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There's two neighboring fictional countries: To the south lies Ancelstierre, which has a technology level and society similar to that of early-20th century England, and to the north lies the Old Kingdom, where magic works and dangerous spirits roam the land — a fact officially denied by the government of Ancelstierre and disbelieved by most of Ancelstierre's inhabitants. (Those who live near the border know the truth of it, especially on days when the wind is blowing out of the Old Kingdom.) These dangerous spirits range from undead corpses known as Dead Hands to supernatural beings known as Free Magic elementals.

These living Dead are raised by Necromancers, or black magicians, who roam the Old Kingdom or live in Death, using Hands to do their bidding. To remedy the problem of dangerous, living dead, there is always a sorcerer with the title of Abhorsen, who is essentially a Necromancer himself (or herself), only in the reverse; he puts the dead to rest.

The Bloodlines
Thousands of years ago, seven of the Nine Bright Shiners sacrificed their powers to create the Charter: a combination of powerful objects (the Great Stones and the Wall) and three magic blood lines, known as the Abhorsen, the Clayr and the Royal Family. Five of the Seven completely lost themselves (one in each object or blood line) while two remained somewhat independent. One invested his/her power in the Royal bloodline, one in the Abhorsen's and one in the Clayr's. The remaining two, known as the "Wallmakers" invested themselves in several objects of power, including the Stones and Wall, then disappeared. These artifacts, the Charter Stones, are sources of the web of Charter magic that maintains peace and order over the kingdom. The Bloodlines all have a higher concentration of strong charter mages than the general populace.

The Abhorsen
One of the most respected figures in the Old Kingdom, the Abhorsen uses both the dangerous Free Magic-based powers of a necromancer and the benevolent magic of the Charter to keep the gates of Death against the return of Dead spirits back into Life.They use the bells, named after the seven bright shiners that established the old kingdom, in tandem with their natural affinity with Death, granted by their ancestor bright shiner, to amplify their powers. The bells, smallest to largest, are Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth, and Astarael. Saraneth, the "binder", is thought to be the original Abhorsen, and the bright shiner who invested her powers in this bloodline.They are also the only ones who have the proper authority to enter Death, and therefore the only Necromancers who retain uncorrupted charter marks and mage powers. Their symbol is a silver key on a background of blue

The Royal Family
For centuries, the royalty justly ruled the Old Kingdom from their palace at the capital Belisaere as powerful upholders of the peace. Unlike the Abhorsens, the Royalty cannot cross into Death at will and do not usually use Free Magic. Their specialty lies in diplomacy and Charter combat magic. They are connected to the Clayr and Abhorsens by blood. It is thought they are descended from Dyrim, the "speaker", because of their skill in diplomacy. Their symbol is a tower on a sea of red.

The Clayr
The biggest family among the magical bloodlines, the Clayr are arbiters of justice and foresight who see all from their glacier in the northernmost parts of the Old Kingdom. The Clayr are a family of seers who may, when there is need, pool their powers together to see clear visions of the future, while individually they see only splinters. The Clayr also possess powerful abilities in Charter Magic, similar to the Royal Family. They are descended from Mosrael, the "waker". The Clayr celebrate the young's "awakening" of their sight when they receive their first vision. Like the Abhorsen, the Clayr have a strong family resemblance. All daughters of the Clayr (and they have almost no sons, if indeed any) have tan skin and blonde, almost white, hair. The Glacier of the Clayr is home to a great library, as well, which is a repository of magic and history, and is even used as "cold storage" for particularly dangerous, but immortal, creatures. Their symbol is a seven pointed star.

The Wallmakers
The Wallmakers were the builders of the Wall that divides the Old Kingdom from Ancelstriere and creators of the Charter Stones; people particularly skilled in the creation of magical objects. They created the weaponry of the Royal Family. the ceramic, nearly impervious armor known as Gethre owned by the Abhorsens, the Abhorsen's sword, and other extremely magical objects and weapons possessed by the Clayr. It can be deduced that they were the last 2 bright shiners, Ranna and Belgaer. They invested all of their power in their creations, thus leaving no bloodline. Therefore, for the majority of the books, it is apparent that the Wallmakers are 'extinct' and no longer exist. The symbol of the Wallmaker is a silver trowel or spade.

The Dead And Free Magic Creatures
Mordicant:
One of the Greater Dead. It is created by a necromancer by molding human blood, Free Magic, and a Dead spirit. It can pass from Life to Death at will. It is described as manlike, with eyes like fire, and grey-green flesh that dripped with flames and smoke.

Shadow Hands:
Dead creatures controlled and created by a necromancer. Usually a skilled necromancer uses the heads of dead humans to bring back only their spirits, forming the inconsistent, dark and dangerous substance that is a Shadow Hand. Having no corporeal form, Shadow Hands cannot be stopped by mere force but can be forced back into Death by the bells of a necromancer.

Dead Hands
Corpses raised by a necromancer to do his bidding. They can be defeated by force, although with difficulty, since the magic in them keeps their limbs and flesh strangely intact

Mordaut:
One of the weaker Free Magic creatures, a parasite. It cohabits a human body, controlling and hiding in it, and slowly saps the life from it. It comes out at night and takes the life of any other human around it, but returns to its host after feeding. It has no definite form and moves like a pool of darkness.

Gore Crows
Ordinary crows trapped, killed with a ritual, and infused with a single human spirit by a necromancer. They disintegrate in the sun and wind, and if one makes contact with running water, all its counterparts will be forced back to Death as well. The fewer crows share the human spirit, the stronger they are, but they kill by strength of numbers. They fly seemingly without the use of wings or plumage and are easily suspended by the Free Magic that was used to create them.

Magic
In the Old Kingdom, magic takes two forms: the Charter or Free Magic. the Charter was created out of the Free Magic. There still remains two types of Free Magic: Free Magic that exists in conjunction with the Charter (such as Mogget and the Dog), and Free Magic that is inimical to life and opposes the Charter (such as Stilken and Hish). The Charter is described as an "endless flow" of marks. There is a mark for everything in the universe, including marks representing other marks. Marks are drawn and cast as magic, such as binding, burning, lifting and the like in strings of different marks. The more marks, the more complicated this magic is. Free Magic is corrosive magic that powers necromancy. Practitioners of Charter Magic have a Charter Mark drawn on their forehead at birth. Marks unsullied by Free Magic are used to identify the Charter Mages.

The Bells
The bells of necromancy are seven bells that are wielded by a necromancer in a bandolier. They are named after the first seven of the Nine Bright Shiners (the ones who formed the Charter); from smallest to largest — Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth and Astarael. Each bell has a specific power over the Dead and Free Magic creatures, and if used by a skilled necromancer, also on living people. — Ranna brings sleep or wakefulness; Mosrael brings the Dead into Life, but throws the caster deeper into death while the dead walk towards life; Kibeth forces the dead to walk deeper into death, and even into the ninth precinct; Dyrim grants or revokes the power of speech; Belgaer gives or revokes freedom, this function includes giving free will, giving the power of thought, and release from binding; Saraneth forces compliance; and Astarael forces all who hear its ring, including the caster, into Death. They must be wielded carefully. An errant or improper ring can affect the caster instead of the target, or other adverse effects.
The pipes have basically the same effect as the bells, but are weaker, and are harder to maintain over a period of time.

Death
Death is an infinitely wide river, spanning the horizons. Almost everything in Death is a bleak grey, and a subtle grey fogginess limits visibility. Only the Abhorsen, Necromancers, Free Magic spirits, and Remembrancers can cross into Death. Death comprises Nine Precincts, divided by Nine Gates, through which a grey river flows. The river's current threatens to pull any traveler under, dexterity and great willpower are required to resist the pull, which is psychological as well as physical. There exists a Free Magic spell by which Abhorsens and Necromancers can easily pass back through Gates; Dead cannot do so unless they are very powerful. Each Precinct contains a different peril. The First Precinct is simply knee-deep water, and can be thought of as the entrance to Death. Its Gate is a huge waterfall. The Second Precinct has pitfalls throughout its domain and low visibility; its gate is a whirlpool. The Third has huge, periodic waves, which will pick up and carry creatures through the gate, a wall of mist. Creatures caught by the waves this way are often too stunned to resist the water's current and are carried beyond the ninth gate. The Fourth precinct has a higher concentration of Dead, which are mostly placid due to the huge waves in the Third Precinct, and a deceptively short waterfall as its Gate. The Fifth Precinct is too deep to wade through, and would change a necromancer's body and spirit for the worse. It must be crossed by a thin black bridge that attract dead creatures; The Sixth Precinct has no current, and the water is a shallow pool, but there are many dead creatures present, some of which are Greater Dead. The gate has no substance and can appear anywhere, it is a lift bordered by a cylinder of warter; The Seventh Gate is a line of fire that stretches across the river; The Eighth Precinct has patches of floating fire that rear up at random. The Eight Gate is a wall of darkness, which needs a spell to send a necromancer into the Ninth Gate; The Ninth Gate is a starry sky; when the Dead look up towards it, most are overcome by its call, and they rise up to the Gate and pass through it forever. Apart from the Gate and the Dead, there are no perils in the Ninth Precinct, and the current ends. Only an extremely strong will can overcome the call of the Ninth Gate, unless it is not the traveller's time to die, but none may return from beyond this gate.

Name: Raven
Age:17
Gender:Male
Blood:
Appearance:
History:a magical construct born of magic, once free now forced to serve the blood of Abhorsen, a miniature bell of Saraneth inside my body
Other:can change shape at will

Name: Satyre Kelyte
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Blood: Clayr
Appearance:
History: I'll get back to this o.o
Other: He is very shy and quiet. He is curious but gets frightened quiet easily. He is fairly new to the Clayr and has never had his first vision yet.

Sabriel landed the paperwing easily on the landing pad that was on the House's surrounding wall and jumped out, waving back at Raven. "Raven, I have to be at the Clayr's glacier once I'm ready to leave again. Do you want to come?" She asked, walking down the steps into the house's courtyard and towards the house, knowing he'd probably follow.

Lirael and the Dog had made their way through the hole and tiny tunnel in the wall and emerged into a bigger tunnel. She carefully took off her otter Charter Skin and folding it precisely then placed it gently in her bag. Afr she was done she walked forward, catching up to the Dog who had stopped infront of a door. Lirael traced her pale slender fingers over old Charter symbols. She gasped and stepped back. "It's my tomb!" She exclaimed. "It say's Lirael's Tomb!" The Dog looked at her then back at the door. "Well, mistress, I think you should check it again, I don't see tomb in the marks, but I do see Lirael." She said. Lirael nodded and looked at them more carefully. After a few moments it became clear. "Path." She said. "Lirael's Path." THe Dog noded "Well then, since it's Your path, why don't we follow it?" She asked. Lirael looked down at the Dog then back at the door. "I... I guess." She said. She placed her hand against the door and it opened, the charter marks flashing brightly as it recognized her. She stepped into the dark cavern and gasped. She was in the Clayr's tomb. On the floor little lights sprung up, obviously her path. Her hand fell to the Dog's collar ad tey followed it. They reached another door a few minutes later and she was able to open it with charter magic. Once through that door they were in a much smaller cavern, possible the size of a medium sized room. In the middle was a table. She walked over to it and looked down. A book, panpipes, and a closed case lay there. Somehow, she knew they were hers. The book was The Book of Remembrance and Forgetting.. She sat down in the dark mahogany chair and began to read. She'd lost track of time, and when she finished the book the Dog was asleep a few feet behind her. Her hands went to the panpipes. "The Panpipes." She whispered. "Same as the Abhorsen's Bells, but weaker, mere toys in comparison." Her hand moved over the case. "The Dark Mirror, can only be used in Death so the carrier can see visions of the past." She sat there, staring at them, then jumped as the Dog spoke. "Oh, you found out then." She said, cocking ehr head to the side as she saw Lirael's face. "You discovered you're a Remembrancer." She claryfied. Lirael sat there quietly then nodded. "Yea, I guess I am." She said. Something told her to leave, that she was needed somewhere. She slipped the panpipes in to her left pocket, the mirror into her reight pocket and the book into her waistcoat. Once she was ready they left.

Satyre was running through the Clayr's Glacier not looking up wehre he was going. Satyre finally looked up seeing Lariael and slammed into head on. He bounced back. As he fell he turned on his side on his hand, which got sprained. He winced not yelling and held his wrist. "I-I'm s-so sorry Miss. I-I didn't look where i was going..." He slowly looked up, his white hair over his eyes. He swayed his head to the side getting the hair away from his eyes. "Did i hurt you in any way miss?" He said softly and started to get up.

hm...very well "slowly changes into a small black cat and climbs on next to you" is this ok Sabriel?

He as calling ehr miss, not cousin. Did he not think she was Clayr. A pang of pain hit her. Of course he doesn't. The only thing to show she was was her outfit. "It's alright cousin." She said with a smiled. She didn't know why she was talking to him she never talked to anyone she just hid behind her long black hair. "Um, listen, I can see your wrist is hurt. Come with me back to my study and I'll heal it." She said, longing to get out of the hallway. It was dim now, the light's dimming, signaling night-time. He woud get in trouble since he was out so late. "After I do that I'll take you back to your room and explaine to Kirrith why you're late, she'll excuse you then so you wont get in trouble." She said. Kirrith was the Guardian of the Children. She watched all the ones who hadn't awoken yet, includind Lirael, even though she was now mostly at te library, even well past nitgh. She usually fell asleep in her small study she was rewarded with after becoming a Second Assistant Librarian.

Lirael watched him for a moment. "You know, you're already late. Kirrith will have your hide anyway." She said, her voice soft. "But, I don't want you to be uncomfortable, so I guess I'll see you around maybe." She said, turning.

Dog watched from the shadows, completely invisible. Then she stepped out and walked to the boy. "Excuse me boy, but you may want to go with her, I do believe your future depends on it." She said.

Lirael from at the sound of the Dog's voice and spun around. She'd never shown herself to the boy in the four years she'd had her.