Drenai Series

The Drenai Series is a fantasy series written by David Gemmell. The series is about the history of the Drenai Nation and follows various heroes through the ages of its history.

Books in the Series

• Legend (1984) (Originally published in the USA as Against the Horde, re-released as Legend)
• The King Beyond the Gate (1985)
• Waylander (1986)
• Quest for Lost Heroes (1990)
• Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf (1992)
• The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend (1993)
• The Legend of Deathwalker (1996)
• Winter Warriors (1996)
• Hero in the Shadows (2000)
• White Wolf (2004)
• The Swords of Night and Day (2004)

Anthologies:

• Drenai Tales Volume I: contains; Waylander, Druss the Legend, Legend, The King Beyond the Gate
• Drenai Tales Volume II: contains; Quest for Lost Heroes, Waylander II and The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
• Drenai Tales Volume III: contains; The Legend of the Deathwalker, Winter Warriors and Hero in the Shadows

Chronology of the Series

The publishing order of the books does not correspond to the chronology of events that take place in the series. The chronological order is:

• Waylander
• Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
• Hero in the Shadows
• The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
• The Legend of Deathwalker
• White Wolf
• Legend
• The King Beyond the Gate
• Quest for Lost Heroes
• Winter Warriors
• The Swords of Night and Day

Overview

Setting

Dros Delnoch is a Drenai fortress that guards the pass between the Nadir homeland to the north, and the Drenai homeland to the south. Dros Delnoch is made of six concentric walls and a keep. The first and strongest wall is sixty feet high and four hundred paces wide, with towers set every fifty paces. Wall One is called Eldibar, meaning 'Exultation', for it is where the enemy is initially repelled. Wall Two is called Musif, or 'Despair', because by now the defenders have seen the fall of Eldibar. Wall Three is Kania, or 'Renewed Hope'. Wall Four is Sumitos, or 'Desperation'. Wall Five is Valteri, or 'Serenity', because by now the defenders know that they will die, but they are determined to face the end with courage. Wall Six is Geddon, or 'Death'. It is said that Dros Delnoch would never fall while men with courage stood on its walls.

The Drenai Empire is a long-standing nation, Their main enemies include the Nadir—a Mongol-like nation of warring tribes—the Ventrian and Vagrian Empires, and the Sathuli - a reclusive, religious tribe of warriors who dwell in the Delnoch Steepes. The Drenai gained their freedom from the Vagrian Empire thanks to the efforts of the legendary heroes Karnak and Egel, the first Earl of Bronze - this part of the Drenai history is told in the book Waylander. The Drenai face many threats over their history, but finally succumb to the rule of the Nadir after Tenaka Khan unites the warring tribes of the north to invade the Empire. These events are suggested to have occurred between The King Beyond the Gate and Quest for Lost Heroes. Another factor in the downfall of the Drenai is the evil Emperor Ceska, who joins forces with warrior-priests of Chaos and utilises an ancient technology allowing him to combine humans with beasts, creating a Joining - a fearsome creature which only wishes to maim, kill and feed. Eventually the Drenai gain their freedom in the events leading up to "Winter Warriors". It is also noted that under King Skanda's rule they conquer Ventria. Whether Skanda's son holds it after his death is unknown.

The Thirty is a group of warrior priests formed by the source priest Dardalion during the Vagrian invasion who after seeing so many of his brothers murdered realizes that evil cannot be fought with love but with the sword. Twenty-nine other priests agree with him and so the thirty is formed. When fighting the Dark Brotherhood on the spirit plane the thirty can form into the one, a huge creature that cannot be defeated, however this can destroy the souls of the thirty. The thirty fight during the battle of Dros Purdol and when the Vagrains finally break through the gates the Thirty are slaughtered as they used their powers to protect Waylander, only Dardalion survives his wounds and later forms a second Thirty. Dardalion leads the second Thirty to protect the Nadir Wolveshead tribe from the vast Gothir army. Throughout several battles the Thirty save the Wolveshead from destruction before finally Dardalion is mortally wounded. Before he dies however he sends the only remaining member to Vagria to start a new thirty.

Vagria is shown to situated south west of the Drenai on the official Drenai world map shown in “White wolf”. The Vagrian empire is stated to have had at least two wars with the Drenai, the first being in “Waylander” in which the general Kaem led an unsuccessful invasion of drenai lands which is repulsed and the Drenai, led by the first Earl of Bronze, invade them in turn. The second conflict is mentioned in "Winter warriors" where it is stated that Skanda, the king of the Drenai, led a successful invasion of Vagria.

Ventria Ventria is bordered by Naashan in the northwest, Cadia in the west, the Ventrian Sea to the east, and the Soutren Sea. Its major cities include Caphis, Capalis, and Usa. Ventria was likely the largest country in the Drenai universe until the rise of the Nadir empire, which formed after the events of The King Beyond the Gate. Excluding the Chiatze and Kiatze nations, Ventria was probably the most cultured of the Drenai universe's countries, boasting a university in every city. Ventria features in many novels in the Drenai series. In Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf, Ventria launches an unsuccessful attack on the Drenai. Ventria was eventually conquered by the Drenai king Skanda before the events of Winter Warriors, though it is not known whether his son held the country after Skanda's death. In The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, a large portion of the story takes place in Ventria as the Ventrians fight to repel invading forces. The epilogue in Legend states that Ulric Kahn collapses and dies in Ventria during the Nadir invasion of Ventria (mirroring the way Genghis Khan collapsed and died during his last campaign). Ventria is also the main country featured in the book Winter Warriors.

Nadir They are based on the Mongols and have a similar culture and physical description. The Nadir were founded by a Chiatze nobleman named Oshikai Demon-Bane who led his people from their homeland to the wastelands known as the Nadir steppes. It was at this point that Oshikai gave them a new name "Nadir" meaning "cross roads of death." After Oshikai's death the Nadir splintered into dozens of separate tribes and were oppressed by the Gothir for centuries. The main hope of the Nadir during this period was that one day a "uniter" would rally all the tribes together and crush all their enemies. The path leading to the time of the uniter was set in motion during the events of "Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf". In which the Wolfshead tribe, then prophesized to be the origin of the line of the uniter, successfully survived a Gothir attempt to annihilate them. In the book "The Legend of Deathwalker" Druss assists a band of five Nadir tribes led by a young "Wolfshead" named Okai in the defense of Oshikai's tomb against an army of Gothir soldiers. After the successful defense Okai takes the name Ulric and becomes the uniter prophesised for centuries, this is unknown to Druss. Over the next two decades Ulric conquers the Gothir and a number of other northern nations. He eventually turns his attention to the lands of the Drenai. During the events of "Legend", Druss helps to defend the fortress of Dros Delnoch against Ulric and his 500,000 strong army. Though Druss dies during the defence, the Drenai, with the help of 3000 Sathuli, hold the fortress and prevent the Nadir entry into Drenai lands. The battle ends when Ulric is forced to return home to put down a rebellion by his nephew. Ulric leaves behind his standard (this emphasizes that he will return). However, during his invasion of the Ventrian Empire he collapses and dies of a "heart spasm." His son Jongir Khan leads a second invasion of Drenai lands which is also repelled. As a term of the peace treaty Jongir's daughter weds the Earl of Bronze's youngest son. The child Tenaka Khan was born through this marriage. Years later during the events of "The King Beyond the Gate" Tenaka won the throne and led a Nadir army to save the Drenai rebels against the mad Emperor Ceska. Tenaka returned to the Drenai lands years later and successfully conquered the Drenai Empire, fulfilling Ulric's promise. Tenaka was the true uniter and conquered all the southern nations. He finally died when he was poisoned by his eldest son Jungir. Jungir became Khan and had his brothers killed. With a Gothir slave woman he had twins, though he died before they were born at Bel-azar. He was killed by a Gothir boy who was possessed by the spirit of Tenaka Khan. After the death of Jungir Khan one of his sons was taken by the shaman Asta Khan to be the new Khan of the Nadir. The other twin was smuggled away and led the Drenai to freedom against his brother in the War of the Twins. The final fate of the Nadir Empire is not known.

Characters

• Waylander The Slayer is the main character of Waylander, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf and Hero in the Shadows in which an anti-hero is produced. Like the Earl of the Bronze in Legend, Waylander is at first disliked in the reader's eyes by way of Gemmell's writing. After a series of minor hardships, and a few flashbacks, Waylander is revealed to be a man once of noble causes, though he turned to the life of an assassin. He slays the King of the Drenai, a kind-hearted man, and must undo this evil by thwarting the enemies of the Drenai who come to claim their land.^[1]

• Druss the Legend is a hero embodying virtue, courage, honour, chivalry and strength of character. Druss is the grandson of Bardan the Slayer, a psychotic madman driven insane by the demon residing within his cursed axe, Snaga the Sender. Druss is described as a physically imposing man, immensely strong but also possessing great speed and dexterity. He has a hard, flat face, black hair and a thick, black beard and pale blue eyes. Despite his initial lack of formal combat training, he becomes known as a fearsome warrior who has never been bested in single combat. He wears the armour and weapons of his grandfather, which includes a black leather jerkin with silver steel pauldrons, black leather gauntlets with reinforced steel plates covering the knuckles and forearms, black leather boots and a black pot helmet with a silver axe motif on the brow flanked by small silver skulls. Having died in Legend, Druss reappears in The Swords of Night and Day, both as a spirit wandering in the darkness, and in physical form by possessing his clone. In October 2000 at the World Fantasy Convention in Texas, David Gemmell gave an interview in which he revealed that Druss was based on his father, Bill. "Years later, when I wrote my first novel, I used Bill as the model for a character. His name was Druss the Legend. Bill re-appeared in many novels thereafter, in many guises."^[2]

• Skilgannon the Damned is the main character in Damned series of books White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day. His proper name is Olek Skilgannon, though he is known largely by his surname, which he gained in the Naashan independence war. Tall, athletic and with a mohawk-style haircut, he is a Naashanite swordsman who wields the Swords of Night and Day. The blades are possessed by demonic entities and were forged in imitation of the Swords of Blood and Fire. Skilgannon is an extremely formidable fighter on par with Druss in his prime. He dies in battle, but is cloned several centuries later to fight an evil empress, no other than his former love Jianna, also cloned. He prevails, fighting his own offspring Decado in the process, and disappears alongside another clone of Jianna.

References

1. ^ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/david-a-gemmell/waylander.htm
2. ^ http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/davidgemmell/home.htm