Soldiers who patrol the wall between the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. The soldiers include Ancelstierrean charter mages among their ranks, as charter magic is a more effective defence closer to the Wall and the Old Kingdom. Yrael, also known as Mogget, initially refused to take a side for or against Orannis, and was therefore later enslaved to the Abhorsen by the other immortals. Whenever unbound, he tries to kill the current Abhorsen; but, during Orannis' second binding, he assists in the binding ritual. To Sabriel, Lirael, and Sameth, Mogget appears as a small white cat; to Terciel, Sabriel's father and predecessor as Abhorsen, Mogget adopted a different name, Moregrim, and appeared as an albino dwarf. Mogget cannot use his dwarf-form without the permission of the current Abhorsen or Abhorsen-in-Waiting: Jerizael, the forty-eighth Abhorsen, forbade him from doing so for reasons unknown. At the end of the series, he re-appears as a cat. Nix needed an editor to identify the bits he could improve--not just green light his book because it would obviously sell regardless. He needed an editor to point out things like the Glaring Character Flaw in the prologue that is never resolved. And he SERIOUSLY needed the marketing team to figure out what they were doing and NOT market this as the ultimate love story between Sabriel's parents. It's not. The origin of the name "Abhorsen", according to Garth Nix, is the name of the executioner from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure: "Abhorson".

The bells of necromancy are seven eponymous bells used by necromancers to control the Dead, named after the Seven Bright Shiners who invested themselves in the Charter. From smallest to largest they are: Free Magic Elementals: These are free-willed beings wholly composed of Free Magic. The most common elementals belong to specific "breeds" (such as Stilken, Magrue, Jerreq, or Hish), while the most powerful are unique, or "of a singular nature". Though "many thousands" of Free Magic Elementals escaped the creation of the Charter, most were later imprisoned or enslaved by it. Of the remainder, "no truly dangerous creature of Free Magic has woken in a thousand years, save to the sound of Mosrael and Saraneth, or by a direct summons using their secret names". Some cannot be destroyed except by a Free Magic sorcerer more powerful than they, or by immersion in running water (though Free Magic creatures of the Third Kindred, or those infused with the essence of the Nine, are exempt from this rule). Charter Magic is typically ineffective. garth nix needs to stop trying to write romance subplots. it does not work i am 0% invested in any of the romantic relationships that come into being over the course of his books Pretty good! After struggling with the other two new Old Kingdom books Clariel and Goldenhand, I was a little apprehensive about this prequel. But thankfully I liked this one much better. Not as good as Sabriel, but still the best of the three new books. i really did not care about terciel's chapters like at all. there were also a few sentences here and there where i was reminded "oh right terciel is supposed to have character development" but it felt so forced. honestly i got more a sense of him from sabriel and he was barely even in that one, even in sabriel's memories

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When I got approved for an ARC of Terciel and Elinor, I literally had to stop myself from screaming out loud. I loved Sabriel, enjoyed Lirael, and while I haven't kept up with all the Old Kingdom books, a book that featured Sabriel's parents was a no-brainer. Especially when it's billed as a bit of a romance--I mean, it's all there in the title, the cover, the description. I quote, this is "the never-before-told love story" of Sabriel's parents. The Abhorsens are the lineage who imprison and destroy Dead and Free Magic, wherever it threatens mortal life, though inheritance is not always direct; the next Abhorsen could be a niece or cousin or sibling, rather than the current Abhorsen's child. The Abhorsen combines Charter Magic and Free Magic in its bells to control the dead, righting the wrongs created by Necromancers or Free Magic organisms. The Abhorsens' stronghold, called Abhorsen's House, is located on an island in close proximity to a great waterfall; the associated rapids complement the magical wards of the House in keeping the Dead from accessing it. In Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, the antagonist Hrule calls them "Astarael's get".

Elinor Hallett, the second of the book's dual protagonists, an amateur performer and acrobat who loves the plays of "Charlotte Breakspear." She lives far South of the Wall, completely ignorant to The Old Kingdom and its wonders and dangers, until one day they are brought to her doorstep. She will be Sabriel's mother.Charter Sendings: Charter Sendings are servants or sentries constructed entirely of Charter Marks. Many may only act within a given function, which can be of indefinite complexity. Certain fixtures excepted (such as a surcoat or insignia), Charter Sendings do not possess a concrete physical shape, and derive identity primarily from their function. They are capable of emotive response, but show little desire except to fulfill their mandates. The revelation that "Charlotte Breakspear" wrote many of William Shakespeare's plays with minor changes is some of the strongest evidence that Ancelstierre is an alternate universe of 1920s'-era England. Two hundred years before Sabriel, the reigning Queen and her two daughters were murdered by Kerrigor and their blood used to break two of the six Great Charter Stones. This event was followed by two hundred years of interregnum.