The Lay of the Land

Now that I've covered most of the characters in The Beast at the Gate, my next posts will discuss the world of Taren from a geographical and cultural perceptive. But first, what is Taren?

Taren is the wondrous world in which the story takes place. It is a land of extremes--and extreme danger. The Taren River divides Taren nearly in half, with one side known as West Taren and the other East Taren. The citizens of West Taren are a proud people who eschew psi-magic and instead favor the sword. East Tareners embrace their psi-magic roots, and until recently, practiced their craft freely.  All of Taren--both East and West--is surrounded by a red, barren wasteland known as the Band. It is said that all who enter the Band die.


The Band has a rather mysterious origin and no one in Taren truly knows much about it.White rods of energy fall down from the Band like unbent lightning and destroy anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path. This is where our heroine Rayna gets her first taste of Taren. Needless to say, it's not a good first impression.

The "Minor" Characters

Sometimes the supporting actors are just as important as the leading ones. I would like to think that that is the case in "The Beast at the Gate". Four supporting characters come to mind: Emawin, Quan, Katana, and Levit.

First, Emawin. She is the caring and compassionate botanist and apothecary  in the story; she is the glue to her adopted family. The normally reclusive Keris sees Emawin as family and the feeling is mutual. Even Rayna finds it difficult to keep up her defensive walls against Emawin—everyone can’t help but love Emawin! 

Quan is the curious and often mischievous boy who has a talent for playing the flute and... *ahem* pick pocketing. His character is young but important, and goes to illustrate that in the world of Taren, no one is truly what they first seem.  

Katana was fun to write and she proves to be a formidable challenge to Aric. As captain and owner of her mercenary guard, Katana is a strong, confident person with ambitious goals; Aric too seeks power, but in her own clandestine way.  It was only a matter of time before these two powerful women clashed…and what a clash it was.

Levit is the monk who trains Rayna.  He is a stern traditionalist—a crotchety no-nonsense kind of man. I mention him because we will be seeing more of this character in the next book.

Keris--who is this mysterious woman?

Keris is the last of the main characters I'm discussing from "The Beast at the Gate", but certainly not the least.  Trying my best not to include spoilers, I'll just say that she plays a pivotal role in the story--enough to justify her being co-protagonist to Rayna. In many ways she is like Rayna: strong, intelligent, and fiercely independent. However, as a Taren native, Keris is much more attuned to the land than Rayna, and recent events have given her a bit of a hardened edge. I think it's safe to say without revealing too much that Keris is on the run with a bounty on her head. Her situation has pushed her to taking more risks to stay one step ahead of Nephredom and his minions. And it's during a risky quest to recruit a mage that Keris meets Rayna...and the rest is Taren history.