Timeline
What's happened so far
Book 1 THE MANY-COLORED LAND
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Ramapithecus child finds the torc
A young ramapithecus puts on a golden torc found in a flyer, showing new powers. His mother tears it off and flings it into gorse.
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Guderian's demonstration
Guderian shows visiting scientists his Pliocene time-gate near Lyon, retrieving a Hipparion that dies into dust, and explains the one-way trip.
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Guderian ends the demonstration
Guderian laughs off his colleagues' praise, invites them up to Madame for refreshment, and sweeps the ashes of a hipparion into the wastebasket, where they float on green alien slime.
- Ch 2 · 1
The May pageant at Riom
Mercy cues pageant elements as the ducal party stages a 1410 maying festival for tourists. Grief overwhelms her during a troubadour's song, but she recovers and carries on.
- Ch 3 · 2
Alert and descent
A klaxon interrupts the Lisboa crew's card game. Georgina's team takes drill-rigs down the service tunnel under the Atlantic to repair a Class Three break in the Cabo da Roca-Azores power bore.
- Ch 4 · 3
Richard's conviction and ruin
The Poltroyans, rescued by a Lylmik cruiser, give their recording to the Magistratum. Richard is arrested on Assawompset, convicted, fined, loses his ship, and is banned from spaceflight and commerce.
- Ch 5 · 4
Felice wins the championship
Felice Landry scores the final goal and wins Greenhammer's first pennant, circling the arena to the cheers of fifty thousand fans.
- Ch 6 · 5
Elizabeth leaves for Exile
Pretending to consider a vacation, Elizabeth says a final goodbye to Kwong, leaves the Institute in a snowstorm and heads for the egg park, resolved to go to Exile.
- Ch 7 · 6
The whale explosion
Aiken's Ecology Corps crew disposed of a beached whale by blowing it up, spattering the town and visiting Milieu dignitaries.
- Ch 7 · 6
Aiken chooses Exile
After failed reform attempts, twenty-one-year-old Aiken is offered incarceration, a docilization implant or euthanasia, and rejects all three, choosing Exile.
- Ch 8 · 7
Death of Genevieve Logan
Genevieve dies at the Hospice. Sister Roccaro gives last rites, and Claude turns off the machines and holds her hand until she is cold.
- Ch 8 · 7
Annamaria reveals her plan; Claude offers to join her
On Mount Hood, Annamaria says she is leaving the order for Exile. Claude, healed of his grief, insists on accompanying her as protector, and she accepts.
- Ch 9 · 8
Richter passes through the time-gate
Poet Karl Josef Richter pays Madame Guderian a large sum; she sends him and his dog Schatzi to the Pliocene, becoming the first time-tripper.
- Ch 9 · 8
Founding of the Auberge du Portail
Madame Guderian turns the time-gate into a screened business, building an inn, setting criteria for travelers and defeating official attempts to suppress it.
- Ch 9 · 8
Madame Guderian enters Exile
In 2106 Madame Guderian herself goes through the gate into the Pliocene, and the authorities keep the portal operating.
- Ch 10 · 9
Grenfell researches the time-portal in Lyon
Grenfell posts conference data in London, goes to Lyon, and spends three days absorbing the literature on the Guderian time-portal, weighing what to do about Mercy.
- Ch 11 · 10
Stromboli erupts
Fleeing as the heat shields strained, they escape via an extinct underwater vent and surface to find Stromboli erupting, and joke about causing it.
- Ch 12 · 11
Last meal in France
Richard meets fellow Exile-bound Stein at a village café and, over a lavish non-synthetic meal and three bottles of Yquem, they share their stories and speculate about life in the Pliocene.
- Ch 12 · 11
Arrival at the auberge
The costumed pair arrive drunk at l'Auberge du Portail, pound on the door with the axe, and are put to bed by attendants.
- Ch 13 · 12
Felice assaults the counselor
Shonkwiler pressures Felice to accept therapy and wait, but mentions the recidivist clause as an age loophole. Felice, only feigning meekness, thanks him and breaks his collarbones.
- Ch 14 · 13
Orientation lecture in the Petit Salon
Group Green meets for the first time and Counselor Mishima presents a holographic tour of Pliocene geography and explains the weapons ban and available information on earlier travelers.
- Ch 15 · 14
Grenfell studies Mercy's file
After a lecture, Grenfell retrieves Mercy Lamballe's dossier, portrait and inventory from the terminal, studies them emotionally, and ponders finding her beyond the time-portal.
- Ch 18 · 1724 August 2110 · My dear Varya,
Bry's farewell letter
On the eve of passage through the time-portal, Bry writes to Varya describing Group Green, his plans as a sailor and fisherman, and his fears about the reception in the Pliocene.
- Ch 19 · 18
Last night terrace talk
After the last supper, Group Green's members discuss metapsychic powers, Pliocene coal and plans, Felice's unhappiness, and Aiken's Connecticut Yankee costume as a storm gathers over Lyon.
- Ch 21 · 1
Arrival at Castle Gateway
Bryan emerges from the time-portal disoriented, is guided by a guardian to Castle Gateway past the amphicyons, and is placed in a reception room.
- Ch 21 · 1
Interview with Tully
Tully interviews Bryan about his background and equipment. Bryan asks about population and disease and about Mercedes Lamballe; Tully says she went to the capital, then leaves and locks Bryan in.
- Ch 22 · 2
Arrival in Exile
Richard crosses through the time-portal to the Pliocene, shakes off the disorientation, surveys the landscape and is hurried toward Castle Gateway by a guardian.
- Ch 22 · 2
Richard meets Epone
Richard escapes his guide into the castle and enters Epone's chamber, where she seduces and then mentally crushes him.
- Ch 23 · 3
Elizabeth meets Creyn
Dazed after the portal passage, Elizabeth is taken to Castle Gateway, where Creyn treats her. They converse mentally, and she probes him, which fails. He declines to answer some questions and announces she will go to Muriah.
- Ch 29 · 9
Richard attempts star-sighting
Riding on, Richard builds a twig cross-sight and notes stars to locate the Pliocene pole by later comparison.
- Ch 31 · 11
Felice dominates an amphicyon
Felice compels an exhausted bear-dog to pace beside her chaliko, learning it is harder than controlling chalikos, and plans to use the technique at the end of travel days.
- Ch 33 · 13
Firvulag illusion on the lake
Glowing spider shapes approach the caravan; Epone shatters them, and the soldiers say they were Firvulag.
- Ch 34 · 14
Prisoners lodged at Darask
The travelers stop at the Riverside Palace, where Kennedy locks the prisoners in a tower chamber, and Elizabeth is summoned to help Creyn with the dangerous birth.
- Ch 34 · 14
Birth 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.
- Ch 35 · 15
Escape by lake
The freed prisoners split: most sail south with Basil toward the Jura, while Group Green's remnant sails east, then hides among marshy islands from Tanu catboats.
- Ch 37 · 17
Sabertooth encounter
While resting in a stream pool, the group is approached by a sabertooth; Felice mentally calms it and it withdraws.
- Ch 37 · 17
Camp vanishes; Claude taken by Angélique
Claude returns to find the cabins and companions gone, follows a trail marked by a green feather, and is mentally compelled into the camp of Angélique Guderian.
- Ch 38 · 18
Descent of the Dreadful Slide
The riverboat goes over the continental brink at the end of the Rhône and plunges into the empty Mediterranean basin, ending after four hours in a great bitter lake. The torc-wearers refuse Creyn's offer of oblivion.
- Ch 38 · 18
Arrival at Muriah
On the sixth day after leaving Castle Gateway, the travelers reach Muriah, hauled up from the salt by helladotheria and welcomed with song by the Tanu.
- Ch 39 · 1
Refuge in the Tree
Madame Guderian shelters Group Green's remnant with the Lowlives in the giant sequoia, explaining Firvulag help, torcs, and the exotics' nature, and proposes they join her plan.
- Ch 39 · 1
Claude identifies the Ship's Grave
Claude reasons from geography that the Ries crater in the Swabian Jura region is the Ship's Grave, sparking celebration among the Lowlife.
- Ch 40 · 2
Audience with the Lowlife expedition
Yeochee receives Madame Guderian's party. She presents Claude's identification of the Ship's Grave and plans to retrieve the Spear and a flyer to attack Finiah. Yeochee approves and writes a note ordering Sugoll to guide them.
- Ch 41 · 3
Alliance 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.
- Ch 42 · 4
Crossing the Fungus Forest
The five travelers spend eight days through the fungus-filled Black Forest, then emerge with relief into a sunny alpine meadow with a tarn.
- Ch 43 · 5
Meeting with Sugoll
Led by the Bogle to an alpine meadow, the travelers are overwhelmed by the Howling Ones' mental projections, and meet Sugoll, who delivers his challenge by revealing and hiding his true form.
- Ch 43 · 5
Claude explains the mutations
Claude identifies radiation from nivenite and radioactive springs as the cause of the Howling Ones' deformities and offers genetic advice, deeply moving Sugoll.
- Ch 43 · 5
Sugoll grants guides to the Ystroll
Sugoll learns of the travelers' quest, and the Bogle Kalipin explains the underground Ystroll route; the Howling Ones agree to send boatmen and vanish.
- Ch 44 · 6
Smelters return with iron
Khalid's team returns to Hidden Springs with 220 kilos of iron; three men are lost to Howlers, and Burke orders secrecy about the iron.
- Ch 44 · 6
Burke explains the Trumpet constellation
Outside, Burke shows Amerie the Trumpet constellation and explains its mouthpiece star dates the Grand Combat and links to the exotics' home galaxy.
- Ch 45 · 7
Rama's gift of fruit
A wild rama leaves two fruits near the camp; Claude trades her salmon, and she takes it away to her family.
- Ch 45 · 7
Lugonn's tomb and the Spear
The party finds Lugonn's skeleton without a torc; Felice rages and is subdued, then they recover the Spear and powerpack and move to Number Four Aircraft.
- Ch 46 · 8
Flyer's maiden flight
Richard powers up the restored flyer, lifts off, performs maneuvers over the Ries crater, then shoots vertically toward the ionosphere to learn its handling.
- Ch 47 · 9
Firvulag 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.
- Ch 47 · 9
Madame returns with the Spear
After a day of watching circling raptors, Amerie spots the high aircraft; it lands at Hidden Springs after dark, and villagers hide it with nets. Madame announces they have brought the Spear, and the bleeding Martha is rushed to Amerie.
- Ch 48 · 10
Strike on Finiah and the mine
The flyer hovers over Finiah; Claude breaches the wall and blasts the mine into a lava eruption while the Flying Hunt attacks with ball lightning.
Book 2 The golden torc
- Ch 3 · 3
Stein's sword display and auction
Stein cuts flung oranges and the Tanu bid for him as a gladiator. A bid of Delbaeth's death by Aiken Drum halts the auction.
- Ch 6 · 6
Sukey brought to the College of Redactors
Creyn escorts Sukey by carriage up the Mount of Heroes, tells her of the Grand Combat, and leaves her with Olar at the House of Healing.
- Ch 6 · 6
Tasha-Bybar's dance
Left alone in the turret room with a clamped table, Sukey tries to flee but is held by Olar; Tasha-Bybar's bell dance overwhelms her and she loses consciousness.
- Ch 7 · 7
Journey to Redact House
Dedra and Stein ride by calèche toward Redact House, stopping at a fountain where Dedra tidies up and explains Tasha-Bybar's role.
- Ch 7 · 7
Stein kills Tasha-Bybar
Dedra brings Stein to the Redactor Guild tower to see Sukey. In her recovery room, Tasha-Bybar taunts him with a bell dance and he kills her with his sword despite Sukey and Dedra's attempts to restrain him.
- Ch 7 · 7
Creyn reveals he is an ally
Creyn arrives after the killing, shows no anger, and tells Stein that Sukey must now be hidden until the Grand Combat and their plans must be accelerated.
- Ch 8 · 8
The Hunt kills a plesiosaur
Nodonn stuns a plesiosaur in the Gulf of Aquitaine with lightning; Vrenol wounds and beheads it, taking the trophy head.
- Ch 9 · 9
Suicide compulsion on the headland
The Host of Nontusvel bombards Elizabeth with suicide compulsion at the cliff edge; she shows she is aware of it and shuts them out, and they withdraw.
- Ch 10 · 10
Royal box discussion
Bryan reports on his survey while Tanu leaders voice fears about human influence, and Greg-Donnet rants about cloning.
- Ch 10 · 10
Aiken kills Phobosuchus
Thrown by his terrified chaliko, Aiken evades and rides Phobosuchus to the crowd's delight, then kills it with his lance through the skull.
- Ch 10 · 10
Aiken's accolade
King Thagdal knights Aiken; Mayvar forbids him a Tanu name for now, and he is sent on the Delbaeth Quest.
- Ch 11 · 11
Sail to the Great Brackish Marsh
Mercy and Bryan sail a trimaran with her psychokinetic wind through the lagoon and Long Fjord to the marsh and anchor for a picnic.
- Ch 12 · 12
Mourning Anastasya
The High Table members gather at Redact House, link minds and sing the Song over Anastasya's body, then debate her legacy.
- Ch 15 · 2
Victory celebration in High Vrazel
After the short Finiah campaign, the Firvulag hold a three-day drunken feast in the Hall of the Mountain King while Sharn and Ayfa watch from the musicians' gallery.
- Ch 17 · 4
Inspection of the refugee camp
Madame Guderian, Burke and Kawai tour the camp and hospital; Kawai reports on dispersal plans to the Nancy iron site and Madame reaffirms the priority of iron.
- Ch 18 · 5
Farewell supper and planning
On the eve of departure the eleven expedition members and Kawai dine at Madame's table, quarrel over who should go, and agree to bring the dead Spear south for Aiken Drum to recharge.
- Ch 20 · 7
Council of war at the campfire
The party plans to send the torc-factory strike-force to Muriah by riverboat. Claude's alternative plan changes the time-gate action. They agree to try contacting Aiken Drum by farspeech through Elizabeth.
- Ch 21 · 8
Aiken and Stein plan torc liberation
Stein learns Group Green is coming with the Spear; Aiken promises to free the torcs and withholds the secret from Sukey.
- Ch 21 · 8
Wedding of Claude and Angélique
At night Amerie conducts a marriage service before the old pair go into hiding.
- Ch 22 · 9
Survey finalized and data erased
Bryan and Ogmol finish the survey and print three copies. Greg-Donnet then secretly overrides the lock, prints a fourth copy for himself and expunges all data from the computer.
- Ch 22 · 9
Mercy challenges Aluteyn
At an extraordinary assembly Mercy challenges Aluteyn for the Creators' presidency. Aluteyn conjures a lamprey; she answers with fish and chips and is validated to contend at the Grand Combat.
- Ch 22 · 9
Night on the Mount of Heroes
Mercy and Bryan meet and make love on the mountain summit. Bryan asks whether she loves him and will stay after the Combat, and she evades.
- Ch 22 · 9
Bryan handed over to Culluket
At Redact House Nodonn and Culluket receive the sleeping Bryan. Nodonn orders him protected and kept unaware until the Combat ends, then leaves with Mercy for Creation House to deal with the computer.
- Ch 23 · 10
Gomnol approaches Aiken Drum
Gomnol invites Aiken Drum for a talk, offers help and proposes human unity amid an approaching power struggle. He tosses Aiken a cigar clipper marked as Solingen inox steel.
- Ch 24 · 11
Passing the boats into the rapids
At dawn the party meets three boats waiting at a chute, passes them with Harry forced to wave, and enters the next twenty-kilometer rapids.
- Ch 24 · 11
Felice flies the riverboat out of the eddy
Felice takes the wheel and lifts the boat with her PK, then flies it over the Rhône's terminal waterfall and the mist-covered lake. Amerie and the Indian Chief ask her to descend, and she does.
- Ch 25 · 12
Aiken Drum and Gomnol examined
Culluket and Gomnol probe Aiken Drum's mind and find nothing, raising suspicion that Gomnol is allied with him.
- Ch 25 · 12
Nodonn reveals his strategy
Nodonn outlines his plan to exploit the planned raid and expose the survey at the Grand Combat, summoning the top fighters to a reunion luncheon, and reveals Mercy's genes.
- Ch 26 · 13
Katlinel 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.
- Ch 27 · 14
Aiken and Gomnol plot the ambush
On the Guild Headquarters turret, Aiken and Gomnol discuss the incoming saboteurs, their fear of the Host, and plan to catch the rebels red-handed while keeping Stein alive.
- Ch 27 · 14
Felice's group rejects Aiken's plan
With no word from Aiken, the saboteurs suspect a trap and decide to assault the torc factory that night by a different route through the front, led by Felice.
- Ch 29 · 16
Claude and Angélique close the time-gate
Under invisibility, the two run to the gate and jump into the tau-field, linked by hands. The field reverses and they vanish, closing the gate while Aiken flies back too late.
- Ch 29 · 16
Aftermath at the auberge
Counselors find the ashes, the torc and the amber messages in the gazebo and take them to the director.
- Ch 31 · 2
Secret meeting of the antibattle faction
In the Mount of Heroes, leaders plan around Aiken Drum's expected kingship. Leyr agrees to challenge Imidol, Minanonn conditionally pledges support, and captains volunteer for Aiken's cohort. Sugoll and Katlinel's betrothal is revealed.
- Ch 33 · 4
Thagdal confides in Nontusvel
After the chariot races, Thagdal tells the Queen of defections, escapes and Aiken Drum's rising support. They console each other.
- Ch 34 · 5
Felice breaks through the Gibraltar isthmus
Guided by Stein, Felice carves a crevice through the isthmus, falters, then draws on new power to unleash a shockwave; the Atlantic begins to flow through as a waterfall.
- Ch 34 · 5
Isthmus breached and the Empty Sea floods
The isthmus gap widens as a torrent pours into the Empty Sea, with dust and smoke streaming over the Atlantic.
- Ch 35 · 6
Firvulag captains presented
Firvulag Great Ones stood unchallenged; King Yeochee named Pallol One-Eye Battlemaster after he displayed his Eye's power.
- Ch 35 · 6
Leyr returns to challenge Imidol
At the vacant Coercer presidency, the banished Leyr appeared as aspirant beside Imidol; they agreed to a death duel in the High Mêlée.
- Ch 35 · 6
Mercy defeats Aluteyn
Mercy challenged Aluteyn over the Kral, overcame his black creations, and rained edible manna on the crowd; she became Lady Creator and Aluteyn chose the Great Retort.
- Ch 36 · 7
The 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.
- Ch 36 · 7
Raimo's failed desertion
Raimo, armored and sent to fight, is rescued by Aiken Drum from a Firvulag, hides among corpses until sunset, but is found by two Tanu women and sent to the Great Retort.
- Ch 37 · 8
Brothers' council before dawn
Nodonn and his brothers survey the battlefield, assess losses including Velteyn, and plan to move wounded golds to Redact House and admit fighting grays to the Skin.
- Ch 37 · 8
Nodonn presents Bryan's survey
At the banquet, Nodonn brings the torc-compelled Bryan before the Tanu to expose the consequences of human assimilation, while Celadeyr defiantly backs Aiken Drum.
- Ch 38 · 9
Bryan revived in the Great Retort
Aluteyn pulls Bryan from his mind-cave; Bryan, longing for Mercy, learns he is in the Great Retort while captives speculate about earthquakes.
- Ch 38 · 9
Yeochee 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.
- Ch 39 · 10
Banners are planted for the Heroic Encounters
Firvulag and Tanu champions rally behind Pallol, Nodonn and Aiken Drum, revealing a split among the Tanu. A cloaked woman with the chain of silence calms the crowd and the Marshal opens the Encounters.
- Ch 39 · 10
Aluteyn's futile warning in the Retort
Aluteyn tries to warn of coming seismic disturbance but is dismissed by a human coercer and mocked by the doomed; he etches a warning on the glass.
- Ch 40 · 11
Aiken named Lugonn and defies Thagdal
Mayvar names Aiken the Shining One, Young Lugonn. He plants the Sword of Sharn before Thagdal instead of giving fealty; Brede ordains a final Combat of Sword and Spear.
- Ch 40 · 11
The great flood
The Spain-Africa dike collapses and a 230-meter wave sweeps over the White Silver Plain as the champions clash, drowning Thagdal and the gathered multitude.
- Ch 41 · 12
Aiken Drum rescues Mercy
Adrift and despairing, Mercy is found by Aiken Drum aboard the floating Kral, who lifts her aboard and restores her.
- Ch 41 · 12
Survivors arrive at Hidden Springs Canyon
Months later, in June, Elizabeth's party arrives at the village, and the residents excitedly prepare to greet her.
- Ch 42 · Epilogue
The ramapithecine reclaims the torc
The young ramapithecine returns to the crater rim by the Lake of Giant Birds, digs the golden torc out of a gorse bush and fastens it around his neck. He then heads to his mate, perceiving the world with new intensity.
Book 3 The nonborn king
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Operants storm Castle Gateway and flee
Operant humans came through the time-gate at an unusual hour, killed Lord Moranet, Lady Senevar and many staff, drained prisoners' minds, and fled west with the Roniah Hunt in pursuit.
- Ch 2 · 1
The devils answer Felice's call
Felice calls mentally to Culluket and the devils answer. Terrified, she shields herself and flies to Mount Mulhacén, escaping their tracking, then returns home with the tore.
- Ch 3 · 2
Marc waits for a giant tarpon
Hidden in the Suwanee estuary, Marc Remillard prepares his handmade flyrod and fragile line to catch one of the giant Old Ones, while the rebellious children spy on him with farsense.
- Ch 3 · 2
Recollection of Felice's rescue
Last fall, Marc combined the psychoenergies of the rebels and their children and gave them to Felice Landry, so the Empty Sea filled.
- Ch 4 · 3
Meteor shower on the spire
Aiken has the city lights put out and brings Mercy to the Castle of Glass parapet to watch the March meteors; he conjures a false crown of lights, which she dismisses as illusion.
- Ch 7 · 6
Breaking the wild chaliko
Brazos Ben subdues a huge wild roan chaliko with a running W and gentle mind contact while Aiken, Culluket and Alberonn watch.
- Ch 7 · 6
Arrival of recruits at Goriah
Aiken and Culluket meet a batch of Tanu and human recruits from Afaliah and Calamosk, including Sullivan-Tonn, Olone and Aiken's old friend Raimo.
- Ch 7 · 6
Aiken welcomes the newcomers
Aiken rebukes Congreve, ends searches of arrivals, and invites everyone to a party at the Castle of Glass.
- Ch 8 · 7
Isak sends Huldah to keep watch
Isak nags Huldah into climbing to the promontory to watch for the Flying Hunt and light a signal fire. She first overpowers him to make him swear not to harm the God, then goes.
- Ch 10 · 9
Yosh bests the troll at the toll-gate
Out of money, Yosh terrifies the Firvulag toll troll Kipol Greenteeth with a kiai and his iron sword, refusing to pay. Kipol relents and directs him to Malachee's tavern.
- Ch 12 · 11
Felice robs the dead twin
Felice, as a raven, finds Kuhal mourning poisoned Fian in North Africa, takes Fian's tore, taunts Kuhal and spares him.
- Ch 12 · 11
Felice returns to her treasure lair
Felice flies to Mount Mulhacén, is greeted by animal friends, and adds the tore to her hoard, which includes the dead Spear.
- Ch 13 · 12
Elizabeth and Creyn argue Brede's legacy
Elizabeth voices her fear that replacing Brede repeats the sin of forcing destiny, drawing parallels to the Metapsychic Rebellion; Creyn answers with felix culpa.
- Ch 14 · 13
Marc loses the tarpon
After a sixteen-hour fight, Marc is blinded by the young people's beacon, and the great tarpon snaps the line and escapes; he releases it unharmed.
- Ch 14 · 13
The Europe expedition is debated
The young people propose capturing Felice, taking Europe and rebuilding the time-gate. Marc learns Elaby is the planner, permits four to go, and sends Owen Blanchard instead of Hagen.
- Ch 15 · 1
Royals plan to intercept the Howlers
Learning of the 9000 migrants, Sharn and Ayfa follow Fitharn's advice to host a picnic and send them on to Nionel before reaching High Vrazel.
- Ch 15 · 1
Feast 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.
- Ch 15 · 1
Katlinel and Greg-Donnet keep a secret
While the Howlers sleep, Katlinel and Greg-Donnet agree not to tell Sugoll the bad news they perceived about the Firvulag's disguises and the brides' prospects, and they find three sleeping Howlers.
- Ch 17 · 3
Quarrel over the ruined flour mill
Aluteyn berates Celadeyr for wrecking Afaliah's flour mill and for his Nightfall War obsession, then agrees to help; both remember Aiken Drum is the Kingmaker's Chosen.
- Ch 18 · 4
Naming of Agraynel and Morna's prophecy
Morna fastens a golden tore on the baby and names her Agraynel ul-Mercy-Rosmar vur-Thagdal. She foresees Agraynel as queen but flees when asked about the king; Dionket makes Mercy forget.
- Ch 20 · 6
Elizabeth directs Peo to take refugees to Nionel
Peo reports about 1000 desperate refugees. Elizabeth tells him to postpone returning to Hidden Springs and lead them north and west by river to Nionel, where Sugoll will welcome them.
- Ch 21 · 7
Marc watches the ketch
Brooding on his verandah, Marc uses farsight to observe the ketch crossing the Sargasso and Owen Blanchard's troubled sleep, then rages at them all.
- Ch 22 · 8
Howler hunting party spotted
Next day they see mounted Howlers across the river and a distant exotic city, then flee south along a game track.
- Ch 22 · 8
Hoe-tusker charge and rescue
A deinotherium charges Tony and is felled by a stun-gun shot from Crazy Greggy, who then takes the pair to Nionel.
- Ch 25 · 11
Announcement of the Grand Tourney
Aiken and Sharn reveal that the Grand Combat will become a nonlethal Grand Tourney held at the Field of Gold, with a new Singing Stone trophy. Celadeyr and Betularn are dismayed; the Craftsmaster accepts.
- Ch 26 · 12
Grand Loving in Nionel
Firvulag stream into rebuilt Nionel for the Grand Loving; Sugoll and Katlinel preside as King and Queen of May, and the Little Green Army fights mock Tanu invaders with eggs.
- Ch 26 · 12
Tony and Rowane
At the Dance of the Brides Tony is paired with Rowane and spends the night with her; waking unblindfolded he sees her true form and learns she wants a hybrid child.
- Ch 26 · 12
Racing to Nionel
Tony and a woman who mentions her parents run hand in hand toward Nionel for the May Morning feast. Among other couples at the gates he sees Dougal with another woman, which resolves his worry.
- Ch 27 · 13
Firvulag strike fails on the Night of Secret Love
During the masquerade, Sharn, Ayfa and ten ogres mesh minds and fling a bolt at Aiken Drum, who is occupied with Olone; the bolt apparently fails.
- Ch 27 · 13
Coronation of Aiken Drum
Before 6000 Tanu, Firvulag guests and 15,000 humans, Elizabeth presents Aiken with a black glass crown; he names his High Table and is acclaimed King.
- Ch 31 · 4
Abaddon contacts Aiken
Abaddon farspeaks Aiken from across the Atlantic, reveals Felice's hideout near Mount Mulhacén, and they agree to a deal including a stronger metaconcert program and a rendezvous at the Río Genil in a week.
- Ch 31 · 4
Aiken sees Nodonn in Mercy's dream
After the contact, Aiken probes Mercy's dream again and confirms her lover is Nodonn Battlemaster, alive and hidden.
- Ch 33 · 6
Strategy talk in Burke's wigwam
Burke, Basil and Denny meet Kalipin and inspect the stun-guns, discuss Firvulag raids, Aiken Drum's weapons, hiding aircraft in the Vale of Hyenas, and a possible search for weapons at Roniah, deferring to Elizabeth.
- Ch 34 · 7
Final descent into Felice's mind
Elizabeth, aided by Dionket and Creyn, spends six hours redacting Felice's madness while the psychic discharge devastates Black Crag's surroundings.
- Ch 35 · 8
Felice appears to Amerie
At dawn Felice, claiming to be cured, appears in the Hidden Springs chapel during Mass and asks Amerie to come with her; Amerie refuses, citing her vow.
- Ch 36 · 9
Fleet sails up the Genil; metaconcert assembled
Aiken addresses his army on the plan, then the fleet's rivercraft head up the Genil while operants assemble the Organic Mind. Abaddon hands it to Aiken as executive director.
- Ch 36 · 9
Felice finds her lair destroyed
Felice returns to Mulhacén and finds her home buried and her treasure stolen. She blames Culluket and Aiken Drum and flies in pursuit.
- Ch 36 · 9
Aiken kills Felice with the metaconcert
Aiken blasts Felice, who d-jumps overhead as Owen Blanchard's death breaks the shield. Marc Remillard patches it and Aiken's second full blast destroys her. A cliff collapses into the Genil.
- Ch 37 · 1
Nodonn and Mercy reunite
The lovers reunite, confess their defilements, and discuss deposing Aiken, Mercy's foreseen death, Abaddon and Cloud Remillard. Nodonn asks she may have to return to Aiken, though she may stay a while.
- Ch 37 · 1
The silver hand
Mercy transmutes silverware into a mirror-bright silver hand for Nodonn, who vows to wear it until he destroys Aiken Drum and becomes King.
- Ch 38 · 2
Number Two-Niner flight test
Betsy and Ookpik finish repairing the last flyer; the Baroness test-flies it successfully, and the Bastards celebrate. Betsy hints that Basil suspects the Baroness of wanting to steal it.
- Ch 38 · 2
Fleet hidden on Monte Rosa
Basil and Aldo choose a snowbound valley on Monte Rosa for hiding the flyers. Basil poses a hypothetical about a treasonous colleague, and Aldo advises surveillance rather than killing.
- Ch 38 · 2
Aldo's treachery foiled
Before dawn Aldo and the Baroness try to steal Number One, injuring Nazir. Betsy stuns them, and Basil sentences them to be hanged from the aircraft's belly-hatch.
- Ch 40 · 4
Kite demonstration on the dunes
At the Strait of Redon, Yosh and Vilkas demonstrate man-carrying combat kites with naginata for Aiken and Mercy; Yosh shreds Vilkas's kite.
- Ch 41 · 5
Tony brought to High Vrazel
After a miserable journey, blinded and bound, Tony is delivered to High Vrazel, cleaned up by Skathe's order and brought before the Firvulag monarchs.
- Ch 41 · 5
Unveiling of the Singing Stone
The Gemcutters present the Singing Stone; Sharn sits and it sings eight notes. Tony laughs and hums along, then is questioned.
- Ch 41 · 5
Tony's confession and the royal plot
Tony tells of the Lowlife aircraft in the Vale of Hyenas. Afterward the Firvulag rulers plan to tip Nodonn off so the Tanu seize the aircraft and attack Aiken Drum, for the Sword.
- Ch 42 · 6
Planning the aircraft seizure
Nodonn, Kuhal and Celadeyr plan to take the ancient aircraft from the Vale of Hyenas for an attack on Aiken Drum, but need a human to neutralize the human guards; Kuhal has an idea.
- Ch 43 · 7
Vault sabotage
Mercy enlists Sullivan-Tonn to open the locked vault beneath the Castle of Glass, then destroys the computer and floods the Milieu weapons stores with caustic polymer foam to disable them against Nodonn.
- Ch 43 · 7
Aiken's vengeance
Aiken Drum confronts them, tortures and burns Sullivan-Tonn to death, then takes Mercy upstairs where the Spear consumes her, leaving only ashes.
- Ch 44 · 8
Duel of Nodonn and Aiken Drum
Above the Strait of Redon, Nodonn attacks furiously while Aiken stays passive. After Nodonn spends all his power, Aiken disarms him and absorbs his power, killing him, then returns home at dawn.
- Ch 45 · Epilogue
Marc recovers and decides to attend the Grand Tourney
After witnessing the drama played out in Europe, Marc tells Patricia he is recovered and still intends to go to the Grand Tourney. They consider attending together and retire to the house.
Book 4 The adversary
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Marc's report after the failed experiment
Gravely injured, Marc tells his helpers the experiment was a qualified success: Felice is gone, Aiken Drum damaged. He orders the CE rig repaired and sent to Europe for a plan to destroy the time-gate site.
- Ch 1 · Prologue
Marc withdraws into the regen tank
Marc, in agony, refuses help, goes alone to the regeneration tank and shuts off communication.
- Ch 2 · 1
The King returns from his victory
After the duel, Aiken Drum returns to the castle with the silver hand, silent and psychically swollen. Bleyn, Alberonn and Tirone settle him in a retiring room; he declines healing, orders them to oversee mop-up, and plans to judge prisoners at 2100.
- Ch 2 · 1
Bear-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.
- Ch 3 · 2
The convoy reaches the Great Waterfall
The convoy climbs a ridge at Gibraltar and the group views the Waterfall by moonlight, until fog covers it.
- Ch 4 · 3
Judgment of the captured knights
The 129 surviving rebel knights are brought in chains before Aiken-Lugonn and the High Table, judged guilty of treason, and given the choice of choosing their own punishment.
- Ch 5 · 4
Anatoly's climb to Black Crag
Robbed of his chaliko, Anatoly climbs to Black Crag in fog, nearly falls off a cliff, then is guided by mysterious lights to the lodge trail.
- Ch 5 · 4
Friar Anatoly bursts into the conference
Brother Anatoly evades the retainers and barges into the salon. Minanonn freezes everyone, and Anatoly announces that Amerie Roccaro sent him as Elizabeth's spiritual adviser. Elizabeth lets him go, and he leaves.
- Ch 6 · 5
Skathe's first seduction interrupted
Skathe, disguised as a houri, nearly kills Tony in his cell at High Vrazel until Karbree interrupts; she decides to take Tony along on the mission to Goriah.
- Ch 6 · 5
Voyage to Bardelask
Queen Ayfa redirects Skathe and Karbree to observe the Bardelask attack; they commandeer a riverboat and pilot on the Saone and travel downriver with Tony.
- Ch 7 · 6
Decontamination task assigned
Aiken and Bert Candyman examine the poison foam in the storage area; Bert devises an acetone solvent and Aiken gives him a team of Tanu nobles and seven days to finish.
- Ch 7 · 6
Aiken's night of turmoil
Aiken revisits the emptied royal apartments, rebuffs Olone, reflects on his weakened powers, and farsenses Marc Remillard aboard the Kyllikki, who smiles at him.
- Ch 7 · 6
Aiken turns to the Guderian book
After the vision fades, Aiken hides his state from approaching workers with invisibility, retrieves the hidden Guderian book-plaque and starts reading it, wondering whether he wants to go home.
- Ch 8 · 7
Spider fight and release
Betsy panics at a spider, sparking a dungeon-wide battle with the spiders. Ochal the Harper then frees the Bastards and announces they will go to Calamosk to meet King Aiken-Lugonn.
- Ch 8 · 7
Hagen's nightmare of Marc
During night watch Hagen dreams of seeing his brain-in-rig father as a child and confronts him as an adult; he wakes to find physical indentations on the deck.
- Ch 9 · 8
Bastards welcomed to Calamosk
Led by Ochal, Basil and the Bastards reach Calamosk. Parthol Swiftfoot greets them and lodges them in a bathhouse complex to bathe and get new clothes before meeting the High King.
- Ch 9 · 8
Aiken's proposal to the Bastards
Aiken tells them the Remillard children plan a second time-gate and want the Bastards to fly and maintain aircraft. He keeps them torced and demonstrates his power. Basil agrees to cooperate.
- Ch 9 · 8
Dougal recognizes Aiken
Dougal falls weeping before Aiken's display, hailing him as the savior, then advises seeking Tony Wayland for the tau-generator wire. Aiken is unsettled and has the North Americans brought in.
- Ch 10 · 9
Anatoly's prayer and exit
Anatoly argues with Mary-Dedra over the experiment, is rebuked by Elizabeth, then, bolstered by Minanonn's mental touch, recites a prayer and leaves with Dedra to the spring.
- Ch 10 · 9
Marc Remillard appears
Marc Remillard hovers outside the nursery window after a hyperspatial jump, offers a greeting, which Elizabeth refuses, and says Brendan's problem interests him.
- Ch 11 · 10
Burke's failed hunt
Burke hunts waterbuck with neglected primitive gear, misses, and realizes he is content to kill nothing; he plans to meet Denny Johnson and share news of the time-gate.
- Ch 12 · 11
Aiken and Elizabeth confer by farspeech
Aiken outlines the expedition to Monte Rosa and the time-gate plans, then breaks down, confessing his hallucinations and metapsychic collapse; Elizabeth agrees to come secretly to a cave to help him.
- Ch 12 · 11
The chimaera shadow
In the cave the party sees a monstrous three-headed shadow engaged in a frenzied sexual display ending in a flash of light; Elizabeth recognizes it as a chimaera and rushes in.
- Ch 12 · 11
Elizabeth finds Aiken
Elizabeth, guarded by Minanonn and coercers, enters the subsidiary chamber and finds Aiken Drum weakened, his suit in rags but his body normal.
- Ch 12 · 11
Aiken's dream of rebirth
Aiken dreams of dragon, hag and eagle ordeals, defeats and kisses Stein Oleson, and sees the chimaera as his reflection; Elizabeth explains he is reborn with an integrated psyche and resolves to be a true King.
- Ch 13 · 1
Helayne Strangford's rampage
During a storm, Helayne goes berserk, stabs Steve, kills fifteen people including the Keoghs, and climbs the jiggermast. Patricia's metaconcert fails against her; Steinbrenner shoots her dead as she coerces them to climb.
- Ch 13 · 1
Alex's theory undermines Marc's plan
Patricia reveals Alex Manion's theory that the time-gate site cannot be destroyed. Marc rejects it but will question Manion, and outlines alternative plans.
- Ch 14 · 2
Aiken sees the guard in the Gyre
Aiken spots Morna-Ia heading to the Bijou, then sees a tall gray-haired man in elite guard mufti buying raspberry ice who nods at him. Shaken, Aiken stamps his hat and leads friends to the Mermaid to drink.
- Ch 15 · 3
Expedition buys Purtsinigelee's provisions
The Tanu-led expedition visits Purtsinigelee's cottage, pays richly in gems for his pickled slugs, and heads for the high country, leaving the family unharmed.
- Ch 15 · 3
Hagen and Veikko confer by farspeech
Veikko reports from Camp Bettaforca; Hagen discusses Goriah's progress, Kyllikki's approach and Marc's threat, and orders Veikko to kill Marc on sight if he appears.
- Ch 15 · 3
Veikko tells Irena of the Kyllikki murders
Veikko reveals via Walter that Helayne Strangford killed many aboard Kyllikki, including Arky. Irena grieves, then they join Basil Wimborne's conference.
- Ch 15 · 3
Basil briefs the expedition
Basil announces the Monte Rosa plan, assault and support team assignments, and the incoming Firvulag force; Veikko adds nineteen days remain and bad news about Marc.
- Ch 15 · 3
Firvulag force marches
Elizabeth reports about 200 Firvulag from Famorel City marching to attack the camp, expected in six days.
- Ch 16 · 4
Anatoly reveals the coverall gambit
Anatoly admits he stole and then returned a man's coverall, a futile attempt to stop him d-jumping, then leaves with a chuckle after being asked about his offer of spiritual assistance.
- Ch 17 · 5
Kawai refuses to leave Hidden Springs
Burke and Denny Johnson urge Kawai to join the departing Lowlives, but he insists on staying as caretaker of the abandoned village.
- Ch 17 · 5
Howler woman enters the Skin-tank
Greg-Donnet and Melina wrap a mutant Howler woman in Skin and fill the tank to start regenerative treatment; she thinks of Tonee as she sleeps.
- Ch 18 · 6
Converter attack
During the first blow of the Bessemer converter, the North Americans apparently turned it with their minds to burn Aiken's party. Aiken shielded everyone in a force globe and floated them to the floor.
- Ch 19 · 7
Tony captured by Burke's band
Poling through the marsh, Tony is captured by Chief Burke's armed band, identified as the traitor Wayland, and bluffs unsuccessfully. Burke spares him as a bargaining chip with the King and for passage to the Milieu.
- Ch 24 · 12
Sharn-Ador's Nameday
At High Vrazel, Sharn-Ador is named, manifests as a locust, and announces the Firvulag raid on Roniah and the capture of Tony Wayland.
- Ch 24 · 12
Aiken Drum's projection interrupts
Aiken's mental projection offers the Sword for Wayland and the stolen weapons. The royals agree to trade Wayland for the Sword at the Northern Track tomorrow, and Aiken knights Sharn-Ador, whom his father forces to repudiate it.
- Ch 24 · 12
Marc and Walter aboard Kyllikki
Marc admits helping the climbers and likens Walter's punishment to the Little Mermaid. Steve Vanier takes the helm, and Walter limps to his cabin leaving bloody footprints.
- Ch 25 · 13
Basil teleported from the summit
Injured on the summit, Basil meets an armored being that offers to teleport him by d-jump; he accepts and both vanish as the others depart believing him dead.
- Ch 26 · 1
Elizabeth and Minanonn arrive at the Castle of Glass
Flying through storms, they land at Goriah and Aiken greets them; Elizabeth reveals she has come on Marc's behalf and that Marc d-jumped Basil Wimborne from Monte Rosa.
- Ch 26 · 1
Tour of the Guderian Project laboratories
Aiken shows Elizabeth the heavily secured labs and the Guderian device, explaining its progress and the deception about Tony's wife Rowane.
- Ch 26 · 1
Elizabeth conveys Marc's proposal
Elizabeth tells Hagen and Cloud that the Milieu would accept them after atonement, then relays Marc's invitation to meet at Black Crag, with a hint about their genetic heritage.
- Ch 26 · 1
Marc and Anatoly discuss damnation
In the Montagne Noire, Marc and Brother Anatoly finish the cognac and debate imputability and Marc's own damnation, while Marc checks on Kyllikki's safety.
- Ch 27 · 2
Betularn delivers the Sword
Betularn arrives at the Field of Gold by boat and presents the Sword to Sharn, who dons it.
- Ch 28 · 3
Marc reveals the Mental Man truth
Marc tells Hagen and Cloud they are the parents of Mental Man and the last source of his immortal strain; he proposes they lead the project on a conquered planet.
- Ch 29 · 4
Hagen shows Diane Marc's plan
Hagen reveals to Diane that Mental Man means bodiless brains. They resolve to flee to the Milieu with Aiken's help and conceive a child, then find the King and his laboratory gone.
- Ch 29 · 4
Aiken shields the Guderian Project
Aiken moves the Guderian Project to Castle Gateway under a 900-power sigma-field, takes Cloud and Hagen under his protection, and offers Marc a truce invitation to the Grand Tourney.
- Ch 29 · 4
Marc decides to sail upriver
Marc tells the magnates the children refused him. He cannot see a way through the defenses, orders Kyllikki camouflaged and sailed up the river, then says he will go fishing.
- Ch 30 · 5
King's air show over Roniah
Twenty-seven rhocraft led by the King's emblazoned ship dropped candy balloons over the Roniah Fair and shot them down as a show of strength before vanishing.
- Ch 31 · 6
High Table completed
Aiken commemorates the dead and traitors, receives oaths from sitting and newly nominated Great Ones, and secretly seats Katlinel and Sugoll as allies who repudiate the Firvulag throne.
- Ch 31 · 6
Burke sets out to find Kyllikki
Chief Burke paddles a canoe down the Nonol toward the Seine to scout for the schooner Kyllikki, seen off by Katlinel.
- Ch 31 · 6
Tony ordered to Fennoscandia
Contaminated dysprosium threatens the time-gate wire; Aiken sends Tony Wayland to Fennoscandia to ensure proper refining despite Yotunag danger.
- Ch 31 · 6
Marc contacted by Elizabeth
While fishing from Kyllikki, Marc is farspoken by Elizabeth, who asks help for the black-torc children. He also notices Aiken's flight to Fennoscandia before a catfish hits his line.
- Ch 32 · 7
Marc delivers the redactive program
Marc teleports to Black Crag, gives Elizabeth the adapted redactive program excluding her from the metaconcert, warns he will oppose the gate, offers her another world, and departs after she refuses.
- Ch 32 · 7
Armored mind trapped in limbo
The armored attacker cannot open an upsilon-field at the far end of the catenary or back at Kyllikki, and is stranded in gray limbo.
- Ch 32 · 7
Marc escapes Kyllikki
Patricia, Jeff and Cordelia overload themselves to restore power; Patricia dies. Marc teleports his equipment to a camouflaged gully near Castle Gateway.
- Ch 33 · 8
Plan to flee to the Blessed Isles
Minanonn reveals the King's news of Marc's escape and possible Firvulag alliance, and proposes evacuating the babies and Peaceful Folk on the captured Kyllikki to the Blessed Isles.
- Ch 34 · 9
Opening of the Grand Tourney
The royals and nobles ride in procession to the Field of Gold; Aiken and Sharn jointly open the sky, and the new Song and the Singing Stone are presented.
- Ch 34 · 9
The Flying Hunt and Star of Morning
Aiken demonstrates overwhelming psychokinetic power, shaking Sharn. Sharn presses Sugoll, then receives Marc Remillard, who calls himself Star of Morning.
- Ch 35 · 10
Rebels bid farewell to the Children of Rebellion
Aiken brings the mutinous metapsychic Rebels through the force-field to Castle Gateway, where Walter parts from Veikko and Irena as the Guderian device nears completion.
- Ch 36 · 11
First power-up of the tau-generator
The Guderian device is tested with a potassium wafer on a stool; the stool is sliced and the potassium returns dated ~11.78 million years old, proving the gate works but is only a handspan wide.
- Ch 36 · 11
Marc unhorses the Bottle Knight
Marc defeats the Bottle Knight, who is Aiken in disguise; Aiken says it makes the Firvulag overconfident, and they agree the mind tug-of-war is tomorrow.
- Ch 37 · 12
The co-monarchs yield to Abaddon
Abaddon offers Sharn and Ayfa freedom and his metaconcert program in exchange for their minds' help breaking into Castle Gateway. Despite their fears of enslavement, they open themselves to his mind and join with him.
- Ch 38 · 13
Time-gate closes; humans stay
After the last of 11,332 returnees passes, Basil, Burke and Phronsie choose to stay, and Phronsie shuts down the Guderian device.
- Ch 38 · 13
Marc and Elizabeth reach the Duat Galaxy
After a final jump, Marc and Elizabeth emerge in the Duat Galaxy, where crystalline creatures and Song greet them.
- Ch 39 · Appendix
Brede'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.