Kinson Ravenlock is a character in First King of Shannara. He was born and raised in the Callahorn, the Borderlands above the Southland.
Biography[]
Kinson's family was one of the few of the Race of Man to stay settled north of Rainbow Lake after the First War of the Races. He grows up as a tracker, scout, hunter, and adventurer, becoming a master of the languages, lands, and customs of all Races.
Kinson teams up with the outcast Druid Bremen as a way of making something of his life, which he felt was lacking direction and challenge. During the events leading up to the Second War of the Races, he mostly follows Bremen around or is sometimes dispatched by him on several occasions for specific missions. As a tracker he is able to detect enemy movements through their trails, and he also acts as a hunter, providing food for the heroes he travels with. Though he does not possess magic or an exceptional strength, he is an ally to be counted upon as well as a confidant and counselor.
During his journeys with Bremen, he meets Mareth at Paranor. Mareth is a Druid with the rare gift of innate magic, and together they travel with Bremen across the Four Lands. Kinson carries the Sword of Shannara for a short time from Dechtera until Bremen takes it to go to the Hadeshorn, sending Kinson and Mareth to the Dwarves. He succeeds in convincing the battered Dwarf army to come to the aid of the Elves for the Battle of Rhenn, just in time for the last confrontation where they prevent the Warlock Lord Brona from retreating, in order to give Jerle Shannara the opportunity to do battle with him.
After the battle, in which he was almost killed by Mareth and her uncontrolled Druid Fire, Kinson recovers in Tyrsis for a number of weeks. He then moves west with Mareth along the shores of the Mermidon River, and settles with her on an island in the river. Years later, Kinson and Mareth's settlement becomes the island city of Kern.
Legacy[]
Five centuries after Kinson and Mareth's time, their descendant Shirl Ravenlock would play a part in the Third War of the Races, the final war against the Warlock Lord.