Henderbell — Places

Henderbell

Henderbell

Also known as the country of Henderbell

• SN · 7A country of twelve kingdoms whose rulers answer to the king and queen in Ghenthar.
• SN · 10Exists in another dimension of time from Albernaith.
• SN · 13Created together with Albernaith and charged with protecting it.

Ghenthar

Henderbell

Also known as the capital, Genthar

• SN · 7The capital: a walled city on a river in the valley of the Forest of Nohein.
• SN · 8A golden gate wrapped in rose-laden vines opens itself for friends. Half-timbered houses with red, purple and silver roofs; carriages pulled by blue horses.
• SN · 25On Christmas the streets fill with music, drums and fireworks.
• SN · 8A gray stone wall stretches out of sight beside the gate, patrolled by soldiers with antlers rising from their helmets.
• SN · 8Narrow cobblestone streets crowded with market tents; chimney smoke, the smell of bread, and snow-laden pines wrapped in golden lights.
• SN · 12Seen from the castle, the night sky fills with purple and yellow streaks like an aurora borealis.

Rosethorn

Henderbell

Also known as the kingdom of the south

• SN · 15The southern kingdom; Mary’s birthplace.
• WD · 3A harbor town under a scarlet flag: a golden rose in a circle of thorns, its lowest petal dripping like blood. Ishmael was born here during a slaughter of newborn boys.
• WD · 2Hid Valk and the Jewel of Ostrion.
• WD · 3In Ishmael's vision: a narrow brick-walled room lit by one candle, cobblestone streets and narrow alleys leading to a beach of scattered rocks, docked ships to the east.

Scorpio

Henderbell

• WD · 2Nora Griffin married its King Wenaldween.

Forest of Nohein

Henderbell

Also known as Nohein, the graveyard of criminals

• SN · 7The vast winter forest seen from the cliff: horned bears, winged squirrels, a river around Ghenthar.
• WD · 1Its graveyard for criminals is reached by a tunnel from the dungeons and marked by defaced bronze warrior statues, ending at a statue of a boy with a raised dagger.
• WD · 1Doopar, Edwin Bartowmell and many innocents are buried here.
• SN · 7Stretches up to snow-capped mountains on the horizon; some birds over it shed glowing particles.
• WD · 1The bronze warrior statues along the path have wings worn to stubs and crumbling swords, spears, shields and bows.
• WD · 1Near the graveyard the trees crowd so close their twisted branches resemble prison bars, and the canopy hides the sky; mountains rise beyond.
• WD · 1The last statue's boy wears a tunic; it marks the start of Othar's territory.
• WD · 1Beneath the snow lies a layer of ice over a bottomless dark pit where the naked, emaciated dead float, their skin gray to dark purple.

Forest of Nick

Henderbell

• SN · 7Where the Tree of Hender stands.
• SN · 13The Bending Shield opens here.
• SN · 16Gray-barked and avoided by animals; many say the woods are cursed. Only the pines stay green.
• SN · 7The arrival clearing: tall trees with branches drooping under snow beneath a purple-and-orange sky; the tree's door vanishes behind them.
• SN · 16Snow-covered mountain peaks rise behind its tree line; its vegetation is old and quiet.

The royal hideaway

Henderbell

Also known as the hideaway, the shelter

• SN · 13Hidden beneath an elk’s-head mark in the Forest of Nick. Beds, armor, books and a rock-ceilinged bathroom.
• SN · 13Bread, water and wine renew every morning.
• SN · 17Only royal blood unveils it; Molock gives the Shadow Spirits a vial of it.
• SN · 18Breached by two Shadow Spirits.
• SN · 13A stone staircase leads down when the elk’s-head mark thins away; inside is a wooden floor and a coat rack.
• SN · 13Eight mounted sets of armor line the right wall, hung with weapons, beside a bookshelf; beds with trunks stand at the left, and a table with eight chairs in the middle.
• SN · 13Built by Nicholas and Mary after the attack twenty-five years ago; its weapons, armor and books belonged to Griffin ancestors.
• SN · 13The trunks hold towels, soap and linens; in the bathroom warm water trickles from the rock ceiling, with a toilet, sink and mirror.
• SN · 15A cabinet beneath the shelves holds a rolled map of Henderbell and a compass; it smells of bread and fresh coffee in the morning.
• SN · 18Has no windows, so day and night cannot be told apart; stone steps lead down into it and sets of armor line one wall.

Tree of Hender

Henderbell

Also known as the tree, the eerie tree

• SN · 5A leafless gray tree in the Dorthcester backyard, its branches like rivers on a map.
• SN · 6Four bare hands open a golden doorway with vine hinges.
• SN · 9Rulers cross to Albernaith through it; elves keep watch nearby.
• SN · 23Elleanor showed Oden the hidden world through it.
• SN · 5Grows no leaves even in summer; the family wraps it in colorful Christmas lights.
• SN · 26In Henderbell its twisted branches are covered in snow; a thin gold line draws the doorway, and ripples form a dome around travelers.

Prison of Krishmar

Henderbell

Also known as Krishmar, the prison

• SN · 15In the northwest, on the edge of a cliff. Elves are forbidden to enter.
• SN · 17Black walls on a lone rock, a moat, one stone bridge, a square with a central tower bearing the thorn-crowned skull. A golden dome rises to admit visitors.
• SN · 17Inside, a white marble hall walled in moving gray mist that shows illusions of loved ones.
• SN · 21Its dungeons hold Nicholas, Ishmael and Doopar.
• SN · 17Reached across a clearing of gray boulders beside a cliff overlooking icy mountains; the moat is a mist-filled chasm.
• SN · 17Its crow-black walls are covered in leafless branches and twigs.
• SN · 17Double iron doors carved with bones, their edges studded with thorn-shaped stubs; golden strings shoot from the tower to form its dome.
• SN · 17The hall’s ceiling bears the Krishmarian sigil carved in gold, giving faint light; the mist hides doors to torchlit stone chambers.
• SN · 21Its dungeon is a row of barred cells lit by torches on stone walls, smelling of mold and rotten eggs; prisoners wear dark tattered cloaks.
• SN · 21A spiral staircase lit by a single torch leads from the dungeon to the marble hall.
• SN · 24Its walls and mist can vanish entirely, leaving the marble floor as snow with mountains, trees and the valley in view.

The temple cave

Henderbell

Also known as the ice cave

• SN · 18A cave of ice and black dirt near the hideaway.
• SN · 20Deeper in: a ruined temple of broken knights and amazons, a mossy well under a rusted bronze bell, and a drop into a clear river.
• SN · 18Its entrance is screened by trees and vines; clear ice coats the rock walls and stalactites hang from the ceiling.
• SN · 20A glowing blue orb bursts into crooked streaks of light across the ceiling like a lightning storm, warming the ruined temple.
• SN · 20Stairs climb to a platform with the stone well; rows of pillars carved with men and women at war tower over it.
• SN · 20The bell hangs from a wooden beam on two metal bars, with a thick beige rope coiled beside it; a narrow tunnel runs behind the well.
• SN · 20The fall down the well passes through a glowing gray mist into daylight, with mountains on the horizon above the river.

The Bartowmell grave

Henderbell

• WD · 4A lone triangular stone with a carved flower, holding only Anwen. Where Vaneeries finds Ishmael.
• WD · 4The name Bartowmell is carved beneath the flower; it stands alone among the trees off the statue path.

The castle

Ghenthar & the castle

Also known as the castle of Ghenthar

• SN · 8Chestnut-colored brick with four towers. A golden-brown door carved with an elk fighting a horned dragon, the sigil above it.
• SN · 8A drawbridge over a moat full of mosfish.
• SN · 8Its grounds are enclosed by a tall brick wall topped with wooden spikes and an iron gate under guard.
• SN · 8Its four main towers rise hundreds of feet, roofed in golden-brown shingles matching the door; the dragon on the door has horns all over its snout.
• SN · 8The drawbridge has a wooden rail; snow-covered mountains show over the wall encircling the moat.
• WD · 1The dungeon holds barred, dimly lit cells; a cold tunnel with damp soil and uneven, torch-lit brick walls runs from it to the Forest of Nohein.
• WD · 3At the end of a guarded hall, a spiral staircase on the left leads down to the throne room; iron doors on the right open on the stair to the highest tower.

The throne room

Ghenthar & the castle

• SN · 10White columns, a battle painted on the ceiling, a dark stone platform carved with figures raising their hands, two crystal thrones with antlers and a marble statue of Kurah.
• SN · 10Torches light themselves after sunset.
• SN · 10Candelabras burn beside the thrones.
• SN · 23Guards stand at the massive main doors, and the ticking of the pendulum echoes through the room.

Hall of Rulers

Ghenthar & the castle

• SN · 11Behind the thrones; only royal blood may enter. Portraits of kings and queens on facing walls, iron bowls of coal at each column, a stained-glass elk.
• SN · 11Bane’s old room: a star-painted ceiling, a bed carved as antlers, nightstand legs shaped like winged dragons.
• SN · 11Its door, behind the thrones, is carved with a king and queen holding antler-tipped staffs and has a golden knob.
• SN · 11Six floor-to-ceiling columns line each side under a mural of a winter forest at sunset; tall wooden doors open off it.
• SN · 11The portraits hang in smooth white or carved gold frames, painted so finely they look like photographs; kings and queens are on opposite walls.
• SN · 11The stained-glass window at the end shows an elk standing in a green forest.
• SN · 11Bane’s old room sits to the right of the Bending Shield; a room with Queen Mary’s old wardrobe is across the hall.
• SN · 11Bane’s old room has a large geometric window with blue silk curtains, a beige couch, a chestnut-wood bed, a crystal candlelit chandelier and scarlet-swirled walls.
• SN · 12Bane’s old room holds a bookshelf of Henderbellian history, poetry and symbology beside an old dresser; its door has a peephole.

Room of Secrets

Ghenthar & the castle

• SN · 9Ishmael and Bane’s childhood “fortress.” Holds the torn map of Henderbell.
• WD · 3Where Ishmael brings the Jewel of Ostrion.
• SN · 9A wooden table piled with books and maps; a tall glass window looks over the city streets and mountains. The map hangs by the door.
• WD · 3Lit by burning torches, with a table piled with books and maps; the two elk-skin pouches are still kept there.

Elleanor’s tower

Ghenthar & the castle

Also known as the highest tower

• SN · 23Where Elleanor lived out her life, locked away with her books.
• WD · 3Always cold. Its iron door, marked by stubs in an X under an eight-pointed star, tears open for the Jewel of Ostrion.
• WD · 3A single torch hangs on the stone archway of the landing. The iron door has three fist-thick hinges and no visible bolts or locks.
• WD · 3Young Ishmael and Bane used to sit before its never-opened door guessing what lay behind it.

The armory hall

Ghenthar & the castle

• SN · 10Old armor, weapons and war paintings, and an elk-shaped stained-glass window facing west. Ishmael and Bane played here.
• SN · 10Its old armor shows how Henderbellian armor designs changed since Oden’s conquest; the elk window fills the hall with rainbow light at sunset.
• SN · 10A spiral staircase leads down from it to a guarded door into the throne room.

The balcony

Ghenthar & the castle

• SN · 25Up a spiral stair behind golden doors; where the rulers address the city on Christmas Day.
• SN · 25Its smooth golden double doors each bear the carved sigil; the spiral stair ends at a wooden door onto a balcony facing Ghenthar.

Lestee

Across the seas

Also known as the world in the east

• SN · 7The country east of the Crystal Sea; the elves’ homeland.
• SN · 11The Griffins’ ancestors came from here.

Moonrar

Across the seas

• SN · 11The kingdom Oden ruled in Lestee.
• WD · 3Where Edwin took Ishmael and Anwen.

Hellyhim

Across the seas

• WD · 4Where the Meoner freed the elves.

Meoner (land)

Across the seas

• SN · 13Vaneeries’ homeland, which the Meoner fled.

Crystal Sea

Across the seas

• SN · 8The sea between Henderbell and Lestee.

Southern Sea

Across the seas

• WD · 2Crossed by Ishmael and his mother as they fled Rosethorn.

Albernaith

Albernaith

Also known as Earth, the human realm

• SN · 7The elves’ name for Earth.
• SN · 13Home to beings of lower conscience; Henderbell was charged with protecting it.
• SN · 25On Christmas it hangs in Henderbell’s sky like a giant moon.
• SNKnown in the books: Billy, Cliff, Ms. Lumber.

Dorthcester

Albernaith

Also known as Dorthcester, Massachusetts

• SN · 3The grandparents’ yellow house on a hill: tinsel porch, “A Very Griffin Christmas” sign, deer sculptures.
• SN · 3An abandoned church Enzo once imagined monsters crawling from.
• SN · 4Crystal sigil ornaments on the tree.
• SN · 26Repaired by Nicholas’ magic before they return.
• SN · 3The abandoned church stands among trees, its walls cracked and its gray roof full of holes.
• SN · 3A town of quaint houses ringed by pine and oak trees, decked with Christmas lights, Santa inflatables and Rudolphs.
• SN · 3The grandparents' house is ringed by towering trees; white-and-gold icicle lights hang from the gable and a brick path leads to the door.
• SN · 3The porch tinsel lights shift from gold to red to silver; four deer sculptures sit lit under the signed pine.
• SN · 4The living-room tree, by the fireplace, is decorated in red and gold with wooden elk-head ornaments, birds, stars and snowflakes.
• SN · 5Inside the house: a stair wall of family portraits, a marble kitchen countertop, large glass doors to the backyard and a brown couch facing the television.
• SN · 26A massive glass door opens from the backyard into the grandparents' kitchen.

Palmsand

Albernaith

Also known as Palmsand, Florida

• SN · 1Enzo and Ava’s home.

Boston

Albernaith

• SN · 3The grandparents meet the twins at the airport.

The Dark Beyond

Realms of the dead

• WD · 4Where most of the burned Meoner lost themselves. Nicholas’ sorcerers have visited it.

The Everlasting

Realms of the dead

• SN · 19Kurah’s world, “beyond the reach of any evil.” Offered to Enzo.