Appendix B: A Guide to the Gargoyles Universe

By Todd Jensen

“K”

KACHINAS

A group of Oberon's Children, also known as the "Cloud Fathers", who were revered by the Hopi and other Native American tribes in the Southwest of the United States. Coyote the Trickster is one of the most prominent of them. The Hopi perform special dances in their honor, and believe that when they do so, the Kachinas come down to dance with them, something which does indeed seem to be true in the Gargoyles Universe. One of the greatest of these dances, though one rarely performed, is the Dance of the Coyote, which Peter Maza performed (at his father's bidding) as a boy, which joined him with Coyote the Trickster.

<In the religious beliefs of the Hopi, the Kachina are ancestral spirits, gods, or intermediaries between humans and the gods; there is, in fact, no truly accurate and concise definition for them. On special occasions, the Hopi perform Kachina dances, becoming bonded to the Kachinas by doing so (a la Peter and Coyote in the animated series). These dances are very sacred occasions, and the dancers are not permitted to discuss these matters with others>.

KAI

The leader of the Ishimura clan of gargoyles.

KARADIGI

A lost city in Nigeria, built by the Panther Queen and the Houka tribe for Anansi. Its people went hunting for him, and brought him food. After Anansi quarreled with the Panther Queen, however, he became angry enough to drive all the humans out of Karadigi - and then realized too late afterwards that he had thus deprived himself of a work force to hunt for him.

Karadigi lay in ruins thereafter, and faded into legend. Anansi still laired there, however, surrounded by his multitudes of spider-subjects, until Fara Maku sought him out and made the bargain with him that resulted in his becoming a werepanther. Later on, it was the scene of the confrontation between Anansi on the one hand, and Goliath and his companions on the other.

Appropriately enough, Karadigi was built in the shape of a spider's web.

[KATANA]

[Brooklyn's future mate, whom he will meet during his Timedancer adventures. She comes from the Ishimura clan in feudal Japan. She and Brooklyn will have two children: Nashville and Tachi. She will become a part of the Manhattan clan after Brooklyn's return to the Eyrie Building.]

KATHARINE, PRINCESS

The daughter of Prince Malcolm, and ruler of Castle Wyvern at the time of the massacre in 994. Katharine was born to Prince Malcolm and Princess Elena in 976. From childhood onwards, she disliked and feared the gargoyles (partly because Prince Malcolm foolishly used threats of gargoyles to scare her into good behavior), and when she succeeded her father to the rule of Wyvern, somewhere between 984 and 994, she made this plain, openly viewing the gargoyles as monsters. When the Captain of the Guard brought Goliath and Demona to her feast celebrating the initial defeat of Hakon, Katharine angrily demoted him, so that he would only report to the Magus rather than directly to her. It was this act that was the catalyst for Demona and the Captain betraying Castle Wyvern to the Vikings.

Katharine was taken prisoner, as were her human subjects; the Captain and Hakon planned to hold her for ransom. But when Goliath and the other surviving gargoyles attacked the Vikings' camp, Hakon angrily attempted to kill her; in the ensuing confrontation, the Captain, Hakon, and Katharine all fell off the top of a cliff, but Goliath saved Katharine's life in time. Katharine, startled by this event, thanked Goliath, and began to understand the error of her ways at last. When she discovered that the Magus had irrevocably turned the other gargoyles to stone, Katharine made what amends she could by promising to take care of the eggs in the rookery.

Katharine took her people and the eggs to her uncle Kenneth II's court, since it was no longer safe for them at Castle Wyvern. The following year, however, Kenneth was murdered by the ambitious Constantine, who usurped the Scottish throne, and decided to strengthen his claim to it by marrying Katharine. To ensure her cooperation, he threatened to destroy the eggs if she refused. Katharine was left with one hope: she, alongside the Magus, Tom, and the eggs had to flee to Avalon, the only place where they would be safe from Constantine.

Here, Katharine and her human companions raised the eggs. In the years that followed, she and Tom fell in love with each other, and lived together as husband and wife, much to the grief of the Magus, who had fallen in love with her himself.

In 1995, the Archmage and the Weird Sisters attacked Avalon, and Katharine took part in the defence of her home with the rest of the clan, even laying Demona low with her own laser cannon. The following year, Katharine also took part in the defence of the Avalon clan from the returned Oberon. She and Oberon are now on reasonably peaceful terms.

[KATHARINE, QUEEN]

[The third wife of King Maol Chalvim I of Scotland, and mother by him of Prince Malcolm. When Maol Chalvim died in 954, he asked his older two sons, Duff and Kenneth II, to look after her; they gave him their word that they would. The ambitious lord Indulf took advantage of this to capture Katharine and use her as a hostage to prevent Duff and Kenneth from challenging his usurpation of the Scottish throne. Katharine was held a prisoner at Indulf's court for the next eight years, alongside her son Malcolm.

In 962, however, Robbie helped Prince Malcolm escape from Indulf, and Katharine subsequently threatened to throw herself off the castle battlements, thus costing Indulf his only hostage, if he did not yield to her stepsons. Indulf was forced to thereby abdicate and go into exile in Ireland, while Duff became King of Scotland. When Duff was slain at the Battle of Gaine in 967, however, Katharine had to go into exile with Kenneth and Malcolm; on the way to England, she caught a fever and died of it. Presumably Princess Katharine was named after her.]

KENNETH II

The King of Scotland from 971 to 995, Prince Malcolm's older brother, and Princess Katharine's uncle. [Kenneth was the second son of King Maol Chalvim I, half-brother to Duff and Prince Malcolm both. He shared Duff's fortunes loyally in their struggles with Indulf and his son Culen over the Scottish throne from 954 until 967, when Duff was slain in battle against Culen and Kenneth and his family had to flee to England and enter exile there. Four years later, however, with the aid of the Wyvern gargoyles, Kenneth returned to Scotland, overthrew Culen, and became King.]

Kenneth reigned until 995. In his old age, he began to dote on the Lady Finella, who did not return his feelings for her. Constantine, [the ambitious son of Culen,] took advantage of this to dupe Finella into holding a secret meeting with him in the drying-house, where she could tell him in private that she wished to marry Constantine instead of him. When Kenneth entered, Constantine took him by surprise and murdered him.

Kenneth had one son, Maol Chalvim, who later on became King of Scotland as Maol Chalvim II from 1005 to 1034.

[KENNETH III]

[The son of King Duff, born in 967, the same year that his father was slain at the Battle of Gaine. He and Maol Chalvim II overthrew Constantine III at the Battle of Ratheveren in 997. Kenneth then became King of Scotland, only to be overthrown and slain by Maol Chalvim eight years later.

<Kenneth III was a real Scottish king, and believed to have been an ancestor of Gruoch, Macbeth's wife. His history went pretty much the way as described in the entry above>]

KIRON

A New Olympian, and member of the security forces that protect New Olympus. Like most New Olympians, he is not very sympathetic towards humans [and will become a member of Ekidne's isolationist faction after New Olympus makes contact with the outside world.] Kiron is a centaur.

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