C1 About ARDEEN

If you are new in the World of Ardeen, you should read this additional explanation.

If you are already familiar with the characters and events of the first two books, then skip this text and jump right into the story.

Eryn

The protagonist of the series grew up in a mountain region without any magic and with strong beliefs in the Gods. This region was an area of unhaer and no magic could be used there. The people lived as simple farmers and hunters, until the discovery of a magical gate in the area led to a war that tore Eryn's world apart.

He was captured by lowlanders, loyal subjects to the king of Ardeen. Eryn's latent magical talent was discovered by chance. He possessed all twelve Circles of magic, a very rare gift indeed. Thus he was first sent to Master Elderon at Aleroth, but Elderon soon ordered Prince Raiden to take Eryn on as his student and teach him the ways of magic. After a somewhat difficult start, Prince Raiden now sees Eryn as his personal apprentice and relies on his assistance.

Eryn is bound to Prince Raiden by the same spell that binds Prince Raiden and Master Elderon – the soulban, so he shares the Prince's interest in finding a way of undoing the spell. So far they have had little progress in this quest. In the meantime Eryn was able to find out some of the history of his mother's line, learning that Master Savyen is his great grandfather.

Prince Raiden

As Prince of Ardeen, he is the protector of the north and commander of the Black Guard, a special force of five hundred men. He lives at Naganor, the Black Tower, and in the magical world has the status of a Towerlord.

Although he is one of the most highly skilled mages in the whole continent, a terrible curse weighs down on him: the soulban. The spell forces him to obey the orders of another mage: Master Elderon, the Lord of the White Tower. Although Master Elderon does not make use of this special connection too often, and does not see Prince Raiden as his enemy, the prince wants nothing more than to free himself again and dissolve the spell.

He is therefore seeking access into the Nimrod, where he thinks he will find answers to his problem.

Ravenor

As one of Prince Raiden's illegitimate children, Ravenor is not officially acknowledged. He has to pretend he is not related to the Prince, but everybody knows it anyway. The relationship does not gain him any favours. On the contrary, he continually has to prove his worth through heroic deeds and after a great battle he was promoted into the rank of an officer. Ravenor is outstanding with the sword but has absolutely no magical talent, earning him the nickname 'the unmagical'.

He and Eryn are best friends and share their secrets with each other – at least most of them.

Ardeen

Ardeen is one country in the magical fantasy world of the series. It is ruled by King Danian, the brother of Prince Raiden. Unlike Prince Raiden, who is also a mage, King Danian has no magical talent himself. The two brothers have a good relationship with each other.

Gelderon

Gelderon is the country neighbouring Ardeen to the East. Prince Raiden's wife Chrystell is a member of the royalty of Gelderon. The marriage was arranged and the couple never cared for each other. Over the years they have been driven even further apart. They have two girls, Estell and Ariel, who are Prince Raiden's only two officially acknowledged offspring.

The Nimrod

Sixty years ago the magical world was thrown into a terrible war. The middle third of the continent, formerly called the Midland, has been covered by a misty magical wall ever since. Now called the Nimrod, no one knows what lies on the other side of this seemingly impenetrable barrier.

Unhaer

The unhaer refers to places where magic is destroyed and weaving magic is almost impossible.

On top of this, it causes magical beings to become very ill. The more talented a mage is, the greater the negative effect and, spending too long in the unhaer can even cause death. Patches of unhaer can be found across the land surface but can also hang in the air like clouds.

The Great War

Sixty years ago there was a terrible war between dragons and mages. Master Ador Coronos, the former first mage and Towerlord of Elverin, the Golden Tower, lead the mages against the Great Gray, a dragon of incredible power, and his supporters. The war ended with a great showdown between the two leaders in the Nimrod. Formerly called the Midland, the Nimrod was home to the dragons, but the Golden Tower Elverin was also located there. It is said that Ador Coronos lost his life in the battle, but this has never been proven as the Nimrod-spell was established soon after the end of the war.

The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood is the council of all the Towerlords. For every Circle of Magic there should be one representative, making twelve members in total. But because of the war, there are now only eight mages assigned as Towerlords. The highest mage of the Brotherhood is Master Elderon.

The eight current members are:

Master Elderon of Aleroth the White Tower

Master Savyen of Draegnok the Blue Tower

Master Tellenor of Gahaeris the Green Tower

Master Beovis of Illysda the Silver Tower

Master Oderon of Averis the Orange Tower

Master Deron of Ragnitor the Grey Tower

Master Raiden of Naganor the Black Tower

Master Celor of Gabrit the Yellow Tower

Towers that are vacant:

Ferrenthys the Red Tower

Walahan the Brown Tower

Elverin the Golden Tower

Lioveen the Violet Tower

Magic

Like science, it is impossible to learn all there is to know about magic, even for a high mage. Magic-spells allow you to do almost anything… if you are good enough. Simple spells include creating light, scanning with 'spying-eyes' and summoning objects – just to name a few. Major areas of magic are healing magic, fighting magic and building magic. Magic can be used to spy on other people's thoughts if the victim is not able to protects himself against such intrusions with shield-magic or powerful artefacts.

The magical way of travelling is through tunnels and gates. One simply steps through a magical door and comes out in another place. A tunnel is a fixed gate. It connects two points and can be used without any additional magic, even by unmagical beings. To pass through a gate a mage has to weave additional magic. But the great advantage is that it can be used to travel to any other gate. But don't ask the unmagicals about that. They will surely mix it up and call a place Aspen-gate which is in fact only a tunnel.

Magic spells rarely use just one of the twelve Circles, they usually require a combination of two or more Circles of Magic. Now turn to the main story and let the magic begin.