Rol Cortishane

Rol Cortishane is the lead character and "hero" of the as-of-yet incomplete "Sea Beggars" series by Paul Kearney. the series was recently dropped by Bantam, but is due to be published by Solaris Books once legal matters have been sorted.

History

Origins

Rol's mother was Amelie, supposedly a descendant of the Weren race, a pre-human race with superhuman qualities, often referred to as Angels or Demons. The Weren bred with humans when their numbers diminished thousands of years ago and so many humans thenceforth contained Weren blood, sometimes merely making them beautiful and talented individuals, sometimes warping their bodies into monsters called the Fallen or Half-Trolls.

Amelie’s parents, Ardisan and Emilia, were of the former descendants. However it is later revealed that Amelie was actually an ancient, powerful, violent spirit cast into pure Weren form and given a soul.

Rol’s father is actually the last of the original Weren, Cambrius Orr, who fled to undiscovered lands because all his half-human children were Fallen and he wished to protect them from being slain to purify the Weren blood. He set himself up as the Mage-King of Kull and has survived for thousands of years in order to sire Rol. How he met Amelie is as-of-yet unknown. Both his parents, therefore, have pure Weren blood, so Rol is not at all human, but rather an “Angel” of sorts.

Early life

Rol was brought up by his Grandfather, Ardisan, on the fishing island of Dennifrey, with two “foster parents”, Morin and Ayd. These too are actually Golems created by Ardisan’s magic to protect Rol as a child. He was taught nothing of his heritage, believing he was a human, but was socially isolated from other children because of his Weren blood, which usually forms a mental barrier between ordinary people and Rol. In one particularly stormy winter, whilst Rol (now 15) was caring for his family’s boat, the "Eyrie", he was visited by a strange man, possibly an incarnation of the Secondary god (i.e. a divinity who was not the Supreme God, the Creator) of storms, Ran. This man marked Rol’s hand after a confusing conversation. Then he vanished.

Rol returned to his home to find it threatened by a mob who felt that Ardisan had summoned the appalling weather with his magic. Such a mob had previously killed Rol’s grandmother, Emilia. They attacked the house, and eventually slew the Golems, but Ardisan and Rol fled, after the former was wounded by a crossbow bolt. He told Rol to flee to a man called Michael Psellos in the foreign city of Ascari before dying. Rol sailed there over several days on the Eyrie.

Life in Psellos’ Tower.

Rol quickly found Psellos’ abode in a Tower on the outskirts of the city. However, he was badly wounded by a young woman answering the door, who we later learn to be Rowen. When he recovered, Psellos made him a low servant in his household. However, one day Rowen, who is Psellos’ assassin and prostitute as well as apprentice, doesn’t return from an assignment. Psellos goes to check on her and Rol follows. He ends up rescuing Rowen, killing three criminals in the process. Thence Psellos tells him of his Weren blood and has Rowen train him as a killer, at which he excels.

Rowen falls in love with Rol and, after having sex, they plot together to kill the evil Psellos with some aid. They succeed, but a remnant of Psellos, made by his magic, informs them that they share the same mother, Amelie, hence committing incest. This obviously drives the pair apart, although they still love each other.

Life at sea

Rol then becomes a sea-man in despair. After 7 years, he encounters an old friend, Gallico the Half-Troll. They are forced to go to the pirate city of Ganesh Ka, which they come to protect from the Empire of Bionar.

Later another face from the past comes from Bionar to seek Rol’s aid. Rowen has become its Queen and needs help to secure her kingdom. He goes to help, but all is not as it seems…

Appearance and character

Rol is supposedly incredibly good-looking and irresistible to the opposite sex. He has pale green eyes, red-gold hair and is very tall and well-built. He is very moral and dislikes killing in general, especially unarmed opponents. However, he has a strong instinct for self-preservation. He still loves Rowen, his sister, and has only 2 close friends: Elias Creed, the pirate, and Gallico.

Having been trained by Rowen, a talented Weren-blood assassin, Rol is a capable killer, and can easily avoid detection by normal humans and survive wounds which would kill mortals. He also owns a sword, named Fleam, which is both superior in quality to normal blades and appears to contain a spirit, linked somehow to Rol’s mother, which aids Rol in combat and thirsts for blood.

Most potently of all is his ability, uncontrolled, to transform into a deadly killer with “Angelic” wings of terrible light, and light glowing behind his eyes. In this state he becomes invincible and slays his foes with ease, now being possessed of inhuman speed, agility and strength. Linked to this is the recent discovery that Rol may have some associations with the Angel of Death, and The Day of Judgement.

References

Further reading

* Cooke, Paul. (November 6, 2004) Birmingham Post " [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=GdQcqkGnRvzRvnJ06pGdByGylNfJqTP2l4VLyJv1JXz0fp0mZCLg!674336169?a=o&d=5007609089 Books: Reviews: The mark of a good read. The Mark of Ran by Paul Kearney, Bantam Press. pounds 10.99. Reviewed by Paul Cooke.] " Section: Features; Page 53.
*The Canberra Times (June 12, 2005) "Take three: Firethorn By Sarah Micklem. HarperCollins. 387pp. $29.95."
* Southland Times (July 9, 2005) "Action and intrigue." Section: Features Books; Page 7.
*ThisisBradford.co.uk (January 6, 2006) "Book Reviews: The Sea Beggars: The Mark of Ran -- Paul Kearney." Section: Features.
*Kallam, Clay. (February 5, 2006) Contra Costa Times "Worlds beyond: Slightly sketchy "Children" builds on series." Section: Features; Page F4.
*Boisvert, Will. (December 8, 2006) Entertainment Weekly " [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1564597,00.html This Forsaken Earth.] " Section: The reviews: Books; Issue 910; Page 100.