Biography:
Wooden Heart: Hurley first emanates after the attack on Eirelantra – he is the branch which grew when Patrick threw himself on the bomb. After Molly is able to exploit the pocket puppies, Ash determines that he has a need for some kind of psionic skill, but human telepathy is inimical to him – telepaths can’t dream, and trees think by dreaming. Thus Hurley is designed to exploit this uniquely Cu’endhari perspective – he is a psionic with the ability to communicate directly with dreams. He can sense those dreams, which is why he is always on the verge of either laughing or crying – such is the pathos of human dreaming. Tara awakens in bed next to him, discovering that Lorcan is gone. They converse, and he demonstrates his skill. Later, he will show her that he can enter directly into her dreams while she sleeps.
Because of Hurley’s ability, Tara uses him as a security device – she wants to know if anyone petitioning the Open Council is hostile. Hurley spots a telepath at the back of the Council Chambers – he can tell because she has no dreams. She leaves a Skarsium crystal taped to the bottom of her chair. Hurley surmises this is so she can observe the meeting remotely. He also deduces that the only person who would know how to use a crystal like that is Molly.
Eden Blues: Hurley is called to testify in the mock trial of Dermot and Davy. Instead, he philosophizes about the nature of dreaming before recounting a short anecdote about Tara and ice cream when he accompanied her to her uncle’s palace on Sideria.
When the SongLuminant arrives to interrogate Ashtara, Hurley realizes that he can use his ability to sense its reactions. Its dreams are unintelligible to him, but he is able to get a glimpse of its emotional response through the colors it projects to him. This allows Ash to gauge its approval or disapproval of his testimony. Based on his vision, Hurley encourages Davy to tell the SongLuminant about his creations. They learn that SongLuminant values are much different from those of Human or Nau’gsh – for example, they value art and humor, but are indifferent to insult and feel that compassion is worthless. Ultimately, Hurley is gathering data which Driscoll and Davy will use in fashioning Lucius.
The Poison Garden: Hurley is fooled by Esau St. John. He doesn’t recognize that Esau is a telepath because Esau has the ability to project dreams back to their origins – in other words, he has designed a camouflage which Hurley can’t penetrate.
“The Prophecy of Ghosts” elaborates on Hurley’s trip to Sideria with Tara. The prophecy itself is anomalous – Tara’s early Gyre visions feature only Daniel and Sloane (the emanations that had manifested at this time) and Ailann, the future Archon. This vision of Hurley in the halls of Vuernaco (28 years in the future) is the only exception. In the commentary to the vision, Elma says that Hurley is the blue amrita in physical form – thus he can be used to communicate directly with Ash.
Tara has returned to Vuernaco to set her uncle’s estate into order. She is standing in front of the fountain in the Hall of History when she catches Hurley’s eyes and recognizes the presence of Ash. It is then she falls in love with Hurley.
Tara takes Hurley to see the portraits of her parents. She notices that Hurley is looking at the portrait of her uncle, and remembers from her vision that Hurley can see his ghost. Hurley explains that a ghost is a dream so strong it can’t let go of life. Hurley says that Cetin Urhu was telling the truth – he didn’t murder Tara’s parents. He loved his brother and resented Tara’s mother. He hated the 5th Matriarch for killing his brother and hated Tara for carrying the blood. Tara realizes regretfully that Patrick was right to kill Urhu. Hurley also reveals that Tara’s mother married her father because she was tired of fighting and wanted to know peace. Ironically, it was Tara’s father who wanted her to be Matriarch.
In “The Prophecy of Dreams,” Dermot suggests that Tara take the blue amrita in Hurley’s presence. Tara has an hallucinatory vision of Ash’s interior landscape. She wanders through Merenis Port-of-Call to discover a high-rise apartment building built in the spot where Daniel’s old flat was. Hurley is surprised to find that he has an apartment in this building – as does every emanation. They take the hilift there – it is a condo of four rooms ringed around the central shaft. Hurley’s room seems empty – a shifting façade of dreams where physical objects occasionally drift by. Tara says that Hurley was never allowed to go to his room because he’d stare at the walls all day – he doesn’t even have windows. He asks who does – and Tara leads him to Driscoll’s apartment.
Tara proposes a threesome between herself, Driscoll and Hurley. Afterwards, she insists on going to see Lorcan. They leave Driscoll at Lorcan’s apartment and go into the basement to find that Goliath is beneath Atlas, the tower mirrored perfectly underground. She chooses Ace, Driscoll’s brother, to be the occupant of the thirteenth apartment. (Instinctively, she has also chosen Wynne’s brother – and Wynne is the 13th branch of Atlas.)
The Perpetual Rose: When the connection to Yggdrasil is established, the emanations venture out of Daniel’s flat only to discover that they are living in the building which Tara dreamed with Hurley. There are other ramifications from that dream – Driscoll can’t remember what happened at the end after Hurley left. He refuses, however, to talk to Hurley about it.
Hurley identifies the root cutting which Suibhne planted as an extension of Atlas, saying, “It dreams the same dreams.” When Quennel emanates, Tara brings him to see Atlas. She identifies Hurley’s branch as the one located closest to Court Emmere.
The Portable Grove: Hurley visits Tara at the beginning of the fifteenth experiment, telling Tara that the experiments need to be finished because Lens is predicting a war. He accompanies Tara into a dream where they encounter Ernst Sider in the form of a serpent in Eden. Sider warns them about the coming war and answers Hurley’s questions about the nature of Ash. When they wake, Cüinn investigates and discovers a message from Sider written in Tara’s DNA. Later, Tara tells Hurley that she wants to go into his dreams; she has an intense encounter experiencing what it is like to be a tree and ends up making love to Hurley.
During the third stress test, Hurley finally confronts Driscoll about their rocky relationship. Things go badly until Driscoll is left alone with Ace, while the others are in the secret passage supposedly making out. They can overhear the conversation as Driscoll is sitting in the seat with incredible acoustics. Driscoll admits to Ace that he’s afraid of hurting Hurley – he’s a catty cynic, and Hurley is sensitive. Ace says that Driscoll is a pain in the ass, but a relationship with him is still worthwhile. Wynne discovers several more paintings in the secret room – paintings of Hurley and Ace which Driscoll had discarded. Hurley and Driscoll end up having an intense sexual encounter on the top of the billiards table.
In the fifth stress test, Hurley is allowed to accompany Tara into the luxury box of the theater because he has a Gold Card. They chat and watch the play together; Hurley tells Tara that the only way he could stop loving Driscoll would be if she were to command it – and he thinks that Driscoll would be relieved if she did. But Tara refuses to interfere in Ash’s internal affairs.
During the sixth stress test, Driscoll and Hurley have a conversation about Driscoll’s relationships. Hurley says that he isn’t jealous of Lorcan and that Driscoll should try to approach Patrick. Driscoll confesses that he loves both Lorcan and Hurley and would choose either one of them over Patrick. Hurley is mystified; Driscoll explains that Hurley is a dreamer, so being in love and loving are the same thing to him, but Driscoll is a cynic, which means that they aren’t.
Correspondence Chart Entries from The Portable Grove
| Denotation | Hurley O’Niall (Gaelic: tide; Gaelic: son of cloud). |
| Numeration | 24th Emanation of Ashtara; 24th branch of Atlas; 52 in the correspondence chart. |
| Age | 23 |
| Hotness | 7/10 |
| Vital Statistics | 1.680 meters tall, cock size 15.93 cm when erect. |
| Description | Boyishly handsome, with freckles and shoulder-length ginger curls. Eccentric dress – loves bowler hats, brocade waistcoats and corsages. |
| Skills | Psionic ability to read human dreams and fantasies. Is capable of entering Tara’s dreams. |
| Sexual Prowess and Kinks | Dreams. |
| Average Duration of Play | 45 minutes, 16 seconds. |
| Totem Tree | Adansonia grandidieri, Grandidier's baobab |
| Fixed Star | Gienah, wing (which can be either ε Cyg or γ Crv). It is up to Hurley whether the wing belongs to the swan or the crow. |
| Color |  |
| Esoteric Symbol | The Etruscan letter (q) |
| Function | Creative inspiration. |
| Official Title | Lord of the Gates. |
| His Prophecy | A painting inspired by opium. |
| Dessert | Novelty nau’gsh ice cream cart |
Persistence of Weeds Addendum
| Branch Growth Characteristics | Natural branch growth resulting from the trauma of Patrick’s death during the attack on Eirelantra. Used as a template for his half-brothers on Goliath, Cyrus and Jonah. |
| Nul-history | Was joined to Sloane and Evan, and in the process of synchronization with Owen/Lugh-Tarlach when they were all drawn into Atlas. |
| Proto-conscious Root Concept | Reverie, designated Dream. |
| Prime Number of Energy Resonance | 239 |
| From Self-Portraits Not-of-Me II: Baby Pictures by Driscoll Garrett |  |