Tarn was a foul-tempered male Burrowing Owl, or Athene cunicularius, and a member of the Pure Ones.
History[]
Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole[]
Tarn was encountered by Tavis and Cletus, Great Gray Owls, in the Desert of Kuneer. He made a burrow neighboring the brothers. Tavis first thought that Tarn was a gopher, and almost slashed him before Cletus stopped him. Tarn had not told Tavis and Cletus his name and disappeared into his burrow. Days later, Tavis and Cletus spotted him dragging a dozen mice into his burrow. Tarn said that this had nothing to do with them, and told him that his name was Tarn. A couple days later, Tavis and Cletus were visiting Hiram, an old Burrowing Owl. They flew to his burrow and found that the the Pure Ones had invaded Kuneer. They overheard Tarn; he was the leader of this assault. Tarn managed to escape after his plan failed.
The River of Wind[]
Tarn rejoined Nyra's forces after the takeover of the section of Kuneer as sergeant. It was revealed that Nyra was thinking of replacing Stryker, her current top lieutenant, with him. Tarn participated in capturing an owlet named Bell and the Striga, a blue owl. He fed a truth serum he stole from a desert healer to the blue owl to reveal the location of the middle kingdom, where the band and the king was. Tarn managed to figure out the directions to there, prompting Nyra to promote him as Captain. Upon reaching the new kingdom, Tarn joined in the battle of the River of Wind and was one of two survivors, the other being Nyra, who was heavily wounded and assumed dead by Tarn.
Exile[]
With Nyra's disappearance, Tarn joined the Striga's Blue Brigade. He spied on the Band, who looked like they were in conversation with a scroom. This information gave the Striga a chance to fake an accusation of the Band's disloyalty.
The War of the Ember[]
Nyra, who has been in hiding, forged an alliance with the Striga. Tarn continued to serve them. He and two other burrowing owls ambushed Wensel, suspected that he has the Ember of Hoole inside his botkin. But the three Burrowing owls were driven off by Tarn's old enemies, Tavis and Cletus. Later, at the Beyond, Twilight, Tavis, and Cletus chased after Tarn. It was unknown what happened to him, but it was possible that he was killed.
Personality[]
At first, Tarn seemed a secretive, if somewhat grumpy, Burrowing Owl. When his loyalties are revealed, he shows himself to be very conniving. Although he is loyal to whoever he's working for, deep down he's simply pragmatic enough to ally himself with whoever's in a position of power. He's cunning enough to give orders and obtain information, and thus earns high rank in both organizations he partakes in. He's also a good fighter, but knows when to retreat.
Trivia[]
- Tarn was the only non-Tyto in Nyra's army until Ifghar, Gragg and The Striga joined the Pure Ones.