Firvulag
Names: Firvulagles lutins araignéesflame-spidersshadow-brethrenLittle Peopleshape-changersillusion-spinnersFoeLittle FolksFirvulag Foethe Old FoespookLittle FolkTrue Folkshadow-kinfolktrollish rabbleexoticsWee FolkFamorel Little PeoplespooksFamorel Firvulaggoblin hordeFirvulag NationgnomesLowlifeHowlers
First appears in Book 1: The Many-Colored Land, chapter 26 (6)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Many-Colored Land
- Ch 26Waldemar claims the Firvulag will track down escapees and torment their minds until they go mad or die.
- Ch 30Creyn says the Firvulag are the real reason for Roniah's heavy fortifications.
- Ch 33Firvulag appear on the lake as glowing spider illusions; Epone dispels them, and the guards fear them.
- Ch 34Shape-changing operant metapsychics who can mostly farsense and spin strong illusions; they are the Tanu's ancient enemies and are besieging Darask.
- Ch 34Some severed heads brought in by the Tanu Hunt were not quite dead and seemed to flicker.
- Ch 37Glowing, grotesque Firvulag danced on the river's far bank all night while the group slept, unseen by them.
- Ch 39Dimorphic kin of the Tanu: short, mostly torcless, with farsense and highly developed creativity, they are masters of terrifying illusion that can drive victims to madness or suicide.
- Ch 39Fitharn and the Firvulag secretly followed the escapees, clouded the minds of their pursuers, retrieved Amerie's pack and alerted Madame Guderian.
- Ch 47Firvulag teams went south and west bearing gifts and secretly helping isolated Lowlife settlements to win trust before presenting Madame's plan to attack Finiah.
- Ch 49Their obsidian weapons and illusions fail against Tanu cavalry; they lost honor over forty years of inaction and now fight alongside human allies.
Book 2: The Golden Torc
- Ch 1Firvulag are racial brothers to the Tanu, operant without torcs but mostly in illusion and creativity; they breed faster and are recessive genes among Tanu.
- Ch 2The Tanu call the Firvulag vile shadow-siblings, who outnumber the Tanu but could no longer match them.
- Ch 5The Firvulag are genuine operants with limited powers; Tanu and Firvulag have a strong taboo against interbreeding, and Tanu give their Firvulag children to the Little People.
- Ch 6Firvulag babies are reared to term by Tanu as 'shadow-brethren' per ancient precepts, then handed to their own folk.
- Ch 8The Firvulag are foes of the Tanu, growing bold, and Nodonn wants their heads on Hunters' lances.
- Ch 9The Firvulag are small, tough uplands dwellers of Duat who developed true but limited metapsychic abilities such as farspeech, farsight and illusion-making.
- Ch 14The Firvulag mind-blasted Finiah's defenders, killing many without a mark, and left the city after the battle.
- Ch 15The Firvulag are celebrating an unexpected victory at Finiah with a three-day drunken feast in High Vrazel.
- Ch 15The Firvulag have not had anything worth celebrating in forty years; human cavalry and charioteers have been beating them in the Grand Combat.
- Ch 17The Firvulag bring fresh refugee stragglers daily and will help women who decide to give their children to the Tanu.
- Ch 20The Firvulag have an elected monarchy, and royal authority is weak in the hinterlands.
- Ch 26Over 50,000 Firvulag are encamped on the Plain, about two-thirds of their population; roughly half are fighters, outnumbering Tanu knights and human auxiliaries two to one.
- Ch 26The Firvulag excel at jewelry craft, and many march rather than ride animals.
- Ch 26Firvulag are cheered by their recent triumph at Finiah, and humans are in revolt against the Tanu High King in alliance with them.
- Ch 28The Firvulag are night people, active between sunset and sunrise, and crowd Muriah's central square at night.
- Ch 36Firvulag fight on foot, in undisciplined mobs, with swords, clubs, flails, halberds and thrown spears; they use no bows or war-steeds, which are against their battle traditions.
- Ch 36Some Firvulag shape-shift into monsters or use illusions before and during battle.
- Ch 36Grand Combat victory is judged by taking enemy heads and seizing the opponent's effigy standards.
- Ch 36New tactics learned from humans at Finiah, hamstringing chalikos and stabbing bellies, let the Firvulag destroy a gray-torc cavalry charge and decimate the Tanu gray levies.
- Ch 37The Firvulag sing a victory song after the first round of the High Mêlée.
- Ch 38Nearly half the Firvulag force is out of action, but the Tanu side has lost nearly all grays and most silvers.
- Ch 41The Firvulag council is decimated and must elect a new Sovereign Lord after the Mêlée.
Book 3: The Nonborn King
- Ch 5Dead attackers at Iron Maiden reverted to normal Firvulag form, revealing the Firvulag, not Howlers, are attacking the Iron Villages.
- Ch 5The Firvulag fear iron and are thought to be trying to force humans to abandon the Iron Villages.
- Ch 6The Firvulag seized Burask and now outnumber humans nearly ten to one; they are gathering near Bardelask and may attack weak cities.
- Ch 6Sharn and Ayfa lead the Firvulag and are considered more dangerous than the late King Yeochee.
- Ch 7The Firvulag have abandoned their prejudice against riding, domesticating hipparions and stealing tame chalikos for warrior-ogre battalions.
- Ch 10Firvulag women's dances produce an erotic spell by remote control that affects Firvulag but not humans, per Vilkas; Firvulag females are said to have dangerous teeth.
- Ch 11The Firvulag have lately used bows and arrows and mounted chalikos and hipparions, and threaten Tanu cities weakened by the Flood.
- Ch 11More than eighty thousand Firvulag are poised to attack, led by Sharn and Ayfa, who see the Flood as a Goddessgift and seek victory.
- Ch 14The Firvulag are operants whose mental development was long stalled by custom, but they are changing quickly and far outnumber the Tanu.
- Ch 15Firvulag forces secretly violated the peace accords all winter, attacking Tanu cities and Lowlife settlements and blaming renegade Howlers.
- Ch 15The Firvulag royals gave the Howlers about 400 trapped chalikos, 800 draft hellads with carts, and a breeding herd of tamed hipparions.
- Ch 17The Firvulag in the mountains are sharpening blades and stealing chalikos while awaiting reinforcements; they reportedly have new fearsome weapons since destroying Burask.
- Ch 23Captured the Burask hoard of hidden time-traveler technology; their Great Ones can now mesh minds very effectively.
- Ch 27The Firvulag insisted on segregated dining and prefer beer, mead and cyser to Tanu wines; they leave Tanu weddings angry and drunk.
- Ch 27After Aiken's coronation, the Firvulag say nothing and ride away toward Nionel.
- Ch 28Firvulag half-blood babies born to humans are turned over to the Little Folk in civilized parts; they are shapeshifters with some mind-reading.
Book 4: The Adversary
- Ch 2Main host of Mimee of Famorel, at least 8000 warriors, marched openly toward Bardelask in obsidian armor, violating the Armistice.
- Ch 6The Firvulag use the new slogan 'Arms united, minds united!' and plan a big move on Roniah the following month.
- Ch 11The Firvulag hold their word binding only toward Firvulag or Tanu, not Lowlives, whom they consider nonpersons.
- Ch 11A Firvulag maneuver against armed Lowlife prisoners in a cage cost 22 Firvulag lives; every human prisoner was killed.
- Ch 11The Firvulag ordered withdrawal from Bardelask rather than holding it, and kill any gold- or silver-torced humans; they do not like peanuts.
- Ch 15The Famorel Firvulag have no garrisons; the only trained fighters live near Famorel City, six days away.
- Ch 15A Firvulag force of about two hundred ogres and dwarfs is expected to reach Camp Bettaforca in about six days despite an armistice with the Tanu.
- Ch 17The Firvulag have destroyed the Iron Villages, killing hundreds of humans, and the Lowlives no longer trust Sham and Ayfa.
- Ch 17Firvulag troops marching on Hidden Springs carry iron-tipped lances, new crossbows, laser carbines and solar-powered blasters.
- Ch 21The Famorel Firvulag are expected to attack Monte Rosa but will stop at the start of the sacred Truce at dawn on October first.
- Ch 22Split their force: about one hundred advanced toward Bettaforca via the Val d'Ayas, while about seventy shielded troops went through the Valpelline to ambush the climbers.
- Ch 22Born and bred in the high snowy mountains of Duat; mountain-wise and keen farsensors, they likely know the locations of the advance camps.
- Ch 22Their objective is to deny the humans and Tanu the aircraft; the climbers are more tempting targets than the defended base.
- Ch 23Firvulag raiders disguised as Lowlives seize the convoy's Milieu weapons and capture Tony; they call themselves servants of King Sham and Queen Ayfa.
- Ch 24Their Truce is just beginning; Ochal says the Firvulag will not fight during it.
- Ch 30More than 80,000 Firvulag exist, not counting the Howlers.
- Ch 32Eighty thousand Firvulag are gathered upriver at a tournament; Marc has farsnooped them and noted their inefficient metaconcert efforts.
- Ch 33Firvulag mastery of metaconcert is incomplete; they tend to fall apart into individual minds when cornered.
- Ch 35Their King and Queen think they can beat Aiken and his Tanu army without Marc's metaconcert help.
- Ch 38After finding Marc's metaconcert program, the Firvulag overtake the Tanu and injure stalwarts like Celadeyr, Lomnovel Brainburner and Parthol Swiftfoot, leading 87-36.
Connections
- enemy ofTanu
- has memberFitharn
- ally ofMadame Guderianprecarious alliance
- includesHowlers
- has memberSharn
- led byYeochee IV
- ally ofLowlivesalliance engineered by Madame
- related toHigh Vrazelsite of the Firvulag Court
- enemy ofIskender-Kernonn
- related toHowlersbelieved by some biologists to be a Firvulag mutation
- led byPallolBattlemaster
- led bySharn
- has memberAyfa
- has memberBetularn of the White Hand
- related toTanuracial brothers and rivals
- has memberDelbaeth
- enemy ofNodonn
- related toBredebrought them to Earth
- has memberPallolBattlemaster
- led byBredeguide and teacher of her people
- has memberNukalavee the Skinless
- enemy ofLowlivessecretly attacking while nominal allies
- led byAyfa
- enemy ofLady Armida of Bardelask
- led byMimee of Famorel
- has memberSkathe
- has memberPingol the Horripilant
- has memberFouletot Blackbreast
- related toQuicksilver Caveabandoned Firvulag cave
- enemy ofAiken Drum
- related toBrede's Shiptransported them from Duat to Pliocene Earth
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 33Firvulag illusion on the lake
Glowing spider shapes approach the caravan; Epone shatters them, and the soldiers say they were Firvulag.
- Book 1 · Ch 34Birth of the twins
Elizabeth separates the antagonistic minds of Estella-Sirone's twins. A Tanu girl and a shape-changing Firvulag boy are born, and the nurse hands the boy to waiting Firvulag at the Watergate.
- Book 1 · Ch 34Firvulag illusion attack
At the Watergate, Elizabeth probes the Firvulag illusion and receives a mental attack that makes her imagine her hands burning; the Tanu nurse steadies her and warns of Firvulag illusions.
- Book 1 · Ch 41Alliance of Firvulag and humans
Madame was taken to High Vrazel, forged an alliance between the Firvulag and Lowlife humans, and was awarded a golden torc after Iskender-Kernonn was killed.
- Book 1 · Ch 47Firvulag recruit distant Lowlives
Firvulag messengers gave gifts and aid to isolated human settlements, then presented Madame's plan, bringing nearly 400 volunteers to Hidden Springs and the Rhineland staging area.
- Book 1 · Ch 49Fall of House Velteyn
Allied Lowlives and Firvulag surprise the Tanu cavalry with iron spears and break the defense of House Velteyn near dawn. Velteyn evacuates the Tanu civilians by roof.
- Book 2 · Ch 9Brede tells the story of the exiles
Brede recounts the origins of Tanu and Firvulag on Duat, the Ships, the Golden Age and wars, and how her prescience led her to carry the exiles to this galaxy.
- Book 2 · Ch 26Katlinel tours the Firvulag camp
Katlinel rides through the Firvulag encampment on the White Silver Plain, observing their numbers and buying perfume from a young vendor.
- Book 2 · Ch 36The Grand Combat begins
At sunrise the Firvulag charge and Nodonn leads the Tanu cry; the two armies clash on the White Silver Plain in the first day of the three-day battle.
- Book 2 · Ch 36Firvulag new tactics succeed
Firvulag foot soldiers scatter and hamstring chalikos, destroying a gray-torc cavalry charge; Pallol manifests to gild the captured heads.
- Book 2 · Ch 38Yeochee rallies the Firvulag
On the Fifth Day of the High Mêlée, Yeochee cheers wounded Firvulag in the hospital tent and prepares for the final battle.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Firvulag treachery revealed
Tony wakes with a wired jaw to learn reinforcements killed the attackers, whose corpses reverted to normal Firvulag, proving the supposed Howlers were allies betraying humans.
- Book 3 · Ch 15Feast of the Firvulag and Howlers
Sharn and Ayfa hosted a day-long feast by the Onion River, persuading the Howlers to repopulate Nionel, gifting animals and accepting gems as back taxes, and arranging Howler brides for the Grand Loving.
- Book 4 · Ch 2Bear-dog frenzy and the Firvulag army sighted
The relief column is disrupted by maddened bear-dogs; Yosh stuns them, though a wheel is shattered. Ochal reveals an army of 8000 Firvulag under Mimee marching toward Bardelask, and the column, forbidden by the King to help, retreats to Sayzorask.
- Book 4 · Ch 11Bardelask looting ends
Firvulag finish looting Bardelask and withdraw, killing remaining gray-torced captives, including Werner, while Tony hides unseen and listens through his tore.
- Book 4 · Ch 15Firvulag force marches
Elizabeth reports about 200 Firvulag from Famorel City marching to attack the camp, expected in six days.
- Book 4 · Ch 22Ambush at the Gresson Icefall
Near the supply dump, a premature Firvulag shot kills Thongsa. The party shelters behind an ice ridge, then fires and uses Tanu psychokinesis to topple a sérac, burying the Firvulag redoubt and the supply tents.
- Book 4 · Ch 39Brede's Ship crosses to the Milky Way
Brede's Ship made the 270-million-light-year d-jump from Duat to the Milky Way, carrying the Tanu and Firvulag, and fatally strained itself.