Logen Ninefingers
A feared Northman who wants to believe he can change. His return, victory and brief kingship reveal how often he chooses the identity he claims was forced upon him.
Sand dan Glokta
An Inquisitor whose investigation exposes the true structure of Union power. He defeats Sult only to inherit Sult’s dependence on Bayaz.
Jezal dan Luthar
A former officer elevated to the throne by a fabricated lineage. His improved conscience makes his political helplessness more painful.
Bayaz
First of the Magi, architect of Jezal’s kingship and owner of Valint & Balk. He treats nations as property and history as a story that can be purchased.
Ferro Maljinn
A former slave whose devil-blood allows her to carry the Seed. Contact with it gives her terrible power and intensifies the voices calling from the Other Side.
Collem West
The Union’s most capable field commander. He saves armies and Adua, then dies slowly from the consequences of Bayaz’s weapon.
The Dogman
Scout, friend and reluctant chief. He survives the North’s heroic age and becomes responsible for people who need something better than another legend.
Black Dow
One of Logen’s oldest companions and sharpest critics. His final betrayal is both opportunistic and rooted in truths about Logen that others avoid.
Ardee West
Jezal’s former lover and West’s sister. Pregnant and abandoned, she accepts Glokta’s proposal as a hard, lucid bargain for safety.
Fenris the Feared
Bethod’s champion, made nearly invulnerable by Caurib’s magic. His defeat requires Dogman, Dow and Grim’s hidden work as much as Logen’s strength.
Bethod
King of the North and Logen’s former chief. His last conversation recasts their shared past without absolving either man.
Tolomei
Kanedias’s daughter, disguised as Quai. Her accusations expose the possibility that Bayaz’s official history is as manufactured as Jezal’s ancestry.