Characters / Chronicles of the Kencyrath - Jaran

This is listing of Jaran Kencyr in the series Chronicles of the Kencyrath.

For the main character index, go here.

the Jaran

" 'Observe, describe, learn,' we Jaran say."

—Kirien

Of the nine major Kencyr houses, the Jaran are the biggest of the small houses. They are the patrons of the Scrollsmen's College at Mount Alban, which is located right across the river from their keep, Valantir.

They are traditional allies of the Knorth.

The Jaran are known for being unconventional bookworms.

As a house

• Bookworms: The Jaran are patrons of Mount Alban, the Scrollsmen's College, which is right across the river from their keep. Almost all Jaran are scrollsmen and scrollswomen.
  Kirien: We are a house of scholars. Give us credit at least for having done our research.
• Cloudcuckoolanders: The other houses see them as such. Torisen says making a woman their lordan is very Jaran.
  Kirien: Not that Jaran Highborn have ever been considered very good matches. Too eccentric, you know.
• Reluctant Ruler: They have this attitude toward ruling in general
  Kirien: Which one of them would want to? As I said, we're scholars, each one of us wrapped up in his or her own work. My own specialty is the Fall. You might say that the entire house of Jaran flipped a coin for the post of administrator, and I lost.
• Smart People Know Latin: In the form of Smart Kencyr Know High Kens. Their Battle Cry is a phrase in High Kens, the Classical Tongue.

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Highborn

Kirien

Lady Kirien of Jaran

Jaran Lordan

"That which can be destroyed by the truth should be,"

—Kirien

The Jaran Lordan, and a scrollswoman who's specialty is the Fall.

• Attractive Bent-Gender: Kirien's handsome either way.
  • Bifauxnen: Naturally androgynous, Kirien is easily passes for male—and wearing her hair cut short surely helps.
  • Crossdresser: She wears unisex scholars' robes at Mount Alban, and dresser versions of scholars' robes elsewhere—and she doesn't wear a mask, which for Highborn, is distinctly male.
• She Is the King: The title "Lordan" is technically gender neutral, and it's perfectly legal for a women to hold it. But there's 3,000 years of custom and connotation against it, so people think it's purely masculine. And Kirien does pretend to be male for the first year of so of being lordan. We'll see if she takes the title of "lord" when she comes to power.
• Sweet Polly Oliver (Downplayed): While Kirien doesn't actively propagate the misconception that she's male, she does do some things that let people think she is so they don't throw a fit over her being lordan.
• You Never Asked: She's a Kencyr, she wouldn't actually lie. She doesn't claim to be a boy—people just assume she is because of her appearance and her clothing, and she doesn't correct them.

Trishien

Lady Trishien of Jaran

Jaran Matriarch

The Jaran Matriarch, and a scrollswoman. Kirien's great-great-aunt.

• Abandoned Catchphrase: "Point of law"—its mentioned when she first appears in Seeker's Mask, but not in the later books.
• Cool Aunt: To Kirien.
• Only Sane Woman: Starting in To Ride a Rathorn, most of the matriarchs become obsessed with getting Torisen to make a contract with a woman of their own house. Antics include pursuing him with parades of women, and slipping him an aphrodisiac. Trishien—who limits her efforts to noting that Kirien is the right age, and gets along with Torisen well, but she might not be happy about having to leave Mount Alban—is the only one who manages to avoid alienating him. As a result he trusts and relies on her, as well as seeing her as proof that not all Highborn women are insane. She also recognizes Jame's competence and intelligence when the other matriarchs are either in denial or trying desperately to control her.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: By far the most reasonable of the matriarchs, towards both Jame and Torisen.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Trishien—who is nearsighted and has lenses sewn into the eyeholes of her mask—is the only bespectacled character in the series. She is a scholar, and very intelligent—and she's also wiser, and has more good sense, than most people.
• Unrequited Love Lasts Forever / Pining After Protagonist's Parent: Her feelings for Ganth. They liked each other when they were young, but Gerraint Parental Marriage Vetoed it. After Gerraint died, they could've been together… but Ganth saw the Dream-weaver, and after that, he basically had Single-Target Sexuality for her, leaving Trishien as the Romantic Runner-Up. But through all these years, Trishien's feelings haven't vanished.
  Trishien: I loved you once. Perhaps I still do.

Jedrak

Jedrak of Jaran

Lord Jaran of Valantir

Kirien's great-great-grandfather, and the previous Lord Jaran.

• Plot-Triggering Death (Downplayed): His death starts much of Kirien's story.
• Scatterbrained Senior: Highborn senility catches him just before he dies.
  Rowan: Lord Jaran has been asking for you, my lord. Or rather he keeps asking for Ganth Gray Lord.
  Torisen: He's gone soft?
  Rowan: As a rotten peach.

Kedan

Kedan of Jaran

Temporary lord Jaran

Kirien's great-uncle, and her regnant until she comes of age.

• Reluctant Ruler: He's regent for his great-niece—but he can't wait for her to come of age.
  Kirien: As for the Jaran, Uncle Kedan is fed up with playing interim lord and counting the days until he can get back to his own research.

Jurien

Jurien of Jaran

Jaran war-leader.

• Take a Third Option: While the Randon Council votes as to whether Jame will be allowed to remain as a cadet, he suggests that, should they vote against her, he would invite her to Mount Alban to become a singer or scrollswoman rather than leaving her no choice but to return to Gothregor.