Mags is the main character in The Collegium Chronicles series and The Herald Spy series. This page will contain Spoilers throughout.
Early Life[]
Mags grew up a slave in the gem mine of Cole Pieters and his family on the very edge of Valdemar's newly expanded border outside the town of Blueflower Hill. He was approximately thirteen years old at the time of the founding of the Heralds' Collegium, sometime after 850 AF. His early life and parents were unknown to him; he was told that they were bandits, killed in a raid by the Royal Guard, and that he was discovered in a cradle in the bandits' camp. Initially cared for by the priests of the local Temple of the Trine, he was quickly adopted by Pieters and taken into slavery. To avoid beatings from Pieters' sons, Liem and Jarrik, Mags literally buried himself in his work, hoping to be freed if he made it to age sixteen.
Mags uncanny ability to find and carefully pry out precious stones, otherwise called "sparklies," from the gem mine earned him the name of Magpie, later shortened to Mags. The children were barely fed, subsisting on soup and burned bread, which was further reduced if they did not find enough gems that day. The children learned the rudiments of reading and writing from the Pieters daughters. This was the only thing that Mags "loved, unreservedly" and considered literacy "a kind of magic."
Chosen[]
While exiting the mine on the first day of frost, Mags sees the entire Pieters family attempting to fight off (what he would later come to realize was) a Herald and two Companions. After a heated debate between Cole Pieters and Herald Jakyr, Mags was literally thrown at the Herald and lobbed onto his Companion's back. He took Mags to a nearby Guard post, where Mags was scrubbed and bathed and provided real clothes for the first time in his life. Only then was he properly introduced to his Companion Dallen. He had not had the chance to make eye contact yet, being so terrified, falling into eyes bluer than the bluest sparkly. He spends a few weeks at the Guard post becoming accustomed to normal food slowly before the ride to Haven.
Mags was an especially shy and private trainee but managed to make two close friends in his first year, Bardic Trainee Lena Marchand and Healer Trainee Bear Tyrell, as well as with the inner circle of Master Soren, head of the Builder's Guild. With the building of the new Heralds' Collegium still underway, there were not enough rooms, so Mags happily lived in a room in Companions Stable. The other trainees gave him his space. The guard of some unknown princes brokering a treaty with the King attempted to beat him up once, to no avail. Also at odds around Mags were Heralds who were upset by the change in herald training from one-on-one apprenticeships to the Collegium classrooms and internships, from which Mags would be one of the first to benefit.
Mags struggled with more bookish subjects such as History, but excelled at Weapons and Riding. While Bard Lena provided additional tutoring on these basic topics, Mags also received special spy and observation training from the King's Own Herald Nikolas. These skills later helped Mags discover who was creating ghost-like apparitions which tormented the supposed foreign princes and their guards, as well as help save Bear from an assassin in the Guard Archives.
Companion[]
He was Chosen by the Companion stallion Dallen.
Gifts[]
Mags has an especially powerful Mindspeech Gift, and developed advanced shielding techniques with the help of his Companion Dallen early in his first year.[1] He also has a very minor Empathy Gift.[2]
Internship[]
Herald Caelen, the Dean of the Heralds' Collegium, managed to convince the Heraldic Circle to count some of the work Mags did with Herald Nikolas towards his first year in the field. The rest of his "internship" was served under the direction of Herald Jakyr, when they were sent away from Haven for safety's sake.[3]
Family[]
- Parents: Li-Inaken and Meric-an
- Companion: Dallen
- Spouse: Amily (King's Own) (Companion Rolan)
- Children:
- Father-in-law: Nikolas (previous Monarch's Own, Herald-Spy) (Companion Evory)
- Cousin: Bey (Beshat) (Sleepgiver Leader) and his wife Anhita; their children:
In the series[]
Mags appears in the following works:
- Foundation, Collegium Chronicles, volume 1
- Intrigues, Collegium Chronicles, volume 2
- Changes, Collegium Chronicles, volume 3
- Redoubt, Collegium Chronicles, volume 4
- Bastion, Collegium Chronicles, volume 5
- Closer to Home, Herald Spy, volume 1
- Closer to the Heart, Herald Spy, volume 2
- Closer to the Chest, Herald Spy, volume 3
- The Hills Have Spies, Family Spies, volume 1
- Eye Spy, Family Spies, volume 2
- Spy, Spy Again, Family Spies, volume 3