Crossroads (series)

The Crossroads is an ongoing high fantasy series of books written by Kate Elliott consisting of three books to date. The story takes place in a land known as the Hundred, as well as several neighbouring lands. The story revolves around a large cast of characters who struggle against a growing army that is slowly covering the land with its shadow. The army is led by a mysterious group of people known as Guardians, and in particular by a woman. The ultimate goal of the Guardians is yet to be revealed.

Book One: Spirit Gate

In the first book in the Crossroads series, we are introduced to Reeve Joss, a proud and vain man who searches for answers to the murder of his lover Marit. At the same time, newlywed couple Mai and Anji are sent into exile when political turmoil threatens their lives. They decide to go to the Hundred and start a new life with an entourage of servants and soldiers under Anji's command. The outlanders soon find that this new land that they thought would be a resting place has been thrown into turmoil as bands of brigands and thieves pillage small villages and a much larger army stands poised to attack the cities. Looming over the intersecting paths of each lead character is the question of where the Guardians have gone. Why did they abandon their people, and what has happened to them?

Book Two: Shadow Gate

The second book focuses on the Guardians. We are introduced to Marit, the Reeve who died at the beginning of the series. Early in the book, it is revealed that somehow she was brought back from death before she could pass through the Spirit Gate and into an afterlife. As Marit searches for answers about who she has become, she encounters several other Guardians who were once ordinary people: a young woman named Kiriya who came from the plains beyond the Hundred, the long-lost brother Hari who outlanders Mai and Shai believe to be dead, and a man who dresses as an envoy of Ilu. Meanwhile, after the successful defence of the city of Olossi, the Qin have begun to settle down and build their own community around a new Reeve Hall nicknamed Naya Hall after the oil of naya that repelled the invaders. Bai accompanies a small band of men and a woman to infiltrate the army in the North, while her brother Kesh travels back to the southern lands to find out information about a group of assassins that has been sent to kill Anji and his men.

Book Three: Traitor's Gate

The third book of the Crossroads trilogy recounts how the forces of the Hundred, under the command of Anji, defeat the army of the Star of Light led by the corrupted Guardians, and how in the aftermath Anji unexpectedly takes over the Hundred himself. The remaining faithful Guardians (Jothinin, the last of the original group other than Night; Kirit; Marit) reveal to Joss and others how to kill a Guardian, and one by one all the other Guardians are killed. Kesh and his Ri Amarah companions return from their trip south, and Kesh courts Mai's friend Maravia (to eventual success and Mai's chagrin). Shai and Bai travel through the army of the Star of Light and eventually kill Night, the leader of the corrupt Guardians. Mai discovers Indiyabu, where the Guardians were first created (though she and her allies never quite seem to make the explicit connection), and tries to shelter Hari there, but Anji eventually returns alone and kills him. Anji also later kills Joss, by killing Scar, but unknown to him both Joss and Scar return as Guardians, Joss wearing the gold cloak he had recently taken from Radas. In Indiyabu, Mai, who gave birth to a son, Atani, in the pool where the firelings are born, is later attacked by her servant Sheyshi, who turns out to be an agent of Anji's mother, who wants Mai dead in order to marry Anji to a Sirniakan princess. Mai appears to drown in the pool, and is believed dead. However, the firelings save not only her but her second child, growing in her womb, and when Mai emerges months later she has also discovered all the Guardian cloaks (including Hari's) which Anji and his men locked in chests and threw into that same pool. Realizing Anji's betrayal and learning of his intent to marry another wife, she rejects him, and keeps their daughter while Atani remains with Anji as his future heir. Much later, Mai brings Joss to Indiyabu and frees the cloaks so that they may jess new Guardians.

Characters

Main characters

• Reeve Joss
• Reeve Marit
• Anji (Anjihosh)
• Mai (Mai'ili)
• Shai
• Keshad
• Zubaidit
• Reeve Nallo

Secondary characters

• Peddo (Peddonon)
• O'eki (Mountain)
• Priya
• Miravia
• Atani ( Atanihosh)
• Reeve Pil
• Sengel
• Toughid
• Scout Tohon
• Chief Tuvi
• Jothanin
• Kirit
• Hari (Hari'shil)
• Sheyshi

The Eight Children

According to the beliefs of the folk of the Hundred, the Four Mothers created the Eight children, the eight races of the Crossroads universe.

• Dragonlings, those seen no more
• Firelings, those who dwell within storms
• Delvings, those who dwell within stone
• Wildings, those who dwell in the wild forests
• Lendings, those who Dwell in the grassy plains of the lend
• Merlings, those who dwell in the ocean
• Humans, the most common
• Demons, the rarest of all, (every seventh child born of human parents is a demon, and can see or hear ghosts or sometimes both, depending on which parent you are the seventh child of, father gives sight mother gives sound)

Numbers

In the land of the Hundred, numbers have multiple associations and significance. Also known as the Hundred count, numbers give hidden order to life.

• 2 = Male and female, night and day, wet and dry, life and death
• 3 = The three parts of a person: mind, hands and heart. The three states of mind: resting, wakened and transcendent. The three Noble Towers within every major town or city: Watch Tower, Assizes Tower and Sorrowing or Silence Tower. The three languages spoken within the Hundred
• 4 = The Four Mothers, who created man out of water, earth, fire and air
• 5 = The Five Feasts
• 6 = The Reeve Halls
• 7 = The seven Gods. Seven treasures. Seven holy gems. Seven directions.
• 8 = The eight children: dragonlings, firelings, delvings, wildings, lendings, merlings, demons and man
• 9 = The Guardians. Nine colors, which are the hues of their cloaks
• 10 = The Tales of Founding

Gods

According to the beliefs of the folk of the Hundred, there are Four Mothers: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. They gave birth to the Gods of the Hundred who in turn created the first Guardians.

• Taru, the Witherer
• Kotaru the Thunderer
• Sapanasu, the Lantern
• Ilu, the Herald, the Opener of Ways
• Attiratu, the Lady of Beasts
• Ushara, the Merciless One
• Hasibal, the Formless One

Reeves and Eagles

The Reeves handle disputes, settle disagreements and generally seek to keep the peace in the Hundred. They are divided between Halls, which also house fawkners who care for the many Eagles. Each Hall is run by a Marshal. Reeves are chosen by their Eagles and usually share similar personality traits (Nallo and Tumna are both irritable and short tempered). Once an Eagle is jessed by its Reeve, they form a bond that can only be broken by death. It is often said that a Reeve never outlives their Eagle.

• Joss and Scar
• Volias and Trouble
• Nallo and Tumna
• Pil and Sweet
• Peddo and Jabi
• Marit and Flirt

Reeve Halls

• Clan Hall
• Gold Hall
• Copper Hall
• Bronze Hall
• Horn Hall
• Iron Hall
• Argent Hall
• Naya Hall

Guardians and Winged Steeds

There are nine Guardians who have been bestowed with a gift from each of the Gods: a cloak which grants protection from death, altars which can speak across vast distances, winged horses to travel swiftly, a light which radiates from their hand, a 'staff' of judgment, an offering bowl, and a third eye and second heart to see into and understand the hearts of all. The Guardians can be killed, and the cloak finds a new person to wear it. The person is someone who died serving justice, and may have touched the cloak while alive. In Book 2, Shadow Gate, it is revealed that a cloak found its way to Kiriya. The only way to kill a Guardian is to take their cloak so they cannot be healed. This suggests that when a Guardian is killed, their cloak is passed on to another, possibly chosen by the cloak itself.

Although there are other means of killing a Guardian, it takes five to judge one. Therefore, the only way to destroy Night would be for five Guardians to stand against her.

• Marit: wearer of the cloak colored like death (white), her staff (or weapon) is a sword. She infiltrates the army of Lord Radas and discovers a large group of Guardians led by a mysterious woman who is perhaps the longest-lived Guardian of all. She learns that these Guardians are quick to cast self-righteous judgment on anyone that opposes them. She touched the white cloak before dying.

• Kiriya/Cornflower/Kirit: wearer of the cloak of mist (silver), her staff is a mirror. Fierce and childlike, Kirit burns with a desire to cast judgment on all who she deems as wrong-doers, mainly in response to the way in which she was treated while in captivity. She joins Marit in opposing the majority of the Guardians. Long before her death, she came across the cloak of mist.

• Jothinin: wearer of the sky blue cloak, he aided Kirit in resisting the temptation that came with being a Guardian. Although his motives are a mystery, he is strongly opposed to the cloak of night. When asked how long he has been a Guardian, his reply is quite cryptic, which hints he was one of the first. Unlike the other Guardians, his is a literal staff. There is an old tale about a man named Jothinin who is the only one to stand against a band of men who invade a family's home and attempt to take one of the young women. The tale is about the Guardian Jothinin, and the events took place before his first death.

• Hari: Shai searches for Hari's remains, yet there are none to find, since he has become a Guardian. He serves Night and Lord Radas, but searches for some way of severing their hold over him. He is known to the other Guardians as Lord Twilight and his staff is a spear, which Night and Radas keep from him.

• Radas: wearer of the gold cloak (colour of the sun), his staff is an arrow. He once was a powerful northern Lord, before dying and becoming a guardian. He leads the army at the direction of Night, and is very arrogant.

• Yordenas: wearer of the blood red cloak, his staff is a dagger. Yordenas once tried to manipulate the people of Argent Hall and masqueraded as a Reeve although he never had an Eagle bonded to him. He was eventually exposed and fled back to the mysterious 'Woman' and Lord Radas.

• Bevard: wearer of a cloak the color of forests, his staff is a simple wooden stick that is commonly used to dig out weeds. According to the Woman, he often needs instruction from others and is easily led. He is a cruel and perverted man who enjoys the suffering of others.

• Night: wearer of a cloak the color of night, her staff is a writing box/writing stick. She possesses considerable power over others. She leads the majority of the Guardians as well as the army that sweeps through The Hundred, and has hinted that a former group of Guardians tried to pass sentence on her for a past misdeed. She was one of the first Guardians and was somehow able to either corrupt or destroy the rest. It is hinted that she is the original orphan who pleaded with the gods for Guardians in the first place.

• Eyasad: wearer of the brown cloak (colour of the earth), she fled from the Guardians, foreseeing that Night would become corrupt and in turn corrupt others. Even after Jothinin and Kirit plead their case to her, she stubbornly refuses to get drawn into the conflict, choosing instead to remain hidden where the Guardians cannot find her.

• Joss: wearer of the gold cloak (colour of the earth), staff of an arrow. Joss kills Lord Radas and releases his cloak. Later, Joss awakens as the new cloak of gold after his death. Since Joss died as Scar did, his steed is Scar the eagle, instead of a winged horse. Scar is now the only eagle who flies at night.

In Book Three, Traitors' Gate, the names of the winged steeds that belong to Marit, Kirit and Jothinin are revealed: Seeing, Telling and Warning.

Books

• Elliott, Kate (2006). Spirit Gate, Tor Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-7653-4930-9
• Elliott, Kate (2008). Shadow Gate, Tor Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-7653-4931-6
• Elliott, Kate (2010). Traitor's Gate, Tor Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-7653-4932-3

Notes

External links

• Official Kate Elliot web site
• Kate Elliot's Blog - Crossroads Discussion