Scavengers characters

Also known as Myth

Appears from the start

The book's viewpoint character, a reserved crafter-appraiser returning for his second month at Quest Academy after an unlikely tournament victory. His silver eyes let him appraise any object in exact detail, and his rare fused ability, Mythcrafter, lets him build extraordinary gear by drawing on powers he has personally copied. Guarded and self-doubting, he still dreads real combat despite ranking third in his year.

Appears from the start

A decorated combat controller and visiting lecturer from the Hunter Bureau, abrasive and perpetually exhausted after a punishing tower expedition. His "concept" ability lets him study a piece of equipment and conjure a temporary glowing duplicate of it. Openly contemptuous of support classes, he arrives pushing for sweeping changes to the Academy's soft, casualty-prone training.

Appears from the start

Sal's crafting mentor and the workshop's lead lecturer, known by her hero alias. Her ability turns her gear into a suit of powered mechanical armor. Warm but exacting, she quietly fought in the field during the recent crisis and bristles at supports being dismissed as weak. She guides Sal's projects while trying to shield him from the resentment his talent attracts.

First appears in chapter 4

A low-ranked illusionist and one of Sal's closest friends, sharp-tongued and endlessly inventive. His illusions can form convincing decoys, soundproof bubbles, and full invisibility, making him a natural at reconnaissance and deception. He needles Sal constantly while pushing him to arm himself and stop hiding in the workshop.

First appears in chapter 5

The headmaster of Quest Academy, who goes by a chosen name. His "system" ability reads and quantifies people's essence and maintains a vast searchable log of the Academy's activity. A merit-focused mentor with a personal interest in Sal, he resists the visiting lecturer's harshest reforms while conceding the students are underprepared for real combat.

First appears in chapter 9

A credit-floor broker and Sal's fiercest advocate, quietly building toward founding a guild with him one day. Her rare body-manipulation ability lets her force a person's essence gates open far faster than natural growth allows. Scarred by past mistreatment at a predatory guild, she is protective, transactional, and unafraid to push Sal past his limits.

First appears in chapter 12

A foresight-gifted cadet and Sal's closest confidant, whose eyes turn white when she glimpses possible futures. Candid, quick-witted, and fiercely loyal, she often quietly foresees trouble before it reaches Sal, and is the first person he trusts with what is really going on in his life.

First appears in chapter 16

A first-year on Sal's tournament squad, an appraiser by specialty with unrealized ambitions in automation and "essence programming." On learning Sal is the secret crafter Myth, he reacts with delight and floods him with ideas, most memorably a tracker built to intercept old pre-essence radio broadcasts from the world beyond the barriers.

First appears in chapter 15

A third-year Savior with an essence-nullifying ability, decisive and protective toward the first-years. She personally restrains a second-year who attacks students in the canteen, and is quietly significant to Sal for another reason: she is one of the very few people outside his circle who already knows he is the crafter Myth, a secret she has so far chosen to keep.

First appears in chapter 41

A defense-class cadet and Sal's dorm neighbor, in a casual, undefined relationship with him. As Sal rises in rank and disappears into his work, she grows suspicious and hurt, believing he now favors powerful, high-ranked people over her. Their relationship ends in a bitter confrontation in which she calls his copied ability "cheating."

First appears in chapter 42

A second-year controller secretly working for Bastion, a wealthy faction seeking to seed loyal heroes throughout the Academy. His "influence" ability plants small, believable lies that compound into large false beliefs; he used it to manipulate the headmaster himself over many months, steering trust and suspicion to serve his handlers. He is exposed after targeting Sal's friends.

First appears in chapter 44

Reputed to be the world's foremost telepath, a senior guardian and Doom Society member, and Erika Clifton's father. Called in when a manipulator is uncovered, he reads the culprit's mind to expose a coordinated infiltration of the Academy and warns that whole classes of students may be compromised. Formidable, but reluctant to casually invade others' minds.

First appears in chapter 53

A first-year healer, poor and ostracized after an earlier attempt to charge for healing left her branded a "vampire." Her Transference ability drains essence from one target to mend another. Initially prickly toward Sal, she warms quickly into a genuine friend and ally, offering to properly heal him and revealing a sharp, self-taught grasp of essence theory.

First appears in chapter 53

Nero's daughter and one of the Academy's highest-ranked cadets, a mind-control specialist whose power lets her compel others and read surface thoughts. Cold, domineering, and used to treating people as tools, she recruits Sal onto her excursion team through a mix of pressure and manipulation, insisting the others simply trust her judgment. Her open hostility toward Sal and Divinity is unexplained.

First appears in chapter 56

A first-year crafting classmate and one of the few who stays friendly to Sal as resentment builds around him. A skilled tailor with a sharp, practical eye, she immediately spots the functional flaws in his armor designs and improves them. Modest to a fault about her own talent, she becomes a genuine collaborator on gear meant to keep overlooked students safe.

First appears in chapter 60

An offense-class member of Sal's excursion team, all theatrical, self-deprecating charm on the surface. He plays the fool but is quietly top of every academic subject and unusually experienced in the field. Sal recognizes him on sight as a once-famous child hero, the "unbeatable super-rookie" who vanished from public life years earlier, and suspects that Brophy is not his real name.

First appears in chapter 61

The defense-class member of Sal's excursion team, a hulking, intimidating figure with a soft-spoken, good-natured manner. Quiet where his teammates are loud, loyal and unassuming, he is one of the steadier members of a fractious team.

First appears in chapter 61

A top-ranked hero of the Hunter Bureau, assigned as the guardian overseeing Sal's team during the reclaimed-zone excursion, and revealed to be Brophy's mother. Poised, exacting, and immensely powerful, she radiates an almost paralyzing aura and runs the excursion as a strict graded trial. She recognizes at a glance that Sal is far more than the simple appraiser he claims to be.