Juiyan (Desert Wizard)
Juiyan, known as the Desert Heart, was a wizard who resided alone in the center of the Artacala Desert. He was notable for being the only known individual willing to make the depths of that desert his permanent home. In The Blood of Giants, he served as both a reluctant guide and, ultimately, a betrayer to Zaira von Monocle and her crew.
Description
Juiyan was an older man distinguished by deep wrinkles beneath his eyes and thick eyebrows, with a gray beard tucked into his cloak. He wore long, flowing red robes with a hood. He carried a staff topped with an orb that flickered with electricity—his primary tool for both combat and operating his castle. He was described as a man of few words, and he spoke the same language as Zaira's crew.
Juiyan's Staff
Juiyan's staff was a rod topped with an orb that flickered with electricity. In combat, it fired bolts of purple and blue electricity across the sand, and could send electrical charges through the ground to repel creatures such as the Gagantemidae, or shoot lightning directly at threats such as a giant snake. The direction of the lightning could be altered by pointing from either end of the orb. The staff also served a non-combat function: Juiyan used it to draw symbols in the sand to activate the mechanism of his underground castle. When not in use, the staff stood upright in a small hole in the flooring of his castle's control room, where it glowed and pulsed steadily.
"Electricity surged from the orb at the top of the dune. Bolts of purple and blue spread across the sand."
Role in The Blood of Giants
Discovery and First Contact
Seeva directed the narrator to seek out the Desert Heart, describing him as the only one who would brave the depths of the Artacala Desert as a home, and noting that the narrator would recognize him by that fact alone.
"He is the desert heart, a wizard. Find him."
Juiyan had, in fact, been following the expedition for hours before making himself known, doing so without being detected. He had observed The Liliana in the sky before the crew had even begun walking across the desert.
Aid to the Expedition
Upon revealing himself, Juiyan used his staff to defend the crew, repelling the Gagantemidae by sending electricity through the ground and driving away a giant snake by shooting lightning directly at it. He then drew symbols in the sand with his staff to activate the entrance to his underground castle, where he hosted the group, offering them rooms and baths.
Inside his castle, Juiyan operated a control board fitted with dials and levers in a tower room; this work was what kept the castle running. His staff stood in a holder in this room when not in use. He advised the crew against traveling through the desert during the day.
Juiyan shared knowledge of The Giants, stating that they came down from the Mitis Mountain Range and that his information derived from old tomes written in an old language. He acknowledged, however, that there were others who knew more about giants, making him the best available lead toward finding Giant's Blood Serum rather than a definitive source.
"There are not many who can stand living this desert."
Betrayal
Despite his hospitality, Juiyan secretly sold the narrator's group to the Nightmen in exchange for protection over his castle. His voice may have been heard in the hallway during the abduction. Juiyan maintained guards equipped with electrically charged staffs. The Nightmen themselves confirmed the arrangement:
"We purchased you from Juiyan in exchange for our protection over his castle."
Relationships
- Zaira von Monocle: Juiyan hosted Zaira and her crew in his castle and shared knowledge of the giants with her, before betraying the group to the Nightmen.
- Seeva: Seeva directed the narrator to seek Juiyan out, identifying him as the Desert Heart.
- The Nightmen: Juiyan entered into an arrangement with the Nightmen, selling the crew to them in exchange for protection over Juiyan's Castle.
See Also
- Juiyan's Castle
- Artacala Desert
- The Blood of Giants
- Gagantemidae
- The Nightmen
- Mitis Mountain Range
- Seeva
- Giants' Blood Serum
In A History of Rislandia
A History of Rislandia treats Juiyan as a minor but notable historical figure, referencing him in the context of the events of Year 19 and the broader geography of the desert regions of Areth.
Identity and Character
According to A History of Rislandia, Juiyan is characterized as an eccentric wizard — a description that goes slightly further than the novels, which present him as reclusive and taciturn but do not explicitly use the word eccentric as a formal descriptor.
Location: The Artacala Desert
According to A History of Rislandia, Juiyan lives in isolation in the center of the Artacala Desert.
Juiyan's Castle
The sourcebook provides additional detail about Juiyan's Castle that is not fully elaborated in the novel. According to A History of Rislandia, the castle is a mechanized fortress capable of rising from the sand and descending back into it, presumably to escape the desert heat. The sourcebook also notes that the castle's location is unknown and possibly mobile, a detail that the novel does not address — the novel presents the castle as fixed at a specific point in the desert's center.
The Betrayal (Year 19)
The sourcebook corroborates the betrayal depicted in the novel, recording that Juiyan sold the crew of The Liliana to the Nightmen in exchange for protection over his castle. A History of Rislandia dates this event precisely to Year 19 on the Rislandian Calendar. The novel does not provide an explicit in-universe date for these events.
Giants and the Northern Direction
The sourcebook notes that Juiyan confirmed the reality of giants' legends to the crew and directed them north to find answers. The novel establishes that Juiyan pointed to the Mitis Mountain Range as the origin of the giants and acknowledged the limits of his own knowledge, but does not specify that the direction given was explicitly north. The sourcebook's phrasing is consistent with but more specific than the novel on this point.