Guile, Sevastian: The youngest Guile brother. He was murdered by a blue wight when Gavin was thirteen and Dazen was not yet eleven.
Guile, Zymun: A young drafter and former member of the White King’s army. Also known as Zymun White Oak, he claims to be the son of Karris and Gavin Guile and has been declared Prism-elect.
Gunner: né Uluch Assan, legendary Ilytian pirate famous for having killed a sea demon. His first underdeck command was as cannoneer on the Aved Barayah. Worked for Dazen Guile during the False Prism’s War. He later became captain of the Bitter Cob.
Halfcock: One of the oldest Blackguards at forty years old. Sub-red/red bichrome. Refuses to retire.
Hill, Ruarc: A nobleman and leader of Dúnbheo.
Holdfast: A Blackguard. His son is Cruxer and his widow is Inana, another Blackguard.
Holvar, Jin: A woman who entered the Blackguard the same year as Karris White Oak, though she is a few years younger.
Hanishu: Tremblefist. A Blackguard. He was Ironfist’s younger brother and was once the dey of Aghbalu. His Nine Kings card is the Butcher of Aghbalu.
Harrdun: Ironfist. Former commander of the Blackguard, a blue drafter. Parian. Brother to Haruru (the Nuqaba) and Hanishu (Tremblefist). Member of the Order of the Broken Eye. Takes the title of king of Paria after his sister is assassinated.
Haruru: The last Nuqaba in Paria, she was assassinated by Teia for the Order of the Broken Eye.
Inana: Cruxer’s mother, and once a Blackguard. Widow of Holdfast, also a Blackguard. She retired from the Blackguard in order to marry him.
Izemrasen: A ghotra-wearing Parian, forty years old, green drafter. He lost his legs after breaking his back during his training to enter the Blackguard. Now a scout-drafter for Kip Guile’s Night-bringers.
Jalal: A friendly storekeeper. Karris’s favorite kopi seller on Big Jasper.
Kadah: Formerly a magister at the Chromeria who taught drafting basics. Now a researcher for the Chromeria.
Kallikrates: Teia’s father. He ran the silk route as a trader before losing everything due to his wife’s reckless behavior.
Keeper of the Flame, the: A chi drafter. Member of a secret religious order in Dúnbheo.
Kerea: A Blackguard and an Archer.
Klytos Blue: The Blue on the Spectrum. He represents Ilyta, though he is Ruthgari. A coward and Andross Guile’s tool.
Leonidas: Aka Leo. A member of the Mighty, hugely muscular, drafts red and sub-red. Better known as Big Leo.
Lorenço: One of High General Corvan Danavis’s lieutenants.
Lucidonius: The legendary founder of the Seven Satrapies and the Chromeria, the first Prism. He was married to Karris Shadowblinder.
Malargos, Antonius: Cousin of Eirene and Tisis Malargos. A handsome young red drafter. Later a military leader of some skill for Kip Guile’s Nightbringers. A devout follower of Orholam.
Malargos, Eirene (Prism): The Prism before Alexander Spreading
Oak (who preceded Gavin Guile). She lasted fourteen years.
Malargos, Eirene (the Younger): The older sister of Tisis Malargos. She took over the family’s affairs when her father and uncle didn’t return from the False Prism’s War.
Malargos, Tisis: A beautiful Ruthgari green drafter. Her father and uncle fought for Dazen Guile. Her older sister is Eirene Malargos, from whom she will likely inherit the wealth of a great trading empire, as Eirene has refused to bear children. Now married to Kip Guile.
Marissia: See ‘Rathcore, Marissia.’
Miriam: High General Corvan Danavis’s attaché and lieutenant commander.
Muazon, Aldib: The last academic to credibly study paryl.
Muriel: The apothecary for the Order of the Broken Eye.
Nabiros: One of the Two Hundred. Legendary spiritual being. Also known as Cerberos.
Naheed, Quentin: A young luxiat, genius polymath, erstwhile assassin, now humble servant of Orholam and slave to the Iron White, Karris Guile. He wears rich clothing as a warning to other luxiats of what sins their vanity may lead them to.
Nuqaba, the: The keeper of the oral histories of Parians, a figure of unique and tremendous power due to her ancient office as both religious leader to the Parians and guardian of the Great Library of Azûlay. Within her satrapy, she rivals both the satrap of Paria and the Prism in her influence.
Nuri (Nuriel): An immortal, one of the elohim.
Orholam: From the Old Abornean Or’holam, literally ‘Lord of Light/Lights.’ Referred to by His/Its titles rather than by a name as a sign of total respect. The deity of the monotheistic Seven Satrapies, also known as the Father of All. His worship was spread throughout the Seven Satrapies by Lucidonius four hundred years before the reign of Prism Gavin Guile.
Orholam: A nickname for a pious slave rower on the Bitter Cob who claimed to have been a reluctant prophet of Orholam. Due to Captain Gunner’s superstitions, he was assigned to the seventh seat in the galley’s ranks.
Pansy: Gunner’s first mate on the Golden Mean.
Parsham, Vell: Freed by Gavin after the False Prism’s War.
Pen, Ulgwar: Leader of the Eighth Stoa, scholar who wrote about shimmercloaks and invisibility.
Pheronike: A spy handler for the White King and a sub-red drafter. It was discovered while he was being executed on Orholam’s Glare that he was hosting the immortal Nabiros.
Polyphrastes: Religious scholar who wrote Dictions.
Presser: A battle-scarred Blackguard.
Proud Hart, Lady: A beloved artist and historian in Dúnbheo.
Ptolos, Euterpe: Satrapah of Ruthgar.
Pullawr, Orea: The White who preceded Karris Guile. A blue/green bichrome who refrained from drafting for decades in order to prolong her life. She served as the White for nearly thirty years before she was assassinated. She was married to Ulbear Rathcore before his death twenty years prior to her own.
Ramir (Ram): A Rekton villager and a bully who was murdered when Rask Garadul destroyed the village.
Rathcore, Marissia: Gavin Guile’s room slave, Orea Pullawr’s granddaughter. A red-haired Blood Forester who was captured by the Ruthgari during the Blood Wars, she served Gavin for more than ten years (since she was eighteen) as his room slave—secretly spying for her grandmother.
Rathcore, Ulbear: The late husband of the White, he has been dead for twenty years. An adroit player of Nine Kings.
Red Leaf, Bram: The rotund, rosy-cheeked ambassador to Satrap Willow Bough of Blood Forest; nobleman who holds land on the Blood Forest coast.
Rhoda: Masseuse for the Blackguard and the White.
Sadah Superviolet: The Parian representative, a superviolet drafter, often the swing vote on the Spectrum.
Samite: One of Karris White Oak’s best friends. Now one-handed after a war wound, she has become a trainer for the Blackguard.
Satish, Ravi: An unscrupulous banker and slaver involved with Aglaia Crassos, and a low-ranking member of the Order of the Broken Eye. From one of the families dispossessed and bankrupted during the False Prism’s War.
Sayeh, Samila: A blue drafter for Gavin Guile’s army. She fought for him in the defense of Garriston.
Seaborn, Phyros: A member of the Omnichrome’s army. He was seven feet tall and fought with two axes. Liv Danavis’s protector and guardian. His family was destroyed by the Guiles after his brother crossed Gavin Guile. Killed by Liv Danavis when he tried to enslave her for the White King.
Shadowblinder, Karris (née Karris Atiriel): A desert princess. She became Karris Shadowblinder before she married Lucidonius, and succeeded him as the second Prism of the Seven Satrapies. She founded the Blackguard.