harpist of the Morgol Cron six hundred years before the start of the series.
• Tor Oakland - an old farmer at least 70 years of age from Hed.
• Torbec Rye - He is a trader.
• Trika - She is a guard in the Morgol El's service.
• Trist - He is one of the dead Earth-Masters' children beneath Isig.  He apparently was a talented shape-shifter.  He could shape the vesta among other things.
• Tristan - Tristan is the sister of Morgon and Eliard of Hed.  A year before the death of ther parents, she is described as having been a thin, brown reed of a girl, prone to walking field walls barefoot and whistling through her teeth.  Now, however, she spends most of her time scowling at herself in the mirror and, of course, anyone in range beyond them.   Tristan has flighty black hair and a small, triangular face and looks very much like her mother.
• Uon - He was a harpmaker in Hel three centuries before the events of Riddle of Stars.  Only five of his harps survived to the current day.
• Ustin of Aum - He was the last king of Aum, and he died in sorrow over its conquering. The strings of his broken harp were used by Deth to make his harp.
• Vert - She is the daughter of Danan Isig. She has many children, amongst them a son Bere and a daughter Suny. She is a slender woman with hair the color of pine bark. Her husband is a trader and spends most of his time out at sea.
• Wyndon Amory - He is a farmer of Hed.  He lives and has a storage barn in east Hed.
• Xel - a wild-white cat with ice blue eyes given to Astrin Ymris by Danan Isig.
• Ylcorcronlth - or more simply called Cron was the Morgol of Herun six hundred years before the start of the series.  His harpist was named Tirunedeth
• Ylon - He was an ancient king of An.  He was the son of a queen of An and the shape-shifter Corrig.
• Yrth - Name the High One took when he posed as a wizard.  Under this guise he created the Starred Harp and Sword.
• Zec of Hicon - Around one hundred years before the founding of Lungold, he did the inlay for Yrth's harp. He was trained by Sol.  He was from Herun.

Locations in the Riddle of the Stars

The Realm of the High One is composed of six nations (An, Hed, Ymris, Herun, Osterland, and Isig) and two city-states, Caithnard and Lungold.  In addition, much of the land between Herun and the nations of Osterland and Isig is unclaimed wilderness, the out-lands.  To the north of these two nations is the expansive Northern Wastes.  Once the Great-Earth masters were the rulers of the continent.  However, man settled the continent during the Years of Settlement.

AN
An consists of three different territories An, Aum, and Hel.  These three regions are known as the Three Portions of An.  Oen of An conquered Aum and Hel six hundred years before the start of the series.

This land is currently ruled by the enigmatic Mathom.

CAITHNARD
Caithnard, an important trade-city, is situated in a crescent of land between two lands.  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.


ERLENSTAR MT.
A mountain northeast of Isig.  It was the historical seat of the High One.  For nearly a thousand years, it served as the seat for the false High One, Ghisteslwchlohm.  It was from here that the Earth-Masters mined for their all-colored stone.  This is where Morgon, the second High One, imprisoned Eriel's Earth-Masters.

HED
An island nation situated to the east of Ymris.  The mainland is visible from Tol as a dark thread along the horizon.  Tol and Akren are villages situated on the southwest coast of Hed.  A horse from Hed is described as being able to ride from western to eastern Hed in a day; however, a horse from An can apparently make the journey much faster.  Farming appears to be the major occupation of the people of Hed; however, fishing boats are sent out from the coastal towns such as Tol.

Trade
Trade-ships come to Tol for the season's exchange of goods.  Among the products exported from Hed are beer, grain, and wool.  Plow horses are also shipped from Hed to An and Herun.  Herun wine, metal, such as a chest full of iron, and salt from the beds above Caithnard are among the products bought by the people of Hed.

Land-Rulers
The land-rulers of Hed are less elevated in stature compared to the land-rulers of An and Ymris.  They act more as managers of the island than anything else.  In fact the last prince of Hed to have a crown was Kern of Hed, the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of Morgon of Hed.  The crown was made of silver with a green jewel in it shaped like a cabbage.  At the beginning of the Riddle of Stars, Morgon is the the current prince of Hed, with his brother Eliard as his land-heir.

HERUN
Herun is a small, very rich land ringed by low mountains.  Beyond the mountains of Herun like its plains and tors.  Stone houses and small villages rise on the crests of the undulating plain.  These villages are usually huddled at the feet of stone peaks that rise from sporadically from the plains.  The land-rulers of Herun are known as the Morgols, who have the gift of sight.  During the Years of Settlement, an army from north Ymris attacked Herun with an eye to its mines.

Crown City
The capital of Herun is the Crown City, or the City of Circles.  The city was built by the fourth Morgol Rhu who planned a circle for each of the eight riddles he answered.  He died on his journey to answer the eighth riddle.  This is why there are only Seven Circles of Herun.  The City of Circles is described as a vast red circle of red upright, stones around a black oval house.

Historical Morgols
The fourth Morgol to rule Herun was Dhairrhuwyth, or more simply called Rhu.  He either built or designed the Crown City, also known as the City of Circles. Herun was Herun was ruled by the Morgol Ylcorcronlth, or more simply Cron, six hundred years before the start of the series.

ISIG
Isig along with Osterland forms the border between the icy wastes and the Realm of the High One.  It is ruled by Danan Isig.  The land itself is dominated and defined by Isig Mountain.  Craftsmen from all over the Realm of the High One come to train at Harte.

The interior of Isig Mountain is where the High One placed the dead Earth-Masters children.

LUNGOLD
The wizard's city was founded a thousand years before the start of the Riddle of Stars by Ghisteslwchlohm.  He attracted many powerful wizards from across the Realm.  A Bloody battle destroyed the School of Wizards 700 years before the start of the series.

OSTERLAND
Osterland is a land of ice and snow.  It is ruled by the wolf-king Har.  He rules from his hall Yrye, although he is often away patrolling his kingdom.  As Isig is a land of craftsmen, Osterland is a land of trappers.  The one thing they cannot trap, legally anyway, are the noble vesta.  Har actively pursues anyone who kills a vesta.

OUT-LANDS
This is the expanse of land west of Herun and between Herun and Osterland/Isig.  There are said to be wild men in the out-lands who prey on traders beyond the boundaries of king's laws, exiles.

YMRIS
Ymris is ruled by Heureu Ymris with his brother Astrin Ymris as his land-heir. This nation is the site of the ruined Earth-Masters' cities.  Ships from Ymris have scarlet and gold sails.  There are five provinces in Ymris each ruled over by a High Lord.  The five provinces are Lor and Meremont, both small coastal provinces, and Ruhn, Umber, and Marcher.

Historical Conflicts
During the Years of Settlement, an army from north Ymris attacked Herun with an eye to its mines.

Caerweddin
Caerweddin is the capital city of Ymris.  Galil Yrmis made a house out of the stones of the Earth-Masters' cities.  This ancient house stands on a hill near the sea on the mouth of the Thul River, the river itself runs eastward across Ymris from one of the seven Lungold Lakes. The house of Yrmis' kings is surrounded by two walls.  Through the gates of the first wall a gentle incline leads to the thick oak doors of a second wall.  Beyond this wall is a courtyard.  Immediately upon entering the house is the King's Hall.  It is built of smooth, dark glittering stones.  Along half the length of the inner wall is a fire. Near Caerweddin are orchards.

King's Mouth Plain
During the rule of Galil Ymris, a seige of Caerweddin occured.  The king refused to listen to his wizard Aloil's advice; and as a result, Aloil's tower was burned.  Aloil exacted his revenge by making a stone in the plain above Caerweddin speak for eight days and nights in such a loud voice that men as far as Umber and Meremont heard it.  The stone recited all Galil's secret, very bad attempts at writing poetry.  This is the origin of the name King's Mouth Plain.

Wind Plain
A great, windblown plain in southeastern Ymris.  It is bounded at its northern edge by a river.  The great stone-works of ruined Earth-Masters' cities lie here.

Here is a description of one such ancient, ruined city, the site of the Wind Tower.  "It was a maze of broken columns, fallen walls, rooms without roofs, steps leading nowhere, arches shaken to the ground, all built of smooth, massive squares of red, green, gold, blue, grey, black, streaked and glittering with other colors melting through them.  A wide street of gold-white stone, grass thrusting up between its sections, began at the eastern edge of the city, parted it, and stopped at the foot on the one whole building in the city: a tower whose levels spiraled upward from a sprawling black base to a small, round deep-blue chamber high at the top."

Until the High One and Morgon no man had ever climbed to the top of the Wind Tower.  Aloil is said to have spent seven days and nights attempting to climb to the top.  Astrin Ymris also had made several attempts to reach the top.

Marcher
At least a small section of Marcher is composed of rocky fields and low border hills where villages and farms were rare on the rough land.  The rough, undulating land flows towards the old, worn hills mentioned above.

Umber
Umber is land of rough hills and green woods.  It is ruled by Rork Umber.  North of the Wind Plain there is a road that leads to Rork's house.  This great house is made of red and brown stones from the hills.  It has a vast hall.  A long road leads from Umber to Caerweddin.