Overview of the courtesan guild of Terre d’Ange, the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers, also called the “Night Court”.

• Anael
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of L’Agnace
  • Scions give off an apple scent
  • Taught husbandry to Terre d’Ange
  • “Star of Love”
• Asmodel
  • A courtier of hell under Kushiel
• Azza
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Azzalle
  • Invented the sextant
  • Committed the sin of pride
• Camael
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Camlach
  • Warrior
• Cassiel
  • Companion of Elua
  • Not a founder of a specific part of Terre d’Ange
  • The “Perfect Companion”
  • Sole companion of Elua who didn’t turn away from the One God
  • Priests pledge to serve and protect the scions of Elua; they also
    take a vow of celibacy
  • Called an “apostate” by the Yeshuites
• Eisheth
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Eisande
  • Patroness of actors (gave D’Angelines music and story)
  • Known for gentleness
  • Taught D’Angelines how to lie
  • Scions skilled at storytelling and healing
• Elua
  • Founder of Terre d’Ange
  • Born when the blood of Yeshua (son of God) mixed with the Magdelene’s
    tears and then quickened by Mother Earth
  • Espoused the precept “Love as thou wilt.”
  • Scions are the royalty of Terre d’Ange
• Kushiel
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Kusheth
  • The angel of punishment
  • His symbol is three keys (for the portals to Hell)
  • Marked Phèdre as his own
• Mara
  • Daughter of Naamah and a condemned man
  • Handmaiden of Kushiel
  • Cursed and always veils her eyes
• Mikael
  • Commander-in-Chief of the One God’s Host
  • Took the book of Raziel from Lilit, and cast it into the ocean
• Naamah
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Namarre
  • Patron-goddess of the Night Court
  • Lay with strangers for money to support Elua
• Rahab
  • Angel of the One God, fallen and punished for disobedience
  • Father of the Master of the Straits
  • “Prince of the Sea” — by Yeshuites
  • “Lord of the Deep” — by sailors
• Sammael
  • Angel of the One God
  • Took the book of Raziel from Edom, and threw it into the waters
• Shemhazai
  • Companion of Elua
  • Founder of Siovale
  • Gave the written word to the D’Angelines
  • Treasured knowledge and learning

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series is set in a rather skewed Renaissance-type world loosely modeled on our own as you can see by looking at the map and at the place names.

For example, Hellas would be Greece, Alba is Great Britain, Menekhet is Egypt, etc.

Terre d’Ange, of course, is France.

This doesn’t detract from the story (from what I’ve experienced), and tends to give an exotic flavor to places we’re already familiar with. *s*

The list of lands are, in alphabetical order (with Terre d’Ange last — but never least!):

• Alba
  • Bryn Gorrydum
  • Clunderry
  • Dobria
  • Innisclan
  • Three Sisters
• Aragonia
  • Amilcar
  • New Carthage
• Bhodistan
• Caerdicca Unitas
  • La Serenissima
  • Lucca
  • Milazza
  • Tiberium
• Carthage
• Ch’in
• The Chowat
• Cythera
• Drujan
  • Darsãnga
• Eire
• Empire of the Sun
• Ephesium
• Euskerria
• The Flatlands
• Gotland
• Hanzu
• Hazaran
• Hellas
• Illyria
  • Epidauro
• Jebe-Barkal
  • Debeho
  • Meroë
• Khebel-im-Akkad
  • Nineveh
  • Tyre
• Kriti
  • Phaistos
  • The Temenos
• Menekhet
  • Iskandria
• Nubia
• Saba
  • Tisaar
• Skaldia
  • Maarten’s Crossing
  • Norstock
• Tatar Territory
• Terra Nova
• The Umaiyyat
• Vralia
  • Miroslas
  • Tarkov
  • Vralgrad
• Terre d’Ange

{Note: to be edited as needed.}

from the back cover ~

I had spoken the truth but it was a cruel, harsh truth, and not one I welcomed. Love came at a price. If Terre d’Ange was not to bear the cost of it, I would have to do it. The deed that had been left unspoken.

Having learned a lesson about thwarting the gods, Imriel and the royal heir Sidonie confess their affair, only to see the nation boil over in turmoil as a result. Many cannot forget the betrayals of Imriel’s mother, who plunged their country into war.

According to the Queen’s decree, the only way the lovers can be together is if Imriel performs an act of faith: search the world for his infamous mother and bring her home to be executed for treason.

But just as he and Sidonie prepare for another long separation, a dark, foreign force casts a shadow over Terre d’Ange. With their world suddenly turned upside down, alliances of the unlikeliest kind are made, and Imriel and Sidonie learn that the god Elua always puts hearts together apurpose.

First Printing: 2008

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

from the back cover ~

My blood beat hard in my veins and hammered in my ears, like the sound of bronze wings clashing. And I understood for the first time what it meant that Kushiel, the One God’s punisher, had loved his charges too well…

The son of Terre d’Ange’s most infamous traitors and the adopted son of its greatest champions, Imriel de la Courcel returns from his year at university a little older and a little wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. He and Sidonie, the Queen’s daughter and heir to the throne, begin a torrid, forbidden affair–until Imriel’s obligations as a royal family member compel him to marry an Alban princess.

By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie transgress their religion’s central precept: Love as thou wilt. And when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d’Ange, seek to use the lovers’ passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice.

Before the end, Kushiel’s justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.

First Printing: 2007

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

from the back cover~

It is whispered that Kushiel’s lineage carries the ability to perceive the flaws in mortal souls, to administer an untender mercy. I sense its presence like a shadow on my soul…the memories of blood and branding and horror, and the legacy of cruelty that runs in my veins. I whisper to myself over and over…

I will try to be good.

Imriel de la Courcel’s blood parents are history’s most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d’Ange’s greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies, and there are many who would see the young prince dead–out of fear that he has inherited his birth mother’s dangerous gifts and craving for power. As he comes of age, plagued by dark yearnings, Imriel shares their fears. Searching for wisdom, the prince is trapped instead in a web of manipulation and murder, where Imriel must face his greatest test: to find his true self.

First printing: 2006

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

from the back cover~

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good … and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre no Delaunay is a woman pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Her path has been strange and dangerous, and through it all the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, but he is sworn to her and he has never violated his vow: to protect and serve.

But Phèdre’s plans put Joscelin’s pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture, a bargain he struck with the gods–to take Phèdre’s place as a sacrifice and save a nation. Phèdre cannot forgive–herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death.

The search will bring Phèdre and Joscelin across the world, to distant courts where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world.

And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.

First printing: 2003

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

from the back cover~

Mighty Kushiel of rod and weal
Late of the brazen portals
With blood-tipp’d dart a wound unhealed
Pricks the eyen of chosen mortals

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre no Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phèdre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber–and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.

When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost every thing she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren’t far off the mark.

The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre’s brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown . . . and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

First Printing: 2002

Cover art by John Jude Palencar

from the back cover ~

When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity on me.

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good … and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre no Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission … and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundation of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair … and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she hold dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villianess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel’s Dart–a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.

First Printing: 2001

Cover art by John Jude Palencar