Voidbound characters

Appears from the start

A Refined defender of Alefast whose command of iron and void is joined to broad magical perception. Her new soulbond with Kit lets her control the sanctum's openings and transfer surplus power into it.

Also known as Tala's inner collaborator, alternate interface

Appears from the start

A distinct collaborator who shares Tala's body and assists her thinking and research. Their unusual partnership predates the events of this volume and gives Tala another perspective within their shared existence.

Also known as sanctum

Appears from the start

Tala's living dimensional refuge and newly soulbound companion. The bond has advanced Kit to Refined power, repaired its damaged magic, and given it the ability to accept Tala's excess power while its travel systems are improved.

Appears from the start

Tala's kinetic-mage friend and a former apprentice of Grediv. He trains with Tala and Cazor, developing tactics and equipment intended to overcome the advantages of iron magic while maintaining his place in Tala's close circle.

Appears from the start

Tala's flicker-teleporting flockmate and trusted combat partner. His ability to pass through even a minute opening into Kit makes him well suited to testing the sanctum's newly controlled entrances and their practical limits.

Also known as Master Grediv

Appears from the start

An Alefast Paragon who leads defenders, watches over Rain, and oversees the training around Tala. He is an established authority within the circle handling Alefast's external threats and the development of its defenders.

Appears from the start

An iron specialist who spars with Tala and Rain and provides a practical test for Rain's experimental counters to iron magic, including tactics built around magical monopoles.

Also known as Mistress Elnia

Appears from the start

Banfast's City Stone holder, head of its Archon Council, and a Paragon specializing in soulbonds involving dimensional storage. She evaluates Kit's new bond and begins work on reliable teleportation access.

Also known as Master Lisa

First appears in chapter 3

A fox-like arcane exile who deals in artifacts and arcane goods while concealed by a human illusion. He holds credit owed to Tala through Ingrit and takes a commercial interest in Kit's unusual nature.

Also known as Mistress Odara

First appears in chapter 4

Tala's dying mentor, whose condition is failing as she resists the formation of an Archon star.

Also known as Master Simon

Appears from the start

A constructionist and one of Kit's resident co-operators. He works with Elnia's staff to establish incoming and outgoing teleportation for the newly soulbound sanctum while helping assess how its expanded capabilities should be used.

Also known as Mistress Petra

Appears from the start

A member of Kit's established household who lives and works there alongside Simon. Her cooperation in maintaining the unusual dimensional home predates this volume and makes her one of its continuing resident partners.

First appears in chapter 5

A gateless researcher who studies artifacts and magical harvests with his family. He is Brandon's father, and neither man can use the gate-based magic available to most humans. His wife directs their family business.

First appears in chapter 5

Adrill's gateless son, who has inherited his father's inability to use human gate magic.

First appears in chapter 8

Adrill's wife and a gated artifact worker whose family has been disrupted by Adrill's accidental magical change. She asks Tala for a path to enough advancement to preserve a shared future with him instead of accepting a new difference in their lifespans.

First appears in chapter 10

Simon and Petra's elder daughter, an academy graduate with healing talent who plans to seek a healer's apprenticeship.

First appears in chapter 15

Brandon's mother, who assists Kedva immediately after her magical transformation.

First appears in chapter 15

Simon and Petra's elder daughter, who knew Tala at the academy and is now training as a healer under Mistress Vanga. She has obtained healing inscriptions.

First appears in chapter 6

Brandon's partner, whom he hopes might be able to share the life-extending change forced upon him. Her connection to him makes the consequences of his transformation immediately personal and raises the question of whether she could safely follow him.

Also known as Master Nadro

First appears in chapter 16

A visitor who arrives to advise Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva about their magical condition.

Also known as Master Gert

First appears in chapter 12

A stone mage in Tala's defender unit and a widower still processing his wife's death. Tala seeks his counsel while grieving her own recent loss, recognizing that his experience may offer a healthier way to carry enduring grief.

First appears in chapter 20

A censured member of the House of Blood who grieves its last heir. After carrying out an unauthorized purge of the House's opponents, she broadcasts a private mourning song strengthened by magic across Platoirie on the anniversary of the heir's death.

First appears in chapter 20

A dwarf who leads a growing underground settlement open to varied inhabitants. He alone can wield the concept sword Tala gave him, and expeditions to ruins have obtained durable magical power sources for his community.

First appears in chapter 20

The keeper of several mushroom-linked creatures, including Kevin. She investigates the forced Doskanok bond associated with Tala but decides that reproducing it would require conditions too dangerous and uncertain to attempt.

Appears from the start

Tala's soulbound weapon, able to change its physical form. Flo is an established part of her equipment and a participant in her combat partnership, combining a personal bond with the practical flexibility of a morphic weapon.

Also known as Master Tai

First appears in chapter 25

A void-and-kinetic mage hunter who restrains Kedva after mistaking her for an arcane. Once her registration is verified, he apologizes, recommends certified identification for her, and agrees to discuss void magic with Tala.

Also known as Mistress Ingrit

Appears from the start

Tala's established information-broker liaison. She manages information and credit connected to Tala, providing an ongoing point of contact for arrangements that depend on knowledge, negotiation, and obligations carried between interested parties.

Also known as Master Jevin

First appears in chapter 23

The principal modern maker of containment-cell cores. His design anchors cells from the Doman Emeth and derives from older cores first made by the people who later became the Leshkin, placing his work behind current containment practice.

First appears in chapter 42

Tala's younger sister. She turns down magical advancement and academy enrollment in favor of an ordinary life.

Also known as Master Ori

First appears in chapter 42

An Archon who shares responsibility for the Jasmine Dragon tea shop with his nephew Okus. As Iazo's elder brother, he encourages Okus to avoid his father's damaging pursuit of power. He tells Rain that stopping refinement is a valid choice that can later be reconsidered.

Also known as Master Iazo

First appears in chapter 42

The deceased fire mage who became a fount. He was Ori's younger brother and Okus's father, and he died holding a photograph of his family.

First appears in chapter 44

An ancient reality mage confined in a deteriorating containment cell. Her gate suppresses magic and void, and she has erased her original name from ordinary reality records.

First appears in chapter 44

An exceptionally powerful reforged mage assigned as backup for the mission against the reality prisoner. He prepares tailored natural magic but expects the less advanced defenders to solve whatever lies within their abilities.

First appears in chapter 50

The giant-wolf pack's young Refined combatant, chosen to test Tala under formal rules. It faces Tala and Terry in a duel where ordinary inscriptions are disabled and the outcome must be surrender or death.