Domination

The Domination was the empire which was established and ruled by Dominator in the northern
continent. It lasted for about a century and was overthrown about 407 years before the events of The
Black Company. The Domination was infamous for its cruelty, violence, and the Dominator's absolute
despotism. The favored ethnic group of this empire was TelleKurre; after the Domination ended, the
TelleKurre language became extinct (as did its regional vulgates, including UchiTelle). Centuries later, the
Dominator's wife – the Lady – would establish a successor empire which would extend past the
boundaries of the Domination and would become the setting for many of the events of the Books of the
North.

According to Port of Shadows, the capital of the Domination was the city of Dusk, where the Dominator
ruled from the Grateful Tower of his imposing fortress, Grendirft.

The Dominator's reign

Starting his reign of terror, the Dominator entered into a political, unconsummated marriage to a
beautiful sorceress called only the Lady. He then defeated, captured, and performed the Rite of
Taking on his ten most powerful rivals, the wizards who then became known as the Ten Who Were
Taken. Although the Dominator himself performed the Rite of Taking, the Lady also knew all of the
names of the Ten, forcing them to be equally loyal to her. The first to be Taken was Shapeshifter. The
oldest was the Howler. Another of the Taken was the Lady's own sister, Soulcatcher, who personally
reveled in the "pomp and dark glory" of the Domination.

Few details of the Domination were recorded by Croaker in his Annals, as he believed many of the
stories were tainted by later propaganda of the White Rose. The surviving reliable facts are as follows:

Mass execution of collected enemies

As his wife would recall centuries later during Dreams of Steel, the Dominator assembled a gathering of
his enemies and somehow murdered them all at once. This occurred early in the Domination and was
"one thing my husband had done to secure his rule". It succeeded "wonderfully" and served as the
direct inspiration for Lady's Massacre at Khadi Junction.

Forging of the Carqui sword

In the "younger days of the Domination" the Carqui sword was forged. Lady referred to this as an
"ancient and consecrated blade". She did not disclose further information about this "storied" weapon
in her Annals.

Torture of captives

As Soulcatcher would recall in Soldiers Live, the Dominator had glassblowers create glass displays into
which some of his "most important enemies" were deposited in public. Trapped, they were "kept alive
and fed until they drowned in their own ordure". Also, as Lady would recall in Shadow Games, the
Dominator had a man named Gastrar Telsar of Novok Debraken flayed for speaking out publicly against
him.

Restrictions on magic

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As the Howler would recall centuries later during Dreams of Steel, the Dominator always destroyed
every magic relic and enchanted object he could find. He did this to prevent his Taken from becoming
too independent.

According to Port of Shadows, it was illegal within the Domination to practice any form of magic without
obtaining permission from officials in Dusk, and violating this law was punishable by death or worse.
Necromancy was prohibited outright, presumably because uncovering the means to defy death would
undermine the exclusivity of the Blessing, the arcane ritual the Dominator used to bestow semi-eternal
life on his inner circle. The desire to be rewarded with the Blessing did much to ensure the loyalty of the
Domination's most powerful and influential figures and keep the empire unified.

Shapeshifter's lover

During the Domination, a young woman who was Shapeshifter's lover carried on an affair with
the Limper, another of the Ten. Outraged, Shifter transformed the woman into what became his
infamous walking staff. He and the Limper carried an unmitigated hatred of one another for the rest of
their lives. The staff would serve as a key focus of his power, and his reunion with the artifact in Shadow
Games permitted the Black Company to survive being capsized in the needleteeth swamp on the great
river.

Failure to defeat the Master

In an event which was erased from the historical record, the Dominator failed to kill (or Take) a sorcerer
known as the Master, a rival at his own level of power who had his own group of Taken. Although the
Dominator slew all but one (Blind Emon) of the Master's Taken, he could not conquer him. The Master
escaped and remained in hiding afterward, independent for centuries after the Dominator's own
downfall.

End of the Domination

The White Rose Rebellion

The Domination was ended by the White Rose Rebellion, a popular movement led by a mysterious
woman called the White Rose. She was the chief general of massive opposing armies operating out of
the Great Forest. She achieved her hard-fought victory in a final battle while the Great Comet shone
brilliantly overhead. Among the fatalities of this battle was King Broke of the TelleKurre, one of the
Dominator's chief subordinates after the Taken. However, the White Rose was unable to actually kill any
of the Domination's twelve chief sorcerers (the Dominator, the Lady, and the Ten), so she sealed them
underground in a prison of sorcery called the Barrowland. Also imprisoned with them were the
Dominator's "pets" (scores of demons) including Tracker and Toadkiller Dog. The dedicated ghosts of
many of the White Rose's own soldiers were placed inside the Barrowland as eternal spirit guards.
Finally, a dragon was installed around the Great Barrow itself, to consume any trespassers.

Aftermath of the Rebellion

After the Rebellion, the followers of the White Rose proved not to be gentle victors. They burned books
and cities, forced migrations of women and children, and profaned ancient works of art and famous
shrines. Even the language of the Domination itself, TelleKurre, became extinct. They also melted down
any Domination coinage they could find. This made intact coins from the period incredibly valuable for

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collectors 370 years later, during a "Domination trend" in the lifetime of antiquities dealer Bomanz.
After the immediate postwar violence, the centuries following the Domination were primarily peaceful.

White Rose Rebellion

The White Rose Rebellion was a war waged by a general known only as the White Rose against
the Dominator, his wife the Lady, and their minions, most prominently the Ten Who Were Taken. The
Rebellion was a success, and the period known as the Domination was ended, liberating much of
the northern continent from a tyrant's grasp.

Before Croaker's Annals

The Rebellion took place about 407 before the events described in Croaker's Books of the North.

The battles of the Rebellion were waged across the Great Forest in the far north, as the Great
Comet grew in the sky. Few details are recorded regarding the military campaign, but, according to
Croaker's research, 125,000 lives were lost. With the help of the common people, the White Rose
overthrew the Dominator, the Lady, and the Taken. She even personally delivered a blow to the Limper,
leaving a permanent scar on his forehead, left cheek, and reportedly down to his left breast. Despite the
success of the Rebellion, however, the White Rose could not kill the most powerful enemies. Instead,
she had them interred in mostly unconscious state within the Barrowland.

Although no chronicle specified how she accomplished such a great victory, it became apparent
centuries later that her power was a null field: an invisible sphere which surrounded her and negated all
magic.

According to the historian Croaker, after the White Rose's stunning victory:

After that last outburst of violence, the language of the Domination, TelleKurre, became extinct and was
replaced with other languages, including Forsberger. The north then came to know "centuries of peace".

An inspiration 400 years later

The White Rose was reincarnated as Darling about four centuries after the original White Rose
Rebellion. As described in The White Rose, Darling led the New White Rose Rebellion, which was
instrumental in finally killing the Dominator. And, although this later movement did not overthrow the
Lady's Empire, one of her followers, Silent, closed the Rite of Naming on the Lady, stripping away her
sorcery. In the years before Darling's appearance, the prophecy of the White Rose being reincarnated
served as the inspiration for prior Rebel movements against the Lady's Empire. The most prominent of
these was the Circle of Eighteen, featured during The Black Company.

Protectorate

The Protectorate was the name of the combined, sprawling empire of Taglios and the
former Shadowlands established by Soulcatcher (the "Protector") when she consolidated the two
regions in the 15-year gap between She Is the Darkness and Water Sleeps. Soulcatcher's early
Protectorate triumphed over the Black Company during the 5-year-long Kiaulune wars.

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Life under the Protectorate was sufficiently tyrannical and unpredictable that a number of the
pacifist Bhodi disciples burned themselves to death outside the Palace of Taglios in protest. Despite her
despotism and cruelty, Soulcatcher despised the widespread corruption that was ingrained in Taglian
culture, and uprooted it wherever she found it.

Although Soulcatcher, a foreign sorceress, was the undisputed ruler of Taglios during this time period,
the regular affairs of government were administered mostly by native Taglians represented in her Privy
Council. The Princess, the Radisha Drah (sister of the Captured Prince, the Prahbrindrah Drah) retained
some influence but was primarily a figurehead. The newly-established police force was staffed entirely
by Shadar men and known as the Greys, led first by the foreigner Willow Swan and then later by Ghopal
Singh. As for the military, Mogaba was appointed the "Great General" of Taglios.

Despite defeating the Black Company during the preceding Kiaulune wars, the Protectorate was
overthrown by Company during the events of Soldiers Live. The key battles and events in this later war
between the Company and the Protectorate were:

1. the capture of the fort at Nijha,

2. the capture of Gharhawnes,

3. the bloodless capture of Dejagore,

4. the pitched Battle of the Middle Ground,

5. the pitched Battle at the Shadowlander cemetery, and

6. the climactic Siege of Taglios.

Consolidation wars

The consolidation wars were the series of conflicts which forged the Lady's Empire from formerly
independent kingdoms in the northern continent. They were waged by the Ten Who Were Taken and
their armies on behalf of the Lady after she and they were liberated from the Barrowland following 370
years of subterranean imprisonment. The term "consolidation wars" was used by Murgen to refer to the
string of conquests that happened in the decades leading up to The Black Company, but, the Empire
continued its expansion for years afterward.

Before Croaker's Annals

Preceding events

The Lady and the Ten accomplished two major actions before undertaking the consolidation wars. First,
they exterminated the Resurrectionists "root and branch" so the Lady could guarantee her husband,
the Dominator, would remain imprisoned within the Great Barrow. This was also almost certainly when
they asserted command over the preexisting Eternal Guard, to assist in keeping the Dominator
neutralized. Next, the Lady and the Ten built the Tower at Charm, a gigantic, sorcery-hardened
headquarters. Only after that did the Taken build up their armies and wage the consolidation wars.

Major conquests of the consolidation wars

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Croaker and the other Annalists of the Black Company (including Lady herself) did not supply many
details about the consolidation wars. One exception was the following important blanket statement that
referred to the consolidation period: the Lady lost many battles, but, never lost a war.

Major events of the consolidation wars are as follows (not necessarily in chronological order):

• Capture of the Salient, presumably one of the first Imperial provinces, and its major
fortress Meystrikt

• The Lady negotiates with the free republic of Roses (a major city within the Salient) that
it can remain an independent enclave despite being completely within the bounds of
her Empire

• Capture of the kingdom of Forsberg and its capital Oar (Forsberg was presumably another of the
earliest Imperial provinces)

• Capture of Lords, Elm, Rye, and other noteworthy cities in the central and northern parts of the
continent

• Capture of the Jewel City of Opal, on the southern shore (Sea of Torments) of the continent

• Capture of the easternmost holdings, including the five huge cities of Rust, Frost, Thud, Barns,
and Ade, all located in an arc east of the Plain of Fear

Murgen, in his Annals of She Is the Darkness, would recall that the Groghor people were wiped out
during the consolidation wars. The Groghor language would survive only with him, and ironically, the
Lady herself.

Later Imperial annexations

The consolidation wars were apparently halted when the Rebel of the Circle of Eighteen fought back
against the Empire. This occurred at least 3 years before the arrival of the Company in the north (The
Black Company). Before the Circle was defeated, however, the Lady's legate Soulcatcher (one of
the Ten) would still initiate the annexation of Beryl across the Sea of Torments. Later annexations
like Aloe in Port of Shadows; Tally during Shadows Linger; and the Imperial action in
faraway Juniper could all be considered a continuation or restarting of the consolidation wars.

The Lady's Empire

The Lady's Empire was established by the Lady in the northern continent after she and the Ten Who
Were Taken were liberated from the Barrowland. Many of the events of the Books of the North, as well
as the opening events of Shadow Games and much of The Silver Spike, took place within the Empire.

The Lady would recount to Narayan Singh in Dreams of Steel, two years after departing her empire, that
it spanned 2,000 miles from north to south, and it could not be crossed east to west on foot in a year's
time. The flagship of the empire was Soulcatcher's massive galley, the quinquireme called The Dark
Wings.

Overview: culture and government

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The Lady was the unquestioned head of state. She used the power of the Eye to guarantee the loyalty of
her subjects. Next were the Ten Who Were Taken, who, according to Croaker in The Black Company,
expended "terrible energies" keeping the Empire monolithic. With the use of flying carpets and the
supernatural black stallions, they were able to traverse incredible distances faster than anyone else.
Other key persons in the Empire were:

• the proconsuls (e.g. the Falcon of Rail);

• the legates,

• and the key generals of the Imperial armies (e.g. Lord Jalena).

Upon the dissolution of the Empire (mentioned in Port of Shadows, which must have occurred sometime
after the events of Bleak Seasons), the surviving Imperial proconsuls were presumably either
overthrown or became independent sovereigns.

The Lady's Empire was feudal, broken up into several separate fiefdoms, each ruled over by one of the
Taken, each fiefdom having somewhat different styles of governance and culture. Territories in the west
and the south were relatively peaceful, except for Opal, governed by the Limper, which was
characterized by his sponsorship of violent power grabs among the nobility.

Predecessor empire: the Domination

At least 370 years before the Lady established her Empire, she was the wife of the Dominator, a violent
tyrant who controlled a significant portion of the northern continent. This was the Domination, which
lasted for about one century. This empire ended with the White Rose Rebellion, during which the
Dominator, the Lady, and the Ten Who Were Taken were imprisoned within subterranean chambers
called the Barrowland in the Great Forest.

Founding and expansion

The Lady escapes the Barrowland

By manipulating the Resurrectionists led by Tokar, the Lady effected her escape from the Barrowland
370 years after being imprisoned there (10 passages of the Great Comet). Although the Ten escaped
with her, she kept her husband the Dominator and his pet demons trapped. Though she was now free to
create her own sovereignty, the specter of her furious husband was destined to loom menacingly over
her Empire for the entirety of her time as empress.

The Lady's very first move was to wipe out the Resurrectionists, so that they could not follow through
with their original intent, which had been the resurrection of her husband. The Eternal Guard, formerly
an independent military unit, now answered to the Lady while still remaining committed to keeping her
husband trapped as before.

The consolidation wars

Then, she and the Taken built the imposing Tower at Charm. From the completed Tower, they raised
armies and waged the consolidation wars, growing her new empire by rapidly conquering the various
kingdoms which had sprung up in the aftermath of the Domination. Her new empire spanned well over
a thousand miles from north to south, as estimated by Croaker on his journey from Opal to Oar, though

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he stated that more lay further north still. The borders of the Lady's Empire continued to grow, about
four decades after her resurrection, to include Beryl on the southern continent, where the Black
Company took the Imperial commission.

Subjugation of the Sea of Torments

In "Cranky Bitch", Croaker recounted that the Sea of Torments had been plagued by piracy before the
establishment of the Lady's Empire. The Empire's prescription for securing these critical waters was
merciless. Imperial marines killed every person and animal in the pirates' hamlets and then burned them
to the ground. Ten years after this bloody program began, piracy was truly eliminated from the Sea.
Since the Empire was only 45 years old at the time of "Cranky Bitch", Croaker's mention of "fifty years"
seems to be an estimation, and suggests that the Empire began this program very early after its
formation.

The Empire patrolled the Sea and the Strait of Vermust to its west, but no further. Mercantile ships
entering the Strait from independent port cities like Juniper, Meadenvil, Chimney, Kadith, and others
benefited immensely from the safety of the Lady's waters. In non-Imperial waters like the Gap, vessels
were subject to the piracy of the Pocatose.

Surrender to the Will of the Night slogan

In Water Sleeps, a former subject of the Lady's Empire named Willow Swan explained that a slogan
among the Empire's supporters was "Surrender to the Will of the Night". And, at least according to his
assessment, the Lady's Empire satisfactorily minimized crime, war, plague, pestilence, and famine in its
interior regions. He explained:

“ Surrender to the Will of the Night. [...] In my great grandfather’s time it was the slogan of
the Lady’s supporters. They believed that peace, prosperity and security would result
inevitably if all power could be concentrated in the hands of the right strong-willed
person. And it did turn out that way, more or less. In principalities that did ‘Surrender to
the Will of the Night,’ particularly near the core of the empire, there were generations of
peace and prosperity. Plague, pestilence and famine were uncommon. Warfare was a
curiosity going on far, far away. Criminals were hunted down with a ferocity that
overawed all but the completely crazy ones. But there was always bad trouble along the
frontiers. The Lady’s minions, the Ten Who Were Taken, all wanted to build sub-empires
of their own, which never lacked for external enemies. And they all had their own ancient
feuds with one another. Hell, even peace and prosperity create enemies. If you’re doing all
right, there’s always somebody who wants to take it away from you. ”

The Black Company

Rebellion of the Circle of Eighteen

At least three years before the opening events of The Black Company, several huge cities along the
Empire's eastern border (most notably Rust) became the epicenter of a significant Rebel movement. It
soon inspired violence in the northern Imperial province of Forsberg as well. An extended family of high-

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magnitude wizards–including Whisper, Raker, and Harden–were the key players of the Rebel high
command, called the Circle of Eighteen.

The Taken and their armies fought to defend the Lady's Empire in numerous battles against the Circle
throughout the east and north. The Black Company was contracted by Soulcatcher to serve the Lady
during this time. It would be revealed that the Circle was deeply influenced by the Dominator, who was
using the Rebel as a tool to first defeat his wife and then to later free himself from the Barrowland.

Battle of Charm

The Empire weathered the Circle's Rebel storm in a climactic, bloody victory at the Battle of Charm. By
the end of this battle, only the Limper would remain of the original Ten Who Were Taken. The Black
Company cemented itself as the Lady's prized outfit, and the three new Taken – Whisper, Feather,
and Journey – took the helm alongside the Limper as the Empire's wizard champions.

Port of Shadows & Shadows Linger

Battling enemies in the east

For six years after the Battle of Charm, the Empire busied itself putting down enemies in several places
in the east. With the Black Company in the lead, the Empire wiped out new crops of Rebels in its new
eastern territories like Aloe (the modern narrative in Port of Shadows) and Tally (early chapters
of Shadows Linger), as well as Resurrectionists in the Ghost Country.

The black castle in Juniper

Meanwhile, with his pawns defeated at the Battle of Charm, the Dominator attempted to escape his
prison once again. This time he relied upon an ancient escape plot which he had seeded before his
actual imprisonment. It involved a frigid city called Juniper, far outside the Empire's bounds in the
distant northwest of the map. The Lady (in person) and her forces – including the Limper, all three new
Taken, and the Black Company – fought against the Dominator's castle creatures in the Battle of Juniper.
Victory was hard-won, with the Lady personally putting down the Dominator's fiery, towering projection
as it emerged from the black castle. The Lady replenished her Imperial coffers by plundering Juniper's
sacred Catacombs. But the entire city ended up being sacked in a subsequent revolt.

The Black Company suffered hundreds of fatalities in Juniper, and its surviving core became open
enemies of the Lady after discovering a conspiracy against them that had been independently hatched
by her minions Whisper and Feather. Before departing Meadenvil, senior Black Company men and a
handful of new allies defeated the Limper, brutalizing him but falsely believing he was dead.

Before The White Rose

For four years, the Lady's two surviving new Taken (Whisper and Journey) hounded the Black Company
from Chimney in the distant west, clear across the northern continent until they reached the Plain of
Fear. The Company was desperately escorting Darling, the reincarnation of the White Rose, to safety.
Along the way, the elite Imperial Nightstalker Brigade inflicted a dismal defeat upon the Company at
the Battle of Queen's Bridge. This battle reverberated throughout the Empire, significantly weakening
the Company's notorious reputation and strengthening the Lady's military posture.

Rise of the New White Rose Rebellion

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Then, after four years in flight, the Company settled into a series of stinking caverns called the Hole out
on the Plain of Fear. There, they remained Darling's elite bodyguards and became the nucleus of
the New White Rose Rebellion against the Empire. For two years, they directed Rebel activity
throughout the Empire, most especially in the east... including Rust and other cities that had supported
the Circle of Eighteen.

The White Rose

Against the New White Rose Rebellion

The Empire gained 5 additional new Taken (Benefice, Scorn, Blister, the Creeper, and Learned) as well as
a restored member of the original Ten: the Limper. They encircled the Plain of Fear and prepared to
crush the New White Rose Rebellion. The Rebels had formidable strengths: Darling's null field, many
cities full of violent underground dissidents, and perhaps most importantly, the later addition of
gigantic windwhales and hordes of other Plain monsters. To compensate, the Empire developed
new flying carpets and innovative combat techniques. Several battles and skirmishes were fought in
places like Tanner, Rust, Spit, Frost, the Plain of Fear itself, and finally, a dramatic aerial skirmish
outside Horse.

Alliance and Battle of the Barrowland

When the Lady personally brokered a truce with Darling, the Empire and New White Rose Rebellion
became allies. Together they moved to combat the common enemy, the Dominator, before he could
free himself from the Barrowland using the surging tides of the Great Tragic River. At the Battle of the
Barrowland, the Empire achieved a major victory by killing the Dominator and erasing Darling's null. The
personal cost for the Lady was steep, however, as she too lost her sorcery after being named by Silent, a
member of Darling's Rebel outfit.

Shadow Games

Not long after the Battle of the Barrowland was the first troubling sign of the potential dissolution of the
Empire. The Falcon of Rail, an Imperial proconsul, was ambushed by a band of brigands (Imperial
deserters) on the road merely 2 weeks north of the Tower at Charm. Order was restored by the Black
Company, which was now reduced to merely 6 men, escorting the Lady herself southward: they
rounded up the bandits and turned them over to the Imperial garrison in Vest.

The Lady departs her Empire

The Lady spent 2 weeks holed up in the Tower. She hid the fact that she was now a powerless mortal,
and carefully tended to the bureaucracy of her Empire so that it would fall into trustworthy hands. She
then accompanied the Black Company on their trek toward their fabled origin of Khatovar, and she
never returned to her Empire again.

The Silver Spike

The wicker man's rampage

Just over 1 year after the Battle of the Barrowland, many Imperial cities were sacked by the Limper (the
"wicker man") and Toadkiller Dog and their ragtag army of thugs, opportunists, and deserters. The first
sacking was the mostly abandoned Eternal Guard town of the Barrowland, continuing southward

9
into Oar, down through the central provinces, and into Opal which was reduced to "ruins". The Limper
crossed the Sea of Torments and continued his bloody rampage in Beryl (which suffered terribly) and
beyond into Imperial holdings further south. The only place spared was the Tower at Charm itself, which
the Limper briefly penetrated but could not conquer.

Regaining military footing

Although the Imperial cities fought the Limper, they were unprepared to combat a sorcerer of
his magnitude and insanity (he was the last of the powerful Ten Who Were Taken active in the north).
However, the Empire's new leaders regained their footing during the Limper's time waylaid in
the Temple of Travellers' Repose (outside the bounds of the Empire). They knew he would come back
for the silver spike – a relic that would effectively transform into a demigod – and prepared accordingly.
They coordinated a carefully-choreographed response to the Limper's inevitable return.

When the Limper retraced his steps northward, the Empire had already evacuated all its cities and
towns (most prominently Beryl), stripped the entire southern coast of all boats the mad sorcerer could
use, and placed The Dark Wings in the sea to guarantee he would be forced to take the long, easterly
overland route. The Imperial armies laid dozens of clever traps, slowing his progress, in places where
they knew he would travel, like the Mountains of Sinjian and the Straits of Angine. Finally, in Oar, the
top Imperial sorcerer Exile (along with Gossamer, Spidersilk, and numerous dread lords and ladies
directly from the Tower) staged a final confrontation with the Limper. All these Imperial leaders were
wiped out, but the Limper was killed and the silver spike secured for eternity. The New White Rose
Rebellion reappeared briefly to lend invaluable assistance to the Empire, but disappeared immediately
after the confrontation with the Limper in Oar.

Bleak Seasons

Despite the decapitation of Tower leadership that occurred during The Silver Spike, the Empire
apparently recouped and persisted for at least a few years afterward. The Empire was revisited
by Otto and Hagop, carrying letters from the Lady herself, all the way from Taglios. They stated that the
"empire is boring these days" after having spent six uneventful months at the Tower. They returned to
Taglios and reported their findings to Croaker in Bleak Seasons.

Dissolution

In Port of Shadows, it was revealed that the Lady's Empire eventually dissolved.
Since Otto and Hagop found the Empire in apparently peaceful and stable conditions about one and a
half years before Bleak Seasons, the dissolution must have occurred at some point after that.

The Ten Who Were Taken were ten notorious sorcerers of very high magnitude who were enslaved by
the Dominator about 5 centuries before the events of The Black Company. As his most powerful
servants and generals, the Ten helped the Dominator establish a cruel empire in the infamous era
known as the Domination, which lasted for about a century. After they were overthrown by the White
Rose's Rebellion, the Ten were imprisoned in the Barrowland alongside the Dominator and his wife
the Lady for 370 years. By the start of The Black Company, they had been liberated and in the service
of the Lady's Empire for almost 37 years. They ceased to exist as an organization during the Battle of
Charm, by the end of which 5 of their number were killed and 4 thought to be deceased. But, the 5

10
survivors from that climactic battle would go on to influence affairs throughout both
the northern and southern continents, acting independently.

Each of the Ten Who Were Taken were strong enough to easily overwhelm most other sorcerers, and
with preparation, they could defeat hundreds of soldiers. And like other rare sorcerers of their
magnitude, they were were notoriously difficult to kill, requiring total destruction of their brain to
accomplish the task. Due to their supernatural vitality and the advanced layers of protective spells that
they placed upon themselves, they could survive horrible wounds, and in at least two instances, outright
decapitation.

The group consisted of seven males and three females:

• Soulcatcher (female, sister of the Lady)

• The Limper (male)

• The Howler (male, great-uncle of the Senjak sisters)

• Shapeshifter (male)

• Stormbringer (female, 2nd cousin of the Senjak sisters)

• The Hanged Man (male)

• Bonegnasher (male)

• Nightcrawler (presumably male)

• Moonbiter (presumably female)

• The Faceless Man (presumably male)

The appellations of the Ten were derived from their namesake specialty in sorcery or were descriptors
of their appearance. The names are translations from TelleKurre, the language of the Domination.

Before Croaker's Annals

The Domination

Each of the Ten was an independent sorcerer originally. Then, the Dominator somehow discovered each
of their true names. Using this critical information, he went about enslaving them all using a horrible
ritual sorcery called the Rite of Taking. The Dominator, his powerful wife the Lady, and the Ten Who
Were Taken together established the Domination in the northern continent. This was an era infamous
for its cruelty, violence, and the Dominator's absolute despotism.

According to some disputed records, many of the Ten were extended members of the Senjak clan. Of
note, Howler was allegedly the great uncle of the four Senjak sisters, while Stormbringer was their
second cousin.

Imprisonment in the Barrowland

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Diagram of the Barrowland including the specified barrows of the Taken

The Ten and their masters, the Dominator and the Lady, were all eventually defeated by the White
Rose and her forces during the White Rose Rebellion in the Great Forest. The twelve of them were not
killed, however, but instead were buried underground in a place called the Barrowland, trapped there
alongside the Dominator's "pet" demons by layer after layer of powerful spells.

While the Lady and the Dominator were interred in the Great Barrow, the Taken were individually
buried in separate barrows. Five were entombed in the outer barrows arranged geometrically at the
points of a star, and the other five were trapped in the inner barrows, arranged in a pentagon that
surrounded the Great Barrow. The outer barrows, numbered oddly and starting at the northernmost
barrow and moving clockwise, contained: 1) Soulcatcher; 3) Shapeshifter; 5) Nightcrawler;
7) Stormbringer; and 9) Bonegnasher. The inner barrows, numbered evenly and beginning at the right
foot of the arm of the star pointing northward, contained: 2) either the Hanged Man or the Faceless
Man; 4) the Howler; 6) Moonbiter; 8) the Limper; and 10) either the Hanged Man or the Faceless Man.

The spirits of the Ten Who Were Taken would manifest above their barrows every 37 years, when
the Great Comet which had appeared at their defeat completed its circuit and reappeared in the sky.

Liberation and service to the Lady

After 370 years in their barrows, the Ten, alongside the Lady, were liberated from the Barrowland by a
group known as the Resurrectionists. To keep power for herself, the Lady orchestrated the liberation
such that the Dominator himself, and his demons (like Tracker and Toadkiller Dog), remained trapped.
The Lady knew the Taken's true names and guaranteed their continued servitude, now to her alone.

The Ten helped the Lady build the Tower at Charm. Then, they served as the Lady's generals in
the consolidation wars, helping her establish her own dominion, the Lady's Empire, over a huge span of
the north. This would exceed the Domination, the former realm of her husband, in size. However, the
three female Taken would begin to undermine the Lady by secretly working to free the Dominator.

The Black Company

The Taken were instrumental both as combatants and as generals in the numerous battles against
the Rebel armies loyal to the Circle of Eighteen during the events leading up to The Black Company. One

12
member of the Circle, Harden, caused the first fatality among the Taken in history by immobilizing
the Hanged Man with powerful sorcery and then fatally wounding him with a sword through his skull.

At the Battle of Charm

Leading up to climactic Battle of Charm, the 8 active Taken hurriedly ferried in soldiers from distant
armies to the Tower at Charm a handful at a time aboard their flying carpets. (The Hanged Man was
dead and the Limper was imprisoned within the Tower for treachery.)

With the massive armies of the Circle of Eighteen arrayed outside the Tower, the three female Taken
each betrayed the Lady in service to the Dominator or themselves:

1. First, Stormbringer grievously injured Shapeshifter and did so without being immediately
identified as the attacker. Shapeshifter, thought killed in this incident, would later be secretly
"salvaged" by the Lady sometime afterward, and was sent south.

2. Stormbringer then attacked and killed Bonegnasher, who reportedly killed her too. Though
Bonegnasher was truly dead, Stormbringer survived and fled to pursue her own agenda.

3. Moonbiter and the Faceless Man fought one another, and both were killed. Moonbiter was the
third female Taken by process of elimination if the Faceless was really male.

4. In the final betrayal of the female Taken, Soulcatcher sabotaged the Howler's flying carpet so
that he plowed into the Tower at great speed; this is what spurred the Lady and Croaker to take
up their intense pursuit of Soulcatcher, which ended in her decapitation. The Lady genuinely
believed the Howler was killed in this incident.

It was initially believed that 8 of the remaining 9 Taken (the Limper being the exception) were killed in
combat. Later events would prove this assumption incorrect for half of them. Shapeshifter was secretly
rehabilitated by the Lady, and three others (Stormbringer, the Howler, and Soulcatcher) either faked
their own deaths or simply survived their wounds and fled from the north. Those three escaped amidst
the chaos of battle, and began to pursue their own independent agendas far south of the Lady's Empire.
The other four are genuinely considered to have been killed. Bonegnasher is never mentioned again
after it was reported that he and the traitor Stormbringer killed each other. Similarly, the Faceless
Man, Moonbiter, and Nightcrawler are reportedly killed on the same night of this battle; years later, the
Company would record testimony from Imperial survivors that these three "really did bite the dust". The
Faceless Man and Moonbiter killed one another, whereas Nightcrawler was actually killed by the Circle.

Except for the Limper, many of the vacated roles of the Ten original Taken were filled by new
replacements, the new Taken.

The third female

Since Croaker the Annalist only observed a handful of the Taken at first, he was under the impression
that only the Lady knew which were the men and the women. Soulcatcher dressed in androgynous full-
body leather garb, a face-concealing black morion, and a cloak which was sufficient to hide the fact that
she was female. Croaker referred to her as "he/him" until the very end of his first chronicle when he
finally observed her face.

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Of the three Taken which were women, only two were confirmed as such by Croaker: Soulcatcher
and Stormbringer. Although the the Black Company works extensively with the Lady and her armies,
three of the Taken (Moonbiter, Nightcrawler, and the Faceless Man) are not closely observed by
Croaker, and thus virtually nothing distinguishing about them is recorded in his chronicles. Since the
others are known to be male, the third female must be either Moonbiter, Nightcrawler, or even possibly
the Faceless Man, as some of the Taken wore masks and full-body garb. If the Faceless Man was truly
male, Croaker's writings about the deaths of all three strongly suggests that the third woman was
Moonbiter.

It (creature)

EDIT

IT

Information

Alias

Pennywise the Dancing Clown

Robert 'Bob' Gray

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Occupation

Feeding off of the fear of children

Relatives

Dandelo (distant relative)

Species

Todash creature

Affiliation

Status

Presumed deceased

Appearances

IT

Mentioned

11/22/63

Dreamcatcher

It, also known as Pennywise is a unseen background antagonist, and pivotal character of The Dark
Tower Series.

Serving as the main antagonist of novel IT, and a unseen pivotal character in some of The Dark
Tower Novels.

IT is an ancient entity that would awake about every 27 years in Derry, Maine to cause chaos and feed
on people's fear. Its choice victims are usually children.

IT claimed that it was an eternal entity that was superior to all inhabitants on Earth. It was assumed to
have come from the Macroverse where both The Turtle and The Other reside. Its favorite form on Earth
was Pennywise the Dancing Clown (a.k.a Robert Gray) and the closest and truest form was that of a
gigantic pregnant spider. From the spider "The Loser's Club" deduced that IT was female (based on ITs
ability to reproduce). Upon staring into the deadlights, Audra, (Bill's wife) thinks: "Oh dear Jesus. IT is
female."

History

Before the events of the novel IT, IT (the creature) has already awoken several times to create
destruction, cause panic, and feed. IT often would possess others to murder the people dwelling in
Derry.

15
When the novel begins, IT awakens and finds its first new victim: George Denbrough. In retaliation,
George's brother Bill and his six friends in The Loser's Club go to its lair to kill IT, but just end up badly
wounding IT and forcing its retreat into hibernation.

Twenty-seven years later, IT returns determined to kill the seven Losers. Upon knowing IT is back, Stan
kills himself, leaving six members in The Loser's Club. However, determined to finish the creature once
and for all, five of The Losers (Mike is injured) travel into its lair again. Bill Denbrough and IT engage in
"The Ritual of Chüd" during which IT is assumed defeated once and for all.

As stated above, IT is deceased but in Stephen King's novel Dreamcatcher, Jonesy arrives at the Derry
stand-pipe and spray painted there is "Pennywise Lives!" over the tribute to The Loser's Club. IT is also
seen in Stephen King's novel The Tommyknockers; he is viewed as a supposed hallucination when one of
the "becoming" goes to Derry to stock up on supplies. The Deadlights appear in Insomnia as the Crimson
King passes back into the upper levels of the Tower suggesting that It's eternal body still lives on in
Derry.

Connection to The Dark Tower

IT, in its ultimate form, emits "Deadlights" similar to the ones that the Crimson King possesses.

Dandelo is the same type of creature as IT and when killed, turns into a massive insect. Both It and
Maturin reside in the Macroverse. A portrait of Pennywise can also be seen in The Dark Tower: Fall of
Gilea.

In the 2017 film Dark Tower, "Pennywise" is written on the Amusement Park ride.

Like the Crimson King, It claims to be the "Eater of Worlds." It's relation to him is unknown.

Little Sisters

EDIT

Little Sisters

Information

Location

Eluria

Species

Vampires

Appearances

Little Sisters of Eluria

Treachery/Chapter Three - "The Shadow of the Rose"

Members

16
Sister Mary

Sister Louise
Sister Michela
Sister Coquina
Sister Tamara
Sister Jenna (former)

The Little Sisters, also known as the Little Sisters of the Rose is a women's monastic order dedicated to
the care of the sick, hungry, and injured as well as to the healing of the soul.[1]

Each sister dons a white wimple, decorated with a dusky rose on the front, and dedicates herself to
charity, chastity, and the khef. They deeply empathize with all suffering people and feel their trials,
pains, and sorrows as their own. During the war with John Farson, they would set-up white tents and
tend to the injured, bury the dead, and console the grieving.[1]

Their convent Our Lady Of The Rose was located in Debaria, where many would seeek refuge or
solace. Gabrielle Deschain spent time here to atone for her adultery with Marten Broadcloak.

At the center of their compound is a sacred garden of roses, surrounding a temple in the shape of
the Dark Tower. The garden was grown from a single rose brought back from the fields of Can'-Ka No
Rey itself by the Big Sister of the day. However, during her travels she also brought back a malicious
shadow that infected the order, killing several sisters, who would then miraculously return from the
dead. These sisters would set-up separate tents and were able to mysteriously heal many patients,
although some would also go missing. In time, the Big Sister discovered that these resurrected sisters
had been transformed into vampires and were feasting on some of their patients. While the order was
able to rid itself of the initial vampire infestation, the shadow fled, presumably creating more vampiric
sisters in time.<name="rose"/>

One of these vampire cadres operated a field infirmary outside the town of Eluria. Presenting
themselves as a quasi-monastic order similar in fashion to nuns, wearing white wimples decorated with
a blood-red rose, they prey on the sick and injured by first nursing them toward health (through an as-
yet unknown association with the Cam Tam), and then feeding on them. [2]

The Little Sisters can appear either in human form or in their native (and monstrous) vampiric state.

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