by Terry Brooks
After the war, Menion married the beautiful woman he had rescued, Shirl Ravenlock, daughter of the kings of Kern. As King and Queen of Leah, they became the best-loved of the rulers of Leah. The irresponsible youth became the finest ruler Leah had known since its creation.
RONE LEAH
Menion’s great-grandson Rone Leah was the youngest son of King Owain Leah. As the youngest prince, he had few royal responsibilities, spending most of his time in Shady Vale with Brin and Jair Ohmsford. They considered him part of the family, despite his rank. When the Druid Allanon called Brin, Rone joined the quest as her protector. Like all the men in his family, he had superior fighting skills, but even his skills were no match for the Mord Wraiths.
Rone’s determination to protect Brin undoubtedly led to Allanon’s decision to transform the Sword of Leah into a magical weapon. Rone was the first Leah to carry the transformed sword and to feel the effects, both good and ill, of its magic. He used the sword to protect both Brin and Allanon, battling Mord Wraiths and Demons with fierce abandon.
Prince Rone Leah, first to wield the transformed Sword of Leah.
The sword seemed to make Rone invincible, until he met the Jachyra. He lost his sword and very nearly lost his life to the creature that killed Allanon. Brin managed to heal him, but the loss of the magic he had known for such a short time threatened to undo him. Rone became a driven man, desperate to regain the magic. When the sword was found, he was so focused on it that he forgot about Brin and left her behind in the dangerous Olden Moor. By the time he recovered himself, she had been attacked by Spider Gnomes and had been forced to use her own magic to defend herself because he was not there.
Rone never let the magic control him again, though the experience probably helped him understand at least in part what Brin was facing with the wishsong magic. He could not follow her into the Maelmord, but he fought valiantly against the Mord Wraiths to protect her pathway back out. When she came out of the Maelmord, he was there, waiting for her. He had discovered something more important to him than the magic of the sword.
MORGAN LEAH
Morgan Leah, the eldest son of Kyle Leah, resented the Federation and all that it stood for. If he had lived two centuries earlier, he would have been Prince of Leah. But his family had been forced to turn their country over to the Federation. They had relinquished their titles and been driven from their palace. Morgan still carried the skills and pride of his royal ancestors, however. In many ways, he was the embodiment of the free spirit and strong sense of justice that were the heart and soul of the Highlands. He often cast himself as the hand of retribution. Though he never officially confirmed it, Morgan is believed responsible for the constant mishaps and embarrassments that plagued the Federation officials during their occupation of Leah, including burning the Palace of Leah to the ground. He could not fight the Federation openly without risking reprisals for himself and his people, but he could make them uncomfortable. If the other citizens of Leah knew of his activities, they carefully avoided telling of it.
While fishing he had suffered a boating accident and been rescued by a Dwarf, Steff. He became friends with the Dwarf and traveled to Culhaven. As much as he hated what the Federation had done to Leah, he hated even more what they had done to the Dwarves. The Federation seemed bent on exterminating their entire Race. Morgan was frustrated by the fact that he could do little to help. He was a man of action, but there was not much a single man could do against the entire Federation, regardless of his willingness to fight.
Morgan Leah, freedom fighter.
When the chance came to join his friends Par and Coll Ohmsford on a quest for the Druid Allanon, Morgan joined in enthusiastically. At least as their protector, he could make a difference. So much the better if they managed to do damage to the Federation along the way.
Within Leah, he had only been able to harass the Federation, but with Par, Coll, and Walker Boh, he found himself caught up in a war against both the Federation and the dark Shadowen magic that threatened the entire land. His own heirloom, the magical Sword of Leah, became an important weapon against an almost invincible foe. It was the only sword capable of destroying Shadowen, whose magic made them impervious to most weapons.
He used the sword to protect Par and Coll from the Shadowen as they sought the Sword of Shannara, and to aid the cause of Padishar Creel and his Free Born outlaws. But he discovered there were limits to the power of his sword. While escaping the Pit of Tyrsis with Padishar Creel, the sword shattered. Its magic shattered with it, damaging Morgan, who had been bound to the weapon by the use of its magic. After the loss of the sword, the Highlander seemed a broken man. He kept the remains of the blade close at hand but seemed to have forgotten how to use it or any weapon. At the Battle of the Jut, Morgan withdrew from the fighting. Witnesses believed he had lost his courage.
Morgan’s loss may have hindered his ability to fight, but it did not steal his mind or his courage completely. Even without his sword, he revealed a Shadowen spy that had infiltrated the Free Born. In a fierce hand-to-hand battle, Morgan succeeded in killing the Shadowen and saving Padishar and the rebels. In the process, he discovered that some small amount of magic still remained in the broken blade.
The spy had been using the body of a Dwarf. Morgan realized that all his Dwarf friends had been compromised. With only his determination and the limited magic of the broken sword, he traveled to Culhaven to free his friends. It was there that he met Quickening, the elemental daughter of the King of the Silver River. She recruited him to join her in her quest to destroy the Stone King, Uhl Belk. To gain his participation, she promised to restore his broken sword.
Morgan found himself far from his original task of aiding Par and Coll, on a quest with the beautiful elemental that teamed him with a Federation assassin, a Tracker, and Walker Boh. They traveled to the land of Eldwist. During the Quest, Morgan fell in love with Quickening. He used all his skills and the little magic that remained to him to aid Quickening in her task. In the final battle with Uhl Belk, he found his courage. But Morgan discovered that the triumph was bittersweet. With victory, Quickening was able to use her magic to undo the damage to the earth the Stone King had done, and restore the Sword of Leah as promised, but only at the cost of her own life.
Morgan returned from Eldwist with a whole blade and a broken heart. He threw himself back into the war, rejoining the Free Born. He met Matty Roh, a Free Born spy, at the Whistledown tavern in Varfleet. He was drawn to the fierce young woman and in time grew to love her despite his pain over Quickening’s loss.
It was Morgan who rescued his friend Wren, now Queen of the Elves, from the Shadowen. He and Matty Roh were also part of the team that joined Walker Boh in the victorious Battle of Southwatch.
After the Shadowen were destroyed, Morgan and Matty returned to the Eastland, where they fought for the liberation of the Dwarves. Morgan’s courage and tactics were considered key factors in the final expulsion of the Federation from the Eastland. Morgan and Matty married and split their time between Culhaven and the Highlands of Leah. Once the Federation was finally driven from Leah as well, Morgan and Matty returned to assist in the governing of the land that Morgan still loved best—his Highlands.
The Borderlands:
Crossroads of the Four Lands
The Borderlands will never be part of any one land because it’s been part of all Four Lands for as long as anyone can remember. —Panax, Dwarf
he Southland, as established by the Druid Council during the partitioning, was bordered in the north by the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains and the Mermidon River, but the majority of the Race of Man abandoned everything north of the Rainbow Lake, preferring more distance between themselves and the other Races. They settled in a smaller region bordered by the Rainbow Lake and the northwestern branch of the Rappahalladran River on the north, the Irrybis Mountains on the northwest, and the Battlemound Lowlands on the northeast. This left a large unpopulated territory all along the northern border, in effect
a separate country, which came to be known as the Borderlands. The people remaining in this sparsely settled area called their land Callahorn.
The Borderlands were initially populated by a few hardy souls who refused to follow the mass exodus of their Race to the larger southern cities. These men and women were a breed of rugged individualists who did not agree with the prevailing human sentiment against the other Races. Most of them felt that each man should be accepted for what he was, regardless of his Race, and treated accordingly. Unlike the rest of the Southland, which prided itself on its isolationism, the Borderlands became a crossroads for the Four Lands, open to members of all Races and all nations.
The battle for Tyrsis in the War of the Warlock Lord.
Immediately after the partitioning, civilization in the border areas consisted primarily of small towns and outposts, some of which dated from before the First War of the Races. The majority of the border people lived in small hamlets or remote farms. There was no standing army, only a small militia of fighting men quartered in the fortified town of Tyrsis. Then around three hundred years after the Four Lands were established, the Northland army swept out of the Eastland and blew west across the Borderlands, wiping out everything in their path as they bore down upon the Westland Elves. Within the Borderlands, only the fortified town of Tyrsis survived. It is unknown whether the city escaped because the Northland commanders did not want to expend the effort needed to take the town, or if it simply was bypassed through the expediency of routing the huge army by way of the Mermidon River. In either case, Tyrsis only faced small skirmishes with outlying units of the Northland army, none of which possessed the strength to take the walled town.
The Borderlands were the only part of the Southland affected by the Warlock Lord’s march to the west. They alone felt the might of his armies. Most Southlanders did not even know of the war until long after it was over. That experience set the people of Callahorn even farther apart from the rest of the Race of Man as they realized that they would always be the first to feel the brunt of any attack. Any foe, whether aimed at invading the Southland or moving from East to West, would come through Callahorn first.
Over the next few decades, fallen towns were rebuilt, and the outpost of Kern was founded. Trade with the Eastland and Westland was reestablished, helping the outposts of Kern, Tyrsis, and Varfleet to grow into city-states, each with its own small volunteer militia. Each crowned its own king to rule over and protect the surrounding farmlands and villages. But the fear of another invasion remained a very real concern.
The Borderlands people knew their separate tiny kingdoms could not survive alone, spread out as they were across the lands between the Mermidon and the Rainbow Lake. Raiders from the north and east, drawn by the lucrative caravans of goods traveling in and out of Callahorn, constantly bedeviled the poorly protected lands. Eventually the separate city-states joined all their communities together under the rule of one charismatic leader to form the largest kingdom in the Southland. The first king of Callahorn was Auren Ravenlock of Kern. His father was Kinson Ravenlock, hero of the Second War of the Races and founder of Kern. Auren knew that only a serious fighting force could provide security and safety for his land, so he founded the Border Legion, a standing professional army capable of facing even a foe such as the Warlock Lord.
The Kingdom of Callahorn was established as an enlightened monarchy. The King technically ruled, but his rule was assisted by a parliamentary body of representatives from each community who participated in the government, especially in the creation of laws and policies. It was the first monarchy in the Southland to make use of a representational form of government.
Four hundred years after the Second War of the Races, the crown was passed to the Buckhannah family, and the capital of Callahorn was moved from Kern to Tyrsis, already the headquarters for the Legion. It was the beginning of the golden age of Callahorn. Under the Buckhannahs’ rule, Callahorn thrived and grew strong. The undefeated Border Legion, now under the personal command of the King, became a legend among the Four Lands, protecting the weak wherever they were needed. Tyrsis became a crossroads for the nations, a place known for the tolerance of its people toward men of all Races. The people of Callahorn believed that they were the first of a new age of Man, the beginning of a future where the separation of the Races was no longer needed. They were among the first to refute old prejudices, looking instead for common ground and ways to build bonds between the Races. The three major cities of the Borderlands grew and thrived, as Callahorn became the center of trade for the Four Lands.
Padishar Creel, rebel leader of the Free Born.
Callahorn still considered itself a part of the Southland and took its role as the Southland’s first line of defense very seriously. But its inhabitants did so believing that any sacrifice on their part would be to buy time for the rest of the Southland to prepare for battle, perhaps in time to come to their aid. Less than five hundred years after the kingdom was formed, that assumption was put to the test when the Warlock Lord’s armies once again swept out from the north, intent on destroying all of Callahorn on their way to domination of the Southland.
The Northland army came very close to success. An infiltrator within the royal household almost managed to destroy the Buckhannahs, knowing that without them, Callahorn would fall. This infiltrator killed King Ruhl Buckhannah and was responsible for the brief reign of the Mad Prince, Palance Buckhannah, who disbanded the Border Legion and left Callahorn vulnerable to the Warlock Lord’s armies. When the Northland army descended on Kern and Varfleet, the Legion, which had been undefeated for so many years while protecting the rest of the lands, was unable to protect its own. Only the timely ascension of Balinor Buckhannah to his father’s throne through an almost bloodless uprising allowed the Legion to re-form in time to save Tyrsis.
Balinor and his understrength Border Legion were all that stood between the combined armies of the Warlock Lord and the rest of the Southland. The Legion fought valiantly to hold the line, taking heavy casualties. Kern was destroyed, and Varfleet was overrun. Tyrsis was breached and had regressed to fighting in the streets, with a last line of defenders holding the line at the Bridge of Sendic, before the Palace gates.
Relief, when it came, was not from the Southland they defended, but from the Elves of the Westland. The cities of the deep South never stirred to send armies or aid. They never even called up their own militias, expecting the Border Legion to protect them, as it always had before. They did not wish to be involved and refused to believe the gravity of their danger. Callahorn spent years recovering from the damage done during the War of the Warlock Lord, but the wedge of distrust driven between the border people and the Southlanders never completely healed.
Padishar Creel, Father of the Free Born
A direct descendant of Panamon Creel, Padishar Creel was the son of a thief from a family of honorable thieves, yet without him, Callahorn would not be free. Though his full life history is still not completely known, Padishar Creel, enigmatic son of “Baron Creel,” is best known for uniting the Free Born and liberating Callahorn from Federation Rule. Though he did not create the Movement, it was his leadership that made it effective. His silver hawk ring, originally used as a signet to prove his will, became the symbol of the Free Born Movement.
Though the tales of his origin are as varied as his moods, he claimed his father was “Baron Creel,” the beneficiary of family wealth accumulated from Panamon’s activities as a thief. The Federation took his family’s lands and wealth and, when his father objected, left him an orphan. He grew up fast, learning the skills of the street to survive. He joined the Movement, working as a forger of weapons for the outlaws. There is reason to suspect that he was also active in the black market, especially where it would hurt the Federation most and provide gain for himself. He married, fathering a son and two daughters.
Within the fledgling Movement, Padishar recognized a fatal lack of organization. Knowing the leaders would never accept the chan
ges he knew were necessary, he formed his own company, focused on the icon of the silver hawk ring he had inherited from his father rather than his name. Under his leadership, the cry “Free Born” became a common rally cry.
The other leaders saw Padishar’s company as a threat to their control of the Movement. They arranged to have him eliminated by giving him up to the Federation Seekers. The Seekers attacked his home in the early hours of the morning, burning it to the ground. Only Padishar and his youngest daughter, Damson, escaped the flames. The men who betrayed him disappeared, one by one. Their bodies turned up in the sewers of Tyrsis, badly mangled.
Once Damson was grown, he refused to publicly acknowledge her as his daughter, creating a separate identity for her and swearing her to secrecy so that no one could ever use his family against him.
Under his leadership, the Free Born movement gained momentum among the people of Callahorn. Padishar spread his people throughout the cities of Tyrsis and Varfleet and established a series of secret strongholds and redoubts within the wilds of the Dragon’s Teeth range. His careful planning allowed the Free Born to constantly stay one jump ahead of the Federation. His bold leadership helped the Movement to grow, gaining popularity with the common people of the land even as he unified the splintered groups within the Movement, eliminating their leaders where necessary. He used old family ties to the Rock Trolls, possibly from Panamon’s day, to open relationships with the Trolls and convince them to ally with the Free Born against the Federation.
