open/close all folders
Human Characters
Beren the Tall
Beren the Tall
Click here to see Beren's alternate portrait
Click here to see Beren's portrait in middle age
Click here to see Beren's alternate middle-aged portrait
"My love for Redalda burns like a hundred Southern suns. You may call me troublesome for asking, but this feeling in my heart is so pure that I cannot believe the gods forbid it."
An Elmali hero born into your clan.
- Ambadassador: His strongest stats are Combat and Diplomacy, both of which start at Excellent (two grades down from the maximum of Heroic). In general, he's in favor of peaceful solutions (especially when dealing with your Ram neighbors), but willing and able to fight instead if it comes down to it.
- Chosen One: His birth is surrounded by omens, he's descended from a god (although that isn't too unusual in this setting), and he can achieve a great destiny... provided you as the player can make it happen, of course.
- Eye Scream: It's possible for him to be attacked and blinded by Wheels. Your own clan's healers can only salvage one eye, which will be reflected in a change to his portrait. If you send him to Redalda instead of dealing with the matter yourself, her own clan's healer can save both.
- Fallen Hero: One possible fate. If he fails to marry Redalda and your Clan Circle can't calm him down, he can abandon the clan, murder his old friend Beren the Swift, and then run off with Redalda to live as bandits.
- Famed In-Story: The protagonist clan of Lights Going Out live in a settlement named Berenstead, and Beren's crown is a powerful artifact.
- Flat Character: Barring certain bad endings, he doesn't have much personality other than "ideal Rider hero".
- Graceful Loser: Failing to marry him to Redalda will result in a bad ending, but your choices can still influence whether he takes the loss gracefully — potentially still being remembered as a hero in his own right — or decides to take revenge, becoming a murderous outlaw.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He can pull one off in one of the bad endings — he will sacrifice himself to protect Redalda and Beren the Swift from wedding crashers. This usually happens if you decide to be gracious towards Swift and your Beren has a high opinion of him.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: He falls madly in love with a Ram girl, Redalda. This is forbidden by both their cultures, although consulting the gods reveals that they don't actually care, opening up the possibility of a happy ending.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He can call out Orlanth himself for Yelm's murder. Depending on Beren's powers of persuasion, this can annoy him or prompt Orlanth to ask for his fealty.
- Worthy Opponent: In one event, he asks the clan to let him duel Autronos, a young Wheel hero much like himself. This can result in them becoming friends.
Beren the Swift
Beren the Swift
"I fervently wish that our rivalry be forgotten, so we can return to the friendship of our sun-dappled days."
Beren's best friend of the same name, born to a different clan.
- Antagonist in Mourning: Although he and Beren the Tall fall out over their mutual desire to marry Redalda, Swift will be devastated if Beren the Tall dies. He'll actually show up to upbraid your nobles for not mourning dramatically enough. If Tall dies defending Swift and Redalda at their wedding, the game will end with Swift holding his dead friend's body, making a solemn promise to be as good a husband to Redalda as he was a friend to the Riders of the valley. In either case, this is quite the contrast to Beren the Tall, who can actually murder Swift in one set of bad endings.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blond and heroic. And unlike your own Beren, Swift never turns villainous, even in a bad ending.
- Mellow Fellow: He's a jolly, flirtatious sort who cares so little for the Love Triangle he's is that he often agrees to be his rival's best man.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. The two Berens are best friends, too.
- Static Role, Exchangeable Character: Either he or your Beren can be the "Beren the Rider" of Orlanthi legend who marries Redalda and eventually becomes the first king of the Berenethtelli tribe. Although neither is truly guaranteed to succeed...
Redalda
She will make the valley more verdant for all.
Click here to see Redalda in the endgame
"Together you and I must fight, not for the victory of Ram over Rider, or Rider over Ram, but to plant a seed of possibility. If we are strong, and smart, and brave, that seed will one day germinate, making unity where today there is hate."
A young Ram sorceress, born to one of the three powerful priestesses called the Daughters of Vingkot.
- Animal Motifs: Horses, although she is not a Gamari devotee. If the player successfully calls a spirit to guard the infant Redalda, that spirit will be a horse who tells Redalda's mother what to name her. Certain decisions in the endgame can trigger a divine vision in which Redalda appears as a horse, running circles around the vision's recipients. In later eras, Redalda is deified as the Orlanthi goddess of horses.
- The Chessmaster: As one of your advisors may point out, Redalda spends the game "moving secret mountains" in order to marry Beren and gain horse-riding magic for the Orlanthi.
- Chosen One: You don't get the details as you do with Beren, but she definitely seems to be this for the Ram side of things. The priestesses of her clan promise that she will "make the valley more verdant for all."
- Deity of Human Origin: Either this or Shrouded in Myth. In the future- where most RuneQuest books are set—the Orlanthi worship a goddess named Redalda, Orlanth and Ernalda's Horse-Loving Daughter, who married Elmal to bring him into the Storm Tribe. Meanwhile, Beren is remembered simply as the first king of the Berenethtelli tribe, and as the husband of Redayle, Vingkot's youngest daughter.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Should you successfully marry Beren to her, you control both of them in a ritual immediately after the wedding; the game ends immediately after this ritual. Unsurprisingly, she is a powerful sorceress, exceptionally skilled in Magic and Lore.
- Facial Markings: She has the rune of her ancestor Vingkot (a variant of the Air Rune spiral with lines protruding from the outside) tattooed in blue on each cheek. Additionally, she has Life runes tattooed around her neck like a choker.
- Fallen Hero: In some bad endings, she runs away to live as a bandit with Beren the Tall, squandering her destiny as well as his.
- Hero of Another Story: While we learn little of her exploits, the Rams of the valley consider Redalda a great hero, in deeds as well as divine heritage. After she and Beren finally marry, she reveals to him that for every great deed he and the player clan performed to make the wedding possible, she and her mother and aunts did another—and sometimes more than one.
- Tattoo as Character Type: In this setting, the fact that she's allowed to have giant Vingkot runes on her face indicates that she is a very, very important person in her clan.
- Magical Barefooter: A powerful priestess of the earth goddess who does not wear shoes (that is, she is in constant contact with the earthly body of her godddess).
- Women Are Wiser: She has a much better idea of what's really going on than Beren (either one) does. While Beren the Tall is motivated entirely by love, Redalda has a plan to unify Rams and Riders, gain horse riding magic for her people, and enable both to survive the coming darkness.
Yatakan
Sometimes heroes can be troublesome...
Click here to see Yatakan's portrait in mature adulthood.
Click here to see Yatakan's portrait in old age.
"I don't need divine blessing. I am a divine blessing."
The oldest of the three children of your clan who manifest powerful fire magic. He grows up to be a great warrior, loyal to the clan and his friends within it, but burdened by a temper that flares like his fire on occasion.
- Badass Boast: "I don't need divine blessing, I am a divine blessing."
- Disproportionate Retribution: Yes, the guy was being a jackass, but melting someone's skin over mere words is not okay. And if the clan demands Yatakan apologize, there's a chance he'll get offended and storm off, leaving them forever.
- Fiery Redhead: He has red hair and controls fire. And although he's unambitious and loyal, he has a fierce temper if you manage to provoke it.
- Golden Ending: Yatakan doesn't have a personal arc, unlike the other Fire Children, but if certain conditions are met (keep him alive until the endgame, attract Elmal to your clan by gathering skyfall bones, ask that Elmal invite your warriors into his retinue, give Yatakan permission to lead said warriors), there is a final scene that involves him specifically going to fight beside the gods.Yatakan smiled with joy, but it was not a smile that enemies of the Sun would wish to see. Beren embraced Yatakan like a father. Those standing by thought they heard Yatakan say, "Carry the torch, my son."
- Like Brother and Sister: With his best friend Ayvtu. Yatakan outright says that he can't marry her because she's like a sister to him.
- Power Incontinence: He can't walk on ice- it just melts beneath his feet.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: He can sense Fire Tribe magic other than his own, as shown if he's on the ring during a "story tent animates" scene. He will note that the fabric is shimmering and emanating heat, and be surprised that the other leaders can't feel it.
- Undying Loyalty: Yatakan is deeply loyal to his friends. If he's on the ring, his advice for events related to Ayvtu is always to do what would make her happy; if she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, a deeply shocking thing in Rider society, he says that if the circle votes to send her away, he'll go with her—even if he's the clan chief. And in one event, he nearly kills a Sword of his own clan for insulting Beren.
- Playing with Fire: His fire powers manifest unusually young, before his initiation as an adult.
- Walking the Earth: He generates as either a devotee of Elmal or Zarlen, the traveller god. Either way, he will often suggest that the clan send him out exploring, and may join up with a nomadic priest of Zarlen if his arc ends badly.
- Why Couldn't You Be Different?: He is horrified when his pupil, Beren, falls in love with a Ram.
Ayvtu
Sometimes heroes want the same things as anyone else.
Click here to see Ayvtu's portrait in mature adulthood.
Click here to see Ayvtu's portrait in old age.
"No one is a hero without the gods."
One of the three fire children, she grows up to be a powerful magician and warrior. Although she'd like to marry, the clan will lose her skills if she marries into another, and she doesn't like any of your own young men as potential husbands.
- Action Girl: As a worshipper of Osara, she would be this already, but her fire powers do help.
- Action Mom: If she marries away from the clan, you'll hear about both her victories in battle and the births of her children. And if she doesn't, she will become pregnant out of wedlock, while still remaining one of your top warriors.
- Fiery Redhead: She has blood-red hair and fire magic. And should she become pregnant while unmarried, she suggests raiding the first clan that mocks her and hers for it.
- Like Brother and Sister: With her best friend Yatakan. Ayvtu says that they're Too Much Alike to view him as a potential husband.
- Magic Knight: Magic is typically her strongest starting skill, with Combat not far behind. This is notable in a game where Magic is almost impossible to artificially raise and your best magicians are usually either shamans or noncombatant Erissa worshippers.
- Playing with Fire: Her fire powers manifest unusually young, before her initiation as an adult.
Lyafor
Some heroes' destinies do not lie with their kin.
Click here to see Lyafor as an adult.
"Who do you want me to slay with fire for you? I will go by myself and cut them down as a firestorm does a forest."
The youngest of the three fire children, his destiny does not lie with the clan.
- Exotic Eye Designs: As a child, he has fiery irises and no visible pupils. As an adult, he has bloodshot eyes with entirely black irises, as though his inner fire has burnt out.
- Playing with Fire: His fire powers manifest unusually young, before his initiation as an adult.
- Taking the Bullet: He comes home saying that he tried to burn death and has it inside him now. One of your circle members overheard him saying that that death was meant for Elmal, meaning that Lyafor sacrificed himself to save your people's chief god.
- Taking You with Me: His story can end with him making a suicide attack against a clan of your choice.
The Former Wheel
True daughter of Hyalor.
Click here to see the Former Wheel in old age.
"Becoming [Player Clan] was the best day of my life."
A young Wheel woman who does not fit in among her own people due to her bold and independent nature. She can either marry or be adopted into your clan, and after about a decade will become a potential member of the Clan Circle.
- Animal Motifs: A devotee of Gamari, goddess of horses. Naturally, she is sensible and independent.
- The Charmer: Her birth clan "rather like her" despite their sexism- enough to give her away, instead of doing any of the more awful things Wheels do to women who don't submit. Having her on the Circle opens up special dialogue options for certain Wheel-related events.
- Going Native: Justified Trope as the patriarchal Wheels sent her away to the Riders, whose egalitarian views on women suited her less-feminine personality quite well.
- Happily Adopted: As she herself tells you much later, the day she joined your clan was the best one of her life.
- The Lad-ette: At least among the Wheels: she is no less unique among female Riders.
- Like a Duck Takes to Water: She adapts to Rider ways quickly, and fits in much better among your clan than she ever did in the one she was born to.
The Daughters of Vingkot
"If they are priestesses, they worship Nyalda like we do. They just call her by a different name."
Those are perhaps the most powerful women in the valley. I for one don't want them as our enemies.
Three Ram sisters, widely separated in age, who wield immense divine power. The youngest is Redalda's mother.- The Dividual: They're always mentioned together, and the only time they are differentiated is to note that only one of them gave birth to Redalda. The three do look different from each other, though.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Possibly. Redalda's father is never mentioned; either her mother is unmarried (which would be acceptable among the Ram People) or her father was a man of no particular note who married into his wife's clan. If Redalda's mother is unmarried, she has no trouble raising a daughter alone, given her power and the support her sisters and their clan give her.
- Heroic Lineage: Their clan claims them as the literal daughters of their founding god Vingkot, son of Orlanth himself. Given that Vingkot lived long in the past, your clan takes to mean they are distantly descended from him. In any case, it is through them that Redalda gains her divine blood.
- No Name Given: None of the three is ever named.
The Antler Society
"Hyalor said we should make our own rules as needed. That’s what the Antler Society is doing."
Coming generations will rue our contact with the Antler People.
The Antler Society is a new shamanic movement that can emerge in your clan.
- Ambiguously Evil: It's not clear if the Antlers are up to no good or simply inexperienced with their powers. Lights Going Out reveals that they eventually turned into Broos, though it's unclear if they were Evil All Along or got corrupted by Chaos at some point.
- Manly Facial Hair: One reoccurring Antler Shaman has a beard, which is common among Hyaloring men but unheard of for shamans, who usually project an androgynous appearance.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: The blond Antler shaman appears in multiple events, and he never acquires a shirt. This, along with the Antlers's simple clothing in general, is a stark contrast to the elaborate costumes worn by traditional shamans.
Yanade Spirit-Father
It was Yanade, a member of Hyalor's retinue, who figured out the differences between spirits and gods.
The first Hyaloring shaman, who appears in several myths. He's the special patron of the Yanadlings.
- Good Is Not Nice: Yanade makes it clear to Raven that he does not give free lunches to unreliable beings who never give anything back.
Raven: But I am hungry!
Yanade: You are always hungry.
Yanade: You are always hungry.
Basikan Southclan
... they understood the Third Lesson: to catch your prize, be willing to wander. Basikan learned this more deeply than the rest.
When the first Rider clan split in four, Basikan was the chieftain of the South Clan, the distant ancestors of your own clan.
- Constantly Curious: His defining trait, along with wanderlust.
- Famous Ancestor: To your clan.
- Minor Major Character: He's the ancestor of your own clan, so theoretically he's the most important of the four legendary chieftains of his generation. But he's mentioned less than any of the others.
Stelfor Westclan
Nameforgot said "I cannot afford any more tribute." Stelfor replied, "Your daughters look plump, and your sons well-muscled."
The chieftain of the West Clan, known for his cruelty and brutality.
- The Bully: He's constantly picking on Nameforgot.
- Famous Ancestor: Stelfor's descendants are the only Riders who still practice slavery, making him this to the Pure Horse Clan.
- Honor-Related Abuse: "Stelfor said to his daughter, 'You have been caught in the arms of a Ram.' Without further word, she drowned herself."
- Murder by Inaction: Stelfor refused to ride to the Gods War to save Hyalor, because he knew Hyalor wouldn't allow him to conquer the other clans.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When he saw the dying Hyalor (after having refused to help save his life), Stelfor wept and begged his forgiveness instead of finishing the job as Hyalor expected. Hyalor told him to forgive others instead. There is no evidence that Stelfor actually did this.
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair: The "wrong way" counterpart to Zenangar.
- We Used to Be Friends: All four chieftains were close as children, but as adults, Stelfor was the most hostile of the lot to the others.
Zenangar Eastclan
Some say Zenangar brought down Stelfor with rumors. Others, that what sounded like lies were future truths.
The chieftain of the East Clan, known for his cleverness. Zenangar is sometimes cited as an ancestor of your own clan; presumably his clan and Basikan's intermarried.
- Famous Ancestor: Although your clan traces its descent from Basikan's South Clan, your advisors occasionally mention descent from Zenangar as well.
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair: With Stelfor, and less frequently with Nameforgot. In both cases, Zenangar is the "right way" half of the equation, behaving sensibly in contrast to Stelfor's often pointless cruelty and Nameforgot's utter folly.
- The Smart Guy: The most cunning of the four chieftains.
Nameforgot
Elders came to Nameforgot / Said with you we ain't worth a pot.
The chieftain of the North Clan, who failed so terribly that his name is forgotten and his descendants, the Yanadlings, are no longer even Riders.
- Butt-Monkey: Stories of Nameforgot are either about his bad choices or his bad luck.
- Dirty Coward: He refused to ride to the Gods War to save Hyalor because he was afraid.
- Expy: He has a great deal in common with Bad King Urgrain in King of Dragon Pass, another legendarily terrible ruler who serves as an example of behavior the player clan ought to avoid.
- Famous Ancestor: To the Yanadlings, not that they're proud of the connection. Rather, Nameforgot was such a failure as a chieftain that they abandoned not only his culture but the worship of the gods themselves.
- Hated by All: No one ever has anything good to say about Nameforgot.
- Multiple-Choice Past: More than one explanation is given for his ultimate destruction.
