Rumi

> "*Scholarship is important, right? As if ancient engravings could be anything but fascinating.*"
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Rumi is a shadowwalker and the main protagonist of Rumi's Riddle.

## Rumi

### Relatives

Unnamed Father † Unnamed Mother †Shy Rumi, Ferocious Rumi, Thoughtful Rumi, and other Unnamed Siblings †

## Appearance

Rumi's first description is of his back being "a beautiful iridescent of yellow and brown" while the rest of him is yellow spotted. From a distance, he is a yellow speck. His eyes are black and unusually large, irises wide and inky. He is said to be smaller than even Lima.

## Personality

Rumi is highly intelligent and knowledgeable. He tends to get carried away with his use of advanced words that other animals don't recognize. This happens especially when he becomes worried. He can also go on tangents when discovering something new, spouting theories and his desire to learn more.

## Biography

### Mez's Magic

Rumi is being pursued by a cane toad also named Rumi when Mez first meets him. After the toad is chased off, Rumi accepts Auriel's invitation in part because the toad would be waiting for him at his home swamp. The frog spends most of his time at the ziggurat studying its carvings, which is what led to the expedition under the stone to find more that would reveal how to stop the Ant Queen. During this time, Rumi is forced to use his wind magic to save unconscious, drowning Gogi. Before this, Rumi had deceived everyone into believing he didn't know what his powers were yet. Even after escaping the caves, Rumi's only witness Mez decides to keep his secret for the moment. This doesn't last long as Rumi activates his magic again to save Mez from Auriel. He is one of the first to be imprisoned in the ziggurat before being freed. He's the only one to stay at the ziggurat during the year off to see what more he can learn from the structure.

### Gogi's Gambit

Rumi learns from the ziggurat of the next lunar eclipse and the existence of the magic lens. Sometime during that year, Sky approaches him, and they become close friends. The bird and frog have another chance to bond when they go off on their own to get the lens from the Cave of Riddles. They are absent for a majority of the book, except for two instances when the rest of the group use Sky's feather to check in on them during their journey. At the final battle, Rumi tricks Gogi into bringing back Auriel with the lens for a powerful ally against the Ant Queen. The frog is also the one to tell the other shadowwalkers to empower the boa with their abilities.

### Rumi's Riddle

Rumi tells the story of his and Sky's quest to retrieve the lens, gets interrupted, and continues later while Mez, Chumba, and Lima are away. He is treated no differently once the source of his guilt is unveiled, despite his fears, for he didn't mean for it to happen. Rumi witnesses Auriel when the snake blocks the magma and contributes his wind to divert the eruption. Rumi almost accidentally kills another soul when Sky ingests his poison. The frog is useful on the ark by controlling its trajectory.

## Trivia

* His full name is Rumi Mosquitoswallow.
* Rumi exudes poison involuntarily from his back when upset.

## Quotes

*“I considered that, but then I realized it’s a cost-benefit decision. There are other eclipse-born to pick up, and increasing our risk of, um, early mortality must have been outweighed by setting them on their way to the ziggurat. If the n-number of surviving eclipse-born is ten, say, then bringing us from ninety percent to sixty percent survival rates will be worth it if and only if Auriel plans to pick up at least 0.9 new eclipse-born. Which seems likely. Fractions of eclipse-born are impossible, of course—well, fractions of surviving eclipse-born are impossible—so if he brings even one more back it’s fine . . . unless all three of us are eaten, which isn’t actually that hard to imagine—”*

-Rumi about Auriel leaving him and his friends alone before getting cut off by Mez in Mez's Magic

"*Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all to you in detail, starting from the very foundations of mathematics!"*

-Rumi to Gogi about ellipses in Gogi's Gambit

'*How wonderful hearts are. And how very fascinating.'*

-Rumi's thoughts about feeling closer to Gogi after revealing his terrible secret in Rumi's Riddle