The Runelords

Gaborn Val Orden leads an expedition into the heart of the underworld to confront the One True Master of the Reavers, to decide in battle the fate of mankind and of the Earth itself.

Nine years after the events of The Lair of Bones, Gaborn the Earth King finally succumbs to old age and passes on.

In his wake, enemies of the Earth try to take control of the land, and Gaborn's eldest son Fallion, still only a child, must fight to protect his kingdom and his family.

Fallion returns to Mystarria and is tricked into combining his world with another, when he tries to restore a sapling of the 'One True Tree' which has been cursed by Lady Despair.

Rhianna saves Fallion and the 'rescue party' by bypassing Despair's new found "Earth Sense", by not harming any wyrmlings during the rescue.

Borenson and Myrrima arrive back from Landesfallen following the binding of the worlds, at Ox Port, where they are hunted by the wyrmlings, but surreptitiously helped and protected by the local wyrmling leader, Crull-maldor, who hopes to aid Borenson/Aaath Ulber in his prophesied destruction of the emperor Zul-Torac, clearing the way for Crull-maldor to replace him as Lord Despair's side.

The wight exacts vengeance on Borenson/Aaath Ulber after his successful, endowment aided, destruction of the wyrmling forces and lair, by murdering Myrrima.

The universe of The Runelords is well fleshed out, populated by diverse beings, with rich backstories that assist the understanding of the events as described in the books.

It is also revealed that Daylan has a mere four endowments of Brawn, in stark contrast to the legends which claim he has a huge number.

He can sleep buried under soil and commune with the Earth in his dreams or may be granted the knowledge of previously unknown runes and spells.

Legends say that Erden Geboren died without a single wound upon his body but with a heart broken from the swift deaths of many of his Chosen.

The Runelords universe has a number of races and groups: Very little is revealed about the Duskin in the course of the series, though it is known they were great Earth-wizards and craftsmen.

However, in numbers and through the magical granting of endowments, humans have learned to consolidate their strength and stand against other species that could otherwise destroy them.

Reavers are somewhat like insects, communicating through scents and having various "castes" which perform different functions within their "hives", though they do not have a collective intelligence.

Reavers are incredibly hard to kill due to their vast size, armor-like skin and crystalline bones.

The Toth are an extinct race of sorcerers that were thought to be in some way related to the Reavers, though they were more vaguely humanoid and significantly smaller.

The only surviving Toth take the form of wights, deadly ghost-like spirits which dwell in dangerous, wild places and bring icy death with their touch.

Nomen will drop on unwary travelers from a forest canopy rather than attempt a direct confrontation.

While one Days follows their Lord, their counterpart lives in a monastery-type environment in the far north of Orwynne, kept away from anything other than their principal purpose, to compile the life journal of their chosen Runelord.

Rumors and legends abound, though, of some Days or another betraying his vows of noninterference and sharing knowledge with his lord.

Instead, they organize in a loose brotherhood under a High Marshal, and hold themselves to a general devotion to eliminate Wolf Lords and evil from the world.

Indhopal, which takes up most of the southern half of the continent, is much like the historical Middle East, though with a wide variety of societies in the region.

Inkarra is most similar to the Congo region of Africa, with jungles, exotic creatures, and humans that are seen as separate from the others (just as Africans were viewed as separate by both Middle Easterns and Europeans) The nations of Rofehavan are as follows: Indhopal dominates the southwest third of the continent, and much of it is known for its arid deserts.

The nations of Indhopal are as follows: On maps a united realm, Inkarra is rife with kings great and small who constantly scheme for power and place.

Zandaros protested the executions and insulted the Mystarrians, and so a response was sent by skyrider that if the Inkarrans would not patrol the border and catch their own criminals, Mystarria could not be blamed for doing so themselves.

Wizards wield the elemental magics (air, earth, fire, and water), while anyone who knows the proper chants and songs (and uses them along with a rod called a "forcible", made of a particular special metal called "blood metal") can use the magic required to grant endowments.

Endowments of bloodlust and pain are perverse in nature and were devised by the one true master of evil to strengthen her troops and torture the humans, specifically Fallion.

A forcible is a rod cast of a rare material called blood metal, with its tip shaped with the rune corresponding to the endowment to be transferred.

The method of creating forcibles, and the supervision of their creation, is part of the duties of a special class of magician called a facilitator.

With attempted assassination of dedicates being a common and expected tactic in conflict, this makes it all the more important to protect vectors well.