The Land-Rulers of An, Aum, & Hel

Once the three portions of An were three separate nations.  These three nations were constantly fighting, making An the bloodiest and most violent nation in terms of history. Each of these three lands had their own rulers and probably their own land-laws.  This changed when Oen of An became king.  He conquered Aum and King of Ustin of Aum died in sorrow.  He also conquered Hel making Farr the last king of Hel.
 
AN
The first king of An was Kale.  He scattered an army with a Great Shout uttered in despair.  The next known king of An was most likely Awn of An. He deliberately burned part of his land to keep it from an enemy and lost his land rule.  He hung himself in despair.  Later there was Fenel, a king of An who is said to have been almost to busy fighting to sire an heir.  He lived with the two hundred years of the witch Madir’s life.  His descendent was Oen of An the great conqueror.  He conquered both the lands of Aum and Hel.

“He was dark, sinewy, powerful; the hilts of his knife and sword were of braided gold; the rich coat over his mail was embroidered with the ancient emblem of An: an oak holding a bolt of black lightning in its green boughs.”

Oen built a tower to trap the witch Madir.  This may have been during the process of conquering or after he conquered Hel.  He swore that “as long as the Kings ruled Anuin, Farr of Hel would rule the king's midden."

"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."

Oen’s land-heir was Ylon.  Ylon was the result of the Earth-Master Corrig trying to disrupt the land-law of An.  However, he did his duty as land-heir.

Hagis of An was the grandfather of Mathom of An.  He lost his life in a riddle game with Peven in his tower.  Hagis’ grandson, Mathom is considered one of the greatest kings of An.  His wife was Cyone who was considered a Great Shouter.  He, like many of the kings of An, can take the shape of a crow.  It is likely that he has some kind of premonition, some foreknowledge about the future.  He vowed upon his daughter Raederle’s birth that she would marry whomever won a riddle-game with Peven of Aum.

Mathom’s children are Duac, Rood, and Raederle.  Duac, who bore many of Ylon’s features, was Mathom’s land-heir.  He died during the fight with the Earth-Masters on the Wind Plain.  Mathom’s second son, Rood, attended the College of Caithnard and obtained the black of Mastery.  He is a friend to Morgon of Hed.  He becomes Mathom’s land-heir.  Raederle bears many of Ylon’s power, and Earth-Master’s power.  These current rulers of An are descended from the witch Madir.

AUM
The last king of Aum was Ustin of Aum who is said to have died in sorrow at its conquering.

The wizard Peven of Aum is a descendent of Ustin of Aum.  He killed seven of his sons with misused wizardry and then himself in sorrow and shame.  He was bound to his tower by Oen of An.  Auber of Aum is a descendent of Peven.  Cyn Croeg is another descendent of the kings of Aum.  Thisten of Aum is the current lord of Aum and yet another descendent of the Kings of Aum.

HEL
The third king of Hel was Acor.  He brought through force and persuasion the last of the bickering lords under his control.

Three more kings of Hel were Evern the Falconer, Nemir of the Pigs, and Ohroe the Cursed.  Evern the falconer trained hawks and falcons to battle against men.  He died with his falcons, defending his home.  Ohron the Cursed saw seven of his nine sons fall one after another in seven consecutive battles between Hel and An.  Nemir of the Pigs could speak the language of both men and pigs.  He had for his pig herder the witch Madir.  He most likely lived before the time of Oen of An.

The last king of Hel was Farr.  He swore that he would not close his eyes in his grave until those ruling Anuin were lying in theirs.  He was a stubborn man.  It is said that no man ever bargained with Farr.

“He was, as she imagined him, a big, powerful man with a wide slab of a face hard as a slammed gate. His beard and long hair were copper; he wore rings of hard metal at every knuckle, and his sword, rising above one of the glass moons, was broad at the base as the length of his hand. He wasted no time with words; the sword, cutting down into the thin air of illusion, nearly wrenched him on his horse.”

His skull was hanging over the hearth of Hallard Blackdawn in east Hel.  Raederle used it to bargain with him to assemble an escort of dead Hel kings for who she thought was Morgon.

The Witch Madir and the Wizard Peven

Madir was from the land of Hel before it was conquered by An.  Peven of Aum was a Lord of Aum of the Three Portions of An.  They both learned their power through books of wizardry that had once belonged to the Wizards of Lungold, and it was through their actions that the Land-Rulers of An grew to bind spell-books.

Madir
Madir is an ancestor of the land-rulers of An.  It is ironic that Madir would eventually conceive a child with a King of An given the fact that King Oen of An built a tower to trap Madir.  She lived for nearly two hundred years during which time seven kings of An ruled.  The Witch Madir, sometimes called Wizard, took her knowledge of wizardry from books written by the Wizards of Lungold.  These books would later pass into Peven of Aum’s hands.  One of the duties of the Land-Rulers of An is to maintain the bindings of Madir’s spell-books. 

Raederle learned some of Madir’s tricks through Nun.  She can do things like make a net out of grass, make a bramble stem seem like an impossible thorn patch, find her way out of Madir's Woods, where the trees seem to shift from place to place, make a pebble seem like a mountain, and make a small puddle seem like an endless lake.

She was most likely from Hel as she maintained a pig herd.  Madir was, at some point, the pig herder of King Nemir of the Pigs ruler of the land of Hel.  She had a shouting-feud with Lord Col of Hel over the land-right to an oak forest in which their pigs fed.  She used ninety-nine curses on a man who stole one of her pigs, turning him into a boar. 

Raederle uses the first of the ninety-nine curses on Ghisteslwchlohm.

“I curse you, in my name and Madir’s, with eyes small and fiery, to look no
higher than a man’s knee, and no lower than the mud beneath—”

By Madir’s Bones and simply Madir’s Bones are common oaths in the Realm of the High One.

Peven of Aum
Peven of Aum was a Lord of Aum and thus a descendent of the kings of Aum.  He was a wizard who learned his power through books of wizardry that had once belonged to the Witch Madir and before that to the Wizards of Lungold.  He killed seven of his sons with misused wizardry and then himself in shame and sorrow.  He was bound by Oen of An and the later Kings of An too his tower. 

The crown of the kings of Aum was passed down through his family.  It was sealed with him in his tower.  He earned the black robe of Mastery from the College of Caithnard.  He had a standing wager going that no one could win a riddle-game with him.  Lords of Aum, An, and Hel, and riddle-master from Caithnard have all challenged him to a game.  The first man from Hed to challenge him, Morgon of Hed, won the game against him.  He won by asking the riddle about Kern of Hed, the only riddle to come out of Hed.  Upon asking it, Peven shouted “There are no riddles of Hed.”  Morgon knew the game was won.

Those who lost against him forfeited their lives.  King Hagis of An and Master Laern are among those who lost their lives in Peven’s Tower.

After five hundred years of imprisonment, Peven had a hard time remembering all of his sons’ names.  Morgon, who had learned them at the College of Caithnard, told him.

Auber of Aum, one of the descendents of Peven, went to his tower to try to win back the crown of Aum.  When he arrived, he found the crown gone and Peven pleading to be set free to leave the tower.  Auber demanded the name of the man who had taken the crown; Peven said only that he would answer no more riddles.  Auber then told Mathom.

King Mathom made a vow at his daughter’s, Raederle’s, birth to give her only to the man who won the crown of Aum from Peven.

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

The Wizards of Lungold

At its height, the School of Wizards in Lungold was home to thirty wizards and over two hundred men and women of talent.  Every single man and woman of talent was killed at the School of Wizards destruction.  Twenty-three wizards were also killed at its destruction.  Ghisteslwchlohm, one of these remaining wizards, bound the power of five of the other wizards.    Yrth also escaped but he, as the High One, was in no real danger of being bound.   Morgon, the Star-Bearer, freed the wizards with his attack on Ghisteslwchlohm at Erlenstar Mt.

Aloil

“Behind her, in the torchlight, stood a big, spare wizard whose broad, fine-boned face was carved and battered with battle like a king’s. His dead hair was flecked with silver and gold; his eyes were vivid, smoldering with blue flame.”

Aloil was a wizard who took service with the kings of Ymris for nine hundred years before going to Lungold.  He was a poet who wrote most of his poems to the wizard Nun.  One of the kings Aloil served was Galil Ymris.  During a seige of Caerweddin, Galil Ymris refused to follow Aloil’s advice which resulted in Aloil’s tower being 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.  Upon Lungold’s destruction, he was bound by Ghisteslwchlohm.  He hid in the form of an oak tree for seven hundred years.  Ironically, Aloil chose the King’s Mouth Plain to hide.  When Morgon loosed his power, Astrin Ymris watched his transformation back into a human.

Ghisteslwchlohm

“…a lean, quiet man whose even voice never changed.”

“The High One, his robe sun-gold, his white hair drawn back from his brow to free the simple, austere lines of it, lifted his hands from the arms of the throne and broughtthe tips of his fingers together.”

Ghisteslwchlohm was the Founder of Lungold and its destroyer.  Ghisteslwchlohm was born in the land of Herun (his short name is Ohm).  He founded Lungold and its School of Wizards one thousand years before the start of Riddle of Stars.  He learned of the prophecies of the Star-Bearer from a dead Earth-Master’s child, most likely Tirnon.  He journeyed to Erlenstar Mt. to ask the High One about these prophecies.  Ohm found Erlenstar Mt. deserted.  Here, he assumed the mantle of the High One.  He would found the city of Lungold and gain the title the Founder of Lungold.  He would also destroy this same city seven hundred years before the start of Riddle of Stars.  Afterwards, he would either found or assume control of the College of Caithnard.  Ghisteslwchlohm kills the High One, who had served him as Deth, with the sword he created as Yrth.  He was killed during the destruction of the Wind Tower. 

Iff

“Morgon turned a little to the tall, frail wizard beside him, with the voice of a Caithnard Master. His face was worn, ascetic, but Morgon, watching him step forward, sensed the unexpected strength in his lean body.”

Iff of the Unpronounceable Name was born in the land of Herun.  He was known as the scholar who loved wild things.  It was in this land that he took service in.  All Herun names are nearly unpronounceable to outsiders; however, Iff takes this to a new level.  His name must be sung as well as spoken.  He like the other wizards went to Lungold when it was created.  Like the other wizards, his power was bound.  He chose Herun as his hiding place.  According to him, Herun was always a scholarly place.  He was a member of its court in one form or another for seven centuries.  As an old scholar, he helped the Morgol El open two of his books.  After that scholar died, he took the form of a falconer and then a guard.  Upon being restored to full strength by Morgon, he opened his remaining books at Herun.

Nun

“He recognized Nun immediately: a tall, thin woman with long grey hair and a shrewd, angular face. She was smoking a little jewelled pipe; her eyes, studying him with an odd mixture of wonder and worry, were a shade darker than her smoke.”

Nun took service in the land of Hel, now a province of An.  She was involved in a romantic relationship with the wizard Aloil.  While in Hel, she bred the talking pig Hegdis-Noon.  Upon the destruction of Lungold, Nun took refuge in the district of Hel.  She ruled over the pig herds of Hel for seven centuries.  She claimed to be descended from the witch Madir and thus related to the land-rulers of An.  Upon being restored to strength, she scattered the pig herds of Hel with a Great Shout. 

Suth

“A man stood before Morgon, lean, powerful, his white hair fraying in the wind, his single eye grey-gold.”

Suth took service in the land of Osterland.  He was friends with Har of Osterland and with him learned to shape-change.  In his youth he is described as having been “wild”.  Upon Lungold’s destruction, Suth fled, his power bound.  He eventually ended up taking the shape of a vesta and staying with their herds.  Amongst them, he had a son named Hugin.  He lost an eye to Ghisteslwchlohm in the battle at Lungold.  Shortly before his disappearance, he entrusted the riddles of the Star-Bearer to Har.  He was the only one of the wizards, besides Yrth, to retain his knowledge of the Star-Bearer.  He died when Har sent Morgon to look for him amongst the vesta herds.  He was killed when he attempted to tell Morgon about Ghisteslwchlohm and the last word he uttered was “Ohm”.

Talies

“Kneeling next to one of the crevices in the wall was a dark-eyed wizard with a spare face like a bird of prey. He seemed fierce, humorless, until Morgon met his eyes and saw a faint smile, as at some incongruity.”
“His spare, restless voice was like his eyes, at once fierce and patient.”

Talies took service in the lands of An and Aum.  He was a historian.  He like all the other wizards went to Lungold upon its creation.  Upon Lungold’s destruction, Talies took the form of a falcon and stayed in Anuin for seven centuries.  He was constantly caught, growing old and escaping to grow young again.  He would always return to the hands of the Kings of Anuin.  None of them, not even Mathom of An, ever guessed his identity.

Yrth

“He was a tall old man, with short grey hair and a battered, craggy face.”

Yrth was a disguise of Tir, the High One.  He assumed this disguise after having ruled the Realm as himself.  He abandoned Erlenstar Mt. thus allowing Ghisteslwchlohm to claim the title of the High One.  He took service with the land of Isig.  It was as Yrth that the High One created his starred sword, centuries before Lungold’s founding, and his starred harp, one hundred years before Lungold’s founding, for his heir the Star-Bearer.  Upon Lungold’s destruction, the High One assumed the shape and name of the dying harpist Tirundeth.  Ohm apparently believed Yrth to be either dead or bound, most likely dead.

The High One

The High One is the supreme political and spiritual leader of his Realm.  He is thought by the inhabitants of his Realm to be the last of the Earth-Masters, a powerful race of shape-changers.  However, this is not true, he is merely the only Earth-Master to retain his full power.  His true name is Tir, and he was born thousands of years before the start of Riddle of Stars.  He lived in peace with the other Earth-Masters on what would one day be known as the Wind Plain in Ymris.  He had only one child, Tirnon.  He was also the first, and only, Earth-Master to master the winds.  It was this and his use of land-law that would allow him to defeat Eriel’s Earth-Masters.  Eriel was the first to begin gathering power to herself, stripping it from the land itself.  She gathered many follows including Corrig, the father of Ylon.  As Eriel was the first to gather power to herself, Tir (the High One) was the first to realize the implications of power.  Tir gathered many followers in opposition to Eriel’s.  During the course of the Civil War that followed, later called the Earth-Masters’ War, Tirnon son was stripped of his power and died.  In the end, Tir stripped the Earth-Masters’ power, leaving them little beyond what they were born with, and sealed them into the sea.  This was not done without cost however, not only was Tir’s son killed but every Earth-Master child was also killed.  All of Tir’s followers also perished leaving their power in the ruins of the Earth-Masters’ cities.

An unknown time later (although likely at least a thousand years), the Years of Settlement, of man, began.  During this time is when Tir would become known as the High One.  He sometime prior to this was told the prophecy of the Star-Bearer, his heir, from his child.  Also during this time, Tir ruled directly as the High One.  He was presence that could actually be reached at Erlenstar Mountain.  In time, however, the Earth-Masters escaped from their prison in the sea.

The High One went into hiding.  He adopted the persona of the powerful wizard Yrth.  Like many the other wizards, he would take service with a land.  In this case, that is Isig.  Centuries before the founding of Lungold, Yrth would create his starred sword in secret.  He, after its creation, entrusted the sword to his son Tirnon.  One hundred years before the founding of Lungold, Yrth creates his starred harp. 

"Yrth bound the pitch into those strings with his voice. There is no harp more beautiful in the
High One's realm."
-Deth

“Yrth worked months on that harp, carving it, cutting the designs for the inlay; he had my craftsmen cut the ivory and set the silver and stones in it.  And then he went up into the highest room in the oldest tower of Harte to tune the harp. He stayed seven days and seven nights, while I closed the forces in the yard so that the pounding wouldn't bother him. Finally, he came down and played it for us. There was no more beautiful harp in the world. He said he had taken its voices from the waters and winds of Isig. It held us breathless, the harping and the harpist... When he had finished playing, he stood still a moment, looking down at it. Then he passed the flat of his hand over the strings, and they went mute. When we protested, he laughed and said the harp would choose its own harpist. The next day he left, taking it with him. When he returned to my service a year later, he never mentioned the harp. It was as though we had all dreamed the making of it."
-Danan Isig

At the founding of Lungold, the High One, as Yrth, journeys to the School of Wizards.  Unlike the other wizards, he was not under Ghisteslwchlohm’s influence.  Ghisteslwchlohm would become a shield for the High One for a thousand years to come.

“Yrth was the most powerful of the wizards after the Founder."
-Astrin Ymris

The High One was careful to mask the full extent of his power.  He made himself appear to be weaker than Ghisteslwchlohm.  This powerful wizard was obviously not an Earth-Master.  During his stay at Lungold, Yrth taught the Morgol Cron’s harpist Tirundeth much about harping. 

“I took my name from the Morgol Cron's harpist Tirunedeth, who taught me the
songs of Herun. I asked him for it before he died.”
-Deth

And so it is that Yrth became Deth.  One hundred years after the destruction of Lungold, Deth would walk into his own chambers (the Chambers of the High One) and take service as the face of Ghisteslwchlohm, the false High One.  Ghisteslwchlohm believed that this arrangement was best for the both of them, though more so for him.  In reality, this was only really beneficial to Deth.  He would be able to hide in plain sight from the Earth-Masters.  For the next six centuries, Deth would travel the Realm acting as an ambassador to the High One.  He may have studied at the College of Caithnard as he claimed.  He would also play at the wedding of Morgon’s parents.  And finally, fall in love with the Morgol El, whom he would write a beautiful wordless song.

The High One would meet his successor in the most unexpected of all places, the peaceful land of Hed.  Three stars on Morgon’s brow were the sign of the end of an age.  Deth would escort Morgon to the High One, forging bonds of love and friendship on the way and telling a number of half-truths and lies:

"I was born," the harpist said tranquilly, "not long after the founding of Lungold, a thousand
years ago."
-Deth

Deth is very much older than one thousand years.  He may be several millennium old.  He was not born in Lungold but somewhere in what would become Ymris.

"I am not a Lungold wizard. I have never served any man but the High One. I studied awhile at the School of Wizards because I found myself growing old without aging, and I thought perhaps my father had been a wizard. I had no great gifts for wizardry so I left--that is the extent of my acquaintance with the Lungold wizards.”
-Deth

Technically, Deth has never been a Lungold wizard.  His power is completely based in that of an Earth-Master not a wizard.  That said however, Deth did take the disguise Yrth.  As Yrth, he became known as a Lungold wizard.  He “studied” at the School of Wizards. 

He also has served no man but the High One.  In this case, this means himself and the land.  Ghisteslwchlohm, the False High One, was merely a shield.

"I harped with him (Corrig) once, years ago. I met him even before I entered the High One's service.”
-Deth

This is not a lie; however, the sentences after this most likely are.  Deth says he encountered Corrig on a beach and harped with him.  More likely, however, he harped with Corrig before the Earth-Masters’ War.

"I was there when Yrth made this harp. I heard the first song it ever played..."
-Deth

Of course, this is not a lie.  He, as Yrth, was there when he made his harp.  He heard the first song he, himself, played.

When Ghisteslwchlohm held Morgon prisoner, torturing him,  Deth played his harp for him.  Here the High One is offering Morgon a choice, asking him a question.  What do you value more, power or love?  Fortunately, Morgon chooses right in hunting Deth instead of Ghisteslwchlohm.  The very reason Deth led Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm is for him to understand the corruption power presents.
 
Morgon precedes to, after his escape, tell the various land-rulers of Deth’s apparent treachery.  The occupied lands become barred to Deth.  Har’s wolves chase Deth from Osterland.  Here in the out-lands, Raederle stumbles into Deth’s campsite. 

Later, Deth flees to Anuin, the one place he thought might still be opened to him.  Raederle, mistaking Morgon for Ghisteslwchlohm and Deth for Morgon, places a guard wraith Hel kings around Deth.  They escort him into the halls of the palace at Anuin.  This forces him into a confrontation with Morgon.  Deth only escapes through one line “They were promised a man of peace.”  Morgon stays his starred sword.  Had Morgon attempted to carry through with the stroke, Deth may have been forced to expose himself as the High One.  This would leave both himself and Morgon to the mercies of the Earth-Masters.

Ghisteslwchlohm, through a mind link formed at their meeting, locates Deth in Hel.  There, they have an argument over loyalties.  Ghisteslwchlohm believes Deth has some bond with the Star-Bearer, which he does.  Ohm forces Deth to play a harp of black fire ruining his harpist’s hands. 

Deth, as Yrth, met up with the restored wizards at the ruined School of Wizards in Lungold.  They assigned, or he assigned himself, as a lookout for Ghisteslwchlohm and Morgon on the Trader’s Road.  Back in his guise as Deth, Morgon is lured to him through his broken, hesitant harping.  Morgon falls asleep there.  Upon waking up, he finds Ghisteslwchlohm, again most likely through the link, in the campsite.  Ohm takes Raederle hostage and attempts to force Deth to make a choice between her or the Morgol El as a hostage.  Instead, Deth refuses and slaps Ghisteslwchlohm.  In return, Ohm sends a lash of fire across Deth’s eyes to all appearances killing him.

As Yrth, he fights with the traders defending Lungold from the Earth-Masters.  After Morgon takes refuge in the far north of the Realm, Yrth plays his broken, hesitant harping to draw Morgon out of hiding.  Morgon is now highly suspicious of the identity of Yrth.  Yrth, Morgon, and Raederle fly to Osterland.  Upon flying to Herun, Yrth through his sheer power reveals himself to be an Earth-Master.  At Herun, Morgon surprises Yrth in front of the Morgol El.  He shows that he is Deth and the High One.

The High One disappears at Herun and journeys to the Wind Tower on the Wind Plains in Ymris.  There he waits for Morgon.

“You are the Star-Bearer, the heir foreseen by the dead of Isig, for whom I have been waiting for centuries beyond hope…I have lived in secret for thousands of years with nothing to hope in but a promise.  A dead child’s dream.”
-The High One

Upon Morgon’s arrival, the High One admits his reasons for his actions.  Morgon is his land-heir, the future High One.  He helps Morgon to learn the land-law of Ymris, the site of the ancient power of long dead Earth-Masters.  Soon after, Eriel and other Earth-Masters with their puppet Ghisteslwchlohm attack the Wind Power.  For a moment, the High One checks the power brought against him.  However, soon they overpower him.  Ghisteslwchlohm wrenches the starred sword from Morgon’s hands and stabs the High One through the heart.  His last words to Morgon were “Morgon, Free the Winds.”
 
The High One turned into flame upon his death.  Morgon then becomes the High One.

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.