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The North or the Far North refers to the area geographically across the Greenwash River and is, like Ancelstierre, another world "the Old Kingdom basically impinges on."[1] It's made up of a lower steppe and a higher steppe, as well as mountain ranges. The realm ends at the extreme northeast, marked by the jagged canyon called The Great Rift, and past that, The Empty Lands.

The North's people consist of twenty nomadic clans. As Ancelstierre is similar to 1920's-era England, the North is similar to the steppes of Asia during the time of the Mongols and the Golden Horde. Inhabitants practically live on horseback and are highly skilled at mounted combat. They have very few permanent towns or villages, instead making camp wherever the hunt takes them. Field Market, a city for trade, is an apparent exception.[2]

Both Charter and Free Magic work near the border, but further north. only Free Magic exists. Its practitioners are called "shamans" or "witches"; they wear a collar and choke chain of silver and lead and are tasked with a "keeper" to ensure they don't try to seize power or betray the clan. True to the nature of Free Magic, shamans can only attack and destroy. Northern healers use medicinal herbs, pastes, and tinctures, as no Charter healing magic can be used.

In Goldenhand, the character of Ferin comes from the mountains of the Athask, the only clan that doesn't ride horses as a way of life. She warns about a massive Northern invasion being planned by Chlorr of the Mask, which Lirael's mother Arielle Saw ending in death and destruction for both realms. The attack fails when Chlorr is finally slain, and the clans return to the steppes to defend their territories.

The novella "To Hold the Bridge" takes place across the river from the North, at Greenwash Bridge.

Trivia/Theories[]

  • The Old Kingdom refers to this country as "the barbarian North," suggesting tension between the two realms.
  • It's unknown whether the Twenty Tribes have their own name for the North.


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