RYSE of the 1NES
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The Archive

Everything in the world, linked

Meet the characters, explore every map location, and follow the gifts, factions and history of Alkebulan.

Kofi in a teal shirt, woven shoulder wrap and leather smithing apron
Character

Kofi

The young smith of Nakarra

First appears: Book 1

Kwame outside the forge, holding a hammer and tongs
Character

Kwame

The village smith. Kofi's father as raised.

First appears: Book 1

Ama in a cream shawl and ochre headwrap, carrying bread and a cup
Character

Ama

Kofi's mother as raised. Keeper of the household.

First appears: Book 1

Abuu, a black dog with upright ears, beside the forge
Character

Abuu

Kofi's black dog

First appears: Book 1

The Shaman in layered earth-toned robes, holding a carved wooden staff
Character

The Shaman

Healer, wanderer and guide

First appears: Book 1

Akin with an ochre scarf, travel pack and curved sword at his side
Character

Akin

Warrior. Kofi's boyhood friend.

First appears: Book 1

Naima in blue robes, an opaque black mask and black gloves
Character

Naima

Field Captain of the Watchers

First appears: Book 3

MastaQuan in dark ornate robes, a black mask and gloves, holding an orb-topped staff
Character

MastaQuan

The scarred elder. Commander of the Watchers.

First appears: Book 3

Fenro in ochre robes, a black mask and gloves, carrying a folio
Character

Fenro

Scribe and instrument keeper

First appears: Book 3

Vash in crimson robes, a ridged black mask and black gloves, carrying a staff
Character

Vash

Veteran Watcher

First appears: Book 3

Kamau in green robes, a black mask and gloves, with a staff and slate
Character

Kamau

The young sentinel

First appears: Book 3

Mosi holding a staff beside glowing rings
Character

Mosi

Caretaker, gardener and keeper of records

First appears: Book 1

Nkem holding a staff between stone pillars
Character

Nkem

Traveler, sketcher and record-keeper

First appears: Book 1

Dalia in a dark cloak
Character

Dalia

Tracker and traveler

First appears: Book 1

Zaina walking through water, with light streaming from her hands
Character

Zaina

A healer of living water

First appears: Film 1

Selani in a blue headwrap and glasses, studying a geometric glass form
Character

Selani

The woman with the geometric glass form

First appears: Film 1

Concept portrait of Joro in traveling clothes with a short sword
Character

Joro

Dalia's traveling companion

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Jemba holding branches in an orchard
Character

Jemba

An observant villager of Nakarra

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Musa holding a hoe
Character

Musa

A neighbor of the village smiths

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Esi gesturing as she tells a story
Character

Esi

A confident child of Nakarra

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Tano with a cloth-wrapped wrist
Character

Tano

An elder with a healing wrist

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Kemi seated in simple village clothing
Character

Kemi

A child mentioned in a village story

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Elder Nayo seated with hands resting near one knee
Character

Nayo

An elder of Nakarra

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Adisa in a smithing apron holding an iron workpiece
Character

Adisa

The master smith of Umoka

First appears: Book 1

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Narema holding a stone chisel and stone fragment
Character

Narema

A stone-cutter remembered at the vault

First appears: Book 2

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Kojo Anene with a marking tool and incised stone
Character

Kojo Anene

A ward-smith in Elinam's account

First appears: Book 2

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Lela holding cloth-wrapped records
Character

Lela

A keeper in Elinam's account

First appears: Book 2

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Elinam in a full-face mask and gloves holding a short ringed staff
Character

Elinam

A senior Watcher

First appears: Book 2

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Adofo in dark robes, an opaque mask and gloves
Character

Adofo

Presiding commander of the Conclave

First appears: Book 3

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Tuma wearing a full-face mask and gloves, holding a folded note
Character

Tuma

Captain in courier oversight

First appears: Book 3

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Osei in a hooded robe, rigid mask and armored gloves
Character

Osei

A Watcher on the eastern observation line

First appears: Book 3

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Adisa Nare in a mask and gloves holding a folio
Character

Adisa Nare

Senior Recorder

First appears: Book 4

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Concept portrait of Zuri wearing a full-face mask and gloves holding a ward-rod
Character

Zuri

A young reformist trainee

First appears: Book 4

Book-inspired concept portrait.

Nakarra at dusk, with clay huts and the Great Baobab on the skyline
Place

Nakarra

Kofi's home village, where the forge first answers him.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1, ch. 1

Basalt and cedar terraces, standing stones and a quiet courtyard on a mountain ridge
Place

The Watchers' Mountain

The mountain seat of the Watchers, with basalt-and-cedar halls climbing the ridge.

Source: The Watchers, Part 1, ch. 1, pp. 5-24

A trading path crosses dry ridges toward a softly suggested distant town
Place

Umoka

The town Kofi hopes to reach to learn from the master smith Adisa.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1, ch. 3, pp. 58 and 70; ch. 5, pp. 99-101

Daylight filters through ancient forest crowns above broad roots and a misty path
Place

The Great Forest

Old forest of interlocked crowns, broad roots and mist that lingers in daylight.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1, ch. 8, p. 179; ch. 9, p. 198; ch. 11, p. 251

An empty circular stone chamber with root filaments and a raised recessed dais
Place

The Whisper Vault

A low-domed chamber of glyph bands, stone and green-dark root filaments.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 13, pp. 47-60

A pale stone basin with seven grooves beneath bent pines and moonlight
Place

The Moonlit Ridge

Split boulders and weather-bent pines rise above older forest.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 14, pp. 71-107

Forest gives way to lower ground, a coastal path and an open sea horizon
Place

The coast

The sea lies ahead on the company’s south-westward road from the ridge.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 19, pp. 236-242; ch. 22, pp. 309-312

Canals, bridges and ramparts seen from above at River Fork Outpost
Place

River Fork Outpost

An outpost settlement visited in Welcome to Alkebulan.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, place card at 0:54-0:57

Mossy arches and a glowing floor ring at Remnant Ruins
Place

Remnant Ruins

Mossy stone arches surround a glowing ring in a jungle ruin.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, 1:17-1:22

Trees frame a luminous spiral gate at Kofi’s Shrine
Place

Kofi's Shrine

A shrine reached through trees in Welcome to Alkebulan.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, place card at 1:11-1:13

A mountain temple above clouds beneath storm light
Place

Ascendant Mountain

A temple stands on a high peak above the clouds, lit by a storm.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, 1:26-1:29

Blue-white ice fills a cavern in the Sickle Glacier artwork
Place

Sickle Glacier

A glacier landscape in the journey through Alkebulan.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, place card at 2:39-2:41; film description

A ring-shaped keep seen from the air with cyan lights
Place

Star-Crown Keep

A ring-shaped keep seen from above, with cyan lights tracing its form.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, place card at 2:59-3:01 and aerial view at 3:06

Lightning over the volcanic crater of the Obsidian Range
Place

Obsidian Range

Lightning hangs over a volcanic crater in Welcome to Alkebulan.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, 1:44-1:48; film description

Dunes and glowing glass domes in the Desert of Samara
Place

Desert of Samara

Dunes and glowing glass domes stretch across the desert landscape.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, 2:02-2:09; film description

Glass spheres scattered across the pale salt flat of the Scablands
Place

Scablands

A salt flat scattered with glass spheres, the pearls of the Scablands artwork.

Source: Welcome to Alkebulan, 2:18-2:22; film description

An empty chamber with copper inlays on black floorstone and a bright central crystal
Place

The Rupture chamber

The sealed chamber remembered in the history of the Great Rupture.

Source: The Watchers, Part 1, ch. 2, p. 33; ch. 4, p. 111; ch. 7, pp. 176-184

A scarred wooden table holding a clay bowl and half-eaten cassava bread
Place

The kitchen in Kofi's visions

A table, a clay bowl and cassava bread recur in Kofi’s visions.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1, ch. 5, p. 106; ch. 6, p. 137; ch. 9, p. 207

An anonymous rise between forest and field, one glimpse from the pendant vision
Place

The places of the pendant vision

The pendant reveals glimpses of lives beyond Kofi’s immediate journey.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 19, pp. 236-242; ch. 22, pp. 300-306

A restrained illustration of broken masonry and a fractured threshold
Place

The eastern keep

A broken keep recalled in Elinam’s account of Kofi’s past.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 14, p. 85

Worked stone and incised lines beneath indistinct stepped ledges
Place

The southern terraces

Seal lines beneath the terraces connect this place to a ward-smith’s work.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 14, p. 86

Old rolled manuscripts and sheets on a simple wooden reading surface
Place

The monastery

Old ward calculations survive in the monastery’s records.

Source: The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 17, p. 176

Basalt and cedar terraces of the Watchers’ mountain compound
Faction

The Watchers

An order that wards, measures and contains.

First appears: Book 1

An empty oval council chamber with tiered benches around a brazier
Faction

The Conclave

The Watchers' ruling and voting council.

First appears: Book 2

Root-threaded stone geometry in the Whisper Vault, a trace of the Ancients’ legacy
Faction

The Ancients

A vanished builder people whose legacy remains in stone, water and living root.

First appears: Book 2

A small dark mineral object resting on a black stone plinth
Gift or artifact

The Remnant

"a piece of night made mineral"

First appears: Book 2

The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 20, p. 255

A worn dark wooden pendant carved with two inward-curving shapes
Gift or artifact

The pendant

Dark wood, carved with two curved shapes folding toward one another.

First appears: Book 1

Kofi listening beneath the orchard leaves with one hand raised
Gift or artifact

The hush

A state of listening in which everything "belonged to everything else".

First appears: Book 1

The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1, ch. 6, p. 129

A small iron hammer and worn wooden handle resting in travel wrapping
Gift or artifact

Kwame's hammer

The small hammer Kwame gave Kofi at the leaving.

First appears: Book 1

Timeline

The story in time

Follow the shared history and the journeys told across the four books. Open a book section when you are ready for its story spoilers.

The Watchers’ perspective overlaps Kofi’s journey. Sections follow each book’s sequence.

Before the journey

  1. The Ancients depart

    A vanished builder people leave a legacy in stone, water, geometry and living root.

    The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 20, pp. 271-272

  2. The Great Rupture

    Decades before the Watchers’ present story, a chamber catastrophe leaves the order with scars and a hardening doctrine of containment.

    The Watchers, Part 1, ch. 2, pp. 39-48; ch. 7, pp. 176-184

  3. The Whisper Vault is built

    Mosi, the Shaman and others build the vault to hide the Remnant.

    The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2, ch. 13, pp. 47-50

The Quest of the Remnant, Part 1

Kofi’s journey

Read 6 events · Story spoilers

  1. The first signs in Nakarra

    Kofi sees patterns at the Great Baobab and the forge. He tells Kwame that he has been seeing things.

    Ch. 1, pp. 5-13

  2. The weight of leaving

    Ama gives Kofi the pendant. Kwame gives him a small hammer. Kofi leaves by the eastern path with Abuu.

    Ch. 3, pp. 61-71

  3. Akin returns

    Akin walks toward Nakarra, finding a defaced shrine and traces that put his training to use.

    Ch. 4, pp. 73-92

  4. The orchard lesson

    The Shaman leads Kofi into a hidden orchard valley, where listening brings both the hush and a painful recoil.

    Ch. 6, pp. 114-141

  5. Nkem and the forest road

    Kofi meets Nkem at a waterfall. The road leads on to Mosi’s house, where Abuu brings Akin back to his friend.

    Ch. 7, pp. 143-171; ch. 9-10, pp. 195-243

  6. The seam in the rock

    Beyond broken ward-stones and a dead seekers’ camp, Kofi hears hidden water and finds a seam in the stone.

    Ch. 11, pp. 244-273

The Quest of the Remnant, Part 2

Kofi’s journey

Read 6 events · Story spoilers

  1. The Trial of Stone

    Akin enters the opened seam and encounters a vision of another life before returning to the company.

    Ch. 12, pp. 5-36

  2. Inside the Whisper Vault

    The Shaman reveals his part in building the vault, bringing Kofi’s questions about concealment into the open.

    Ch. 13, pp. 37-69

  3. The meeting on the ridge

    Watcher Elinam meets the company at the pale stone basin. Dalia and Joro arrive as the search and containment work converge.

    Ch. 14, pp. 71-107

  4. Five holding-rings

    Mosi shows the rings and explains that the Remnant was intended for a circle rather than one bearer.

    Ch. 15, pp. 109-133

  5. The Remnant chooses

    In the deeper chamber, Abuu’s howl settles the room and the Remnant rises to Kofi.

    Ch. 20, pp. 249-282

  6. The road toward the coast

    The company leaves the ridge behind and sets out south-west with the Remnant in Kofi’s satchel.

    Ch. 22, pp. 309-313

The Watchers, Part 1

The order’s perspective

Read 6 events · Story spoilers

  1. The report from Nakarra

    A black-sealed dispatch describes the forge anomaly. The Conclave names Naima’s four-person observation team.

    Ch. 1, pp. 11-24

  2. The team observes

    Naima, Vash, Fenro and Kamau approach the valley and establish their hidden camp in a barn.

    Ch. 3, pp. 55-84

  3. Readings under pressure

    Fenro’s instruments change while MastaQuan’s orders bring a harder interpretation of the evidence.

    Ch. 4, pp. 85-112

  4. Naima records restraint

    The valley’s hush reaches Naima. Her formal dispatch recommends restraint as she records a remarkably stable field.

    Ch. 5, pp. 113-135

  5. The pursuit into the forest

    Naima breaks camp and follows Kofi’s company toward the Great Forest.

    Ch. 8, pp. 193-216

  6. MastaQuan at the basin

    The Commander’s column reaches the ridge basin, where the ward-stones begin to pulse.

    Ch. 9, pp. 219-241

The Watchers, Part 2

The order’s perspective

Read 6 events · Story spoilers

  1. A ward-line meets the dome

    Kofi’s lattice turns MastaQuan’s ward-line into harmony, forcing a new response from the Commander.

    Ch. 10, pp. 5-29

  2. Article Ten and the Compact

    Naima invokes Article Ten. A witnessed Compact grants a two-day apprenticeship.

    Ch. 11, pp. 31-57

  3. Work at the basin forge

    The apprenticeship begins as labor. Kofi’s sparks form twin rings, and Elinam arrives.

    Ch. 12, pp. 59-88

  4. The formal appeal

    Naima, Elinam and Fenro gather evidence and send an appeal to the Conclave.

    Ch. 13, pp. 89-112

  5. A margin of one

    The Conclave’s decision permits expanded apprenticeship. The disagreement within the order remains.

    Ch. 14, pp. 113-134; ch. 17, pp. 202-203

  6. A changed watch

    The watch pulls back while the ridge station keeps recording. Naima gives her testimony and speaks the Vow again.

    Ch. 16, pp. 157-175; ch. 18, pp. 205-222