List of Emberverse Characters - Clan Mackenzie

Clan Mackenzie

• Juniper Mackenzie: Folk singer and Wiccan priestess, Juniper fled Corvallis after the Change to her country home where she formed Clan Mackenzie from the members of her coven and other refugees. There is a possibility that she may have magical abilities but that has yet to be verified. When she met Mike they had a sexual encounter which produced her son and second child Rudi, named after her dead boyfriend who was killed when his plane crashed when the Change happened. Considered by many Wiccans to be the “Goddess on Earth” her actions have helped spread the Wiccan religion across the Willamette Valley and beyond. She has a moral force that leads her to become the de facto leader of the non-Portland Meeting groups, and develops a cordial relationship, almost a friendship, with Sandra Arminger after the duel at the Fields of Gold. She is mother also to Eilir and wife to Sir Nigel Loring, by whom she had two more daughters. The songs & lyrics attributed to Mackenzie in the books are Heather Alexander's; Alexander is credited in the acknowledgments of The Protector's War.
• Rudi “Artos” Mackenzie: Rudi is the son of Juniper and Mike, born shortly after the Change. He is the tanist or heir of Clan Mackenzie. Several prophecies and strange events have followed Rudi, one such prophecy leading him and his friends on a quest across North America to Nantucket to retrieve a sword. He has been described as an incredibly skillful fighter for his age, with an almost inhuman deadliness with a blade that comes as a very unwelcome surprise those who meet him in battle. He is also one of the few who can approach his horse, Epona, without being attacked. He has a close, almost romantic, relationship with Mathilda that causes him grief since their different religions and political situations make it unlikely they will ever be together. One reviewer called Rudi noble, complex, and admirable.
• Dennis Martin: A bar owner before the Change, Dennis accompanied Juniper to her country home, bringing with him medieval weapons given to him by his brother John, another character from Island in the Sea of Time. He has some skill as a blacksmith but is an even better woodworker. He became a convert to Wicca and is responsible for members of the Clan calling Juniper “Lady Mackenzie” after he jokingly referred to her by that title. He was the first one to wear the famous Mackenzie kilt, and though it began as a joke to take people's minds off the Dying Time, he was basically responsible for instigating the neo-Celtic culture that came to define the MacKenzie Clan.
• Chuck Barstow: Chuck was an SCA member and an organic food seller before the Change. He was responsible for leading a large number of Juniper's coven to the safety of her cabin and saving several school children from an abandoned bus, three of which he adopted. He was Second Armsman of the Clan under Sam until eventually being promoted to First Armsman after Sam retired. He died outside of Pendleton but later awoke somewhere in the afterlife. He was married to Judy and they had several children.
• Judy Barstow: Judy was Juniper's teenage friend and both converted to Wicca together. As an adult she gained a knowledge of medicine and married Chuck. Her skills with medicine made her the Clan's lead Healer and also one of Juniper's closest advisors.
• Oak Barstow: Oak is one of Chuck and Judy's adopted children, who took the name Oak after converting to Wiccan. He was Chuck's second-in-command outside of Pendleton and ordered the Mackenzie's to retreat after Chuck's death. During a burial ceremony held outside Dun Juniper, he swore in front of everyone present that he would avenge his father's death.
• Sam Aylward: A former member of Special Air Service, Sam was hunting in Oregon during the Change and initially thought the Change was a nuclear war. He was later rescued by Juniper who found him after he had fallen into a ravine. His skills as a bowyer helped make the longbow the weapon of choice for the Mackenzie’s. Though he defeated any attempts to be promoted to an officer while in the British military, he found himself “First Armsmen” of the Clan. His reputation as a phenomenal shot with a longbow has earned him the nickname “Aylward the Archer” and a reputation that has reached as far east as Boise, Idaho. He is father to Edain. This character is a reference to Aylward from Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company.
• Sir Nigel Loring: An officer who served in the Special Air Services as Sam’s former commanding officer, a Colonel in the Blues and Royals at the time of the Change. Nigel was responsible for saving the British Royal Family and helping the remnants of the United Kingdom get through the Change. Disputes with the King Charles III and his new wife, however, forced him to flee the country with his son Alleyne and John Hordle after his wife Maud was killed during their escape from Woburn Abbey. Picked up by a Tasmanian ship on a round-the-world expedition, he eventually found himself in Oregon and was offered land and title by Norman Arminger, Lord Protector of the Portland Protective Association, but fled after tricking him out of the recovered nerve gas Arminger wanted for his war against the rest of the Williamette Valley communities. He later settled among the Mackenzies and fell in love with Juniper and had two daughters by her. In battle he commands the Mackenzie infantry that does not use the longbows and dresses in a full suit of plate armour. He is credited with instilling strict discipline among the Mackenzie warriors. This character is a reference to Nigel Loring from Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company.
• Edain Aylward: Edain is the son of Sam and joined Rudi on his quest to Nantucket. Though an accomplished archer himself, Edain finds himself constantly reminded of his father’s reputation as an archer, a fact which weighs heavily on the young man. He is intensely loyal to Rudi, referring to him as “Chief” even though Rudi has yet to obtain that position.
• Eilir Mackenzie: Deaf daughter of Juniper and sworn blood-sister of Astrid Larsson. See the Dúnedain Rangers, below.
• Terry Martin: Step-son of Dennis Martin and a noted brewer.