Evaine MacRorie Thuryn

Evaine MacRorie Thuryn (top center), Joram MacRorie (left), Queron Kinevan (right), and Camber MacRorie (bottom) on the cover of The Harrowing of Gwynedd (1989); artwork by Michael Herring.

Evaine MacRorie Thuryn is a fictional character in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz.

Character introduction

Evaine Elspeth Jessamyn MacRorie Thuryn is the daughter of Earl Camber MacRorie of Culdi and a highly trained Deryni adept. She plays a central role in the Haldane Restoration and the socio-political events that follow it.

Explanation of the character's name

The character bears the name Elspeth in honor of her father's eldest sister, who serves as Abbess of Saint Hilda's Abbey. However, the names Evaine and Jessamyn lack any established significance within the series.

Character sketch

Motivation

Like most of the protagonists in the novels, Evaine is motivated primarily by her love of her family and her kingdom.

Goals

Evaine is determined to maintain a peaceful balance of power between Deryni and humans. In addition, she is dedicated to researching and preserving ancient Deryni lore.

Conflicts

Although the character is caught up in the larger social and political issues of the novels, she has no personal nemesis throughout the series. She struggles against the Regents, as well as the other humans who seek to persecute Deryni, but there is no one particular person with which she has a significant personal conflict.

Biographical summary

Prior story

Evaine is born on October 6, 882, the youngest child and only surviving daughter of Earl Camber MacRorie of Culdi. Following her mother's death in 896, Evaine becomes the chatelaine of her father's manor at Tor Caerrorie. Like her father, Evaine is a devout scholar and researcher, a trait that Camber encourages and develops throughout Evaine's life.

Actions in Camber of Culdi

Evaine begins the novel at her family's estate, where she and her father discuss the murder of a Deryni lord. After Rhys Thuryn and her brother Joram begin searching for the last Haldane heir to the throne of Gwynedd, Evaine debates the possibility of a coup with Camber. When her eldest brother Cathan is murdered by King Imre Furstán-Festil, Evaine accompanies Camber to a meeting with Vicar General Alister Cullen, who has agreed to support a coup against King Imre. Several days later, Evaine flees Caerrorie with the rest of her family when Imre attempts to arrest them, taking refuge in a hidden sanctuary near the city of Dhassa. She marries Rhys shortly thereafter, and soon forms a cautious friendship with Prince Cinhil Haldane. However, she uses her relationship with Cinhil to gain access to his mind, and later joins Camber, Rhys, and Joram in performing a ritual that activates Cinhil's Haldane potential. When the coup is finally launched, Evaine accompanies the invading forces, and she later stands at her father's side when he crowns Cinhil as the new King of Gwynedd.

Actions in Saint Camber

As the new Gwyneddan government prepares for a military invasion by the late King Imre's sister and lover, Princess Ariella Furstána-Festila, Evaine joins with Rhys and Joram in assisting her father in an arcane ritual designed to spy on Ariella. Although the Gwyneddan forces are victorious in the battle that occurs several days later, Evaine is devastated by the news of her father's apparent death. When the royal army returns to Valoret a week later, Rhys immediately informs Evaine of Camber's dangerous deception. The following night, Evaine guides Camber through the magical procedure to assimilate Alister Cullen's identity, using an arcane disguise to conceal her identity from King Cinhil. Over the next year and a half, Evaine spends much of her time at the royal court in Valoret, enabling her to work closely with Camber, Rhys, and Joram in their efforts to secure Cinhil's position as the new King of Gwynedd. In October 906, Evaine testifies at the tribunal to determine Camber's sainthood. However, due to her advanced pregnancy, she is questioned only briefly before being dismissed, and her true role in her father's deception is never revealed.

Actions in Camber the Heretic

Evaine accompanies her husband to Ebor, where Rhys is tending to the injuries of Earl Gregory MacDinan, a colleague of theirs from the Camberian Council. While attempting to Heal Gregory, Rhys accidentally discovers how to block Deryni powers and abilities. They summon Camber and Joram from Valoret to witness the procedure, but all four of them return to Valoret shortly to tend to the aging King Cinhil. The following night, Evaine and her family assist Cinhil as he sets the Haldane potential in his three sons, a powerful arcane working that claims the king's life. Although nearly all Deryni are dismissed from the royal court by the Regents of young King Alroy, Evaine and her family continue to monitor the situation at court through their colleagues on the Camberian Council. In addition, Evaine works steadily with Rhys as he experiments with his newly discovered talent. She recruits Revan, the young boy saved by her brother Cathan fourteen years earlier, to join a religious cult in preparation for using Rhys' talent as a way to protect Deryni if persecutions are launched against them.

By late May, Evaine's latest pregnancy has progressed to the point where her unborn daughter can sense the pain of others, the sign of a powerful Healer. When the Camberian Council decides to plant a spy in the royal court, it is Evaine who casts the shape-changing spell on her nephew, Earl Davin MacRorie. However, the plan eventually backfires when Davin is killed in September, further inflaming the anti-Deryni suspicions of the Regents. Evaine and Rhys return to their estate near Valoret for the next several months, but Rhys is summoned to Valoret on Christmas Eve when Camber agrees to become the next Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd. Realizing that the Regents will react violently to Camber's election, Evaine, her children, and her nephew Ansel flee to a hidden monastery. While traveling the following day, Evaine is immediately aware of Rhys' death, sensing her husband's demise from across the kingdom. Evaine and her group arrive at Trurill on New Year's Day, but the castle has already been sacked by the Regents' forces and most of the residents, including Evaine's eldest son, have been slain. Overwhelmed by the deaths of her husband and son, Evaine goes into labor, eventually delivering her fourth child and second daughter, Jerusha. Evaine's party arrives at the monastery the following day, where her wounds are treated and she is reunited with her brother. Several days later, the siblings sense their father's plight, but they are unable to save Camber from his assailants. At the end of the novel, Evaine and Joram discuss the possibility that their father may actually be a saint.

Actions in The Harrowing of Gwynedd

Following the deaths of Camber, Rhys, and Jebediah d'Alcara, Evaine and Joram are left in charge of the Camberian Council and the underground efforts to protect Deryni throughout Gwynedd. In addition to these responsibilities, they are also determined to save their father, who they believe is not truly dead. Instead, they are convinced that Camber is locked in limbo, trapped at the moment of death in a spell of his own casting that he did not truly understand. Evaine begins conducting extensive research in an attempt to discover any additional information about the mysterious spell, while also organizing the preparations of the Camberian Council to launch their baptizer cult. After Revan finishes his final training for the cult and departs, Evaine and Joram once again turn their efforts to Camber's condition, which has not changed in the two months since his apparent death. Realizing they will need a Healer if they succeed in restoring Camber to life, they reveal the full truth of Camber's deception to Dom Queron Kinevan, who eventually agrees to assist them in their efforts. They continue to search for more information about the spell, and Evaine succeeds in making contact with Prince Javan, who agrees to procure several rare Deryni manuscripts for Evaine's use. In mid-April, Evaine, Joram, and Queron discover a hidden chamber in the ruins beneath Grecotha that contains the bodies of two legendary Deryni adepts. In addition, they also discover several artifacts from the distant past, including a scroll that Evaine succeeds in decoding. Despite her growing concern about the ritual detailed in the scroll, Evaine decides to proceed with the attempt to save Camber. In the ruins beneath Grecotha, Evaine conducts the arcane procedure, assisted peripherally by Joram and Queron. Her mind travels to another plane of existence, where heavenly beings inform her of Camber's true status. Evaine agrees to sacrifice her life to free her father, placing him in a state of existence that allows him to travel between the lands of life and death. Evaine MacRorie Thuryn dies on August 1, 918, at the age of 35.

Actions in other Deryni works

Evaine appears in two of the short stories that were published in the book The Deryni Archives. In "Catalyst", set fifteen years before the events of Camber of Culdi, the six-year-old Evaine and her older brothers attempt to deal with thieves in the MacRorie household. In "Healer's Song", set between Saint Camber and Camber the Heretic, Evaine and Rhys celebrate the birth of their third child, Tieg Thuryn.

Family

Major themes

Evaine is described in the novels as holding a special place in her father's heart. Although both of her brothers inherit various traits from their illustrious sire, it is Evaine who shares his love of research and scholarship. Her esoteric knowledge is surpassed only by Camber himself, and other characters often defer to her in magical matters, readily acknowledging her mastery of the arcane arts. While Cathan is Camber's legal heir, and Joram is Camber's political heir, Evaine is clearly his magical heir throughout the novels.

Sources