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The Maghuin Dhonn
One of the five tribes of Alba and Eire. Also called Folk of the Brown Bear. It is possibly the oldest of the tribes, having come to Alba during a great ice age many years before. It is also the most mysterious of the tribes. Berlik
Berlik
A magician of the Maghuin Dhonn.Tropes Applying to Berlik:
- The Atoner: Becomes this after he kills Dorelei. Berlik truly only did it to save his people, and is guilt-ridden afterward, fleeing the country to protect the Maghuin Dhonn from the repercussions of his action. He is depressed and deep in despair for a long time, as he believes that he is beyond saving, until he meets up with a group of Yeshuites who persuade him that redemption is still possible. As the journey continues Berlik becomes more certain that he will only be redeemed by death at Imriel's hands, and willingly meets his execution in the wastelands of Vralia, claiming that by doing so he is atoning for his sin.
- Bears Are Bad News: He has the ability to shapeshift into a bear. He uses this ability to murder Dorelei & slash Imriel across the chest.
- Character Death: He is executed by Imriel de la Courcel, who had hunted him down to avenge the death of his wife Dorelei.
- I Did What I Had to Do: His excuse for murdering Dorelei mab Breidaia. Though he never wanted to do it and was extremely guilty and remorseful afterward, he believed that it was the only way to allow his people and culture to survive.
- Seers: Berlik is a seer who can see into the near and far future.
- Tragic Villain: Is certainly this. By the end of Justice it's clear that he never wanted to murder Dorelei and only did what he thought needed to be done to save his people.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Berlik can take the form of a bear. This makes it harder for the Albans and D'Angelines to track him, as they can't tell when he is a bear and when he is a human, not to mention the fact that bears aren't rare north of Terre D'Ange.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: When he killed Dorelei all Berlik was trying to do was preserve his race and their culture.
Morwen
Morwen
One of the Maghuin Dhonn. Moirin mac Fainche is named after her.Tropes Applying to Morwen:
- Axe-Crazy: Is implied to be this, due to her knowledge of possible future events.
- Character Death: She commits suicide rather than live without her diadh-anam.
- Heroic Sacrifice: From her point of view, at least. See Sensless Sacrifice below.
- Senseless Sacrifice: She let herself be bound to a promise that she wouldn't harm Imriel or anyone in Clunderry, just so that Imriel and half of the castle's garrison could be lured away from Clunderry, giving Berlik an opportunity to attack and murder Dorelei. She ends up suiciding rather than live with her broken vow, content in her belief that her sacrifice prevented her people from breaking their own vow not to harm Imriel. Alas, after her revelation Imriel rushes right back to the castle and is accidentally slashed in the chest by Berlik, making all Maghuin Dhonn foresworn and rendering Morwen's sacrifice senseless.
- Seers: She can see future events, something which causes her to be slightly unstable in the mind.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: She wants to have a child with Imriel to avert the destruction of the Maghuin Dhonn. Imriel is not willing to go through with it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Like Berlik, she only did what she thought had to be done to save the Maghuin Dhonn from extinction. Though in her case it doesn't look like she felt too much remorse for it.
Fergus
Fergus
One of the Maghuin Dhonn, and also the father of Conor mac Grainne. Nemed
Maghuin Dhonn elder.
Fainche mac Eithne
Fainche mac Eithne
Moirin's mother and a seer of the Maghuin Dhonn tribe of Alba.Tropes Applying to Fainche:
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Moirin was the result of her one night stand with Phanuel. Fainche didn't even know his name, just that he was a D'Angeline.
Oengus mac Niall
An elder of the Maghuinn Dhonn, and lover of Fainche.
Mabon
Uncle of Moirin.
Moirin mac Fainche
Moirin
Moirin mac Fainche
The protagonist of the third trilogy. She begins the story as something of a Wild Child, living with her Alban mother in the wilderness. She discovers that she is half Alban and half d'Angeline and that her heritage has given her access to powers outside of the Maghuin Donn. In the first book she travels to Terre d'Ange to find her father and as a result finds herself torn between her desires and her duty.Tropes Applying to Moirin:
- Action Girl: Her uncle made her a bow, and she doesn't hesitate to use it when necessary.
- Babies Ever After: At the end of her trilogy she lights a candle to Eisheth to open the gates of her womb, so that she and Bao can have children together.
- Badass in Distress: In Naamah's Curse, when she is held captive by the Patriarch. She cannot escape on her own and needs assistance.
- Because Destiny Says So: Moirin typically starts her quests because her diadh-anam tells her to. Not just that, but even the most minor of decisions along the way, such as whether or not to travel with friends, Moirin does not choose for herself but is ordered by the mental image of the bear turning away.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Bao. This starts to diminish once they're forced to spend more time together on the long voyage to Ch'in.
- Character Development: She starts out very naive, having spent most of her childhood in extreme isolation away from civilization. Her naivete gets her into trouble once she gets to Terre d'Ange & ends up being used as a pawn by Raphael & Jehanne. She learns from this experience & becomes much less naive & more worldly as time goes on.
- Cosmic Plaything: She learns from the Maghuin Dhonn that she has a destiny & sets out to find it. Later on she realizes that having a destiny is rather inconvenient and laments her role as a cosmic plaything.
- Dead Guy Junior: She is named after Morwen of the Maghuin Dhonn, one of those who conspired to murder Imriel de la Courcel's wife Dorelei and her unborn child.
- Declaration of Protection: Becomes Desiree's oathsworn protector.
- Determinator: Shows heaps of this when chasing Bao.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father is not present in her life, at least in the beginning of the trilogy; Moirin does not even know about him until her mother tells her. After that Moirin is adamant about going to Terre D'Ange to meet him in person and get to know him.
- Ethical Slut: She continues to sleep with others even after marrying Bao. Bao is well aware of this & accepts it as her nature.
- Family Eye Resemblance: She has green eyes. Inherited from her father.
- Fish out of Water: Her status during Kiss.
- Green Thumb: One of the abilities her bloodline gives her is the ability to talk to plants and make them grow.
- Happily Married: To Bao at the end of Curse.
- Heroic Seductress: What her powers from Naamah give her. Every time she feels the pull of her diadh-anam towards a certain person she will end up having sex with them.
- Hot Witch: She is both a witch and very attractive.
- I Gave My Word: She cannot break an oath sworn on her diadh-aman without losing her powers & connection to the Maghuin Dhonn.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Master Lo Feng.
- I Will Find You: With Bao in Curse & Thierry in Blessing.
- Invisibility: Can make herself invisible by summoning the twilight, but can't do it if someone's watching her.
- Jungle Princess: Moirin, though not a princess, is a descendant of Princess Alais de la Courcel of Terre D'Ange; she spent most of her childhood in the Alban wilderness, surrounded by nature.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Inverted. In Alban custom children inherit through the female line. This is why her surname is mac Fainche, meaning "from Fainche". However, her father's lineage is just as important as it's the source of her powers from Naamah and Anael.
- Magical Girl: Compared to Phèdre at least. Moirin has a lot more access to magic than the former.
- Memory-Wiping Crew: Becomes the Ch'in emperor's one-woman memory wiping crew at the end of Kiss.
- My Diadh-Anam Made Me Do It: This is often the reason for starting a quest.
- Nature Hero: Being of the Maghuin Dhonn, Moirin is very respectful of and close to nature.
- Naïve Newcomer: When she leaves Alba for Terre d'Ange to find her father in Kiss, she's bewildered by d'Angeline customs and almost makes a fool of herself at court.
- Official Couple: With Bao.
- Psychic Link: With Bao after his resurrection.
- Rags to Riches: Spent her childhood in a cave, then becomes the Queen of Terre d'Ange's lover.
- Really Gets Around: And how. Lets put it this way. Phèdre and Imriel from the first two trilogies were either a magically induced to enjoy pain courtesan or an issue-ridden, angsty prince. Both encountered problems directly related to their attitudes about sex (more on Imriel's side). Moirin has no such hang ups. She may possibly be the protagonist that has the most sex of the three. Judging by the theme of Moirin's trilogy this is probably because her gifts come from Naamah rather than Kushiel.
- Super Power Lottery: Her mother's line is descended from Princess Alais of the second trilogy, giving her the powers of an ollamh a type of combined seer and priestess. On that note, she also has descent from fallen angels Elua and Naamah through Princess Alais' own combined Courcel/L'Envers heritage. Her father's line is descended from Anael, the fallen angel who gave d'Angelines their farming skills. This gives Moirin the power to turn herself invisible, talk to plants, incite lust in other characters and access the powers of the Maghuin Dhonn or "bear-witch" in the Alban language.
- Talking to Plants: Her D'Angeline lineage gives her the abilities to make plants grow by speaking to them.
- Walking the Earth: What she spends most of her trilogy doing. She does return to Alba at the end & settles down with Bao.
- Wild Child: At the beginning of the first book.
