The Gardier

The Gardier are a mysterious, powerful race of sorcerers in Martha Wells' fantasy trilogy, The Fall of Ile-Rien. They employ alien magic in their conquests of other societies, which the skilled magicians of Ile-Rien cannot counter. They also employ armed airships to bombard target cities from above. The centers of their civilization are called Matons, once-elegant cities heavily developed into bland and utilitarian military and industrial enclaves. The Gardier name for themselves is the Aelin, and the language they speak is also called Aelin. They rarely call themselves the Aelin, although they do not specify the name they have taken. "It was a thing of their past, like the small villages that had once dotted the land and the careful craftsmanship that had constructed this city " (The Ships of Air, 164).

In the beginning of the trilogy, not much is known of the Gardier. The name itself was given to them by Rienish newspapers and is a corruption of the Aderassi slang word for "enemy" (The Wizard Hunters, 33). They have successfully conquered several of Ile-Rien's allies, and are advancing towards the capital city, Vienne. The university-city of Lodun is besieged by the Gardier, trapping its powerful sorcerers behind an impenetrable barrier, making them unavailable to the war effort.