Keris Verginix

Keris Verginix is a fictional character from The Edge Chronicles fantasy novel series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. She is featured in the spin off book, "The Lost Barkscrolls" as the main character of the novella "The Slaughterer's Quest".

Keris is the daughter of sky pirate captain, Twig, and slaughterer, Sinew Tatum. She marries Shem Barkwater, son of Cal Barkwater, brother of Tem Barkwater, who was featured in both the Quint and Twig books.

Appearances

In The Slaughterer's Quest", Keris is the stories protagonist and is introduced living as a slaughterer in a Deepwoods village (a parallel shared by Twig who grew up amongst Woodtrolls) with her uncle, Gristle. She dreams of being reunited with her father who left her when she was only 3 years old. One day, a group of webfoot goblins from the Freeglades passes into the village to trade and pass on news of a "stone sickness" that has been infecting the buoyant flight rocks of Sky ships. Hearing this, Keris wants to know whether Twigs skyship had crashed as all the others had, so journeys with the goblins to their home to seek an answer from an ancient clam at the bottom of the Third Great Lake.

On arriving at the lake, Keris is chosen by the clam to be spoken to- even though she is an outsider. She is taken down to the clam where it connects with her mind and shares its memories and thoughts- confirming that Twig is alive somewhere. Keris is then thrust out of the lake and covered in a sparkling clamdust silt which she later uses to seed the South lake of the Freeglades.

For some time after returning from the meeting with the great clam, Keris is feverish and is nursed to health by a local spindlebug, Tweezel who tells Keris the fate of her Grandparents. She is then taken by him to meet a mysterious character on the Lullabee Island who can reveal the further answers she is looking for. When she meets her, Keris discovers that the character is her grandmother- Maris- who confirms that she will one day be reunited with her father.