List of characters in the Deltora Quest series

 

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The Deltora series features a wide line of characters, both important and minor. The series also features many different monsters and creatures that appeared in all of the many different books. This article is a list of the many different characters and creatures that have appeared in the Deltora series.

Contents 1 Main Characters 1.1 Lief 1.2 Barda 1.3 Jasmine 1.4 Kree 1.5 Filli 2 Major characters 2.1 King Endon 2.2 Queen Sharn 2.3 Jarred/Doom 2.4 Anna 2.5 Josef 2.6 Ranesh 2.7 Marilen 3 Minor characters 3.1 The Enigmatic Giant 3.2 Manus 3.3 Tom 3.4 Tira 3.5 Queen Bee 3.6 Glock 3.7 Neridah 3.8 Prin 3.9 Gla-Thon 3.10 Steven/Nevets 3.11 Chett 3.12 Zeean 3.13 Jinks 3.14 Flash and Fury 3.15 Lindal of Broome 3.16 Penn 3.17 Emlis 3.18 Claw 3.19 Gers 3.20 The Masked Ones 3.20.1 Bess 3.20.2 Bede 3.20.3 Rust 3.20.4 Zerry 3.20.5 Otto 3.20.6 Fern 3.21 Mariette 3.22 Ava 3.23 Red Han 3.24 Verity 3.25 Tirral 3.26 Nols 3.27 Worron 3.28 Clef and Azan 3.29 The Piper of Auron 4 Monsters of Deltora 4.1 The Great Beast 4.2 The Wennbar and the Wenn 4.3 Muddlets 4.4 Sand Beasts 4.5 Kin 4.6 Polypan 4.7 Granous 4.8 Fighting Spiders 4.9 The Fear 4.10 Arach 4.11 Forbidden Passage Leeches 4.12 Capricons 4.13 Orchard Keepers 4.14 Kobb 4.15 Dragons 4.15.1 Fidelis 4.15.2 Joyeu 4.15.3 Fortuna 4.15.4 Honora 4.15.5 Veritas 4.15.6 Forta 4.15.7 Hopian 5 Villains 5.1 The Shadow Lord 5.2 Ak-Baba 5.3 Greers 5.4 Grey Guards 5.5 Vraal 5.6 Ols 5.6.1 Dain 5.6.2 Prandine 5.6.3 Fallow 5.7 Conversion Project Slugs 5.8 Sorceress Thaegan 5.8.1 Thaegan's 13 Children 5.9 Ra-Kacharz 5.9.1 Rats 5.10 Nak, Finne, and Milne the Pirates 5.11 Laughing Jack 5.12 The Guardians of the Gems 5.12.1 Gorl 5.12.2 Nanion/Soldeen 5.12.3 Reeah 5.12.4 The Hive 5.12.5 Gellick 5.12.6 The Glus 5.12.7 Fardeep 5.13 The Guardians of the Four Sisters 5.13.1 Rolf 5.13.2 Kirsten the Masked One 5.13.3 Doran the Dragonlover 5.13.4 Paff 5.14 The Black Mist 5.15 Grey Tide 5.16 The Four Sisters 6 External links

Main Characters

Lief

Lief is the main character of the series. Lief was born to parents King Endon and Queen Sharn though he believed them to be Jarred and Anna of the forge. As a child Lief roamed the streets of Del, sharpening his wits and gaining him the skills needed for his future quests. Though he did not know it, he was constantly protected by Barda and he prided himself on his many 'lucky' escapes. On his sixteenth birthday it is revealed to him that he must begin a dangerous quest to find the lost gems of the Belt of Deltora. At the end of the series Lief discovers he is the heir to the Belt of Deltora and becomes the king. In Deltora Quest 2 (Deltora Shadowlands) he is plagued by assassin attempts on his life, he is also afflicted by the sound of a mysterious musical instrument. In addition, he hears the voice of the Shadow Lord in his mind, and the people cry out to him to send a rescue party to the Shadow Lord's border. Seeking to preserve his line and protect Deltora, Lief and Doom have spent much time researching the line of Adin, first King of Deltora, and creating a false Belt of Deltora. Lief later pursues Jasmine underground, and the company sets out to find the Pirran Pipe. After succeeding, Lief attempts to use the Pipe against the Shadow Lord, but only succeeds with the help of Emlis. Lief later returns to Del with the freed hostages, and begins to show romantic feelings towards Jasmine. After his adventures in the Shadowlands, he led the mission across Deltora to destroy the Four Sisters and get rid of the land's source of famine and disease. During his travels, he meets Bede, who resembles him closely (this is because in truth they are distant cousins). He finds the last sister, the Sister of the South, beneath the palace. The Sister is in the form of a dark version of the gems that form the Belt of Deltora, and for the first time in his life, Lief is tempted by greed, however because of his benevolent and just nature, he resists the temptation and with the help of his allies, he destroys the sister. Lief cares much for his country and in doing so is a good king. When placed in a life threatening situation, his main concern is for the Belt of Deltora and the land. He is an able swordsman and with the aid of the Topaz in the Belt of Deltora he has often solved incredibly hard riddles. He uses his wits in battle letting him defeat even the more experienced opponent. However, sometimes Lief possesses a lack of foresight and often loses his temper. He is stubborn which leads to him making some poor choices. Lief, from his father's side is descended from Adin, The first king of Deltora and the creator of both the belt and the country's name, which is an acronym of Diamond-Emerald-Lapis lazuli-Topaz-Opal-Ruby-Amethyst.

Barda

Before the Shadow Lord took control of Deltora, Barda was a guard in training at the palace in Del. His mother, Min, was a great gossiper, nursemaid to young Jarred and Endon, and late one night overheard a plot for the Shadow Lord to take control of Deltora. Scared, she told the news to King Endon, who believed she was mistaken and had merely been dreaming. However, several hours later she had been murdered for what she knew. Fearing for his own life, Barda fled the palace shortly before the Shadow Lord invaded Deltora. Through the darkness of the night, Barda stumbled into the forge and fell asleep. When he awoke the Shadow Lord had commenced his attack upon the city. Only half-awake and scared by the invasion Barda stumbled upon what he thought to be Jarred and Anna hurrying the King and Queen away. Actually, what he saw was the plan the four friends had hatched in order to keep the heir of Deltora safe. Jarred was surprised to see a palace guard lurching toward him and knocked him unconscious. While asleep, Barda rambled aloud his fears and Endon and Sharn realised that he was a friend. They enlisted his aid in searching for the lost gems of Deltora. For the next sixteen years Barda disguised himself as a beggar so as to discover information vital to the Quest. He also became the bodyguard of Endon and Sharn's child Lief, albeit without the semi-arrogant Lief's knowledge thereof. Upon Lief's sixteenth birthday Barda revealed himself to Lief and the quest for the gems of Deltora began. Though Barda was at first annoyed to travel encumbered by a child, he soon saw Lief as more of a help than a hindrance. In Deltora Quest 2, Barda is now reinstated as the Captain of the Palace guards. Barda's skill in swordsmanship is second to none. His courage and wits have seen his companions and himself through several tight places. When Jasmine and Glock journey to the Shadow Lands, Barda accompanies Lief to find them. He holds a genuine affection for Lief (and to a lesser degree Jasmine). His loyalty to his king makes him a good friend. At the end of the series,

Jasmine

Jasmine is a wild girl, described as having wild black hair (dark green hair in the anime) and emerald green eyes who has grown up in the Forests of Silence, where Lief and Barda meet her shortly after leaving Del. Her parents, Jarred and Anna, were captured by Grey Guards when she was seven years old, and so she has been raised by the forest. She can understand the language of the trees and of many animals, and has incredibly sharp senses, but has trouble understanding some social customs. Jasmine is usually seen with her blackbird, Kree, and a mouse-like creature she calls Filli. Jasmine is like Lief and occasionally has a quick temper. After helping Lief and Barda in the forest and with the help of the Topaz, she is greeted by her mother's spirit from beyond the grave, who tells her to go with Lief and Barda in their quest. After this encounter, she joins Lief and Barda in the search for the great gems that will complete the belt. In the second series Jasmine begins searching for Lief's attention, while remaining loyal to her previous ways of life. When she hears of Marilen, she assumes (thanks to the slandermouthed acrobat Jinks) that Lief seeks to get married making her incredibly jealous. Later, Jasmine discovers the Shadow Lord's scrying crystal, with which she sees a being that she assumes is her sister, trapped in the Shadowlands along with many other Deltorans. Seeking to rescue the being from the Shadowlands, Jasmine discovers the underground sanctuaries of the last Pirrans. She eventually falls in love with Lief, marries him after the last weapon of the Enemy was destroyed in Dragons of Deltora. She has a strange family loyal with her father Doom and also in the second series thinks she has a little sister called Faith.

Kree

Kree is a raven and one of Jasmine's closest companions in the Forest of Silence. His family was taken and eaten by the witch Thaegan, and Kree was found by Jasmine. She took pity on him, as both had their family taken away, and she took care of Kree. Kree treats Jasmine as his master, and does not tolerate offensive behaviour towards Jasmine. His presence is advantageous towards the three companions, as he is able to fly ahead and warn the others of oncoming danger or safety. When the three encountered Thaegan's territory, Jasmine warned Kree to go home, as she did not want him to meet the same fate as his family. However, Kree returned and destroyed Thaegan by pecking her finger and causing her to bleed. When the three companion's identity came more apparent, Kree and Jasmine were forced to separate from the group, as servants of the Shadow Lord were told to find three companions accompanied by a black bird. However, the group eventually reunited. When Lief became King, Kree became one of the palace's official and personal messenger birds, although he preferred to stick close by Jasmine. He was drugged one evening by Paff, who inserted a tracking device in a wound that Kree received, enabling the Shadow Lord to detect the whereabouts of Lief, Barda and Jasmine.

Filli

Filli is a small, mouse-like creature (although Jasmine denies that he resembles any rodent). He was rescued by Jasmine when she discovered him paralysed by the Wenn in The Forests of Silence. As such, he remains close to Jasmine and Kree, often hiding himself in Jasmine's clothing when danger arises. Like Kree, Jasmine is able to understand Filli. His small size is often advantageous to Lief, Barda, and Jasmine as he is able to hide easily and eavesdrop on others. Filli was feared and nearly killed by the people of Noradz (No Rats), who mistook Filli to be a mouse or a rat. He was also badly injured by The Orchard Keeper much later on while trying to defend an unconscious Jasmine.

Major characters

Along with Lief, Barda and Jasmine, several other characters play important roles in the plot:

King Endon

Endon grew up in the palace of Del with his best friend, Jarred, and unaware of the poverty grasping Deltora, for he lived in luxury. Upon his coronation as King, and Jarred's departure from the palace, he did not play a great role in ruling Deltora. The most important decisions were made by his chief advisor, Prandine - a Shadow Lord plant. He was dutiful and obedient and made no changes to the ruling of the country, instead following The Rule - a set of old traditions created by the earliest chief advisors. As such, he lost the trust and faith of the people of Deltora, breaking the power of the Belt of Deltora and giving the Shadow Lord opportunity to invade the country. Endon escaped the palace with his pregnant wife Sharn, and assumed the identity of his old friend Jarred. He became blacksmith in the city of Del, having been familiar with blacksmith work since his teens. He was a good and quiet man, following the laws of the Shadow Lord and refusing to bring attention to himself or his family. While Lief was questing for the Belt of Deltora, his identity became apparent and both Endon and Sharn were captured and imprisoned in Del in a bid to force Lief to come forward and rescue them. However, Lief was convinced that his parents would not want him to abandon his quest, and that the only way to save them was to continue on. In the battle for Del, Endon and Sharn were threatened in a bid to force Lief to show himself. Endon was killed by Fallow, a Grade Three Ol, in the battle for Del.

Queen Sharn

Sharn was a Toran descendant living in the palace of Del. She had never spoken to King Endon until the day of their marriage, and was chosen by the chief advisor Prandine to marry Endon, because he believed her to be harmless and somewhat dumb. However, he was proven wrong when Sharn cunningly killed Prandine on the day of the Shadow Lord's invasion. She took on Anna's identity and life in order to protect her son, Lief, and the royal bloodline. She lived in the blacksmith forge for sixteen years, living a quiet life and refusing to have the Shadow Lord's attention drawn to her. When Lief's identity became apparent during his quest, Sharn and Endon were captured and imprisoned in Del. Sharn often railed against her tormentors, refusing to give any information on the whereabouts of her son. She and Endon were both threatened in the Battle of Del, in a bid by Fallow to force Lief to show himself. When the Shadow Lord was defeated, she moved back to the palace, a widow, as Endon had died during the battle. She became an official advisor, attending to the needs of the poor and making official visits between Del and Tora when Lief was away.

Jarred/Doom

As a child, Jarred was the son of a loyal servant who had died in the service of King Alton. He was given to Prince Endon as a friend and playmate, and the two boys became like brothers. However, upon Endon's coronation, he tried to persuade Endon that the palace was living a lie and that the royal family had grown stale after centuries of stiff traditions. He was accused of trying to corrupt Endon and banished from the palace. He moved to the city of Del and was taken in by Crian the blacksmith. He married Crian's granddaughter, Anna, and took over the family business when Crian grew old, and later died. When the Shadowlord invaded Deltora, Jarred helped his old friend Endon escape the palace with his wife Sharn, and formed a plan, by which Endon and Sharn would take the identities of Jarred and Anna. They would raise their child in safety, while Jarred and Anna fled Del for The Forests of Silence. Here, Jarred and Anna raised their daughter, Jasmine, until they were captured by Grey Guards. They were taken to the Shadowlands. While Anna died, Jarred was taken to the Shadow Arena to fight Vraal, due to his strength from years of blacksmith work. He managed to escape from the Arena, but lost his memory. He escaped from the Shadowlands with the Vraal and Grey Guards in pursuit. He fought them again on Dread Mountain, but was gravely injured. Making his way to Kinrest, he met an old hermit called Doom of the Hills. Doom nursed Jarred back to health, but was later killed by the remaining Grey Guards. Jarred, strong once more, killed the Grey Guards, buried Doom and took his name for himself. During his travels, he came across Fardeep of the Valley of the Lost, and accepted his challenge to gain the great diamond. Fardeep pretended to be Endon, the previous King, and Doom believed that the King had betrayed Deltora and sold his soul to the Shadowlord. He lost all hope and faith in the royal family, and turned his back on the diamond. He established the Deltora Resistance as a means of defying the Shadow Lord through physical force, rather than magic. Years later, he came across Lief, Barda and Jasmine when the four competed at the Rithmere Games. Doom was competing with the aim of exposing the Games as a means of soughting out great fighters and taking them to the Shadowlands. He fought Jasmine in the final before (supposedly) faking a loss to witness Lief, Barda and Jasmine being captured by Grey Guards. He rescued the three and asked them to join the Resistance, but they refused. They came across each other again when Lief, Barda and Jasmine were taken to the Resistance Stronghold by Dain, a Shadow Lord spy infiltrating the Resistance. Doom imprisoned the three companions on the basis of ensuring that they were not shape-shifting Ols, but rather wanted them to join the Resistance. Lief, Barda and Jasmine escaped with Dain. Again, the four were reunited when Doom arrived at Tora to find Dain, and accompanied by Neridah. He was forced to enter the gates of Tora to prove his loyalty to Lief, and became disoriented - not because he was an enemy, but because his mind and heart had been consumed by a dreadful combination of bitterness, anger, sadness and regret. Doom joined forces with Lief, Barda and Jasmine against the Shadow Lord after Lief purified the Valley of the Lost, and revealed Fardeep's true identity as being a hermit from Rithmere, rather than King Endon. They began to formulate a plan together using Doom's knowledge to uncover the true heir of Deltora. During a battle with Dain in Del, Doom was struck in the head and regained his memory. He recognized Jasmine as his daughter, and Lief took this to mean that Doom was really Endon and Jasmine was the true heir of Deltora. However, he was eventually revealed to be Jarred, and joins the new royal court as one of Lief's advisors. Despite that his true identity has been revealed, he is still called 'Doom'. When the people of Deltora began clamouring for Lief to lead a rescue mission to the Shadowlands to free Deltoran prisoners and slaves, Doom and Lief begin scheming for a plan to both rescue the prisoners and preserve the royal bloodline. They painstakingly researched Adin's royal bloodline and forged a fake Belt of Deltora. They found Marilen, of Tora, and brought her to Del to wear and protect the real Belt of Deltora while Lief wore the false one. While Lief and Barda journeyed into the underground in search of Jasmine, Doom stayed behind to watch over Marilen as well as oversee operations in the castle. He remained once more in the castle during Lief, Barda and Jasmine's third quest, this time to destroy the Four Sisters. At the end of this quest, he relinquished his position to Ranesh, opting to travel across Deltora, and discover whether it was possible for a dragon to lay an egg without a mate.

Anna

Anna was living in the blacksmith's forge in Del with her grandfather, Crian, when Jarred stumbled upon their home after running from the palace of Del. Anna and Jarred married and soon Anna became pregnant. However, before she gave birth, she gave up her home and her name to Queen Sharn when the Shadow Lord invaded Deltora, and escaped from Del with Jarred. She raised her daughter, Jasmine, in The Forests of Silence until she and Jarred were captured by Grey Guards. She motioned to Jasmine to remain hidden while she was taken by Grey Guards, thus ensuring Jasmine's survival. Anna died in the Shadowlands. Anna appears to Lief, Barda and Jasmine when the Topaz is added to the Belt, and convinces Jasmine to join them in their quest for the gems of Deltora.

Josef

Josef was Palace Librarian during the reign of King Alton (Lief's grandfather). He was ordered to burn the Deltora Annals, a written record of Deltora's history, but Josef disagreed with this order. He faked his own death and smuggled the Annals to safety, living in the hidden basement of a pottery in Del, and survived on the kindness of the owners of the pottery. He rescued the orphan Ranesh, a street boy and a thief, and educated him. Upon the demise of the pottery owners, they no longer could rely on kindness to survive, and Ranesh was forced to steal to feed himself and Josef. Once the Shadowlord is defeated, he reveals himself and the Annals to Lief. He was moved to the palace, where he revealed many Deltoran secrets to Lief, such as the legend of the Pirran Pipe, and also Doran's account of the Deltora Dragons. During his time in the palace, he also wrote the Deltora Book of Monsters and Tales of Deltora. Josef becomes Palace Librarian again in the third series, and is appointed assistant, Paff. However, Paff is an evil servant of the Shadowlord, and drugs Josef to acquire information concerning the Dragons and the Four Sisters, and also bewitches him to mistrust Doom and tampers with his letters. With books like Monsters of Deltora and Deltora Annals he is very wise but cannot use his wisdom because he is too old. Josef dies in the third series, as Paff poisons him. However, Josef appears to aid Lief, even in death, as his Tales of Deltora warns Lief of the danger in Hira.

Ranesh

Ranesh is a street boy, an orphan and a thief from childhood. He worked on a boat during his teenage years, but the boat was captured by pirates. The pirates threw the captain into the Maze of the Beast, and forced Ranesh to watch his demise by the Glus. Eventually, Ranesh escaped during a rival crew battle and made his way to Del, encountering Fardeep in the Valley of the Lost, but refusing to play his game because he valued freedom over riches. He was rescued by Josef and taken in as an adoptive son and an assistant. When Marilen arrives in Del, Ranesh falls in love with her, despite the disapproval of Josef, who believes her to be Lief's fiance. However, once Marilen's identity is revealed, Ranesh moves to Tora and marries Marilen. They have a son, also named Josef. It was later revealed in the Shadowlands that Lief feared about Jasmine's feelings towards Ranesh.

Marilen

Marilen is a Toran woman, originally believed to be Lief's fiance. The rumours were encouraged as he brought her to Del in the dead of night, took palace jewels to give to her and gave strict orders that she remain on the upper floors of the palace and that her meals be prepared separately. Her appearance in Lief's life caused a great deal of jealousy for Jasmine, who harboured romantic feelings for Lief. It is later revealed that Marilen is merely a distant cousin on Lief's father's side, and was brought to Del to continue the royal line, should Lief die on the quest to free the Deltoran slaves in the Shadowlands. The palace jewels were merely used to create a false Belt of Deltora that Lief would wear, while Marilen would protect the original. Upon Lief's return, Marilen returned to Tora with Ranesh, whom she married and had a son, Josef, with. Later, she returned to Del with Ranesh and Josef. Marilen became Palace Librarian while Ranesh oversaw palace affairs.

Minor characters

The Enigmatic Giant

The Enigmatic Giant (also known as The Giant with Golden Eyes, both names that are referred to in the anime version) is a character Lief, Barda and Jasmine encounter in Lake of Tears. The Giant was originally a large bird that attempted to assassinate Thaegan through deception, in order to help a friend whose life was in peril. He failed, and was enslaved by Thaegan, and transformed into a man of enormous stature with tanned skin and a pointed nose, and armed with a massive sword and wearing only a loincloth. He is forced to serve Thaegan as guard to a bridge leading directly into her territory. He challenges those who attempt to cross the bridge to answer riddles, allowing only those who are successful in answering to pass, and killing any who fail. He may only be freed when "truth and lies become one". His first riddle was directed to Jasmine. He asks her to take eleven sticks and make them nine, without taking any sticks away. Jasmine rearranged the sticks to spell the word "nine". The second riddle was directed to Barda. The giant asked, "What do beggars have, rich men need and the dead eat?" "Nothing". For Lief's challenge, the giant sang a song about Thaegan and her thirteen children in their cave. Thaegan gulped her favorite food. Each child had a toad (13), whilst there were two grubs on each toad (26) and two fleas on each grub (52). He was asked how many living creatures in the cave? Theses numbers totalled 104 (with Thaegan, 105), but what Lief does not know is that Thaegan's favorite food is a live raven swallowed whole, and this raven adds one more (106). Before he kills Lief, the giant asks one more riddle to determine how Lief should die. He asks Lief to make a statement. If the statement is true, the giant will strangle him to death. But if the statement is a lie, the giant will cut his head off. But Lief is clever, and makes the statement that his head will be cut off. If the giant does this, the statement will be made true, thus forcing him to strangle Lief instead. But if the giant strangles him, the statement will be made a lie, and he must be beheaded. This makes truth and lies one, and the curse breaks and he returns to his true form. When Lief nearly falls from the breaking bridge, the bird returns and saves him, paying back his life debt.

Manus

Manus is a Ralad from the city of Raladin. He cannot speak, due to a curse placed upon the Ralad people by the witch Thaegan when their ancestors spoke out against her evil. As a Ralad, Manus is an exceptional musician and architect, as well as bearing the traditional Ralad blue skin, red hair, and black button eyes. He began making his way to Del to plead his case for a better life for the Ralad people. However, he was captured by Jin and Jod, children of Thaegan, and remained their servant for many years, as he was too lean to make a good meal. He finally escaped, only to be captured by Grey Guards. Lief, Barda and Jasmine come across the Guards and rescue Manus when the Guards fall asleep. While Manus rests, they discover the home of Jin and Jod, and are bewitched to believe that it is the home of a gentle elderly couple. Manus rescues the three companions and Jin and Jod are destroyed by their own quicksand trap. Manus leads the three to Raladin, teaching them the ancient Ralad script. They discover the underground city of Raladin, and make their way to the Lake of Tears to find the ruby. They encounter the lake creature Soldeen, who wishes to exchange the ruby for Manus, as he enjoys his music. However, when Thaegan is destroyed, Soldeen transforms into Nanion, leader of D'Or, and the Lake of Tears returns to its original state as the city of D'Or. Nanion and Manus become great friends. Manus re-encounters the companions when he comes to Withick Mire with Nanion to represent the Ralads in the ceremony to find the heir of Deltora. He is captured by Grey Guards with the other representatives, but released after the Shadow Lord's defeat. Manus also aids Lief in finding the Sister of the South by expertly examining the old palace blueprints, as the Ralads were the original builders of the royal palace.

Tom

Tom is a shopkeeper, brother of Ava the Sibyl, and of Laughing Jack the pirate and nomad. He is a man of business rather than honour, and will sell to anyone, regardless of allegiance. He claims to be the same person to everyone and that he does not take sides, but assists Lief, Barda and Jasmine on numerous occasions, as well as against his brother, Laughing Jack. Tom is psychically bound to his siblings, and is aware when either is in danger or causing danger for others. He also tends to speak in the third-person.

Tira

Tira is a descendant of the Plains Tribe and born under the tyranny of the Ra-Kacharz. Her ancestors were driven from the city of Hira into a new city called Noradz because of a sudden and severe rat infestation. However, the Shadow Lord wanted Hira as a centre for the Four Sisters, as it was placed directly in the middle of Deltora. Tira was mortally afraid of the Ra-Kacharz and followed the strict laws of Noradz. However, she helped Lief, Barda and Jasmine escape from their prison. She was taken to the Shadowlands with the other people of Noradz and brainwashed to become a Shadowlord servant. She recovered upon her return to Deltora.

Queen Bee

The Queen Bee is an elderly, roundish woman. She owns an orchard on the edge of the Hira plain, and uses the apples to make Queen Bee Cider, which has energising properties. She also raises bees to make Queen Bee Honey, which has certain healing properties. She is also the mother of Steven and Nevets, and supplies them with Queen Bee Honey to give to the Resistance. After Lief, Barda and Jasmine escaped the City of the Rats, they stole nine apples from her orchard. Queen Bee was enraged and nearly ordered her bees to sting them to death; but she was abated by Jasmine's money. However, once she realized that they had destroyed the City of the Rats (and by extension, were working against the Shadow Lord), she allowed them to leave, and promised to pretend that she had never seen them.

Glock

Glock is a savage member of the Jalis tribe, and one of the last remaining Jalis people. He was knocked unconscious during the great battle between the Jalis tribe and the servants of the Shadow Lord shortly after the Shadow Lord's invasion. He came across Lief, Barda and Jasmine at the Rithmere Games, where he became one of the semi-finalists. He mocked Jasmine's petite size, but before he could fight her, he was secretly drugged by Doom. Upon regaining consciousness, Glock was captured, along with Neridah, by Grey Guards and were taken to the Shadowlands; before they arrived, however, they were rescued by Doom, and both decided to join the Resistance. Glock caused great trouble at the Resistance, and was eventually moved to Withick Mire, where he took part as a Jalis representative in the ceremony to find the heir of Deltora. He was captured by Grey Guards, but released upon the Shadow Lord's defeat. Glock lived at the palace, where he became a local gossip, gambler and drinker. He takes great pleasure in boasting of his strength, and also in teasing and mocking Jasmine. He forced Jasmine to allow him to accompany her on her quest to find the underground islands of the Pirran people, where they are captured by the Plume tribe to sacrifice to a monstrous creature called The Fear. When Lief and Barda come to rescue Jasmine, they too are captured, and the four manage to convince the Plumes to give them a chance to destroy The Fear. The Plumes relented, and Glock aided in the destruction of The Fear and died in the process. Before dying, he gave his family talisman to Jasmine and told her she had the heart of a Jalis warrior. Jasmine discovered that one such talisman was in fact a piece of the Pirran Pipe.

Neridah

Lief meets Neridah at the Rithmere Games, where she is known as Neridah the Swift. She is deceitful, agile and seeks to merit personal gain from every enterprise. She embarrasses Lief by beating him, but is drugged by Doom before she can compete in the later rounds. She is captured by Grey Guards with Glock, but is rescued by Doom, and both decide to join the Resistance. She later meets Lief, Barda and Jasmine again near Tora, when she accompanies Doom to find Dain. She refuses to return to the Resistance with Doom and Dain, and instead begs Lief, Barda and Jasmine to let her join their group so they can escort her home, as she does not want to return to the Resistance for she holds unrequited feelings for Doom. In fact, this is a lie: she wants to travel to the Valley of the Lost in order to claim the great diamond out of greed. However, Lief, Barda and Jasmine tire greatly of her companionship, as she is complaining and sulky, and eventually sneak off on her early in the morning while she sleeps. To their disbelief, Neridah pursues them and is also challenged to a game for a chance to win the diamond. However, she refuses and the Guardian allows her to leave. However, not long after, she returns to steal the diamond and leaves. However, the diamond holds a curse preventing anyone from obtaining it through dishonourable and deceitful means, as diamonds are pure and must be obtained through honour. Neridah slips on a smooth rock in the river and knocks her head, drowning in the river.

Prin

Prin is a young and sweet-tempered female Kin. Kin are large, mammalian, winged creatures that when sleeping, resemble rocks. Deltoran children (a notable example being Lief) sometimes have stuffed animal versions. When Prin is first introduced, she is of a childish temperament, but later shows character development as she helps Lief, Barda, and Jasmine retrieve the emerald for the Belt of Deltora by saving them from a Vraal. Because of her youth, she often jumps into adventure without thinking of the consequences. Prin later aids Lief, Barda and Jasmine on their journey to the Isle of the Dead by flying Lief out of the Emerald territory, and escaping the Emerald Dragon.

Gla-Thon

Gla-Thon belongs to the Dread Gnomes tribe, and as such, is a proud and honourable archer. She meets Lief, Barda and Jasmine when they are captured by the Dread Gnomes, and agrees to assist them in destroying the evil toad that lords over the Gnomes. As such, the Gnomes are freed from their slavery and owe a great debt to Lief. Gla-Thon and the Gnomes give the three friends an arrow-head, and make them promise to send word in times of need. Gla-Thon represents the Dread Gnomes in the ceremony to find the heir of Deltora, and as such, is captured by Grey Guards. She is released after the Shadow Lord is defeated, and maintains a good relationship with Lief, Barda and Jasmine. Gla-Thon returns to Del in the third series to ask for food sources for the Gnomes. However, she is forced to remain in Del as part of the lockdown in resistance of the poison epidemic. She aids Lief in searching for the Fourth Sister.

Steven/Nevets

Steven is a peddler whom Lief, Barda, and Jasmine encounter on their journey. He is cheerful and pleasant, and constantly singing. His mother is Queen Bee herself, and he supplies Queen Bee products to the Resistance. Lief at first worries about Steven travelling alone in such dangerous times, but he is told that Steven is safe without companions, as he is accompanied by his brother, Nevets. The two grew up on the plain in the territory of the opal. Steven acts as a representative of the Plains tribe in the ceremony to find the heir of Deltora, and also takes Lief, Barda and Jasmine to Del, believing that a spy is in their midst. Following Lief's coronation as King of Deltora, he remains a close associate and friend, and bring them news from all over Deltora. Nevets is 'Steven' spelled backwards. He is a great, golden giant living within Steven, and appears whenever Steven, or someone close to him, is threatened, and does not distinguish between friend or foe. Steven often has great trouble controlling his brother, though he lets him free on several occasions . Nevets has been useful in several occasions, such as protecting Josef from Ols, and killing Grey Guards that threaten Steven, Lief, Barda and Jasmine, as well as helping to protect Lief from the temptation of the Fourth Sister.

Chett

Chett is a polypan that Lief, Barda and Jasmine meet on a cruise ship. Polypans are known to be very skilled thieves and pickpockets, and it is said that those who have polypans in their service are usually up to no good. Chett served the captain of the River Queen by doing smaller chores and by using the rowboat to pick up potential customers. During a pirate raid, Chett escapes with the pirates aboard their own ship in a fit of panic after shape-shifting Ols appear. Afterwards, when Lief, Barda and Jasmine are captured by the pirates, Chett aids them by stealing back the Belt of Deltora in exchange for Lief's chewing tobacco-like gum. Lief, Barda and Jasmine meet Chett again while attempting to rescue Dain from their pirate captors. A fight broke out between crew members, and in a state of panic, Chett tossed a lantern into the storage area where the pirates kept a great deal of flammable materials (such as paint and oil), causing the pirates' ship to catch fire. Chett helped Dain escape from the ship, and then rowed the group's boat back to shore, before fleeing into the wilderness.

Zeean

Zeean is a wise, old Toran leader who assists Lief on several occasions in repayment for releasing her tribe from The Valley of the Lost, and holds significant standing in the Toran community. She represents the Torans in the ceremony to find the lost heir of Deltora. In the third series, Zeean is poisoned along with Sharn by Paff, but survives.

Jinks

Jinks was an acrobat and entertainer for the royal family in the castle of Del, and knew Barda as a boy. However, he fled the castle with the other entertainers upon the Shadowlord's invasion and joined the Resistance. Upon Lief's coronation, he assumedly worked his way into favour with the castle officials, for he is found spending time in the castle at the beginning of the second series. Jinks is a selfish man, a gambler,a sook, and lusts for riches. He betrayed Lief and Barda, leaving them to be killed at the hands of the Granous, and then lied about their deaths upon his return to Del. However, he guessed that either Lief or Barda would survive and kill him, or else the Shadow Lord would invade in Lief's absence, and he decided to flee the castle. His lust for riches proved fatal, for he broke into Marilen's room and searched for her items of wealth. He ate a poisoned cake intended for Marilen and was found dead by Sharn and Marilen.

Flash and Fury

Flash and Fury are fighting spiders, usually gambled by their two owners. Each spider grows as large as a plate, and obsesses over fighting. A losing spider may force their opponent to fight to achieve vengeance. Flash (a male) belonged to Glock and Fury (female) belonged to Jinks. In their first fight, Flash defeated Fury, and a caged Fury raged for days, giving Jinks no peace. When Jasmine and Glock disappeared, Lief and Barda used Fury to find them, as Glock had taken Flash with them. When Glock died and Jinks ran away, Lief, Barda and Jasmine were resigned to bringing Flash and Fury with them, as the Plume tribe (of whose island they were staying on) refused to allow the spiders to stay. When the friends reached the Island of Auron (otherwise known as the Isle of Illusion), they were attacked by Arachs (gigantic malformed spiders). Flash and Fury realized that they had an even greater enemy that they could not defeat, and the two put aside their differences and took to wrestling only in play. When Lief, Barda and Jasmine obtained the second piece of the Pirran Pipe, they left the two spiders under the care of the Auron History-Keeper Penn, whom had grown quite fond of the creatures.

Lindal of Broome

Lindal is a hunter of Broome, and descended from cannibal warriors who ate the brains of their enemies. Lindal is knowledgeable of the wildlife and superstitions of Deltora, as well as experienced in hunting and fighting. She eventually marries Barda and has six children.

Penn

Penn is the History-Keeper of the Auron tribe, and as such, records every piece of history that takes place on the rafts where the Aurons live. She becomes Lief, Barda and Jasmine's guide, and gives them information concerning the Isle of Illusion and the history of the Aurons. Like the rest of her race, she detests lying, but was bidden by the Aurons' Piper to hold back certain information about the Aurons' history. Lief, Barda and Jasmine leave the fighting spiders Flash and Fury in her care upon leaving the Aurons. Penn has two "companions", Tresk and Mesk, sea-horse like creatures that she loves dearly.

Emlis

A young Pirran from the Pirran island of Keras that helps Lief in the Shadowlands. Emlis plays the Pirran Pipe in the Shadowlands. Once they return, he tells them he will adventure into the seas that are unknown.

Claw

A man from Del who was captured in the raids. He escaped from the Shadow Lord after being mutated into a fighting beast with talons, hence the name Claw. His real name is Mikal. He was a resistance fighter in the Shadowlands, along with former Rithmere champions Helene and Brianne.

Gers

The younger brother of Glock, and is in many ways like him such as his looks. Gers became one of the many Deltorans held prisoner in the Shadowlands. He escaped the Shadow Arena and made it to a branch of the Deltoran Resistance, led by Claw. He became the leader of the remaining Jalis after being entrusted Glock's talisman (consisting mainly of little odds and ends that his ancestors had gathered as trophies, including the mouth piece of the Pirran pipe).

The Masked Ones

The Masked Ones are a group of wandering nomads and performers (similar to a Circus Troupe). It was founded long ago by King Adin's grandson and King Elstred's brother, Ballum, after he had been expelled from the palace. Lief, Barda and Jasmine join the group after a misunderstanding when a man from their group, Otto, is killed by one of the Masked One's phantoms. They are very strict and are distrustful towards newcomers into their group. They also have a deep hatred towards the Kings of Deltora for unknown reasons, and so Lief and his friends are forced to take fake names for themselves to disguise themselves. The masks they make have magical attributes, when a member of the troupe reaches adulthood, they are given a magically crafted mask that merges and becomes part of the wearer's face. These Masks of Adulthood also make the wearer have absolute loyalty to the Masked Ones, making them think and feel like them.

Bess

An Inner Circle Masked One and Bede's mother. She is superstitious and believes many incidents to be omens. Her mask is that of an owl. When the trio of Lief, Barda, and Jasmine travel with the Masked Ones, she says that Lewin(Lief) looks a lot like her son, because the Inner Circle is descended from Ballum, King Elstred's brother, who was expelled by Elstred's chief advisor. Lief is a descendant (heir) of Elstred. When "Lewin" says that his first loyalty must be to "Berry"(Barda), his and "Jay's" (Jasmine's) supposed uncle, and that "Berry" wanted to move west, Bess attempted to intervene. She requested that Lief at least wear Bede's Mask of Adulthood for at least one hour (so that it would become part of him and therefore he would never want to leave) and tried to poison Barda, but Kree saw to it that she drank her own poison.

Bede

A former wandering stage-actor, member of the outlaw entertainers known as the Masked Ones. Bede resembles Lief in appearance, because of their mutual ancestry; both of them are descendants of Adin, the first ruler of Deltora. The Masked Ones were founded by Ballum, the brother of King Elstred and the first leader of the Masked Ones. Bede is one of the remaining heirs to the Belt of Deltora because of his bloodline with the leaders of the Masked Ones, who were descendants of Ballum. He had a beautiful singing voice that many of Deltora's women fell in love with, although the feeling wasn't always mutual. He wore a mask of a bird. When the Masked Ones came to Shadowgate, he became the heartthrob of Kirsten but then at last fell in love with Kirsten's sister, Mariette. They both wandered into the mountains and were never seen again. It was then revealed that Kirsten had captured Bede and made him her slave. Fortunately, Lief and the Emerald Dragon destroyed the Sister of the North and Bede and Mariette were saved.

Rust

A suspicious member of the Inner Circle Masked Ones. She wears the mask of a fox. she also controls the moths that guard the camp by a high pitched shriek. She seems to dislike the fact that Barda, Lief and Jasmine have joined the Masked Ones and wishes to expel them from the group and becomes delighted that they chose to leave on their own free will.

Zerry

A thieving young Masked One, student of Plug, and orphan. He steals the Belt of Deltora, but Lief, Jasmine, and Steven/Nevets manage to get it back. Later, Steven takes Zerry as an assistant.

Otto

An Inner Circle Masked One who is killed by the Masked One, probably in mistake for Barda. Otto wears a mask shaped like the face of a Wild Pig, which like all the inner circle's masks is bonded into his skin by the contraction of the boiled roots from which it is made.

Fern

Laughing Jack's servant. She is a "bareface hanger-on" of the Masked Ones. She is then killed by The Masked One.

Mariette

Mariette lived in the village of Shadowgate with her parents and older sister, Kirsten. When the travelling Masked Ones came to Shadowgate to perform for the villagers, Mariette fell in love with their singer, Bede, who in turn also fell in love with her. This enraged Kirsten, and she captured them both and imprisoned Mariette in her locket. The Masked Ones believed that Mariette had convinced Bede to run away together, and hated Mariette and labelled her a "despicable bareface". Kirsten was killed and the Sister of the North destroyed, and both Mariette and Bede were freed.

Ava

A fortune teller who owns a shop near the western coast of Deltora. Like Tom, she promises a free gift for customers because she is Tom's sister. She is also the sister of Laughing Jack. She sells things such as potions and cures, and has boats for hire. At the beginning of The Sister of The South, she tells Lief that she can see creeping darkness in his future. This may have been intended as a joke, as Ava is blind. However, creeping darkness does appear in Lief's future, in the form of black slime which Paff uses to kill people such as palace guards.

Red Han

Red Han was the Lighthouse-keeper at Bone Point, near Tora. He was cheated, black-mailed and eventually transformed into a horse by the Shadow Lord servant, James Gant (also known as Laughing Jack). He was rescued many years later by Jasmine, and returned to be keeper of Bone Point.

Verity

Verity was the daughter of Red Han, and a painter. She was born in Bone Point Lighthouse, and as such, developed magical powers, which she expressed while held hostage on Laughing Jack's ship. Laughing Jack referred to her as "The Witch". She was killed by Laughing Jack when Red Han refused to pass over the keys to Bone Point. After her death, her body was turned to wood and fused into the ship. She left behind a painting that had 7 errors in it. If you could find them all, you would be freed from the ship. When Laughing Jack was captured by his crew, the wooden frame that was Verity disappeared, allowing her to rest in peace.

Tirral

Tirral is the leader of the Keras Tribe underneath Deltora. She was the first to play the restored Pirran Pipe after Lief, Barda and Jasmine put it together after gaining her piece. Her son, Emlis followed Lief, Barda and Jasmine into the Sahdowlands, a fact that she was very angry at for some time. She and her people helped to save The Shadowland Prisoners after hearing the music of the Pirran Pipe.

Nols

Nols is a member of the Plume Tribe underneath Deltora, and eagarly encouraged Lief, Jasmine, Barda and Glock to fight the Fear, after they offered. She hated the Plume leader, Worron, for being a tyrant and a coward and so took his place as Piper after gaining the trust of the people. When the Fear was destroyed, she willingly gave Lief, Jasmine and Barda the mouthpiece of the Pirrian Pipe and buried the dead Glock with the leaders of the Plume.

Worron

Previous leader of the Plume tribe, underneath Deltora. He was cast out of leadership by Nols, a fact that killed the Fear and allowed Lief, Barda and Jasmine to continue to the island of Auron.

Clef and Azan

Two hunters on the island of Plume. They saved Lief and Barda when they were drowning and later warned then against going to the island of Auron, and later attempted to sacrifice them to save the people of Plume for four years, an idea that their leader, Worron, disliked.

The Piper of Auron

Commonly referred to as "The Piper," The Piper of Auron is the leader of the Auron Tribe. He forced Penn to deceive Lief, Jasmine and Barda and used the trio as a tool to destroy the dome around the island of Auron and save his people. While journeying to the Island of Auron (also referred to as "The Isle of Illusion"), Lief, Barda and Jasmine suspected he was going to help them get his piece of the Pirran Pipe and then kill them, and keep both his piece and their own, for himself. It turned out he wanted no such thing and gave them the stem of the Pirran Pipe after they had reclaimed his island for him.

Monsters of Deltora

Deltora is well-known as the land of Magic and Monsters. These are just some of the many fantastic creatures that inhabit it.

The Great Beast

Before the Shadow Lord came to Deltora, he came upon an island inhabited by the Four Sisters. Because of his hatred he killed each of the sisters. Beneath the surface of the island slept an enormous horned monster. The singing of the four sisters lulled this beast into a peaceful slumber. However, once the sisters' singing ceased, the monster awakened and emerged in a violent rage. The monster's strength and rage were so great that it destroyed the entire island, not even the Shadow Lord's magic was affective against it and so he was forced to retreat. Later on, the Shadow Lord created the Grey Tide and the Four Sisters, inspired by his experience with the original Four Sisters and the Great Beast.

The Wennbar and the Wenn

The Wennbar is a large predator who lives in First wood (something that is like a carnivorous Apatosaurus) who exerts authority over a tribe of creatures called the Wenn. The Wenn are smaller creatures with pale skin and have no head or neck, but have a pair of stalk eyes coming from their shoulders. The Wenn live in their territory called Wenn Del. These Wenn worship the Wennbar as a god, offering it gifts of live prey which they have captured. Although they are small, Wenn are capable of subduing large prey by means of a sound they produce by rubbing their lower legs (similar to crickets), which drives animals to the point of insanity. They then sting and paralyze their victims and offer them as sacrifices to the Wennbar. If the Wennbar is not fed, it is enraged and will eat its worshippers. The Wennbar's neck can extend to long, high place. The Wennbar moves slowly but can move at a fast rate when angry or hungry. Jasmine tells Lief and Barda in The Forests of Silence that Wenn feed on the scraps left behind by the Wennbar, but the Deltora Book of Monsters claims they are herbivores, eating only certain kinds of leaves. It is believed that every hundred years, the present Wennbar is bathed in special oils by the Wenn and dies in its sleep while giving birth to several young. These young fight over the body of their dead parent and the surviving victor becomes the new tyrant over the Wenn.

Muddlets

Mudlets are bizarre, albeit rare, gentle and highly valued, beasts of burden who supposedly exist in central Deltora, around the area near the City of Rats. They resemble Zebras (though they are splodged, not striped) crossed with gazelles and some type of herbivorous Dinosaur. They have three legs and long, droopy, rabbit-like ears. In The City of Rats, Lief, Barda and Jasmine are sold three Mudlets (Zanzee, Noodle and Pip) as mounts by the eccentric shopkeeper named Tom. Apparently, they were only being stabled there and were not Tom's to sell, and truly belonged to the people of the city of Noradz. This results in, when the heroes pass Noradz, the Mudlets bolting (due to excitement at catching the scent of home) and the heroes ending up in the clutches of the Ra-Kacharz. The three mudlets are returned to their herd, and neither them nor any other Mudlets are featured or mentioned for the rest of the series.

Sand Beasts

Sand Beasts are insectoid animals native to the Shifting Sands, a desert country created from the leavings of the Hive. They resemble a fearsome mix of a spider and a praying mantis (The head and body of a praying mantis and the legs of a spider). The species store nutrients in large spherical sacs growing off their chests that look rather similar to giant grapes. Females mate with males by laying their eggs in these sacs, in which the babies feed on the nutrients inside until they are too large to be contained and can hunt for themselves, which causes the sac to fall from their body. In the anime the Sand Beasts are enormous (roughly around the same size as a large dinosaur) and are cycloptic. They first appear in the Shifting Sands (and they are featured on the cover although strangely they are not the guardians of the Shifting Sands' gem). They burrow in the dunes to hide, and at any vibration will spring up to kill and eat prey. The treasure and bones of their prey will be offered to the hive. The only creatures that seems to be the natural predator of Sand Beasts are the Lapiz Lazuli Dragons. The technical term for Sand Beast is Terreocti.

Kin

The Kin are an ancient, rare and fabled species of rodent-like flying creatures. They are among the few harmless, gentle creatures in Deltora, and have long been the apple of the eyes of many Deltoran children and the common subject of picture books, fairytales, folklore and stuffed toys (similar in a sense to a Teddy bear). They resemble cute, round, bulbous crosses between a pig and a ferret, with pig-like back legs and rodent-like front legs, large leathery wings, velvet-esque fur, pouches, and expressive faces. Their size ranges from that of a large dog, to almost as large as Dragons. They are capable of human speech. Unfortunately, the Kin are very rare in the time of the stories. They once lived on Dread Mountain, where they lived and bred prosperously, but were driven out by the Dread Gnomes who hunted them for sport and enjoyment. Now all that are left of them live at the enchanted Dreaming Spring, where they are gradually dwindling. In the fifth book of the first series, Dread Mountain, Lief, Barda and Jasmine encounter the remaining tribe of Kin at Dreaming Spring and save their only young, a boisterous, dim-witted, energetic youngster named Prin from a pair of Grey Guards. For reasons of adventure, homesickness and owing a debt to the heroes, three older Kin agree to take them to their former, now Gnome-controlled home of the mountain. When they can go no further and these three Kin leave, the three heroes discover that Prin, desperate to see the Kin's ex-home and disobeying her mother, had followed them. She accompanies them for the rest of the book, helping the three heroes defeat Gellick and eventually allowing the Kin to return to their former home and now live in peace with the Dread Gnomes.

Polypan

Polypan(s) are a race of monkey-like creatures. They are not commonly seen in Deltora, but it is usually said that someone that has a Polyphan in their service is usually up to no good. Polyphans are also notoriously known to be skilled pick-pockets. The only Polyphan featured in the series is Chett (though there were others featured in the anime).

Granous

The Granous are evil creatures who appear only in the second and third Deltora quest series. They resemble bestial humanoids (similar to yeti) with dog-like noses long, clawed fingers and whitish brown fur. They inhabit the Os-mine hills (also entrance to the land of the Plumes), a series of old, unknown, ill-trodden hills to the east of the Forest of Silence. Granous are sadistic creatures who delight in the torture and grief of others. They roam around their territory in tribes of 10 or so individuals and capture whoever they find. The Granuous are carnivores and their favorite food are the fingers and toes of their prey, saying that they are the sweetest tasting parts. Once they have secured a victim, they play a game with it called 20 Questions. In this game, a series of 20 riddles is asked to the victim, and they have 20 seconds to solve it. If they cannot solve the riddle in time, the leader Granous bites off one of the victim's fingers. If all fingers are gone, they start on toes. The penalty for cheating is 5 fingers. This method of their game probably stemmed from how they favor the taste of fingers and toes. The fate of its victims is unknown once the 20 questions are up. Granous are cowardly creatures, however, and with a bit of oppression and intimidation, they can easily be driven off. They seem to be the natural prey of the Topaz Dragons.

Fighting Spiders

Fighting spiders are a large species of spider (though not nearly as gargantuan as a Sand Beast or Arach, more like the size of a cat or dog) native to the plains of Deltora .They are often used as pets by the people of Deltora. They are normally used in a cockfight-style sport (hence their name). Whenever a spider loses, the loser will have a sheer and raw desire to find its opponent and challenge it to a rematch. The only known Fighting Spiders featured in the series are Flash and Fury, Glock and Jinx's fighting spiders.

The Fear

The Fear is an underground aquatic beast which presumably became entrapped within the secret caverns beneath Deltora during the cataclysm of the continents of Pirra and Deltora coming together to form a single land. The creature is a hybrid of several kinds of mollusk, resembling a mix of a gigantic snail crossed with an octopus or squid. It has a mass of hundreds of thread-tipped tentacles ringed around a beaked mouth growing out of the shell. Though the shell of the creature has become stuck with the roof of its cavern and it is now part of the cave, its tentacles allow it to reach any part of its domain without it having to move and since it lives in the caverns deep beneath the earth with very little light, it relies more on touch than sight. Its tentacles are incredibly hard and durable, even when Glock attempted to slice one with his sword, his weapon broke in half. The Fear features as the key monster in the first book of the second series, The Cavern of the Fear. In it, it terrorizes the Pirran faction who live in the ruby caverns, the Plumes. It demands a living sacrifice each year, or it creates great waves which destroy the Plume village. Lief, Barda, Jasmine and Glock are captured by the Plumes to be sacrificed to the Fear, but a deal is struck up that the companions can slay the beast. They eventually manage to do so, at the price of Glock's life, and the Plumes give them the mouthpiece of the Piran pipe in return. The Plumes originally believed that The Fear was a monster that was bred by the Aurons to terrorize them although later on this was proven to be untrue.

Arach

Obviously their name is derived from arachnid. The Arach are giant Spider-like creatures who appear in the second book of the Deltora Shadowlands series: The Isle of Illusion. Arach live in, but can walk on water. They have huge, bloated bodies, and are purplish-black in color with eight blood red eyes. They have 8 spindly legs which bear spikes and are clawed at the end. They are both venomous and have the ability to spin webs. They are highly vicious creatures whose first motive when they spot a living thing is to tear it to shreds and feast upon it. One can guess that they are descended from the beasts of the sea of Deltora's ancient times. In The Isle of Illusion, it is learned that a group of the Pirran faction known as the Aurons has broken off from the others to try to establish a magically simulated recreation of their former homeland of Pira. The Arach (who apparently hate light) came out of hiding when the water around the Aurons' island began to darken. They are also attracted to the heat of the island. Lief, Barda and Jasmine are forced to contend with several of them before getting into the dome in which the simulated Pira is located. When they destroy the simulation spell, and the light which was held within the dome escapes into the caverns, the Arach attempt to take refuge in the darkened dome. While the three heroes hid, the leader and last of the separated Auron group, in a desperate attempt to preserve the spell which fueled the simulated Pira, is killed by the creatures. When the spell ends and the light is returned, the Arach flee back into hiding.The Arach are very strong and very fast on land and water.

Forbidden Passage Leeches

Leeches with wings that live in the Forbidden Passage. The Kerons use them for fish bait. They die if exposed to light. The Kerons did not light the Forbidden Passage because they believed that if they killed all the leeches, their defense against the Aurons would be gone.

Capricons

Capricons are the Deltora Quest equivalent of Fauns or Satyrs, having the upper body of a human and the lower body of a goat, their name is most likey a pun on Capricorn. Only one appears in the first book of the third series; Dragon's Nest. He is known as Rolf, and though he is a friend at first whom Lief, Barda and Jasmine rescue from the Granous, in the end it turns out he was a servant of the Shadow Lord and the guardian of the Sister of the East. The Capricons supposedly once lived in a beautiful, rose-pink city named Capra in the far northeast of Deltora. Apparently, however, they were greedy and selfish creatures deep down and their city was destroyed by the ruby dragons due to them stealing their eggs to make dragon eggshell lanterns. Humans then came and built the city of Broome on the ruins of the place, and most Capricons nowadays, though there are only a few, are wandering rogues, like Rolf.

Orchard Keepers

The Orchard Keeper is a large species of bird of prey that dwells around the Forest of Silence (though they make no appearance and have no mention until the third series). They catch their prey in an interesting way; they find and keep orchards of a special type of tree, the delicious fruit of which causes paralysis. Using the bones of victims, it makes paths to their orchard which lure victims to it, which in turn eat the fruit and become immobilized. The Orchid keeper then comes and devours the prey. Despite these undeniably evil habits, killing an Orchard Keeper is said to be bad luck. In the first book of the third series, Dragon's Nest, Lief, Barda and Jasmine nearly fall victim to an Orchard Keeper and its hunting method.

Kobb

A giant golden-brown amphibious fish monster with a mane of seaweed-like hair and a long, blue tongue that can be used to drag prey down to it. It hunts on the west coast of Deltora like the Glus, another quite mysterious sea monster. It leaves a clear slime in its path that, over time, has thickly coated the Isle of Dead. Its home was in the cave on the Isle of Dead where until recently the Sister of the West had taken up residence. The song of the Sister held it back until it was destroyed letting the Kobb return home. In the Tenna Birdsong Tale "The Land of Dragons", it lists the Kobb as one of the sea monsters that invaded the land. It is featured on the cover of the Isle of the Dead.

Dragons

The Dragons of Deltora are considered to be the land's most magnificent, mysterious and powerful of all its creatures and are the only creatures that the Shadow Lord himself fears for they are the strongest and most resilient against his magic. There were seven different Dragon Tribes, each one drawing power from and associated with the seven different gems of Deltora. (If you have forgotten they are the emerald, the lapis lazuli, the opal, the topaz, the amethyst, the ruby, and the diamond [that one died, but made an egg and hid it under ground with it. It appears in the third series].) The Dragons believed that if one should reveal one's true name, those who knew that individual's name had great power over them and so the dragons rarely revealed their names and only did so to those they truly trusted. Long ago the Dragons of Deltora were quite numerous, until the Shadow Lord sent his monstrous birds, the Ak-Baba, to hunt down the dragons until one of each tribe remained. This was when "Doran the Dragonlover", or "Dragonfriend" to the dragons, came to each of the remaining dragons, having them to swear and oath. This oath entitled that each dragon would go into a deep hibernation until the current king, wearing the Belt of Deltora, would come to them and awaken them. Once awakened, they must also never to use the other dragons' hibernation to their advantage to invade their lands. In present day, Lief went to each of the dragons' lands and awakened them one by one and calling upon them for assistance in destroying the Four Sisters, for Dragonfire seemed to be the most efficient weapon against the Shadow Lord's magic. They were called upon one last time by Lief to destroy the Grey Tide, and Lief inadvertently revealed all of the names of the dragons to one another and so they all had equal power over one another. It is rumored that a dragon can lay eggs without a mate, if the need arises.

Fidelis

Dragon of the Topaz, gold as the stone of its territory, Fidelis is the first dragon the companions encounter and awaken. Originally found during the search for the Pirran Pipe, Fidelis was awakened when Lief came into its territory wearing the true Belt of Deltora. It saved Lief and his companions from Granous, and then spoke to Lief. It sensed the Sister of the East, and meant to destroy it. However, it refused to accompany Lief to Dragon's Nest to destroy the Sister of the East, because Doran Dragonfriend had bound it to the promise of never entering another Dragon's territory while the master still slept. Lief later re-encountered it in Del, where it flew over the city, trying to get at the South Sister to destroy it. It was wounded by the citizens of Del, but still helped Lief destroy the Sister. It later carried Lief, Barda, and Jasmine on its back to the ruins of Hira to stop the Grey Tide, and fought alongside the Dragon of the Opal. Lief, who when touching Doran the Dragonlover's soul stone had acquired a list of names, realized what they were. He called them, revealing the Topaz Dragon to be Fidelis. The name itself means "loyal". Fidelis' lair is located in the Os-Mine Hills, a feared part of the Deltora countryside.

Joyeu

The dragon of the ruby and the second to be awakened, Joyeu was for a time impersonated by the evil mage Rolf. The true Joyeu later revealed itself when Rolf attacked Lief and his group in Dragon's Nest. After destroying Rolf, Joyeu teamed up with Lief to destroy the Sister of the East. Later, it carried Lief and co. on its back to the northwestern edge of its territory. Joyeu next appeared when Lief called its name to do battle with the seven Ak-Baba. Joyeu's lair is located somewhere in the vicinity of Dragon's Nest. The name is taken from the French word 'Joyeux' which means joy in English.

Fortuna

Fortuna is the dragon of the lapis lazuli and the third to be awoken. It is disliked by Honora (the emerald dragon). Fortuna is mentioned only a few times in the books but is quite a friendly (albeit mischievous) dragon. Fortuna seems to be the smallest of the dragons (besides the baby diamond dragon), but its high speed more than makes up for its smaller size. It flew into Honora's territory and was chased away. Its natural prey seems to be large insects and the sand beasts of the Shifting Sands.

Honora

Dragon of the emerald and fourth to be awakened, Honora has great dislike for the lapis lazuli dragon, whom it considers sly for trusting in luck rather than in honor. When it wakes up, it senses Fortuna in its territory, and attacks it in rage. It later returns to help Lief destroy the Sister of the North. It comes to the company again, demanding the emerald for itself. It does not seem to care that it is breaking its vow by entering the amethyst's territory, in spite of its commitment to the ideal of honour. It consequently has a heated argument with Jasmine, who accuses it of being hypocritical. Honora is a bit haughty and stingy. Honora returns once more when Lief summons the seven dragons, and is angry at Lief for revealing its name. However, it is powerless to stop the other Dragons from learning its name, let alone itself from doing the same. Honora's lair is located somewhere in the mountains that line the Deltora/Shadowlands border.

Veritas

Dragon of the amethyst, Veritas is the fifth dragon to be aroused. However, as it is digging out of its hiding place, the amethyst in the Belt of Deltora, meant to give the dragon its strength, is removed from its territory. It manages to escape, but is terribly weak and believes that it will die. It is found by Lief and Barda, and then fully unearthed by the Torans. Veritas tells Lief its name as a precaution, and comes forward when the elder diamond dragon seems to be dead. Veritas fights the monster Kobb, and then with Lief finds the Sister of the West hidden in the ancient body of Doran the Dragonlover, still alive after centuries. Veritas takes away Doran's breath, and then destroys the Sister of the West. Veritas also inscribes Doran's tombstone, and stays in the diamond territory to tutor the infant diamond dragon. It reappears when Lief calls the names of the seven dragons to battle the Ak-Baba. It is Veritas who titles the young Diamond Dragon Forta, after its mother.

Forta

Forta is a name given to two dragons of the diamond. The first one was the dragon that Doran convinced to hide itself, and the second was her daughter. The original was found dead on Blood Lily Island, where it had fallen asleep and then been devoured by the Blood Lillies and Flesh Banes of that island. However, the younger Forta was found by Lief and his friends, inside her egg amid the bones of her mother. She hatched from her egg at the coming of the Belt of Deltora, too small to destroy the Sister of the West. She was the sixth dragon to be found. Lief later pulled her from a pocket in his cloak and showed her to Doran, who thought that her tribe was lost forever. Forta was then tutored by Veritas of the amethyst, who named her after her mother when Lief called their names.

Hopian

Hopian is the dragon of the opal and the last, the seventh, to be awakened. It is also the largest and fiercest of the Deltoran dragons and the last of them to be encountered. Later, when Lief and co. rode Fidelis to the ruins of Hira, Hopian arose in rage. However, it was diverted by the arrival of the seven Ak-Baba. Fidelis joined forces with it, but the two were still outmatched. Lief then called the names of the seven dragons, and they banded together to destroy the Shadow Lord's last plan. Hopian's lair is located somewhere near the City of the Rats. Hopian has never spoken aloud in any of the book series, so its temper or attitude cannot be interpreted.

Villains

Not all of the characters in Deltora Quest are friendly. The primary antagonist in all three series is the Shadow Lord, who has also created a large proportion of the more minor villains. Other notable villains include the sorceress Thaegan, and the seven Guardians of the Gems.

The Shadow Lord

The Shadow Lord is the Satan-like Dark Lord of the Northern region once called Pirra, to which he has laid waste. Once a human sorcerer, he had a deep hatred for all things good, beautiful and righteous and believed strongly that all beings must serve him. He is the main villain of the Deltoran world. It is believed that in life, the Shadow Lord was the evil sorcerer who encountered the Four Sisters, a group of sisters who sang beautiful life-giving songs on an island relatively far from the Land of Dragons (now Deltora). Even then the Shadow Lord's malevolence was great, and he attempted to silence the Four Sisters by spreading them out over the island that they lived on, but the sisters continued to sing to each other. The Shadow Lord then sought to silence them for good by slaying each sister, one by one, until all were dead. It was then that he realized that their singing kept a massive and powerful monster that lived underground at bay. The songs had soothed this beast to sleep, but since the sisters were gone, the monster awoke and proceeded to destroy the island. Being no match for the monster, the Shadow Lord conjured a raft and fled the island as it sunk into the ocean. Some time later, the Shadow Lord came upon the Land of Dragons (the land that is now Deltora), and desired to completely dominate it. When he first reached the land he was repelled by a spell cast by the Torans. He travelled north and ended up out of reach of the Toran's magic. He then encountered an Emerald Dragon and tried to convince it to serve him by bribing it with gold and treasures, but because of the Emerald Dragon's honorable nature, it chased the Shadow Lord away. The Shadow Lord fled to the mountains to the north that divided the Land of the Dragons and Pirra, there he encountered thieves, bandits and criminals in hiding, and convinced them to serve him. The Shadow Lord and his followers also encountered many monstrous beasts in the mountains that he recruited to his cause. During this time, he studied the dragons, realizing they were a powerful race. He then planned to use a dragon of his own to attack the others and pave his way to conquest. He sent his followers to find dragon eggs, however this task proved difficult, only one egg was retrieved. When this egg hatched, a dragon did not emerge, instead a deformed creature emerged (he had forgotten that dragons line their nests with the hair of beautiful women and girls). Enraged at not having a dragon, the Shadow Lord was about to smite the hatchling, but then saw the potential the creature had and kept it alive, and thus the Ak-Baba came to be. Before invading the Land of Dragons, he went to Pirra to conquer it. His evil influence was kept at bay by the Pirran Pipe, a flute that had the same evil-deflecting magic as the Four Sisters' songs. However, the Pirran People wanted three different musicians to play the flute, which caused conflict between them. Seeing his opportunity, the Shadow Lord suggested to the people to divide the Pipe into three pieces so that all three musicians could play, to which they agreed. However, now that the pipe was divided, its music no longer had the strength to ward off evil. This gave the Shadow Lord the chance he sought and he invaded Pirra, corrupting it and turning it into the forsaken Shadow Lands, which then became his domain and headquarters. By now, the Shadow Lord's physical body died, but his evil spirit remained to haunt the world. His intelligence, his desire for control, and his hate for all that is good and does not obey and serve him survived and re-embodied itself as a more metaphysical being of pure darkness, shrouded in grey and red clouds (in the anime, the Shadow Lord takes on the form of a colossal black devil made of shadows and black smoke with flaming red eyes). A voice it has, and it can cause physical reactions such as the creation of living things or the movement of objects. It forgets nothing, and it always makes multilayered plans. In its attempt at conquest, the Shadow Lord was foiled by Adin the blacksmith, who united all the seven tribes of the land into an army of his own. Backed by the warrior Jalis, the noble Dread Gnomes, the hedonistic Mere tribe, his own faithful Del people, the hopeful Plains folk, the cheerful Ralad, and the magical but hidebound Torans, Adin vanquished the Shadow Army and seized power, becoming the king of the land he now called Deltora. Furious, the Shadow Lord withdrew and began concocting other plans. Sending Ols to be chief advisors of the royal family, it instilled its voice in the ears of rulers, causing them to neglect the Belt and ultimately robbing the kings and queens of their power until they did nothing but obey worthless customs. While biding his time, the Shadow Lord sent the Ak-Baba to exterminate the dragons in order to get rid of a powerful enemy as well as pave the way for another of his goals, to implant the Four Sisters (evil devices that would cause the land to die and cause famine and disease) and the Grey Tide in the land. When Doran convinced the remaining dragons of each tribe to go into hibernation, the Shadow Lord's path was clear and he proceeded with his plan, unbeknownst to all but Doran. When Doran sought to oppose him, the Shadow Lord punished Doran by making him the immortal vessel of the Sister of the West, thus making him its unwilling guardian. At last, the time came when the Shadow Lord would invade again. He sent the seven Ak-Baba to steal the tribal talisman gems from the Belt of Deltora, concealing each in a perilous and terrifying place and guarded by an equally horrible and evil guardian. However, the gems were recovered by a descendant of Adin, Lief as well as Barda, and Jasmine of Del. The Belt was remade, and the land freed from the foreign threat. After the Shadow Lord's forces were expelled from Deltora, the Shadow Lord continued to torment Lief by speaking in his mind using the viewing crystal used by Prandine to communicate with the Shadow Lord that remained inside the palace in Del. Using the same crystal, the Shadow Lord also lured Jasmine into the Shadow Lands, knowing that Lief (and the Belt of Deltora) would follow since he was aware of Lief's love for Jasmine. What he didn't count on was that Lief and his companions would also bring with them the reassembled Pirran Pipe, the only device that the Shadow Lord fears, for its pure music can dispel his evil influence. Lief, Barda, Jasmine and their companions freed the captured slaves in the Shadow Lands and brought them back. After Lief and his friends rescued the slaves from the Shadow Lands, the Shadow Lord continued to torment Lief telepathically until Lief put an end to it by destroying the crystal. It should be noted that the Shadow Lord was not permanently destroyed, merely defeated and is still plotting against his enemies, namely the present and future heirs of the Kingdom of Deltora.

Ak-Baba

Ak-Baba are giant reptilian vulture-like birds that live for a thousand years. The Shadow Lord discovered the Ak-Baba when he ordered his followers to find dragon eggs in order to raise his own army of dragons against those of Deltora. However the Shadow Lord did not know that dragons needed to line their nests with human hair or else the hatchlings would come out deformed. The resulting creature was an Ak-Baba, in his frustration the Shadow Lord almost slew the first he hatched but then saw potential in the beast and decided to use it anyway. It was the Ak-Baba who hunted the dragons of Deltora near extinction until Doran the Dragonlover (known as Dragonfriend to the dragons) persuaded them to sleep until a king of Deltora wearing the Belt of Deltora came to rouse them. The Shadow Lord is in control of at least seven Ak-Baba which took the seven gems to the seven areas of Deltora. In 'The Sister of the South`, the dragons face off the Ak-Baba. In that battle, four of them die and the rest flee to the Shadowlands. In the anime the Ak-Baba are far more reptilian in apprerance lack feathers completely, having dragon-like wings, and has a long tail. An Ak-Baba is shown on the cover of: Return to Del

Greers

Before the Shadow Lord perfected the creation of Grey Guards and Ols, he created golem-like beings known as Greers. The Greers were deformed human-like creatures with gray skin (they are possibly an early prototype of today's Grey Guards). Unlike their successors, the Greers had incredibly limited intelligence, only able to carry out the simplest of commands, and they are weakened by cold temperatures and weather. They did possess superior strength, however, and they were very violent. Before the creation of the Grey Guards, the Greers were used as the Shadow Army's footsoldiers.

Grey Guards

Grey Guards are part of the Shadow Lord's attacking force. They serve as the Shadow Army's footsoldiers. Their main and most fatal weapon are 'blisters', which are filled with Gellick's poison, explode on impact, and cause a quick but torturous death. Grey Guards possess an incredible amount of durability, speed and accuracy. They can stay up nearly all night and not get tired, they have exceptional smell and can sniff nearly anything out no matter how far away it is. The various pods have names, such as "Carn pod", and an identical pod is grown in time to replace the ageing pod, so that to the populace it seems that Carn pod goes to the Shadowlands, and then Carn pod returns invigorated, good for another seven years. Somehow Jasmine knows about the general idea of pods (that they don't know mothers or fathers because they "are raised in groups of ten") when Lief and Barda first meet her; it is questionable how she knows, given that the general populace does not seem to know. Her father did go to the Shadowlands and may have learned this information, but never returned to her to share it. The Grey Guards do not actually know that they are grown in factories and replaced regularly, so they could not have talked about it while Jasmine listened in. It is possible, if not likely, that Kree heard this from other birds; aside from that, there is no ready explanation.

Vraal

Vraal are ferocious lizard-man beasts with hoofed feet. They are taller than bears. They are the ultimate human-killers, specifically bred for fighting and killing. They cannot feel pain or pity, only a savage thirst for blood and meat and the thrill of battle. Their massive claws are a lethal weapon not to be underestimated. Most Vraals are found in the Shadowlands and are used in the Shadow Arenas and are forced to fight the prisoners and slaves the Grey Guards and other villainous creatures under the command of the Shadow Lord pit them against. Vraal are very intelligent in battle-wise combat. A Vraal was encountered near Dread Mountain. The Vraal nearly killed Lief and his friends, however Prin managed to splatter a purple moss over the eyes and inside the ears of the Vraal causing the beast to temporarily lose his sight and hearing, then tumbled into a stream and was carried away. According to Prin, however, the purple moss' effects would only last for a short time and the Vraal would recover within a few days. Vraal have greenish skin similar to a lizards and have yellow eyes they generally have three claws and carnivorous teeth. Their tail is also a very destructive weapon that can take down a tree. At the Shadowlands, prisoners are thrown in a Shadow Arena and are pitted against a Vraal and to try to use all their might to kill it. Only one person has been able to defeat a Vraal (implied that it was Jarred/Doom) who then fled out of the arena and out of the Shadowlands, with Grey Guards and the Vraal he was fighting in pursuit. The Vraals themselves are not evil even though they were made by the Shadow Lord. They will kill anything and obey no one. Only the Shadow Lord can make them do his bidding by controlling their minds.

Ols

Ols are the Shadow Lord's shapeshifters (doppelgangers in their own right). They are inherently self-centered, seeking only their own promotion, achieved by pleasing the Shadow Lord. At the core of every Ol is the Shadow Lord's mark, and in whatever shape the Ol takes, that mark is always somewhere on the body. Most Ols attempt to cover the mark with clothing or camouflage it with tattoos. Grade 1 Ols and Grade 2 Ols can be killed by stabbing them through the heart, which is located on the right-hand side; given the evidence so far, Grade 3 Ols might not be able to be killed in this manner. Josef wrote in the Book of Deltora Monsters that he was almost assassinated by two Ols. One day when he was hiding in the streets of Del, he met a Dread Gnome that tried to warn Del's people of Gellick and Ols and other evil creatures. Josef paid little heed until the next morning when he found the gnome dead. The killers were a pair of Ols that hung out near the inn where Josef was staying and they would have assassinated him as well if Steven had not been in the area and allowed Nevets to kill them.

Ols come in three types:

• Grade 1 Ols:
  • Can mimic any living creature - from the description, size does not matter, but all the Ols shown have been humanoid, or animals at least as large as a woodmouse.
  • When they mimic, they leave a brand exposed on their body
  • Are very cold to the touch, and can cause freeze burns during attacks
  • Can hold their shape for 3 days, after this there is a break in concentration, a spasm known as "The Tremor", which is an unmistakable sign of an Ol
  • Cannot eat or drink
  • Must travel in pairs, although the pairs do not need to look alike and may even be different species
• Grade 2 Ols:
  • Can hold their shape for three days. After this there is a break in concentration, a spasm known as "The Tremor", which is an unmistakable sign of an Ol
  • When they mimic, their brand is hidden
  • capable of mimicking the acts of eating and drinking
  • able to produce body heat
  • They are also able to travel alone.
• Grade 3 Ols:
  • Can shapeshift into even non-living things
  • Their brand cannot be seen
  • Can hold their shape indefinitely
  • Are indistinguishable from the real person, except by personality (for a convincing performance, the Ol would have to have time to study the one being mimicked)
  • Can travel alone
  • Can die like the beings they imitate, for example when Prandine was killed by being pushed out a window by Sharn.

Dain

Dain was originally a nervous servant to Doom and a member of the Resistance. He was cultured, polite, respectful, and often afraid, yet noble in battle and showing evidence of a great spirit. He saved Lief, Barda, and Jasmine from the Ols, before they knew what an Ol was, and helped them escape from Doom, when Doom held them prisoner for his own reasons. However, Dain was kidnapped by pirates. When the trio later encountered the same pirates, Dain had just freed himself with the help of a polypan, and he came with them to Tora, the magical city. Dain had hoped to meet his parents in Tora, but the city was deserted. He seemed to be all but destroyed by the news, but once they left the city he seemed to feel more hopeful. In the final book, Lief assembles representatives of all seven tribes to pledge loyalty to the Heir and thus hope that the Belt will lead them to the Heir. It seems clear that Dain is the heir (his name is even made of the same letters as the first King, Adin), but just then he gets kidnapped. Lief picks up his fallen dagger and carries it with him. Knowing that they must get the Belt to the true Heir, the team makes plans to get into the city. However, their plans are all anticipated and most of the group is captured. It turns out Dain is not the Heir, but a Grade 3 Ol, capable of assuming even inanimate shapes, and sent to spy on the Resistance and eventually on the trio. The fact that he had killed other Ols is not surprising; they were less talented varieties and the Shadow Lord's creations don't have anything resembling a conscience. Ols think only of furthering their own usefulness to the Shadow Lord. The fact that he was an Ol was the reason he was weakened when he entered the magical city of Tora, as its magic weakens evil. In the end, it is the Belt of Deltora itself that destroys Dain. Dain's betrayal is one of the larger shocks in the tale, despite the previous depiction of Grade 3 Ols.

Prandine

Endon's Chief advisor, who turns out to be a servant of the Shadow Lord. After the Belt is stolen, Prandine traps Endon, Jarred, and Sharn in the highest tower, ready to kill them with a poisoned knife. However, he underestimates the resourcefulness of the "painted doll" Sharn, who tips him out of the window in defiance of the limits pregnancy put on her; he falls to his death. Prandine is thought by Lief to be a Grade 3 Ol, due to a speech made by Fallow in the fifth book of the first series (Dread Mountain). Prandine was responsible for the deaths of King Alton (Endon's father) and his wife using the poisoned knife. He blamed the deaths on fevers.

Fallow

He was an ancient traitorous Chief advisor. He is another Grade 3 Ol who seems to act as a personal advisor to the Shadow Lord. After Prandine is killed he takes both his position and his appearance since the Shadow Lord seems to favor that particular form. He interrogates Lief's father, asking about the boy (Lief), the man (Barda) and the wild girl with a black bird (Jasmine and Kree) and questioning if the boy in the group is his son who is undoing the Shadow Lord's grip on the land of Deltora. He also mistakenly thought that the man that was traveling with him (Barda) is none other than King Endon himself. Fallow also seems to have an addiction to Lumin, a reward the Shadow Lord granted him, however the Shadow Lord threatens to take it away if Fallow does not buckle down in finding the heir of Deltora as well as the traitors. Fallow was the one who posted the punishment for Lief's allies (although it is normally a Grey Guard who does this but since it was a special situation, Fallow was granted the honor) but was driven back by Lief using the Belt of Deltora. He was killed by having a tower from the palace fall on him but not before killing King Endon.

Conversion Project Slugs

Pink worm-analogues, the result of the Shadow Lord's genetic technology, that dig into the brain and allow the Shadow Lord to gain control. Their method of controlling their hosts is very similar to the Yeerks from Animorphs. They are the latest and so far most perfect of his creations. The Shadow Lord planned to implant these worms in the brains of his slaves and then return them to Deltora to act as spies to fool their family and friends. The Shadow Lord's plan worked for a while until Lief, Barda and Jasmine stopped him. They found more of the worms when they visited the Shadowlands. Before they were perfected they would damage their host, for example: deafness, blindness, headaches, and babbling.

Sorceress Thaegan

Thaegan makes an appearance in "The Lake of Tears" as one of the major villains. She is similar to the traditional interpretation of an evil fairytale witch. Her mother was a sorceress who used her magic for benevolent reasons such as healing, and could even transform herself into a blackbird. Her daughter, although beautiful, was much different and was spiteful to other living beings and ran away from home after sheer disgust towards her mother. Over time her power grew and she returned. She hated the vitality of the life and beauty of the city of D'Or and so she used her power to turn the city into a barren swamp, home to the Lake of Tears, and she turned its people into fish, worms and blind, crawling things and turned D'Or's leader, Nanion, into the sea-monster, Soldeen. When the Ralads had known of her treachery, they spoke out against her, so she used her magic to "silence" the voices of the Ralads, leaving them mute until her spell is lifted. She has a deep hatred of birds (although she herself transforms into a bird in the anime) because of their free spirits and out of spite for her mother. Her favourite food is a live raven; she apparently ate Kree's parents, causing him to flee to the Forests of Silence. Her death can be brought upon her by spilling at least a single drop of her tainted blood. Many have tried to kill her but she uses her magic to create a barrier around herself. Her only weak spot is her finger when she casts her spells. With the Shadow Lord at the new tyrant of Deltora, Thaegan became one of his most powerful allies and her power grew with his dominance. She was vanquished after Kree pecked her finger just before she blasted Lief, Jasmine and Barda on the shore of the Lake of Tears. In the anime the Shadow Lord helps revive Thaegan, causing her to regenerate from her own ring.

Thaegan's 13 Children

Thaegan has 13 demonic children who are named in an uncanny rhyme:

Hot, Tot, Jin, Jod. Fie, Fly, Zan, Zod. Pik, Snik, Lun, Lod. And the dreaded Ichabod.

It is unknown if Thaegan had mothered her children with another evil being or if she simply conjured them to life. Her children are monstrous in appearance, able to take on either the form of some grotesque beast or a wolf, they are also gluttonous and greedy in nature, so much that they are willing to fight and kill each other in order to feed themselves. While Thaegan is similar to a fairytale witch, her children are like other monsters from folklore such as trolls, ogres and goblins of other fairytales (and the fact that her children can shapeshift into wolves makes them similar to stories about werewolves). Most of her children are divided into a pair of twins and a handful of them are identical twins. The ones that have similar names are twins (Jin and Jod, Hot and Tot, Fie and Fly etc...). They all also possess extraordinary shapeshifting skills on par with the Ols. Jin and Jod are a pair of green troll-like monsters, Jin is a grotesquely fat being with a pair of yellow tusks and three small horns on the back of her head (her appearance is strikingly similar to the demon Po Kong from the show Jackie Chan Adventures) and Jod is a toadish creature with dagger-like teeth and flaring nostrils (They are able to use magic to mask their true evil selves (as well as the dungeon-like setting of their cottage) to make them appear as a kindly elderly couple and their sentences are spoken backwards to fool their victims into thinking they are simply speaking an incomprehensible language (so their names sound like "Nij" and "Doj", it is never revealed if the other eleven are able to use such powers as well). Jin and Jod trap the three heroes in their house using their magic to trick them and plot to kill them. It is also revealed that the Ralad, Manus, was a captive "pet" of the two for a time since he was too small to eat and simply didn't have very much other use until he escaped but was then recaptured by the Grey Guards and was being escorted back to Jin and Jod's cottage. Manus helps rescue Lief, Barda and Jasmine by distracting the two and by revealing to Lief how to cross the quicksand moat. Just as Jin and Jod went in pursuit of them they are killed by their own quicksand moat when Jasmine moved the moss over the moat and stepping stones to trick them into falling into a patch of quicksand instead of the hidden bridge under the water. The remaining children pursue Lief and company in City of Rats so that they could get revenge for the deaths of their siblings and their mother and so that they can eat them. Fie and Fly are also a pair of green ogre-like monsters with tattoo-like markings on their body, Hot and Tot are two impish, yellow-skinned creatures, Pik and Snik are two humanoids covered in long brown hair that obscures most of their features , Lan and Lod are pale monsters with bald skin, Zan has a humanoid upper torso with beige skin but has six stumpy legs and had two horns and a large mouth full of fangs, Zod is another ogre-like monster covered in lumps with a huge mouth, and Ichabod is a massive beast with thick arms and legs and slimy red skin that resembles (or might possibly even be) muscle tissue. Lief and Barda trick them into fighting each other and 10 of the other eleven are killed in a fight over who would get to eat which parts of them and Ichabod wins this fight only to have the three escape. In the anime Thaegan's 11 surviving children did not kill each other in their fight over who got to eat Lief, Barda and Jasmine, rather they knocked each other out. They return several times throughout the anime to cause trouble for the three companions. Despite being primary evil villains Thaegan dearly loves her children and her children are loving and loyal in return. In "Return to Del" Doom remarks that Ichabod is the "Only one of that foul brood who still prowls", suggesting that he slew his siblings in the said fight in the book series. He is described variously as a "freak", as a "fiend as red as blood", or simply as a monster. He broke into Withick Mire, a resistance stronghold near Del, and supposedly kidnaps Dain and takes him to Del. It is later revealed that he actually walked alone, while Lief unknowingly carried Dain in the form of his dagger. When the belt is restored and worn by Lief, the book says that Steven brought Ichabod out of a pit and he was "...sprawled like a drained sack of red skin over the gnawed bones of his last meal."

Ra-Kacharz

Are the ruling class in Noradz. They are dressed from head-to-toe in red and carry whips. Their name is a derivative of "rat catchers" and work for the Shadow Lord. It was they who caused the "rat plague" that drove humanity from the city of Hira, under which was buried a chemical that would pollute the whole of Deltora if released by the burning of the Four Sisters. The Ra-Kacharz are similar to priests, in that they "serve sacred laws", (cleanliness, watchfulness, and duty; three things required for reaction to rat overpopulation) but in other ways are more like oppressors. They keep the people afraid, though of what the citizens do not know. They also provided luxuries for the noble families in Del, blinding them to the poverty on the castle doorsteps. The word "Noradz" is derived from "No Ra