Characters in the Realm of the Elderlings

This article discusses the characters in The Realm of the Elderlings, a fictional world created by Robin Hobb for her book series The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy. This page does not attempt to be a comprehensive listing of all the characters and their histories, but a general overview of the most important ones. There may be light spoilers in certain sections, so please watch for the spoiler warning.

The Farseer Trilogy

It is the tradition of the Six Duchies to name children after a virtue. This is thought to impress the importance of the virtue on the child so that he or she will grow up embodying that virtue. While it is practiced throughout the kingdom, the noble houses are particularly fond of the tradition.

The Royal Family, the Farseers

Template:Spoiler Due to the complex nature of the Farseer family, characters are ordered by age. There may be light spoilers in this section.

Chade Fallstar

Chade by John Howe

Chade by John Howe

The bastard half-brother of King Shrewd and great-uncle to Fitz. Due to an accident when he was younger, his face is covered with pox-like scars. He rarely ventures outside the false walls and hidden chambers of Buckkeep Castle; when he does, it is only under the alias of Lady Thyme. Chade is the royal assassin for the Farseer line and takes Fitz as his apprentice. He keeps a pet weasel, Slink.

Shrewd

King of the Six Duchies, Shrewd is the half brother of Chade Fallstar, the father of both Chivalry and Verity by his first wife, and Regal to his second, Queen Desire. As a means of ensuring the loyalty of his bastard grandson FitzChivalry so as to avert any future crown-inheritance issues, he apprentices him to the assassin Chade. Shrewd has a reasonable amount of power in the Skill.

Chivalry

The eldest son of King Shrewd and father of Fitz. Less than a year previous to Fitz's birth, Chivalry went to the Mountain Kingdom to negotiate a series of treaties. When he discovered his son's existence, he abdicated his future throne and went to live at Withywoods with his wife, Lady Patience. The tale of his death in a hunting accident a few years later is widely accepted, but there remains some suspicion that Chivalry was murdered per order of Queen Desire.

Verity

The second son of King Shrewd and uncle to FitzChivalry. After Chivalry abdicates, Prince Verity becomes King-in-Waiting, but feels unequal to the task of ruling, as he was always brought up to be the "second son," not to rule as Chivalry was. He is fond of his nephew, but has little time to spend with him. He soon weds Kettricken of the Mountain Kingdom in the hopes that the two kingdoms will forge a stronger bond. At first they are both rather formal with each other through lack of understanding and interaction, but this gives way to mutual love. Verity was taught by Solicity, the Skillmaster before Galen, who had completely different views on how to teach the Skill from her successor. Verity in turn teaches Fitz the Skill whenever he has the time, beginning with the setting of walls around his mind, when Fitz - unknowing and untrained - inadvertently shares dreams of his love for Molly with his uncle.

Verity travels to find the Elderlings and carves himself a dragon in an effort to save the Six Duchies. Without a coterie for help, Verity is drained by his efforts, but with some help from both Kettle and FitzChivalry, he finishes his dragon and rises with the others to fight the invading Red Ships and restore peace to the six Duchies.

Regal

Regal Farseer by John Howe

Regal Farseer by John Howe

The only son of King Shrewd and Queen Desire, half-brother of Princes Chivalry and Verity, and third in line to the throne. He demonstrates great contempt for FitzChivalry, considering him a threat to the stability of the succession. He is later referred to as Regal the Pretender. Though Regal was never trained in the Skill, he uses royal coteries to wield it. He serves as the antagonist of the first trilogy.

FitzChivalry

Fitz by John Howe

Fitz by John Howe

The narrator of The Farseer Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy, Fitz is the illegitimate son of Chivalry and an unknown woman from the Mountain Kingdom. Fitz is capable of using two kinds of magic, the Skill and the Wit. He is strong in the Skill, but fears that his use of it is tainted with the Wit and that this affects his Skilling. Despised by the Skillmaster, Galen, Fitz is never properly trained; Galen puts a barrier upon his mind during his early "training" and this may explain why he is often troubled by Skill-headaches and seizures. Due to his illegitimate birth and his lack of memory before the opening of the book, Fitz never learns his exact age. However, his estimate is that he was brought to his uncle Verity when he was about six years old. In the fourth of the books, Fool's Errand, Fitz is approximately 35.

Fitz is the White Prophet's Catalyst. Nighteyes calls him "Changer" and the little things that Fitz does often set the wheels of change in motion without his awareness.

• Fitz is adopted by Lady Patience as her son and she names him Thomas; Chivalry and Verity would call him 'the Tomcat' when refering to him in private;and towards the end of the books Fitz has a memory of his mother calling out the name 'Keppet'. *By rounko hero

The Dukes of the Six Duchies

Ram

Duke of the duchy of Tilth.

Brawndy

Duke of the duchy of Bearns. Father of Celerity.

• Duke Brawndy dies in battle against numerous red ship raiders in the hall of his keep.

Shemshy

Duke of the duchy of Shoaks.

Kelvar

Duke of the duchy of Rippon.

• Kelvar takes a young bride named Lady Grace, and elevates her far above her station to duchess.

Other Members of the Court

The Fool

The Fool by John Howe

The Fool by John Howe

A jester in King Shrewd's court, the Fool (or Beloved as his mother named him) frequently speaks in riddles, and at times appears to be prescient. Although the Fool frequently teases him, Fitz considers him a close friend. The Fool is extremely pale, with white hair and colourless eyes that many people find hard to meet. However, he gradually darkens throughout the books, appearing as golden or "tawny" in Fool's Errand. His actual gender is brought into question throughout the series and never definitively answered, but by common consensus he is referred to as male, when directly questioned on the matter he said that it was no one's business but his own.

The Fool believes that he is the White Prophet of that age, and Fitz is his Catalyst: The Fool predicts the future and uses Fitz to change it to his vision, which is not always easy on the Catalyst. The Fool tells FitzChivalry that they are to save the world by saving the Six Duchies. If you save part of the world, you save all of it, as that is the only way it can be done, or so he says.

The Fool has traces of Skill on his fingers from an accidental encounter with Verity's Skill-coated arms. First silver, it fades to grey, allowing the Fool to know the history of anything he touches with those fingers, which lends him great abilities with wood carving. He also leaves his fingerprints on Fitz's wrist, creating a faint Skill-link between them.

Not much is known of the Fool's family life, only that he was born in a small village; his mother had black hair and green eyes; his fathers were cousins; and he had a sister with golden hair. This last gives him sympathy towards Girl-on-a-Dragon, and he strives to awaken her and set her free.

• It is said that the Fool knows everything before it happens and that he knows if anyone, anywhere speaks of him. Others say it is just his great love of saying 'I warned you so!' and that he takes his most obscure sayings and twists them into prophecies. Perhaps sometimes this has been so, but in many a well-witnessed cases, he has predicted, however obscurely, events that later came to pass.The Fool came to Buckkeep in the seventeenth year of King Shrewd's reign, but from where has always been a common question amoungst the citizens of the keep. Many stories have arisen, one being that he was captive of the Red Ship raiders and Bingtown traders seized him from them. Another is that the Fool was found as a baby upon a small boat shielded from the sun by a parasol of sharkskin and cushioned on a bed of heather and lavender.

Fitz is the narrator of the books, but there is speculation that the Fool is meant to be the main character.

Galen

The Skillmaster of the court. He is known to be a brutal and sadistic master; he is abusive to the Fool, and hates Fitz since, when he was teaching Chivalry the Skill, Chivalry burned the Skill-command "Be Loyal to Me" into him. He blames Fitz for Chivalry's downfall and death. While the previous Skillmaster believed that the Skill should be taught while the student is relaxed and loosely focused, Galen claims that the Skill can only be learned through absolute control over one's body and mind, and he uses physical punishment to train his students. He is also a bastard half-brother to Regal, through Queen Desire.

Burrich

Burrich by John Howe

Burrich by John Howe

Originally from Chalced, Burrich was Prince Chivalry's right hand man until Chivalry abdicated; afterwards, he became the stablemaster at Buckkeep. Burrich is very strongly witted, but he resents and abhors this "Beast magic" and tries - unsuccessfully - to prevent FitzChivalry from using it. He is unwillingly bonded to Vixen, a dog in Buckkeep's stables. In the apparent absence of Chivalry's interest in his son, Verity designated Burrich as FitzChivalry's guardian. At first Fitz resents his coarse attempts to parent him, but he later comes to appreciate Burrich's straightforwardness and good heart. Believing FitzChivalry to be dead, Burrich evenutally marries Molly Chandler to protect the true identity of Nettle, Fitz and Molly's daughter.

Lady Patience

Prince Chivalry's wife, known for being extremely eccentric. The public discovery of Chivalry's bastard brings her great pain, all the more so because she is childless herself. Nonetheless, she treats FitzChivalry as her own son, giving him the name "Tom" and attempting to educate him in the fine arts and other non-essential skills. Her companion is the lady Lacey.

Commoners

Molly Chandler

A girl from Buckkeep Town whom Fitz first meets as a child. Originally, she knew Fitz as "Newboy," as he was the newest addition to the group of poor children that she kept company with. Her nickname, "Molly Nosebleed," was given to her by her friends in imitation of the name her mother gave to her, Molly Nosegay. While she worked in her family's candle shop when she was young, she later becomes a maid to Lady Patience at Buckkeep Castle, as well as Fitz's love interest. After his announced death, she marries Burrich and gives birth to Nettle, as well as other children who follow.

Starling Birdsong

A wandering minstrel who befriends Fitz. Like all minstrels, she wishes to secure her place at court by writing a famous ballad; much to Fitz's chagrin, she follows him in the belief that he will inspire one. Fitz's relationship with her remains erratic, in no small part due to her insistence on wanting to influence his life. Her relationship with the Fool also fluctuates, from distaste to belief that he is a woman and so on.

The Mountain Kingdom

The rulers of the mountain Kingdom do not take the title of king or queen, but refer to themselves as "sacrifice" for their people. However, traditional titles will be used here for the purpose of clarity.

Eyod

King of the Mountain Kingdom and father of Rurisk and Kettricken.

Rurisk

Prince of the Mountain Kingdom and the elder child of Eyod. He worked with King-in-Waiting Chivalry during the negotiation of the border treaties previous to the books. An order to assassinate this kindly prince brings Fitz one of his first great conflicts.

Kettricken

Princess of the Mountain Kingdom and the younger child of Eyod. She is 18 when she weds Verity. Though she often struggles with the differences between a "sacrifice" and "Queen-in-Waiting" she takes her position quite seriously. As a result of finding herself sometimes overwhelmed by the traditions of the Six Duchies, she attempts to recreate the aesthetics of the Mountain Kingdom in her personal quarters and the Queen's Garden.

Animal Characters

Nosy

A puppy with whom Fitz formed his first Wit-bond. It lasted until Burrich discovered the bond and separated them. Fitz believed that Burrich had killed Nosy to break the bond, and this adversely affected his relationship with his mentor for many years.

Smithy

A puppy gifted to Fitz by Lady Patience and with whom he forms a Wit-bond. He is described as a small brindle terrier, and his temperament is playfully fierce.

Nighteyes

Nighteyes is a young wolf whom Fitz buys in the marketplace and intends to release outside of Buckkeep. However, Nighteyes refuses to return to the wild, and he eventually wears down Fitz's resistance to the idea of bonding again. Though Fitz feels guilty that Nighteyes chose him as a companion instead of returning to the wild, it does not prevent them from forming Fitz's strongest Wit-bond. From that point on, he is a near constant presence, at Fitz's side and in his head.

The Liveship Traders Trilogy

The Vestrit family

The Vestrit family is an Old Trader family of Bingtown. Their liveship is the Vivacia, and their closest Rainwilder kin are the Khuprus.

Ephron Vestrit

Ephron was the third generation of the Vestrit family to own a liveship, and it was his death that quickened the ship. His wife was Ronica Carrock.

Ronica Vestrit

Ephron's widow and mother of Althea and Keffria Vestrit. She emerges as an influental force in the rebuilding of Bingtown.

Keffria Vestrit

Elder daughter of Ronica and Ephron, Keffria is one of their two surviving children. She married Kyle Haven and together they have three children, Wintrow, Malta and Selden. It was she who dedicated Wintrow to Sa as a priest, but she lacked the willpower to stand up to Kyle when he overrode her later.

Althea Vestrit

The second daughter of Captain Ephron Vestrit and Ronica Vestrit, Althea is a willful tomboy at the start of the series. After the Blood Plague killed the three Vestrit sons in their youth, Ephron Vestrit saw fit to make Althea the heir to his liveship Vivacia. For all intents and purposes, Althea grew up on the Vivacia and fully expected to be named its captain upon her father's death. However, she found that Ronica intended for Vivacia to be given to Keffria's husband Kyle, who had been acting as captain.

Althea is a longtime friend of the liveship Paragon, whom she first met as a little girl. She is also involved with both Brashen and Grag Tenira; she primarily views the latter as a friend.

Wintrow Vestrit

Wintrow is the eldest child of Kyle Haven and Keffria Vestrit. Initially training to be a priest, he was forced to return home for his grandfather's funeral. Despite Keffria's objections, Kyle pulled Wintrow out of the monastery where he was enrolled and forced him to become ship's boy on the newly quickened Vivacia. Though Wintrow's position is to satisfy the ship's need for a blood relative aboard, he is usually unhappy with his situation and his relationship with Vivacia reflects this.

When Vivacia is taken by the pirate Kennit, Wintrow and his father are the only crew members to survive the attack, and Wintrow eventually becomes a trusted adviser to Kennit. Though he resents Kennit's taking Vivacia, Wintrow admires Kennit's ambitions and finds himself in much better circumstances. He forms a strong relationship with Etta after he is instructed to educate her.

Malta Vestrit

The middle child and only daughter of Kyle Haven and Keffria Vestrit, Malta is spoiled by her father. She is forced to mature from her childish, petulant ways throughout the story. This is reflected in her romantic life: she moves from attempting to seduce her friend's brother to being - eventually happily - engaged to the Rain Wilder Reyn.

Selden Vestrit

Youngest son and child of Kyle Haven and Keffria Vestrit.

Liveships

Vivacia

A newly quickened liveship belonging to the Vestrit family. Bonded to both Althea Vestrit and Wintrow Vestrit, Vivacia is the centrepiece of the series.

Paragon

Paragon, also known as the Pariah, is owned by the Ludluck family, though they refuse to sail him because of his past behavior. Paragon is known to have killed three crews, after which he drifted back to Bingtown. He is considered mad and is isolated from the rest of the ships on a secluded beach. He is at turns a brute and a child. Paragon is introduced to us with a face which has been disfigured by an axe, leaving him blind.

Paragon is recarved, with a new face. The face is that of FitzChivalry Farseer (Fitz).

Ophelia

The liveship of the Tenira family, Ophelia's first impressions - and thus her nature - were formed by women. She comes off as equal parts matron and gossip, and serves as something of a mentor to Vivacia at different times. She is also deeply interested in Althea's love life and often works to unite her and Grag.

Ringsgold

A liveship that is lost at sea to an unusual, coordinated serpent attack. In its dying throes, the ship tells its attackers that it was once called Draquius, and was a very different being in its previous life.

Kendry

The Kendry belongs to the Khuprus family of Rain Wild Traders. Although originally boyish and talkative, the affable figurehead has a life-altering experience that leaves it in a brooding fury.

Pirates

Captain Kennit

A ruthless pirate captain who aspires to be the king of the Pirate Isles. Kennit wears a small wizardwood bead charm crafted to look like his face on his wrist; the charm is sentient, though usually silent. He seeks to captain a Liveship, though his reasons for this are unknown to his crew.

Etta

The lover of Kennit, Etta originally worked in a brothel in Divvytown. She joined his crew after a murder attempt at the brothel. She is passionately in love with Kennit and oblivious to the fact that he does not return her sentiments.

Other characters

Brashen Trell

Brashen was the first mate aboard the Vestrit liveship Vivacia under Ephron Vestrit. He is a member of the Trell family of traders, but he was disowned due to his excessive and socially damaging habits. His employment by Ephron Vestrit was on the condition that he was able to control those habits.

Brashen is a longtime friend of the liveship Paragon, and often stays aboard the grounded ship when in Bingtown. He also has a fluctuating relationship with Althea.

Kyle Haven

Husband of Keffria Vestrit, Kyle acted as captain of the Vivacia while Ephron was ill and made her a slaver after her quickening. While he has an antagonistic relationship with Wintrow, he dotes on Malta. He frequently clashes with Althea over the Vivacia and harshly controls his wife, Keffria.

Amber

Amber is a foreign wood carver who owns a shop in Bingtown. She is particularly skilled at creating beads and other small pieces, although she has been known to carve furniture. She employs a Six Duchies woman named Jek to guard her shop.

Amber has golden skin, eyes and hair, and it is assumed that she takes her name from her unusual coloring. She often wears outlandish clothes and mismatched jewelry. However, she is an intensely private person, and she reveals little of her past. She finds slavery disgusting and seeks to free the slaves of Bingtown.

She strongly believes in the workings of fate and destiny, and is convinced that she has to find a nine-fingered slave boy. It is later found out in 'The tawny man' trilogy that Amber is in fact the Fool.

Satrap Cosgo

Ruler of Jamaillia and Bingtown, the Satrap becomes entangled with Malta's tale in Ship of Destiny. Generally - and rightly - considered to be a poor leader, Cosgo was taught about the pleasures of the flesh and of pleasure herbs at a very young age by members of his court. This led to an abrupt end to his education due to his wish to indulge in other fancies. As a result he is very naïve and easily manipulated with flattery and gifts, with a quick temper toward any who question him or deny him what he wants.

Companion Serilla

Advisor to Satrap Cosgo, she finds him greatly dislikeable. She is dispatched to Bingtown, the subject of her studies and where she aspires to reside on a permanent basis, preferably in a position of power.

Jani Khuprus

Mother of Reyn and a Rain Wild Trader connected to the Vestrit family. Jani is influential in the Rain Wilder community due to her wealth and her family's ownership of the last wizardwood log.

Reyn Khuprus

Son of Rain Wilder Trader Jani Khuprus. He refuses to allow the last wizardwood log to be carved up, believing that it holds the last dragon inside. He courts Malta after she unintentionally gives him permission to do so. He is also notable for being decidedly less disfigured - by scales or growths - than most Rain Wilders his age, and for possessing the greatest understanding of the architecture and contents of the Elderling city the Rain Wilders mine for treasure.

Roed Cairn

Violent son of a Bingtown Trader, associated with Companion Serilla.

Davad Restart

Controversial Bingtown Trader with ties to the New Traders and friend of the Vestrit family. His wife Dorill and their children were killed by the Blood Plague. He lacks social graces and is shunned by almost all of the Old Trader families, largely due to his dealings with the New Traders. While he means well, he often inadvertently insults the Vestrits, who feel torn between loyalty and common sense.

The Tawny Man Trilogy

The Royal Family

Prince Dutiful

King-in-waiting, Dutiful is the son of Queen Kettricken and FitzChivalry, though both he and Kettricken believe his father to be King Verity. He is about fourteen during the events of The Tawny Man Trilogy. He inherited both the Skill and the Wit from Fitz, although Kettricken is slightly Witted and believes herself responsible. His actions are decidedly contrary to his name the majority of the time, forcing Fitz to come to his rescue.

Members of Buckkeep Castle

Thick

Thick is a malformed and dim-witted servant whose services are acquired by Lord Chade to attend to tasks in his secret lair. Fitz discovers that Thick is very strongly endowed with the Skill but unable to process all he perceives with it, leaving him distracted and seemingly unintelligent. Thick can often be heard humming random notes to a song composed of the small noises of life.

Laurel

Laurel is Queen Kettricken's huntswoman. She comes from an Old Blood (Witted) family, but does not possess the magic herself.

Outislanders

Arkon Bloodblade

Arkon Bloodblade is the father of the Narcheska, Elliana.

Peottre Blackwater

Peottre Blackwater is the uncle of the Narcheska, Elliana.

Commoners

Mishap

The adopted son of FitzChivalry Farseer. Hap, as he's called, knows nothing of Fitz's true identity and calls him by the name Tom Badgerlock. Hap is taken in by Fitz as a child and is probably the son of a woman raped by a Forged one. He has two different colored eyes, a sign of evil in those times, and his name is likely a direct result of his physical characteristics. He is apprenticed to the cabinet maker Gindast in Buckkeep, but ends up leaving this apprenticeship to become a minstrel after many difficulties with his work.

Svanja Hartshorn

Svanja Hartshorn enters into a relationship with Hap, though her father Rory forbids her from seeing him. She is considered responsible for Hap's problems during his apprenticeship, which is shown to be true when Hap quits his apprenticeship for her and she steals his money. Ultimately, she is found disloyal, hanging on the arm of a handsome sailor.

Jinna

A hedge witch who lives in Buckkeep. Hap introduces her to Fitz. Like with Starling, Fitz's relationship with Jinna varies in depth. She is one of the few people to discover he is Witted and gives him a charm for his journey.

Nettle

Nettle is the daughter of Fitz and Molly Chandler. As a Farseer, she possesses the Skill, although she has not received any training. When she comes in contact with Fitz through her Skill dreams, he hides his true identity from her, but she nevertheless discovers more than he wishes. She is unknowingly the subject of many a debate between Chade and Fitz, who respectively do and do not want her involved in the Royal court.

Swift

Swift is one of Burrich and Molly Chandler's sons, the twin brother of Nimble. He left home when Burrich discovered that he possessed - and thought well of - the Wit and fled to Buckkeep to find Kettricken. He is fanatical about the Wit, and he holds Fitz in scorn because he thinks Fitz is not Witted.

Piebalds

Laudwine

Laudwine is the leader of the Piebalds, an extreme faction among the Witted. He and Fitz are highly antagonistic, especially since Fitz's charge, Prince Dutiful, is involved. Fitz cuts off Laudwine's arm in self-defense and later kills him in order to save Civil.

Deerkin

Deerkin is a cousin of huntswoman Laurel. He associated with the Piebalds until he found out about their true motives.