Uprooted

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape and death.

Agnieszka is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. She is 17 years old and a resident of the village of Dvernik, where she has a reputation for being clumsy, wild, dirty, and disheveled. Agnieszka is neither the brightest nor the bravest girl in the valley and feels some envy for her friend Kasia’s attributes. However, she is stubborn and loyal to those she cares about—especially Kasia, but also the other people in the valley. She also possesses latent magical abilities. Though she does not know this as the novel begins, it is why the Dragon selects her to live in the tower; he is required by law to train her. While she is not a diligent magic student and finds the rigid forms of spellcasting the Dragon uses to be difficult, she discovers a natural talent for the more instinctive and wild magic used by Old Jaga, foreshadowing her ability to connect with the Wood-queen and the other tree-people. She is naive about life outside her village, leading to problems in the capital city. She neither understands nor tolerates the political backbiting and manipulation common among the nobility and court wizards.