- This article is for the Peacemaker. For other uses, see Elspeth (disambiguation).
Also referred to as Elspeth the Second,[1] Elspeth the Peacemaker was a monarch of Valdemar who reigned from 750 AF to 798 AF. Her father King Tyrdel's "war of the harvests" was still ongoing after his death.[2] She "made peace and expanded the borders with treaties and a marriage."[2] Her marriage was to cement an alliance with Iftel, sacrificing her own desire for true love.[3] After her husband died, she still denied her heart by choosing not to marry Bard Kyran, whom she loved deeply.[4][5] She opted to stay unmarried, leaving the option open for a possible alliance to another country. She played her suitors against one another, always to the advantage of the kingdom.[5]
The treaty ending a war between Lineas and Baires, overseen and to be enforced by Valdemar, was just one of many that was signed during her reign.[6]
Elspeth's son Darvi died young, making the unwilling Randale heir to the throne of Valdemar.[4] Upon Elspeth's death at the age of 76, the fragile peace she had built fell apart.[4] This left the nation filled with petty barons trying to carve out their own kingdoms.[7]
Described as a tall,[5] thin, dark-haired woman,[8] Elspeth wore violet perfume.[9] She loved winter, enjoying the cold and the freshly fallen snow. Most all, she enjoyed the peace of winter. While she loved watching her garden come alive in the spring, the season also brought a rise in plotting and tension.[5]
On a minor note, some Haven citizens who had become prosperous under her rule began erecting statues of themselves. She passed a law to curb this, requiring the statues to be of practical use, and for funds to be endowed to maintain them. A lot of public water fountains in modern Haven date from that time.[5][10]
Family[]
- Father - King Tyrdel
- Son - Darvi
- Grandson - Randale
- Great-granddaughter - Jisa[11]
- Great-great-grandson - Chalinel[12]
- Great-great-great-grandchildren - Alain and eleven others[12]
Companion[]
The name of her Companion is not given.
Gifts[]
Her Gifts are unknown, though it was specified that she did not have Mindspeech. She communicated with her Companion in feelings and images,[5] much like Talia and Rolan hundreds of years later.[13]
Monarch[]
There is a timeline for Elspeth's reign.
In the series[]
Elspeth is mentioned in a historical context in many works. She appears personally in just two:
- Magic's Pawn, Last Herald-Mage, volume 1
- "Softly Falling Snow", by Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Changing the World, Valdemar Anthology, volume 5
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Winds of Fate, Chapter 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Intrigues, Chapter 2
- ↑ The alliance with Iftel seems to contradict tales of Iftel's insularity in The Mage Storms and The Mage Winds, not admitting anyone but a merchant through the protected barrier erected by Vkanda after the Cataclysm. However, in By the Sword, Selenay says that Iftel had signed non-aggression treaties with Valdemar.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Magic's Promise, Chapter 2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Changing the World, "Softly Falling Snow" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan
- ↑ Magic's Promise, Chapter 12
- ↑ Note: Can't find source for the petty barons? Only checked The Last Herald-Mage, The Mage Winds, and "Out of the Deep so far.
- ↑ Magic's Pawn
- ↑ Magic's Price
- ↑ Exile's Honor, chapter 6
- ↑ Jisa is not actually a blood-relation; her biological father was Vanyel, not Randale, whose sterility was kept secret. All of the subsequent Royal Line was thus related to Vanyel, up through the "present day" Herald-Mage Princess Elspeth
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chalinel's son Alain is listed in "Out of the Deep" as Elspeth's great-great-grandson, probably inadvertently skipping over Darvi
- ↑ This could indicate that Elspeth's Gift was Empathy. Given the way she forged and held alliances for decades, that then disintegrated at her death, this would make sense.