Dunes of Midnight characters

Appears from the start

The feared ruler of a prosperous desert city, which she controls through constructs, constant observation, and severe punishment. She leaves for a Trinic gathering after arranging for her servants to preserve the regime in her absence.

Appears from the start

A frightened but loyal administrator left responsible for the regime while the mistress travels. Her jeweled third eye grants unusual insight, and she receives a gem that may summon the mistress only if the city faces a genuine continuing threat.

Appears from the start

The elder sister of the mistress's acting administrator, summoned to coordinate with the Imperial Guard while the ruler is away.

Appears from the start

The youngest of three sisters helping oversee the city during the mistress's absence. She is an exceptional fighter who secretly wagers with guards, and her private doubts about the regime make her loyalty less certain than it appears.

Also known as Beastborn, Bright King, Founder

First appears in chapter 2

Brightsong's missing leader and one of the fighters who cleared the Tower of Blight. He and his companions have vanished after the tower's final floor, leaving the settlement to face the gathered Shiverglades tribes without him.

Also known as Dark Knight

First appears in chapter 2

Hal's partner and a defender of Brightsong. She is among the tower-clearing companions reported missing with him when the Shiverglades tribes arrive, depriving the settlement of one of its trusted fighters.

First appears in chapter 2

A fighter in Hal's tower-clearing party and one of Brightsong's missing defenders.

First appears in chapter 2

A dependable frontline fighter who is missing with Hal's tower-clearing party, leaving Brightsong without one of its defenders.

First appears in chapter 2

A ranger and familiar handler reported missing with Hal's tower-clearing group.

First appears in chapter 2

Hal's familiar and another missing member of the tower party.

Also known as Former Kinslayer

First appears in chapter 2

A Beastborn fighter defending Brightsong after Hal disappears. Though she no longer has her Keros, she accepts a disguise as Hal and must represent his power before twelve tribes whose forces greatly outnumber the settlement.

First appears in chapter 2

A restored dwarven warrior reported missing with Hal's tower party.

First appears in chapter 2

Hal's small ferret-like soul-aider, left in Brightsong when Hal vanishes and deeply distressed by their separation.

First appears in chapter 3

The restored dwarf is the rightful Steelheart successor and an exiled king. His people lost the Anvil when Rinbast helped a usurper seize power.

First appears in chapter 3

A skilled brewer stranded with Hal's party. She supplies restorative drinks and owns an inter-shard television that can briefly show distant places and connect her with her daughter on another shard.

First appears in chapter 7

Besal is separated from Hal but feels closer than before. Hal can sense Besal nearby, and Noth believes Besal is alive.

Also known as Public bard

First appears in chapter 10

A master-level Guild operative who hides his lethal work behind a bard-like public identity. He recruits three junior assassins as a team, targets Councilman Dantra, and plans a wider attack on Merkmire's ruling council.

First appears in chapter 10

A member of Merkmire's council marked for death by the three junior assassins. The result of their assignment is not established.

First appears in chapter 10

Three surviving junior assassins taken into the tiefling assassin's service. They must work as a single team and are assigned to kill Councilman Dantra before dawn, but the result is not established.

First appears in chapter 12

Vorax is an arcana mimic whom Hal befriended after finding it in Merkmire.

First appears in chapter 13

Elora's small companion can use a speed-enhancing bamboozle ability, although exhaustion prevents its use when the party needs to pass a Fathomways construct.

First appears in chapter 14

Besal began as Hal's instinctive watcher and now exists as an independent inner counterpart.

First appears in chapter 15

Ashera's distant soul-aider can encourage her through their bond and lend strength and mana while she is under pressure.

First appears in chapter 20

A horned deputy at the failing local Adventurers Guild. She verifies Hal's credentials, exploits the city's restriction on female guild leaders to install him through a one-entry lottery, and offers one day of help explaining the branch's crisis.

First appears in chapter 20

The charged former head of the desert city's Adventurers Guild. He might resume leadership if Hal clears the charges against him and persuades him to return.

First appears in chapter 21

Brightsong's innkeeper is Ashera's soul-aider. During her absence, he repeatedly prepares preserved meals for her and misses their bond.

Also known as White dragon

First appears in chapter 21

A dragon allied with Brightsong and known to the tribes as Glacia. She uses fear and public submission to reinforce Val's false-Hal authority, then offers to carry two soul-aiders north in pursuit of Ashera's missing soul fragment.

First appears in chapter 22

A living guardian concealed under the Silent Guardian identity. Binding magic left by a deceased archmage is fading.

Also known as Besal's trainer

First appears in chapter 27

The leader and trainer of Besal's five-person covert group. The handler prepares Besal for the Golden Tournament while directing a separate plan involving an ancient vampire, an ancient lich, and a young oracle.

First appears in chapter 27

A young oracle traveling as a member of Besal's five-person group under its drow trainer.

First appears in chapter 27

An ancient vampire serving in the same five-person covert group as Besal. The group operates under a drow trainer while pursuing entry to the Golden Tournament and an undisclosed parallel objective.

First appears in chapter 27

An ancient lich in Besal's five-person covert group, which is led by a drow trainer while Besal competes in qualifying bouts for the Golden Tournament.

First appears in chapter 28

A captive scorpion that identifies itself as a prince. Hal releases it to pursue a monster quest despite knowing its venom can make water nearly lethal.

First appears in chapter 32

The former guild deputy is a harple who remains with the Adventurers Guild and is emotionally attached to its imprisoned former leader.

First appears in chapter 32

A powerful mercantile house's telepathic representative who knows the harple informant's concealed identity and past. The representative offers patronage and seeks her aid in exploiting the mistress's absence through renewed city-wide bloodshed.

First appears in chapter 34

An intelligence-gatherer who gives Hal an encoded message that changes with place and time, along with detailed information about local guild outposts.

Also known as Athlan, Samir bearer

First appears in chapter 40

The mistress's city oracle, charged with preserving order during the ruler's absence. Her Samir foresight has developed blind spots around the disturbance caused by Hal's guild, and she fears the anomaly may signal rebellion.

First appears in chapter 43

A local adventurer with Trickster, Hunter, and Gambler training who accepts a conditional place beside Hal's group. She warns that his campaign will provoke retaliation and asks him to approach the Lamplighters peacefully.

First appears in chapter 47

The elderly leader of the Lamplighters, whose runic keys open the city's dungeons. He explains that the Merchant's Guild controls their charter and access arrangements, though the Lamplighters may reclaim the charter at serious political cost.

First appears in chapter 52

A summoned concierge worker who handles guild duties for a day, offering cleaning, accounting, inventory work, administration, member assessment, and document processing.

First appears in chapter 57

The tavern proprietor is the tiefling assassin previously known publicly as a bard. He has resumed his Night Blade assassin advancement.

First appears in chapter 57

A former watch captain who secretly assists the tiefling assassin's campaign. The captain cooperates in an ambush, supports a false account of the target's escape, and helps control prisoners during interrogation.

First appears in chapter 61

The mayor of an oasis settlement whose dark-steel mine is threatened by monsters. The mayor agrees to make the Adventurers Guild a preferred client if Hal restores the mine's safety and handles later local monster threats.

First appears in chapter 66

A great-house scion who leads the Merchant Guild force surrounding Hal's group. The harple informant disables his protective garment, allowing Hal to kill him with Anvil Lightning.