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Reds are a lowColor, and are the lowest color in The Society depicted in Red Rising. They are separated into two tiers - highReds and lowReds. The lowReds are the unskilled workers suited to brutal environments, slaving away in the mines to harvest the material that powers everything in the Solar System, helium-3. HighReds work on the surface in service jobs, similar to Browns, but often more menial labour, such as being in factories and making weapons or consumer goods, or farming. Their lifespan is not considerably long, often marrying during their teens. lowReds in their 40's are considered very old - for men, this warrants respect, as to be old is to be skilled at mining.

Sigil[]

The design of their sigils are based off of the symbol for Mars (♂) as well as for Iron[1], relating both to the homes of the Reds as well as referring to their hard nature.

Known Reds[]

  • Darrow of Lykos (Sr.) - Deanna's father and Darrow's maternal grandfather.
    • Deanna O'Lykos - Darrow's mother.
      • Kieran O'Lykos - Darrow's elder brother.
        • Rhonna O'Lykos - Kieran's oldest, daughter to Kora.
        • Reagan O'Lykos - Kieran's second eldest, daughter to Kora, twin of Iro.
        • Iro O'Lykos - Kieran's second eldest, son to Kora, twin of Reagan.
        • Ella O'Lykos - Kieran's third eldest, daughter to Dio.
        • Dunlow O'Lykos - Kieran's fourth eldest, son to Dio.
        • Eo (Jr.) O'Lykos - Kieran's youngest, daughter to Dio.
      • Leanna O'Lykos - Darrow's older sister.
        • Unnamed First Daughter
        • Unnamed Second Daughter
      • Darrow O'Lykos - The main character of the first trilogy, and one of the main POVs of the Iron Gold Trilogy.
  • Dale of Lykos - Darrow's father.
  • Eo's Father - Name unknown. commitied suicide shortly after Eo's death.
    • Eo of Lykos - Darrow's first wife.
    • Dio O'Lykos - Eo's younger sister, Kieran's second wife, and Darrow's sister-in-law.
    • Dain - Eo's brother.
    • Liam - Eo's brother.
  • Eo's Mother - Name unknown.
  • Kora of Lykos - Kieran's first wife that died during childbirth.
  • Barlow
  • Dago O'Lykos - The Helldiver for Gamma, later became a soldier for the Republic.
  • Varlo - A baker in Lykos. Gave Eo some bread after he heard of Darrow's likelihood to win the Laurel.
  • Ol' Ripper - The eldest member of Lambda. Infamous for telling stories to dunks on Laureltide.
  • Leora - Of Lambda. Grows herbs that she gives out to other clan members, including Deanna.

  • Arlow O'Lagalos[2] -  Gamma lowRed. His wife died before their mine was liberated. Father of Lyria, Tiran, Ava, Aengus, and Dagan.
    • Lyria O'Lagalos - Gamma, One of the main characters and POVs of the Iron Gold Trilogy.
    • Ava O'Lagalos - Gamma, Lyria's older sister. 
      • Conn O'Lagalos - Gamma, Son of Ava and Varon. 
      • Barlow O'Lagalos - Gamma, Son of Ava and Varon. 
      • Liam O'Lagalos - Gamma, Son of Ava and Varon.  
      • Ella O'Lagalos - Gamma, Daughter of Ava and Varon. 
    • Tiran O'Lagalos - Gamma, Lyria's younger brother. 
    • Aengus O'Lagalos - Gamma, Lyria's older brother. Aided in the Reaper's war effort alongside his brother and brother in-law.
    • Dagan O'Lagalos - Gamma, Lyria's older brother. Aided in the Reaper's war effort alongside his brother and brother in-law.
  • Ma - Wife to Arlow O'Lagalos, and mother to Lyria, Tiran, Aengus and Dagan. Died before the events of Iron Gold. Name not known.
  • Varon O'Lagalos - Ava's husband and father to Conn, Barlow, Liam and Ella. Aided in the Reaper's war effort alongside his brother in laws. 
  • Torron O'Lagalos - Gamma, father to Vanna.
    • Vanna O'Lagalos - Gamma, daughter to Torron. Murdered when wandering Camp 121 alone at night, before the events of Iron Gold.
  • Almor O'Lagalos - Delta drillBoy before the Liberation of Mars. Helped Lyria to save Kavax au Telemanus from drowning.
  • Elrow O'Lagalos - Gamma headTalk before the Liberation of Mars. 

  • Bryn of Cryssos- highRed on Triton, married to Fitchner au Barca, mother to Sevro.
  • Ryanna of Cryssos - sister to Bryn and a founding member of the Sons of Ares.
  • Dancer O'Faran - A member and Red lieutenant for the Sons of Ares, and a Senator of the Republic.
  • Rollo O'Sicyon - A highRed engineer on Phobos, and the man who inspired Darrow to give the Phobos Address.
  • Arlus of Thebos - Darrow's housemate at The Institute; another lowRed who had been carved into a Gold and went by the name Titus au Ladros.
  • Sleepy - A Howler introduced in Morning Star.
  • Min-Min - A Howler with metal legs. Introduced in Iron Gold.
  • Ralph - A member of the Sons of Ares that helped extract Darrow from Lykos.
  • Vanno of Karos - A member of the Sons that rescued Darrow from Attica.
  • Garla - A Red whose family has been servicing House Telemanus for fourteen generations.

  • Harmony - Leader of the Red Hand, former member of the Sons of Ares.
  • Duncan O'Cyros
  • Coran O'Boetia
  • Torrow
  • Darran
  • Picker
  • Cormac O'Vadros
  • Dano Sunshine - A college of Ephriam ti Horn.
  • Maeve
    • Brea - childWife of Cormac O'Vadros.
    • Mora - Nicknamed Little Lion by Lyria.
  • Vanna - Nicknamed Freckles by Lyria.
  • Tails
  • Lea
  • Orlow of Gamma - A Helldiver from Mars who fought for the Society Remnant during the Siege of Phobos

  • Religion[]

    The Reds' religion includes a God figure, but to what extent and how far this extends is unknown. Darrow remarks about how Eo was 'placed well' by God.

    The Vale[]

    The 'heaven' or afterlife the Reds believe in. Their deity figure, the Old Man, is said to to guide them after death. If a Red is buried after death, it is said they will have a shorter journey along the stone path towards the Vale. Reds believe that when they arrive, their loved ones will stand waiting with the Old Man. The Vale is a beautiful green forested world, with morning mists, and cozy homes with stews ready on their hearths. Since Reds typically have harsh, short, pain-filled lives, this pleasant afterlife functions as a peaceful encouragement for Reds and is an important part of their culture.[3]

    The Reaper[]

    The psychopomp that the Reds believe in, similar to an angel of death and judge of the deceased. The Reaper is commonly depicted as dwelling on the road to the Vale, wielding a scythe to separate the guilty from the innocent. While infiltrating Gold society and after his rise to power, Darrow styles himself as the Reaper by wielding a slingBlade and leading the Reds to freedom in violent revolution.

    Culture[]

    Reds were socially engineered to be patriarchal. Women were expected to work less grueling tasks, such as harvesting silk, as outlined in the Board of Quality Control's Stratification Protocol. LowReds do not recieve clerically logged names - instead, they are given a designation that is a mix of letters and numbers from a Copper administrator (Ex. L17L6363, the designation for Darrow). Mines do seem to bear some cultural differences. Darrow specifies that the inhabitants of Lykos are a people of dance and song. Reds bear a significant cultural resemblance to the Irish, as most of the first Reds were refugees from Ireland after radiation from London turned the British Isles into a wasteland. This heritage is reflected in how Red slang is derived from Irish slang, and how Reds commonly have historically Irish names (Ex. Liam).

    The Zither[]

    3._Laureltide_(Red_Rising_Trilogy)

    3. Laureltide (Red Rising Trilogy)

    The zither is the folk instrument that the lowReds use for their music. It is a string instrument that is notoriously hard to play, and even harder to produce any sound with other than a mournful one. Most zithers given to lowReds have plastic soundboards and metal strings, with higher quality materials like wood reserved for the winner of the Laurel.

    Darrow says in regards to Narol: "He wears the instrument suspended on shoulder straps so that it rests at his hips, with its plastic soundboard and its many taut metal strings facing up toward the ceiling. The right thumb strums the strings, except when the index finger drops down or when the thumb picks single strings, all while the left hand picks out the bass line string by string."

    The Reaping Song[]

    The_Song_of_Persephone_-_Red_Rising_Trilogy

    The Song of Persephone - Red Rising Trilogy

    A song (and an accompanying dance) from Red culture encouraging rebellion against the Golds. The punishment for performing either is public execution, which only caused the song and dance to become even stronger symbols of mutiny among the Reds despite their remaining fear of the Golds. The song was sung by Eo of Lykos before her execution, creating the martyr "Persephone" and acting as the catalyst for the Sons of Ares to transform into the Rising.

    The lyrics are as follows:

    Listen, listen
    Remember the wane
    Of son's Fury and waving grain
    We fell and fell
    And danced along
    To croon a knell
    Of rights and wrongs

    And
    My son, my son
    Remember the burn
    When leaves with fire and seasons turned
    We fell and fell
    And sang a song
    To weave a Cell
    All autumn long

    And
    Down in the vale
    Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
    The reaper swing
    Down in the vale
    Hear the reaper sing
    A tale of winter long

    My girl, my girl
    Remember the chill
    When rains froze and snows did kill
    We fell and fell
    And danced along
    Through icy hell
    To their winter song

    My love, my love
    Remember the cries
    When winter died for spring skies
    They roared and roared
    But we grabbed our seed
    And sowed a song
    Against their greed

    My son, my son
    Remember the chains
    When gold ruled with iron reins
    We roared and roared
    And twisted and screamed
    For ours, a vale
    Of better dreams

    And
    Down in the vale
    Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
    The reaper swing
    Down in the vale
    Hear the reaper sing
    A tale of winter done

    The Fading Dirge[]

    A tradition done in grief and mourning, typically after an execution. A tragic thumping of fists against chests, fading slowly till the fists, like a heart, beat no more. The Fading Dirge is usually led by one person.

    Dialect[]

    Reds have a uniquely identifiable accent, containing some slang terms from old English and Irish.

    Known slang terms include:

    • Bloody/bloodydamn - Equivalent to Gold gory/gorydamn, originates from old Engish.
    • Squab - Equivalent to Gold slag, and (presumably) old English fuck.
    • Gob - Means 'mouth', originates from old English.
    • Swill - General term for alcohol/drink.

    Other Irish slang has a notable presence in Red speech.

    The Red accent also has different variations based on where in the solar system they live. For example, Reds in the Asteroid Belt are described as stretching their vowels like taffy compared to Martian Reds.

    Types of Reds[]

    LowRed[]

    HighRed[]

    Jovian Ultraheavy[]

    Jovian ultraheavies are Reds bred to work in punishing radiation and gravity 2.4 times that of Earth. Their bodies are larger and denser than other Reds, and have shorter lives due to the conditions they work under. They are the rarest type of Red.[4]

    Mines[]

    The following is a list of the known mines.

    • Lykos
    • Karos
    • Lagalos
    • Oikos
    • Tyros
    • Faran
    • Vadros
    • Boetia
    • Cyros
    • Cryssos
    • Casseda
    • Nagasos

    Township[]

    Each mining colony is divided into 24 clans, with each quarter one of them receiving a Laurel. Across all mines, favoritism is consistently shown to the Gamma clan because they supposedly fulfill the Quota. Earning the Laurel means earning special privileges - such as a wide variety of food, more burners to smoke, quilts, etc. This serves as motivation for other clans to keep working. The 24 clans are presumably named after each of the letters in the Greek alphabet. Listed below are the names of the known clans.

    • Lambda
    • Gamma
    • Pi
    • Chi
    • Omega
    • Upsilon
    • Mu
    • Beta
    • Omicron
    • Delta
      • And 14 other unnamed clans (Probably the other letters of the Greek alphabet, as there are 24 of them)

    Sons of Ares (comics)[]

    Read more at: Sons of Ares Many Reds are too ignorant of the true world to realize how much they are being exploited, but the few who do and are willing to act are part of an organization called "The Sons of Ares." They are portrayed as terrorists by the Golds, as their kind of ideals could disrupt their Society.

    Sons of Ares (Reds):

    References[]

    1. http://www.adrawingorthree.com/2014/02/pierce-brown-and-tale-of-red-rising.html
    2. Iron Gold, Chapter 29
    3. Red Rising - chap 7
    4. Light Bringer, chapter 56
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