Ringil "Angeleyes" Eskiath (also known as "Gil") is one of the heroes of the saga. He is in his early thirties and is the son of Gingren and Ishil Eskiath. He has two older brothers, Gingren "Ging" Junior and Creglir. Ringil's family is from The Glades district of Trelayne. He is best known for his victories during The War with the Scaled Folk at Rajal Beach, Gallows Gap, and the Siege of Trelayne, and defeating a dragon at Demlarashan. He wears a unique Kiriath sword called Ravensfriend and keeps a dragon tooth dagger hidden in his sleeve.
Early Life[]
Ringil grew up in a family of nobility in Trelayne. A crucial part of his early life involved the death of Jelim Dasnel. The two were in a sexual relationship until they were caught. Homosexuality is punished by death by The Committee for Public Morals and in this case was tried by Murmin Kaad. Jelim was sentenced to death by impaling and locked in a cage, while Ringil was spared due to his noble family's connections. Ringil was on house arrest for a week, but snuck out to see Jelim in the cage only to find that he was still alive and there are children throwing stones at him. In a fit of rage, young Ringil murders one of the children.
Family[]
Ringil does not like to be associated with his surname Eskiath. He has a very poor relationship with his father. Though he has a much better relationship with his mother, at the start of The Steel Remains it had been three years since he had last seen her.
During Ringil's time at The Academy, a group of senior students attack and rape Ringil as an "initiation". As it was happening, his older brother Ging saw him from the hallway but would not help Ringil. Ging himself had been through a similar situation. Many years later when Ging offers his help to Ringil in dealing with Iscon Kaad, Ringil refuses.
The War[]
Ringil was a knight graduate of the Trelayne Academy, and was a soldier in The War with the Scaled Folk. Due to his successes of fighting the Scaled Folk, he rose through the ranks and was promoted to Knight Commander. He worked closely with Kiriath leaders like Grashgal and Flaradnam.
Post-War[]
The beginning of The Steel Remains, 9 years after The War, finds Ringil in a small, backwater town of Gallows Water. He lives there selling stories of his exploits for cash.
Ringil had written a treatise on skirmish warfare that the Trelayne Military Academy had politely declined to publish under his name.
Hunt for Sherin[]
The central carrier for the plot (the "MacGuffin") of The Steel Remains is Ringil's search for his cousin Sherin. She has been sold into slavery, and his mother asks him to get her out. It is through this endeavor that Ringil discovers the Aldrain and meets Seethlaw.
Seethlaw and the Aldrain[]
While investigating the slave trade in Etterkal Ringil encounters a dwenda whom he fights. During the fight, the dwenda knocks Ringil out and takes him to The Ageless Realm. During this time, Ringil learns that his name is Seethlaw and develops a sexual relationship with him. They travel The Ageless Realm with other dwenda including Seethlaw's sister Risgillen, going to a place where the dwenda are keeping Marsh blood slaves including Sherin. Once there, Ringil releases Sherin to take her home. As tensions have risen, Ringil runs into his old friend Egar and together they break into a fight against the dwenda, killing several of the dwenda.
During his time in The Ageless Realm, Ringil is told of the Aldrains' plans to invade the human's world at Ennishmin. Ringil decides to make a stand against Seethlaw and The Aldrain there. Together with Egar and Archeth, they fight back the Aldrain advance, and Ringil kills Seethlaw.
Revenge[]
The beginning of The Cold Commands tells part of the story of Ringil's efforts to exact revenge on the slave trade for what they did to Sherin. He kills Poppy Snarl and breaks up the slave caravan she is heading. As a consequence of this encounter, Ringil must go into hiding. During this time while he is trying to get away in Hinerion, he realizes that he may have the plague, caught while freeing the slave caravan. During his delirium due to his sickness, he enters The Ageless Realm again.
Hjel and The Gray Places[]
Hjel is inside the grey space when Ringil is suffering with the plague. He realises that as the Grey Space Manipulates time he has gone back to a time before he met his lover the first time. Here he gets rest and peace and a way out to return to the real world.
Risgillen and the Aldrain[]
Other Relationships[]
Milacar[]
Ringil had a sexual relationship with Milacar when he was 15. Later, when Ringil is searching for Sherin, he meets up with Milacar again to ask him for help. Milacar is the first to tell Ringil of the dwenda at Etterkal. After the battle with Seethlaw, Ringil returns to Milacar to kill him because he realized that Milacar had been involved with Seethlaw and the cabal, and did not tell Ringil about it.
Misc[]
- Though he defeated a dragon (with Egar), he refuses to accept the title of "dragonbane".
- The dragon tooth knife that he carries was created by the Majak "in the last years of the war, once the tide had turned" and given to him by Egar. It is mostly ceremonial, not ideal for fighting, but Ringil makes frequent use of it.