Charon (Caronte) is the ferryman of the river of the underworld, the sole guardian of the crossing. In Antiterra he is also a Horseman of the Apocalypse and author of the Horsemen’s law of succession; in Vala he guards the river of Hell and the gate of Nibiru.
This name refers to different figures in 2 worlds; the versions are not merged.
In Antiterra
Nature
Charon is «el único que está desde el principio de toda la historia como una rama de la infernalidad» (“the only one present from the beginning of all history as a branch of infernality”). He descends from no one and was never raised to office. His name designates the old man of the skiff, the river that marks the limit of the descent, and the law governing the succession of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Appearance
A bearded old man with eyes like two embers, he looks immense but is the size of a tall human. His barge grows with the number of souls and spirits arriving, so there is always room.
The river
Just before one can see beyond the river there is a red lamp, and there one falls unconscious; the far bank has never been described. The Acheron “is crossed by only one ferryman”, and his skiff is “the only vessel they can take to get out of here”.
Daemons use Charon’s ships to carry captured souls down to the lower planes.
The fourth Horseman
The same being was “our fourth Horseman” in the previous gesta (campaign-cycle). He established the Horsemen’s succession protocol: if a Horseman resigns (“something that seemed impossible”), a contest opens, judged by three jurors named in advance, the other Horsemen; the panel cannot be challenged and there is no appeal. His unmatched age is the only stated link between this role and the ferry.
Conflicting accounts
- His waters are named as the Acheron, the river Ocean and the River Charon; whether these are one river, sections of one descent, or separate rivers sharing a ferryman is disputed.
Open questions
- No price for the crossing (toll, coin or pledge) is recorded.
- What the red lamp is, and whether the fainting affects everyone or only the living, is unknown.
- His title or domain as fourth Horseman beyond the boat is unknown; so is whether the protocol was ever applied, and who would judge if Charon himself resigned.
- Whether he crews the daemons’ ships is not recorded.
In Vala
Nature and appearance
There is one ferryman only, standing by the river of Hell since before memory. All passage goes through him; with Charon hostile there is no entry to Nibiru. He is giant, heavy and massive, with eyes like “two distant beacons” or embers, a beard to the floor and snakes for hair; pieces of teeth fall from his mouth when he speaks. He removes his cloak to fight. His boat, “tense, heavy, of darkness, where souls are lost”, is the only one that crosses.
The oar
His oar drives the boat and strikes those who do not belong; in combat he hurls it “with a mighty power of dominion”, reaching targets at range.
The customs of the river
Charon keeps a list of authorized souls and beats the rest away with his oar. A crew of “devils with hooks and brooms”, “Charon and his devils”, sweeps the souls from one side to the other.
From bank to gate
He always stands at a border, water or gate. Late in the cycle he guarded the gate of Nibiru from outside, with two rivals outside the gate; Tera was present when the beasts were thrown. He also accompanied travelers (“Charon is with you”), and one company disembarked from a boat he piloted.
A pejetón was met that, “though it was not Charon, was one of his lineage”.
In the apocalyptic combat he stood among the last obstacles of the gesta, with Xeria and the Horse of the Apocalypse: “we’ll see if they defeat Charon and Xeria”.
Conflicting accounts
- Most records show him fighting with the oar; one shows him fighting with a staff, like a monk who removes his cloak, “Monk against Monk”. The voices themselves doubt whether the oar is transport or weapon.
Open questions
- No price for the crossing is recorded, only the list; who draws up the list, and by what criterion, is not stated.
- Whether the riverbank and the gate of Nibiru are the same threshold is unmapped.
- Nothing is known of the pejetón beyond its kinship with Charon; even the word is uncertain.