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Gryle

2016-12-19T23:39:31Z

Kundor:

{{Character Data
|title=
|photo=
|name= Mr Gryle
|age=
|race= [[Banshees|Banshee]]
|occupation= hired killer
|appearance= tall sinister figure with a wide-brimmed hat, what looks like a cloak but are really his wings.
|residence= [[Ankh-Morpork]]
|death= Killed by Moist von Lipwig during a fight in the [[Ankh-Morpork Post Office]]
|parents=
|relatives= reported to have eaten his own grandma
|children=
|marital status= undesirable
|books= [[Book:Going Postal]]
|cameos=
}}

Mr Gryle was a [[Banshees|Banshee]]—which was a surprise to all of Pratchett's readers as we'd all been told that Mr [[Ixolite]] was the Disc's last surviving one.

Gryle was discovered and used by [[Reacher Gilt]] to dispose of anyone who stood in his way. He was responsible for the death of both [[John Dearheart]] and [[Crispin Horsefry]]. He was very nearly also responsible for the deaths of both [[Tolliver Groat]] and [[Moist von Lipwig]].

As a banshee he could arrive from the air and leave very few clues for [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch|anyone]] to decipher. This includes that of smell: banshees have little tangible odour for a [[werewolf]] or other nasally-gifted creature to pick up. This made him the perfect killer for Reacher Gilt to use to deal with 'little problems'.

Gryle seemed to wear a thick leathery cape, but that was just his wings tightly wrapped around him. The muscles in his chest are immensely tough, protecting as they do ''both'' his hearts.

An unlikeable character, he told [[Stanley Howler]] that he "gnawed his grandmother's bones". He had very few needs in life, but he did have a passion for pigeons. This was his undoing, as the pigeons in [[Ankh-Morpork]] are practically septic: "dogturd burgers", in fact. This led to his being not 100% prepared for the attack.

Actually, his ''real'' undoing was Stanley who, when confronted by Gryle, had one of his "Little Moments", which resulted in Gryle being hit in the mouth by a sack of pins.

Gryle retreated into the Sorting Office, where he and [[Moist von Lipwig]] had a final showdown. Somehow, Gryle was inveigled into the Sorting Engine, whereupon he was ''Sorted''. Well and truly.

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[de:Gryle]]

Whalebone Lane

2016-12-19T19:24:30Z

Kundor:

A street in [[Ankh-Morpork]] running from [[Treacle Mine Road]] hubward to the river, widdershins of [[Sheer Street]]. '''Whalebone Lane''', along with Treacle Mine Road and [[Cable Street]], is one of a number of streets inhabited by [[Dwarfs]]. It is lined with tenements and workshops. In {{TFE}}, [[Sam Vimes]] learns that the dwarfs of these streets have vendettas and feuds that originated in mine shafts five hundred miles away and a thousand years ago. For instance, dwarves who belong to a specific clan could not even walk down this street, or use a pub by it, and so on...

[[Reg Shoe]] is mentioned as having come from a street near it in {{NW}}, before dwarfs moved into Ankh-Morpork in such large numbers.

In the computer game [[Discworld Noir]], one setting is a pub called the [[Octarine Parrot]] which is situated at number nine, Whalebone Lane. It changed hands, apparently, following a protracted and bloody riot involving trolls. This makes sense when it is taken into consideration that this is the heart of the Dwarfish area. However, the current mine host at the Parrot is the taciturn and embittered half-Elf, [[Mankin]]. Given that elsewhere we are told the first reaction of trolls and dwarfs to an Elf is to stomp it into the ground and then barbecue the pieces, this seems implausible. An Elf, even a half-Elf, living in a Dwarfish area? It could explain why the pub is so empty (a cause of Mankin's taciturnity), especially as he employs troll singers.

[[Lackjaw]] and Armsgrafter, Dental Technicians, are based here.

[[Category:Streets of Ankh-Morpork]]
[[de:Fischbeinweg]]

Maligree Gardens

2016-12-19T19:22:41Z

Kundor:

This street crosses [[Whalebone Lane]]. What connection it has to the [[Wizards' Magic|wizard]] [[Maligree]], the originator of the [[Maligree's Wonderful Garden]] spell, is unclear. Perhaps the University owns this street as part of its property portfolio?

[[Category: Streets of Ankh-Morpork]]

Star People

2016-12-19T19:19:56Z

Kundor:

As the Discworld hurtles towards the great red star and its magical field burns away much like our own ozone layer, frightened and bewildered people start to listen to demagogues like [[Dahoney]]. The new cult believes that the great red star has been sent to purge wickedness and that in these, the Last Days, it will ''cleanse'' and ''scour'' and ''purify'' the Disc. So come, friends, let us paint the holy sign of the Red Star on our foreheads, and go forth, and intently stare at the left ears of those we are about to cleanse and scour and purify whilst telling them this is for their own good. Let us burn the things of magic and destroy the shrines of the Gods who have manifestly failed to protect us and who, therefore, do not exist and we no longer need. And let us in passing deal with lesser races such as [[Dwarfs]]—they can die along with the wizards! And all those who do not have the sign of the Star upon their brows!

The Star directs that the Disc must be purified!

All of which insanity happens during the events of {{TLF}}.

At the end of [[The Light Fantastic]] a large mob of Star People and other citizens of Ankh-Morpork laid siege to the [[Unseen University]] and attempted to break down its gates. With magic failing across the Disc, it was not the best time for the wizards to consider if they should have included a non-magical way of locking the gates, such as a big bar.

The angry mob demanded that the wizards either: (A) stop messing about and get rid of the red star, or, and this option was favoured by the Star People, (B) kill themselves.

The wizards had no idea how to do A, no intention of doing B, and most had in fact opted for C, which was to escape out the back door and leg it at high speed. This left only the Council of Wizards and Archchancellor [[Ymper Trymon|Trymon]] and his plan to read the [[Octavo]] anyway without the eight spell.

"The Star People" is also one of the euphemisms used by [[Lancre]] folk to refer to the [[Elves]].

==Annotation==
"Star People" is also the translation of "{{wp|Sundering_of_the_Elves#Eldar|Eldar}}", name of a division of the Elven race in J.R.R. Tolkien's notion of the Sundering of the Elves.

[[Category:Groups]]
[[de:Sternenleute]]

Eskarina Smith

2016-12-19T18:58:04Z

Kundor:

{{Character Data
|title= Eskarina Smith
|photo=eskmine.jpg| Young Eskarina Smith, by [[User:Darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|name= Eskarina Smith
|age= Adult
|race= Human
|occupation= Student witch, then student wizard
|appearance= White hair, ponytail
|residence=
|death=
|parents= [[Gordo Smith]] (Father)
|relatives=
|children= She has mentioned having a son, who she is concerned for.
|marital status= Never married. Apparently.
|books= {{ER}}<br>{{ISWM}}
|cameos= {{TSC}}
}}

'''''Eskarina Smith''''' ('''Esk''' for short) is the Disc's first and only female wizard, and [[Granny Weatherwax]]'s first pupil.

==Biography==
===Childhood===
Eskarina was born in the smithy of the village of [[Bad Ass]], the eighth <s>son</s> child of an eighth son. She inherited the magical powers and staff of [[Drum Billet]], a [[Wizard's magic|wizard]] from [[Unseen University]]. While still a small child, Esk became a pupil of [[Granny Weatherwax]], until it became clear that she had [[Wizard's magic|Wizards' magic]], not [[Witches magic|Witches' magic]]. Eskarina was the first and—as far as is known—only female student ever accepted or at least allowed to enter [[Unseen University]] (after a major battle to do so).

She was present when [[Simon]] the self-taught wizard was brought to UU. He gave lectures on the nature of magic to the senior faculty staff in his first year! Such power inevitably caused ripples in the space-time continuum; the Things from the [[Dungeon Dimensions]] clustered in his shadows, their characteristic chitering noises unnoticed by all... except Esk, with her own burgeoning magical talent.

Eventually they burst through and took Simon into the Dungeon Dimensions, where Esk followed to try to rescue him. She managed this by ''not'' using magic, which puzzled and infuriated the Things (being Thaumivores, they feed on magic).

When she and Simon eventually returned to UU they set up a research group and came up with an entire system of the non-use of magic.

===Absence===
Eskarina was missing from the ''Discworld'' series for a long time. Despite the [[Sourcerer]]'s pledge to the Librarian to restore everything "''as good as old''", she was presumed dead. An assumed scenario was that Esk was another casualty killed in the collapse of the [[Tower of Art]], during the battle with the Sourcerer.

As Granny Weatherwax's first-ever pupil, her legend attained myth-like proportions among Lancre's student witches, aided by older witches' attitudes such as Nanny Ogg's "''least-said, soonest-mended''", Miss Tick changing the subject, or a general "''Don't ask''" attitude on the part of the older witches.

===Return===
Esk returned in the fourth [[Tiffany Aching]] book, {{ISWM}}. She makes a final cameo appearance in {{TSC}}.

[[Mrs Proust]] told Tiffany that a hard-to-find lady (who'd find her with ease) would be keen to talk to her, and that this woman would be well worth listening to. When the [[Cunning Man]] was bearing down on Tiffany in [[Ankh-Morpork]], the mysterious "Miss Smith" came to her rescue, leading her to a safehouse within the [[Unreal Estate]]. Tiffany realised who Miss Smith was upon seeing Esk's staff; it was currently being used in a [[Shamble]], and Esk had taken the knob off the end.

She looked old, with white hair and wrinkles, but also young, with a ponytail and a childish laugh. She had learnt to manipulate time and space via the [[Travelling Now]]. Chatting over tea, Esk dispensed advice, and told the girl how she had walked through time to see the creation of the [[Cunning Man]], over 1000 years previously. Esk said she had bad memories of her wizarding past - the scary recollections were never a problem, but the "good ones can be difficult to deal with".

Miss Smith used the [[Travelling Now]] to contact Tiffany a couple more times in the novel. Most interestingly, Esk passed on the secret of time-travel to the young Tiffany who, at a climactic scene in the book, was aided by her older self...

In a single throwaway remark in {{ISWM}}, never returned to, Esk expresses concern for her son. Is this an idea a future book may explore, or are we being invited to speculate? Her son is also mentioned in {{TSC}}, but nothing is elaborated upon. It is possible her son is also the son of [[Simon]], and the child of two Wizards might well be remarkable enough for her to be concerned for his safety. In {{S}} it is mentioned that Ipslor's seven sons before Coin are all very powerful wizards, so, presumably, the child of any wizard would also be a powerful wizard. Eskarina and Simon are both very powerful wizards, so their son might be considered a threat by many; thus, they may have been banished as Ipslor the Red was if they pursued a relationship. In {{TSC}}, Eskarina opines that he might become an engineer, which may be even more frightening.

==Annotations==
*There was no mention of Esk since her first appearance until {{ISWM}}, a gap of ''35'' novels. One fan theory associated this with the problem of reconciling themes changed in later books (e.g., traits of [[Granny Weatherwax]]'s personality, the mention that [[Krull]] has a magical university and trained women professionals, etc.) that could not be explained by the continuity error-excusing time slip implied by the activity of the [[History Monks]] or in [[Wyrd Sisters]].
*It was rumoured that Esk would return for the final (or next-to-final) Tiffany Aching book, and this turned out to be true. Simon's fate remains unknown, Eskarina has shown up alive and well - perhaps she side-stepped the War of the Sourceror altogether, having found something more interesting and productive to do?
*Esk refers to elasticated string theory, which was one of Simon's specialties.

[[category:Discworld characters|Smith, Eskarina]]
[[category:Leading characters|Smith, Eskarina]]
[[category:Human characters|Smith, Eskarina]]
[[category:Witches|Smith, Eskarina]]
[[category:Wizards|Smith, Eskarina]]
[[Category:Tiffany Series characters|Smith,Eskarina]]
[[de:Eskarina Schmied]]