Emelan

Emelan is a fictional realm that provides the main setting of the Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce, primarily in the capital city of Summersea and the nearby temple of Winding Circle. Of the follow-up books, only Magic Steps of the quartet The Circle Opens and the opening sequence of the standalone book The Will of the Empress take place in Emelan.

Geography

Overview

The map of Emelan and the surrounding countries is noticeably based on the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, both in geographical features and in culture.

Emelan itself resides on the northern shore of the Pebbled Sea, the fictional equivalent of the Mediterranean sea. Its location parallels that of Greece on the world map, extending a peninsula surrounded by many islands of various sizes into the sea. However, Emelan seems to extend over a larger and more diverse territory.

Notable locations in Emelan

1. Summersea, Emelan's capital city, is home to Duke Vedris IV, Pasco Acalon and Yazmín Hebet.
   1. The Mire is the city's poorest district, outside the city walls. Much of the plot of Briar's Book takes place in Urda's House, a volunteer-run hospital in the Mire.
2. Winding Circle, a temple-city of the Living Circle religion just outside Summersea. Winding Circle is a center for the learning of ambient magic, equivalent to Lightsbridge university for academic magic. While the temple serves as a school for the general population, once students are sixteen they must enter novitiate in the temple, or leave.
   1. Discipline Cottage is a house run by Dedicate Rosethorn and Dedicate Lark, and serves as home to 'special cases', such as powerful ambient mages, or students who don't get along with the general studentry during their education. The Circle of Magic quartet tales place primarily in Discipline, during the education of the four protagonists.
3. Gold Ridge Valley, a mountainous county in the north of Emelan, the setting of Daja's Book. The valley draws the wealth it is named after from its saffron crocus beds and copper mines, but at the time in which the book takes place had been suffering a three-year drought that severely damaged the crocus plants, and its mines were depleted. The valley's economy was restored when new copper beds were discovered, and a magical working melted some of the Dalburz glacier using the heat of a forest fire.

Neighboring countries

1. Sotat (birthland of Briar Moss) to the east. Sotat's capital is Hajra. Hajra's poorest quarter is called Deadman's District, and is the place where Briar spent most of his childhood.
2. Qalai to the north-east.
3. Lairan to the north.
4. Gansar to the north-west.
5. Anderran (birthland of Dedicate Rosethorn) to the west.

Other countries in the Emelan Universe

1. Capchen, birthland of Trisana Chandler, and its capital city, Ninver (name possibly derived from the biblical city of Nineveh, from the Book of Jonah). The temple city of Stone Circle, where Niklaren Goldeye found Tris, is located outside of Ninver.
2. Hatar Island, an island in the Pebbled Sea where Niklaren Goldeye finds Sandry after both her parents died of smallpox.
3. The Empire of Namorn, birthland of Sandry's mother, the setting of Cold Fire and the 2005 standalone novel The Will of the Empress.
   1. Cold Fire is set in Kugisko, a Namornese city of brightly painted wooden buildings and frozen canals. Pierce has said that she based Kugisko on the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
   2. The Will of the Empress is set in various Namornese locations, including the capital city of Dancruan, and Sandry's ancestral holding, Clehamat Landreg.
4. Chammur, an emirate owing de jure allegiance to Sotat, the setting of Street Magic, the second book in The Circle Opens quartet. Pierce has cited the Jordanian city of Petra as her inspiration for Chammur.
5. Tharios, a city state far to the south of the Pebbled Sea, the setting of Shatterglass, the fourth book in The Circle Opens quartet.
   1. Khapik is Tharios city's entertainment district, home to the fifth caste, the yaskedasi, and the location of the murders that take place in Shatterglass.
6. Olart, a country north of the Pebbled Sea, is the birthland of Dedicate Crane, the younger son of a count in that country.
7. Mbau, a country south of the Pebbled Sea, is the birthland of Dedicate Frostpine.
8. Yanjing, a country based upon China that is ruled by Emperor Weishu. Yanjing is frequently at war with Namorn, and its other neighbors as shown in Battle Magic and The Will of the Empress.
9. Gyongxe, a neighboring country to Yanjing. Dedicate Rosethorn, Briar Moss, and Evumeimei Dingzai travel there in Battle Magic.

History and politics

The Kurchal Empire

All countries between Namorn in the north and Tharios in the south were once a part of the Kurchal Empire, and the language common to these areas is still called Imperial or Imperial Kurchali. Chammur seems to be the exception to this, since in Street Magic Briar Moss takes pains to learn the Chammuri language, and debates about whether or not he should teach his student Evvy to read and write it. This may be for the same reason that Sotat does not enforce its sovereignty over Chammur, since it is located in a distant, mountainous desert. As well, the fall of the Kurchal Empire gave rise to the term "K.F." after the listing of a date, such as 1041 K.F., as frequently mentioned in The Will of the Empress. This probably refers to the term A.D. (in comparison to B.C.) in the Western world.

Politics of Emelan

Emelan is a sovereign duchy with an extensive noble class. The inheritance of the ducal throne seems to be combined with a merit system; references in The Will of the Empress reveal that Duke Vedris IV, the current ruler of Emelan, has the power to choose his own heir, through rumors that he is considering displacing his third son (Franzen fer Toren, mentioned in passing and listed in the book's glossary) in favor of his grandniece, protagonist Sandrilene fa Toren.

Politics of other countries

Most countries in the Emelan Universe have monarchic systems of government: Namorn is an empire ruled by Empress Berenene dor Ocmore, Yanjing is an empire (possibly based on China, as it is called the Empire of Silk) ruled by Emperor Weishu, Chammur is an emirate and the noble class is abundant almost everywhere. One prominent exception to this rule is the city state of Tharios, which is ruled by an Assembly, although it, too is an oligarchy effectively ruled by the first and highest caste. The caste system in Tharios operates on a principle of divine privilege similar to the one nobility works on.

Known conflicts in the world of Emelan include:

1. Invasion of Gyonxe by the Yanjing Empire, referenced by Briar in The Will of the Empress. Battle Magic shows Briar, Rosethorn, and Evumeimei Dingzai shortly before and during this invasion.
2. Ongoing war between Namorn and Yanjing in the Sea of Grass in north-eastern Namorn, referenced multiple times throughout The Will of the Empress.

Culture

The culture around the Pebbled Sea is strongly based on that of the Middle East. While most locations visited in the books are ethnically mixed, showing characters of apparent Chinese, black, caucasian, Indian, Middle Eastern and multiracial ethnicities, some of the clothing and most of the food consumed in the region have a strong Middle Eastern flavor. The cuisine favors chickpeas, "flatbread", couscous and baklawa, among other things.

By contrast, the Namornese culture has a distinct Russian overtone, and the culture of Tharios is mixed; its city state status and democratic tradition have roots in ancient Greece (as well as many Tharian words being very similar to Greek words - shenos/xenos, kyten/chiton), the caste system is based not on the Indian caste system but on the Japanese Burakumin, and the pleasure district of Khapik is based on traditional Japanese geisha.

Religion

The Living Circle

The temple of Winding Circle belongs to the fictional religion, the Living Circle. It is a polytheistic. nature-worshipping religion, based on the classical elements system of air, fire, water and earth, with two gods, one male and one female, dedicated to each element. A temple is dedicated to each of the four elements within each Living Circle temple-city.

The philosophy of the Living Circle is based on harmony and balance, and opposition of fanaticism. Liberal about sex in general and homosexuality in particular, Dedicates of the Living Circle are not celibate, but are discouraged from pursuing either marriage or children at the expense of their devotion to their gods.

While the Living Circle doesn't discourage sex (though some Air temple devotees, particularly the most purely intellectual ones, don't go for it because it messes up their thought processes, and they spend their days trying to become purely creatures of the mind) (no, Crane is not one of those--he likes plants, remember!), the temples do discourage handfasting/marriage and having children, because legal relationships and children tend to distract the mind and spirit from complete devotion to the gods. Moreover, such ties to a particular place mean that a dedicate is not free to simply go where s/he is ordered to go. This wasn't an issue in the first Circle quartet because the dedicates we knew were bound to teach the four, but most dedicates--including ours, in the past--were sent anywhere the temple council saw fit to send them. A spouse and kids would interfere.
The whole point to taking vows is that you dedicate yourself first and foremost to the service of your gods, then to your temple, then to the Living Circle. All other attachments come after that. If you can't live with that, you can resign your vows honorably.

Tamora Pierce on the Living Circle, SheroesCentral, June 28, 2005.

In many ways it resembles a mix of Buddhism and Shintoism, with its acceptance of the broad and often contradictory panapoly of life and human relationships, and its belief that the only real morality is in harmony and balance with your world.

Tim Liebe on the Living Circle, SheroesCentral, January 3, 2004.

Other Gods

Various minor, specialized gods exist alongside the worship of the Living Circle. These include trickster gods dedicated to thieves such as Lakik, gods of law enforcement such as Harrier the Clawed, and other professional gods.

Traders have two gods, Trader Koma and Bookkeeper Oti, and also pay homage to their ancestors with religious ceremony, altars and incense.

Namorn has its own pantheon of gods, which is also, to an extent, base on the classical elements. Hospitals are named after Yorgiry, the goddess of healing.

Tharios worships the All-Seeing, and an assortment of minor gods.

Types of magic

Academic magic

Academic magic follows the traditional fantasy genre rules for use of magic. It is a potential that only exists in some individuals, born mages, which can be detected by magic sniffers, sight-mages who specialize in discovering children with magical potential. Magical education may take place in temples, such as Winding Circle, or universities, such as Lightsbridge. At some point during the training the mages choose their own specialty, and once their training is complete they receive a certificate in the form of a medallion bearing their specialty and the names of their primary teachers.

Mages are also entitled to choose new surnames for themselves that will declare their specialty to potential employers. Niklaren Goldeye chose his name because his specialty is seeing things that most people, even other mages, cannot see. By contrast, all four protagonists of the series have chosen to keep their given names—although Briar Moss merely kept the name he chose when Niklaren found him.

Ambient magic

Ambient magic, although it also exists as a potential from birth and cannot be manufactured, operates on a different principle. It is tied to a specific craft, power or raw material, ranging from carpentry to dance to weather. Ambient mages can only work with the craft their magic is tied to. Ambient mages are rarer than academic ones, at a ratio of about one to four. Both the Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series focus on the mechanics of ambient magic, shifting viewpoints to show several different types.

The existence of ambient mages is one of the reasons why magic is such a commonplace thing in the Emelan Universe. It manifests as just another aspect of an artisan's expertise, and exemplifies the philosophy that magic exists in all things, no matter how seemingly mundane. This distinguishes it from other fantastical magic systems, which often manifest as fire or lightning, but rarely as weaving, smithing and other daily crafts.

The Emelan canon

Canonical novels set in the Emelan Universe.

Circle of Magic

The Circle of Magic quartet:

1. Sandry's Book, U.K. title The Magic in the Weaving.
2. Tris's Book, U.K. title The Power in the Storm.
3. Daja's Book, U.K. title The Fire in the Forging.
4. Briar's Book, U.K. title The Healing in the Vine.

The Circle Opens

The Circle Opens quartet:

1. Magic Steps.
2. Street Magic.
3. Cold Fire.
4. Shatterglass.

Other novels

1. The Will of the Empress, previous title The Circle Reforged.
2. Melting Stones
3. Battle Magic