Characters and merchants

Monk and historian · Mortal

Albertus

Albertus is a monk and historian connected to the search for St. Mihai's sword. Anca believes he has lost his mind, leaving Coen to judge how much of his knowledge can still be trusted.

Coen's brother · Mortal

Alin

Alin was Coen's brother. He died after falling through thin ice on a lake, an accident Coen witnessed but could not stop. His death left lasting grief within the family, particularly for Esme and Coen.

Vampire boyar · Supernatural

Ambrus

Ambrus is the youngest of Brencis's vampire lieutenants and oversees the collection, storage and distribution of blood. Once a mercenary in Skender's service, he accepted Brencis's offer to become a vrakhir after his former lord left him dying in a dungeon.

Maragir Wealds

Herbalist · Mortal

Anca

Anca is a herbalist and Coen's friend. She previously lived at St. Tyna's convent, speaks Latin and knows far more about the wider world than her present circumstances suggest. Her history at the convent connects her to Leonica and its secret library.

St. Tyna's Grove

Svartrau crime lord · Mortal

Andrei

Andrei controls much of Svartrau's gambling, black market and brothels. His origins remain obscure even to his own people. The glossary places him near the Eastern Gate and the butcher's shop; Nora and Ocha are among those trying to escape his influence.

Svartrau City

Beekeeper · Mortal

Ascar

Ascar is a beekeeper from Tantari. His apparently ordinary life has drawn Crake's attention, making him a point of interest in the manumits' affairs.

Tantari Woods

Laslea villager · Mortal

Atanas

Atanas is an older resident of Laslea and Vasil's father. He expects respect for his age, drinks heavily and tries to discipline his son through repeated reprimands. His strained relationship with Vasil is part of the village's everyday tensions.

Laslea Glen

Astrologer and inventor · Mortal

Aurelius

Aurelius is a scholar, astrologer and inventor who serves Brencis without being a vrakhir. He works in a secluded watchtower, where his magical experiments have produced dangerous flying creatures intended to strengthen the knyaz's forces.

Vampire boyar · Supernatural

Bakir

Bakir is a vampire boyar whose Lunar Tournaments lure human participants into deadly games. His rule combines cruelty with unpredictable violence. Farkas outwardly serves him while secretly looking for an accomplice to help kill his master.

Boar's Back · The Silts

Clan Bakr matriarch · Supernatural

Bakr-Erga

Bakr-Erga leads Clan Bakr. Like other uriash matriarchs, she combines authority with a reputation for powerful magic. Her daughter Ocha does not share her wish for a successor and has instead chosen to live among humans.

Knyaz of Vale Sangora · Supernatural

Brencis

Brencis rules Vale Sangora from Greifberg Castle after overthrowing Skender Dragosti with three vampire lieutenants. He established an exchange of blood between the vrakhiri and their human subjects. Despite his visibly aged body, his power remains a central threat to the valley.

Briar Sloughs · Greifberg Castle · Laslea Glen · Maragir Wealds · The Silts · Svartrau City

Dragosti heir · Mortal

Catalin

Catalin is Skender Dragosti's son and the surviving heir to the dynasty displaced by Brencis. He vanished from Vale Sangora after the coup. Stories of his travels describe attempts to gather support from European rulers and the Pope for a return to power.

Xanthe's daughter · Mortal

Chariklea

Chariklea is Xanthe's daughter. Her mother refuses to let her die and uses dark magic to sustain a body reconstructed with parts taken from other women. Their relationship is tied to Xanthe's refusal to accept her daughter's death.

Manumit leader · Mortal

Crake

Crake leads the manumits, the rebels fighting Brencis's rule. He conceals his identity and carefully controls access to the movement. Behind that caution is a force that is outnumbered and hunted, with good reason to seek Coen's help.

Laslea villager · Mortal

Crina

Crina is a resident of Laslea mourning her grandson Kvet. A seemingly minor scratch developed into a fatal infection, leaving her devastated. Her loss echoes the grief already present in Coen's own family.

Laslea Glen

Manumit fighter · Mortal

Drogos

Drogos is Crake's right-hand man among the manumits. He repeatedly challenges his leader's decisions, particularly when Coen is involved, yet continues to follow his orders. His mistrust makes him a difficult ally for Coen.

Coen's mother · Mortal

Esme

Esme is Coen's mother. Alin's death, the plague and the vampire takeover gradually caused her to withdraw from family life. Coen remembers her earlier warmth and hopes she can recover from the grief that has overtaken her.

Bakir's servant · Mortal

Farkas

Farkas presents himself as Bakir's loyal servant while planning his master's death. He approaches Coen because he needs an accomplice. His determination offers a way into the boyar's household, although Coen remains wary of his intentions.

Blood Covenant priest · Mortal

Florin

Father Florin once heard Skender's confessions and now plays a leading role in Brencis's Blood Covenant. He usually resides at Svartrau Cathedral, but travels to the valley's villages to celebrate Mass and hear confessions. His preaching justifies the vrakhiri's rule.

Svartrau City

Laslea villager · Mortal

Gavril

Gavril is a dependable resident of Laslea and Lazar's brother. The contrast between his reliability and Lazar's recklessness is well known in the village. Gavril often rescues his brother from trouble and gives him the support to continue living freely.

Laslea Glen

Laslea elder · Mortal

Gremla

Gremla is an elderly Laslea resident known for weaving, cooking and remembering the village's history. She despises the vrakhiri but favours appeasing them to keep the village safe. This cautious approach does not satisfy everyone around her.

Laslea Glen

Tonis's sister · Mortal

Heile

Heile is a young girl who once lived with her brother Tonis in Oghasti. The two were separated, and Coen senses that something about her is unusual. Her appearance raises questions about the years since Tonis last saw her.

Livestock owner · Mortal

Iorgu

Iorgu owns many animals and works long days caring for them. He is also endlessly curious about natural phenomena, from rainbows to floating clouds, asking questions as much for the pleasure of wondering as for a definite answer.

Brencis's sire · Supernatural

Isbrand

Isbrand is the vrakhir who turned Brencis. After their relationship broke down, Brencis defeated him and abandoned him in a mountain cave. Kobolds later kept him alive as a regenerating food source; Lacra and Coen's search leads back to his fate.

Nobleman · Mortal

Iulian Codrin

Iulian Codrin is a nobleman who retained his rank and possessions by pledging loyalty to Ambrus. He nevertheless wants the boyar dead. His plan exploits Ambrus's habit of feeding directly from people by poisoning the blood of a future victim.

Laslea resident · Mortal

Kostel

Kostel has a reputation for acting before thinking and getting into fights. His mother Lina once protected him from the consequences. After her death, Vladimir took on that role as a relative and friend, although Coen questions the influence he has on Kostel.

Vrakhir envoy · Supernatural

Lacra

Lacra is a vrakhir who claims she was sent to eliminate Brencis. She reveals little about herself or the people behind her mission. Her opposition to the knyaz gives Coen a reason to work with her despite the uncertainty surrounding her motives.

Gavril's brother · Mortal

Lazar

Lazar is Gavril's freer-spirited brother. Often reckless or absent-minded, he relies on Gavril to help him out of trouble. Their arrangement gives Lazar room to live as he chooses and gives Gavril someone to care for.

Nun of St. Tyna's · Supernatural

Leonica

Leonica knew Anca at St. Tyna's convent. After Anca revealed the existence of a secret library, Leonica reported her to the prioress, leading to Anca's expulsion. Leonica later pursued an interest in that same hidden library.

St. Tyna's Grove

Coen's younger sister · Mortal

Lunka

Lunka is Coen's younger sister, a perceptive and determined child who still struggles to recognise danger. With their parents under strain, Coen feels responsible for protecting her. His fear of losing another sibling shapes that responsibility.

Miller · Mortal

Mert

Mert is a miller, Renna's husband and Vladimir's cousin. His apparent links to the manumits make him a possible contact for Coen. Brencis's soldiers have arrested him and imprisoned him at an outpost, putting that contact in danger.

Rabbi · Mortal

Mevasser

Mevasser is a rabbi in Svartrau's Neustadt district. His community continues its religious life in secret despite Brencis's prohibition of faiths other than the Blood Covenant. Respected for his knowledge, he treats overtures from Crake and Coen with understandable caution.

Svartrau City

Dawnwalker · Supernatural

Mihai

Mihai is remembered as Svartrau's patron saint and a dragon-slayer. Coen's encounter with him beneath the cathedral reveals a different history: he hunted vrakhiri, called himself a dawnwalker and had been betrayed and left chained in the catacombs.

Svartrau City

Coen's younger brother · Mortal

Mirto

Mirto is Coen's younger brother. His anger and restless energy contrast with Coen's quieter childhood. Family losses, tension with Pieter and Esme's withdrawal all form the background to his difficult behaviour.

Uriash blacksmith · Mortal

Nareh

Nareh is an uriash blacksmith living in an isolated mountain home. Even by uriash standards, her dwelling is remote. Coen does not know whether she chose this solitude or was forced away from her people.

Mysterious traveller · Mortal

Neberu

Neberu is a traveller Coen meets in Laslea. He says he has come from far away and takes a particular interest in Coen and his actions. Their brief meeting leaves Coen expecting that their paths will cross again.

Laslea Glen

Svartrau resident · Mortal

Nora

Nora works in Svartrau and is quick-witted and resourceful. She and her friend Ocha intend to resist Andrei's exploitation, but need Coen's help to carry out their plan against the city's powerful underworld boss.

Svartrau City

Uriash fighter · Mortal

Ocha

Bakr-Ocha is the daughter of Clan Bakr's matriarch. She prefers life among humans and brawling to becoming her mother's successor. Her dealings with Andrei in Svartrau create problems that her physical strength alone cannot solve.

Svartrau City

Coen's father · Mortal

Pieter

Pieter is Coen's father and taught him sword fighting. They worked together in the silver mine before Coen became ill. Hardworking and stubborn, Pieter is reluctant to discuss the mercenary past that others say he once led.

Devout Laslea resident · Mortal

Premysl

Premysl takes his faith deeply seriously and struggles to accept life under Brencis. He usually restrains himself, but sometimes openly condemns what he sees as blasphemy. This brings him into conflict with neighbours who favour accommodation with the vrakhiri.

Miller · Mortal

Renna

Renna runs a water mill with her husband Mert. The plague killed both of their children, and her work has become harder since soldiers arrested Mert for helping the manumits. Her family and livelihood are closely tied to his imprisonment.

Sanzhani ruler · Supernatural

Sanzhani Tsarina

The Sanzhani Tsarina rules a small group of sanzhani from a burrow. Coen does not know her personal name. Her confidence and authority contrast with her small stature, leading him to suspect that she commands considerable magic.

Manumit rebel · Mortal

Sara

Sara is a young member of the manumits. Others may question whether she is old enough to take the risks involved, but she is committed to her place in the rebellion against Brencis.

Former knyaz · Mortal

Skender

Skender Dragosti became knyaz in 1324 and ruled Vale Sangora through fear. Nine years later, he crushed a peasant revolt in a massacre at Shrike's Crag. Brencis eventually overthrew him, an event some inhabitants initially welcomed.

Boar's Back · Greifberg Castle

Lumberjack · Mortal

Tonis

Tonis is a lumberjack and Heile's brother. He believed his sister had died and is shocked by news that she is alive, particularly after so many years apart. His initial distrust of Coen is mixed with hope of finding her again.

Atanas's son · Mortal

Vasil

Vasil lives in Laslea and is known for avoiding work and giving others a hard time. Coen is a frequent target because of his friendship with Anca. Atanas responds to his son's behaviour with harsh discipline, without resolving the underlying conflict.

Laslea Glen

Swamp herbalist · Mortal

Vera

Vera is a herbalist who lives in the swamps. She knows Iulian Codrin, who hopes she can help carry out his plan against Ambrus. Coen suspects there is more to her secluded life than is immediately apparent.

Curio shop owner · Supernatural

Vicho

Vicho runs a curio shop in Svartrau and is a vrakhir who abstains from human blood. Deeply religious and protective of his human friends, he struggles with his own nature. He offers Coen help while declining direct involvement in the fight against Brencis.

Svartrau City

Laslea resident · Mortal

Vladimir

Vladimir, usually called Vlad, is a friend of both Coen and Pieter. He is sociable despite the age difference between them, but has recently become more secretive. Rumours connect him to the manumits and preparations for an uprising against Brencis.

Laslea Glen

Former mercenary · Mortal

Volk

Volk is an elderly, blind former mercenary who claims to be Pieter's old friend. He says Pieter secretly helped him settle in Vale Sangora and supported him after he lost his sight. His stories offer clues to a past Pieter rarely discusses.

Vampire boyaress · Supernatural

Xanthe

Xanthe is the oldest vrakhir in Brencis's court and specialises in manipulating minds. She is responsible for transforming soldiers into blood guards through an irreversible ritual. Her daughter Chariklea is also kept alive through her dark magic.

The Silts

Coen's sister · Mortal

Yanna

Yanna is Coen's sister and is nearing adulthood. When Pieter and Coen are absent, she looks after Mirto and Lunka. Her maturity makes her central to keeping the younger children safe, even when her patience is stretched.

Laslea alderman · Mortal

Zdislav

Zdislav is Laslea's alderman. Since Brencis's takeover, he has worked to contain tensions between villagers who resent the vrakhiri and those willing to submit. He keeps his personal views guarded while trying to preserve peace in the village.

Laslea Glen