Main Characters Kailin Anil (Kai') Age: 15 Over a decade ago, Kai' was merely one of many peasant children born in the village of Qail in the relatively isolated Iredean mountains. Sometime in her early childhood, however, she aquired an illness that left her almost blind, with occasional nightmares and an odd tattoo in the bargain. Her father took care of her for most of her life, until he passed away sometime in her teenage years. Since then, she has stayed in the village with one of their distant relatives, supported by her older brother Rune, whom she fervently adores and idolizes. Although Kai' is by nature quiet and submissive, she has been restless of late as the good intentions of her many relatives toward her handicap prevent her from doing almost anything on her own. Of course, now that she's had so much activity she doesn't know what to do with it, she's rather missing the days when the worst thing to fear was being smothered to death by overprotective aunts. Elei Trevinn Age: 34 (-ish. She won't say.) Elei is like a cat - beautiful, selfish, and maybe just a little evil. For a very long time now, Elei has been ill. It is contagious - therefore she contains it deep inside with the aid of her Gifts, keeping any and all symptoms tightly under wraps. But she has a happy ending in mind for herself, and there seems to be nothing she will not do to get there. For now, she wants as many Gifts as she can get. She's older than she looks, knows more than she lets on, and is frequently snippy to those who aren't quite as smart as she is. She is pragmatic and logical and has her own reasons for everything she does. In essence, Elei does what she wants to do, works around what she can't change, and is apathetic to all other causes. On occasion, she runs errands for her High Lord, Alcarin. Their connection goes a long way back, and runs deep. She doesn't believe herself to be a bad person, and she can be kind when the mood suits her. Rune Anil Age: 21 Rune is several years older than his sister Kailin and rather excessively protective of her. Although they have many friends and relatives among the villagers, he has had to work to provide for both of them since their father's death. He's not hardly as naive as his sister, and has some deep-seated prejudices regarding gender roles. Daian Age: 26 Daian grew up in the country, the third in a mass of eight or nine children. Following a raging argument with his two elder brothers over a very small thing, he left for the capital to make his own fortune. He returns home now and again to visit his younger sisters and brothers, but not often. He had finished his training and been serving for some years when half his new contingent was shipped off to another continent upon Elei's arrival. If it hadn't been for his habit of listening at doors, he might have spent the next forty years of his life guarding them. Daian is actually kind of a really nice person. He has good intentions and is very loyal. But he does fall in love with Elei, because he's an idiot. He also has a bad case of equinophobia. It's given him grief for most of his life. Vul'Re ('Re) Age: unknown. Approximate equivalent of early twenties. 'Re is actually rather young for his size, all things considered, and has a rather radically different outlook on the world from most of the others. He has been a little 'humanized' by Kai', who is unusually fond of him, but he still shows a certain indifference toward other forms of life, except for those of his own kind. He is not above some warped sarcasm. His task, as was given by the Mother, or shaman, of their oversized pack, was to find another reasonable animal of whatever species and to force Kai' to hand over her Gift to it. As the only way the foxes know of to transfer Gifts is through the death of the giver, his loyalties to her and Rune are somewhat suspect. Neither of the siblings know of this. 'Re possesses the only known Gift to the foxes besides Kai's, which is something along the lines of telepathy. Used correctly, it also allows him to know where people are. He was an important asset to the foxes because he was able to bypass the language barriers between species. When the shaman died and his pack split, he followed the Gift Kai' carries south into more human lands. Alcarin Induah, Oslinian High Lord Age: 35 The Lords and High Lords have a complicated, shifting power structure. There are seven High Lords, and near the top of the mutual hierarchy is the Oslinian High Lord, whose position Alcarin currently holds. When a High Lord dies childless, the major Lords of the area compete for the position. Generally, the Lord with the most land and influence becomes the next High Lord. Alcarin's bloodline has held the position for a long time, but his current unmarried and childless state does not bode well. Alcarin has known Elei for a long, long time. She rammed herself into Zuran during the end part of his father's reign, and got to know the royal family. Now that he has assumed the position of High Lord, he does what he can to help her out. For the most part, Alcarin is very intelligent and manages to run his domain well, although he tends to hold grudges. He also has a vested interest in knowing everything he can about everything, which has given rise to a) a reputation for cold-blooded manipulation and b) a surprisingly efficient information network. His influence is widespread and currently unrestricted. Other Characters (in order of appearance) Jaih (first appeared page 5) - The captain of Daian's platoon, led a crew of six men to the Iredean continent to search for anyone bearing the signature tattoos which mark the person as having a Gift. His title (captain) is the second or third rank up from a common soldier, with the Oslinian High Lord at the top. That Delivery Boy (first appeared page 19) - Keinn works for Master Lien, who takes care of Kailin when her brother is working at the farm. They are friends, although he tends to view her as a burden occasionally, and he is to a certain extent responsible for her safety. Keinn can be a trifle absent-minded when it comes to things outside of his routine, but felt an enormous amount of guilt when she disappeared. Master Tai (first appeared page 23) - Owns the farm that Rune works on. He's a miserly old coot, but he runs the farm well. Ias (first appeared page 60) - Ias works on the farm with Rune and shares a room with him. Talva (first appeared page 67) - Talva is one of the common soldiers under Jaih, like Daian. While in the same platoon, Talva was among those deported to Iredea, while Daian was (supposed to be) reshuffled into another platoon. The Mother (first appeared page 78) - The Mother is not, in actual fact, anyone's mother. She is a respected leader among the foxes and also something along the lines of their shaman. While foxes are not pack animals by all rights, they congregated in this case around the Gift they'd been searching for. While the Mother is not actually blood kin to Re', she took the time to cultivate a close bond with him due to his being the only other known bearer of a catalyst. He actually does consider her somewhat akin to a mother in many ways. The Rat (appeared page 119) - No one will eat him, so his sad death was in vain. A moment of silence, please. The Bandits (appeared page 153) - They all die (well, a few of them do anyhow.) Another moment of silence. The Bandits haunt (live in) the forests at the bottom of the Iredean mountains (where Rune and Kai' are from). They're there because their Lord is currently at odds with one of his neighbours, and it seemed smart to leave before they got pressed into service as soldiers. They are, in general, ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-tempered, and hungry; but they aren't dumb enough to fight a lost cause. The Lord (appeared page 171) - Lord Raidan is a paranoid jerk, but he's a smart paranoid jerk. He doesn't much like his neighbouring Lord, whom he is currently at war with; he doesn't much care for Alcarin (with some justification); he doesn't much care for random peasants showing up at his doorstep, either. In fact, he doesn't much care for anyone. Librarian (appeared page 182) - The old man has worked in Lord Raidan's castle, for a long, long time. He is slightly near-sighted, excessively sharp of hearing, and not nearly as feeble as he would have everyone else believe. Captain (appeared page 213) - Captain is the captain of the Falcon, a merchant ship going between the Iredean continent and the nearest port in Oslin. He and his crew, however are from further southwest, from the country of Andu (below Peldinn), whose inhabitants are mostly dark skinned and specialize in the shipping trade.