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Einar Danaan, better known as the Autumn King, was one of the seven Heads of Lunathion and had control over Five Roses.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Not much is known about Einar's early life. He is nearing five hundred years old and has worn the golden crown of the Autumn King for most of that time.
Einar met the human Ember Quinlan when she was only nineteen years old. He pursued her, seduced her, tried to keep her, and became so possessive that he started to abuse Ember. When she realized she was carrying his child, she ran before he could scent it and lock her up in his villa.
The Autumn King had eyes at every depot, but a priestess got Ember out of the city with the hope of getting all the way to the House of Earth and Blood headquarters in Hilene, where Ember could beg for asylum, as it was one of the few places where the Autumn King wouldn't dare infringe on their territory. However, because it was a three-day drive, and none of the Korinth priestesses had the ability to defend Ember against Fae warriors, she drove the five hours to Solas' Temple in Oia. Before Ember reached Hilene, the Autumn King's people found them. They expected to find a helpless and hysterical female, but found the legendary sharpshooter Randall Silago, and Ember, who would move the earth itself to keep her daughter safe.
The House of Earth and Blood deemed Ember a vessel for Cthona, which amounted to an official order of protection, meaning the Autumn King was unable to act further without creating any significant political issues for himself. She gave birth to their daughter and named her Bryce Quinlan. Randall and Ember fell in love and married each other.
Twelve years ago, when Bryce was a coltish thirteen years old, she came to the Autumn King's villa to meet her father and his people. Einar had insisted the visit be discreet. He took her to the Oracle, as was custom for the Valbaran Fae, to check if she had any power. However, when he found out her power level was negligible at best, he threw her and her belongings out of his house. He offered Bryce "mountains of gold marks in exchange for her eternal silence" about their relationship. Bryce refused to take anything from him.[1]
House of Earth and Blood[]
The Autumn King, as one of the Heads of the city, was in attendance at the meeting to discuss the release of human rebel Philip Briggs. The Autumn King, Micah Domitus, and the Oracle had searched for any possible work around the loophole Briggs had used to get out of prison, but were unsuccessful.
After Isaiah Tiberian meets with Ruhn to discuss the murder of Maximus Tertian, Ruhn visits Einar at his villa. Einar informs Ruhn that after Hypaxia Enador is recognized by the Asteri as the new witch-queen of Valbara at the Summit, Einar will announce Ruhn and Hypaxia's engagement. Ruhn is upset with this.
House of Sky and Breath[]
TBA
House of Flame and Shadow[]
TBA
Personality[]
Einar was a power-hungry, self-absorbed, and cruel man who was obsessed with appearances, all while hiding in his office, where he performed science experiments and monitored the positions of the planets in their world, searching for patterns. Einar had long desired to find and travel to the Fae home world. He was very rigid when it came to conforming to political and hierarchical rules, especially concerning others showing him respect, due to his high ranking in the Lunathion government. When he had strong emotions, fire licked along his shoulders and in his hair. Einar was neither for nor against the Asteri, just an opportunist. He wanted whatever would give him more power. He claimed to be concerned with the Fae, but actually just cared about advancing himself. According to Ruhn, his father got his power and a thrill not from the sheer force of his power, but in the control over the self and his impulses.
As noted by his children, one of the main concerns Einar worried over was the constant degradation of the Fae's magic and power. With this being his primary motivation in having his children married off in arranged weddings to other powerful, influential bloodlines, as this ensured the continued strength of his bloodline and magic. When Bryce revealed the source of the Fae's gradual loss of power, the parasite the Asteri had placed in Midgard's water supply that ensured the need for the Drop and the harvesting of the Firstlight, Einar was surprised and quickly theorized that perhaps the Asteri was taking too much from the Fae. Nevertheless, this revelation did not dissuade Einar's hunger for power, authority and land, as shown where after Bryce revealed her trip to the original homewrorld of the Fae, Einar had already begun entertaining the idea of conquering it and giving it to the Asteri in exchange for a good chunk of it. As noted by Bryce, Einar exhibited much of the same avaricious and power hungry ambitions as their ancestor Theia.
Physical Description[]
Einar was described as a tall and muscled man with an impossibly beautiful but intense face beneath his long wine-red hair, the exact same shade and silken texture as Bryce's. Bryce and her father also share the same amber colored eyes. He has a long, thin nose. Despite his age, he still showed no sign of aging.
Powers & Abilities[]
Due to his age and status, the Autumn King was incredibly powerful, universally respected, and feared.
- Fae Physiology: Einar had enhanced senses, physical abilities, and healing abilities because of his Vanir status. Moments of emotional intensity temporarily heightened his powers and abilities. He had the superhuman speed and grace characteristic of the Fae.
- Immortality: Having made the Drop, Einar was immortal which not only granted him a slowed and expanded lifespan but allowed him to survive injuries that not even his accelerated healing would be able to regenerate from. Ruhn had said that it was entirely possible for Einar to live for several more centuries due to how little he had aged in his life to date.
- Pyrokinesis: Einar could create, use, and control fire. Due to his age and status, Einar was incredibly powerful.
Relationships[]
Ember Quinlan[]
Einar met Ember when she was nineteen and started an affair with her. He was deeply in love with her and wanted her to become his queen. But he became very territorial which led him to be physically abusive. This led Ember to leave him when she was pregnant with Bryce. Later, even after decades of their separation, Einar had a mixture of love and hatred for Ember. With him hating her for leaving him and marrying Randall, but at the same time deeply loving her and regretting his actions that lead to her leaving him, albeit Einar himself refuses to admit his mistakes.[2]
Bryce Quinlan[]
The Autumn King had a complicated relationship with his daughter. Due to his abuse of both Bryce and her mother, Bryce herself had stated to despise her father and wanted nothing to do with him. Einar, in turn, had shown to possess a combination of love and dislike for his daughter. The Autumn King had shown to regard Bryce with a certain level of dislike for her. He had not spoken Bryce's name in twelve years, which was when she came to his villa for the first and last time. He only referred to her as "that girl" and showed active annoyance whenever she was brought up. However despite his past actions towards her and how he treated her, he has shown active pain and heartbreak at hearing Bryce's contempt for him and her statement that Randall Silago was her true father and was the one who mattered to her. Bryce resented her father for making her choose between the House of Earth and Blood and the House of Sky and Breath. The only person she hates more than Sabine Fendyr is her father.[3]
Ruhn Danaan[]
The relationship between Einar and his son was strained at best. Einar depicted Ruhn to be a failure and did a better job at ignoring him than caring for him. Einar would abuse Ruhn multiple times during his childhood, using his fire magic to burn Ruhn as punishment. The scars never healed, so Ruhn has tattooed over them. Upon returning from Avallen and enduring his Ordeal, Ruhn moved out of his father's house. As Ruhn possesses the Starsword, it provides him some leverage against his father.
Randall Silago[]
The Autumn King revealed that he was in truth deeply jealous of Randall Silago, with him having in the end, been the one to marry Ember and raising Bryce. Hints of this jealousy were first seen when Bryce stated that Randall was her true father, with Einar reacting with visible pain at this statement of her effectively denouncing him. Einar himself later admitted to this jealousy when confronted by his daughter.[2]
Trivia[]
- The origin of the name Einar comes from the combination of the Old Norse "ein," meaning "alone," and "arr," meaning warrior. Together, it means "single warrior."[4]
- Einar's scent was described to be a mix of ashes and nutmeg.[5]
- Einar would've burned Avallen into ashes if he could.[6]
References[]
- ↑ House of Earth and Blood, Chapter 3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 House of Flame and Shadow, Chapter 36
- ↑ House of Earth and Blood, Chapter 29
- ↑ Campbell, M. (2021). Einar. Behind the Name.
- ↑ House of Earth and Blood, Chapter 68
- ↑ House of Earth and Blood, Chapter 14