Main Characters

Our heroes, if such a term could apply to anyone in a world so broken.

Alken Hewer: Protagonist and main POV of the story. Once a member of the storied order known as the Knights of the Alder Table and champion to a petty queen, the treacherous actions of the Table and Alken's personal failings led to his disgrace and exile. After the Fall, he was offered a role as an executioner and punisher of other traitors by the ancient beings who rule Urn, becoming the Headsman of Seydis. A haunted man troubled by old loyalties and a complicated sense of honor.

Emma Orley: Scion of two accursed and fallen noble houses, Emma is Alken's unofficial squire and disciple. With dreams of climbing out from beneath the shadow of her ancestors, her cynical nature and ties to dark forces are a constant temptation to the left-hand path.

Catrin of Ergoth: A dhampir prostitute who works for a mysterious information broker. Alken's friend and confidant, her unique perspective on the world and rumor-mongering ways are a useful asset during many of his misadventures.

Karog: A war ogre from the continent. An enemy during the early parts of the story, his mercenary nature and strong sense of honor have led to his estrangement from darker interests. A dubious ally and a dangerous enemy, whose role often fluctuates between the two. He once served the Cambion, and has fought many strange wars in faraway lands.

Lisette of the Bairns: A young cleric who was apprenticed for a time to a vampire hunter after her cloister was destroyed in a raid. She later enters the service of the Empress of the Accord, placing her in a position of common interest with Alken and his other allies. An uncommonly skilled adept with a versatile magic.

Inhabitants of the Fane

Oria's Fane is a hidden Sidhe refuge in the heartlands of Urn, where a number of strange characters have congregated.

Maxim Braeve: An aged Alder Knight afflicted with a curse of madness from his broken oaths. Alken's senior knight and fellow survivor of the order's destruction.

Oraeka: A young Sidhe warrior who guards the Fane. Troubled by her people's decline and seeking ways to prove herself.

Hezrobog: An aged troll who guards the Fane's entrance. A curmudgeon who views Alken and Maxim as "freeloaders."

Caim: A dwarf-giant smith who maintains gear for the Fane's inhabitants. A brooding figure longing for more fulfilling work.

Rysanthe Miresgal: The only active Doomsman besides Alken. A powerful drow elf from the Underworld who bears the grim role of Death to the Deathless. As Alken's senior, she often gives him counsel and is also the one who made the curse-trap ring he uses to guard his dreams from dark spirits.

The Accord

A loose collective of feudal realms in the subcontinent formed after the War Against the Recusants. Struggling to hold itself together.

Rosanna Silvering: Queen of the Karledale and Empress of the Accorded Realms. Alken's former liege lady, who originally made him a knight. A strong-willed and ruthless stateswoman whose good intentions are often hobbled by her draconian reputation.

Lias Hexer: A wizard and spymaster, as well as Alken's oldest friend. His reckless use of power and disdain for consequences led him to many questionable acts, and has placed him deep into the debt of infernal powers.

Markham Forger: King of Reynwell and Emperor of the Accorded Realms. A stern soldier and statesman who led the Ardent Bough to victory during the war, and who is largely responsible for the formation of the Accord and the tenuous peace the land enjoys. He delivered Alken's sentence of excommunication.

Faisa Dance: Prominent member of an incredibly wealthy family and patron of the Urnic Renaissance. A novice sorceress with Sapphic inclinations.

Ingram: An old servant loyal to House Dance.

Kaia Gore: A former adventurer only recently elevated to the nobility. She was given the high honor of being the Empress's personal bodyguard and champion after capturing a famous Recusant general.

Malcolm Forger: Rosanna's eldest son by King Markham. Heir to Garihelm and the Kingdom of Reynwell.

Darsus Silvering: Rosanna's younger son by King Markham. Heir to Karles and the Kingdom of the Karledale.

(note that Malcolm and Darsus have different surnames because of their different lines of inheritance. As Rosanna's entire house was destroyed before the Fall, this was a method to ensure her own storied bloodline's survival)

Brenner Hunting: A wealthy lord from Venturmoor who sheltered the Carreons after their exile from the Westvales. An ambitious man seeking glory for his house.

Hendry Hunting: Brenner's son and heir. He was expected to marry Emma before she eloped to pursue knighthood. He was wounded by Devil Iron during a battle with the Scorchknight, Jon Orley, at the village of Orcsbridge.

Roland Marcher: King of Venturmoor.

The Aureate Church

Once an order of astrologers and polymaths, they have taken up a righteous duty as the teachers of the God-Queen's holy word. Extremely factionalized and divided.

Leonis Chancer: A bishop who once led a brutal witch hunt during the war against the Recusants. Killed by Alken Hewer during the stories opening act under the orders of the Choir.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Presider Oraise: A ruthless inquisitor who serves the Priory of the Arda. Leads a private army of kidnappers and torturers called the Priorguard.

The Grand Prior: Head of the Priory of the Arda and de facto leader of the Inquisition.

Brother Caslin: A monk who tends to Rose Malin, an old cathedral in Garihelm.

Preoster Micah: A kindly preacher in Caelfall. Murdered at Orson Falconer's orders. One of Catrin of Ergoth's lovers.

Brother Edgar: A young monk with the unfortunate fate of being Caelfall Village's only survivor.

The Eld

A loose collective of ancient, semi-immortal beings of varying kinds, reminiscent of faeries and other creatures of myth. Often collectively referred to as elves, Sidhe, or fae. They once dwelt side by side with humanity as near equals, but recent events have left them wounded and distrustful.

Oradyn Irn Bale: An old wyldefae chieftain who aided Alken during his battle against Orson Falconer.

Maerlys Tuvonsdotter: Eldest child of the Elf King and former high priestess of Seydis. Horrifically burned by Recusants during the Fall, she has become far more hostile to humanity in the years since, leading many other elves to do the same.

Tuvon of Seydis: King of Seydis, Lord of Elfhome, voice of the Choir of God, and Archon of the God-Queen's realm on the Alderes. Betrayed and murdered by his own knights during the Fall.

Qoth: A Briar Elf and Emma's familiar by way of Nath.

Tzanith: An elf bard, and Irn Bale's brother.

The Choir of Onsolem

A collective of ancient spirits, demigods, and other powerful beings left behind when the God-Queen departed from these shores. They dwell in a secluded palace-city called Heavensreach, and secretly watch over the realms of Man and Elf from on high.

Donnelly of Nayse: A former burglar and treasure hunter who gained some renown after the Elf King hired him to steal a great treasure from another immortal. He died during the Fall and had his spirit fused with the vestiges of an Onsolain. He is now the Choir's herald and a personal acquaintance of Alken's.

Eanor: A former handmaiden of the God-Queen and an original Onsolain who once dwelt in the First Realm. The Saint of Love and Nath's twin. She is the closest thing Alken has to a personal patron among the Choir.

Nath the Fallen: A rebellious seraph who left the Choir in order to pursue personal power. She allied with the wicked elves of Briarland, earning her the epithet of "Angel of the Briar." She has recently rejoined the Choir and is also Emma's godmother. Eanor's twin.

Grandmother Urddha: An ancient demigoddess and one of the immortals native to the Alderes who became Onsolain after the God-Queen's arrival. The Saint of Witches and Queen of Hags.

Kaharn-in-Silver: A bestial demigod who guards the inhospitable borderlands of Urn.

The Iron Tribunal

These accursed beings are associated with the Infernal Realm of Orkael, which sits on the edge of the Howling Abyss. Herein dwell spirits of iron, ice, and flame, who have long sulked in their machinations. Not to be trusted.

Vicar: A Crowfriar dispatched to Urn by his burning masters to lead his realm's push for influence in the God-Queen's own land. Often taking the guise of Ser Renuart Kross, he is a cunning agent personally counseled by an Angel of Hell. Has acted as one of the Iron Realm's missionaries for most of six centuries, and has recently infiltrated the Priory of the Arda.

Brother Myrddin: A manipulative Crowfriar who distrusts Vicar's motives.

Jon Orley: A Scorchknight bound to the Iron Realm by foolish oaths sworn to Astraea Carreon.

Astraea Carreon: An occultist and noblewoman who brought about the downfall of her family's rivals through a treacherous marriage pact. Now bound to Hell by her own actions.

The Adversary

They go by many names, but one fact is true: Long ago, they burned Heaven itself, and would do the same to this world. They must be opposed at any cost, and to heed their lies is to become them. Worst among them are the Abgrûdai, the demons of the Howling Abyss.

Pernicious Shyora: A succubus demon who infiltrated the Archon's City in the guise of a scholar-nun. In the guise of Sister Fidei, she became Alken's confessor and confidant, and later his lover. The revelation of her true nature coincided with the treacherous actions of the Alder Table and the Recusant War. Slain and banished by Alken, she now dwells in the Iron Pits of Orkael as a prisoner of the Zosite. Her influence still very much persists in our haunted hero's dreams.

Yith Golonac: A powerful demon given form during a dark ritual in the province of Caelfall early in the story. He is behind the Carmine Killings, a series of brutal serial murders plaguing the city of Garihelm.

Reynard: Considered the most powerful of all the Magi, the Wizards of the Alderes, the traitorous Reynard was the mastermind behind the death of King Tuvon and the Fall of Seydis. His whereabouts are unknown since the end of the war, with many assuming him dead.

Raath El Kur: A powerful war demon slain by Alken Hewer during the Fall.

The Gorelion: A demon whose laughing countenance haunts Alken's dreams.

The Cambion King: A once-mighty warlord who waged war with the Heir of Heaven over dominion of the Alderes. Old and decrepit, he still dwells in his moldering realm far to the west, driven mad by the whispers of demons. A piteous dark lord overshadowed by more successful nightmares.

The Recusants

The traitor, the heretic, the outcast, the warmonger. To reject the grace of the Heir of Heaven is to heed the Adversary. They are to be given no quarter.

Orson Falconer: A Recusant nobleman and petty sorcerer. Of little note on his own, his actions in gathering other hostile powers and forming the Council of Cael continue to haunt the realms. Slain by Olliard of Kell.

Rhan Harrower: The most famous and effective military leader of the Recusant factions. Formerly the King of Duranike, a powerful realm in the south now occupied by the Accord. Executed by the Headsman of Seydis in front of a gathering of Sidhe and human leaders.

Lillian Cymorin: A necromancer who participated in the Council of Cael.

Captain Issachar: Commander of an order of ghoul mercenaries from the continent. A gluttonous, short-tempered brute prone to rash action. Was at the Council of Cael.

Hasur Vyke: King of Talsyn and the last great Recusant leader since the war to deny the rule of the Accord. Suspected to have hosted the Council of Cael in his own court recently.

Emery Planter: A knight and necromancer who attempted to build an undead army. Slain by Alken Hewer in a duel in his own keep.

Lorena Starling: Emery’s wife, reanimated from a premature death by him. Swore vengeance against Alken for her husband’s murder.

Nathaniel Planter: Emery Planter and Lorena Starling’s young son. Now the lord of a haunted land left to him by his rebellious parents.

Alicia Wake: Former High Captain of the Alder Table, who led the traitorous members of the order in the murder of the Archon. Her whereabouts are presently unknown.

Ser Beck: A knight remembered by Alken in a dream-flashback. One of the captains who participated in the murder of the Archon.

Other Persons of Note

Vanya: A widow in Hunting lands who tended to Emma's country estate.

Anastasia Carreon: Emma's grandmother, and the person primarily responsible for raising her. A sour old iconoclast resentful of her family's ill fortune. Dead long before the story begins.

Olliard of Kell: An old barber-surgeon who moonlights as a vampire hunter. Saves Alken's life early in the story, but the two become estranged by their differing ideas of good and evil.

Keeper of the Backroad: An old, possibly immortal proprietor of a haunted traveler's rest and brothel known as the Backroad Inn.

Joy: A lycanthropic tavern wench who works at the Backroad with Catrin. She has strong connections to the changeling community in Garihelm.

Parn: An old changeling who acts as an unofficial leader for the inhabitants of the Garihelm slums. Taken captive by the Inquisition and rescued by Alken.