by T.A. Barron
Stars of Avalon
What, truly, are the stars of Avalon? That question has puzzled people through all the ages of this world. Many, like the young wilderness guide Tamwyn, have often gazed up at them, tracing the shapes of favorite constellations: Pegasus, soaring on high; Twisted Tree, stretching endless branches; the Mysteries, glowing with an aura of lavender blue; and the Wizard's Staff, burning bright for centuries after its stars were lit by the wizard Merlin.
Then, without warning, the stars of the Wizard's Staff darkened in the Year of Avalon 1002. One by one, as Tamwyn and others watched in stunned silence, their light vanished. For centuries, people had wondered why the stars dimmed at the end of every day, after a flash of golden light, and why they brightened again every morning. Now they began to wonder something else: whether the stars—and the world they illuminated—would ultimately survive.
Y Swylarna (Airroot)
In this airy realm of Avalon, cloudscapes seem to stretch forever, and aeolian harps play haunting music without beginning or end. Mist maidens spiral in their sacred dancing grounds, faeries create cloud gardens, and the Air Falls of Silmannon rumble ceaselessly. Across the Misty Bridge, designed three centuries ago by the sylph architect Le-fen-flaith, the Veils of Illusion conjure images of whatever fears may be riding the wind. Not far to the north, the Harplands' vaporthread strings respond to travelers' deepest emotions, sounding discordant, harmonious, or conflicting mixtures of both. There are ghostly forests of eonia-lalo ("tree of the clouds" in the language of the sylphs), whose wood resembles frozen mist and whose bark is nearly invisible. Millions of winged creatures soar through this realm when they aren't resting at the Isles of Birds. Yet their songs are no more sweet, no more lilting, than the sounds of the airy realm itself.
The ultimate battle for Avalon: High in the stars, Basilgarrad fights the immortal Rhita Gawr.
Soulfires ablaze, the fire angels led by Gwirion join Tamwyn and the great dragon Basilgarrad.
Dagda
Dagda, deeply revered, is the god of supreme knowledge and wisdom. Together with Lorilanda, goddess of birth and renewal, he rules the Otherworld of the Spirits. As much as they savor the fruits of peace and serenity, they are always working to contain their nemesis, Rhita Gawr, who hungers to control all the worlds.
Bards sing that the young wizard Merlin traveled all the way from Fincayra, during the quest of the Seven Songs, to Dagda's Otherworld home at the mist-shrouded Tree of Soul. The great spirit appeared as an elderly man with a wounded arm—yet despite his frail appearance, his brown eyes seemed as bright as a sky full of stars. As he spoke with Merlin, he toyed with shredsof mist, knotting and unknotting them by a sweep of his finger or a mere glance. While Merlin had the distinct feeling that Dagda was doing much more than reshaping the mist, he also knew that the god would never interfere directly with the fate of mortal worlds. For Dagda believes profoundly in the importance of allowing mortals to choose their own futures, to create their own destinies.
That is why, more than a thousand years after that visit from Merlin, in the great battles for Avalon, Dagda resists the temptation to participate directly. Instead, he chooses to rely upon the courage, perseverance, and wisdom of mortals—especially two young people: a wilderness guide named Tamwyn, and an apprentice priestess named Elli. Joining them are many others, including the solitary eagleman Scree, the brave elf Brionna, the gruff pinnacle sprite Nuic, the irrepressible hoolah Henni, the wise craftsman Palimyst, the winged steed Ahearna, the loyal Drumadian priest Lleu, the shrunken giant Shim, and the ancient dragon Basilgarrad.
Lorilanda
Goddess of birth, flowering, and renewal, Lorilanda is allied with Dagda and is equally revered by the many peoples of Avalon. Together, Lorilanda and Dagda rule the Otherworld of the Spirits. While they greatly prefer times of peace, they must also fight to contain their nemesis, Rhita Gawr. For that warlord spirit desires one thing above all else: to control the realm of the spirits—and all other worlds, as well.
In the earliest days of Avalon, the image of Lorilanda often appeared, taking the form of a graceful doe who brought about important discoveries. One such appearance, in the Year of Avalon 33, encouraged a young lad named Fergus to find the only path (other than through portals) connecting the realms of Stoneroot and Woodroot. Perhaps Lorilanda is also watching over Elli, Nuic, and Tamwyn when they follow that very same path nearly a thousand years later.
Rhita Gawr
This powerful warlord of the spirit realm continually battles Dagda and Lorilanda for control of the Otherworld. Yet that is far from the extent of his ambitions. His true desire is to tear apart the threads of the universal tapestry, luminous threads created over many eons, and to weave them into his own design. Nothing less than controlling every mortal world will satisfy him. That is why he has long sought to conquer two worlds in particular: Fincayra, the island connecting mortal and immortal, and Avalon, the Great Tree whose branches touch every world.
Having failed to conquer Fincayra—thanks to the young wizard Merlin and his allies—Rhita Gawr turns all his attention toward Avalon. By the time of the dreaded Year of Darkness, he has won the allegiance of the sorcerer Kulwych, whose task is to obtain, through whatever means necessary, a pure crystal of vengélano—a substance with unlimited powers of destruction. Rhita Gawr has also gained the loyalty of some of Avalon's most battle-hardened creatures, including ogres, gnomes, trolls, changelings, and gobsken—as well as the flamelons, who worship him as a fiery god of renewal. In addition, he is rapidly opening the doorways from the Otherworld into Avalon—doorways through which he and his army of immortal warriors can invade. Then he can enter Avalon, taking the form of an enormous dragon as mighty as the famous Basilgarrad. Rhita Gawr is certain that he will triumph. For no one—surely not Tamwyn, whom he recognizes as the clumsy young spawn of Merlin—can possibly stop him.
Otherworld of the Spirits
… To save the lives of the two people he loved most, Merlin found the secret pathway called the Otherworld Well.
The Otherworld is home to immortal spirits such as Dagda, god of supreme wisdom; Lorilanda, goddess of birth and renewal; and Rhita Gawr, god of war and conquest. It was beyond extraordinary that a mortal man would ever voyage to the Otherworld, especially one so young as the boy Merlin—but that was just what he did in the quest of the Seven Songs. To save the lives of the two people he loved most—his mother, Elen, and his sister, Rhia—Merlin found the secret pathway called the Otherworld Well. His journey was recorded in The Seven Songs of Merlin:
As I followed the Well deeper, something about the mist began to change. Instead of hovering close to the stairs as it had near the entrance, the mist pulled farther away, opening into pockets of ever-changing shapes. Before long the pockets expanded into chambers, and the chambers widened into hollows. With each step downward the many vistas broadened, until I found myself in the middle of an immensely varied, constantly shifting landscape. A landscape of mist.
In wispy traces and billowing hills, wide expanses and sharp pinnacles, the mist swirled about me. I glimpsed deep canyons, running farther than I could guess. And great mountains, moving higher or lower or both ways at once. Strange shapes floated throughout, beckoning me to come nearer. And through it all, mist curled and billowed—always changing, always the same. Or was it really mist? Was it, perhaps, made not of air and water but something else? Something more like light, or ideas, or feelings? This mist revealed more than it obscured. It would take many lifetimes to comprehend even a little of its true nature.
So this was what the Otherworld was like! Layers upon layers of shifting, wandering worlds. I could plunge endlessly outward among the billows or travel endlessly inward in the mist itself Timeless. Limitless. Endless.
Arthur (King Arthur)
After the struggles, triumphs, losses, and gains of his Lost Years, the wizard Merlin was ideally suited to become the mentor of this young king. For King Arthur needed more than just guidanc
e in how to rule a troubled realm on mortal Earth. He needed to build bridges between different faiths, just as Merlin's mother, Elen, had done, finding strength in the new religion of Christianity as well as the ancient religion of the Druids—along with the wisdom of the Jews, the Greeks, and others. He needed to communicate with royalty and aristocrats as well as craftsmen and peasants. He needed to speak the language of written texts as well as that of trees, rivers, and stones. And he needed to understand the darker sides of humanity, which make us fall on our swords—as well as our lighter sides, which help us reach for the stars.
In Merlin, Arthur gained all this . . . and more. For Merlin taught this lad about courage, power, and honor—and even sent him (disguised as Factor) to the lost world of Fincayra. Most important of all, Merlin inspired Arthur to create Camelot, a new society founded on a radical ideal—the ideal of justice for all people. The wizard understood that, even if Camelot failed in its own time, it might yet succeed in a future time. As Merlin explained to his younger self, who had traveled to the future through Fincayra's magical Mirror: "A life—whether wizard or king, poet or gardener, seamstress or smith—is measured not by its length, but by the worth of its deeds, and the power of its dreams."
Excalibur
Never has a sword claimed a greater destiny than Excalibur. Wrought by the magic of Merlin, protected by the Lady of the Lake, and wielded by King Arthur, it represented the highest ideals of Camelot—ideals as indestructible as its blade.
Camelot
In this faraway realm on mortal Earth, young King Arthur joined his mentor, the great wizard Merlin, to create a new society based on the ideal of justice for all people. Although they knew that the realm might not succeed, Merlin declared, "A kingdom that is banished from the land may yet find a home in the heart." And that is precisely where Camelot has lived—and thrived—to this very day.
During his Lost Years on Fincayra, Merlin gained considerable wisdom, born of losses as well as gains, tragedies as well as triumphs. And he also found a sword—the sword that he would place in a stone for the future king. And so he brought to Camelot a true understanding of human weakness . . . as well as greatness. He also brought some rather unusual ideas for teaching the young king: He planned to turn Arthur into a fish, to teach him about power; and into a bird, to teach him to see beyond human boundaries. On top of this, he brought an ability to live backward in time (which he'd learned from Gwri of the Golden Hair).
As much as he had hated to leave Fincayra, his first true home, Merlin knew that this world held his higher destiny. He would always love Fincayra, and the newer world of Avalon that would grow from the magical seed he had planted just before departing. But Camelot, even as an idea, also claimed a piece of his heart. For Camelot could be, in time, a place of great hope and inspiration—a place that would honor the best in humanity, just as it would honor the land that people would someday call Merlin's Isle.
Earth
… The fates of these worlds may well be connected in surprising ways.
Homeland of humanity, Earth is a world of stark and subtle contrasts. It holds sublime beauty as well as horrid ugliness; it contains both mortal and immortal qualities; it knows both the short reach of human memory and the long reach of geologic time. There is war, poverty, and destruction of the very planet that supports all living creatures. And yet there is also natural wonder, diversity of life, and the most lovely expression of the human soul. Throughout history, humanity's qualities of creativity, compassion, generosity, courage, and wisdom have struggled against the darker sides of human nature: arrogance, greed, bigotry, ignorance, and hostility. In the end, the fate of this world rests with humanity's ability to choose its own future, to create its own destiny, through free will.
In all these ways, Earth is perhaps not so different from the worlds of Fincayra and Avalon—worlds that exist in between mortal and immortal, physical and spiritual. And the fates of these worlds may well be connected in surprising ways. Perhaps that is why the greatest wizard of all times, Merlin, chose to make Earth his home. For despite its many troubles, Earth remains a place that inspires our highest hopes.
Year 0:
Merlin plants the seed that beats like a heart. A tree is born: the Great Tree of Avalon.
Year 1:
Creatures of all kinds migrate to the new world, or appear mysteriously, perhaps from the sacred mud of Malóch. The first age of Avalon, the Age of Flowering, begins.
Year 1:
Elen of the Sapphire Eyes and her daughter, Rhiannon, found a new faith, the Society of the Whole, and become its first priestesses. The Society is dedicated to promoting harmony among all living creatures, and to protecting the Great Tree that supports and sustains all life. The new faith focuses on seven sacred Elements—what Elen called "the seven sacred parts that together make the Whole." They are: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, LightDark, and Mystery.
Year 2:
The great spirit Dagda, god of wisdom, visits both Elen and Rhia in a dream. He reveals that there are seven separate roots of Avalon, each with its own distinct landscapes and populations—and that their new faith will eventually reach into all of them. With Dagda's help, Elen, Rhia, and their original followers (plus several giants, led by Merlin's old friend Shim) make a journey to Lost Fincayra, to the great circle of stones that was the site of the famous Dance of the Giants. Together, they transport the sacred stones all the way back to Avalon. The circle is rebuilt deep in the realm of Stoneroot and becomes the Great Temple in the center of a new compound that is dedicated to the Society of the Whole.
Year 18:
The Drumadians—as the Society of the Whole is commonly called, in honor of Lost Fincayra's Druma Wood—ordain their first group of priestesses and priests. They include Lleu of the One Ear; Cwen, last of the treelings; and (to the surprise of many) Babd Catha, the Ogres' Bane.
Year 27:
Merlin returns to Avalon—to explore its mysteries, and more important, to wed the deer woman Hallia. They are married under shining stars in the high peaks of upper Olanabram. This region is the only place in the seven root-realms where the lower part of Avalon's trunk can actually be seen, rising into the ever-swirling mist. (The trunk can also be seen from the Swaying Sea, but this strange place is normally not considered part of the Great Tree's roots.) Here, atop the highest mountain in the Seven Realms, which Merlin names Hallia's Peak, they exchange their vows of loyalty and love. The wedding, announced by canyon eagles soaring on high, includes more varied kinds of creatures than have assembled anywhere since the Great Council of Fincayra after the Dance of Giants long ago. By the grace of Dagda, they are joined by three spirit-beings as well: the brave hawk, Trouble, who sits on Merlin's shoulder; the wise bard, Cairpré, who stands by Elen's side throughout the entire ceremony; and the deer man, Eremon, who is the devoted brother of Hallia. Even the dwarf ruler, Urnalda, attends—along with the great white spider known as the Grand Elusa; the jester Bumbelwy; the giant Shim; the scrubamuck-loving creature, the Ballymag; and the dragon queen, Gwynnia; plus several of her fire-breathing children. The ceremonies are conducted by Elen and Rhia, founders of the Society of the Whole, the priest Lleu of the One Ear, and the priestess Cwen of the treelings. (Babd Catha is also invited, but chooses to battle ogres instead.) According to legend, the great spirits Dagda and Lorilanda also appear and give the newlyweds their everlasting blessings.
Year 27:
Krystallus Eopia, son of Merlin and Hallia, is born. Celebrations last for years—especially among the fun-loving hoolahs and sprites. Although the newborn is almost crushed when the giant Shim tries to kiss him, Krystallus survives and grows into a healthy child. While he is nonmagical, since wizards' powers often skip generations, his wizard's blood assures him a long life. Even as an infant, he shows an unusual penchant for exploring. Like his mother, he loves to run, though he cannot move with the speed and grace of a deer.
Year 33:
The mysterious Rugged Path, conn
ecting the realms of Stoneroot and Woodroot, is discovered by a young lad named Fergus. Legend tells that Fergus found the path when he followed a strange white doe into the high peaks. Given how mysteriously the white doe appeared, she might really have been the spirit Lorilanda, goddess of birth, flowering, and renewal. The legend also says that the path runs only in one direction, though which direction—and why—remains unclear. Since very few travelers have ever reported finding the path, and since those reports seem unreliable, most people doubt that the path even exists.
Year 37:
Elen dies. She is grateful for her mortal years and yet deeply glad that she can at last rejoin her love, the bard Cairpré, in the land of the spirits. The great spirit Dagda himself, in the form of an enormous stag, appears in Avalon for the sole purpose of guiding her to the Otherworld. Rhia assumes Elen's responsibilities as High Priestess of the Society of the Whole.
Year 51:
Travel within the Seven Realms, through the use of enchanted portals, is discovered by the wood elf Serella. She becomes the first queen of the wood elves, and over time she learns much about this dangerous art. She leads several expeditions to Waterroot, which culminate in the founding of Caer Serella, the original colony of water elves. However, her final expedition to Shadowroot ends in complete disaster—and her own death.
Year 130:
A terrible blight appears in the upper reaches of Woodroot, killing everything it touches. Rhia, believing this to be the work of the evil spirit Rhita Gawr, seeks help from Merlin.