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What is an Adept?
The word "adept" is taken from Latin, and means approximately "one who has grasped" or "one who has achieved". The Adepts have mastered the fundamentals of wielding and control the awesome powers that many of the peoples of Witch World draw upon.
The mark of the Adept appears to be achieving control over the forces of nature itself. For example, many of the Adepts altered the genetic or biological design of their followers or children, thus creating new, often bizarre species. Many of the intelligent creatures of Escore are the product of adept magical engineering.
When Kemoc rescued Kaththea from Dinzil, she had been partially transformed into a hideous monster by the corruption she experienced in her studies of dark power. Dinzil and the dark adepts he emulated had learned how to mask or undo the physical aspects of corruption their bodies suffered.
The malevolence often associated with the Dark Adepts is reminiscent of the hatred utilized by the Dark Lords of the Sith and the Dark Jedi in George Lucas' Star Wars universe. The evil expressed by the spirit within contorts and tortures the living body until it changes.
But some Adepts retained their human forms, or else they returned to those natural forms. Neevor and Hilarion are two adepts who did not assume or acquire inhuman characteristics. Some of the "good" Adepts, however, seem to have willingly pursued physical change. Landisl and his companions became the "Sky Ones", self-associated with flying creatures. Landisl's servant was the gryphon Telpher, which presumably was a creature shaped or bred by magic.
The other almost universal mark of the Adepts was their ability to create and open gates to other worlds. It appears that not all of the Adepts were native to Witch World, or else their predecessors, while not having achieved full Adept status, nonetheless brought with them great knowledge of how to control the raw forces required to open gates.
Hilarion, in the dream Kaththea had about him, created a gate and then closed it. Having mastered the spell he needed to open a doorway to another world, he closed it down immediately and left the chamber where he had performed his enchantment. At some later time, he returned to the chamber and opened the gate again, venturing through.
The openers of gates for the most part seemed to be desperate to escape other worlds or curious to learn about them. A few of the openers, it is implied, sought to make allies with other powers, or to enslave other creatures. In Arvon, Gillan entered a world which had apparently been created by one of the ancient dark Adepts for its own purposes. Her tormentors had hoped to trap her there because they feared her heritage.
The Adepts themselves don't seem to have been all-powerful. There are references to beings more ancient and greater than the Adepts who for the most part seem to take a neutral point of view, or who oppose the darkness. Volt, a mysterious inhuman creatures, is said to have been a friend of men. Simon and his friend Koris of Gorm found Volt's body in a hidden chamber. Neave and Gunnora assisted the common folk but apparently became more withdrawn as time passed.
The terrible wars which almost destroyed the Witch World were launched by the Adepts themselves. They therefore represent an elite class of wealthy, educated individuals who squandered their gifts in petty disputes. The Adepts must have been admired at one time, but eventually they became feared and dreaded by anyone who knew their history.
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I still have not had time to review all the books and expand my notes, but I can quickly list a few of the adepts and say something about their histories. I don't know who the greatest adepts were. In THREE AGAINST THE WITCH WORLD we are told that the Old Race was actually preceded by creatures of power more ancient, and these may in fact have been equivalent to the gods of Witch World -- in that they were more powerful than the Master Adepts and Adepts who all but destroyed the Witch World in their wars.
Adepts of Escore
- Alon
Introduced as a twelve-year-old boy in 'WARE HAWK, Alon wandered across Escore seeking his destiny until he encountered Hilarion and Kaththea, who fostered him and taught him enough about the Power that he became a full adept by age 18 (in SONGSMITH).
- Elsenar
With Shorrosh Elsenar brought the Aliz into the Witch World to preserve their race, but he discovered too late that Shorrosh was a dark adept who wanted to use them and their creatures for his own ends. Even though he sealed the gate to the Aliz' home world, Elsenar was unable to disillusion them of Shorrosh' lies, and they eventually became deadly enemies of the Old Race despite the presence of the Line of Krevonel among their barons. Krevonel was Elsenar's son by an Aliz noblewoman, Kylaina. Elsenar appears to have been the last Master Adept of Escore to live in Estcarp. He was not present when the others destroyed themselves while trying to open a vast gate in Lormt.
- Hilarion
Hilarion was a pre-conflict adept who opened a gate in his fortress by the eastern sea and passed through it. He was captured and used as a power source by Zandur, a man of a race related to the Kolder. Zandur was engaged in an ancient war which had devastated his world and all but wiped out his race. Hilarion was rescued by Kaththea Tregarth, with whom (and Simon and Jaelithe) he returned to Escore through his gate. Learning of the ruin that had befallen Escore, Hilarion assisted the Tregarths and their allies in defeating much of the evil which still held the land in thrall. Afterward Hilarion and Kaththea settled in his fortress, where eventually they fostered Alon and taught him the ways of Power.
- Iuchar, ghost of HaHarc
In TREY OF SWORDS Uruk and Yonan called upon this ancient power to bend time so they could travel back to the Lost Battle of HaHarc and fight with Targi, Uruk's nemesis.
- Loskeetha, guardian of the Moss-wives
Loskeetha was either a breeder of the Moss-wives or perhaps one of them who studied the ways of Power and became great enough to protect them from the servants of the Dark in Escore. She aided Kemoc Tregarth in his quest to find Kaththea after she was taken by Dinzil to the Dark Tower in WARLOCK OF THE WITCH WORLD.
- Ninutra, Lady of Fire
Ninutra was the first adept to open a gate to another world and leave Escore, but she somehow retained a link to Escore through a shrine or fane dedicated to herself. She was called "Lady of Fire" by Laidan but was closely associated with birds. Ninutra accepted or summoned into her service Crytha, a girl of the Old Race from Karsten.
- Shorrosh
Shorrosh started dabbling in dark methods before he and Elsenar opened a gate to rescue the Aliz, whose world was being destroyed by an ice age. Shorrosh was apparently in league with the other dark adepts of Escore who crushed the Old Race and their allies in a brief, swift campaign that resulted in the flight of most of Escore's surviving "good" people into the west. Shorrosh himself was trapped by Elsendar in Aliz after the latter adept discovered Shorrosh's true allegiance.
- Sytry
I'm not entirely certain this was the adept's name. Kemoc Tregarth found his sword in an underground cavern, and it was a very powerful talisman of the Light. Orsya of the Krogan also took a unicorn's horn from Sytry's hoard. Sytry appears to have been one of the ancient gate-openers who retained some link to Escore -- enough to have aided Kemoc more than once.
- Volt, teacher of men
Volt seems to have been one of those older creatures who taught the Old Race. He apparently welcomed the barbarians who settled along the seacoasts and gave them both protection and wisdom. Koris of Gorm, Simon Tregarth, and some Sulcarmen and soldiers of Estcarp found Volt's remains (apparently still watched over by his spirit) in a cave in Verlaine on the coast of Karsten. Koris took Volt's great axe and wielded it in battle for many years. Volt was apparently worshipped by the Tor-men and must have been more closely associated with them than other men.
Not Quite Adepts of Escore
Although this page was intended for the Adepts, there were a few warriors who were powerful/courageous enough to challenge the adepts. There were also lesser mages who never achieved the mastery of Power that the adepts did. The list is brief.
- Dinzil
Dinzil was descended of one of the few clans of the Old Race who actually remained in Escore. Dinzil had been tutored by an adept or near-adept who had remained true to the Light and sought only to protect his people. But Dinzil actively sought out users of dark power and learned from them, seeking to become an adept and a master of great power. Dinzil and his allies were destroyed when Kemoc Tregarth called upon Sytry.
- Laidan
Laidan was a dark made allied with Targi. She had some sort of refuge she could withdraw to but when Targi was killed by Uruk and Yonan Laidan was left weakened. She was eventually overcome by Ninutra.
- Targi
Targi appears to have been a warlord of ancient Escore who was approaching the adept level in his mastery of power. He led or directed the assault on HaHarc in which Uruk was taken prisoner and Tolar was mortally wounded. Targi himself could not forestall the death of his own body but his spirit survived in a separate core or heart until Uruk and Yonan returned through time to fight the battle again. Targi was defeated the second time around and Uruk slew him.
- Tolar
Tolar was a warlord of Escore who rode with Uruk. He was also the wielder of Ice Tongue, one of four great weapons which had served the Light in Escore's ancient battles. But Ice Tongue was flawed in its making and despite its great power was considered a weapon of ill omen. Tolar was mortally wounded in the battle for HaHarc and he staggered off to die, breaking Ice Tongue's blade with his last strength so that it could not be used by servants of the Dark. Tolar's spirit appears to have been linked to Yonan, the half-Sulcar, half-Old race warrior of Karsten who entered Escore as a soldier in the service of Hervon, first of the Old Race clan-lords to follow Kyllan Tregarth east.
- Uruk
Uruk told Kyllan that he had once been "master of a city; I led a province of this land into battle." He seems to have been the leader of the Fellowship of HaHarc, a fortress city in Escore which opposed the dark adepts until they brought the hills down on which HaHarc had been built. Uruk made reference to "the Banners of Erk" and "the Banners of Eft" as if he were speaking of allies, as well as the force of Klingheld, so these may have been forces which answered his summons in defence of the provice. Uruk's axe was named Helm-biter and it was capable of striking down the manifestations of Power which Targi used to engage Uruk in combat.
Uruk named a third of the Four Weapons, a short sword found by the Falconer Nirel in 'WARE HAWK, as Basir's Tongue. He must have known all three of the other weapons and their wielders quite well.
Adepts of Arvon
- Maleron
Maleron was Margrave of the Heights in Arvon, apparently before or during the great war of the adepts. He dabbled in the dark ways and when challenged by his half-sister, Sylvya, tried to kill her in order to hide his shame. He summoned four hunters from another world to pursue her, but Sylvya called upon Neave to protect her. Maleron, his hunters, and Sylvya became That Which Runs The Ridges, returning to his fortress of Car Re Dogan each night even as his family failed and the fortress itself crumbled into ruin. Eventually Maleron was freed from the spell of Neave by a Kioga shaman named Nidu. After Landisl convinced Maleron that he had fallen into evil, Maleron willingly retired into one of the chambers of the Guardians, accepting death peacefully and avoiding a complete Fall.
- Landisl
Landisl was one of the "Sky Ones", adepts who had some sort of kinship with flying creatures. He was served by the gryphon Telpher. With Matr, Yoer, and Rllene Landisl was once able to defeat the dark adept Galkur, but Galkur apparently was not destroyed, while Landisl was forced into a Long Sleep from which Kerovan and Joisan awakened him. While asleep, Landisl detected and altered Galkur's spell which resulted in the shaping of Kerovan as an unborn child. After the final encounter with Galkur Landisl withdrew through his gate but retained some contact with Kerovan, who was in part his spiritual (and physical) son.
Landisl claimed some sort of kinship with Sylvya, half-sister of Maleron, through her mother.
- Neevor
Neevor seems to have been one of the last surviving adepts of Arvon, roaming through the lands in disguise after the great war to keep an eye on things, and probably serving a council of the surviving adepts and clan-lords (the Seven Lords) with the intention of preserving some sort of careful balance. He revealed his true power in the final confrontation with Galkur.
- Matr
One of the "Sky Ones" who helped defeat Galkur the first time around, but by the time of Landisl's awakening was either dead or so far removed from Arvon that no summoning would reach him/her.
- Yoer
One of the "Sky Ones" who helped defeat Galkur the first time around, but by the time of Landisl's awakening was either dead or so far removed from Arvon that no summoning would reach him/her.
- Rllene
One of the "Sky Ones" who helped defeat Galkur the first time around, but by the time of Landisl's awakening was either dead or so far removed from Arvon that no summoning would reach him/her.
- Gunnora
Gunnora was perhaps the most powerful of the adepts of Arvon (and Escore). She was revered like a goddess and apparently could still interact with or on behalf of people who called upon her throughout the ages. She was sensuous and seems to have been devoted to Life, its preservation and propagation. We encounter Gunnora in THE HORN CROWN but she is referred to in many other stories.
- Neave
Neave was another extremely powerful adept who, like Gunnora, appears to have devoted his power to Life. There was a Fane of Neave in Arvon where women could go to give birth if they had doubts about their chances of success. Like Gunnora, Neave seems to have been worshipped much as a god would be in the later ages.
- Galkur
Perhaps one of the most powerful of the dark adepts, Galkur was defeated by the "Sky Ones" during the Adept Wars but not decisively so, and he seems to have extracted a price for that defeat under whatever Law the Adepts of Arvon recognized. While recovering his strength Galkur entered into a bargain with Kerovan's mother, Tephana of Paltendale, in which she hoped to gain great power and from which Galkur hoped to gain a tool for his own designs. But Landisl despite being shrouded in the Long Sleep detected Galkur's scheme and altered it. Years later, when Galkur tried to claim Kerovan, Landisl and Neevor intervened and confronted Galkur for the last time, apparently destroying him in a final titanic clash of raw Power.
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