Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn/Characters

A list of characters for Memory Sorrow and Thorn, subdivided by faction. Beware of spoilers.

Seoman (Simon) Snowlock
A kitchen scullion in the Hayholt under the watchful gaze of Rachel the Dragon, Simon comes under the tutelage of Doctor Morgenes, who seems to plan great things for him, only to have his idyllic life shattered by the coming of evil to the castle in the form of the priest Pryrates. His subsequent journey leads him headlong into the conflict surrounding the Three Swords.


 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: As any teenage boy, he spends a lot of time trying to get laid, without much success.
 * Berserker Tears: After.
 * Conveniently an Orphan: His mother came to the Hayholt in a rainstorm and died giving birth to him. His father is unknown. Morgenes is the only one who knows the secret of his heritage.
 * The Hero
 * Hero's Journey: A deliberate and methodical use of this by Williams; it can be seen throughout the story.
 * Heroic BSOD: After the aforementioned Berserker Tears.
 * Hitchhiker Heroes
 * Little Hero, Big War
 * Locked Into Strangeness: Due to being splashed by a dragon's blood.
 * Moses in the Bulrushes:
 * Orphan's Plot Trinket: The ring given to him by Morgenes.
 * Rage Against the Heavens: He suffers a crisis of faith after seeing his friends die on the quest for Thorn.
 * Took a Level In Badass: He begins the series as a kitchen scullion, and becomes first a capable soldier, then a leader among the forces of good, and finally.

Princess Miriamele
King Elias' daughter, she chafes under her father's heavy handed yet distant manner and secretly ventures out of the castle in the guise of a serving boy. When her father tries to marry her off to Earl Fengbald, she flees with her handmaiden Leleth, and is eventually rescued by Simon and Binabik. Simon falls in love with her but her self-doubts and rebellious nature keep them apart for most of the story.


 * Action Girl
 * The Archer
 * Love Interest
 * My Girl Is Not a Slut
 * Rebellious Princess
 * Runaway Fiancee
 * Samus Is a Girl: She initially introduces herself as "Malachias," and Simon doesn't figure it out for quite some time.
 * Self-Made Orphan
 * Sweet Polly Oliver / Princess Incognito

King Elias
Inheritor of the throne of Erkynland after Prester John's death, Elias distinguishes himself with his violent temper and his love of carouse. The tale takes a blacker turn as his reliance on the dark priest Pryrates grows deeper, until he is coerced into making a bargain with the Storm King. Once he takes possession of the evil blade Sorrow, he begins a descent into madness and damnation.


 * Alas, Poor Villain: Miriamele's primary motivation in the fourth book is to redeem her father, precisely because of this.
 * Cain and Abel: With Josua.
 * Deal with the Devil: At Pryrates' urging, Elias bargains with the Storm King for possession of Sorrow.
 * Dying as Yourself
 * Necromantic: Played for tragedy.
 * Unwitting Pawn: To Pryrates, who's the real force driving the war.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds

Prince Josua "Lackhand"
Elias' younger brother, called "Lackhand" for the loss of his hand in a skirmish with Thrithings men that also claimed the life of Elias' wife. Known more for his love of lore than of fighting, he is secretly imprisoned by Pryrates for use in an evil ritual, but escapes with the aid of Simon and Doctor Morgenes. He is the tacit leader of the forces opposed to Elias' rule and reluctantly leads them in their struggle.


 * Cain and Abel: With Elias.
 * The Chains of Commanding
 * Modest Royalty
 * Reluctant Warrior
 * Supporting Leader: Though he is reluctant to take on this role.
 * The Wise Prince

King Prester John
John came to the Hayholt as a wayward islander, but skyrocketed to fame when he emerged victorious from the catacombs beneath it, having slain the great dragon that claimed the life of the former king, Ealhstan Fiskerne. He went on to become the king of Erkynland and the foremost mortal warrior in Osten Ard, reveling in battle as he wielded the fearsome blade Bright-Nail. His only equal was the Nabbanai knight Camaris. At the opening of the story, his passing hands the throne to his son, Elias.


 * Badass Normal
 * Blood Knight: To a certain extent
 * Fake Ultimate Hero
 * Maintain the Lie
 * Shrouded in Myth

Towser
King Prester John's jester, and privy to his deepest secrets, Towser maintains a presence in Josua's party for a long time.


 * The Alcoholic
 * The Jester
 * Secret Keeper: Knows both John and Camaris' secrets, and faithfully keeps them both into death.

Doctor Morgenes
One of the founding members of the League of the Scroll along with Ealhstan Fiskerne, Morgenes devoted his life to the study of the Art and the history of Osten Ard, particularly the myths surrounding Prester John and the human conquest of the Hayholt. He also preserves in secret the legacy of Ealhstan's family. He takes Simon into his tutelage, but is unexpectedly spurred to action by the scullion's discovery of Pryrates' plotting. He sacrifices himself to allow Josua and Simon to escape the castle.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Let's Get Dangerous: In his confrontation with Pryrates.
 * The Obi-Wan
 * Obi-Wan Moment
 * You Shall Not Pass: He sacrifices his life holding back Pryrates to allow Simon to make an escape from the Hayholt.

Rachel "The Dragon"
Mistress of the Hayholt's servants, Rachel rules the oft-wayward seamstresses, scullions, maids, and other staff members with an iron fist. When the Hayholt descends into madness, she remains, but is ultimately forced into hiding by an unexpected confrontation with Pryrates. Her Aedonite faith and charity serve her well in the trials that ensue.


 * Apron Matron
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold

Earl Guthwulf
Marshal of Elias' armies at the opening of the story, Guthwulf leads the assault on Naglimund only to be brushed aside by Elias' decision to consummate his bargain with the Norn Queen. He grows increasingly concerned by Elias' erratic behavior, but is driven nearly mad by contact with the sword Sorrow. Subsequently blinded in a confrontation with Pryrates, he eventually finds his way to the tunnels beneath the castle.


 * Jerkass, later becoming a Jerkass Woobie.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation

Earl Fengbald
Marshal of King Elias' mortal armies after Guthwulf's defection, Fengbald is known for his brutality and his taste for subservient women. Miriamele flees the Hayholt in large part because of Elias' promise of her hand in marriage to this man. He leads the assault on the Stone of Farewell.


 * Bad Boss: He is brutal to anyone who fails him and mistreats his servants as well.
 * Jerkass
 * Karmic Death
 * Smug Snake
 * The Starscream: He believes that he can parlay his marriage to Miriamele into usurping the throne. He never gets the chance.

Eahlstan Fiskerne
Founder of the League of the Scroll and the last in the line of the kings of Erkynland before Prester John took up the throne. "Saint" Ealhstan, as he was known, was a famously beloved leader who saw portents of the return of the Storm King and did everything in his power to prepare Osten Ard for this eventuality. He died fighting a dragon beneath the Hayholt.


 * Fling a Light Into the Future: By way of founding the League of the Scroll.
 * Genius Bruiser
 * The Greatest Story Never Told: He killed the red dragon Shurakai but died in the process. He's the real hero to Prester John's Fake Ultimate Hero.
 * Posthumous Character

Duke Isgrimnur
A close ally of Prester John, Isgrimnur takes up the leadership of the Rimmersmen in exile after the treacherous Skali betrays his countrymen to Elias. A skilled if elderly warrior, he joins forces with Josua and acts as a voice of reason when all else seems to be going to madness.


 * Badass Beard:
 * The Big Guy
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Supporting Leader

Isorn
Isgrimnur's son who spends much of his time acting as a message runner between the various groups allied with Josua.


 * Emergency Impersonation: Disguises himself as Camaris when the latter goes into the tunnels.

Sludig
One of Simon's traveling companions on his quest to Igjarjuk to retrieve Thorn, Sludig is a veteran soldier who teaches Simon swordsmanship and helps him overcome his adolescent angst.


 * Demoted to Extra
 * The Eeyore
 * Old Soldier
 * Put on a Bus
 * Real Men Love Jesus: He is seriously upset during Simon's Rage Against the Heavens.

Jarnauga
A founding member of the League of the Scroll, Jarnauga lives most of his life in perpetual vigil over Stormspike, the black northern mountain that is the home of the Norns. He emerges from this vigil in an attempt to warn Josua's forces about the looming threat of the Storm King, but loses his life in the battle for Naglimund.


 * Badass Bookworm
 * Heroic Sacrifice: In Naglimund
 * Let's Get Dangerous
 * The Smart Guy

Einskaldir
A Rimmersman warrior and chieftain serving Duke Isgrimnur.

""Fight and live, fight and die, God waits for all." "I have tasted faerie-blood tonight. I would not mind more.""
 * An Axe to Grind
 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Blood Knight: Big time.


 * Born in the Wrong Century: At one point Deornoth muses that maybe Einskaldir would have preferred the old pagan Rimmersgard religion, with its warrior's heaven, instead of the (by comparison) more peaceable Aedonite faith.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: He is mortally wounded while distracting the Norns so Josua's party can flee further into Aldheorte.
 * Real Men Love Jesus: For all his bloodthirstiness, he is surprisingly pious.

Cadrach
A monk and scholar who became a junior member of the League of the Scroll; Cadrach's hunger for knowledge met its match when he unearthed a copy of Du Svardenvyrd, the black tome of Nisses' lore that revealed the impending return of the Storm King. Upon reading the book, he fell into a black pit of despair that broke only when Pryrates discovered his secret and tortured the knowledge out of him. He falls in with Miriamele, who pries away at his veneer of self-loathing in the hopes of eventually reforming him.


 * Ascended Extra
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder
 * Despair Event Horizon
 * Dirty Coward
 * Drowning My Sorrows
 * Go Mad From the Revelation
 * Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to  at the end of To Green Angel Tower.
 * Redemption Equals Death: See Heroic Sacrifice, above.

Princess Maegwin
Daughter of King Lluth of Hernystir, Maegwin is forced to watch as Skali's forces conquer her people and kill her father and brother. She chafes at the demands of leadership, burns with unrequited love for Count Eolair, and is eventually driven to madness in her desperation to save her people.


 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Despair Event Horizon
 * Go Mad From the Revelation
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * Hopeless Suitor: To Eolair, driving her into despair.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Tsundere

Count Eolair
A noble of Hernystir driven into exile after its conquest, Eolair spends much of the story abroad, seeking out allies to aid his people in their time of need. He has feelings for Maegwin but believes that she holds him in contempt, which keeps them emotionally separated. When the Sithi liberate Hernystir, he joins Jiriki's force in their assault on Naglimund.


 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Bittersweet Ending

Camaris
Camaris was the greatest knight of the Benidrivine era, rivaled only by King Prester John. His presence on the battlefield was so immense that enemies would surrender rather than face him, not the least of which because he wielded the great blade Thorn which could mow men down like wheat before a scythe. Not long after the death of John's wife in childbirth, Camaris vanished and was presumed dead, only to be discovered twenty years later as a simpleminded servant in an inn in Kwanitupul. Once restored to his wits, he demonstrates bitter unhappiness and seems to have no will to live for himself, only fighting to save his beloved Osten Ard from destruction.


 * The Atoner
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Badass Normal
 * The Big Guy
 * The Chains of Commanding
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Death Seeker
 * Driven to Suicide
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Knight in Shining Armor
 * Luke, I Am Your Father:
 * Reluctant Warrior
 * Shrouded in Myth

Count Aspitis
A Nabbanai nobleman who falls deep in the service of Pryrates, the devilishly handsome Aspitis briefly imprisons Princess Miriamele on his ship and coerces her into sleeping with him with the intent of forcing her into marriage.


 * Aristocrats Are Evil
 * Handsome Lech
 * Smug Snake

Tiamak
A Wranna scholar and student of one of the members of the League of the Scroll, it is Tiamak's ambition to someday be counted among their ranks. His questing for knowledge takes him out of the Wran, where he is widely regarded as a savage no better than the rest of his people. Quiet and unassuming, his wisdom ends up playing an invaluable role in the quest to save Osten Ard.


 * Magical Native American
 * Non-Action Guy: Doubly so after his leg is crippled by a crocodile attack.
 * The Smart Guy

Binabik
Apprentice to Ooquequk, one of the original members of the League of the Scroll, the diminutive troll Binibiquegabenik (Binabik for short) wanders the lands far more than most members of his isolationist race. Together with his wolf companion, Qantaqa, they make a formidable pair and form a fast friendship with Simon after Binabik rescues him from starvation in the wilderness.


 * The Beast Master
 * Hitchhiker Heroes: Subverted, as Binabik was instructed to look for Simon.
 * The Lancer
 * Magical Native American/Our Trolls Are Different: The Qanuc, known as trolls to the Rimmersmen, have a culture very similar (except for riding sheep) to the Inuit.
 * Overly Long Name: Like all trolls, he uses a shortened version to interact with foreigners.
 * Poisoned Weapons: His blowgun darts.
 * Strange Syntax Speaker
 * Eloquent In My Other Nonnative Tongue: Apparently his Sithi is perfectly grammatically correct.

Sisqi
Sisquinanamook is daughter of the King of the Qanuc and is Binabik's betrothed. Along with her parents, she becomes irate when he fails to return for the ceremonies that commemorate the onset of spring among her people, but loves him enough to aid in his rescue when he is condemned to execution for his "crimes". She proceeds to join him in his embassy to the "big folk" to keep a watch on her investment.


 * Action Girl: Leads a troop of Qanuc in the battle of the Stone of Farewell.
 * My Girl Back Home: To Binabik.
 * Overly Long Name

Prince Jiriki
One of the youngest Sithi, Jiriki nevertheless has a place of distinction as the descendant of Amerasu and her secret envoy with the humans. On one such trip, he becomes trapped in a woodsman's net and is about to be killed when Simon stumbles onto the scene and rescues him. Fleeing the scene, Jiriki fires his White Arrow at Simon, which is later revealed by Binabik to be symbolic of the life-debt he now owes the young human. Despite his relative youth, Jiriki plays a major role in the conflict, as his understanding of and rapport with mortals brings him to push his people to abandon their isolation and go on the offensive against the Storm King's forces.


 * Badass
 * Eyes of Gold
 * I Owe You My Life
 * The Power of Trust
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: An exception. (He also usually dyes his hair lavender.)

Aditu
Jiriki's younger sister, Aditu is less wise in the ways of mortals than he, but "adopts" Simon after she rescues him from the northern wilderness and brings him to Jao-é-Tinukai'i. She later acts as the Sithi emissary to Josua's forces.


 * Badass Princess
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl
 * Moment Killer: To Simon's would-be tryst atop the Stone of Farewell.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love?: She makes fun of and sometimes toys cruelly with Simon's mortal feelings.

Amerasu "Ship-Born"
The eldest living Sithi, second in age only to Utuk'ku of the Norns, Amerasu is named "Ship-Born" because of her birth during the Sithi's voyage to Osten Ard from their lost homeland. As age confers wisdom and power, she is also second only to Utuk'ku in her mastery of the Art and of the Dream Road. She nearly manages to reveal the Evil Plan to the gathered folk of Jao-é-Tinukai'i, but.


 * Mentor Occupational Hazard
 * Time Abyss

Geloë
A mysterious personage of unknown race and history, Geloë is held in mingled fear and respect by those few who know of her. Living in the midst of the wilderness in a Baba Yaga-esque hut, she could easily be mistaken for a witch but is in reality more of a Druidic figure with mastery of all sorts of lore including the art of shapeshifting. She aids Simon, Binabik, and Miriamele when they stumble upon her abode, and later joins Josua's party.


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Dream Weaver
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting

Ineluki/The Storm King
Ineluki was said to be the brightest flame that the Sithi had ever known, and had the depredations of humanity not come to Osten Ard, he might well have led them out of their exile to a new golden age. Unfortunately, his power and ambition turned to defending his people against the onslaught of the Black Rimmersmen, and he went down dark paths in search of forbidden knowledge, which eventually led him to forge in secret the dread sword Sorrow, devourer of light and hope. He sought to destroy the armies invading his home of Asu'a with a mighty spell, but instead cast himself and his servants into the realms beyond death, where his spirit burned for five centuries in search of a way back. He is the Devil of Osten Ard, a being of fire and ice who seeks nothing less than the total destruction of all mortals and the consumption of the world by Unbeing.


 * Badass: Even among immortals, Ineluki was terrifyingly powerful. In his backstory, he slew a dragon, and almost single-handedly held off the army of humans invading Asu'a.
 * Big Bad
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The forging of Sorrow and the dark magics he wielded in the defense of Asu'a both count. He was warned against both but did so anyway.
 * Eldritch Abomination: His mere existence is such a wrongness that simple exposure to it can drive mortal minds insane.
 * Evil Is Deathly Cold: Paralyzing cold is how he freezes Simon's will and forces him to obey the call of Bright-Nail.
 * Expy/Homage: As Ineluki, he bears a striking resemblance to Fëanor of The Silmarillion. After becoming the Storm King, he's essentially a more sympathetic Sauron.
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: His backstory is a quintessential example of what happens when you go too far in pursuit of an idealistic vision of the world.
 * Knight Templar: With respect to mortals. He has no sympathy for them and wishes them all utterly destroyed.
 * Load-Bearing Boss: His destruction triggers the collapse of Green Angel Tower.
 * The Messiah: He started out as this and could well have remained it had tragedy not interfered.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: This is where Ineluki ended up after going down the slope from The Messiah to Well-Intentioned Extremist to dead and hating all living beings.
 * One-Winged Angel: He turns into a terrifying being of fire and shadow.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: In this case, time is the can, which Pryrates' spell seeks to undo.
 * Self-Made Orphan: After Ineluki made Sorrow, his father called it an abomination and ordered him to destroy it. This broke the last vestiges of his sanity and he murdered the king on the spot, taking his antlered crown.
 * The Undead
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: His campaign to save his people from the Black Rimmersmen started out as this, before he went completely over the edge.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: His tragic backstory proves crucial to his defeat.

Pryrates
Nobody knows the origins of the black priest Pryrates, and he never reveals them. Introduced to the League of the Scroll around the same time as Cadrach, his love of dark knowledge had already begun to reveal itself. Displaying a visible disdain for such things as morality and restraint, he delved into the deepest secrets of the Art and of Unbeing and eventually made contact with the darkest being of all, the Storm King. He acts as the architect of all the evil that befalls the mortal lands of Osten Ard, gleefully sacrificing souls and even entire nations to feed his hunger for domination.


 * Bald of Evil: He shaves his head.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: He takes a cackling delight in being evil for evil's sake at times.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: He learns these right from the source -- Utuk'ku and Ineluki themselves. Specifically, the Words of Changing and the Words of Unmaking.
 * The Dragon: The heroes believe that he is Elias' henchman. They are wrong; Elias is Pryrates' pawn. It then appears that he will be this for the Storm King, but he ends up being more of a Starscream, and the heroes are not the ones who kill him.
 * Establishing Character Moment: He makes a brief appearance almost running over Simon with a carriage, and in his first real in-person scene he stomps a dog's skull in, just because he can.
 * Evil Chancellor: To Elias.
 * Evil Gloating: He gets most of a chapter dedicated to describing his Evil Plan in loving detail to a helpless audience. Then he tries it on the Storm King, preemptively, which doesn't go as well.
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: Yup, trying to backstab the ancient, angry undead sorcerer you just resurrected is a great idea.
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * For Science!: His goal is knowledge. All knowledge, all secrets, no matter how dark or forbidden. He seeks everything that can be known.
 * Kick the Dog: Literally, in his Establishing Character Moment.
 * Karmic Death
 * The Man Behind the Man: The audience knows this, but for a long time the heroes don't realize that he's the one driving Elias, not vice versa.
 * Misanthrope Supreme: He cares nothing for people; they are instruments to him, to be discarded as easily as a pair of old shoes when they are no longer useful.
 * Sinister Minister: Although Pryrates is notionally an ordained Aedonite priest, he does absolutely nothing that resembles the worship of that religion, and is even excommunicated by Lector Ranessin in The Stone of Farewell, not that it does any good.
 * The Starscream: He intended all along to betray his master. It doesn't work out well for him.
 * The Unfettered: He states that he is "what a person who accepts no limits can become."
 * Torture Technician: If his "laboratories" in Hjeldin's Tower are any indication.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: He uses the Words of Changing to adopt a variety of terrifying shapes.

Utuk'ku
Queen of the Norns and the oldest thinking creature in Osten Ard, Utuk'ku rests in the dark mountain of Stormspike like a spider in her web, manipulating events with her indomitable will. She is Ineluki's closest ally and the author of his schemes, and it is her magics that bind the dark forces that allow him to attempt to reenter Osten Ard.


 * The Chessmaster
 * The Dark Chick
 * The Dragon
 * Evil Counterpart: To Amerasu.
 * Evil Is Deathly Cold
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?
 * Winter Royal Lady