|
Deities, Friends, and Foes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks, Lord of the Higher Hell, The Knight of Swords: One of the mightiest Dukes of Hell and a Chaos Lord. He is the perennial patron of the Melnibonéan emperors and is responsible for much of their sorcerous power and long rule. He finds Elric to be one of his sweetest servants, as Elric's moral dilemmas provide him with much sport.
Chardros, the Reaper (sometimes spelled 'Chardhros'): One of the most powerful Chaos Lords, similar to the Grim Reaper. He appears in the battle between Law and Chaos at the end of the saga.
Cymoril: A Melnibonéan, Elric's cousin and consort. He hopes to one day make her his wife and Empress. She tries to understand and help Elric, but like his subjects, she has difficulty in understanding Elric's motivations and would have him rule as the emperors of old, with no concern for any but himself.
Donblas, the Justice Maker: A Lord of Law, the only one named in the saga. He aids Elric in his ultimate struggles against Chaos.
Dyvim Slorm: A Melnibonéan, Elric's cousin, son of Dyvim Tvar. He fights alongside Elric in the final war against chaos, wielding the black sword Mournblade.
Dyvim Tvar: A Melnibonéan, Lord of the Dragon Caves. He is Elric's main ally and advisor. A true Melnibonéan, he lends no weight to any thought of deposing Elric, as it is the emperor's prerogative to act and do as he pleases. His main responsibility and personal love is the care of Melniboné's most destructive weapon, the dragons. It was on the backs of these beasts that Melniboné carved out its empire and they are the most feared and respected weapons on earth.
King Grome: King of the earth elementals. He is very selfish with both his aid and what he considers his ship. He helped create one of the most legendary of artifacts, The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea, and is responsible for the magics that allow the ship to move over land as if it were in water. He viciously disputes King Straasha over ownership of the ship and has vowed to take possession of it, if it ever were to be used in his realm of the land.
Jagreen Lern: The Theocrat of Pan Tang. He is the leader and mighty sorcerer of Pan Tang and is chosen by Chaos to lead their armies in conquering Elric's plane. He is ultimately given all of the Chaos Lords' powers in his fight against Elric and the minions of Law and Balance.
Kakatal, the Fire Lord: A powerful fire elemental. (Described as the ruler of the fire elementals in third-party role-playing game material; this is neither directly supported nor contradicted by the original stories.)
Mabelode, the King of Swords (sometimes spelled 'Mabelrode'): A Lord of Chaos, Mabelode is described as being "faceless". He appears in the great battle at the end of the saga.
Misha and Graoll, the Lasshaar (Wind Giants, Lords of the Winds, Kings of the Winds): Powerful air elementals. They aid Elric in his final revenge on the troublesome sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. (Some third-party role-playing game material claims that Misha and Graoll are the sons of an elemental Queen Lassa, but there is no support for this in the original stories.)
Moonglum of Elwher: A short, red-haired human with a cheerfully ugly face, adventuring companion to Elric. He and Elric share many dangers and rewards together. The most steadfast and loyal companion of all the Young Kingdom humans Elric encounters. His final deed allows Elric to complete his fated purpose.
Myshella, The Dark Lady: A great sorceress. She fulfills the task set to her by the Lords of Law, which is to tend the Castle Kaneloon as its mistress. She must also find heroes strong enough to withstand the forces of Chaos and thus create new lands on Elric's plane. She plays a part in several of Elric's adventures using her mighty sorcery and mechanical flying steed.
Rackhir, the Red Archer: A human, once a Warrior Priest of Phum but cast out of his order. He and Elric travel and adventure together several times throughout the series.
Sepiriz: Captain of the Fates. He and his nine brothers are representatives of Fate (servants of the Cosmic Balance) and are tasked with bringing about the will of the Fates in preparation for the end of an age.
King Straasha: King of the sea elementals and bound by age old pacts of service to the Emperors of Melniboné. His aid is sought and given on several occasions to Elric. He helped create The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea, providing the necessary magics for ocean travel, and disputes its ownership with King Grome.
Terarn Gashtek, Flame Bringer: An eastern barbarian ruler. His sudden attack upon the west from across the Weeping Wastes takes them completely by surprise. He vows to rule the whole world but ends up settling for far less.
Theleb K'aarna: A human sorcerer of the Pan Tang isles. After being displaced as Queen Yishana's advisor and chief sorcerer by Elric, he seeks revenge and uses sorcery to hinder several of Elric's plans. However, in the end he reaps the whirlwind of Elric's wrath.
Queen Yishana: A human, ruler of Jharkor. She presents Elric with several problems/adventures and openly covets his company and power. Her selfish desires are the root of several of Elric's problems, but she also aids him from time to time and ultimately becomes an important ally in his fight against Chaos.
Yyrkoon: Prince of Melniboné, Elric's cousin. He is next in line for the throne, as Elric has no male heir. He is greatly concerned at Elric's behavior and takes all of Elric's brooding and philosophical talk as a sign of weakness. He yearns for a return to more traditional emperors and secretly plots Elric's demise. Yyrkoon is considered a great sorcerer and has made many pacts with unholy forces to obtain his sorcerous strength. As further evidence of his decadent ways, he openly desires his sister Cymoril and intends to make her his wife and Empress if his plans for Elric ever reach fruition.
Zarozinia: A human of the Young Kingdoms. She falls in love with Elric and for a time allows him to experience true love and companionship. Elric also gives up his blade Stormbringer and reverts to taking sorcerous herbs to sustain his life, all for the sake of his love of Zarozinia.
Vezhan: The King with Wings. A Lord of Chaos, once served by Rackhir.
The Lords of the Higher Worlds are the powerful gods associated with Law and Chaos, or with the Cosmic Balance. They include the most powerful gods who are active on Earth at the beginning of the series.
[edit]
Lords of Chaos
The Chaos Lords have the powers of gods but the behavior and appearance of demons. When they appear at their worst, they deliberately inflict pain and suffering on mortals for amusement; even at best, they are not concerned with the harmful effects of their creations. The Revenge of the Rose openly portrays Arioch as insane. Sorcerers often gain power by entering into diabolical pacts with Chaos Lords. The Chaos Lords must act under certain limitations. For instance, Arioch must be summoned by Elric before he can manifest on Earth.
* Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks, Knight of the Swords, et cetera, one of the most powerful Dukes of Hell. He is the patron of Melniboné and has a personal relationship with Elric, who was the first emperor to summon him to the plane of Earth in a long time. He is sophisticated and highly intelligent, and he usually appears in an amazingly beautiful form.
* Balan or Balaan appears briefly as an ally of Arioch.
* Chardros the Reaper, one of the three oldest Chaos Lords, appears similar to the Grim Reaper. He is referred to as both the lord of destruction and beauty.
* Checkalakh the Burning God, a minor Chaos Lord made entirely of fire, was once summoned to Nadsokor to burn disease from the city. Like his essence, he is constantly hungry.
* Eequor, a Lady of Chaos, dwelling in a half-world filled with shades of blue.
* Hionhurn the Executioner, a giant, green and gnarled like a tree.
* Mabelode the Faceless is one of the three oldest and most powerful Chaos Lords. He appears with his face in shadow.
* Malak appears briefly as an ally of Arioch.
* Mashabak is a rival to Arioch in The Revenge of the Rose. Count Mashabak is brutal and direct, less subtle than Arioch.
* Narjhan, a rider in black armor whose voice echoes hollowly in his helm, who leads a force of beggars from Nadsokor against Tanelorn.
* Orunlu the Keeper is a purple-scaled giant with a fiery aura. This good-humored Chaos Lord is charged with guarding the Dead Gods’ Book.
* Pyaray, the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets, appears as a giant red octopus. His soul is kept in a blue crystal on his head. Sailors who drown at sea are taken into his Chaos Fleet. One portent of the end of the world is the ascent of the Chaos Fleet to the surface.
* Slortar the Old, the oldest Chaos Lord, appears ironically as a slim and beautiful youth.
* Vezhan appears as a smoky yellow, winged humanoid; at one time he was a patron of Rackhir, a Warrior Priest of Phum.
* Xiombarg prefers to appear as a beautiful young woman but is sometimes referred to with the male pronoun. She is prone to shapeshifting and carries a giant sword. In Stormbringer, she rides a creature with the head of a lion and the body of a bull (chimeras are typical creations of Chaos).
Some Chaos Lords are known by name only. These include Aesma, Alastor, six-breasted Arnara, Haborym of the Fires Which Destroy, Malohin, Marthim, Nizilfkm, Saebos, Verdelet, and Zhortra.
Balo, the Jester to the Court of Chaos, is able to move at will between the realms of Chaos and Law because he is not exactly a Chaos Lord. His function at court is to amuse and baffle the Lords of the Higher Worlds. At one point, he tries to convert Earth into his own Realm of Paradox.
[edit]
Lords of Law
The White Lords of Law are much less developed than the Lords of Chaos. The stories are set in a cosmic cycle when Chaos is most powerful. Furthermore, Elric’s alliance with Arioch means that he interacts chiefly with the Chaos Lords. When they appear, the Lords of Law are usually more benevolent than the Chaos Lords, who are seductive but also sinister and prone to losing their temper.
* Donblas the Justice Maker is the spokesman and apparent leader of the White Lords.
* Miggea is a female Lord of Law who goes mad.
* Arkyn appears in the Corum cycle, but as the deities in the Elric and Corum cycles are essentially the same then it can be presumed that Arkyn is also a member of the White Lords. He assists Corum many times before the destruction of the Gods by Kwll.
[edit]
The Grey Lords
The Grey Lords appear in the story "To Rescue Tanelorn," where it is said that they "are pledged neither to Law nor to Chaos but will sometimes help either side if the whim takes them." The Grey Lords take pride, ironically, in their humility. These purposefully neutral gods are gods of the Balance and caretakers of Tanelorn, the city of the Balance.
[edit]
The Beast-Lords
The Beast-Lords are the patron deities of the different types of animals that live in Elric’s world. The Emperors of Melniboné entered into agreements with each of the Beast-Lords, though sometimes these gods mention that they have not been called upon for a long time. When Elric calls upon them for aid, some appear in person, while others help by influencing mortal creatures of their type.
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
* Meerclar, Lord of Cats.
* Fileet, Lady of Birds.
* Tangled Woman, unique in the series in that she is a patron of plants rather than animals. Her domain is the rose.
[edit]
Elementals
The Elementals are the embodiments of the four elements: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Each element has its rulers along with many lesser elementals.
* Grome, King of the Earth Elementals.
* Straasha, King of the Sea Elementals and Grome's brother. The two elementals once had a great battle.
* Kakatal, Lord of the Fire Elementals.
* Misha, Lord of the Air Elementals.
Deities and supernatural beings play an active part in Michael Moorcock’s fantasy series about the character Elric of Melniboné. It is nearly certain that a god will be summoned, or at least mentioned, in every story. There are three main classes of gods: the Lords of the Higher Worlds, the Beast-Lords, and the Elementals. Other gods are sometimes mentioned, in particular the Dead Gods who are not active through most of the series.
Long before the time when the stories take place, the royal family of Melniboné established formal alliances with many of these deities, sometimes through a diabolical pact. As the Emperor of Melniboné, Elric enjoys the right to call on them for aid. The Ring of Kings, set with an Actorius stone, demonstrates his right to summon these supernatural beings and supplies him with the mystic energy to do so.
 Elric_of_Melnibone · Sun Oct 01, 2006 @ 08:08am · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
