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( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

DOES THIS CHARACTER MEET SKELETAL BASICS? Yes
NAME & AGE: Briar Moss | Briar doesn't know his birthday due to his mother dying/growing up a street kid. He does know he's roughly the same age as the girls putting him between through the ages of 17-19 with the characters agreeing to him being about 18.
CANON & CANON POINT: Circle of Magic/Circle of Reforged, post The Will of the Empress


CANON INFORMATION: Wikia link
"“I did,” Briar admitted. “I was locked up for a while in Gyongxe. It was either go mad imagining what might happen to me, or ... retreat, inside me. I made it, inside my power.” He lay back on the peak, balancing easily. “After that—I did things I‟m not proud of when I got out. It was a bloody mess. Thousands died who should have lived. I don‟t know why I‟m here, and they aren‟t. I didn‟t want any of you knowing that. I didn‟t want you knowing I thought I should be dead. That‟s why I shut you out.”

Briar Moss, The Will of the Empress

Briar Moss has always been something of a conundrum. He's a young man who's always known having to survive and do for himself. This was a direct result of the never knowing his father and, as he says, his mother being stabbed when he about four-years-old. He became a street-rat in the city of Sotat and was inducted into being in a gang known as Lightning shortly there after. Coming from a life where his mother already struggled to meet-ends-meet, Briar resorted to becoming a thief. He stole daily just to survive and was even put in prison three times because of it, the third and final time he was supposed to be sentenced to life working the docks but that's when the series begins. He saw many plagues, a lot of death, and suffered a lot of various mistreatment. It's what shaped him and made him distrust people and his opinions here barely, if ever, change throughout the entire series.

He's a conundrum, however, not because of his dislike, but because there are things he cares deeply for. He would care for his sisters, teachers, or his student. He puts their lives before even his own and is willing to go out of his way to ensure they're safe and happy. The issue here being that he very determinedly tries to pretend that's not what he was aiming for. He also respects and adores all females for reasons that aren't really ever explained. It could be his mental connection with his sisters makes him softer, it could be Rosethorn, it could be the death of his mother, it could be that he's ill-amused by the power games other men try to play. There's a multitude of reasons as to why he does, but the point here is that Briar will never, ever treat a female poorly. So, despite how put off by people he is and only wants to associate with plants (or his family), Briar does genuinely care about things and so the conundrum comes in.

The important thing about Briar from this part of canon is that he recently went through months of war between Gyongxe and Yanjing. The Will of the Empress implies that he was a prisoner of war, but the recently released Battle Magic telling the story denies this fact. Despite whatever misconceptions coming from either book, Briar is shown to have watched thousands of people die, believe his student was dead, and was trapped in a country he didn't want to be in (but not as a prisoner, they had hoped to leave before the army came but failed to and stay to fight). Because of this he suffers from PTSD and is haunted by the bodies of the dead on a near constant basis. He pointedly says in the Will of the Empress they were treated badly and his narration is constantly flooded with memories of the war ("Not here, he thought, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth. Gansar, not Gyongxe. Peacetime, not war. Not here. When he opened his eyes, he saw the remains of trees and the bulk of stones. Only the stench of death continued to haunt his nose.")

His experiences have led him to an almost cold outlook of the world. While the bodies of people he's seen die have haunted him all his life, Briar is also still able to see them rationally. He's had to help Rosethorn when people were falling ill and eventually died and this in part prepared him for the war in Gyongxe. He's able to look at a body and judge their time of death from just that and he answers this in a very detached way. This is because while the dead will always haunt him, unless they're his dead he can see them for what they are. It's part of why all of his dreams of Gyongxe were terribly haunting-- he continuously saw Evvy and Rosethorn die and that was where his panic came in.

This change relays a difference in Briar that wasn't in earlier novels. He's more hardened, jumpy, and skeptical because of his experiences in the war. There are parts of him still seen in the earlier part of the series, but it's clouded and still working its way to return to the surface. As this is such an important distinction, the first series is going to be merely alluded to while the most recent books will be most prominent. Not for any other reason than the young, mischievious thief is not much the same boy he was before. His sisters consistently question what happened to him and struggle to see how he changed proving that even the ones closest to him can't really see him as exactly the same boy: But to the point he is still there. He still hides his feelings behind harsh words and jokes, he still fully believes he can take someone, and he's never going to run from a fight with a person who annoys him. In a lot of ways he's still the same mischievous young thief that lived in Winding Circle four years ago, but in the most important ways he's changed more than can be imagined.

"Actually, that's what I liked about him, once I got to know him. He was the first person I knew who ever treated me like I had a mind of my own. See, he was a street rat, once. He knew how bad people could be. So he knew what would help me understand things."

Evvy, Melting Stones

A long time ago, Briar went by the name of "Roach". This was the name he grew up with and new all the way up until the series started. It's the name that started it all and it's through it he really learned about people. If someone's on the streets in Emelan, or any of it's surrounding neighbors, they will usually end up with life doing fields or docks. It's not quite slavery, as there's worse for that, but it's just as bad. Briar states that once you're there they'll work you to death and most people die in a few short years. This was a life he almost knew, but was ultimately saved from.

Street life isn't easy for a child in Emelan (nor is it anywhere). Every where you go they join gangs to be able to survive and those who don't will probably die or be harassed by gangs, anyway. A gang was the safest bet to be in, but it was also a terrible place to be. Sure, you had a community and people to help you, but no one outside of them still cared. Briar states he's seen dozens of street kids die and it's a part of why he ends up helping some of the gangs in Chammur. He knows what it's like for people to pass you on the street as you lie starving and dying. He knows what it's like to not be able to do anything about your situation and it's for this reason he acted.

Evvy was an important stake in Briar's life once they met. He was interested in her because she had street magic and it was being misused by a merchant. Inevitably, he saw himself in her and assumed she was in a gang and the like and would eventually follow her. Mostly he did this because Rosethorn had gotten on to him when he revealed he thought Evvy had magic (as if an accredited mage sees someone who needs to learn their magic they must become their teacher). He tries and fails to get her to come to them, but ends up bribing her by leaving food out so she can get it. After this, Briar winds up taking more of an interest in her than he cared to admit. When he finds a stone mage that could teach Evvy, despite the fact he could free himself of her, Briar decides he doesn't like the teacher and continues to teach Evvy on his own. Essentially, he adopts her into his family.

"He used to tease me about it. 'Other kids get a book or a scroll to learn their letters. I had to get you an alphabet made of stones, so your letters would make a dent in that stubborn head of yours.'

He didn't fool me. He wanted me to have something nice of my own. Something that was all new. I never let on that I understood, of course. Briar would just start hitting the air like he was pushing me away. He'd say, 'Girls! Always making a boo-hoo about stuff!'"

Evvy about meeting Briar in Chammur, Melting Stones

The above is a pretty apt description of how Briar treated the situation. He didn't want Evvy to know that he cared or that she mattered to him. At one point even Rosethorn pokes fun of him saying something along the lines of if he didn't care why bother doing anything? She knew better as does Evvy and all the other people Briar is close to. It's not because he wants to be mean, just that feelings and closeness will always make him uncomfortable. Partly because it's just who he is, but perhaps in other part that he's afraid of showing himself being too close and eventually losing them. Even after all these years Briar hasn't changed this part of him and never likely will.

Briar only really trusts his circle, so to speak. Even when he appears approachable to people he does it on a measure of different things: he wants to ask about their gardening, wants to do business, is curious about the situation, or merely wants to flirt. Even when he's flirting or bedding a girl he never pretends that he's acting out of love and is upfront about how things will be. This is something that, although they roll his eyes at his behavior, not a single one of his sisters can deny. Even so, at one point, Tris directly asks him this: Tris looked at him steadily. “Have you cared enough about a girl to want us to accept her?” she asked. Briar couldn‟t meet her level gaze. “Well, Evvy,” he mumbled. “Evvy is your student,” Tris replied quietly. “Face it, Briar, you don‟t like any of your bits of entertainment enough to worry if we know who they are.” Tris isn't wrong in her beliefs, either. Briar will only truly care about something when he chooses to get close to it. And it's not often that it happens.

Briar is endlessly loyal to those he does care for. Those people are only his teachers, foster-sisters, and Evvy and he doesn't mind letting that show. He will always stop and pull them to the side if they need it. He happily refers to Rosethorn as his mother and worries over her lack of appetite or health after everything. She's the one person he will allow to see weak, but there are times where he'll allow his foster-siblings to, as well. This is especially seen in the case of Tris who, although he does try to hide some things from, he realizes will never be because, as he says, "he had always been able to tell her the most horrific things, and she would never laugh, be shocked, or withdraw from him". However, they're also at a weird state where they're trying to get used to each other once more. While they're working on recovering the bond they once shared there's still some secrets to work through and still some things Briar will only rely on Rosethorn-- and subsequently Evvy-- to understand. This doesn't make Daja, Sandry, or Try any less to him. They're just having to relearn things about each other.

"Briar leaned over and spat in the empty hearth. “Imperial language,” he said, his voice quiet but savage. “Imperial double-talk. They speak pretty and sharpen their knives. The Yanjing emperor is just as bad.”

Briar, Will of the Empress

His distaste in people is seen in large by his general dislike of nobleman. He's got a great deal of bad experience with them going as far back as his life on the streets. This was only made worse during his state in Gyongxe and Yanjing because of the problems with the emperor. There's a total of three-- perhaps four-- nobles he's seen to have any care for: his foster-sister, Sandry, her uncle, Duke Vedris, a young man in Gyongxe, and the perhaps being Daja's lover, Rizu (he didn't dislike her merely was annoyed by her constantly being around). He even enjoys the company of Namorn's empress, but largely for her gardening skills and not nearly enough after her kingdom's treatment of Sandry.

The issue with nobles for Briar is that he's never met around outside of the few mentioned that did the right thing. They mistreated their citizens, allowed them to die, started needless wars, the list goes on. He's seen many of them and merchants sit on their fortunes and then cut down on the little people some more. It disgusts him and he's unable to condone it let alone befriend those who act in such a way. So, in natural Briar fashion, he does something about it.

Despite his harshness, Briar has a strong sense of right and wrong. Even though he will happily cheat certain nobles out of their money, he also shows loyalty to those nobles that have earned it of him. Mostly the people he wants to cheat out of their money are schemers, seductresses, slave-owners and the like. So when it boils right down to it, Briar hates people who lord their power over the others and don't treat people as their equal. So what does he do? He sells them medicine or plants for more than they're worth, lie about the quality of items, and occasionally just ruin things for them. Don't think he does this willy-nilly, however, as Briar is always crafty about how he does this. He wants them to come back and buy more after all.

There's a lot of times where his behavior is just having fun besting the nobles and haughty young men around him. He makes his own game of it in a way and usually wins. This is seen even in Will of the Empress where he and Daja tease some of the nobles upset that the empress allowed him access to her personal gardens. The two of them purposefully say something to set them off and have them charge at Briar, which they both thought, amused, was just like the old days. It wasn't the first time they did something like that and it was very well practiced. The four foster-siblings as a whole tend to be mouthy together enough to set anyone off, but Daja and Briar bought intentionally do it to start a fight.

As a mage and as a teenage boy, Briar can be rather cocky. While he was taught that being an accredited mage was so he'd have to answer to Winding Circle and Lightsbridge's rules-- or as he says they're on a leash-- that doesn't stop him from feeling confident about his abilities. In some of his narration he speaks about how older mages figured he'd probably think himself better than them, which isn't altogether untrue. When the empress of Namorn comments on Sandry only bringing her siblings with her, both Briar and Tris' expresisons showed that they felt themselves more than capable of taking care of her (Sandry noticed Briar's tiny smirk and the sudden, bored droop of Tris's eyes... It would be impossible not to guess that Briar and Tris thought they were a match for would-be kidnappers, something that would never cross the mind of an ordinary young man or woman). He did similarly to this to a mage in Street Magic, but this was also partly because he was a nobleman and Briar enjoys nothing more than cheating them out of their money.

"So Briar and Rosethorn talked to plants and played with them like pets. At the end of the day, they had dirt under their nails, stickers in their clothes, and a crop to show, like everyone else."


At the start and the end of the day Briar is a green mage. Plants are a big part of who he and his identity. So much a part of him that the day he decided to tattoo over his old prison tattoos-- two x's representing he'd stolen twice-- he decided he'd tattoo over them by putting flowers on his arms. Of course, this also went hilariously wrong because he used Sandry's magekit to do so and now has actual living flower tattoos under his skin. Not that he exactly minds it, only that now his hands look gaudier than they did before and people now constantly stop him to ask about them.

The thing about being an ambient mage in Emelan is that it's considered rather rare and strange. People don't really understand it and are put off by the strange things they can do. Luckily for Briar being a green mage is one of the more common ones, even if his particular gifts aren't quite, and so he doesn't have to put up with the same bigotry as his sister Tris does. He does, however, because they all received their mage's licenses at an incredibly young age and its considered strange for a male to enjoy gardening as much as he does. Then there's the factor of there a lot of people who betrayed him whereas plants never have. Even when he was in a prisoner cell moss grew near him to make him a comfortable bed (which is where part of his name came from). What this all chalks down to is that Briar will always prefer plants to people, even when he has a pretty young lady willing to go to bed with him.

Briar naturally finds solace with his plants, especially his beloved shakkan. He's always preferred being alone and having some peace and quiet. He gets this when he's tending to his trees and gardens... Sort of, anyway. Because although plants are supposed to be quiet for Briar plants are the really talkative ones. They seek his attention and cry for help and because of his magic he's able to respond to them. Not that he necessarily minds, but he does refer to them as children and that they can get excitable and tricky from time-to-time. That just makes him adore them even more. So if you really want to see Briar in any form of tenderness what you want to do is find him when he's taking care of his plants.

In spite of his preference for plants over people, Briar knows how to deal with nobles, merchants, Traders, and peasants alike. He knows the talk of nobles and knows the talk of all those in between. He might not necessarily like their going-ons, but he does know them and how to deal with them. He uses this to his advantage. He watches people and decides what they're most likely to do and is usually right. This is largely because as a former thief he had to learn to watch people and understand what they were doing in. Then in his travels with Rosethorn and Evvy he got closer to how nobleman preferred than he would have preferred. These things lead him to be able to sweet-talk just about anyone he wants if he can figure-out their angle. This doesn't necessarily means he manages to get them to do what he wants, but it does often buy him time. Sometimes that's all he needs.

"Most of them just aren‟t like Briar, you know. He‟ll drive you to commit murder, but the only part of him that‟s hidden is the good part. And he isn‟t nasty to any female, have you noticed? Not to the little farm children or the old grannies who want to tell him how beautiful they were in their prime.”

Tris, Will of the Empress

Despite this, Briar is a known lady's man. He spent a majority of the Will of the Empress courting young ladies and taking them to bed. There was hardly a night where he didn't seem to have some lady in his bed and it only stopped when the group took in one of Daja's old friends. This is partly because he is very interested in what a girl can do for him in bed, but it also goes back to the earlier mentions of his PTSD. Briar stays awake most nights haunted by the images of the bodies he's seen and sharing his bed ensures he won't likely fall asleep to those dreams and kept him from his mind for a little while longer. He goes as far as to say at one point in the novel that none of his remedies to make him sleep work anymore.

Those actions don't make Briar's desire for women any less. The Will of the Empress is where this characteristic is shown by and large and Briar is unafraid of his doings in bed. He freely talks about it with his foster-siblings and even the Duke of Emelan itself. He doesn't think sexual things are bad and even considers it a fun game. But what Tris says is true: he never mistreats a girl, he never leads them on to believe he really cares, and he will never force them to do something they don't want to. This last point was seen point in case when he stares down the Empress and says that when Fin tries to kidnap and marry Sandry it was rape in any land (“You think a strong woman can always beat this? I call it rape, in any country").

Even as much as he likes chasing after girls and playing games, he also does draw the line. When he notices that it's more of a game to see who will go after her next he draws back unhappy with the situation. Ultimately, what Briar hates most about things is mind games and games about power. He will happily flirt back and forth and play hard-to-get, but when it's about making him show off to someone else to get your attention he won't do it. He thinks the whole thing is pointless and the only way to show anyone your power is through action itself. This goes outside of his charms with ladies, as well, because he refuses to test his strength against other mages who want to see how powerful it is. He even says it in Will of the Empress, "What do I care if they respect me or no?” asked Briar. “If I want them to learn that, I won‟t use a silly game to teach it. I save my power for business.”

The last important thing to note here is that beyond being the only people he's usually really, truly kind to Briar actually worships quite a deal of women. He thinks of them like plants and enjoys their beauty. At the same time he finds other things about them truly beautiful. He jokingly tells Trist that he could find something beautiful about every girl, even her, and it's not untrue. Even in Will of the Empress as much as he desired the empress he chose to worship her instead. He states that she's a woman to admire and enjoy the accompany of, but never touch. She was too above him for that. What it shows is that it's not all about play for Briar, either, he truly does care about them even if flirting is an intriguing game.

You’ve just gotten a little more like me since you went away."

Tris to Briar, Will of the Empress

While the four foster-siblings have always been a quartet, they're also their own pairings. Daja and Sandry are closer to each other than the other two and, similarly, Tris and Briar are closest together. The two siblings have gone through a number of things together: assisting their teachers on top of the wall during a pirate attack, Tris teaching him to read, and the two helping to find a cure for a deadly plague. They were both pretty large motivators to help them become closer together and Tris is the only one Briar has a pet name for (Coppercurl).

The two are a lot alike in that they both enjoy reading more than being with other people. While Briar is more sociable than Tris is, who definitely prefers books and watching the weather more than them, neither one of them get close to people outside of their group. They spend a lot of time telling each other about the books they've read and they know each other's hobbies better than anyone. Tris is even seen guessing what exactly Briar is doing with his shakkan only glancing at it for a second. Subsequently, he knows exactly where she'll be at any given point if no one can find her-- either in the library or the highest point in the area. It's because of this bond that Tris was the first of his siblings that Briar reopened his connection to.

Briar and Tris are a lot alike in more ways than their preference to quieter spaces. Tris is right that Briar became more like her and not exactly in the good ways. This goes back to the fact Briar just doesn't have a huge connection with people, but also in that he sees a lot of what he used to do as silly. He doesn't think a lot about all the food around or the parties-- mostly he finds them annoying. Before he would have taken the chance to snag as much food as he wanted and would enjoy watching people make fools of themselves. Of course, he's still amused by the latter but it becomes annoying much faster and like his sister he has a tendency to walk away from parties. He's always been perceptive and a realist, but now Briar doesn't think finery is worth it.

“I made it for us,” he replied, surprised she hadn't realized it. Here, in this place, they could feel what he felt. “All right, I made it for me first, but it was us. It is us.”

It’s always us, the four said.

The final words of The Will of the Empress

Briar has become close to Evvy and Rosethorn. Evvy is in all intents and purpose like a sister, maybe even a little more like a daughter in someways. Rosethorn is his mother. Rather it is official or not all of the foster-siblings consider Rosethorn and Lark their mothers, but because she's his teacher Rosethorn is most important to him. He worries about her and will not let anyone hurt her. Protecting Rosethorn and Evvy is the whole reason he did a lot of what he did in Gyongxe: They could not die. They're not people he wants to lose and he freely yells at Rosethorn regarding this. Even in Melting Stones he assigns Evvy the task of taking care of Rosethorn because he knows Rosethorn will overdo it. He almost lost her once and he won't do it again.

In spite of this, however, no matter how close he is to Evvy and Rosethorn he will always be closer to his foster-sisters. The obvious reason is in that because when they were twelve Sandry had to weave their magics together in order for them to survive an earthquake. In doing so she mixed their magics together. She eventually unthreads them, but each of the other's magics remained in part of them. Through this they were able to talk to each other through their minds, see each others minds, and even see through the others eyes. It's part of why in the last novel their connection was broken, because each one of them feared the others finding out their secrets and hating them for it.

No matter how much they fight it, however, they will always in a million ways be one. They've been through too much together that the connection is something natural. There are times where they think they should tell one of the others something and are disheartened to see they can't (or less the can't but won't). They work best together as one and that's never been something to change. And while each sibling is an individual they are also mutually reliant on each other. They need each other not only to be stronger at magic but to be better people. When they're together a miracle can happen. So it's important to say that no matter what else or who else comes between them, it's the connection between him and his sisters that is the most important thing in Briar's life.

"Briar's no paragon, Jayat. He likes pretty girls and picking locks and making jokes and playing with knives. And he's a realist. We both are."

Evvy, Melting Stones

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING:
There's a few ways Briar could go, but I'm going to say Unseelie. Briar has always been a person who looks out for himself. It's a necessity he gained from living alone on the streets from toddler-hood on. He's used to fighting and stealing for food. While he's lived in a caring and well-taken care of home for several years now his past doesn't escape him. He's not a thief anymore, but he remembers the hardships he endured.

Furthermore, the war in Gyongyxe left him more shut off than he was before. He doesn't let people in easily and is only shown to care about his teachers, his sisters, and his student Evvy. No one else really crosses his mind. Even though he's a medicine man he only does it to help Rosethorn out. Even when he sees a gang member injured he doesn't give her medicine to help her, but so he'd have insurance of at least one gang backing him in the town.

Briar doesn't particularly care for nobles outside of his sister, Sandry. He thinks they're all stuck up and only out for what's good for them and in most cases this is true for him. Because of this, however, he doesn't mind picking fights with them, freeing their slaves, or helping his sisters undo all their clothing. He doesn't have much of a mind for any rules set before him. This was seen originally when he was eleven and refused to stop carrying knives on him because he didn't believe the temple was completely safe. It was seen shortly later when Rosethorn died and he determinedly went into the afterlife refusing to let her stay there.

Briar isn't a bad guy. He has his own idea of what's right, wrong, and just. He stands up for a dog who's getting beat by kids and helps take care of people willingly when need be. He just doesn't get attached to anything outside of the small range of people he cares for. He will always ultimately do what he deems necessary to keep them safe and, in some cases, that means killing people.

ABILITIES:
Briar is in what Emelan is called an ambient mage or a green mage. This means that he doesn't draw his magical abilities from himself or objects, but from plants. It's considered a more natural sort of magic as opposed to scholarly and isn't like other magics where one needs a wand or talisman.

As a green mage Briar has a great amount of control over plants. He can make them grow much quicker and larger than they would usually through his own magic, but it can be taxing. He technically can't grow plants through winter, as even Rosethorn can't, but he's able to urge them to grow outside of their climates/natural habitats for even a few moments. However, he usually encourages them to do plant-like things like grow through cement or reach down for water.

This power is traditionally supposed to be primarily used for gardening and farming, however, Briar has had to find offensive maneuvers for it as well. He's able to use "seed bombs" where he places/throws a bundle of seeds somewhere and then rapidly grows them into actual thorn bushes which can be quite deadly. He's seen doing various creative things with his plant magic and quite a bit of it is as deadly as it is safe!

Through his work with this and as a student of Rosethorn, Briar has become something of a medicine man. He knows what plants best heal people and knows what can kill them. He's experienced with all types and while he usually says his herbs and the likes is known to give them away (sometimes for insurance other times out of kindness).

Outside of this, Briar has minimal academic mage abilities. There's some basic spells all initiates had to learn, but they're not anything he uses regularly. What he does use regularly is his ability to see magic and occasionally dispel it. Briar is able to see how magically powerful someone is and when they're practicing magic. His ability to dispel magic, however, either has to be plant related and within his ability or with his sisters.