Time

This planet and its sun are positioned where the northern territory, the Burn, gets constant sun and the southern part of the planet, the Shade, doesn’t get any sun.

Aurora Ribbons, which are the silver ribbons in the sky, determine what time of day it is. It’s Dae when the Aurora Ribbons are in the sky and Slumber (aka night) is when the Ribbons are not in the sky. 

One Aurora Cycle is equivalent to our 24-hour day and one phase is 1,000 Aurora Cycles—think of phase as a year, but it’s 1,000 days instead of 365.

The Gods 

This world’s version of the Gods are called the Creators! There are 5 Creators, and over 5 million phases ago they used their songs to create the world:

• Bulder, the God of Ground, created the globe and sculpted everything
• Rayne, the Goddess of Water, coated the world with water and frost
  • Note: Rayne is in love with Bulder
• Clode, the Goddess of Air’s, soft words rustled leaves, while her shrieks churned the sea
• Ignos, the God of Fire, loved Clode so fiercely that he did everything to impress her, from blazing jungles to volcanic blasts

While the world was taking shape, the fifth and final God, Caelis the God of Aether, watched on in jealousy of the other Creators physical ability to be seen/felt. But from his emptiness is where life bloomed, from people to all sorts of creatures like the dragons. When the dragons were ready to end their eternal lives, they flew skyward, curled up into balls, and calcified into moons. It was said that Caelis wrote a silver book from which came the runes. 

“Others fell upon a silver book some say Caelis wrote in his desperation to be heard. Who found a different form of power in those runes nobody could read or pronounce, discovering that the strange markings could be wielded. Could mend bones, charm blood, glamour objects . . .”

After the world’s beloved moons (dead dragons) began to fall crashing into the world. The other gods discovered it was Caelis to blame and they trapped the Aether God in the Aether Stone, and to this day, it is in that diadem where he remains. The story behind this diadem slowly became a myth, until one Aurora Rise where for the first time in more than 5 million phases, a Moon fell again.

In these past 23 phases, 3 moons have fallen:

• Orvah, a small Saberthyth in the Burn a little over 8 phases ago
• A Moltenmaw in the Fade that crashed into and broke part of the wall
• Slátra, a Moonplume, who fell in the Shade 23 Phases ago and Elluin Raeve fell with her

Elemental Magic

The main type of magic in this world is Elemental magic, which is magic gifted to individuals from the Creators. 

The more fluent the wielder is at speaking and understanding their Creator’s songs, the more powerful their magic will be AND the more effective they are wielding it. Most people who hear the elemental songs can only hear one, maybe 2 if they are lucky, but there are very rare cases for people hearing more.

Each Creator has an associated color with their elemental magic to indicate to others that they can hear any of the elemental songs. These colors are worn in the form of a bead on the person:

• Red bead – Ignos (fire)
• Blue bead – Rayne (water)
• Clear bead – Clode (air)
• Brown bead – Bulder (ground)

Runi

Runi’s are someone who has learned how to wield symbols. This runic language was found in an ancient tomb that some believe Caelis (God of Aether) wrote in his desperation to be heard.

Runi’s wear a white bead and/or white cloaks with buttons down the front that are stamped with the different symbols that announce the Runi’s talents. For different levels of skill, the buttons are made from different materials, including: wood, gold, and diamond.

Other Abilities

There are also other magical abilities that someone can have like the very rare Mindwefts, who have the ability to dig into people’s minds like mindreaders!

We know of two in the story. One is Vruhn who is the owner of a Curly Quill in Dohmm and had a whole lot to say to Raeve. The other is the one Veya came across (and won the bangle from), who claimed to be able to read this language and has read the Book of Voyd. This Mindweft told Veya that she will use this bangle twice and both will be extremely painful.

Nulls

A null is someone who doesn’t hear any of the elemental songs. 

In the Fade and Shade, their ears are clipped to show this – and it reflects that they are “less than” citizens. These two kingdoms’ rulers value strength and power, which they consider nulls not to be. In the burn, Nulls are given opportunities to become Runis or apprentices.

Dragons

There are three types of dragons.

In the north are the Sabersythes, these are the dragons that live in The Burn. They LOVE the heat and cannot survive for long in the fierce cold of The Shade. Kaan’s dragon, Rygun, is a Sabersythe.

Then there are the Moltenmaws, which are The dragons that live in The Fade. They can travel anywhere in the world comfortably and are the easiest dragons to charm/steal an egg from.

The last type of dragon is the southern region’s Moonplumes or the dragons that live in The Shade. They CANNOT handle the sun or their skin burns and they will go blind. Elluin’s dragon, Slátra, was a moonplume and so is the smaller dragon Raeve has taken under her protection, named Liri.

Velvet Trogg

Velvet Troggs are large, lanky creatures that like to hoard and feast on trash. They consume memories from the bits of trash they eat and purge them as luminous, sticky tendrils they pull from holes in their hands, using these tendrils to decorate their lairs. This is the type of creature that Veya had to get her magic identity stealing bangle back from.

NOTE: Sarah A Parker has confirmed that there are multiple Velvet Troggs that are spread throughout the land!

Miskunn

These are small knee-high creatures that can see into the future, though these visions are sporadic and are subject to change. Meaning what they see isn’t guaranteed to pass.

Fate herder

The Fate Herder is a large silver feline-like creature that is more legend than reality. Those who have seen it are often considered crazy or delusional, boasting stories about the beast nudging them to make a different decision than the one they’d intended. However it grows less and less ‘solid’ as its intended ‘outcome’ becomes more and more likely.

This creature showed up when Raeve was in the botanic plains and the tribe took that to mean Raeve’s offspring would tether the moons to the sky. 

Additional Creatures

These are creatures introduced early in When the Moon Hatched that we have theorized about.

• Waif: Rare, lanky, fog-like creatures that haunt drapes of mist where they nibble souls in exchange for messages from the dead. 
• The Elding Bird: A mythical bird-like creature born from ashes and flames. This creature is the symbol of the Fíur du Ath. The glass orb that the Elding Blades have contains a depiction of the Elding Bird hatching in flames. 

The Burn

The far north kingdom is The Burn where it is sunny and very hot. There are rainforests, sandy plains, and large bodies of water. It storms often here and is actually the only territory that gets rain.

Burn locations to remember include: 

• Dhomm – Capital city of the Burn and the location of the imperial stronghold. It is actually a pretty great place to live, despite what Raeve previously heard.
• Botanic Plains – Home to the warrior clans including the Johkull Clan. This is where Raeve accidentally wound up, thanks to the Fate herder, and had to partake in the Tookah Trials. Here, Kaan has declared Raeve is greater than him with six pounds to his chest.
• Gondragh – The Sabersythe nesting grounds. This is where Kaan dropped Grihm off in When the Moon Hatched after he requested leave to go after the Great Silver Sabersythe’s eggs.

The Burn kingdom was previously ruled by King Ostern Vaegor, a cruel male who valued strength and power. It is now ruled by King Kaan Vaegor, the king’s youngest son and thanks to Kaan’s changes the Burn is a much better place to live now.

NOTE: Kaan became king by beheading his father. He was pissed off that his father was responsible for Elluin’s family’s deaths by poison.

The Fade

The Fade is the middle third of the world and much colder than the Burn. It often snows or sleets, but never rains, and the territory is encircled by a massive stone wall built by Bulder and most of the population lives within it.

Main locations in the Fade include:

• Gore – The capital city of the Fade. The kingdom of The Fade used to be a Creators-blessed place to live, but everything changed when Cadok became king and only cared about military might.
• The Undercity – It’s a large divide in the ground directly below Gore, beneath the wall of the Fade and in an abandoned dragon bloodstone mine. The undercity has become the slums of Gore and is known as a dangerous place to live or visit 
• The Wall – A massive stone wall that circles The Fade like a belt running parallel from east to west as far as the eye can see. This is where most of the Fade’s population lives and the segment of the wall that dedicated to the Fade’s army is called Drelgad (It houses the fresh conscripts)
• Bhoggith – The Moltenmaw nesting grounds.

This middle region of the world is ruled by King Cadok Vaegor. Cadok is the twin to Tyroth Vaegor and son to the late king of the Burn, Ostern Vaegor. Cadok is Married to Dothea Vaegor, together they have a son, Prince Turun who’s current location is unknown. 

Since taking over the throne, Cadok has focused on growing the military might of the Kingdom. The main way he has done this is by conscripting young elementals as soon as they start hearing the creators songs.

In the Fade there is a rebellious group called the Fíur du Ath. Who are working to counteract the tyranny, with a focus on The Fade. The group is run by The Elding, a mysterious unknown person. This is the group that our FMC Raeve works for as an “Elding Blade” aka she’s an assassin. Her boss is Sereme, a high-ranking member in the group. Their headquarters are somewhere called the Flourish, which is somewhere “south”.

The Shade

As the southernmost third of the world, The Shade is forever cast in darkness with the only light being from the aurora ribbons and the Moonplume moons. It’s VERY cold and always covered in snow.

Main locations in the Shade include:

• Arithia – The capital city of the Shade 
• Netheryn – The nesting grounds of the Moonplumes

The Shade used to be ruled by King Ahdrik and Queen Eudora Neván, parents of Headon and Elluin Raeve Nevan. The maternal side of this family is tied to the Aether Stone.

The Shade is under King Tyroth Vaegor’s reign, who rules alone since his queen, Elluin died. He is twin to Cadok Vaegor and brother to Kaan Vaegor, the Burn’s king. The princess of the Shade is Kyzari Vaegor, who is actually the daughter of Kaan and Elluin/Raeve.

Tri-Council

This is a council of ancient people, comprised of tri-beaded elementals (fae who can hear three elemental songs, which is extra special and rare) and very knowledgeable Runis. They hold some sway over the kingdoms because of the council’s power and sometimes intervene in political matters.

They reside in Bothaim, a neutral city between The Fade and The Burn that does not fall under the rule of any king or queen. 

NOTE: We know of at least one character going to Bothaim so he can “get a look at that book”. Roan, who is Pyrok’s brother, is an alchemist and while we haven’t met him yet, we can STRONGLY assume we will see him in Ballad.

NOTE 2: When we asked Sarah A Parker if there was anything she could say about the book, she told us “I can tell you absolutely nothing about any of this but I CAN promise you’re going to get these answers in Ballad.“

War is Looming

The Fade and Shade are working together against Kaan. The twins have their eye on the Burn which has valuable, untapped Bloodstone. Dragon Bloodstone is the ore that is mined from the ground in areas where dragon blood was spilled and then fossilized. It’s the currency of the Fade and Shade and is used in all three kingdoms for its medicinal properties, which Sarah has told us prolongs already long lives.

We don’t know much about Tyroth’s army in the Shade, but we do know that Cadok has spent at least 125 phases building up a military and only caring about strength and power in the Fade. There is good news, the Burn does have an army that can ALMOST rival the Fade and Shade, but it has taken Kaan a long time to build up his forces because unlike, at least, Cadok, he doesn’t believe in forcing his citizens into conscription.

This war will be detrimental to the whole world, and as Kaan puts it “A battle would puncture our world and scatter the skies with many more moons.” It’s unknown when this war will break out, but Veya has made it clear that if Raeve/Elluin being alive comes back to the twins, they will use Kyzari against her and fuck everything up and ignite this war that they are all carefully dancing around right now.

Missing Queen

Fade Queen hasn’t been heard of since Raeve “escaped” her execution. This is only after her husband Caddok caught wind of her trying to stop it, especially since the prisoner was a Fíur du Ath member. We also know that she used to sneak people out of the Fade and (assumably) into the Burn. By the end of the book we still don’t know where the Queen is or if she is safe and alive

Raeve’s Silver Scar / Veya’s Mission

Back in the Burn, Agni (the skilled royal fleshthread with dragonsight) tells Veya of the silver scar above Raeve/Elluin’s heart. 

This silver scar was not mended by a fleshthread and would be a killing blow no matter what. Which is NOT what everyone, including Veya and Kaan, have been led to believe about Elluin’s death. The world was told that Elluin died in childbirth. 

Recognizing that evidence and Tyroth’s story aren’t adding up, Veya set out to find Elluin’s diary and figure out what happened.

Kyzari’s relationship to Caelis

Kyzari has been able to hear the Creators since the dae she was born, this is NOT normal! She wore iron to block them out her entire childhood, but eventually when she was about 98 phases old, she took the iron necklace off and began listening to and learning Caelis’ song. When she listened she learned way more than she expected to and eventually fell in love with the God of Aether, and now she wants to set him free.

Then 23 phases ago, when Kyzari was around 100, two phases after she started understanding Caelis, Slátra’s moon fell. This is the first moon to fall in more than five million phases.

Kaan has spent that whole time tracking down all of Slátra’s moon shards and bringing them back to his shrine in the Burn, where he now has almost all of her pieces but a small section on her back. He did this because he can’t stand to know that she isn’t whole and he knows that Elluin would hurt to know that Slátra’s moon was scavenged and spread out across the world. We know that the Scavenger King raided Slátra’s crater and took a bunch of shards along with Raeve, who remembers seeing them from her cell get carted off.

Slátra is not the only moon that has fallen! A Moltenmaw fell, large enough to destroy a chunk of the wall surrounding the Fade. Then, eight phases ago, Orvah, the small Sabersythe moon fell in the Boltanic Plains and the Johkull Clan moved into its crater and now honors the small moon.

NOTE: We don’t know if these other two dragon moons were special to Kyzari or if they were just random.

Kaan

Kaan Llúk Vaegor is the oldest legitimate Veagor sibling. 

Kaan’s pah, Ostern, didn’t treat Kaan well at all. When Kaan was a child and it was discovered that he could only hear 2 of the Creators’ songs his father shipped him off to the Boltanic Plains to live with the Johkull Clan. Claiming that if Kaan survived he MIGHT earn his father’s respect.

This choice backfires against Ostern and after climbing up the Clan ranks all the way to the top as Oah (King) Kaan goes back to his father and cuts off his head before feeding it to his dragon, Rygun. This is when Kaan takes his place as King of the Burn and starts implementing changes for the better. The main reason Kaan killed his father is because he found out King Ostern was behind Eluin’s family’s murder and Kaan sought revenge on her behalf.

Last we see of Kaan, he is in the Imperial hutches with Raeve, where he tells her that he will arrange everything for her to leave. He points Raeve to the neutral city of Bothaim, where she can lie in wait for Rekk to come back through there instead of kill Rekk here in the Burn and launch everyone into a war.

Elluin/Raeve

Elluin Raeve Neván is the former queen of the shade, bonded to Tyroth Vaegor. Elluin died during childbirth, or as we later learn, had a killing wound to the heart after Kyzari was born. 

Backing up a little bit, when Elluin was 18 phases old her Mah, Pah, and brother, Haedon, were poisoned after her father refused to marry her off to Tyroth Vaegor. After her parents died, Elluin was severely depressed and forced to move to the Burn, on the opposite side of the plant then she’s used to. Here she meets Kaan and together they have a whirlwind romance that ends with a note where Elluin tells Kaan Tyroth is a better match for her. But little does Kaan know that this was only because his father threatened the life of Kaan and Veya that Elluin agreed to bond the other brother. That and the fact the she was pregnant and Ostern made her lie about who the father was.

Fast forwarding just a bit, Elluin gives birth to Kyzari and some how some way it ends in her death, Its notable that a Bloodlace is called to the Shade, most likely to test Kyzari’s blood And it would not be good, instead leading to Kaan’s child, not Tyroth 

After elluin’s death, The Aether Stone is placed on Kyzari’s brow (literally as a BABY) Slátra scooped up elluin and together they fly into the sky and become a moon where they stayed for 100 years But for reasons WE DON’T KNOW their moon falls and Elluin wakes up as Raeve

For a while Raeve is in a cell held captive by the Scavenger King where eventually she escapes (still don’t know how) and finds her way into Gore Here she meets Sereme and joins the Fíur du Ath

She has no recollection of Elluin or her past life, but there are little glimpses: Like that her name is Raeve – which was elluin’s middle name,, how she is so drawn to Kaan, and has memory flashes.

By the end of the book, she has accepted that Elluin used to exist – but she still doesn’t know who specifically Elluin was. She knows is that she had a Moonplume named Slátra, was in love with Kaan and loved their home in the Burn, had secrets, and left Kaan and their happiness to bond with someone else. She still doesn’t know she is of the Neván line, used to be shade royalty, was married to Tyroth, and has a daughter named Kyazri

At the end of the book Raeve is in Bothaim after she kills Rekk while under the control of the Other and has started to form a relationship with Rekk Zharos’ Moonplume Líri.

Pyrok 

Pyrok is the brother of Roan and is known as the unhelpful member of Kaan’s council. Even his glossary entry just says “A not-very-helpful member of King Kaan’s Imperial Court. Sibling of Roan.” He welds Ignios and ALWAYS has a drink in is hand. 

By the end of the book we know that Pyrok is still in Dhomm. Kaan sent him a parchment lark to move Vruhn, the only mindweft in Dhomm into a safe house.

Roan

Roan is Pyrok’s brother, who we did not meet on the page in book 1. He is a very talented alchemist, and is currently in Bothaim. Bothaim is the neutral city where the tri-council is located.

He left without saying anything and he went there to try to get a look at “that book again.” He’s certain there are more pages that haven’t been transcribed and released to the public.

By the end of When the Moon Hatched, Roan’s been gone for weeks and Kaan is getting worried about him

NOTE: We at FFG strongly believe this book is the Book of Void (which was Caelis’ book). However we don’t know for sure what book this is BUT Sarah herself has confirmed we will learn in Ballad. 

Ghrim

Ghrim is Kaan’s second in command. Last we see him, he asked Kaan to take leave so he can attempt to steal one of the eggs rumored to be laid by the Great Silver Sabersythe, Ahra.

Veya

Veya is the youngest Veagor and only daughter, and she was Ostern’s least favorite child.

Many many phases ago, Veya partook in her own Tookah Trial and after winning she gave herself to the Creators so that she couldn’t be forced to go through another one but because of this her twin brothers whipped her back. She has a close relationship with Kaan and was very close with Elluin before she was bonded to Tyroth.

Veya has left the Burn to go find Elluin’s diary and by the end of the book she uses her identity stealing bangle to take the form of one of Tyroth’s maids, sneaks into Elluin’s old room and finds her diary. In which she learns that Kyzari is Kaan’s daughter and NOT Tyroth’s!

At this point, all we know is that Veya is currently still in the Shade and has to sneak back out of the kingdom, and get back to the Burn.

Scavenger King

In the epilogue we meet the Scavenger King, aka Arkyn Vaegor, who is actually the oldest* son of Ostern Vaegor, tho we don’t know who his mother is. He is also the person who held Raeve captive and gave her the name “Fire Lark.”

Arkyn is extra pissed that Kaan stole his revenge for himself, we can assume that revenge is killing Ostern. He wants what he believes is “rightfully” his: the bronze throne and the Kingdom of the Burn.

 *This is why we think he’s the oldest Vaegor son – he thinks the Burn, which used to be his father’s, is rightfully his.

We don’t know exactly HOW he plans to take the Burn throne for himself but we do know that his plan now involves his niece, Kyzari, who he has sign a blank parchment lark that he sends to Kaan and not her “doting pah” so it’s safe to assume that even Arkyn doesn’t know who Kyzari’s real father is. On this lark Kyazri writes within her signature “Kill the sadistic fuck” as a way to tell Kaan she’s in trouble. The Scavenger King notices but sends it anyway.

Kyzari

Kyzari is princess of the Shade, daughter of Elluin Raeve Neván and everyone believes her father is Tyroth Vaegor, King of Shade but, secretly, Kaan Vaegor is her father.

Kyzari is the current wearer of the Aether stone. The stone holds Caelis, the God of Aether, who Kyzari has fallen in love with and wants to set free. She knows something about this Creator, something she learned from listening and learning his songs, but unfortunately we do not know what specifically she learned.

Growing up, Kyzari was very sheltered, to the point where everyone believes Tyroth is an extremely protective father but that’s not the case. Kyzari had a hard childhood, she was physically punished during her lessons if she wasn’t perfect and eventually she said enough is enough and devoted herself to the Creators as well as took an Oath of Chastity. She is also set on freeing Caelis and it is prophesied that she, as Elluin/Raeve’s offspring, will tether the moons to the sky forever.

We can assume that during her travels from Gore, where we first saw her in the book, somehow the Scavenger King had Kyzari fall into his clutches leaving her imprisoned by the Scavenger King. Who is presumably near/in The Pits of Khindard, where Raeve used to be held prisoner by the Scavenger King.

In that last chapter we also see that Nee finally made its way back to Kyzari cementing that Raeve is indeed Elluin and that the Lark was meant for her.