Gideon Nav
Orphaned ward of the Ninth House and reluctant cavalier. Her humor, sword skill, anger, and capacity for devotion form the novel's point of view.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Reverend Daughter and necromantic heir of the Ninth. She is a bone adept created through the sacrificed energy of two hundred children and is obsessed with protecting the Locked Tomb.
Palamedes Sextus
Heir of the Sixth House, a brilliant psychometric necromancer and investigator. His intelligence is matched by unusual ethical seriousness.
Camilla Hect
Palamedes's cavalier, exceptionally disciplined and dangerous with paired blades. She and Palamedes possess the healthiest partnership among the competitors.
Dulcinea Septimus / Cytherea the First
The apparent sickly heir of the Seventh is actually an ancient Lyctor in disguise. She conducts the murders to prevent the Emperor from creating replacements.
Ianthe Tridentarius
Flesh magician of the Third House. She solves the Lyctoral theorem and deliberately consumes Naberius to gain immortality.
Coronabeth Tridentarius
Ianthe's charismatic twin, presented as a necromancer although she has no necromantic ability.
Naberius Tern
Cavalier to the Third House twins. His cultivated skill and vanity do not protect him from being treated as Ianthe's resource.
Magnus Quinn and Abigail Pent
The warm-hearted Fifth House pair. Abigail's spiritual expertise brings her close to the secret beneath Canaan House before both are murdered.
Isaac Tettares and Jeannemary Chatur
The adolescent Fourth House pair. Their deaths expose the human cost of sending children into an imperial succession trial.
Silas Octakiseron and Colum Asht
Eighth House necromancer and cavalier. Silas's soul-siphoning discipline treats Colum as a conduit and leaves him vulnerable to possession.
Judith Deuteros and Marta Dyas
Second House pair devoted to Cohort law and military authority. Their demand for formal procedure repeatedly clashes with Teacher's rules.
Teacher
Cheerful First House priest who is secretly a composite of many souls connected to the original experiments.
The Emperor Undying
Necromancer Divine and ruler of the Nine Houses. He offers Lyctorhood as sacred service while concealing its origin and cost.
Aiglamene
The Ninth House's elderly swordmaster. Her training prepares Gideon for Canaan House and her reluctant care gives Gideon one of her few stable adult relationships.
Spoiler Warning
The summaries below reveal all murders, the secret of Harrow's birth, the Lyctoral process, Gideon's death, and the epilogue. The standard edition contains 37 numbered chapters in five acts, followed by an epilogue.