In order of appearance; complete for all seventeen Books in Ravenwood: A Seeker’s Memoir.
People at Calhoun
Jason Thaddeus (Jack) Peredur: a chemistry student, native to Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Recently arrived at Calhoun University in South Carolina to start work toward a graduate degree in chemistry. Enjoys reading and rock collecting. Created a synthetic analog of the drug once called “telepathine,” which in a way led to the Ravenwood Disaster, and blames himself. Badly injured in a lab accident in March ’72 and still recovering. A resident of the Garret and a member of Alaine’s former coven. Took “Aglorand” as his witch name. Survived the Ravenwood Disaster through having been in the hospital when it took place.
Doctor David Knight (after June 12, “The Butt”): a professor of organic chemistry at Calhoun University; highly respected in his field. Jack’s former mentor and thesis advisor. A hard and demanding taskmaster. Scapegoated Jack for the lab accident, canceled his assistantship, and had him suspended from Calhoun at least until the summer of ‘73, thus earning his new nickname among the Garret Gang.
Suzanne Étienne Marat: a freshman liberal-arts major, recently come to the U.S. from Mortagne, Normandy, France on a student visa. Dark brown hair, usually worn in pigtails. Blue eyes. Eldest of seven siblings. Loves cooking and dress design. Expert swimmer. Moved to Russell University with Hadrian Marsan, but after a falling-out returned to Calhoun and lives in the Garret. Due to her experiences with Hadrian and others she finds it very hard to trust men. Briefly dated Brian Adams, but it didn’t work out. Some of her dreams have proven to be memories of an earlier life as Morgaine, priestess of Rowan Tree Coven in the 1800s, and mother of Melusine. A former member of Alaine’s coven. Stayed behind to be with Jack in the hospital, thus surviving the Ravenwood Disaster, and as of the Memoir’s end they are engaged to be married.
Charlie Blake: a professor of chemistry at Calhoun. A self-described “M.S. in a Ph.D. world.” Lives near campus and rents a spare room to students. On her first arrival let Suzanne use it for free as a favor to her Great-Aunt Clarisse, a long-time friend. Currently, Brian Adams is his renter.
Nicholas (Nick) Valentine: a former engineering student at Calhoun; from Belvedere, South Carolina. Very large; dark skin and eyes; wore a full beard. Worked in appliance repair and ran a light show, the “Flying Fire,” saving money to go back to class full-time in Fall 1972. Lover and former traveling companion of Dawn “Reynolds.” Took “Gulliver” as his witch name. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. With Dawn, a founder of Lakeside by the Warm Sea in Marsan’s world.
Alaine Ehrhardt (formerly Alaine Francis Lancaster): a junior horticulture major at Calhoun, and initiated witch in an English tradition through her Aunt Theda. Her witch name is “Galmariel.” Blonde hair curled at the ends; pale brown, almost golden eyes. An accomplished Tarot card reader. Formed the coven at Calhoun to pass on some of her knowledge. With her husband Carl, originally rented the Garret. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priestess of PHUL in Marsan’s World.
Doctor Preston: a professor of analytical chemistry at Calhoun. Gives long, boring, repetitive lectures. First of the dreaded “Three P’s” on the chemistry faculty.
Doctor Purvis: another chemistry professor at Calhoun. Teaches inorganic chemistry.
Carl Ehrhardt: an Army veteran returned, badly scarred and somewhat crippled, from Viet Nam. Most of his injuries, though, were healed in the power storm on Brushy Knob. Short, with sandy brown hair. Alaine’s husband and a member of her coven. Detested the Government and nearly all authority. His witch name was “Hephaistos.” One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priest of OCH in Marsan’s World.
Willie Thorson: front counter attendant and stockman at Thorson’s Hardware.
William Thorson, Senior (“Old Will”): the store owner. Resembles the Colonel seen on chicken buckets. A Calhoun graduate, Class of 1938, and a member of the Calhoun Masonic Lodge. His wife Sonya, Willie’s mother, died in April ’63 and he has never remarried. Also owns the building across an alley behind the store, renting its top floor to Alaine and Carl. This apartment, restored through major effort, has now become The Garret.
Cissy (Sylvia Annabelle) Adams: a founding member of Mindpower, Hadrian’s study group. Blonde, tanned “California” good looks; except for her brown eyes, a “dead ringer” for Anne Francis’ Altaira in Forbidden Planet. Finds science and conventional religions equally lacking. A nature lover, and when circumstances and privacy permit, a nudist. Had past lives both on Yuggoth as an A’shiwi slave to the Old Ones, and in Langomar (which it’s turned out is real, not just a literary creation!) as a woodnymph. Kid sister of Brian Adams and daughter of Karen Elizabeth Adams (née Stockton). Now Chuck Taylor’s lover, and a part-time Garret resident along with him, Jack and Sue.
Larry Norton: Another founding Mindpower member. Dark mustache and scraggly beard. Very possessive of Cissy. Notorious for staying on and on as a student, never staying with a major long enough to graduate, and for “breaking” or “losing” copious amounts of chemical lab apparatus and stealing chemicals, likely in hope of making drugs to sell. Now deceased.
Steven Sloane: a Devil-thwarter and tract-distributor from the Campus Mission for Christ.
Brenda Wagner: the Chemistry Department secretary and maintenance coordinator.
The Honorable Frederick J. Parker (“the Honorable Fred”): a Justice of the Peace. William Thorson’s Masonic lodge brother. Officiated at Carl’s and Alaine’s wedding.
Norma Stevens: another founding Mindpower member. Tall, strawberry blonde; pale skin with freckles; very flat chest. A natural empath: could feel another’s pain through body contact, and partly relieve it by taking it into herself. From a farm near Waycross, Georgia. Had a kid sister Jessie, and a judgmentally Christian father who beat her. As a result, when she first met Jack her back was badly scarred and she could not achieve orgasm. Both conditions were later addressed. Usually wore emerald-green contact lenses. Was Elspeth (“Ellie”) in a previous life on the mountain. Took “Aiolynn” as her witch name. Lived with Jack in the Garret and was his lover. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priestess of OPHIEL in Marsan’s World, she later established Fern Hall beside a river there.
Buddy Jones: another founding member. “Heavy-set young man in glasses.”
Dawn: also known as “Margaret Reynolds.” Nick Valentine’s lover and former motorcycle traveling companion. Small, almost childlike, but full-figured. Asian features, black hair, skin “a rich deep gold.” A vegetarian and a gifted artist. Believed in astrology, Voodoo and the I Ching. Often wore a T-shirt with astrological symbols. Took “Aurora” as her witch name. Cursed by a Voodoo deity while living in New Orleans, but that curse was later broken. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. With Nick Valentine, a founder of Lakeside by the Warm Sea in Marsan’s World.
Mary Harshaw. Another founding Mindpower member. A “little dark-haired girl.”
Doctor Prinn: another chemistry professor at Calhoun with a very strong German accent. Last of the dreaded “three P’s” on the chemistry faculty.
Doctor Singh: a physics professor at Calhoun.
Doctor Feinstein: another chemistry professor at Calhoun; teaches spectroscopy courses. Vouched for Jack after the accident, and volunteered to take him on as a graduate assistant following a year’s probation after Doctor Knight (A.K.A. “The Butt”) pulled his assistantship and had him suspended. After long consideration, Jack did not take the offer.
Rudy Scott: a lawyer, “fine defender” and long-time friend and colleague of the Honorable Fred. Very tall and slender. Habitually late, “but never too late”; this seems to be a running joke between himself and the Honorable Fred.
Clarisse Saint-Gerard O’Banion née Rousselot (Great-Aunt Clarisse): Younger sister of Suzanne’s maternal grandfather. French Catholic, but married Michael, a non-Catholic American soldier at the end of World War II, left the Church (a terrible sin!) and moved with him to Arborville, SC. After his death, reconnected with Suzanne (also now a religious outcast) and invited her to come live with her and attend college at Calhoun…which she did.
Gabriella Foster: owner and operator of The Sewing Basket in Calhoun, near the Piggly Wiggly. Suzanne’s employer beginning November, 1971. A devout Lutheran.
Hans Lindermann: a jeweler in Calhoun and Masonic lodge brother to Will Thorson and the Honorable Fred. Has promised to give Clarisse’s jewelry a “friendly” appraisal and hold it for possible repurchase by Suzanne or her friends.
Professor Brooks: taught a course Norma was in, probably in the humanities.
Brian Adams: rents Suzanne’s old room from Charlie Blake. Working toward a Master’s degree in journalism, hoping on completing it to take back his old job as a reporter for the Arborville Times. News editor at the Cougar’s Roar starting spring semester 1972. Dated Suzanne until June 3, when after teary discussion they agreed they weren’t right for each other and should remain just good friends instead. A lapsed Christian turned atheist he has met Mel, had his eyes reopened to spirituality, and now accepts Sue’s path although he says he is unlikely to walk it himself.
Doctor Hudson: Head of the Chemistry Department at Calhoun.
Doctor Zimmer: Faculty advisor for the Cougar’s Roar.
Lemonboat: a band from Spartanburg, quite good and as of late 1971 seeming on the verge of commercial success, having just released the album “Stormbird” including instrumentals and the songs “Safe Harbor” and “Exile’s Song.” Their stage act includes Paula and Martha, the Lemon Dancers.
Rob Jones, Sam Milosovic: student photographers for the Cougar’s Roar.
Debbie Adams: Brian’s late wife; maiden name unknown. Died in childbirth.
Professor Friden: taught Suzanne a math class in spring 1972. Gives pop quizzes.
Doctor David Holson: Jack’s attending physician at Arborville Hospital.
Nurse Pritchett: assists Doctor Holson in the burn ward.
Doctor Frederickson: one of Sue’s professors, Spring Semester 1972. Gave a make-up test to help her pass the course after missing it spending time with Jack in the hospital.
Professor Larkins: one of Sue’s professors, First Summer Session 1972. A very strict grader.
Molly (last name unknown): Shared Cissy Adams’ dorm suite. Has a car and may be available for emergency transportation.
Chuck Taylor: came to the first Mindpower meeting but left in frustration with Hadrian. Close friend of Cissy Adams since childhood. A double major at Calhoun, electrical and mechanical engineering. Thin with sandy hair, small mustache, blue eyes. Wore glasses at Mindpower but has since gotten contacts. Through the use of Jack’s remaining telepathine, he and Cissy have become lovers and melded minds. Has joined the coven with Cissy as his Sponsor.
Roger Feldstein: Doctor Knight’s new grad student. Did his undergraduate work at Furman University. Compulsively neat and tidy.
Harold Jones (Hal): founder of Homefixers home-repair service, based in Seven Oaks. Jack’s present employer. Has a wife Elizabeth and two children: Jeremy, five years old as of summer ’72, and Karen, three. Loves fly fishing.
Doctor Bragen: teaches PSY 106, “Personal and Interpersonal Psychology,” Sue took on Cissy’s recommendation. The course began with students’ taking Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (“16PF”), with later exercises based on the results.
Doctor Gefahr: teaches the two Theater courses at Calhoun and is faculty advisor to the Theater Club there.
Regis and Eleanor Perrin: Homefixers clients.
Delbert and Rachel Morton: Homefixers clients; owners of the house on Sutton Park.
Mr. Atkinson (“no first name, no doctorly title”): Instructor at Arborville Tech; teaches EGT 106, ‘Print Reading and Sketching.’
Timothy Ecklund: Jack’s “apprentice” in print-reading class.
Sonya Thorson: Will Thorson’s former wife; died in April 1963.
People in Columbia, SC
Belinda Carswell: another founding Mindpower member. Daughter of an archaeologist and niece of Ron Thompson, a philosophy professor at Russell University with whom Hadrian now studies. One-eighth Navajo. Switched from Calhoun to Russell for Fall Semester 1971. Usually wore a beaded Indian headband. Took “Wikima” as her witch name. The “Sorcery” half of “Sword and Sorcery” in planned couples cosplay with Frank Warden. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priestess of ARATRON in Marsan’s World.
Hadrian Gideon Marsan: Formerly a physics major at Calhoun, later transferred to Russell University to work on a Master’s degree in philosophy with a psychology minor. Doctor Ron Thompson was his thesis advisor there. Short, red-haired, had an unusual “stalking” gait. Believed in telepathy. An amateur hypnotist; at Calhoun founded Mindpower, an ESP study group, then re-started it at Russell. Convinced Suzanne to move there and live with him, then dumped her when she tried holding him to a long-standing promise he’d made. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen.
Doctor Joachim (Jake) Madden: Taught Comparative Religions at Russell. A “correspondence-school Kabbalist” and collector of grimoires, also an amateur portrait and landscape painter and fan of the Cthulhu Mythos. Small, in his forties, with a salt-and-pepper Van Dyke beard. Lived in the basement at Ravenwood Apartments in Columbia, later dubbed the Crypt, which was the site of the Ravenwood Disaster. Tina Moore nicknamed him “Magus” and it stuck; uses it now as his witch name too. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priest of BETHOR in Marsan’s World.
Tina (Tee) Moore: A former student of “Magus” Madden; moved in with him at Ravenwood after finishing her degree. Flaming red hair. A gifted ceramicist; also taught an evening ceramics course at Midstate Technical College. A self-taught witch; her Working Tools were mostly ceramic too. Another Mythos fan. Took “Rhiannon” as her witch name. Upon their meeting, the real Rhiannon dubbed Tina “Rhiannon the Younger,” with Her blessing. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priestess of HAGITH in Marsan’s World.
Frank (Franquar) Warden: A close friend of Magus, Tina and Belinda (and has dated both of the latter). Swords and sorcery enthusiast, part-time body-builder, and another Mythos fan. Dressed as “Franquar the Barbarian” for Halloween parties and also took “Franquar” as his witch name. The “Sword” half of “Sword and Sorcery” in planned couples cosplay with Belinda Carswell. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Priest of PHALEG in Marsan’s World, and founder of Franklin among the Black Mountains there.
Doctor Ronald Thompson: A professor in the Psychology Department, and Hadrian Marsan’s thesis advisor. About sixty, dignified and well-dressed, balding in the classic male horseshoe pattern. Hosted the Columbia Mindpower group’s meetings in his own home, Monday and Wednesday nights. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. A power-storm in Marsan’s World has restored his youth.
Dave Scoggins (“Cap’n Toker”; “Cap’n T.”): An avid drug user with bloodshot eyes, long greasy hair and appalling breath. Tina described him as a “walking freakout.” Did well on ESP tests, especially drug-aided. Hadrian had him keeping a coded journal hoping to puzzle out what worked best. Columbia’s test pilot for telepathine.
Vera Thompson: Ron’s wife. “Might have been the good grandmother from any fairy tale”: tall, gray-haired but full of smiles and vigor. Helped host Mindpower. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen. Lost in transit to Marsan’s World, her fate is unknown.
Sandy (Sanchita) Peron: Hadrian’s girlfriend in Columbia. Hispanic; both parents came from Mexico. Long straight dark hair, olive skin, dark eyes. Made her own jewelry from silver wire and gemstone beads. One of the Ravenwood Thirteen.
People in Mount Laurel, NJ
George Peredur: Jack’s father. Owns and runs a hardware store in Mount Laurel. Enjoys bowling. Encouraged Jack in his chemical studies, though he knew little of the subject himself.
Doreen Peredur: Jack’s mother. Almost a stereotypical mid-Twentieth-Century housewife. Distrusts all things technical and has no desire to learn about them. Said she feared he’d make “monsters” in his chemistry lab. Since his lab accident, wants Jack to return home to Mount Laurel.
Amanda Ferris: Jack’s steady date his last year in high school. Had “magnificent” breasts. Loved cuddling and intimacy but never dared full intercourse.
Mrs. Higgins: Jack’s high-school French teacher.
Herb and Mavis Farnsworth (“Aunt Mavis and Uncle Herb”): He owns a recliner chair Jack has copied in the Tower Room. Together he and Mavis have five “screaming kids” including two-year-old Sophie.
Leeann: One of Jack’s cousins, younger than he is. One of the screaming five. A collector of Barbie dolls.
Annie Ferguson: a girl Jack dated just once before meeting Amanda. “The chemistry just hadn’t worked.”
Robbie Bernard: the man Annie eventually married in June, 1972.
Enid Wilkerson: Jack’s partner in a three-legged race at a party in grade school. They fell down a lot, came in next to last, and she blamed Jack.
Rhonda (last name unknown): a friend of Jack’s mother.
Manfred (not sure if this is a first or last name): owner of the bowling alley.
People in Rowan Tree Coven
Melusine (“Ghost Girl”; “Mountain Girl”): Handmaiden to Morgaine in Rowan Tree Coven. Shot by Christians from the valley below in 1848 and cursed them as she died. Long trapped by that same curse, she was released through the Calhoun coven’s efforts and, after passage through the Borderland and the Gates, has returned. Short and slim, with “cinnamon-colored” skin and spiraling dark hair glinting red by firelight. Lives in the Gold Mist, but can also borrow and use Suzanne’s body on Earth. A surviving member of Alaine’s coven.
Myrddin: High Priest of the coven, Morgaine’s husband and Melusine’s father.
Morgaine: High Priestess of the coven, Myrddin’s wife and Melusine’s mother. Was reborn into the Twentieth Century as Suzanne Marat.
Elspeth (Ellie): Melusine’s best friend, “almost a second daughter” to Morgaine, and Peredur’s lover. Tall, slim, chestnut-brown with long, straight black hair; resembles a full-blooded Cherokee. Was reborn into the Twentieth Century as Norma Stevens.
Peredur: Formerly Caleb Barnes from Jonah’s Mill, the town in the valley. Was invited or enticed up the mountain by Mel and Ellie, and became a lover to both though mostly to Ellie. Was reborn into the Twentieth Century as Jack Peredur. His taking the same name on the mountain seems the result of a prophetic dream.
Alison and Thomas: founders of Rowan Tree Coven in the Great Smoky Mountains, having fled persecution in Dorset, England in 1751.
Branwen: Alison’s daughter; Morgaine’s mother, and High Priestess in her turn.
People Jack Knew at Rutgers
Judith “not Judy” Hargreaves: sexually accomplished and eager to share. Became Jack’s lover while he tutored her in chemistry at Rutgers, took his (technical) virginity, then dumped him once she’d passed the course. Dubbed him a “tit man.”
Professor Sandwin: faculty advisor to the Scarlet Players: “sort of a stepchild of the Theater Department, meant for non-Theater majors.”
Professor Garner: Jack’s English 201 professor. “Declaimed line after memorized line” in her “teeth-on-edge, chewing-steel-wool” voice.
Harry Welch: a fellow student in English 201, delighting in awful puns between Middle and Modern English.
Doctor Burkett: A biochemistry professor.
Tracy Daniels: a close but Platonic friend. Loved jokes, puns and trivia games. Introduced Jack to Tallwin’s Midrealm books. Nicknamed him “Aglorand,” which he would later use as his witch name.
Mona Giacometti: husband-seeking, encouraging intimacy and foreplay as a means to that end, but one night made it clear “a home run would entail marriage vows.” Jack did not take the bait.
Doctor Spline: Jack’s astronomy professor, Spring Semester 1969.
People in Suzanne’s Past
Michael O’Banion: an American soldier stationed in Europe in World War Two; married Clarisse and brought her to America. They remained married until his death in 1967.
Maria (last name unknown): Suzanne’s mother; Clarisse’s niece.
Giselle (last name unknown): another of Clarisse’s nieces. Religious but stingy, even with the Church.
Armand (last name unknown): Clarisse’s nephew. A connoisseur of cheap wines.
Joceline Marat: Suzanne’s next-younger sister (Sue is eldest). For several years, until Sue was thirteen, she and Joceline shared a bed.
Adele Marat: Sue’s youngest sister, born when Sue was thirteen.
Madame Barneau: Sue’s boss at the dress shop in Paris, the summer of 1969.
People in Marsan’s World
The Thirteen: Alaine Ehrhardt, Carl Ehrhardt, Nick Valentine, Dawn “Reynolds,” Norma Stevens, “Magus” Madden, Tina Moore, Frank Warden, Belinda Carswell, Hadrian Marsan, Sandy Peron, Ron Thompson, plus Vera Thompson who was lost in transit.
Fiona: Norma’s firstborn in that world; Frank Warden was her father.
Gavin: Fiona’s husband.
Cador: Norma’s firstborn at Lakeside.
Eride (“Eride Indeed”): Norma’s next-born at Lakeside.
Tanar: Norma’s youngest at Lakeside. Nick Valentine was father to all three there.
Tamir: Norma’s last child in Marsan’s world; born at Fern Hall after three daughters there. An intrepid adventurer, though due to a childhood injury subject to odd “fits” in which he somehow shares Norma’s telepathic link with Jack back on Earth.
Laria: Tamir’s companion and helper in his elder years. Both apparently live in Lakeside beside the Warm Sea. Her relationship to Tamir is unclear: friend, lover, wife or daughter?
Rochi: A scout or explorer from Lakeside; first to spot Melusine’s campfire smoke across the Warm Sea.
Falcon Team: five Lakeside companions sent to investigate distant smoke; returned with news of Mel’s return and loot from her cabins, though without Mel herself. In recompense, sworn to help and protect Mel in all ways after she came to Lakeside. Led by Thorp, the others are Venna, Sorod, Kalmi and Danok.
Seron: One of Mel’s many loves in Lakeside, with Norma’s blessing, and one of the steadiest. Would have married her if Mel hadn’t been sworn already to Norma herself.
Witchy Authors
Anton Szandor LaVey (1930-1997): Not a witch but a Satanist; founder of the Church of Satan on Walpurgis Night, 1966. Author of The Satanic Bible (1969) and many related works.
Jessie Wicker Bell (“Lady Sheba”) (1920-2002): author of Lady Sheba’s Book of Shadows (1971) and founder of the American Order of the Brotherhood of the Wicca.
Sybil Leek (1917-1982): author of Diary of a Witch (1968), Telepathy, the Respectable Phenomenon (1971) and many other works. Dubbed “Britain’s most famous witch” by the BBC.
Paul Huson (1942-present): author of Mastering Witchcraft (1970) and many other works. A member of the Fraternity of the Inner Light and student of the Golden Dawn tradition and others.
Ray Buckland (witch name Robat) (1934-2017): author of A Pocket Guide to the Supernatural (1969), Witchcraft Ancient and Modern (1970) and many others. He and his wife Rosemary (witch name Rowen) founded the tradition of Seax-Wica.
Stewart Farrar (1916-2000): author of What Witches Do: A Modern Coven Revealed (1971) and many other works, both alone and with his wife Janet Farrar (1950-present). Both were trained in (and met through!) the Alexandrian Wicca tradition.
Louise Huebner (1930-2014): author of Power Through Witchcraft (1971) and many other works. Dubbed the “Official witch of Los Angeles County.”
Gavin Frost (1930-2016) and Yvonne Frost (1931-present): co-authors of The Witch’s Bible (1972) and many other works, both singly and together. Founders of the Church and School of Wicca in 1968. Gavin was trained chiefly in a German sorcerers’ tradition (Zauberei) having little in common with mainstream Wicca. Some criticize the Frosts even for calling themselves Wiccans.
Edward Alexander (“Aleister”) Crowley (1875-1947): author of Magick in Theory and Practice (1929) and a host of other works, including the controversial Book of the Law (1904) which he claimed to have been dictated by a supernatural entity. An influential member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, he left it to found – and rebuild to suit his own beliefs – the German-based Ordo Templi Orientis.
Robert Graves (1895-1985): author of The White Goddess (1948) and at least one hundred and forty other works over the course of his lifetime. A celebrated reteller and interpreter of Celtic and Greek mythology.
Susan Roberts (???-???): author of Witches U.S.A.! A New-York-based reporter: not a witch herself (so far as we know!) but at least sympathetic.
Joseph Banks (“J.B.”) Rhine (1895-1980): creator of parapsychology as a branch of psychology; founded the parapsychology lab at Duke University and authored seminal works on the subject including New World of the Mind (1953). Hadrian Marsan’s role model in starting his Mindpower groups at Calhoun and Russell Universities.
J. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937): a writer of weird fiction chiefly in the 1920s, most notably “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926). Much of his work was inspired by his own nightmares. From the perspective of Ravenwood it seems in fact to reflect the darker side of our own universe and others adjacent to it. Arguably the creator of the Cthulhu Mythos, to whatever extent it did not already exist reflecting that darker reality.
August Derleth (1909-1971): a friend of H. P. Lovecraft and author of posthumous collaborations based on notes and conversations with him while he lived.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-???): a journalist and fiction writer, producing the bulk of his work around 1890. His short story “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (1886) is the first known mention of that city openly in print. Disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1913.
Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933): an artist and fiction writer, best known for his book The King In Yellow published in 1895.
Mark Schorer (1908-1977): an American writer, critic and scholar. Among other works, co-authored several horror stories with August Derleth.
Samuel R. Delany (1942-present): an author primarily of science fiction though including occult and paranormal themes. His works include Nova (1968) along with many other novels and short stories.
Other People in the Past
Margie (last name unknown): Norma’s roommate at Calhoun her freshman year, and her guide to awakening sexuality.
Bob and Ray (last names unknown): Brothers in the Tau Theta fraternity; roommates, best friends, and Norma’s co-lovers for a while.
Karen (last name unknown): Norma’s first Lesbian lover.
Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957): A pioneer and martyr.
Andy Burke: a soldier with Carl Ehrhardt in Viet Nam. Killed soon after, by the same booby trap which injured Carl and got him sent home. Carl blames himself for Andy’s death.
Seth Greene: another soldier with Carl in Viet Nam. Killed by Viet Cong.
Albert Hofmann (1906-2008): the chemist who accidentally discovered LSD’s effects.
Mr. Pevey: one of Norma’s past English teachers; taught about Chaucer.
Jeanne d’Arc (“Joan of Arc”) (1412-1431): a heroine of France in the Hundred Years’ War. Claimed to have received visions telling her to support King Charles VII, and won several victories before being captured and burned at the stake by the English. Later canonized as a Catholic saint.
William of Occam (1285-1347): an English Franciscan monk, theologian and philosopher. Best known for stating his Law of Briefness commonly called Occam’s Razor: “Entities should not be multiplied without necessity” or as sometimes paraphrased, “Keep It Simple, Students!”
J. B. S. Haldane (1892-1964): a biologist, geneticist and mathematician, hailed as “the most erudite biologist of his generation, and perhaps of the century.”
Jessie Stevens: Norma’s kid sister, prone to getting them both in trouble.
Mark Sullivan: took Norma’s virginity (but gave “nothin’” in return).
Tom McGuffey: one of Doctor Knight’s former students at M.I.T., now a researcher at Princeton, who is attempting to make some of the same chemical compounds Doctor Knight is having Jack make. Has lately become a colleague in that work, sharing information, rather than a competitor.
Mother Julian of Norwich (1342-1416): a Christian anchoress (cell-bound hermit) and mystic. In 1373 she fell severely ill and on May 8 was given the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. On the brink of death she experienced a series of visions, then recovered to write them up and see them published as Revelations of Divine Love.
Louise (“Lola”) Clafton: Cissy Adams’ best friend and amorous co-explorer in high school.
Supernatural Beings (see also “whole species”):
The Horned God: well-known to witches. Among other duties, He guards and oversees the Valley of Shadows and the Gate of Spirit, and judges when souls are fit to move on from it to the Land of Youth. See “Elemental Guardians,” below.
The Goddess: Mother of Gods and Men. Lover of the Horned God. When properly invoked, She will descend upon a willing Priestess to borrow her flesh, walk among us, share Earthly pleasures and teach Wiccan lore and mysteries.
The Elemental Guardians: stationed at the respective Gates to stop unauthorized passage; see “The Elemental Realms” below.
Ulphorach, the Guardian of Earth, resembles a rough-hewn but animate stone statue standing waist-deep in the ground. Survivor from a world shattered in the Sundering War. Now a close friend of Melusine. “Ulphorach” is His title; his personal name sounds like a chorus of deep-toned bells. See “K’hubuldor.”
Gormulos, The Guardian of Water is like a great dark mass of seaweed with many pearl-white eyes.
Zamalach, The Guardian of Fire is a swarm of fist-sized, white-hot flying globes. A member of a species living inside a star until it was destroyed in the Sundering War.
Ascharach, the Guardian of Air, cannot be seen but speaks in thunder from a vast arch of cloud.
The Guardian of Spirit appears to be the Horned God Himself.
Ishtar (Inanna, Astarte, Isis, Ashtart, Ashtoreth): Sumerian Mother Goddess; raided the Underworld to rescue the sacrificed god Tammuz but was trapped there herself and rescued by a golem messenger sent by the other gods. Accounts differ on Tammuz’ fate and no one seems to know what became of the golem.
Ba’al: consort to Ashtoreth as worshipped by the Canaanites. Another name for Ba’alar; see entry below.
The Elder Gods: beings of primal fire by Whose thought and will (according to the Cthulhu Mythos) all worlds were called into being. May be identical with:
The Seven Planetary Spirits of the Arbatel
ARATRON: Spirit of Saturn. “Lord of dark and desert places, Watcher by the Gates of Night.” Belinda Carswell (Wikima) is His priestess in Marsan’s World.
BETHOR: Spirit of Jupiter. “Harvest-bringer, bounty-bearer, laughing King of song and feasting.” Jake Madden (Magus) is His priest in Marsan’s World.
PHALEG: Spirit of Mars. Frank Warden (Franquar) is His priest in Marsan’s World.
OCH: Spirit of the Sun. Carl Ehrhardt (Hephaistos) is Its priestess in Marsan’s World.HAGITH: Spirit of Venus. “Lady of Love, given trust by the Highest in all things to waken affection and joy.” Tina Moore (Rhiannon the Younger) is Her priestess in Marsan’s World.
OPHIEL: Spirit of Mercury. “Wordbearer, way-shower, teacher and guide.” Norma Stevens (Aiolynn) is Its priestess in Marsan’s World.
PHUL: Spirit of the Moon. “Dreamsender, mythmaker, vision bestower; tide-turner, body and spirit renewing.” Alaine Ehrhardt (Galmariel) is Its priestess in Marsan’s World. Granted the Meditation of the Moon allowing fertility and conception in that world with no physical Moon in its stony sky to drive the tides.
The Great Old Ones: a later generation of beings Who rose in rebellion against the Elder Gods (again according to the Cthulhu Mythos). The rebellion was put down, but pockets of resistance remain. Cthulhu is one of them, but many others are named in the Mythos. See “Shogg-Koth” under “Whole Species.”
The King In Yellow (“ye Gold-mantl’d King from Carcosa by ye Lake of Hali”): ruler of, and/or prisoner in, Carcosa according to Robert Chambers. Another of the Great Old Ones according to Lovecraft and others. A powerful God now held captive in Caer Ceusa (“Carcosa”) with his consort Astura as hostage. Creator of the Gold Mist. His correct name is Ba’alar. Once incorrectly thought identical with…
Hastur: first seen in writings of Ambrose Bierce as a peaceful god of shepherds, later in the Cthulhu Mythos as something far more sinister. A misreading of “Astura”; see full entry below.
Athena: Greek Goddess of wisdom and military strategy.
Tinker Bell: fairy companion of Peter Pan in J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan and numerous later fictional works, notably the animated Disney movie Peter Pan (1953).
Lynx: an animal guardian spirit. To shamans who can pass her (very difficult) test of worthiness, She grants enhanced night vision and perhaps other senses needed for successful questing.
Eagle: another animal guardian spirit. Challenges visiting shamans, as a test of worthiness, to jump from a high cliff and “grow wings on the way down.” Those succeeding retain the power to “grow” the wings again as needed for enhanced speed and agility in flight.
Rhiannon: A Goddess best known through the Welsh Maginogion. “The Maker of Birds.” Ruler of Ainnir’on (see below) and concort of King Cwyll. Tall, red-haired and robed in shifting green light. Wears a crown on which living birds perch as ornaments. Drives a flying sleigh drawn by a team of unicorns.
Yog-Sothoth (Cathugha, The Great Corrupter; Umhraig-Tywyll, the Demon in the Dark; the Dark One; the Lurker at the Gate; the Eater of Souls; the Million-in-One; the Tempter; the Fallen One; in the Cthulhu Mythos also called The Lurker at Every Threshold, the All-In-One, the All-In-One, ‘Umr-At-Tawil): composite being made up of all fallen souls which have refused purification and reincarnation after death. Thus, the embodiment of lower-world evil. The darkwolves are Its eyes and scouts.
Azathoth: “fallen” god or other powerful being Who (or Which) for a time was Yog-Sothoth’s master. In the Cthulhu Mythos called “Azathoth Worldcrusher, Lord of the Outer Dark” and “ye Daemon-Sultan.”
The First One: primal God or Being which entered Space and Time long ago, perhaps thereby creating them. Its nature, origin, reason for coming, and even Its name (if It had one) are unknown. In an empty Void It created a descending chain of “spheres,” using up its power as it did. Weakened and dying at last It exploded from the final sphere in countless sparks, “each still holding a glimmer of Its consciousness and will,” cast again into the outer Void. These became the souls of all present mortals and Gods, and later created all the worlds we know except the remains of the spheres themselves. Some believe it is our ultimate destiny to reunite, re-form the First One, and return triumphant at last to the place from which It originally came.
Astura: the Yhtill Goddess, consort of Ba’alar, who hung for ages crucified in Caer Ceusa (“Carcosa”) as hostage while “tongues of darkness” slowly drew out Her life essence to feed Urshkug’l’s brood. The Calhoun coven was able to rescue her, hoping thereby to establish enough credit with the Gods to find and bring home the Thirteen lost in battle with the Lurker.
Camilla and Cassilda: daughters of Astura and Ba’alar, long ago slain by Urshkug’l. “Cassilda’s Song” from Chambers’ play The King in Yellow held keys to freeing Astura.
Kshaaargh: the Ulphorach (Guardian of Earth) before the present one. Resembled a vast gem of smooth green jade, able to strike out with lightning-fast mineral whips. Died on Yaddith in battle with the b’holai.
Safff-yah: the Zamalach (Guardian of Fire) before the present one. Discovered the b’holia’s weakness and taught the Nug-Soth fire lords how to kill them.
Whole Species (supernatural and otherwise)
Humans, of course. Found on Earth and in many other worlds, including Marsan’s since the battle in the Abyss hurled the Thirteen there. Other groups such as the Hopi have been transported from world to world by the Bright Folk (see below).
Lloigor (plural): transdimensional beings able to draw human victims away, leaving only their collapsed clothes behind.
Loas: godlike spirits worshipped in Voodoo Who when properly invoked descend to borrow the flesh of Their worshippers, grant favors and partake of Earthly pleasures. Some or all may formerly have been human. Include, among many others,
Damballah-Ouedo: Greatest of the loas.
Elizi-Taureau: a male loa. Connected in some manner with the shogg-koth.
Ursule: a female loa.
Darkwolves: predators resembling blots or spheres of “nasty” scarlet light paradoxically “darker than the shadows.” They hunt in packs in Grand Central Station, pursue shamanic travelers there, but seem unable to enter the Tunnels leaving to living worlds. Detachable “eyes and scouts” of Yog-Sothoth (see complete entry elsewhere).
The Bright Folk: seemingly one race of the Sidhe (“fairy folk”) of European legend, identical with the Ant People of Hopi lore. Able to travel through Grand Central without (often) falling prey to darkwolves, and transport others under their protection. Strikingly resemble Tinker Bell as conceived by Disney animators.
Night Gaunts: winged faceless beings swooping by night to carry victims screaming into the sky. Described by H. P. Lovecraft based largely on his own nightmares, his “fiction” thus likely reflecting a larger truth. Entered Marsan’s World after Franquar’s Doom and were sealed out of it again by Magus and others of the Thirteen.
Yhtill: winged beings originally native to Uoht and surviving on Thale after it was destroyed. Body plan and size are basically human, though with longer arms and legs, flying-squirrel-like webs stretched between them, unusual shoulder joints which lock in flight, and a smaller second pair of arms in front. Bones are very light and hollow. Flight requires Hali’s dense Mist for support. May now be extinct except for Ba’alar and Astura (see complete entries elsewhere). Jack, Norma and Mel all had past lives as Yhtill, and knew each other then too. Jack once took a Yhtill-like form by accident, and Mel learned to do so at will.
Shogg-Koth (Lovecraft’s “shoggoths”): tentacled, glamour-wielding, largely aquatic beings native to Yugg-Koth. Come in a range of sizes, from human-like or smaller to mountain-huge. All but the largest are weakened or disintegrated by light. Also vulnerable to strong alkalis or large amounts of salt. Probably include:
Nagglefang: “Spawn of the Old Ones.” The monster of Dawn’s nightmares; terribly real in its own world. Resembled a house-sized knot of giant worms.
Naggles: younger, or at least smaller, versions of Nagglefang found roaming the passages under Carcosa. Their tentacles bear venomous spikes. May have exterminated the Yhtill.
Shogg-amas: much larger versions of Nagglefang, the size of small mountains and covered with eyes and tentacles “long as telephone poles.” The eyes project a paralyzing glamour which can be neutralized by potential victims’ using eye covers (“bug eyes”) of gold or silver mesh. Can withstand even direct sunlight at least for short periods.
Urshkul’l: a shogg-ama nesting in Demhe, surrounded by a fractal network of countless daughter Naggles in the process of budding off. Astura’s captor and ectoparasite.
Humbag’hwa: a shogg-ama roaming the major passages under Carcosa to guard Demhe and Urshkug’l’s brood from intruders. Defeated by the Garret Gang. May be the same one previously seen by Jack and Norma from the beach.
Cthulhu (Great K’thugh’lu): hugest and perhaps oldest of the shogg-koth, “their sire and leader.” Well-known through the “fictional” writings of Lovecraft and others. Imprisoned in the sunken city R’lyeh beneath Earth’s Pacific Ocean.
Byakheen: white winged creatures like miniature dragons inhabiting Thale’s cliffs near Carcosa. Probably native to Uoht like the Yhtill and derived from the same evolutionary tree since their body plan is similar. Have adapted to fly in Thale’s air unaided by the Mist.
Dalkhu: invisible guardians from an older world, summoned by the King in Yellow to guard Demhe but later escaped from His control.
B’holai (ursha-narr, “those which gnaw below”): vast piebald worms, vicious and diamond-toothed, protected by a maddening glamour. Seldom seen, they feed underground on fossil fuels and each other, normally until only one remains to rise as a zukkha-mogh and “spread its bitter seed to other worlds.” Infamously burst forth prematurely on Yaddith as a ravening horde, making that world uninhabitable. Another, rising from the world Yurighai, was lured by OPHIEL to the Silent Museum to be destroyed there by the summani.
Nug-Soth: sentient inhabitants of Yaddith before the b’holai outbreak. Renowned as wizards; their fire-lords fought the b’holai with “bullets” of burning thermite allowing many to escape.
K’hubuldor: beings of animate stone, lava-blooded. Lived inside K’hubuld’jah, a planet with a close, hot sun, before it was smashed in the Sundering War. The present Ulphorach is one of them.
Summani: Guardians of the Silent Museum. Resemble thick-branched, leafless yellow trees “until they suddenly move.”
Midrealm Characters
Mordrake Demonking: a would-be ruler of Midrealm in a popular fantasy trilogy by R. J. Tallwin. His name says it all. Creator of the Sullen Crown.
Carbo the Burglar: a thief; another character in Tallwin’s Midrealm Trilogy.
Aglorand Wanderfar: son of an exiled king. Jack took “Aglorand” as his witch name.
Aiolynn: Sword Princess of Greensward. “Not a sorceress, exactly,” but fought and killed the Ghoul King. Aglorand’s lover until they were separated by war. Norma took “Aiolynn” as her witch name.
Valamir: Aiolynn’s later love. Solved the riddle of the Undercliff Gate.
Eldwynn: Waited asleep on Whitecrag, suspended in time, for Aglorand’s kiss to awaken her. This was long after his separation from Aiolynn. Became his companion and lover.
Galmariel: Queen of the Woodfauns and Woodnymphs in Langomar. Alaine took “Galmariel” as her witch name.
Gobbell Greenteeth: someone with whom Carbo traded riddles in the dwerg-caves.
Lauriávë Greenleaf (Lady Lauri): a woodnymph; Tim Billiken’s wife. Sees afar through her riverglass. Loves water lilies.
Tim Billiken (Old Tim): Lady Lauri’s husband. They live together in Willowrill and jointly (though very light-handedly!) rule the woodnymphs and woodfauns.
Rosgodar: the Frog Wizard. Lives in Marshydell and herds magic frogs.
Eldriel Starglow: A Goddess crowned with light, watching over Midrealm to help ward off evil.
Baëlgars: evil creatures released from imprisonment by miners enlarging the Undercliff. Quickly emptied the deep city, but may still lurk in the ruins. Heralded by “drums of doom.”
Shlokk Ironwing: a dragon and treasure-hoarder. Possessor of the Rubystaff before Carbo stole it.
Dwergs: evil creatures inhabiting the caves around Shlokk’s lair.
Gorbluss: a dwerg who nearly captured Carbo as he escaped with the stolen Rubystaff.
“Critters”
Squeak: a wild deer mouse Nick and Dawn caught in their trailer and made a pet. Slowly becoming tamer. Fate after the Ravenwood Disaster unknown.
Titania: a cat belonging to Magus and Tina (or vice-versa?). “Acts a little psychic sometimes.” Fate after the Ravenwood Disaster unknown.
Prospero: another of Magus’ and Tina’s cats; a heavy, orange-eyed black Persian. Fate after the Ravenwood Disaster unknown.
Frowzy: a cat Cissy Adams and Larry Norton had at the farm in their drug-taking days.
Named Vehicles
Bayou Sun: a black Ford Econoline van Dawn bought in Phoenix, Arizona and painted on both sides with scenes of sunrise in the Louisiana swamp.
Argo: a white 1967 Rambler American sedan Jack’s parents bought second-hand, fixed up and gave to him as a combination birthday and (late) college graduation present in August, 1971.
Sherry: an “old green Chevrolet sedan” belonging to Chuck Taylor.
Last updated: 1/23/2023
