Erran

## Appearances

The Shadow of What Was Lost
An Echo of Things to Come
The Light of All That Falls

**Erran** is an Augur working in secret for Northwarden Elocien Andras, alongside Fessi and Kol. He is the longest-serving palace Augur and has the closest working relationship with the Duke, which he covers for by pretending to be his manservant. He quickly befriends Asha when she arrives in Ilin Illan, and supports her in her position as Scribe.

## Description

### Appearance

Erran is short and thin, with a pallid complexion and mousy hair. His unremarkable appearance allows him to blend in as a palace servant.

### Personality

Erran is shy, but friendly and kind. He makes fast friends with the other palace Augurs, and openly welcomes Asha when she joins them as a new Scribe. He is loyal to Elocien's cause, believing deeply that Augurs have a duty to protect Andarra under the Duke's leadership.

Despite his outwardly positive attitude, Erran hides a somewhat melancholy core. The grim visions of his future leave him resigned to his fate, aware that he may not have long to experience life. To this end, he prioritizes protecting his friends and allies to the best of his ability, and hopes to leave behind a world they can enjoy.

## History

### The Unintentional Puppeteer

Years ago, when Erran's Augur powers were revealed, he was turned into Administration and eventually found himself at the hands of the Northwarden. The Duke was incredibly severe with his punishment, keeping Erran in private captivity and relentlessly beating him almost to the point of death (as he had four other young Augurs, all of whom died in captivity).

Nearing the point of death, Erran was pushed to his limit and unintentionally began Controlling Elocien in self-defence. He originally planned to free himself, erase Elocien's memories and escape, but he realized that others would likely share his fate. At first, he spent his days in a Lockroom, simply focusing on Controlling the Northwarden and suppressing his violent urges. After some time, he developed a link to the man, which made his Control more subconscious and caused his own thoughts and ideas to bleed into Elocien's, overwriting the Duke's personality.

This was a gradual process, and Elocien's original personality occasionally attempted to resist the Control. Upon discovering that Prince Torin was Gifted, the intense rage and disgust Elocien experienced when looking at his son caused Erran to send him away to Caladel — fearing that the Northwarden's true nature would re-emerge and cause him to kill his own son. Erran continued to battle Elocien's consciousness for dominance over the man, and eventually won out, stifling it every time it tried to take over.

As time progressed further, the Control became essentially permanent. Elocien began to act as Erran would, but of his own volition. He became more friendly to the Gifted, accepting of Augurs, and harsh on rule-breaking Administrators. With the Northwarden under Control, Erran emerged from hiding, granting himself the public position of Elocien's manservant, though his poor serving ability drew suspicion from the other staff.

### Establishing a Haven

When Fessi and Kol later arrived under similar circumstances to him, Erran forced the Northwarden to adopt them into his service as well, establishing a branch of secret Augurs working within the palace to help Andarra. Erran did not disclose the Controlling to them, and they believed his closeness to Elocien was a result of his long service.

Bearing a remarkably good talent for Reading, Erran used his new position to sense the thoughts of many individuals who passed through the palace or visiting the White Sword tavern to learn more of common folk. He later relayed this information, as well as the visions from the Augurs, as advice to the King using Elocien as his mouthpiece — often aiding Andarra and saving many lives as a result.

Like the other palace Augurs, Erran at some point experienced a vision of his own death. Notably, however, he saw two distinct versions of the event: One in which he was suddenly murdered by Commander Hael, a military officer he had never spoken to, and one in which he was led to a set of gallows and hung alongside other prisoners of war.

## Activities in *The Shadow of What Was Lost*

### Recruiting Asha

Catching wind of Asha's reputation, Erran sneaks into her room alongside Elocien while using a Veil to remain out of sight. He quickly Reads her to ensure her trustworthiness, then reveals himself and the duke as the Elocien attempts to recruit her. He learns of her promise to the Shadraehin, but still considers her history, strengths and knowledge to be valuable, and recommends that Elocien bring her into his service. He follows the Duke as he forcibly appoints her as assistant Representative for Tol Athian.

When Elocien later officially introduces her to the Augurs, he uses his abilities to share a memory with her of the Shadraehin's massacre of Elocien's staff. This convinces her to abandon Scyner's service and join Elocien's team as a Scribe. Erran continues to Read her, verifying her genuine intentions to help them, but eventually stops after Fessi reminds him that Asha may be unnerved by the lack of privacy.

As Elocien departs, he trusts Erran to inform Asha of the palace's workings and her new responsibility as Scribe. Erran takes the opportunity to befriend her by answering her questions, showing her the Scribe's Journal, and sharing the fabricated story of how he came to be at the palace. He warns her of the impending attack from the Blind army, citing the Augurs' common visions of the event. Their conversation is cut short when Elocien returns to introduce Asha to Michal Alac, so Erran departs and promises to show her around the palace another day.

Alac proves to be a tough taskmaster, so Erran is unable to contact Asha for some time after. He visits her in the early hours of the morning to show her Administration's storeroom of confiscated Vessels. He explains that, though Augurs don't have Reserves, anyone can use Vessels if they have been pre-loaded with Essence beforehand. Erran also hands her an old Journal of Augur visions that did not come to pass, explaining that their failure gives him hope that the visions of his own death may be equally untrue.

### Mounting a Rescue

When Asha is kidnapped by Scyner's men, she tells her captor Teran to visit the White Sword and ask for a large man named Erran — hoping that the young Augur will be present to Read the patrons as usual. Her plan succeeds, as Erran reads the captor without being noticed, ascertaining Asha's location. Joined by Kol and Fessi, he sneaks towards the old house and establishes a telepathic link with Asha to guide her as they mount a rescue. The plan succeeds as Fessi uses her time dilation to whisk her out, and Kol brutalizes the men in retaliation for their poor treatment of Asha.

### Preparing for the Invasion

At Elocien's request, Erran joins Asha in sorting through the stockpile of confiscated Vessels to find some that may be of use during the Blind army's attack. As he cautiously tests each one, Asha asks him to consider restoring her memories that were wiped when she turned into a Shadow.

Before he can decide, they are interrupted as Administrator Ionis enters the room, and Erran quickly tosses a Veil to Asha so she can hide herself. Ionis questions why Erran is in the storeroom, and insists on verifying Elocien's approval. Erran buys Asha some time to escape before Ionis shuts the door, then accompanies the Administrator to the duke's office, where he is swiftly vindicated.

He leaves, then is later rejoined by Asha, who firmly insists on having her memories restored. He agrees, and the process goes well, but he is horrified by what he discovers — as is Asha, who collapses to the ground. After nearly a day, she wakes up unscathed, much to Erran's relief. She shares a plan to expose Ilseth Tenvar and, with Erran's support, she later pulls it off without a hitch.

### The Blind Invasion

During the Blind invasion of Ilin Illan, Erran retreats to his favourite Lockroom, where he can concentrate on managing Elocien's actions during the attack. The first vision of his death plays out exactly as he had Seen, except it happens to Elocien. Realizing that his Control of the man is coming to an end, Erran uses Elocien's last words to beg Wirr not to heal him and change the Tenets to allow Andarra's Gifted to fight against the Blind. He releases Control of the Northwarden, but the impact of the trauma is great, causing him to collapse to the ground, bleeding from his head.

At the scene of Elocien's death, Asha witnesses events play out exactly like Erran's first Vision. Suddenly understanding the truth, she rushes to find Erran in the palace, and locates him with the help of Fessi and Kol. They find him collapsed on the floor and, after checking for injuries, ask him to reveal what he's been hiding.

Erran confesses the truth of how he came to work for Elocien, and how he gradually used his powers of Control to fundamentally change the nature of the Duke. Asha and the other Augurs are sympathetic, believing that Erran did the right thing, but wish he had been more transparent.

The discussion is cut short by Scyner, who has been eavesdropping for an unknown amount of time. He attempts to blackmail the Augurs into working for him, but ends up in a heated verbal exchange with Kol. The conflict escalates, and Kol charges towards the Shadow, only to be impaled several times through the chest by Scyner's sword. Erran tries to help Kol, aware that the other Augur had Seen his death in this scenario, but is unable to move in his weakened state. Scyner leaves, aware that he is unlikely to recruit the Augurs after killing their friend, but tells Erran and Asha that the King is being Controlled, and asks the young Augur to determine who is responsible.

Erran joins the girls in grieving for Kol and considers Scyner's words. Asha suggests telling Laiman Kardai, and Erran agrees that the adviser can be trusted with this information. Leaving Fessi to mourn on her own, the pair seek out Kardai only to discover that the King has begun to act normally — likely indicating that the Control has worn off.

They return to the Lockroom, where Erran telepathically converses with Fessi. The Augurs decide to leave the city, lacking the protection of the Northwarden and fearing exposure from Scyner. They invite Asha to join them, but she declines, unwilling to abandon her friends to the approaching army. They bid her farewell, promising to see her again when they are ready to deal with Scyner, and disappear. Erran uses Elocien's knowledge of sailing to steal an unguarded noble's ship from Ilin Illan's port, and the pair set out for a new destination.

## Activities in *An Echo of Things to Come*

### At Tol Shen

He next appears alongside Fessi when they attempt to establish contact with Davian at Tol Shen. They succeed in reaching him when he is out on an errand, and agree to help him with the Boundary, but warn him that the Shen Elders are power-hungry and not deserving of trust.

When Rohin arrives seeking the Augur amnesty, imprisoning Davian and Controlling all of Tol Shen as well as Ishelle, Erran communicates with Davian telepathically and orchestrates his escape. He also plays a key part in Davian's successful plan to trap Rohin and liberate Tol Shen by erasing Driscin's memory in order to fool the invading Augur. Once things have returned to normal, he sets off with the rest of the Augurs with the hope of repairing the Boundary.

### Repairing the Boundary

On the way to the Boundary outpost he becomes closer with Davian and Ishelle, even criticizing the his callous obliviousness towards her feelings. When she leaves in a huff, he encourages Davian to apologize and make things right — though the opportunity is cut short due to the eletai ambush. He helps stabilize Ishelle once she has been resurrected, and continues with the party on the trek towards the Boundary.

Upon arriving at the Boundary outpost, Erran struggles alongside the other Augurs in comprehending the mechanisms that sustain it. They don't have much time to make progress before Administration arrives, including the new Northwarden Wirr and his mother, Geladra. Fearing retribution for his Control of Elocien, Erran attempts to avoid them, but Asha encourages him to at least clear the air with Wirr. Before he can, however, Geladra pins him down and publicly accuses him of Controlling her husband. Due to an urgent matter with the Boundary, Erran is only able to use time dilation to escape the difficult situation.

As the Banes launch an attack through the severely weakened ilshara, he accompanies Asha to the sea in order to find the hidden location of the Tributary. Once they successfully find it on the hidden island populated by Shadows, he has a surprise reunion with Scyner. While Erran wants to enact revenge, he grudgingly co-operates with the man as he is the only one present who understands how the Tributary works.

As the conflict at the outpost escalates, he telepathically communicates with Davian and Fessi to find out what is happening. Once Ishelle returns through the ilshara, he informs Asha that Davian is willing to stay trapped in Talan Gol for the safety of Andarra, and morosely watches as she enters the Tributary to fix the Boundary. Afterwards, he leaves the island and returns to the Boundary to escort Ishelle back to Ilin Illan.

## Activities in *The Light of All That Falls*

### Defending Andarra

Once the dust from the Bane invasion has settled, Erran returns to the palace to work for the Northwarden once more. After telling Wirr the truth about his control of Elocien, the two are able to establish a respectful working relationship. Wirr repeatedly warns Erran to remember he is no longer living as a Duke, as a few slip-ups cause him to address Kevran as if they are still brothers or look at Deldri like she his daughter.

He helps Wirr test his Oathstone abilities and plays a solid role in the Prince's military training regimen. When Scyner reappears inside Tol Athian, he is immediately skeptical of the Shadow until he is able to Read him. After the older Augur botches his experiment to help Ishelle, Erran solidly punches him for hurting his friend. Erran is present for the subsequent invasion of *eletai*, and helps Wirr defend the citizens relocating to Tol Athian.

When Desriel declares war on Andarra, he supports Wirr in the highly unbalanced conflict, and uses his Augur abilities to engage the gil'shar army. He and Scyner launch a stealth invasion of the Desrielite military encampment in order to destroy the Vessels they use for invisibility. While they are successful in disrupting the military's mobility, the pair are caught and imprisoned within the military camp.

The soldiers assume they are regular Gifted, and imprison them in a cell next to the Pillars. Scyner tells Erran of his plan to escape by outing himself as an Augur, then attempts to kill the boy to ensure he won't interfere. He underestimates Erran's fighting skill, however, and the younger Augur is able to kill him first — though he is heavily injured during the conflict.

By the time Caeden has been imprisoned in the same cell, Erran is resigned to his fate — having recognized his surroundings from the second Vision of his death. He sadly asks the immortal to use the amulet to save Ishelle, then allows himself to be escorted without resistance and faces his execution with dignity.

When Asha, pretending to be a Hunter, breaks into the military camp, she is horrified to recognize her friend's corpse swinging among the gallows. She is forced to ridicule his death in order to fool the Desrielite guards, but inwardly mourns the loss of her friend and remarks upon the peaceful expression he displays in death.