Main character page can be found here.
S'Armunai
A Central European tribe, located in what is now the Czech Republic. Not much is known about them, as the only sub-tribe prominently featured, the Three Sisters Camp, is extremely dysfunctional. They are known to hunt horses and some of their shamans have developed a technique for firing clay to make figurines. open/close all folders
In General
- Amazon Brigade: The Wolf Women, Attaroa's best hunters. Unfortunately, 'best' doesn't necessarily equal 'good', with Ayla stating they'd probably be better hunters if they spent more time studying wolf behaviour rather than killing and eating them to 'gain their strength'.
- The Dreaded: The entire Three Sisters Camp has started to gain this reputation amongst their own people and neighbouring tribes, in particular the Hadumai and Losadunai. The former actually try to warn Jondalar and Ayla to stay away, but they don't quite get the message due to the language barrier.
- Dysfunction Junction: The whole of the Three Sisters Camp is plagued with serious, intergenerational social issues.
- Dystopia: The Three Sisters Camp has essentially become this. For several years it was a No Woman's Land under a tyrannical He-Man Woman Hater. Now it's become the exact opposite, with the men (and any women sympathetic to them) being the ones who are oppressed by a tyrannical Man Hater. Men are treated like slaves and live in squalor, there's food shortages because Attaroa forbids the women from gathering food but their hunting leaves much to be desired and they're in serious trouble of being wiped out completely because of the lack of new children being born. And may the Mother help you if you get on Attaroa's bad side...
- False Utopia: Attaroa and a few of her most loyal supporters genuinely believe they're creating a safe haven for women from the evils of men. To everyone else, it's blatantly obvious their camp is headed down the drain, but Attaroa has a habit of mutilating people who dare challenge her. Or ensuring they "ate something that was bad for them".
- Fantastic Honorifics: Those that serve the Mother are known by the title s'armuna.
- Fantastic Naming Convention: The S'Armunai include the 'S' sound (followed by an apostrophe) at the start of a name or title as a sign of respect. For example, shamans are called S'Armuna to demonstrate the importance of their position. Some tribe members refuse to call Attaroa S'Attaroa due to her Bad Boss tendencies, while Ayla is called S'Ayla and Jondalar is called S'Elandon (referring to his birth tribe of Zelandonii, which is what people in the Three Sisters Camp called him) after they help out the camp.
- Theme Naming: S'Armunai women often have names with ending in "oa", while men often have names ending in "an".
- Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Shortly after liberating the Camp from Attaroa, Ayla helps deliver fraternal twins, the first babies born for some time. Ayla and S'Armuna take this as a good omen that better times are ahead.
Attaroa
Attaroa
Appears in: The Plains of Passage
The tyrannical leader of the Three Sisters Camp, who despises men and wants to create a women-only tribe.
- Arc Villain: She's the primary antagonist of the S'Armunai subplot in The Plains of Passage.
- Bad Boss: Her leadership has caused the camp to fall into poverty and people only obey her out of fear. And that's not even mentioning the horrific abuse she puts her people - in particular the males - through.
- The Baroness: A Stone Age equivalent. She's mostly a Rosa Klebb, being unusually tall and muscular for a woman, with a lot of emphasis placed on her physical strength. That being said, she's actually said to be quite beautiful; it's just her violently unstable behaviour that's off-putting. Jondalar specifically states it's her personality he finds unappealing, rather than her physical appearance. Attaroa is blatantly a Sadist and a Control Freak; she also likes seducing and toying with men before offing them. When she's not flying into a psychotic rage, she's generally cold and commanding. She even runs the Three Sisters Camp rather like a concentration camp; she's also European, though specifically Central European rather than Eastern European. note
- Beauty Is Bad: Said to be quite attractive, but is a complete psychopath.
- Character Death: At the end of the S'Armunai subplot, she is killed by Wolf after attempting to murder Ayla.
- Dark Action Girl: She can outmatch most men in a fight, is implied to be a decent enough hunter and also easily overpowers Ayla, who is pretty strong herself.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ayla points out that her plan to wipe out the men in her camp (see Gendercide below) has one major flaw...if there are no men, then there will be no new children, male or female. In Attaroa's defense, most people in the series don't realize just how important men are to conception...Attaroa is also so crazy she doesn't care.
- Does Not Like Men: Is a complete misandrist who views all men and even young boys as rapists and abusers. She keeps the men of the camp locked in cages and kills or mutilates those that try to escape or defy her.
- The Dog Bites Back: Strongly implied to have been the case in her backstory; after years of enduring abuse from her violent and manipulative mate, he abruptly dropped dead and Attaroa took over his position as leader, with many people believing she poisoned him.
- Evil Counterpart: To Ayla. They’re actually Mirror Characters when you think about it: both had difficult childhoods, both were abused and raped by men and forced to conform to restrictive gender roles that hampered them from realizing their true potential. A big difference between them is that Ayla’s response to this was to deny her abuser the pleasure of seeing her defeated and humiliated – she also doesn’t project her hatred of Broud onto all men or hold onto her resentment, whereas Attaroa killed her abuser and is consumed by hatred and bitterness, taking it out on every man in sight.
- Faux Affably Evil: Towards Ayla (initially).
- Freudian Excuse: Her mother never loved her much and it's implied she was sexually abused by her stepfather. She was pressured into marrying her mate, who proved to be a violent and controlling man who imposed strict gender roles on the Camp's women. After killing her mate, Attaroa took over and tried to ensure the men would never abuse the women again.
- Gendercide: This is her ultimate goal for her people, using a concentration camp and forced labor as an intermediary step. Since — like pretty much everyone except Ayla in this setting — she has no idea how women conceive, she thinks women will just give birth to girls after all the men die.
- Hypocrite: She hates men for being violent, sadistic, tyrannical and power-hungry. Sound like anyone else we know, Attaroa?
- Laser-Guided Karma: Attaroa calls her hunters her 'Wolf Women'; they wear clothes and jewelry made from wolf body parts and partake in a ritual involving killing a wolf and eating its flesh. In the middle of her attempt to kill Ayla, Wolf leaps to her defense and rips Attaroa's throat out.
- Offing the Offspring: It's heavily implied she murdered her own child for defying her.
- Open Secret: Though nobody would dare confront her directly, everyone is convinced she poisoned Brugar, Omel and a few other members of her tribe.
- Rape as Backstory: Heavily implied to have suffered this.
- Revenge Against Men: Her main motivation. After a lifetime of abuse at the hands of male relatives and her mate, she violently despises all men, to the point where she’s trying to wipe them out from her camp completely.
- Sadist: It's outright stated she "gives herself Pleasures" by dominating and causing harm to other people, in particular men, and that she may even prefer hurting people to sex (this isn't all that surprising, since her Freudian Excuse means she views sex as being synonymous to violence).
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Of a sort. She responds to Ayla calling her out at a feast by jumping on top of her and trying to stab her.
- Sympathetic Murder Backstory: It's widely believed she murdered her mate Brugar several years back. By all accounts, he had it coming, especially given how cruel he was to her and by extent the other women of the camp. However, Attaroa's subsequent implied murders are not treated sympathetically, as her likely victims were innocent people who simply dared to challenge or defy her authority.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: She attempts to seduce Jondalar and finds him attractive (to her annoyance). Apparently, toying with men she captures, promising them freedom in exchange for sex, then killing them, is a favorite game of her's. To her anger, Jondalar isn't willing to play along.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Implied to have started out as one, wanting to free the women of the Camp from abuse and control by the men. However, after a few years, all she cares about is maintaining her own power.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Implied to be one. Her life has been full of abuse and humiliation, mostly at the hands of men, since childhood.
- Would Harm a Senior: Several of the men she keeps locked up in the holding pen, starving, torturing and using as slave labour, are elderly men.
- Would Hurt a Child: She orders several boys have their legs dislocated, to stop them from causing 'trouble'.
S'Armuna
S'Armuna (formerly Bodoa)
Appears in: The Plains of Passage
The shaman of the Three Sisters Camp, who is revealed to have been an old friend of Jondalar's mother.
- The Atoner: She feels a lot of guilt over standing by and doing nothing whilst Attaroa took over the camp and abused the men, especially because as One Who Serves the Mother, her duty is to help her people, not harm them. As a consequence she does what she can to help Jondalar and Ayla, and vows to spend the rest of her life rebuilding the camp and healing her people.
- The Consigliere: To Attaroa. Epadoa is her Number Two, but S'Armuna is the one who serves as a voice of reason and pretty much the only person who can criticise or question Attaroa (to an extent) without risking being offed by her. This is partly because she's the only fully trained healer they have and partly because Attaroa secretly fears her power and retribution from the spirits.
- Given Name Reveal: She is referred to only by her title of S'Armuna for most of the Three Sisters arc, as is customary, but when it's time for her to say goodbye to Ayla and Jondalar, she asks Jondalar to tell his mother "Bodoa sends her love", this being the name she went by before becoming a s'armuna.
- Like a Daughter to Me: She apparently regarded Omel, her apprentice, as this. She liked to think Omel was a girl, though she was never certain.
- Love Triangle: She was in one with Marthona for Joconan. They actually talked about having an Exotic Extended Marriage, but this was forbidden by the zelandoni. Consequently, Joconan chose Marthona over Bodoa, who wasn't pleased about this.
- My Greatest Failure: She regards helping Attaroa poison her mate and not speaking out when she turned into a tyrant as her greatest failing in life, especially considering her role is meant to be dedicated to helping her people.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Helping Ayla and Jondalar stop Attaroa becomes this for her, doubly so in regards to Jondalar, as helping him gives her a chance to make it up to her former friend Marthona.
- Not Good with Rejection: After being rejected by Joconan, she cut off both him and Marthona, her best friend, and walked all the back to her own people by herself despite the dangers. She regrets it years later, though, and asks Jondalar to send her love to Marthona.
- The Resenter: She became resentful towards Marthona, due to being the losing corner in a Love Triangle with her. She eventually got over it,though, and regrets her resentment now, especially as she believes her bitterness led to her turning a blind eye to Attaroa's increasingly tyrannical ways until it was too late.
- Romantic Runner-Up: To Marthona for Joconan. She didn't take it well at the time, though she came to regret this years later. Upon learning that Joconan died only a few years after mating Marthona, she also appears to realize that she would've lost him either way, so there's little point continuing to be bitter over it.
- Token Good Teammate: To Attaroa and her minions. Although she initially did little to intervene in Attaroa's cruelty, she doesn't approve of it and begins using her position to subtly oppose Attaroa, mainly by trying to keep Ayla and Jondalar alive due to her belief they can help put an end to Attaroa's regime.
- Unbalanced By Rival's Kid: Somewhat. She is a bit standoffish with Jondalar when he mentions he's Marthona's son, due to her assumption he's her son with Joconan. However, she softens up to him, though is still shaken, when he reveals he's actually the child of Marthona and her second mate, Dalanar, explaining that Joconan died before he was born.
- We Used to Be Friends: She was very close friends with Marthona many years ago, but angrily ended their friendship after the man they both loved chose Marthona over her. She eventually extends an olive branch via Marthona's son, with Marthona being both stunned and delighted to finally hear from her again in The Shelters of Stone.
Epadoa
Epadoa
Appears in: The Plains of Passage
Attaroa's loyal second-in-command and the leader of the Wolf Women.
- The Atoner: She becomes this after Attaroa's death, beginning to regret her earlier actions and seeking to make restitution.
- Blind Obedience: She does whatever Attaroa demands without hesitation, no matter how heinous.
- Dark Action Girl: She is the best of Attaroa’s hunters and her right-hand woman.
- Does Not Like Men: She has a low opinion of men and doesn't see much wrong with locking them up, though she's not nearly as extreme as Attaroa and comes to regret her horrible treatment of them.
- Go and Sin No More: After Attaroa's demise, some of the camp are more than willing to execute her for both of their crimes. However, Ayla points out that this wouldn't make them any better than Attaroa and Epadoa states she's willing to make amends. The camp agrees to spare her and she is heartfelt about making up for her past misdeeds.
- Heel Realization: She has one following Attaroa's death, realizing Attaroa really wasn't a very good leader and that she was wrong to blindly follow her orders. She also feels deep remorse for permanently crippling a boy and declares her wish to make amends.
- Number Two: To Attaroa; she's her top hunter and carries out much of her dirty work, such as dislocating boys' limbs and tracking Ayla and Jondalar.
- Would Hurt a Child: She dislocated a boy's leg on Attaroa's orders. To her credit, she eventually feels remorse for it and vows to care for him as long as she lives as restitution.
Omel
Omel
Appears in: The Plains of Passage
The only child of Attaroa and her abusive mate Brugar. Omel's gender was kept secret. They were apprenticed to S'Armuna, but were killed shortly before Ayla and Jondalar encounter the S'Armunai, making them a Posthumous Character.
- Abusive Parents: Attaroa. Taken to the extreme, as Attaroa eventually poisoned Omel.
- Ambiguous Gender: It is not known if Omel is male or female. There's evidence supporting both: Omel had delicate features associated with females more than males and never seemed to develop facial hair or other traits of male puberty. However, they could've been a late bloomer, it was unclear if breasts developed and they were said to be quite tall for a girl. That being said, their mother is also tall for a woman. S'Armuna felt Omel was a girl, though it could've been wishful thinking on her part.
- The Apprentice: They were S'Armuna's acolyte prior to their death.
- Posthumous Character: We only see their corpse, they having died via poison not long before Jondalar is captured by the Three Sisters Camp.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Omel was something of a Spoiled Brat as a child, but later became friendly with S'Armuna, including becoming her acolyte to help the camp, and died trying to help some members of the camp escape Attaroa's cruelty.
Cavoa
Cavoa
Appears in: The Plains of Passage
S'Armuna's new acolyte. She is a young pregnant woman who was caught trying to flee the Three Sisters Camp with her lover and friends.
- The Apprentice: She's recently become S'Armuna's new acolyte, following Omel's death.
- Babies Ever After: Shortly before Ayla and Jondalar leave the Camp, Cavoa gives birth to twins, a girl and a boy, which is seen as a good omen.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Her lover is dead, but she gets freed from Attaroa's tyranny and gives birth to twins.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: Attaroa only lets her live after her escape attempt because she's pregnant (a rarity in the Three Sisters Camp since Attaroa took over) and threatens that she will kill her if the baby is a boy.
- The Lost Lenore: The father of her unborn babies, who was killed for trying to escape the camp with her.
- Teen Pregnancy: She's implied to be quite young and is heavily pregnant, though this is normal in her cultural setting.
Brugar
Brugar (also called Brug)
First mentioned in: The Plains of Passage
The former leader of the Three Sisters Camp, Attaroa’s abusive mate and father of Omel. He is strongly implied to be part-Clan, even living with a clan for some of his childhood, and had an untimely death a few years prior to The Plains of Passage.
- Asshole Victim: It's strongly implied Attaroa poisoned Brugar, after suffering years of abuse at his hands.
- Bad Boss: He tried to enforce Clan gender roles and traditions on the Three Sisters Camp and treated the women very poorly.
- Domestic Abuse: He was very abusive towards Attaroa, beating her, deliberately provoking arguments and possibly raping her. He even used their own child against her.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Came across as one, having some very misogynistic views towards women and in particular tormenting his mate, especially if she dared fight back.
- In-Universe Nickname: Brug, which Ayla correctly guesses was his Clan name (due to the difficulties the Clan have pronouncing some words and names).
- Posthumous Character: His mysteriously sudden death a few years ago conveniently allowed Attaroa to take control of the camp. Although it can't be definitively proven, many believe that Attaroa poisoned Brugar.
- Would Hit a Girl: He was violent towards Attaroa and encouraged the men of the camp to hit the women as a form of discipline.
Andovan
Andovan
First mentioned in: The Plains of Passage
A member of the Three Sisters Camp who managed to flee shortly after Attaroa took control. He eventually met Echozar and his Clan mother, and became part of their family.
- Birds of a Feather: It's indicated the reason he and Echozar's mother formed such a close bond is because they were both driven from their home; Andovan had to flee his camp because of the leader's tyranny, while Echozar's mother was banished from her clan for allegedly bringing bad luck.
- Connected All Along: Members of the Three Sisters Camp mention to Ayla and Jondalar that a man named Andovan managed to escape the camp. Later in the novel, when Ayla and Jondalar meet Echozar of the Lanzadonii and learn of his background, they realise that the man of the Others who helped raise him was Andovan, especially as Echozar mentions that the man had left his home because of a cruel leader. The fact the S'Armunai were earlier established to have much friendlier relations with the Clan - including occasionally intermarrying and/or interbreeding with them - compared to many other Cro-Magnon tribes also partly explains why Andovan was so willing to help Echozar and his mother, where as others in his place wouldn't have done so.
- Living Emotional Crutch: He became this to Echozar's mother once he began living with her and her son. This is understandable given that following all the tragedy and trauma Echozar's mother went through, Andovan was the only other person who showed her kindness and helped her. What's more, because of the way the Clan's Genetic Memory works, Echozar's mother was all but incapable of learning to hunt, making tools and weapons, or performing certain other tasks, so she relied on Andovan not just for companionship but to carry out tasks vital to their survival that she could not do. After Andovan died, Echozar says his mother quickly weakened and died too.
- Parental Substitute: He was the closest thing to a father Echozar ever knew, he having happily helped his mother raise him and treated him like a son. Echozar still regards Andovan as being the man of his hearth. He mentions that Andovan particularly taught him how to speak verbally, something his Clan mother couldn't.
- Posthumous Character: Echozar reveals he became seriously ill and died a number of years before The Plains of Passage.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Andovan quickly saw the writing on the wall when the increasingly vicious and openly misandristic Attaroa took over his camp. He was one of the only members of the camp who was successfully able to escape, travelling far away to avoid Attaroa's wrath.
- You Can't Go Home Again: He never returned to the Three Sisters Camp, nor saw any of his people again, as he knew Attaroa would likely have had him killed or otherwise done something awful to him, to punish his defiance.
