Alfvin – The firstborn son of Einarr and Runa. He is a slender child from a young age, and his father elects to train him primarily in the spear and the staff. As Einarr promised, at the age of eight he leaves his father’s Hold and travels to Attilsund to study runes and divination under the Oracle there. He is fully grown when he returns to take his place as his father’s heir, and although he does not himself have a martial temperament he gains the respect of the Thanes and Jarls for his wisdom and foresight.

Arkja – Followed Einarr to the end of his days, forever attempting to prove his worth and his courage. Eventually he managed to earn his own ship. Arkja never quite grasped that the only one who needed to accept his courage was himself, however, and so he took ever more reckless risks – so long as the only one in danger was his own person. He was killed on the high seas, locked in combat with a dangerous band of freeboaters. Neither ship was ever recovered.

Bardr – Eventually gives up trying to convince Stigander to take a fifth wife when he finally finds one of his own: a baker from the port city below the hold.

Beatrix – On her return home to the Imperial capital, Beatrix Maria Gundahar discovered and foiled a plot that would have seen her placed on the throne. She then went on to take a much more active role in the Order of the Valkyrie, with Captain Liupold as her second, and in the new era of the Althane it became as much a diplomatic Order as a martial one, beginning a new age of peace between the Empire and the Northern Clans. She did, eventually, marry a young Jarl of the north, although she never quite extinguished the torch she carried for the Althane himself – who had, after all, rescued her from certain doom on their first meeting.

Einarr Stigandersen – Even after his ascension as Althane, there were holdout clans, and so Einarr spent the next decade strengthening alliances and consolidating his power before settling comfortably into court – although not too comfortably. Once every few years, a matter would show up which required the Cursebreaker’s direct attention. It was not until he was well into his third decade that he found himself face-to-face with an honest-to-goodness dragon on one of these quests, and with only his own wits and sorcery he brought the dragon down – but not without a price. Einarr would go down as the longest-lived Cursebreaker in history, but it was the dragon’s curse which brought him low. He was survived by his wife Runa and their baker’s dozen children. Alfvin, the eldest, succeeded to the throne of the Althane, and his brothers and sisters scattered to the four winds – either by marriage or as emissaries and sailors.

Erik – After the destruction of the cult, he swore off sailing and settled down to live in Breidelstein with Irding. This lasted approximately six months, after which point he gathered together his own crew of freeboaters and went back out to sea. There are some who claim his is not a free boat, per se, but rather one of Stigander’s spies out on the high seas. He almost certainly has children other than Irding, but in spite of half-hearted attempts to look for them he never finds one.

Eydri – Eydri eventually allowed herself to be won over by Naudrek, and they followed Einarr to the Althane’s Hall and had many sons. While her voice did improve over time, the song magic she had used to slow Malùnion enough that he could be defeated took a permanent toll. She, along with Runa and Hrug, advised Einarr on matters of lore and magic, mitigating as much as they could the chaos wrought by his status as Cursebreaker and the direct attention of Wotan.

Finn – Finn stayed on with Einarr’s crew, searching for a way to expunge his failures from Blàvik and from Mýrarhöfn. Driven by this need, he eventually became the top scout on the Heidrun, and stood just below Naudrek and Hrug among his advisors.

Hrug – Eventually receives a prosthetic hook from Jorir to replace his missing hand, but never returns to life as a swordsman. While it is not perhaps as honorable as life as a warrior, he finds the mastery of runes oddly satisfying. One of Einarr’s primary magic advisors on the Althane’s Council, his status as a mute hampers him very little.

Irding Eriksson – When Erik goes back out to sea, he takes Irding as his Ship’s Mate. One lesson he learned very well during his time on the Vidofnir: there are old sailors, and there are bold sailors, but there are no old, bold sailors. No-one would accuse him of cowardice, but after the retaking of Breidelstien and the destruction of the cult he learned a degree of cunning that served his crewmates well.

Jorir (& Jennora) – Jorir and Jennora were among the first svartdvergr to live openly among the humans of the clans, but they were far from the last. When it became known that one of their own was liege man to the Althane himself, no few svartdvergr of Nilthiad journeyed up the Paths of Stone to join them above ground. Thus, in addition to being among Einarr’s most trusted friends, they also served as emissaries for the dvergr settlement that soon sprang up around them – and de-facto elders, for while they may not have been oldest within the settlement they were longest among the humans.

Kaldr Kerasson – After the ascension of the Althane, Kaldr took up the collection of small statuary, and it became his custom to carry a small figurine somewhere about his person. As deeply as he admired Einarr, however, his loyalty was ever and always to Breidelstein, and so he became one of Stigander’s chief advisors – and frequent emissary to the Althane’s court. Everyone was shocked when he eventually took a Singer to wife – and Reki, at that.

Naudrek – Wooed Eydri for several years before finally winning her over. Developed a friendly rivalry with Jorir and Jennora, but in the Althane’s Hall only the two dvergr and the Lady Runa herself held more sway over the Althane. These five formed the core of the Althane’s Council.

Reki Fjorisdottir – Reki’s influence in Stigander’s court was rivaled by few – notably Kaldr, with whom she developed a deep rapport and, eventually, affection. They continued in Stigander’s service, and when Einarr’s second son was named Thane they served him for many years, as well.

Runa Hroaldrsdottir – Around the birth of their fifth child, Runa determined that Einarr had not only the attention of Wotan but also of Freya (and Thor, and Freyr) – else why would it be so easy for them to conceive, when neither of their parents had such fortune? When she was not absorbed in the day-to-day running of their household (for, even with an excellent steward, there were many matters in the Althane’s Hall that required her direct attention) she would join with Eydri and Hrug to advise Einarr on matters of magic.

Sivid – After Einarr’s ascension as Althane, Sivid went wandering on his own, chasing the answer he got from the Oracle. No-one ever learned if he managed to break his curse or not, but a decade later he returned to Breidelstein with a wife in tow and much aged to live a quiet life among his former crew. He had, apparently, given up the dice entirely, but whether that was because something truly terrible had happened or because his wife disapproved no-one was quite brave enough to ask.

Stigander Raenson – Stigander lived well into his 80s as Thane of Breidelstein, and with the help of his advisors and friends managed to undo most of what the Weavess – whose skeleton still clings to a rock in the harbor – and the usurpr Ulfr managed to destroy. After burying four wives, Stigander elected not to remarry again, and when he was not busy with putting down over-bold raiders or rebuilding his home he spent an inordinate amount of time playing with his gaggle of grandchildren. He legally adopted Einarr’s second son when the boy was 12 to serve as his heir, as none of the Thanes would agree to give Breidelstein any more power than it already commanded as family to the Althane.

Troa – After the destruction of the cult and their return to Breidelstein, Troa takes to the hunt. Before too many years have passed, he has built himself a woodsman’s cabin on the shores of a lake behind Raenshold, where he lives peacefully as a hermit. There are rumors that he is the guardian of an artifact, but no-one is quite sure what it is or who might have entrusted it to him.

Tyr – gave up sailing but could not quit the sea. He could be found until the end of his days either with his grandchildren in Breidelstein city or at the port, mending nets or doing whatever was needful to keep him near the water.

Vali – Einarr and his companions kept Vali’s jar with them, in hopes that they could find a way to free their spirit friend from his confinement – and that the madness from the Paths of Stone would have passed when they did. This, though, is a story for another day

Wotan – Continued to torment Einarr until the end of the Cursebreaker’s days. Was finally devoured by Fenrir during Ragnarok.

And that, as they say, is the end. If there are any other characters you would like a little note about what they do after the end of the series, say so in the comments and I will try to answer.

As for what comes next, I have a few non-serial books I intend to finish up and bring out this year. As usual, word will come here first. There’s

• the mystery of who is trying to destroy the knightly order of unicorn riders, and
• a desperate quest to stop whatever mad plan Aleister Crowley has set in motion that required him to kidnap a train full of injured POWs.
• And, if I can manage it, a sequel (finally!) for Advent of Ruin.

I am also working on plotting my next serial – hopefully with fewer dangling plot threads this time! A college student finds himself plunged into the dangerous world of the mythological beasts when he looks up one evening to see what looks like a dragon and an enormous bird engaged in a dogfight in the skies over Indianapolis – a dogfight no-one else seems to be able to see.