Maugin

"I have flown through the heart of ice-storms, battled albino rotsuckers over the Mire, fought against sky galleons amidst blazing ironwood pines, the air black with choking smoke . . . And throughout it all, I kept my sky ship afloat."
—Maugin

Maugin was Cloud Wolf's, Wind Jackal's, and Twig's Stone Pilot aboard the sky ships Galerider, Stormchaser, and Edgedancer. She was a termagant trog who missed her ceremony of transformation, and therefore resembled a twelve-year-old girl all her life.

Role in The Lost Barkscrolls

Maugin, dressed in her Stone Pilot uniform.

In The Lost Barkscrolls, Maugin was the main character in the second barkscroll called The Stone Pilot. It started when Maugin was a young termagant trog who was due for her transformation. However, she had a prowlgrin called Blink, and she insisted that she would always love him after her blooding. Her mother, Loess, told her that if she really loved Blink, she would let him go.

When she released Blink, Maugin heard a yowl, and dashed out from the caverns to find that the her pet had been killed by a barbed arrow. Before she could dash back to safety, Maugin was attacked by trained whitecollar woodwolves belonging to a slaver known as Zelt Pink-Eye. She was kidnapped and put on sale, causing her to miss her transformation.

Maugin was purchased by a leaguesman named Ilmus Pentephraxis, who wished to experiment on her and discover the secrets of termagantation. Before Ilmus escorted her out of the slave market, however, Quint attacked the leaguesman and took Maugin aboard the Galerider, intending to bring her to safety. Ilmus Pentephraxis and Zelt Pink-Eye gave chase in the league ship Scourge of the Weak, and the Galerider's Stone Pilot, Ramrock, was killed by a crossbow bolt. Maugin took his place on the spur of the moment, and her new-found skills as a Stone Pilot allowed Wind Jackal to destroy the Scourge of the Weak. From that point on, Maugin remained on the crew as a permanent Stone Pilot.

Maugin, standing at Riverrise.

(See also: Errors and Inconsistencies in the Edge Chronicles.)

Role in the Quint Trilogy

During her time as a Stone Pilot, Maugin never removed her gear or said a word, out of shame that she never became a Termagant. On many occasions, Maugin saved the Galerider and its crew. During one notable incident, when the flight-burners were completely extinguished, she set herself on fire (trusting her gear to protect her) and clung to the flight cage to prevent the flight-rock from becoming too cold. She survived, but spent several days convalescing, and several weeks after that on crutches.

After the disparition of the Galerider, Quint returned to the Knights Academy of Sanctaphrax while Maugin, together with Tem Barkwater and Spillins, joined Duggin, helping him with his sky ferry business in Undertown.[1]

Role in The Sky Chart

In the short story The Sky Chart Maugin was the narrator.

After Quint left the Knights Academy, Maugin became stone pilot onboard the Stormchaser. However, its first voyage turned out to be disastrous for the skyship was infested by weevils and others parasites. Quint then needed money to make his ship skyworthy again. Along with Quint and Maris Verginix, the Stone Pilot joined the crew of the Reaper of Plenty, league ship of Multinius Gobtrax, for a skycharting expedition in the Deepwoods.[2] When the skyship was caught in a storm, Maugin managed to save it thanks to her stone pilot skills. The Reaper of Plenty reached the Deepwoods canopy but was badly damaged. By the time the storm ended, Maris had given birth to her baby.[3] Inevitably, Gobtrax discovered the infant and demanded Quint and Maris to get rid of him. Maugin, accompanied them down the forest path and suggested that they could leave their child to woodtrolls until they could get him back on board their own ship.[4]

After having fixed the Reaper of Plenty, the crew sailed back to Undertown. Quint, Maris and Maugin stayed at the Bloodoak Tavern, where Maugin told Tweezel about Twig's birth and abandonment. Maugin would continue to be Quint's stone pilot and help him finding his son again.[5]

Role in the Twig Trilogy

Maugin also served aboard Quint's own ship, the Stormchaser. She was injured during the encounter with Screed Toe-Taker, but recovered and was the only crew member to survive the stormchasing voyage, apart from Twig. Twig and Maugin worked together to restore Screed's ship, the Windcutter, to working order. Once it was somewhat functional, they flew back to Undertown. Maugin then served aboard Twig's sky ship, the Edgedancer. When it exploded inside the Mother Storm, she was blown all the way to Riverrise. Twig eventually found her, and she conveyed Quint's final message to him. She was the only one who remembered the message, because she had been wearing her protective Stone Pilot gear when the Mother Storm erased the rest of the crew's memory.

Role in The Immortals

Maugin spent many years at Riverrise with Goom and Woodfish, waiting for Twig to return. However, Twig got lost in the Deepwoods, and could not find his way back to Riverrise. After many years, Goom left Riverrise to join the Great Convocation of Banderbears, and Woodfish set off a while later. However, Maugin refused to leave, and grew to almost ninety years of age during her steadfast, patient stay in the Garden of Life.

The stone carved by Twig when he buried Maugin in The Garden of Life.

Eventually, a waif by the name of Golderayce settled in the Garden of Life, attracted from his residence on the mountainside by Maugin's thoughts, and fell in love with her at a distance. When he realized that his feelings were unrequited, his affections gave way to a murderous, malevolent jealousy.[6]

When Twig finally appeared on the horizon, mortally wounded from a Guardian of Night's crossbow bolt and carried to Riverrise in the talons of the Caterbird, Golderayce shot Maugin with a blackroot oil dart,[7] killing her rather than allowing her to be reunited with her captain. Twig buried her in the Garden of Life.

Role in The Descenders

A translucent version of Maugin appears to the Professor as he fades away after spending years in the blue half-light of the screefields. She shows him Groundrise.

References

  1. ↑ Clash of the Sky Galleons, Epilogue
  2. ↑ The Sky Chart, Chapter 2
  3. ↑ The Sky Chart, Chapter 3
  4. ↑ The Sky Chart, Chapter 4
  5. ↑ The Sky Chart, Chapter 6
  6. ↑ The Immortals, Chapter 78
  7. ↑ The Immortals, Chapter 30
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