Guardians of Ga'Hoole

by Kathryn Huang

  DIGGER: Male Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia, formerly Speotyto cunicularius). Digger is from the Desert Kingdom of Kuneer. He met the rest of the Band when he was wandering alone, lost in the desert after an attack by a St. Aegolius patrol in which his brother was killed. Quiet and contemplative, Digger is the philosopher of the Band. He is a member of the tracking chaw as well as the Chaw of Chaws.

  Owls of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree

  CORYN: Male Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Born on the night of an eclipse, Nyroc was the much-awaited son of Nyra and Kludd. From birth he was strictly trained, under Nyra, to become High Tyto, leader of the Pure Ones. However, his destiny was to know the paths of both good and evil, and to choose one. At that choosing, he rejected the evil ways of the Pure Ones and renamed himself Coryn. He went on to retrieve the powerful Ember of Hoole from the Northern Kingdoms and claim his place at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree as its rightful king.

  OTULISSA: Female Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis). Writer, ryb, collier, weathertrix, and consummate scholar, Otulissa is an owl of all trades. She is a direct descendant of the famous weathertrix Strix Emerilla. She has a strong academic bent and is the repository of much knowledge, not all of it useful. She is a loyal friend to those dear to her, and can be lethal in close combat. Her learning makes her an essential member of the Chaw of Chaws. She also has played a crucial role in the education of young Coryn.

  MARTIN: Male Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus). As a young student at the great tree, Martin was double chawed with Soren and Otulissa in weather interpretation and colliering. His small stature belies his prowess in battles and on missions. He is a member of the Chaw of Chaws.

  RUBY: Female Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus). Ruby lost her family under mysterious circumstances and was brought to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree at a young age. She is perhaps the best flier of all the owls at the tree, and easily became an expert weather interpreter and collier. She is also a member of the Chaw of Chaws.

  EGLANTINE: Female Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Soren and Kludd’s younger sister, Eglantine was brought to the tree during the Great Downing. At the tree, she was reunited with Soren and Mrs. Plithiver. As she was recovering, she came under the malign influence of Ginger, a refugee from the Pure Ones, and became shattered. In a courageous attempt to save the tree from danger, she stole, but then accidentally broke, Nyra’s first egg.

  PRIMROSE: Female Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium californicum). Primrose was rescued from a forest fire and brought to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree the same night that Soren and the Band arrived. When Eglantine was rescued in the Great Downing, Primrose quickly became her best friend. Though small in size, she showed great daring and courage as she discovered the reason for Eglantine’s strange behavior—and saved Eglantine and the tree.

  BORON: (deceased) Male Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, formerly Nyctea scandiaca). Even though many owls referred to Boron as the King of Hoole, he was, in reality, the last steward of the great tree. Boron, along with his mate, Barran, acted as the head of the Hoolian parliament of owls.

  BARRAN: (deceased) Female Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, formerly Nyctea scandiaca). Often referred to as the Queen of Hoole, Barran was a kind and wise leader. She was also a distinguished search-and-rescue ryb. She, along with Boron, passed away shortly before the arrival of Coryn, the true king.

  EZYLRYB: (deceased) Male Whiskered Screech Owl (Megascops trichopsis, formerly Otus trichopsis). Ezylryb was the wise and intrepid weather-interpretation and colliering ryb at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. He was born Lyze of Kiel. Before coming to the Great Tree, Ezylryb fought in the War of the Ice Claws in which he was severely wounded and lost his beloved mate, Lil. After the war, he retreated in grief from worldly affairs. He spent many seasons at the Glauxian Brothers’ retreat, where he studied weather and colliering extensively, finally leaving to pass on all he had learned to the owls at the great tree. He was Soren’s mentor and considered him a son.

  STRIX STRUMA: (deceased) Female Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis). The dignified navigation ryb at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, Strix Struma was fierce in battle and led a crack group of fighters known as Struma’s Strikers. She had a proud and ancient lineage and was a well-respected veteran of the Battle of Little Hoole. She was struck down in the ferocious fighting against the Pure Ones during the Battle of the Siege.

  SYLVANA: Female Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia, formerly Speotyto cunicularius). Sylvana is the young tracking ryb at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. By all accounts, she is a very good teacher.

  MADAME PLONK: Female Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, formerly Nyctea scandiaca). Madame Brunwella Plonk is the elegant singer of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. She comes from a long line of Snowies from the Plonk family who are famous for their beautiful voices. She is an owl in thrall of bright geegaws and enjoys the fineries offered by Trader Mags.

  BUBO: Male Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Bubo is the blacksmith and the metals ryb at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. He is often described as unusually large for a Great Horned Owl. He has been a great friend and confidant to Soren. His greatest invention has been the NAST (Nickel Alloy Super Talons).

  Other Friendly Owls

  HORTENSE (also known as Mist): Female Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis). Hortense was snatched at an early age from her home in the Kingdom of Ambala by a St. Aegolius patrol. At St. Aggie’s, she attempted to subvert the oppressive system by rescuing and restoring stolen eggs, and aiding Soren and Gylfie in their escape. Soren and Gylfie witnessed what they believed to be her death, but later discovered that she did not die, and is one and the same as the mysterious owl called Mist now living with the eagles Streak and Zan.

  THE ROGUE SMITH OF SILVERVEIL: (deceased) Female Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, formerly Nyctea scandiaca). Sister of the very refined Madame Plonk, and one of many scattered blacksmiths not attached to any kingdom in the owl world, she lived and worked alone in Silverveil. She became a valuable ally to the Guardians when she provided them with information about the Pure Ones.

  SIMON: (deceased) Male Brown Fish Owl (Bubo zeylonensis, formerly Ketupa zeylonensis). A pilgrim owl of the Glauxian Brothers of the Northern Kingdoms, and sworn to help all those in need, Simon unwittingly nursed Kludd back to health after he was badly injured. An ungrateful and diabolical Kludd then turned on his caregiver and murdered the kindly Simon.

  CLEVE OF FIRTHMORE: Male Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis). Cleve is a member of the noble family of Krakor and a student of medicine at the Glauxian Brothers’ retreat in the Northern Kingdoms. Upon meeting Cleve, Otulissa felt her gizzard go a-twittering. She was quite taken with the dashing, noble Cleve—until she learned he was a pacifist.

  DUSTYTUFT: (deceased). Male Greater Sooty Owl (Tyto tene-bricosa). Dustytuft, like all Sooties, was a low caste member of the Pure Ones. He bemoaned his fate of always being given the worst, dirtiest chores to do, until he was singled out by Nyra, and chosen to become the special friend of Nyroc, future High Tyto. He learned too late the horrifying purpose of this special friendship that was encouraged by Nyra. Dustytuft is also known, by Phillip.

  GRIMBLE: (deceased). Male Boreal Owl (Aegolius funerus). Grimble was captured as an adult by the St. Aggie’s patrols. He did not want to cooperate with their oppressive regime, but the leaders of St. Aggie’s threatened his family with capture—or worse—if he did not lend his considerable muscle and fighting skills to their schemes. He rose to heroism when he aided Soren and Gylfie in their escape by teaching them how to fly.

  TWILLA: Female Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus). Once a skog, Twilla lost her entire clan during the War of the Ice Claws, and became a Glauxian Sister. She was acting as an attendant for Ifghar when she met Gylfie and Otulissa at the Glauxian Brothers’ retreat. She rescued Gylfie from kraals in the Northern Kingdoms when they had captured the Elf Owl to gather information about the Guardians’ planned invasion of the Pure Ones’ stronghold.

  GWYNDOR: Male Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae). Gwyndor was a Rogue Smith summoned by the
Pure Ones for the Marking Ceremony over Kludd’s bones. Upon meeting Nyroc, the wise Rogue Smith suspected the young owl had firesight, and was destined for a future much different than that planned for him by his mother.

  Snakes and Other Birds

  MRS. PLITHIVER: A blind snake, “Mrs. P.,” as Soren calls her, was formerly the nest-maid for Soren’s family. When Soren made the journey to the great tree, he brought Mrs. Plithiver with him. She is now a member of the harp guild there and has attained the rarefied position of sliptween.

  OCTAVIA: A Kielian snake, Octavia is the nest-maid for Madame Plonk, and was for Ezylryb when he was alive. She came to the tree with Ezylryb after the War of the Ice Claws in which she was blinded. She knew Ezylryb and his difficult history better than anyone else. She is also a member of the prestigious harp guild.

  HOKE OF HOCK: A Kielian snake, Hoke of Hock is the retired supreme commander of the stealth unit of the fighting snakes of the Kielian League. He flew with Lil, Ezylryb’s mate, during the War of the Ice Claws. He proved to be a great ally to the Guardians as they prepared for their invasion of the Pure Ones’ stronghold.

  TRADER MAGS: Trader Mags is a Magpie and a traveling merchant—part tramp, part collector, and all original. She gathers and trades scraps of fabric, bits of broken crockery, crystals from broken chandeliers, books (whole or in part), bright pieces of stained glass—in short, anything pretty—from the ruins of the mysterious vanished race known only as the Others.

  STREAK and ZAN: Hortense could not have saved all those eggs from St. Aggie’s had it not been for the help of a pair of bald eagles named Streak and Zan. After Hortense’s fall from the cliffs of St. Aggie’s, it was Streak who caught her. He and Zan then nursed her back to health.

  Known Enemies

  IFGHAR: Male Whiskered Screech Owl (Megascops trichopsis, formerly Otus trichopsis). Ifghar is the younger brother of Ezylryb. During the War of the Ice Claws, he betrayed the Kielian League and became a turnfeather. Ifghar was hounded for his traitorous behavior, and long after his brother’s departure was accepted as a refugee at the Glauxian Retreat. He is accompanied by Gragg, a Kielian snake, who is bound in service by loyalty to him.

  DEWLAP: Female Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia, formerly Speotyto cunicularius). Once the Ga’Hoolology ryb at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, Dewlap had deep respect for the history of the great tree and would have done anything to preserve it. Unfortunately, she made a traitorous choice that imperiled the tree and all the owls in it. Consequently, she was exiled to the Glauxian Sisters’ retreat.

  Leaders of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls

  SKENCH: (deceased) Female Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Skench was the tyrannical Ablah General of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, a place where young owls were moon blinked and trained to forget their homes, their families, and their own true selves. She was forced to join forces with the Guardians when St. Aggie’s was taken over by the Pure Ones.

  SPOORN: (deceased) Male Western Screech Owl (Megascops kennicottii, formerly Otus kennicottii). Spoorn was the first lieutenant to Skench, and second in command at St. Aggie’s.

  The Pure Ones

  KLUDD: (deceased) Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Kludd was Soren and Eglantine’s older brother. From birth, he was fascinated by power and was soon attracted to a group calling themselves the Pure Ones. The Pure Ones believed that Barn Owls were a superior species of owls, and that Barn Owls had been granted by nature the right to rule, tyrannically, over all the other species of owls. He was killed by Twilight in a fierce fight during the Guardians’ invasion of the Pure Ones’ stronghold.

  NYRA: Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Nyra was Kludd’s mate. After Kludd’s death, she took control of the Pure Ones and imparted her viciousness to all her followers. She is the mother of Nyroc/Coryn, whom she intended to groom into the perfect Pure One, a new High Tyto. But her son proved to be a poor student of evil. Coryn recently revealed that he suspects his mother is a hagsfiend.

  WORTMORE: Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Wortmore is a Pure Guard lieutenant. He follows orders no matter how foul.

  STRYKER: Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Stryker is a Pure One lieutenant major under Nyra.

  UGLAMORE: (deceased) Barn Owl (Tyto alba). Uglamore was a Pure Guard sub-lieutenant serving under Nyra. He was not always comfortable following her orders and silently questioned the principle of Tyto superiority. His doubts led him into strange and dangerous territory, and to a destiny far nobler than any he could have imagined.

  A Brief Glossary of Useful Words

  bisshen: v. (Krakish) to speak

  bonk: adj. the strongest, most energetic fires

  botkin: n. special bag for transporting ice weapons

  breaklight: n. the meal owls enjoy at the end of the night, just before the break of dawn

  chaw: n. a small team of owls with a specific set of skills; chaws at the Great Ga’Hoole Tree include navigation, search-and-rescue, weather interpretation, colliering, tracking, Ga’Hoolology, and metals

  chaw-chop: v. to drop an owl from his or her chaw for an indefinite period of time, which is very humiliating

  churr: v. to laugh

  collier: n. a carrier of coals

  creelies: n. heebie-jeebies

  Deep Gray: n. just before dawn, when the black has faded but the sun has not yet spilled even the first sliver of a ray over the horizon

  dwenk: v. (of the moon) wane; a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size

  fire blink: v. when an owl becomes transfixed by the light of a raging fire and goes yeep

  firesight: n. the ability to see events that take place in faraway places or in the future in flames

  fleckasia: n. the collective effect of flecks on the owl brain and gizzard

  flecks: n. the smallest bits of an ironlike metal considered more precious than gold, prized by the owls of St. Aggie’s and the Pure Ones for its ability to interfere with an owl’s navigation abilities

  flint: v. to have value

  flint mop: n. the Ga’Hoolian form of punishment; roughly means to do something to pay back for the value that had been taken away

  fliv: v. to flirt

  frink: v. a rude word that means to severely irritate, as in “it frinks me off”

  frisen: n. (Krakish) friend

  fryke: exclamation. (Krakish) command for “freeze”

  Ga: n. great spirit

  gadfeather: n. an owl who travels from one region to the next with no planned destination and no real home; known for their singing as well as their garish ways

  gallgrot: n. gall, mettle

  gazooling: n. the noisy chatter of young owls

  give it a blow: exclamation. lighten up

  gizzard: n. considered the second stomach in owls, often called the muscular stomach, it filters out indigestible items such as bone, fur, hair, feathers, and teeth; it compresses the indigestible parts into a pellet; also an invaluable emotional guide, an owl’s most profound feelings are attributed to it

  gizzlemia: n. a blankness of the gizzard, which leads to a malfunction of the brain

  gizzuition: n. the ability to understand something immediately from the gizzard without the normal reasoning processes

  glaumora: n. owl heaven

  Glaux: n. owls’ Higher Being

  gleek: v. to goof off; mess around; act up; as in “gleeking about”

  Glowworm: n. a particular kind of coal valued for its density of heat

  gollymope: n. a depressed state or one in such a state

  goodlight: exclamation. what owls say to one another just before going to sleep for the day

  graymalkin: n. bad owl

  grog tree: n. a tree where owls gather to drink and socialize

  grot-ghot: n. (Krakish) native

  gunden: adj. (Krakish) good

  hagsfiend: n. demonlike bird from the time of legends, thought to be extinct; larger than most owls and having some characteristics of crows; be
lieved to have powers of nachtmagen

  hagsmire: n. owl hell

  hireclaw: n. an owl who lives apart from other owls, not belonging to any particular kingdom, who hires him- or herself out for battles

  Hoolespyrrs: n. swirling, deceptive winds over the Sea of Hoolemere

  Hoolian: n. the common language of the Southern Kingdoms

  hordo: n. (Krakish) snake