History Characters / LastHeraldMageTrilogy

[[center:[-[[Characters/HeraldsOfValdemar Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DeitiesAndGeneralCharacterTropes Deities and General Character Tropes]] | [[Characters/MageWarsTrilogy Mage Wars Trilogy]] | [[Characters/LastHeraldMageTrilogy Last Herald Mage Trilogy]] | [[Characters/CollegiumChronicles Collegium Chronicles]] | [[Characters/BrightlyBurning Brightly Burning]] | [[Characters/VowsAndHonor Vows and Honor]] | [[Characters/ExileDuology Exile Duology]] | [[Characters/ArrowsTrilogyAndRelatedBooks Arrows Trilogy and Related Books]] | [[Characters/MageWindsAndMageStorms Mage Winds and Mage Storms]] | [[Characters/DariansTale Darian'sTale]]-]]]

This subsection of the Characters/HeraldsOfValdemar CharacterSheet involves characters from the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy''.

!Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron and Companion Yfandes
* TheAce: Easily the most gifted Herald of his generation, and one of the most powerful mages ever to exist. On top of that he has striking good looks, connections, musical talent, and enough diplomacy and charm to act as King Randi's official representative. But underneath the "Vanyel Demonsbane" of legend is a [[BrokenAce hurting, tired, and often very lonely man]].
* AesopAmnesia: Vanyel has a bad habit of forgetting that he needs to open up and emotionally depend on people. All three books have him re-learn the lesson after closing himself off and nearing the brink of a mental breakdown. Partially justified due to Tylendel's death and in later books PTSD.
* TheArchMage: The last in Valdemar for a very long time.
* {{Ambadassador}} By ''Magic's Price'', Vanyel has become much in demand as a diplomat, probably because of the massive respect engendered by his magical powers and battlefield heroics.
* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Subverted; Vanyel could possibly count his number of lifetime lovers on one hand (no more than two hands) and is basically celibate by the time he reaches his thirties.
* AllGaysArePedophiles: Explicitly averted. People (at least Withen and anyone influenced by him) seem convinced that he's after underage and barely-legal males and view the amount of time he spends with them as suspicious. His detractors are wrong: he just has a soft spot for troubled youth (possibly due to his own miserable childhood and adolescence).
* AlmightyJanitor: Vanyel has no rank in the Circle. He's supposed to be just a Herald. But his personal power and reputation is so formidable that he can act with near Royal Authority without anyone objecting.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: He mentions once that he will protect Valdemar even after his death if he can. He does; he and Yfandes become the spirit guardians who 'haunt' the northern border, and Stefen later joins them. Centuries later, at the end of ''Storm Breaking'', they all move on -- though we're not told whether they've gone to the Havens at last or decided [[{{Reincarnation}} to come back]].
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Vanyel operates as the de facto King's Own, mostly because his power and legend has grown so much that people naturally respect and fear him, according him respect beyond most Heralds.
* BadassInDistress: While held captive by a group of thugs.
* BattleCouple: Averted with both of his partners, where one of the pair would not have powers.
* {{Bishounen}}: Vanyel is very striking and pretty, even more than some women.
* BlessedWithSuck: How he feels about his Gifts in between getting them and being trained in them. He still sometimes feels this way, but his sense of duty keeps him from too much despair.
* BusmansHoliday: Vanyel vacations in Forst Reach for a rest and both times gets dragged into a magical conflict that ends with him nearly dead.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Vanyel and Liss deliver a much-deserved tirade to Withen in ''Magic's Pawn''.
* CampGay: Vanyel in ''Magic's Pawn'' (his father knew he was gay because he liked music and fancy clothes), and, to a lesser degree, in ''Magic's Promise'' and ''Magic's Price''.
* ChosenConceptionPartner: He fathered several children at the adoptive parents' bequest, starting two [[SecretLegacy Secret Legacies]] among the Tayledras and the Valdemaran royal family. In Valdemar's case, the fact that he was openly gay disguised the fact that he and Shavri were Jisa's real parents.
* ColorCodedEyes: Silver eyes, symbolizing his beauty and his remote nature: his power sets him apart.
* CoveredWithScars: By the beginning of ''Magic's Promise'', he has collected numerous "decorations" from knives, swords, mage-fire, electricity, a demon trying to eat his heart, etc., uzw., and so forth.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: By the end of ''Magic's Price'' his hair is more silver than black, matching his eyes.
* DanceBattler: Based on descriptions of his combat style.
* DeaderThanDead: Even death doesn't stop Vanyel from sticking around protecting Valdemar's northern border. He, along with Yfandes and Stef, finally burn out as part of the team that holds off the final Storm, freeing them at last from centuries of duty (though of course they can always come back).
* DeadpanSnarker: Yfandes. She's especially snarky when dealing with Vanyel's angsting, though of course he gets her back when he can.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Thanks to Tylendel in the first book and Stefen in the third.
* DoomedByCanon: His death was revealed in ''Arrows of the Queen''.
* TheDreaded:Karsites of his own generation considered him the epitome of Valdemaran witchery. Later generations have elevated "Vanyel Demonrider" to the status of legend, warning their children to behave or Vanyel will get them.
* DreamCrushingHandicap: Wanted to be a Bard, but didn't have the Bardic Gift or talent for composition[[note]]To get into the Bardic Academy you need two out of three things; the talent for musicianship, the talent to compose music, and the Bardic Gift[[/note]]. Tylendel (who has sources in Bardic)later tells Vanyel that if Van wasn't his father's heir the Bardic Academy would have snapped him up for minstrel training in a heartbeat.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Vanyel dreams of his battle with Leareth years before it happens.
* DrivenToSuicide: Fortunately interrupted both times.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Vanyel has pale skin and blue-black hair, and when he comes into his power, even his allies find him a little scary.
* FamedInStory: To the point that everyone in Valdemar knows who he is, his epithets and is more than a little terrified of him.
* {{Gayngst}} He feels it a ''lot'' in ''Pawn''. By ''Promise'', he's mostly concerned with the pragmatic effects of having a reputation for homosexuality in a somewhat homophobic culture.
* GoToAlias: Valdir the scruffy minstrel, of the Go-to Identity variation.
* GuardianEntity: Vanyel, Yfandes and eventually Stefen become the guardians of the Forest of Sorrows, protecting Valdemar's northern border for centuries.
* HeelRealization: When Stefan interferes with a massive RoaringRampageOfRevenge in ''Magic's Price''.
* HeroicBSOD: In ''Magic's Pawn'', after Tylendel's death, and in ''Magic's Price'' after being tortured and assaulted by a gang hired by the BigBad Leareth. The main plot of ''Magic's Promise'' is kicked off by Vanyel getting sent to Forst Reach for a holiday because almost everyone who gets a good look at him realizes he's on the verge of this from sheer exhaustion and probable PTSD.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Vanyel and Yfandes die together [[TakingYouWithMe in a Final Strike]] that eliminates Leareth and his army.
** Done again in ''Storm Breaking'' as he, Yfandes and Stef burn themselves out shielding Firesong and Sejanes from the final Storm.
* HonoraryUncle: Tries to get Stefen to consider him that early in ''Magic's Price'', due to him being good friends with (and actually slightly younger than) his actual nephew. This is also his official status to Jisa, but it slips towards actual fatherly support due to both Randale and Shavri having other issues on their plate by the time she's six and also because, due to Randale's infertility, Vanyel is Jisa's biological father.
* HurtingHero: ''Hoi''... By the end of ''Magic's Pawn'', Van has found purpose and identity as a Herald, but his own peace and happiness comes at a distant second to Duty, and he's only too aware of it. It only gets worse in the next two books.
* IceQueen: During a large chunk of the first part of ''Magic's Pawn'', with the appropriate metaphors and everything.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Poor(?) Melenna.
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: During ''Promise'' and ''Price'' he does his best to avoid having lovers, or even close non-Herald friends, knowing that his enemies would harm them just to get to him.
* ItsPersonal: A recurring motivator.
** In his own trilogy, he goes particularly hard after mages who have killed his fellow Heralds. This nearly backfires on him when Leareth provokes him into a rage and takes advantage of his inattention to trap him.
** In "present-day" Valdemar, after centuries as a deterrent against enemy mages, he gets personally involved in ''Winds of Fury''. This makes sense because Mornelithe Falconsbane, the current BigBad, was Leareth -- or more correctly, both men were the ancient sorcerer Ma'ar. Later, in ''Storm Breaking'', he and Yfandes are among the many who help end the final Storm which Ma'ar helped start.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Much of the point of ''Magic's Pawn'' is to coax the gold out of his jerk act that he constructed to protect himself from being hurt.
* LastOfHisKind: The titular last Herald-Mage
* LivingLegend: By the second book, even Heralds are awestruck by him.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Vanyel has trouble making friends partially because his legend had grown so much that even fellow Heralds are ''afraid'' of him. Most of his closest friends knew him before he became famous and the few people that get close to him after that can be counted on one hand (Jisa, Medren and Stef).
* LoverAndBeloved: He's twice Stefen's age, and for this reason among others tries very hard to stick strictly to a mentorship role for quite a while, only Stefen isn't having it. Van himself was a Beloved to Tylendel, which meant he depended on his lover for everything. Their closest associates quickly pointed out how unhealthy it was.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He has this reaction in ''Pawn'' after seeing the results of giving Tylendel Savil's spellbook, and again in ''Price'' after killing two semi-innocent people along with their brutal associates.
* MagicKnight: He can fight magically, physically, or both.
* MindlinkMates: With Tylendel and Stefen.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: When his [=MindSpeech=] first wakes up, he can't shield out anyone's thoughts, so he hears how most of the other Heralds would rather he had died and Tylendel had lived. This leads to him almost being DrivenToSuicide, but luckily [[InterruptedSuicide Yfandes and Savil stop him.]]
* MysticalWhiteHair: Like all Adepts, Vanyel's use of node magic bleaches his hair white. It's implied that his good looks, striking white hair and silver eyes gives him a fey and otherworldly look, contributing to his air of power and unapproachability.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Vanyel's sheer effectiveness in the Karsite Border War (in particular his ability to turn the Karsite demons against their masters) is what sparks the religious upheaval in Karse, their progrom against magic and their enmity against Valdemar. He's singlehandedly responsible for current state of the ForeverWar between Karse and Valdemar.
* OneManArmy: Destroys a powerful mage (who was actually [[BigBad Ma'ar]]), four of his apprentices and an entire invading army almost single-handedly. (He needs Yfandes' help to overpower Leareth but still)
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Has enough power that he could potentially level Haven (Valdemar's capital).
* PhraseCatcher:
** At the beginning of ''Magic's Promise'', he is repeatedly met with "You look like hell". He ''does'', having just gotten back from a year on the front lines filling in for ''five'' other Herald-Mages at once.
** After the Karsite War, almost everyone who meets him for the first time starts listing his names. "Demonsbane, Shadow Stalker, Hero of Stony Tor"
* PowerIncontinence: Due to the traumatic way his Gifts were awoken, Vanyel originally had no control over his powers. He accidentally shook the palace foundations, nearly killed a friend and drove half the Collegium to tears in the space of a night.
** During the Karsite War, Vanyel is always on edge and can easily lose control of his powers if startled. One Herald makes a semi-serious joke about him accidentally leveling the palace and he once destroyed a bathhouse in a NoodleIncident.
* ProfessionalSexEd: His father hires him a female prostitute in an attempt to [[CureYourGays cure his homosexuality]].
* PsychicPowers: He has the full slate of Heraldic Gifts along with the Mage Gift. He can even use magical energy to boost his mental abilities. On one offscreen occasion he killed a man with his mind; the experience was so traumatic that he never did it again.
* RapeAsDrama: After his capture by a sadistic gang in ''Magic's Price''.
* RedBaron: Demon's Bane, Shadow Stalker, The Hero of Stony Tor...
* ReincarnationRomance: With Tylendel/Stefen.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He goes on a couple of these: first, after a magically-altered creature kills Savil, and second, after a group of thugs rapes and tortures him, both in ''Magic's Price''.
* SafetyInIndifference: At the start of ''Magic's Pawn'' Vanyel finally decides to cut himself off from all emotion as a way of dealing with his emotionally abusive father exiling him to a strange city. This is reflected by his ice dream, and eventually leads to him opening up to [[ClosetKey Tylendel.]]
** [[AesopAmnesia Bounces back into this]] by ''Magic's Price'' as the deaths of many of his friends and lingering wounds from Tylendel's death make it too tempting for him to retreat into Duty and not let anyone get too close.
* SecretLegacy: He is the ancestor of the Valdemaran royal line ''and'' a line of mages in Clan k'Treva. While the k'Treva mages know their heritage, the Valdemarans do not.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Unstated but very much there by the second book. He's on a hair trigger, shows DeathSeeker tendencies, has trouble coping with the deaths of his friends and has a GuiltComplex over it. By the third book, he's retreating into himself over untreated emotional problems.
* ShroudedInMyth: To the later generations. The song ''Demonsbane'' (about the battle of Stony Tor) is a good example of his folk hero status. In it he takes on a nobleman backed by a wizard, demons, and thirteen armed men single-handed and wipes the floor with them just to make a point.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Savil thinks Van would be better off he were a little less pretty. He doesn't agree.
* SuperpowerLottery: He won it. But since the price of his lottery ticket was Tylendel, he would have rather have not entered at all.
* TookALevelInBadass: When the trilogy starts, he's a fop with no manifested powers of any kind. By the second book, he's probably the most effective warrior in Valdemar. By the third, he's a PersonOfMassDestruction.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: His latent Gifts are ''blasted'' open. The complications from that much psychic pain on top of everything else nearly kills him.
* TroubledButCute: He's got looks... but he's such a mess of open emotional wounds that a look is all you'll get. He even tries to close himself off from those who literally share his mind -- Yfandes and Stefen -- because he thinks they won't understand.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: Even though the stress of the job seems to be nearly killing him (and it's only a matter of time before an enemy does him in for real), he can't quit protecting Valdemar through his work as a herald.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: ''Silver'' ones, which he gets from his mother, along with the rest of his good looks.
* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: Yfandes knew the moment she Chose Vanyel that she would share his fate. She Chose him anyway.]]

!Herald Trainee Tylendel Frelennye and Companion Gala
* ClosetKey: For Vanyel
* DiabolusExMachina: Like whoa.
* DirtyMindReading[=/=]SexByProxy: An ill-planned attempt unlocks all his psychic gifts too early.
** Apparently he tried to do this with his Companion in a moment of loneliness. She never let him forget it.
* DrivenToSuicide: He kills himself on the same horrible night Vanyel's powers awaken and he is Chosen.
* FeudingFamilies: The Frelennye family are mortal enemies with the Leshara family, locked in a cycle of {{revenge}}. Lendel even admits that the Frelennyes started it but thinks the inciting incident was too minor for the Lesharas' reprisal.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Until he met Vanyel, Tylendel shied away from lovers and relationships due to a bad first time.
* GenkiGirl: Gala, from what little we see of her, is a playful and energetic filly. It makes it all the sadder and more shocking when she coldly renounces Lendel.
* HeroicSacrifice: Gala.
* HotBlooded: A mild example. Tylendel is certainly intense about everything (loving Van, supporting his brother, learning magic) and also has a habit of rushing into things, against the advice of everyone around him.
* IOweYouMyLife: Stavan kept him sane for months after his gift awoke and before he was Chosen. Due to that, Tylendel feels like he owes Stavan a debt which is why he supports his brother even when he shouldn't.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Serves as this to Vanyel. Unfortunately he's oblivious to his status as such at first, and when Savil brings it to his attention he chooses to ignore it. When he dies, Vanyel is left completely adrift.
* MindlinkMates: Lifebonded with Vanyel.
* MyGreatestFailure: The Heralds themselves seem to consider him this, especially Savil, his trainer.
** [[spoiler: His greatest regret after his death was leaving Vanyel all alone.]]
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Second only to Vanyel. Before he was Chosen, Tylendel would drop into a trance, lose control of his Gifts and wake up in a massive crater. One wonders how powerful he would have been had he survived to become a full Herald-Mage and how terrifying the pair would be had they ever fought together.
* PowerIncontinence: He suffered this before he was Chosen. As he's not fully trained, it crops up in moments of emotional stress. [[spoiler: Like when Stavan died]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against the Lesharas [[spoiler:after Stavan is killed]]
* SuperpowerLottery: Second only the Vanyel. Most Heralds have one or two powerful Gifts. Tylendel had 4 or so (Mage-Gift, Mindspeech, Fetching, Empathy) all at near-equal power.
* ThickerThanWater: Constantly excuses and supports his brother. It moves into MoralMyopia to everyone's frustration.
* TwinTelepathy: With his brother Stavan.
* UnPerson: Zigzagged. To the Heralds he is a painful symbol of their failure, to the point where Stefen notices they won't even say his name. The ''Companions'', on the other hand, remember him clearly -- Dallen, for example, has a completely unromanticized picture of him which reminds him not to let Mags go without support the way everyone ignored Lendel.

!Herald-Mage Savil Ashkevron and Companion Kellan
* BloodBrothers: Is a Wingsister to clan K'Treva, and is especially close to Starwind.
* CassandraTruth: Realizes that the deaths of the other Herald-Mages are not accidents, but murders. Vanyel refuses to believe her until it's too late.
* CoolOldLady
* DeadpanSnarker: Extremely so. It can occasionally work against her as she comes across as extremely caustic to people who don't know her.
* {{Foreshadowing}}[=/=]IdiotBall: we don't find out Moondance's history until the third book, but if Savil had remembered it during the final stages of Tylendel's arc, she would have been a lot more prepared for, or might even have averted some of, the worst parts of [[spoiler:Tylendel's end/Vanyel's beginning as a Herald-Mage]]. Noted in that it's implied to be one of the things she calls herself out on, after she gets Vanyel to the Tayledras.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Savil's FatalFlaw. Savil cannot navigate complicated emotional scenarios and often has trouble reading people in general, rarely looking past a surface level analysis. As a result, she underestimates the problems of both Vanyel and Tylendel to disastrous consequences.
* {{Mentor}}
** MentorOccupationalHazard: She is murdered in the third book. It's done explicitly to drive Vanyel into a fury and set him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone?: After narrowly adverting Vanyel's suicide attempt in ''Magic's Pawn'', Savil grimly realizes that ''all'' of this could've been avoided had she realized Vanyel's deeply rooted problems as opposed to treating the boy like a nuisance, and she vows to treat him much better.
* NoSocialSkills: Savil is blunt, lacks tact and puts her foot in her mouth. Her DeadpanSnarker tendencies don't help as she can be unintentionally hurtful with her quips.
* {{Reincarnation}}: A Companion named Sayvil pairs up with Kerowyn in ''By the Sword'' and is broadly hinted to be Savil reborn. Later confirmed by WordOfGod off-screen.
* ResentfulGuardian: How she treats Vanyel at first in ''Magic's Pawn''. To Savil, she has more important things to do with her time than babysit and chaperone her "spoiled little nephew" and doesn't hide to Vanyel how much she hates having him around and how inconvenient his being there is. Unsurprisingly, [[DrivenToSuicide when life takes a tragic turn for Vanyel]], he's very reluctant to accept Savil's help.
* SecretKeeper: Vanyel had to tell her about his children at the end of ''Magic's Promise'' after finding out that a spell that can kill anyone in a given bloodline with mage-potential had been set as a trap in the Lineas palace.

!Starwind k'Treva
* BondCreatures: His bondbird
* MagicalNativeAmerican
* MindlinkMates: With Moondance

!Moondance k'Treva
* [[AndThatLittleGirlWAsMe ...And That Young Boy Was Me]]: Due to having a ThatManIsDead situation to the person he was before he met Starwind, he does this each time he tells someone about his younger years.
* AttemptedSuicide: was dying from this when Savil found him; in an effort to help she brought him to the Tayledras. He met Starwind and the rest was history.
* BondCreatures: His bondbird
* MindlinkMates: With Starwind

!Brightstar k'Treva
* CallingTheOldManOut: A downplayed version, but definitely present in his only on-screen appearance in ''Magic's Price''. When Starwind and Moondance are reluctant to leave the Vale to save Vanyel from Leareth's leech-blade, Brightstar steps up to shame them both into going.
* [[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies]]: Actually three considering a third guy sired him.
* RaisedByDudes: Averted.

!Lord Withen Ashkevron
* AbusiveParents: Withen has a narrow and homophobic view of what a man should be, and holds a good deal of anger and frustration towards Vanyel for not fitting the mold. He treats the teenaged Vanyel very harshly and orders Jervis to "toughen him up" by any means necessary, driving Jervis to break Vanyel's arm during a training bout. He mellows in later books, but it understandably takes years for him and Vanyel to form anything resembling a positive relationship.
* CureYourGays: He actually hires a (female) prostitute for his fifteen-year-old son in order to "cure" him. It doesn't work.
* HiddenDepths: Turns out to be a decent politician when he moves to Haven.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Angrily arrives at Haven to give Savil a verbal beatdown for allowing Vanyel to carry on a relationship with another boy, but his attitude does a complete one-eighty upon seeing that Tylendel's suicide, the forcible awakening of his Mage abilities, and Vanyel's own suicide attempt had turned Vanyel into a broken, sickly mess.
* ShipperOnDeck: To Vanyel and Stef surprisingly. He was the one who ordered that Vanyel and Stef be roomed together.
* TookALevelInKindness: Is notably more calm, easygoing and accepting of Vanyel in ''Magic's Price''.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Vanyel spent most of his childhood alternately resenting and trying to win the approval of his father.

!Lady Treesa Ashkevron
* AbusiveParents: While she's not nearly as bad to Vanyel as Withen and Vanyel is in fact her favorite child, she spoils and coddles him while using him to indulge her own desire for courtly romance. None of this helps his emotional stability much, especially since Treesa is incapable of standing up to Withen's abuses of Van.
* HystericalWoman: Actually seems to take pride in it.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Maybe.]] Vanyel views her as hysterical and weak willed but he's biased and the fact remains that she encouraged his interests and protected him in her own way. When Stefen meets her, she's calm, composed and polite to Yfandes. She even endures a mage attack with grace. It's up in the air whether she's SilkHidingSteel, ObfuscatingStupidity or CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass.
* WellDoneSonGuy

!Mekeal Ashkevron
* AbsurdlyYouthfulFather: He's thirteen or fourteen when he gets Melenna pregant with Medren. In addition, he had six children with his wife during the twelve-year TimeSkip between the two first books, so his oldest true-born child may not be that much younger than Medren.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To Vanyel in ''Magic's Pawn''.
* GenerationXerox: Is the spitting image of Withen. It's a family trait apparently.
* OlderAndWiser: In ''Magic's Promise'' and ''Magic's Price''.

!Melenna
* EarnYourHappyEnding: After years as HopelessSuitor for Vanyel, and almost as long as a single mother to HeroicBastard Medren: [[spoiler: at the end of ''Magic's Promise'', Vanyel gives her a minor noble title in order to make her Tashir's Castellan/Housekeeper; Vanyel [[SpitTake nearly chokes]] in ''Magic's Price'' on getting a letter that casually mentions that she and Jervis have married.]]
* HiddenDepths: in ''Magic's Promise'' Melenna's the only one in Treesa's entourage who doesn't go into hysterics when Tashir goes into a flashback-induced fit that involves an invisible hurricane, and can therefore give Vanyel a good idea of what actually happened, including hints on [[{{Foreshadowing}} what triggered it]]. She also says outright when making her SettledForGay offer that it's partly because he's so good to her son.
* HopelessSuitor: For Vanyel.
* SettledForGay: Offers that to Vanyel after admitting to her HopelessSuitor status so his parents will get off his back. Vanyel gently refuses as he has met people who had done it and told him it was a bad idea.
* SettleForSibling: Tried to do this. Medren showed up nine months later.
* StalkerWithACrush: The lengths to which she goes in ''Magic's Promise'' qualify as sexual harassement.

!Medren
* TheAce: the only student at Bardic besides Stefen with all three requisite Gifts (Stefen, at least, thinks Medren's nearly as good as he is, if not definitely.)
* HeroicBastard
* MagicMusic
* OutOfFocus: Once Vanyel and Stefen get together, he all but drops out of the story. (But given what happens to those close to Vanyel, this is probably a good thing for him)
* ShipperOnDeck: For Vanyel and Stefen. He just forgot to mention to Vanyel, who's slightly paranoid about younger fanboys making advances to him despite IncompatibleOrientation, that Stefen was also openly ''shaych'' before they had the opportunity to meet (while Stefen knew about Vanyel).

!Jervis
* EarnYourHappyEnding: At the end of ''Magic's Promise'' it's implied that Jervis is promoted to a minor noble title in order to become [[spoiler: part of Tashir's household. It's mentioned in ''Magic's Price'' that he and Melenna have married.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He terrorizes Vanyel in the early parts of the first book, but proves to be a surprisingly decent guy in the subsequent novels.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: He doesn't actually share Withen's homophobia, but goes along with Withen's orders to 'toughen Vanyel up' in ''Magic's Pawn'' because he's deeply loyal to Withen for giving him the position of Armsmaster at Forst Reach. {{Justified}}, as for a retired mercenary like himself with no independent resources to speak of, the position is the only thing standing between him and starvation.

!King Randale
* {{Determinator}}: By the end, he's holding himself together through sheer willpower, trying to give the new King [[spoiler: his cousin and son-in-law]] time to get ready.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: variant. Most men would have ''issues'' with their lover sleeping with another man to conceive a child - even an openly gay one. But Shavri wanted a child so badly it was affecting her emotional and mental stability, and her pregnancy put paid to the nasty sterility rumours that could have affected Randale's ability to make an alliance marriage if needed.
* MindlinkMates: With Shavri.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Hints of it in the second book and by the third is outright dying of a terminal incurable disease (implied to be cancer, though never stated).

!King's Own Herald Shavri
* AuthorityInNameOnly: Shavri might be Herald's Own but doesn't fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the role - that goes to Vanyel and later Jisa. Her real job is keeping Randi alive.
* TheEmpath: Comes with being a Healer. (Centuries later, in ''Arrows'', Empaths are still rare among the Heralds because they're needed too badly as Healers; that lack of experience is one of the reasons Talia's Gift goes rogue on her in ''Arrow's Flight'')
* HealingHands: She is a Healer on top of being the King's Own Herald.
** In the second book, Vanyel muses that Shavri is the first Herald-Healer in history; between Randale's sterility and the tendency for Heralds with really odd Gifts being Chosen just before they're needed, Vanyel suspects Randale's illness before he starts showing symptoms.
* MindlinkMates: She and Randale are Lifebonded.
* TheMistress: Officially insofar as those outside of court and the Circle are concerned, for two reasons: an outside Marriage Alliance was both possible and potentially needed, and the prospect of being co-ruler ''terrified'' Shavri.
* TogetherInDeath: Deliberately invokes this. Terrified of being left alone, she opens up an unblocked link to Randi, tying their lives together. They burn out and die at the same time.

!Stefen
* TheAce: Of the Bardic trainees. Medren, who was formerly the prize student, has no trouble accepting that Stef's better than him at everything on top of having a very useful, one-of-a-kind Gift.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Spent his life as a beggar on the streets. Subverted in that besides making him slightly more pragmatic and selfish, Stefen has mostly overcome his childhood and has very few emotional problems from it. Many other characters (cough ''Vanyel'') can only dream of such resilience.
* DeaderThanDead: Stef along with Vanyel and Yfandes is finally released from his centuries long duty after his ghost burns out in ''Storm Breaking''.
* DrivenToSuicide: Nearly, until he is stopped by Vanyel's ghost.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Literally - in order to earn a place with Vanyel after death, he must spend his life working to overcome the perception of "plain Heralds" as inferior to Herald-Mages.
* EverythingButTheGirl: Stef gains prestige, renown and the backing of very powerful patrons and friends (everything he wanted at the beginning of Magic's Price) but loses Van.
* {{Foil}}: To Tylendel. Tylendel is intense with a habit of acting before thinking; Stefen is very methodical and calculating. Tylendel had multiple Gifts at great power, Stefen has only the Bardic Gift. Tylendel as a Herald wants to help people; Stefen is primarily concerned with himself. Tylendel grew up privileged with a close family; Stefen was a street urchin who didn't know his parents. Tylendel struggles with his childhood trauma; Stefan recovered and divorced himself from it. Stefen comes across as a version of Tylendel who has learned from his mistakes... which of course he is.
* GuardianEntity: Guards the Sorrows along with Vanyel after his death.
* TheHedonist: At first.
* HeroesWantRedheads: His hair is described as bright auburn.
* HourglassPlot: He's Tylendel reincarnated. In addition to now being the "weak but mentally stable" half of the lifebond, the end of ''Magic's Price'' has him follow Vanyel on a revenge quest, lose him soon after, attempt suicide, and have to live most of his life without him by his side.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Thanks mainly to sheer determination, he manages to keep up with Vanyel on a mission and actually winds up saving it from disaster.
* LadykillerInLove: A gay version.
* LegendaryInTheSequel: Later books show that Stef is to the Bards what Vanyel is to Heralds -- a legendary figure of great power who became the standard for all later generations.
* LoverAndBeloved: With Vanyel. In regard to sex, though, this is flipped, as he has more experience than Vanyel, who's sometimes celibate for years at a time. It's how Vanyel and Stef avoid the power imbalance that Tylendel and Vanyel had. Stef brought greater mental stability and sexual experience; Vanyel greater life experience.
* MagicMusic: Specifically has the power to soothe pain through music.
* MayDecemberRomance: Mildly... he's in his late teens when Van is in his early thirties. This helps keep Van from depending on him like he did with Tylendel.
* MeetCute: Runs into Vanyel after playing his fingers to bits and snaps at him in irritation.
* MindlinkMates: With Vanyel.
* MoralityChain: He plays a major role in keeping Vanyel sane.
* NonActionGuy: Bards are usually not in the front lines and aren't always trained or equipped for combat. Stef never learned to fight and regardless is out of his depth when dealing with the magical enemies that threaten Vanyel. He serves [[TheHeart a support role]] instead.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Pre-CharacterDevelopment, Stef constantly calculated the cost and gains to himself and would only help someone if it brought him money, goods or connections.
* OnlySaneMan: Often the most sane and stable of the DysfunctionJunction.
* PastLifeMemories: Stef has some hints of Tylendel's past life -- he calls Vanyel "ashke" and knows things about Savil and Vanyel that he shouldn't. It's mostly subconscious and serves as foreshadowing
* ReallyGetsAround: Before meeting Vanyel he had quite the reputation.
* TheReliableOne: Stefan quietly supports Vanyel through various crises and mental breakdowns. Whenever Vanyel needs help, advice or just someone to talk to, Stef will be there no matter how out of depth and terrified he is.
* ReincarnationRomance: He comes back to restore not only Van's lost love but his lifebond.
* SanityHasAdvantages: Stef is reliable, self-possessed and stable with rare hints of trauma. It's implied that this stability allowed Stef to survive an entire lifetime alone after losing his lifebonded - a feat that Vanyel could barely manage.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Vanyel. They only get a short time together before Vanyel dies and Stef lives for 60 years without his lifebonded.
* StreetUrchin: His backstory.
* TookALevelInKindness: Mainly due to his childhood and uncertain place in life, Stefen starts out coolly pragmatic and selfish. Spending time with Vanyel teaches him to be more caring and ethical in using his power.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: It's really easy to forget that Stefen is only 18 when he and Vanyel meet. In contrast to a lot of the people around him (Vanyel and Tylendel (and a lot of other Heralds) were emotional messes at that age) and in spite of his childhood, Stefen is stable, self-possessed and confident with hints of wisdom and empathy. He has growing up to do but is still miles ahead of many other characters.

* NonActionGuy: Bards are usually not in the front lines and aren't always trained or equipped for combat. Stef never learned to fight and is out of his depth when dealing with the magical enemies that threaten Vanyel. He serves [[TheHeart a support role]] instead.

* SanityHasAdvantages: Stef is reliable, self-possessed and stable with rare hints of trauma. It's implied that this stability helped allow Stef to survive an entire lifetime alone after losing his lifebonded - a feat that Vanyel could barely manage.

* MysticalWhiteHair: Like all Adepts, Vanyel's use of node magic bleaches his hair white. It's implied that his striking white hair and silver eyes gives him a fey and otherworldly look, contributing to his air of power and unapproachability.