Rylan
Rylan (later known by his undername, Ryl) is a central protagonist in The Metalwood Saga. Born in the brutal slums of The Under, he evolves from a scrappy, orphaned underkid into arguably the most powerful mage in planetary history. As a Fallfoiler who eventually gains unprecedented "Superuser" access to the celestial device Xyclami, Rylan plays a pivotal role in the final war against The Twins and Orym.
Appearance and Personality
Rylan is frequently described as having spiky brown hair, a round face, and incredibly intense brown eyes. Having grown up in the gutters of the Under, he is usually covered in dirt and grime, though those who look closely note a "devilishly handsome" quality and a sharp, calculating intelligence behind his youthful exterior. Due to severe malnourishment in his early years, he is relatively short for his age.
Personality-wise, Rylan is defined by extreme resilience. Raised by his mother, Phoenix, to "never back down from a fight," he is stubborn, fiercely loyal, and protective of the people he loves. Despite experiencing horrific trauma—including starvation, beatings, the death of his mother, and the murder of his best friend—he maintains a remarkable capacity to see the good in the world. This inner warmth ultimately saves him from succumbing completely to the dark, addictive euphoria of his Prime Magic.
Biography
Early Life in the Under
Rylan was born in the Under of Newfris to the killgirl Phoenix (Megan) and a man named Eric. Unbeknownst to Phoenix at the time, "Eric" was actually a disguise used by the ruthless Cothellon mindmaster, Quynn. Rylan was named in honor of Phoenix's younger brother, who had perished in a tragic topside fire years earlier.
During the water crisis explored in The Drowned Below, a three-year-old Rylan accompanied his mother and the amnesiac Alluin (Glint) into the classified depths of The Below, unknowingly playing a part in saving the sky cities from dying of thirst.
Rylan spent his childhood in Shock Crew. However, moments after Phoenix sacrificed her life on Stromboli to stop a supervolcano, the Crew's captain, Dill, abruptly exiled the ten-year-old Rylan from the Crew. Unaware that Dill was fulfilling Phoenix's dying wish to keep Rylan far away from the dangerous world of magic, a heartbroken Rylan spent the next five years surviving on the streets, running cons with his best friend, a girl named Con.
Rejoining Shock Crew and Awakening
At age fifteen, Rylan's life changed forever. When his best friend Con was taken for Civil Service, a desperate Rylan pleaded with Dill to help rescue her. Dill agreed to welcome Rylan back into Shock Crew's inner circle and aid in the rescue, but only if Rylan completed a highly dangerous battery-siphoning mission alongside the young thief Small. Despite the mission going awry, Rylan managed to save Small's life, officially earning his place back in the Crew.
Shortly after, during a massive Shock Crew uprising, a Cothellon raid caused the floor of the Under to collapse. Rylan plummeted three thousand feet toward the Earth alongside topsider Trey and his friend Callan. Moments before impact, Rylan instinctively grasped a piece of Primewood falling with them and Awoke as a Fallfoiler. Tapping into the corrupted darkprime magic of vertical gravity, he halted their descent, safely lowering them to the ruined surface.
Vengeance and Co-Magic
Determined to rescue Con, Rylan returned to the Under and infiltrated a highly classified Cothellon facility. Tragically, he arrived too late, forced to watch in horror from the catwalks as Con was murdered during a Darkprime Ceremony to water a Darkprime sapling. Devastated by the loss of his only childhood friend, Rylan swore vengeance against the Planners.
During the ensuing battles against the Cothellon, Rylan grew close to the elven leafrunner Elanil. In the midst of combat, they discovered that by holding hands, they could combine their Aspect powers into a devastating "co-magic". Blending Elanil's lightprime lateral movement with Rylan's darkprime vertical gravity allowed them flawless three-dimensional flight, as well as the ability to hurl buildings, conjure storms of weapons, and create localized tornados.
The Superuser
During a brutal confrontation with Cothellon forces, Rylan's mastery over fallfoiling magic deepened to the point where he could sense the individual particles of magical force. By interacting with these particles, he bypassed standard magical restrictions and interfaced directly with the operating system of Xyclami (Guruthos).
Granted "Superuser" status (Subject 69327A49Z7), Rylan gained near-omnipotent power. He no longer required primewood to cast magic and could instantly access all Seven Aspects. He used this godlike power to save Elanil and his resurrected mother, Phoenix, from the wrath of The Twins and Orym, levitating ships, stopping time, and eventually freezing an entire battlefield of millions of souls by manipulating trillions of sand particles simultaneously.
The Soulbind
Rylan's immense power made him a target. During the conflict at the Palace of Memory, the rogue Prime Mage Cariel (Arra's mother) placed a horrific Soulbind on Rylan. She hijacked his body, using his Superuser abilities to fight the allied forces and open massive dimensional gates. Rylan was trapped inside his own mind, forced to watch as Cariel used his hands to brutally torture Elanil.
Rylan was eventually freed when Trey (utilizing the power of a combined Soulcircle) traced the soulstrand back to Cariel and used Soulsoothing magic to heal her broken mind, breaking the bind.
The End of Magic
In the saga's climax, Rylan successfully hacked Xyclami's administrative protocols, forcing the machine to suspend Nelenor and Velion's Operator privileges. Though Orym temporarily seized control of the device, the combined efforts of Rylan, Trey, and the allied mages forced the system to shut down.
With Xyclami permanently deactivated and magic erased from the universe, Rylan happily relinquished his godlike powers. He formally earned his undername, choosing "Ryl" over Shock Crew's suggestion of "Fall," and settled in the newly rebuilt village of Pano Sylrantheas to live a normal, mortal life alongside Elanil. Finally at peace, he also reconciled his bizarre family tree, accepting Trey (the reintegrated half of Quynn's soul) as his true father.
The Savage Wild
Fifty years after the deactivation of Xyclami and the end of magic, Rylan serves as the mayor of Legacy City on Mar (Earth). He and Elanil have built a life together and share a teenage daughter named Lysa.
The family travels to the brutal jungle planet of Eryn acting as envoys to the Eldrim coastal settlement of Ylfethas. However, their peaceful diplomatic mission turns out to be an elaborate trap orchestrated by the ancient mage Cariel, who survived her apparent death and now goes by the name Calarel. Wielding a physical, rectangular piece of Xyclami hardware, Calarel intends to force Rylan and Elanil to act as Operators once again to turn the machine back on and return magic to the universe.
When Rylan vehemently refuses to help her, Calarel uses a brainwashed rylak army to capture him and Elanil, subjecting them to a specialized drug. Due to a flawed formulation, the drug plunges Rylan and Elanil into a deep coma that lasts for an agonizing ten years, during which time Lysa is separated from them and enslaved by a rylak pack in the Kalmansa Wilds.
Following Calarel's ultimate defeat at the hands of Lysa, the half-rylak Jascyn, and the dragon Aena, Rylan and Elanil are finally pulled from their decade-long coma. Reunited with his daughter, Rylan briefly taps into his dormant superuser connection to Xyclami, summoning swirls of sharp green magic to instantly heal the lingering physical damage the coma inflicted on him and Elanil.
Discovering that his daughter has bonded with a rylak and a dragon to form the "Triad"—uniting the warring species of the planet—Rylan expresses deep pride and relief. Happy to leave the days of running from enemies and saving the world behind them, Rylan and Elanil formally step aside, jokingly calling their retirement "the vacation we never thought we’d have" as they let Lysa take charge of the new era.
Powers and Abilities
- Fallfoiling (Darkprime Builder): Rylan's original Alignment. Using dark maple, he could manipulate vertical gravity to make himself or objects weightless, leap great distances, or crush enemies into the ground.
- Co-Magic: By maintaining physical contact with Elanil, Rylan could merge his vertical fallfoiling with her horizontal leafrunning, allowing them flawless, three-dimensional flight and the ability to manipulate massive objects with terrifying precision.
- Superuser Access: Following his direct connection to Xyclami, Rylan became a Superuser. This granted him direct communication with the machine's AI, instant access to all Fourteen Gifts and Ways without the need for Primewood, and the ability to command magic at a microscopic, particle level.
Key Relationships
- Elanil: The love of his life. They share an intense, trauma-bonded romance, frequently referring to each other by the pet names "Wind" (Rylan) and "Dance" (Elanil). Rylan's deepest fear was harming her when his Superuser magic and Cariel's soulbind threatened to override his self-control.
- Phoenix (Megan): His mother. Rylan spent years believing she had abandoned him through death, but upon her resurrection from Ambarhal, they forged a fierce, protective bond as fellow Prime Mages.
- Dill (Dillon): His Crew Captain and complicated mentor figure. Dill's decision to kick Rylan out of Shock Crew caused years of resentment, but they eventually reconciled, fighting side-by-side to unite the Under.
- Con: His best friend during his exile in the Under. Her brutal murder during a Civil Service ceremony served as the catalyst for Rylan's war against the Cothellon.
- Quynn / Trey (Tarathiel): His biological father(s). Because Quynn and Trey were two halves of a Soulsplinter, Rylan is technically the son of both. While he despises the ruthless Quynn, he warmly accepts the gentle Trey as his true father in the series epilogue.