Borte

They kept the heir safely behind the walls because the clan couldn't afford to lose her. She showed up anyway, riding a war-eagle out of a burning sky.

Borte is a young ruk-rider and heir to the Eridun clan, in Tower of Dawn — Sartaq's mouthy hearth-sister, wickedly funny and fiercely loyal, betrothed to the one boy she'll insult to his face and fly across a continent to save.

At a glance

KIND: Human ruk-rider — no magic
CLAN: Eridun — heir to the hearth-mother Houlun
RIDES: Arcas, her ruk
HEARTH-SIBLING: Prince Sartaq
BETROTHED: Yeran of the Berlad — loudly, reluctantly
HOW THAT STARTED: She beat him bloody, then got engaged
DEFIED: The order to stay safe — and saved them all
ENDS: Flying the rukhin flank at Orynth

Her people

Who she chose.

Swipe to meet them all

Yeran secondaryYeranmarriedEnter Yeran →

Sartaq secondarySartaqan allyEnter Sartaq →

Nesryn Faliq secondaryNesryn Faliqkept companyEnter Nesryn Faliq →

The one they faced.

The one they faced

The enemy whose war finally reached the khaganate's proud skies.

Swipe to meet them all

Erawan Valg king of MorathErawanHis ilken crossed the sea and hunted their skies — the war that pulled the southern continent in.Enter Erawan →

What she loves

Loudly, and not at all.

Fast mouth, faster ruk — she will mock you before she will thank you, and mean both at once.

Her ruk
Hers before anyone. The one bond she will never trade a barb over.
The sky
Open air and a hard climb. She is only ever fully herself up there.
Her hearth
The aerie that made her. Fierce about it, the way she is fierce about everything.
Yeran
Trades insults with him like it is a sport. It is a sport. It is also the other thing, and she knows it.

Her heart

Yeran

She would sooner bite than admit it, so here it is on her behalf: it is Yeran. Every barb traded hearth to hearth was only ever the long way round to the truth. She circles, she mocks, she calls it nothing — and every rider in the aerie can see exactly what it is.

The long versionRead her whole storyEverything, in one place.Enter the full story

We're Caffeine and Curses. The Library started as my design research — I can't put Manon on a shirt without knowing which way the iron teeth snap — so we keep the notes here where everyone can use them. The pages are fan-made, not official; the licensed designs are in the shop.

Officially licensed