This lore breakdown is a helpful resource for understanding the Empyrean series! This lore guide includes spoilers, so please read AFTER you’ve finished Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm.
Includes info from Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm, so this guide is spoiler in nature.
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Introduction to Asher
Asher Sorrengail née Daxton (or as we like to call him, Papa Sorrengail) was Lilith Sorrengail’s husband and father to Brennan, Mira, and Violet.
He was a scribe at Basigath War College and spent his life researching the Isle Kingdoms. He passed away five years before Violet’s conscription day.
His books include, but are not limited to:
- Unnbriel: Isle of Dunne – which he wrote when he was Second Lieutenant Asher Daxton (not long after he graduated, since that is the military rank you get right after graduating from Basgiath)
- Hedotis: Isle of Hedeon – he wrote this as Captain Asher Sorrengail, implying that he and Lilith married some time in between his promotions (They met their third year at Basigath)
- Zehyllna: Isle of Zihnal – written by Major Asher Sorrengail
While those are the only titles we know of, Narelle in Deverralli gave Violet six tomes written by Papa Sorrengail. He risked his and his family’s lives to hide away his life’s work so that Violet could find it.
Speculation about the other three tomes Narelle gave Violet:
We assume one of these Papa Sorrengail books is about the fifth isle Quest Squad did not visit, the isle of Loial, the goddess of love. This still leaves two tomes that we don’t know the contents of. Maybe one is her father’s research on Develleri and the other is the field guide Violet references in Hedotis…?
Asher’s Research in Life and Death
NOTE: While Asher’s last name used to be Daxton, he is NOT Colonel Daxton from “Colonel Daxton’s Guide to Excelling in the Scribe Quadrant.” Rebecca Yarros has confirmed Colonel Daxton is a relative and Asher is a legacy scribe.
Right after graduating from the Scribe Quadrant, Asher Daxton traveled to the different isle kingdoms and learned what he could about them. This included everything from the flora and fauna, to the layouts of the civilization, to a rudimentary dictionary for the location language.
When/before Asher was Captain, he married Lilith Sorrengail and took her last name.
While we don’t know the details of his travel to the isles between being a Second Lieutenant and Major, we know he collected enough research to write six tomes that he would later give to Narelle for safe keeping.
This puts Papa Sorrengail in Deverelli in 631 AU after the summer, a year before he dies. Violet and Halden started dating in summer 631 AU, which is how Narelle must have known about their relationship.
Once the Sorrengail family was stationed at Basgiath (five years before the start of Fourth Wing, six and a half years ago by end of Onyx Storm), Papa Sorrengail began working in the Archives.
In his later years, Lieutenant Colonel Asher Sorrengail researched the Second Krovlan Uprising and its connection to feathertails. This research is titled “A History of the Second Krovlan Uprising—Draft, by Lieutenant Colonel Asher Sorrengail.”
Toward the beginning of his Second Krovlan Uprising research, Asher shared what he was working on with people like Colonel Aetos. But at some point, based on what he was uncovering, this changed and he stopped trusting others with his research. We don’t know exactly what the trigger was, but about six months before he died, Papa Sorrengail suddenly got quiet about his research and became secretive. He did not even tell Violet the exact details of his work.
Before his death, Asher left his work where only his family would know where it was, in the one location he spent the majority of his after-hours time: his and Lilith’s chambers. He knew that if it was left in his scribe office, it would fall into the hands of Aetos or Markham.
Soon after Brennan’s “death” and right around the time the Sorrengails moved to Basgiath, Papa Sorrengail’s heart started failing him. His heart finally gave out and he died four years later. His letter to Violet heavily implies his death was not of natural causes because of the dangerous contents of his research. He knew that there was a high chance that his research may lead to his death.
After his death, he left clues for Violet as another form of protection for his life’s work. He was able to do this by writing in a way that while anyone could read his research, Violet would understand it.
In the first journal Dain retrieved from the Commanding General of Basgiath’s quarters, there was a note about what he was working on and where to go next. It mentioned “the connection between the uprising and the pursuit of feathertails” along with advice on where to “seek the weapon to defeat those you’ve only learned about through lore.”
So at this point in the story, we have a lot more puzzle pieces to Papa Sorrengail’s research. Yay! But, as far as we understand, we don’t have the full picture of WHY his research is so dangerous and secretive… yet.
His Research on the Second Krovlan Uprising
Rumors in academic circles had spread that Cordyn supplied troops and weapons for the second Krovlan uprising that occurred two hundred years ago. However, research led Asher Sorrengail to the isle of Deverelli. Here, he realized Deverelli may not have been the source of the arms, but instead the broker of the deal. This meant an outside isle supported the second Krovlan uprising and used Deverelli as the middleman, thus staying anonymous.
Which then led Asher to the connection with feathertails. Deverelli brokered a deal with Krovla and an unnamed isle that the isle would provide the army for the second Krovaln uprising, and Krovla would provide dragons.
However, the Midnight Massacre happened on December 13, 433 AU, after Krovla failed to provide feathertail dragons to an unnamed isle in exchange for an army.
Violet learned that during the second Krovlan uprising, they weren’t hunting for feathertails because of their gifts… but because they thought they were malleable. To this day, some of the isles still want dragon eggs.
Now we are left with the mysteries of:
- Records of the second Krovlan uprising were ripped out of General Cadao’s journal
- The only book about feathertails is missing from the Archives
- Papa Sorrengail mentions the weapon to defeat the venin, and that the connection between the uprising and the pursuit of feathertails are both alarming and enlighting
- Aetos and Varrish wanted Papa Sorrengail’s research and were extra interested in feathertails (though we know from Rebecca Yarrow that Varrish wasn’t venin)
Need More?
We’ve got 80+ hours of podcast episodes deep diving the first three books of the Empyrean series, lots of bonus episodes, live Q&As, plus our interview with Rebecca Yarros during her Onyx Storm tour!
