12 Miles Below II: A House Reborn characters

Also known as Keith

Appears from the start

The wearer of Journey and a leading member of House Winterscar. Keith shares a secured warning with his sister Kidra and follows its clues toward a seeker, Mites, and a weapon that Relinquished concealed but could not destroy.

Appears from the start

Keith's sister and trusted confidante, closely involved in the risks surrounding his discoveries. Kidra accepts the danger of hearing his secured message because she believes her earlier involvement has already made her a target.

Also known as Keith's armor

Appears from the start

Keith's Relic armor and protected archive, worn as he follows the recording's lead. Its connection to a recovered seeker makes it part of the trail he is following, though its safeguards limit what it will reveal even to him.

Appears from the start

An ancient machine power opposed by the unidentified sender of Keith's recording. The warning places Relinquished at the center of the conflict surrounding the seeker, Mites, and a weapon that was hidden but could not be destroyed.

Also known as guide, sender of Keith's recording

Appears from the start

An unidentified digital investigator who sends Keith a secured message. The sender claims a long struggle against Relinquished and directs attention to a seeker, Mites, and an old weapon that the machine power concealed but failed to destroy.

Also known as Lord Atius

First appears in chapter 2

A Deathless clan lord who accompanies Keith and Kidra to a concealed Indagata Mortis archive. After its occult contents are uncovered, Atius orders Keith to investigate them and report directly to him.

First appears in chapter 2

A pilot who continues to treat Keith with easy familiarity even after his new standing as a Relic Knight makes ordinary scavengers deferential.

First appears in chapter 3

The father of Keith and Kidra, held as a captive soul by a machine commander serving Relinquished. His memories give his captor the knowledge needed to locate House Winterscar.

First appears in chapter 3

A machine champion serving under Relinquished and subject to its coercive discipline. After an earlier failure, To’Aacar is ordered to capture Keith, destroy the black box he carries, and pursue an operation against Keith's clan.

Also known as Feather, machine commander

First appears in chapter 3

A Feather placed in command of a machine army bound for Undecider City. New to warfare, she begins asking the machines under her command about fear and desire while using Tenisent's captive soul for information.

Also known as captured pirate captain

First appears in chapter 5

The commander of a pirate force captured by Atius. The captain warns that raiders and slavers are preparing to attack the clan, then promises substantial pirate support in return for the eventual restoration of three seized relic armors.

Also known as Anka

First appears in chapter 5

A House Shadowsong candidate who receives one of the relic armors taken from captured pirates. She is one of three new armor recipients whose equipment remains tied to Atius's bargain with the pirate force.

First appears in chapter 5

A Shadowsong retainer who receives captured pirate relic armor alongside Anka Shadowsong. Locke is a distinct member of the newly equipped group, and the armor remains a conditional asset tied to preparations for an approaching attack.

First appears in chapter 5

An unnamed Shadowsong retainer who receives the third relic armor taken from the captured pirates. The armor is to be returned after the coming battle under Atius's agreement with the pirate captain.

First appears in chapter 6

A mechanically altered woman who advises the Feather on Undecider City. An implanted unity fractal leaves her subject to Relinquished's control, and she proposes breaking the city through blockade, deprivation, and conversion.

First appears in chapter 6

An experienced runner who advises the Feather's command group. The runner challenges the belief that Undecider City will surrender without inflicting serious losses on the besieging machines.

Also known as Winterscar, House Winterscar armor

First appears in chapter 7

The inherited relic armor worn by Kidra and associated with House Winterscar. Its return establishes her publicly as a Relic Knight alongside Keith, giving the restored house two armored members when the siblings arrive home.

First appears in chapter 7

A senior reacher in Clan Altosk's hangar with a longstanding personal connection to Keith and Kidra. Anarii recognizes Keith after initially mistaking the armored arrival for a visiting crusader and witnesses the siblings' changed standing.

Appears from the start

The figure associated with an orbital fortress whose discharge restores the expedition's depleted power cells during its onward journey.

Also known as former wearer

First appears in chapter 11

A former wearer of Journey seen in historical records as an elite Indagata Mortis crusader of the Solaris Imperium. Her recorded service links her to an order preparing humanity for a war against machines.

Also known as Shadowsong

First appears in chapter 21

A senior Shadowsong knight who distrusts House Winterscar's account of Kidra's new combat ability and questions whether the claim can be trusted.

Also known as priest

First appears in chapter 27

A religious leader who arrives with machine-aligned Undersider refugees and twenty-three Chosen knights. He says the Chosen can move through the underground without being attacked by machines.

Also known as priest's deputy

First appears in chapter 31

The Chosen priest's logistics and administrative deputy, with responsibilities distinct from the group's religious leadership. The captain objects when the priest commits every Chosen knight to a dangerous mission against the raiders' staging grounds.

Also known as house captain

First appears in chapter 21

The guard captain of House Winterscar, supporting Keith as he administers the house while Kidra is away on a diplomatic mission.

First appears in chapter 37

A longtime friend from Keith's earlier social circle who has learned to navigate the colony's status-conscious society. She reconnects with him at a dance, where his new rank, obligations, and constant danger expose the strain in their old relationship.

First appears in chapter 42

The commander of the slaver knights attacking House Winterscar. The leader survives the defenders' counterattack and escapes the estate.