The Walker

The Walker (originally Narrander) is a recurring character in Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, (which takes place 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe during the Stone Age).

Appearance
The Walker is an unbelievably dirty old man. His face is coarse like bark and his beard and waist-long hair are tangled like beard-moss. He's large and his scrawny limbs are gnarled like roots. He gives a rotting air with his empty and abscessed eye socket, black and toothless gums and broken nose. His mouth and nose have greenish yellow slime hanging from them. By the time of Soul Eater, he has cut all his frostbitten toes at least from one on his feet.

He wears a slimy and yellow cape made of reeds. Under it he wears a filthy hide loincloth. In his first appearance, he has a rotting pigeon corpse hanging from his neck. In his second appearance, he wears a rancid jerkin made from red deer skin that's ripped from the carcass and left uncleaned. He also has foot-bindings made of mouldy wovenbark. His neck has a greenish blue wavy line tattoo to mark his membership to the Otter Clan. Like with the other Soul Eaters, he had a three-pronged black fork tattooed on his heart, though he has presumably cut it from his flesh like Torak's father did.

== History=

Before the series
Narrander was born to the Otter Clan and he eventually became its Mage. He also had a son named Narik, who was born roughly twenty-one years before the start of the series. Narik was eight years old when his father joined the Healers, a group of Clan Mages who wanted to help the Clans by healing the sick and driving away evil spirits. However, Narrander realized with Torak's father how corrupted the other five Healers were becoming and attempted adamantly to secede. The Healers' leader, Eostra of the Eagle Owl Clan, took Narik hostage and forced Narrander to remain with the renamed Soul Eaters.

When the Soul Eaters gathered in Souls' Night to a hill (later called the Burnt Hill) on the verge of the Deep Forest in order to release demons trapped inside the hill and Torak's father ignited the Great Fire, Narrander lost his eye. His hidden and bound son lost his life, and when Narrander found Narik's body, he lost his sanity out of grief. Torak's father and Fin-Kedinn covered Narrander's tracks and made everyone believe that the former Otter Mage had perished in the Great Fire.

Narrander became a hermit outcast. Calling himself the Walker, he took residence in a valley close to Lake Axehead and made it a habit to take as pets little animals he called Narik, replacing them as they died. Somewhere along the line, he entered a cave close to his valley which held a door to The Otherworld and took from its altar a claw-like stone he used as his strike-fire.

Wolf Brother
Thirteen years after Narik's death, the Walker first meets Torak, Renn and Wolf when they're searching the Forest for the three parts of the Nanuak (the only hope to destroy the demon bear). He accuses the trio of trespassing in his valley and leading the bear there (he turns out to be correct about this, as the first part of the Nanuak they possess has a specially alluring effect on demons). He throws Renn's quiver in a stream and attempts to force the trio out of his valley. They manage to get him to tell a bit about demons and the crippled wanderer who created the bear (the Walker claiming to have forbidden the man to create the bear) before he becomes aggressive again and attempts to snap in two Renn's beloved bow. Torak prevents this by offering nuts for Narik, leading the Walker to use his strike-fire to open them. Torak and Renn question him about the stone, sensing it to be linked to the location of the second piece of the Nanuak. The Walker tells them about the cave he took his strike-fire from and sends them there.

Soul Eater
About an year after the events of Wolf Brother, the remaining Soul Eaters gather and start a new plot to take over the Forest. Seshru tricks from the Walker his strike-fire so that the Soul Eaters can use it to release demons from Eye of the Viper (it's unknown if the Viper Mage is aware of the Walker former identity as Narrander). While the Walker searches for a new strike-fire and a new Narik, he encounters Torak and Renn as they're pursuing the Soul Eaters for capturing Wolf. The Walker holds Torak at knifepoint until Renn gives him her strike-fire. He then gives a bit of information about the Soul Eaters until he continues his search for a new Narik. Taking pity in the Walker, Torak finds a lemming for him. To repay the debt, the Walker tells Torak and Renn where the Soul Eaters are going and warns Torak that he won't be the same after he enters Eye of the Viper.

Ghost Hunter
Nearly three years after Wolf Brother, Torak prepares to face Eostra. Fin-Kedinn seeks out the Walker and convinces him to help Torak against the last Soul Eater. They travel together towards the Mountain of Ghosts until Fin-Kedinn is forced to lead the Raven Clan. The Walker travels the rest of the way on his own.

When Eostra is summoning the souls of the deceased Soul Eaters during her final confrontation with Torak and attempts to summon Narrander's spirit (believing him to be deceased), the Walker arrives to the cave and reveals his former identity. His words make Renn realize how the Eagle Owl Mage is controlling the deceased Soul Eaters' soul. He's knocked out by tokoroths that throw rocks at him. He recovers by the time Torak has shattered the last Fire Opal fragment. The former Otter Mage summons the Hidden People of the Mountain to destroy Eostra. A gaping chasm appears and Eostra falls to her death along with Torak. The Walker takes Torak's body out of the Mountain and Wolf leads his souls back into it.

Several months later, the Walker is met for the last time by Fin-Kedinn and Torak. Fin-Kedinn offers the Walker to live the rest of his life in peace among the Clans, but he refuses, explaining the reason in the last bit of advice he gives Torak: like Narrander, Torak can't settle because of everything he has experienced.

Personality
The Walker is a deranged and ill-tempered old man who'd just want to be left alone with his pet Narik (which he treats with great affection). He threatens to kill Torak and Renn several times, but he helps them out when they help him out. When they attempt to leave him in Soul Eater after giving him a new Narik, he chases after them, angry at them for leaving before he can repay his debt. When Wolf first sees him, he can't make sense of the Walker's scattered thoughts. His ramblings are hard to make sense of, but they reveal some of the wisdom from his days as the Otter Mage. He has a habit of eating things most people wouldn't dream of eating, like a rotting pigeon's wing. However, even he can't stomach his frostbitten toes.

Most of his personality as Narrander is unknown, but it's made clear that he was a fair person as he joined the Healers to help the Clans and tried to leave as soon as the Healers became the Soul Eaters. He loved his son Narik so much that he stayed with the Soul Eaters when Eostra took Narik hostage. The grief over his son's death drove Narrander mad and he joined in the final fight against Eostra in order to avenge Narik.

Powers and abilities
Narrander was a powerful mage before he became the Walker. He reveals some of his old wisdom at times. He seems to have a special connection with the Hidden People, creatures that can appear only when no-one is looking. He summons them in the last book to destroy Eostra. He also knows how to hide from Eostra and her beasts.

The Walker has good survival skills that have helped him to survive in the Forest on his own over a decade in his mad state. He has sharp ears and he's highly skilled in stealth. His weapons are a green knife and an ax.