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Utuk'ku seyt-Hamakha, The queen of the Norns of Stormspike.

Overview[]

Utuk'ku Seyt-Hamakha. Norn Queen, mistress of Nakkiga, wife of the late Ekimeniso Blackstaff, mother of Drukhi. After her son died following the death of his wife Nenais'u, Utuk'ku grew embittered and wished to cleanse Osten Ard from the Sudhoda'ya, which led to the schism between the Norns and the Sithi.

The only living creature who was born in the Garden, before the Sithi came to Osten Ard in their ships, she is the oldest of their race.

"Facing the well, in an angular seat of rime-crusted black rock, a figure sat. He could see it clearly, as though suddenly he hovered directly over the terrible blue-burning well. It was cloaked in a white and silver robe of fantastic intricacy. Snowy hair streamed down over its shoulders blending almost invisibly with the immaculate white garments. The pale form lifted its head, and the face was a mass of shining light. A moment later, as it turned away again, he could see that it was only a beautiful, expressionless sculpture of a woman's face . . . a silver mask." (TDC, p. 405)

Utuk'ku wore the silver mask to cover her face out of sheer vanity.

"Blue light bathed the silver mask, touching its contours with pale fire. The face beneath had once been the model for its sculpted, inhuman beauty, but what the mask now covered no living creature could say. The world had made uncountable revolutions since the face of Utuk'ku had disappeared forever behind its gleaming lines." (TDC p.731) "'No one knows why Utuk'ku wears the mask. They say many of her closest counselors and most trusted nobles have taken to wearing them also. Our mother says it is vanity, but she also says that Utuk'ku is not vain of her looks, though back in her youth in the Lost Garden she was known for her beauty.'" (BTW The Silver Tree)

Description[]

Physicality[]

  • She was once beautiful
  • Very, very thin with prominent bones
  • Paper-like white skin

Personality[]

  • Spiteful
  • Cruel
  • Manipulative

History[]

Prior to the Events of The Dragonbone Chair[]

She was born prior to the fall of the Garden. She was a great-granddaughter and favorite of Hamakho Wormslayer. She judged his killers, using the trial as an opportunity to assert control over her clan.

She was once very beautiful - it is said that as she aged Utuk'ku could not stand to be seen as an old woman and so donned her infamous silver mask. However, Hakatri relates to Pamon Kes that his mother, Amerasu says "...it is vanity, but [...] Utuk'ku is not vain for her looks." When Pamon asks for clarification, "Vanity, but not for her looks?", none is given.

Utuk'ku's rule over the Gardenborn[]

Before the Sithi and the Norn parted, Utuk'ku and her husband ruled over all of the gardenborn. They kept the Year-dancing groves. In the aftermath of Drukhi's death Utuk'ku and Ekimenso took all of their people north to Nakkiga, and vowed to never again live with the Sithi. During the negotiation of the separation of their peoples at Sesuad'ra - leaving Jenjiyana and Initri become keepers of the year-dancing groves, making them rulers of the Sithi[1].

Utuk'ku's Mourning[]

Utuk'ku's only son Drukhi died young, following the death of his wife. Utuk'ku has been in mourning ever since - in a way that seems to surpass what is typical for a Sitha or Norn. Examples are:

  • Utuk'ku has a singer learn to sing a poorly performed song, exactly as Drukhi performed it when he was a child. "Each one learns every note and word and intonation perfectly, so that they can sing to the queen just as her son once did." Vordis to Tzoja EOG p. 398
  • Utuk'ku's personal chamber is covered, walls, floor and ceiling, in images of Drukhi's face. "Faces. They were the first thing he saw, spread across every wall of the vast chamber and stretched across its ceiling as well--huge faces, some staring nobly, some grimacing in agony; and every face belonged to the same person. Viyeki has seen those features a thousand times on monuments and murals. He knew them as well as those of his own family. It was Drukhi the White Prince, the queen's martyred son, who stared at this from all directions..." TWC p.59
  • Utuk'ku had statues and mourning places put up throughout Nakkiga, so numerous as to be unavoidable, and a section of the city was named "Avenue of the Martyred Drukhi".
  • Utuk'ku created "Drukhi's Day" during Stone Listener's Moon - a specific day of remembrance that is referenced as a time-keeping measure by those in Nakkiga.
  • Queen's Talons - a special force of warriors - each have a "death song" that states "Yes, I live for the Queen / But I died when her son the White Prince died..." (TWC p.239)

The Dragonbone Chair[]

Stone of Farewell[]

To Green Angel Tower[]

Relationships[]

Family[]

Friends[]

Enemies[]

Monikers[]

  • Utuk'ku Silvermask
  • Utuk'ku the Everliving
  • Utuk'ku Gardenborn

Skills and Abilities[]

  • Telepathy of some sort, able to speak into minds rather than with her mouth
  • Magic

Possessions[]

  • Silver Mask

Quotes[]

Quotes Of[]

Quotes About[]

Notes, Theories, and Trivia[]

References[]

  1. Brothers of the Wind (Kindle Edition) Ch. The Black Worm.
  2. Empire of Grass (Kindle Edition) Ch. 44 p.501
  3. The Witchwood Crown (Kindle Edition) Ch.30 p.384
  4. The Stone of Farewell (Kindle Edition) Ch. 10 p.197
  5. The Stone of Farewell (Kindle Edition) Ch.28 p.557
  6. The Witchwood Crown (Kindle Edition) Ch. 51 p. 644
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