The
Obernewtyn Chronicles are populated by a large cast of characters. Only the most important of these are listed here.
Misfits • Elspeth Gordie: Elspeth is the main character in the Obernewtyn Chronicles. Her parents were burned for the crime of sedition when she was young, and was sent to live at Kinraide Orphanage with her older brother, Jes, who
nicknamed her Elf). She was condemned to Obernewtyn after Madame Vega came to evaluate the orphans to discover any "mutants" among them, and became suspicious of Elspeth. Elspeth is tall and slim, with brilliant green eyes. She was given the nickname "little sad-eyes" by Brydda Llewellyn, due to her serious demeanour. Her hair is long and black, and she has pale skin. Elspeth is the Seeker, or
Innle in the beast-language. Despite much evidence proving her to be the Seeker, Elspeth constantly denies this. Also known as Elaria to the Gypsies, she's been dubbed a figure of
legends, and is said to do a number of things. The most important of these are to find the five signs and beat the
Destroyer to the computers controlling the weaponmachines in time to prevent a second Great White, and to free the beasts from human dominance. Elspeth possesses many talents, which sets her apart from other Talented Misfits. She possesses the abilities of farseeking, coercing, beastspeaking, and possibly teknoguilding. Some futuretelling or truedreaming ability is also apparent, although this is vague and uncontrolled. She has the power to heal her own body, bestowed upon her by Nerat the Agyllian in
The Farseekers. She also has a separate Talent of killing with her mind that she is too scared to uncover properly, however this ability can also be used to increase the strength of her other Talents. The only Talent she does not seem to have is empathy. In fact Elspeth struggles with emotions although she is trying harder to be understanding. Elspeth becomes betrothed to Rushton Seraphim at the end of
Ashling, having realised that what she had felt for Rushton had been
love, but she had been too scared to face it. The two of them are
estranged for a time but reconcile in the Stone Key. Elspeth's friend Dameon is also in love with her but she fails to see it. • Rushton Seraphim: Rushton is the eldest son of the former Master of Obenewtyn, Michael Seraphim. His
half-brother is Stephen Seraphim. He is a Misfit with latent powers. He is approximately nineteen years-old at the beginning of the series, and is tall, with jade green eyes and dark hair. He is originally the
heir to Obernewtyn, and as of
The Farseekers, Master of Obernewtyn. Rushton is first known to Elspeth as the farm overseer at Obernewtyn, a post he holds while he plots to claim his birthright to Obernewtyn from his defective younger half-brother's evil minders. As Master of Obernewtyn, Rushton transformed Obernewtyn into a haven for Misfits and beasts alike. Rushton is a Misfit with latent Talent, which he only begins to use at the end of
Ashling when Freya, an "empath-enhancer", tries to enhance his abilities. At the end of
Ashling he becomes
betrothed to Elspeth. She enhances his abilities further than anyone else could. In
The Keeping Place Rushton is kidnapped by Ariel, and tortured into
insanity. While Elspeth is able to cure him, in
The Stone Key it is revealed that his
trauma has left him hollow and devoid of the capacity for love. This is displayed towards Elspeth initially with
apathy, which slowly transforms into
hatred and
loathing, and finally causes him to relapse into a mad, animalistic state which Elspeth eventually cures once again, this time permanently through use of intense deep probing. All of this, apart from Elspeth's final triumph, was foreseen and orchestrated by Ariel. • Ariel: Ariel is a Misfit with a defective mind and a rare empathy-coercion combination of talents. He is the principal antagonist throughout the series, appearing time and again in positions of power and influence.
Intelligent,
manipulative,
sadistic, ambitious, and highly attractive, Ariel was, before Rushton's coup, favoured by the keepers of Obernewtyn and assisted them in their failed quest to find the Beforetime weaponmachines. In
The Farseekers, it is believed that Ariel has run away from Obernewtyn, and is presumed dead. However he has instead ingratiated himself with Henry Druid, the Herder Faction, the council, and Salamander. Ariel is
megalomaniacal, with every new book in the series slowly unfolding his wide-stretching and subtle plan. While it is clear he intends to purposefully reawaken the weaponmachines, and has attempted to seduce Elspeth to his cause, it is unclear if he is aware of how dire the consequences of these actions would be. His motives are often shrouded in mystery, and his apparent ability as a futureteller means that he is always one step ahead of Elspeth and the Misfits. Identified by Gahltha as ''H'Rayka''—or "one who brings destruction"—Elspeth assumes Ariel is the Destroyer of which Atthis warned her. In fact, as suggested by the
literal interpretation of his title, rather than being the Destroyer, he will be responsible for leading another individual—the true Destroyer—to their unwitting
fate. • Dameon: Dameon is a powerful
blind empath, and, with Matthew, one of Elspeth's first friends at Obernewtyn. He is an older misfit who is tall, blind, has an "angular" body, light to white eyes, a slightly large nose, and many
freckles. Dameon is a very talented empath and Guildmaster of the
Empath Guild. He first appears in the first book of the series,
Obernewtyn, and has been regarded as one of Elspeth's most loyal friends. Dameon was the son of a Councilman. He was to inherit all the vast properties of his father after his death, however, upon the death of his father, Dameon's cousin pronounced him a Misfit in order to send him away and gain the land for himself. Ironically, even though to his cousin did not really believe he was a Misfit, he actually is one. Dameon was sent to Obernewtyn where he met Matthew, and later, Elspeth. In
The Stone Key it is mentioned that he intends to sue his cousin to regain his lands, and establish a
cooperative farm there. It has been interpreted by many that Dameon is secretly in love with Elspeth. There are many implications of this throughout the series, but a popular indicator occurs in the third book
Ashling. When Elspeth and Rushton become betrothed, Dameon chooses not to return to Obernewtyn. Rushton says he knows the reason that he must stay behind, and Elspeth is surprised that Dameon blushes at this comment. Dameon then creates a "block", so that Elspeth cannot read his thoughts and he cannot read her feelings as they say goodbye. Series author Carmody has stated that she did in fact intend Dameon to be in love with Elspeth. This is made clear in
The Red Queen. • Matthew: Matthew is a farseeker, and, with Dameon, one of Elspeth's first friends at Obernewtyn. Matthew is the first human with whom Elspeth communicates mentally, and the first Talented human, other than herself, whom she encounters. He is later made farseeker ward, a post he holds until he is captured by slavers and taken to the Land of the Red Queen where he serves
slave labour. Matthew is slightly older than Elspeth, and is described as tall, thin, and "sharp eyed". Matthew is a farseeker's guilden, and was the first to introduce Elspeth to Dameon. • Dragon: Dragon is a young, but wild girl, and powerful empath-coercer. She was discovered and rescued on a farseeker expedition to the West Coast. She acted as the protector of the ruins in Aborium, and used her abilities to project images into people's minds of things of which they were thinking. Her name was unknown, so Elspeth called her Dragon, not just for her flame-red hair and fiery
temperament, but for the image she projected into all their minds on their first encounter in her attempt to scare them away. In
The Keeping Place, Dragon falls into a comatose due to Elspeth's harsh mental probe and begins attacking Elspeth in her dreams due to her longing for her and supposed 'abandonment' but is eventually cured. Dragon is the daughter of the Red Queen from the distant and mysterious Land of the Red Queen, and as such she holds important clues to Elspeth's personal quests in the deep subconscious levels of her mind. • Domick: Domick is one of Rushton's
allies early in the series, and later a coercer guilden. Domick is sent to establish a safe house for Obernewtyn in Sutrium, the capital of The Land. There he infiltrates the council as Obernewtyn's
spy, creating the alter-ego Mika for this purpose, and his espionage work sends him almost insane. He later renounces his ties to Obernewtyn. He was captured, along with Rushton, by Ariel and taken to Herder Island where he was physically and mentally tortured. He was brainwashed by Ariel, and was infected with disease so as to spread a
plague throughout the land. • Kella: Kella is a healer guilden, Elspeth's main female friend, and Domick's
bondmate. She accompanies Domick to Sutrium, although his work at the Council cause the two to become estranged. • Daffyd: Daffyd is an
armsman for the Herder renegade Henry Druid, and a Misfit. Daffyd is sympathetic to Obernewtyn's cause and is friends with Elspeth and Rushton, and is required to search for his Misfits friends, who disappeared after the Druid's camp was destroyed by a firestorm. • Pavo: Pavo is a tecknoguilder who died from the rotting sickness while trying to help Elspeth and the other Misfits when they went to Sutrium.
Beasts • Maruman: Maruman is a
fey, battered cat, and the first being with whom Elspeth communicates mentally. Maruman endures frequent bouts of madness, and even at his most sane he is prone to making cryptic predictions about Elspeth's fate. It is from Maruman that Elspeth learns most about her roles as the Seeker and
Innle. According to prophecy, Maruman is the
Moonwatcher, one of Elspeth's guardians in her
quest. Maruman first appears in the first book,
Obernewtyn, where he encountered Elspeth at the Kinraide Orphan Home after she alerted a bird to his presence. This was also Elspeth's first experience with her mind powers; after she realised she could hear Maruman cursing, he is the first being she communicates with mentally. As the Moonwatcher, Maruman travels with Elspeth on most of her
dreamtrail wanderings and adventures, protecting and guarding her from unknown forces, and serving as a foil to Gahltha, the horse also known as the
Daywatcher. He is known as
Yelloweyes to his fellow beasts, and is held in high regard by them. The Agyllians, or flamebirds, are in constant communication with Maruman, resulting in
schizophrenic tendencies. It is from Maruman that Elspeth learns most about her roles as the Seeker and
Innle, the
Innle being destined to free the animals from their human oppressors. Maruman is a contrary being, and his temperament can shift, without warning, from wise to sullen and difficult. His age is never specified, it is only known that he is
ancient, and possibly Beforetime in his origin, which would make him over a century old. As of
The Keeping Place, he is left with only one eye, due to his solitary adventures in the
radioactive Blacklands. The last appearance of Maruman is his return to Obernewtyn with Elspeth and Gahltha at the end of
The Stone Key. However he is depicted cradled by Elspeth on the cover for the yet-unreleased sixth book,
The Sending, where they are shown alone and walking the
deathroad. • Gahltha: Gahltha is a noble, black horse, originally mad and spiteful due to
mistreatment by his former human owners, however he becomes wise, calm and understanding due to Atthis and the Agyllians when he decided he wanted to die but they promised him a purpose, to look after Elspeth. Gahltha is Elspeth's mount on all her travels, and is the Daywatcher, the second of Elspeth's fated guardians. • Atthis: Atthis is the leader of the Agyllians, or Guanette birds, a powerful, wise and ancient species of bird. Atthis is also one of Elspeth's main sources of information regarding her quest. Atthis often communicates with Elspeth through Maruman. Agyllians in real life are probably most related to phoenixes, upon which they are based. • Nerat: Nerat is a healer among the Agyllians. In
The Farseekers, after Elspeth is found in a cave by three Agyllians and taken to him, Nerat taught her body to heal itself, as she had blocked her pain behind a mental barrier, and if she was not healed she would die. • Darga: Darga is a small dog belonging to young farseeker Jik. Darga proved extremely adept at navigating safe pathways through
contaminated land. He was lost and presumed dead in the
firestorm that destroyed Henry Druid's camp, although Maruman subsequently said that Darga's return will be important. • Avra: Avra is Gahltha's mate, and was originally a wild horse but was taken into the farms at Obernewtyn to work while Alexi and Madam Vega were there. Avra gave birth to a young foal in the
Keeping Place. • Sharna: Sharna was a young dog that worked at the farms in Obernewtyn. He died to protect Elspeth from Ariel's wolves. • Faraf: Faraf is a young
mare that was found at the start of the novel
Ashling, where she was being beaten by a young boy who was her owner. Elspeth told Faraf how to get to Obernewtyn, but in the process of getting there Faraf was captured by Sadorians and was taken to be used in the battle games. Faraf was then gifted to Mirium, the coercer guilden for a bonding present. At the start of
The Keeping Place, Faraf was escorted to Obernewtyn to live there. Elspeth calls Faraf "little sister mind", and they become very close.
Rebels • Brydda Llewellyn: Brydda is a Seditioner and rebel leader. Brydda befriends Elspeth, and is sympathetic to the Misfits' cause. He invites Obernewtyn to join the rebellion against the council, although this proposal faces stern opposition from many of the other rebel leaders. Brydda was the chief organiser of the rebel alliance in its early stages, although control has increasingly been wrested from him by others, most notably Malik and his allies. • Idris : One of Brydda's most trusted companions. Idris is killed in Ashling by Salamander. • Malik: Malik is a power hungry rebel leader who is strongly opposed to having the Misfits join the rebellion. Unlike Brydda he has no sympathy for mutants, and regards them as monsters pretending to be human. • Bodera: Bodera is the rebel leader of Sutrium, father of Dardelan, and Brydda's mentor. • Dardelan: Dardelan is Bodera's son. He ends up looking after Bodera, and falls in love with Jakoby's daughter, Bruna, with whom he is going to be bonded.
Gypsies • Swallow: Swallow is a Twentyfamilies gypsy, son and heir of the ''D'rekta'' (the leader of the Twentyfamilies), who later accedes to the D'rektorship himself. Elspeth and Swallow first met when he saved her from an amount of whip lashings from the community in the market. After he saved her he kissed her, but his love for her has never been found, nor Elspeth's love to him, if it ever did occur. He is connected to Elspeth and her quest, possibly as the fated "one of Kasanda blood" who will accompany Elspeth on the final stages of her quest. Swallow has saved Elspeth's life twice, saying he has heard a voice in his head telling him to help her when she is in need. Swallow is a code name; his real name is unknown. • Iriny: Iriny is a
half-sister to Swallow who is rescued by Elspeth in
Ashling and brought to Sutrium for healing. It is through her that Elspeth was able to gain contact with Swallow. • Darius: Darius is a Twentyfamilies gypsy who has the ability to heal beasts, as well as skills to heal humans. • Maire: Maire is a Twentyfamilies gypsy healer, and is the grandmother of Swallow and Iriny.
Beforetimers • Kasanda: Kasanda is a mysterious beforetime seer, also known as Cassandra Duprey, or Cassy. She lived through the Great White and into the first years and decades following it, when the world was in turmoil. Kasanda was the first gypsy D'rekta, and the sister-in-law of the first Red Queen. Before the Great White, she foresaw Elspeth's quest, and following the holocaust, she left scattered clues that will aid Elspeth in fulfilling it. • Jacob Obernewtyn: Jacob Obernewtyn is the wealthy partner of Hannah Seraphim, owner of the Reichler clinic. Obernewtyn was named after his work on Misfits in the Reichler Clinic.
Sadorians • Jakoby: Jakoby is the Sadorian tribal leader, mother to Bruna, and ally of Brydda Llewellyn. • Bruna: Bruna is Jakoby's arrogant daughter, and the lover of Dardelan. • Straaka: Straaka was a Sadorian
tribesman, who believed he was betrothed to Miryum, and died defending her. • Seresh: Seresh is Jakoby's twin sister, born with a deformed jaw and mouth, who was sent to the
Earthtemple, where Jakoby was not allowed to see her. Seresh ran away from the Earthtemple. Guardians believed she had drowned herself, but later Jakoby was told Seresh had not died, but had stolen money and escaped on a ship. Seresh is the most likely candidate for Salamander. ==Places==