Erna is a primarily hospitable environment; although a planet with severe and intense seismic activity, it is similar enough to Earth to allow for habitability.
This is an energy that the native animals of Erna sense and utilize to help them survive (i.e. the Fae is often able to tell a Sensitive individual when an earthquake is coming or if the tides are about to shift).
It was only by a Great Sacrifice, the loss of all the technology and knowledge the colonists had brought with them, that humanity came to terms with the Fae, at least enough to learn a rudimentary level of control over the power.
For a few hundred years, humanity has managed to eke out a scant existence on the harsh surface of Erna, keeping an uneasy balance with the Fae.
Mankind grows weary of its tumultuous battle with the energy-force however, and multiple organizations try to find ways to render the human psyche unable to mold the Fae.
One of these groups was the Church of Human Unification, an organization that sought to bring mankind together in prayer to accomplish two things: 1) make the Fae recognize man as a regular race on Erna, allowing them to live in harmony with the energy, and 2) allow for a human afterlife by bringing mankind to the bosom of a God that either already exists, or will be made by the power of the faith of man, and the Fae it will mold.
The primary difference is Erna's severe seismic activity; earthquakes, large or small, are a common phenomenon on virtually every corner of the planet.
The night is dominated by three moons, of differing sizes; the erratic lunar schedule created makes mapping the tides of Erna almost impossible.
The Western lands are more populated in the eastern and southern portions of the continent, the east centralized around the port city and human hub of Jaggonath.
To the west are the Rakhlands, a wild, untamed testament to the old nature of Erna, where the aboriginal species of the rakh live.
The southernmost portion of the South-Eastern continent are colloquially referred to as the blacklands, a deserted patch of cracked, black terrain that is notoriously uninhabited and hostile.
He is highly experienced in combat, having traveled all over the Western Continent battling demons and malignant Fae-Constructs in service of his Church.
She is more flexible in regards to the teachings of their faith, and believes that it may actually be of use to the Church for certain priests to be allowed to Work the Fae, just as the Neocount of Merentha once suggested.
Damien is part of the order of knights she enlisted with the task of learning to Work the Fae, and to teach the ability to fledgling warriors across the world.
In traveling with the fallen Prophet, Gerald Tarrant, his initially stern views on right and wrong are tested and warped, as he is forced to accept the help of and to save the life of an individual he normally would have died to kill.
A group of mysterious demons, later revealed to be Rakh, assaults her in Black Sun Rising, sapping her of her memories and Adeptitude, thus setting Damien and Senzei on a quest to the Rakhlands to hunt down her assailant in hope of Ciani's resulting restoration.
In a spurt of madness induced by the Iezu Calesta, he steals a vial of Sacred Fire (pure, liquified solar fae) from Damien, believing it would give him the powers of an Adept.
After starting off hostile towards him and the other group members, she develops an uneasy friendship with Damien and follows him to the Eastern Continent, even though the threat there was not necessarily of her concern.
In encountering the young Adept Jenseny, she discovers a strong maternal side to herself, coming to love and care for the lost little girl as if she were her own.
In the end, she gives her life to allow Damien and Jenseny a chance to survive in the harsh lands of the Undying Prince.
A womanizing, booze-guzzling, pill-popping miscreant, his brothers and sisters all pressured him to change his ways, which he refused to do, being addicted to the thrill of it all.
Andrys would come home one day after that to discover his entire family brutally and mercilessly slaughtered, Tarrant appearing to tell him that he was only left alive to ensure the survival of his line.
He is instilled with a very powerful need for revenge, that the Patriarch of the Church helps him realize, joining the latter's campaign to eliminate the Hunter once and for all.
In the end, he gives his life for the sake of mankind: he dies to ensure that the will of man cannot touch the Fae, unless he is willing to endure death for it.
She serves as the primary antagonist of the first book of the trilogy, being the one who sent the Soul Stealers to Ciani's shop to steal her essence.
Using his immense abilities with the Fae, he transfers his soul from one body to another when needed, keeping his original preserved in a subterranean capsule.
It is this ability that offsets Gerald Tarrant's initial attempt to end him, changing bodies when the Prophet made his move.
A damned Tarrant manages to kill the demon by forcing his altruistic intent upon Calesta at the climax of the novels.
It follows seismic activity and currents of lava flow, but the Fae that generates directly from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is far too concentrated and volatile for humans to manipulate without allowing it time to dilute.
If any sorcerer attempts to handle Fae made by an earthquake or eruption, his or her mind is instantly and painfully incinerated.