Magician: Master characters

Appears from the start

Once an orphan boy of Crydee and a magician's apprentice who could not make his master's magic work, now four years a slave in a Tsurani labour camp in the swamps of Kelewan. He has learned the language and something of the Empire that holds him, keeps his head down, and has largely given up expecting to see his own world again. He is still the same stubborn, observant boy underneath, and still carries a talent nobody, himself included, has been able to explain.

Appears from the start

A travelling singer from Tyr-Sog in the Kingdom's north, captured by the Tsurani and sent to the swamp camp. Glib, adaptable and endlessly talkative, he has an ear for languages and an ambition to be a great minstrel that survives even slavery. He attaches himself to Pug, and the two keep each other alive.

First appears in chapter 2

A slave on the Shinzawai estate, taken as a girl when the Empire subdued the Thuril highlands. Proud, sharp-tempered and unbroken by her position, she works in the household and makes no secret of what she thinks of the people who own her. She and Pug find an understanding.

First appears in chapter 2

Lord of the Shinzawai, head of one of the Empire's great houses and a careful player of the Game of the Council, the endless contest of position among Tsurani nobles. He has fought in the war on the barbarian world and has come to conclusions about it that he cannot state openly.

First appears in chapter 2

Elder son of the Lord of the Shinzawai and an officer of the Empire's forces in the war beyond the rift. Disciplined and formal in the Tsurani manner, he is set to learn the Kingdom's language from his father's newly bought slaves, for a purpose the household will not discuss.

First appears in chapter 2

Younger son of the Lord of the Shinzawai, quieter and more thoughtful than his brother, and more willing to deal with a slave as a person. He is being raised to the same duties and the same discretion as the rest of the household.

First appears in chapter 3

The boy from Crydee's kitchens who was given a suit of ancient white and gold armour beneath the Grey Towers. He now fights alongside the elves of Elvandar and is more than a match for anything the Tsurani send against him, but the armour has brought with it the memories, the power and the temper of Ashen-Shugar, one of the Valheru who ruled Midkemia before men existed. Less of Tomas is left with every battle, and the elves are divided over whether he is their protector or their next disaster.

First appears in chapter 3

Queen of the elves of Elvandar, ruler of the forest and its spellweavers. She is drawn to the transformed human warrior who has come to her forest and afraid of him at the same time, and she must weigh her council's demand that he be destroyed against what his strength is worth to her people in a war they cannot win alone.

First appears in chapter 6

The Duke of Crydee's younger son, dark and dry-humoured, left holding the Far Coast while his father and brother fight in the east. With Crydee starved of reinforcements he takes ship for Krondor to argue the west's case in person, and finds the city very different from the one his family remembers.

First appears in chapter 6

A boy thief of Krondor, a member of the Mockers, the city's thieves' guild, and by his own account the best of them. Cocky, fast, and far better informed about Krondor than anyone in the palace, he attaches himself to a visiting nobleman out of curiosity and calculation, and turns out to be worth a great deal more than his years suggest.

First appears in chapter 6

Daughter of the ailing Prince of Krondor and heir to the Western Realm, a young woman kept close by the man now governing the city in the King's name. Slight, quiet and a good deal tougher than she looks, she has been waiting for a chance to get out.

First appears in chapter 6

Duke of Bas-Tyra, the most powerful lord of the Eastern Realm and the King's Viceroy in Krondor, where he rules in fact if not in name. Able, ruthless and entirely without sentiment, he is the conDoin family's long-standing rival and treats the west's demands for troops as a nuisance.

First appears in chapter 7

A weather-beaten sea captain and former pirate working the Krondor waterfront, loud, profane in the way of sailors, and superbly competent with a ship. He has reasons of his own for wanting to be out of the city and throws in with the Prince's party.

First appears in chapter 6

The Duke of Crydee's daughter, left at home while her family fights the war. Still headstrong, she has grown out of the girl she was, has mourned the apprentice believed killed at Crydee, and is looking for something to do beyond waiting on other people's news.

First appears in chapter 8

A Great One of the Tsurani Assembly of Magicians: stout, comfortable, fond of his food and a great deal shrewder than he lets himself appear. The Great Ones stand outside Tsuranuanni's law and above its lords, and he has spent a long career understanding exactly what that is worth. He takes an interest in the Assembly's most unusual new member.

First appears in chapter 9

A sorcerer of great age and unclear allegiance who keeps an island the Kingdom's sailors will not approach. He appears where events are turning, gives advice without explaining his reasons, and appears to know a great deal more about the war and its causes than anyone else alive.