Darkdawn. Jay Kristoff
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was pushed off the side of the Quiet Mountain.
Tric has apparently returned to life, albeit in a darker, magikal form. He accosted Mia in the necropolis of Galante and gave her several cryptic warnings without revealing his identity. He later rescued Ashlinn from Red Church assailants.
How he returned from the realm of the Black Mother or why he saved the girl who murdered him is anyone’s guess.
Old Mercurio—Mia’s confidant and mentor before she joined the Red Church. Mercurio was a Church Blade himself for many years and was serving as bishop of Godsgrave. Despite being a terminally grumpy old prick, he assisted Mia with her plot to kill Duomo and Scaeva, fully aware his actions would incur the Ministry’s wrath.
During the finale of the grand games, he was captured by the Church and taken back to the Quiet Mountain by order of …
Julius Scaeva—thrice-elected consul of the Itreyan Republic, known as the “People’s Senator.” The position of consul is usually shared, but Scaeva has maintained sole leadership of the Senate since the Kingmaker Rebellion eight years ago.
Using the rebellion as an excuse to extend his tenure, Scaeva has been working with the Red Church with the goal of claiming the title of imperator and perpetual emergency powers over the Republic. He presided over the execution of Mia’s father, sentenced his lover, Mia’s mother, to die in the Philosopher’s Stone, stole Mia’s baby brother, and ordered Mia drowned in a canal, despite knowing she was his daughter.
The word “cunt” doesn’t really seem to do him justice.
But speaking of …
Drusilla—Lady of Blades in the Red Church and, despite her apparent age, one of the deadliest assassins in the Republic. Though she claims devotion to the Black Mother, Niah, Drusilla has been working in league with Consul Scaeva to ensure his ambition of seizing control of the Itreyan Republic.
The Lady of Blades has disliked Mia ever since the girl failed her trials as a Red Church acolyte. Presumably Mia’s recent betrayals have not elevated her in Drusilla’s opinions.
Solis—Revered Father and Shahiid of Songs, master in the art of steel, and surliest man alive. He is apparently blind, though he displays little impediment when wielding a sword. Solis was once a prisoner in the Philosopher’s Stone and was the only survivor of a bloody cull known as “the Descent,” in which the prisoners were encouraged to murder each other en masse in exchange for freedom. Solis’s victory earned him his name, which in the tongue of Old Ashkah means “the Last One.”
Mia cut his face during their first sparring session in the Quiet Mountain. He cut off her arm in retaliation. Solis chose to keep the scar, along with his grudge for the girl who bested him.
Spiderkiller—Shahiid of the Hall of Truth and mistress of poisons. Mia was one of Spiderkiller’s most promising acolytes, but the Shahiid’s fondness for the girl had all but disappeared—even before Mia chose to betray the Church’s teachings.
If she ever offers you a glass of goldwine, I’d advise you to refuse.
Mouser—master of thievery and Shahiid of Pockets. A charming fellow with a young man’s face, an old man’s eyes, and a penchant for wearing ladies’ underthings.
The Mouser had no enmity toward Mia before her betrayal, though presumably she’s been struck off his Great Tithe gift list thanks to her recent fuckarsery.
Aalea—mistress of secrets and Shahiid of Masks. Seductive and beautiful, Aalea’s tally of murders is seconded only by the notches on her bedpost.
She was actually quite fond of Mia before the girl’s betrayal, but no member of the Church Ministry attained their position by being sentimental.
Marielle—one of two albino sorcerii who serve the Red Church. Marielle is a master of Flesh Weaving, a form of ancient magik practiced in the fallen Empire of Ashkah. She can sculpt skin and muscle as easily as clay, but the toll she pays for her power is terrible—her own flesh is hideously deformed, and she has no power to alter it.
In keeping with her unsettling appearance, Marielle also seems overly fond of her brother, Adonai.
Adonai—the second sorcerii who serves the Quiet Mountain. Adonai is a blood speaker who works with human vitus—he can pass messages in blood, manipulate it with but a thought, and transport people and once-living objects through the blood pools in Red Church chapels. Thanks to Marielle’s arts, he is handsome beyond compare.
He murdered Ashlinn’s brother, Osrik, during the Luminatii assault on the Mountain, and he owes a debt to Mia for saving his life, yet to be called in.
“Blood is owed thee, little Crow. And blood shall be repaid.”
Aelius—chronicler of the Quiet Mountain. Aelius is master of the Red Church’s great Athenaeum—a vast and ever-growing library of books that were destroyed, lost to time, or never even written in the first place. He also wrangles the enormous carnivorous “bookworms” that roam the dark between the shelves, and his tasks are made ever more difficult by the fact that, like everything else in the Black Mother’s library, Aelius himself is dead.
Still, it’s a living …
Naev—a Hand of the Red Church who manages supply runs in the Whisperwastes of Ashkah. After some initial difficulties, she and Mia became friends and confidants.
Naev was disfigured by Weaver Marielle out of jealousy over an affair with her brother, Adonai. But after Mia foiled the assault on the Quiet Mountain, Marielle restored Naev’s beauty as a favor to her savior.
Naev keeps her face veiled, and her feelings beside.
Hush—an accomplished Blade of the Red Church. Apparently mute, Hush communicates through a form of sign language known as Tongueless.
Though he and Mia were acolytes together and he assisted her in her trials, he remains loyal to the Ministry. He attempted to capture Ashlinn at the Ministry’s behest, though the girl escaped with Tric’s help.
Francesco Duomo—Grand Cardinal of the Church of the Light and the most powerful member of the Everseeing’s ministry. Though apparently allied with Julius Scaeva, the cardinal and the consul were in fact bitter rivals. Along with Scaeva and Justicus Marcus Remus, Duomo passed sentence on the failed Kingmaker rebels, including Mia’s father, Darius.
It’s safe to say Mia took the cardinal’s actions personally—she trimmed his beard all the way to the bone in front of a hundred thousand screaming people.
Alinne Corvere—Mia’s mother, and a fearsome politician who almost succeeded in bringing down the Itreyan Republic. Her marriage to Justicus Darius turned out to be one of friendship and political expedience—she was, in fact, lover to Julius Scaeva and bore him two children: Mia and Jonnen.
Despite her relationship with Scaeva, the consul showed no compunction in casting her aside after her husband’s failed rebellion. Alinne was imprisoned in the Philosopher’s Stone, where she died in madness and misery.
Mia has only recently learned her mother was not the paragon she once believed.
Darius “the Kingmaker” Corvere—the man Mia called “Father.” Former justicus of the Luminatii Legion, Darius forged an alliance with his lover, General Gaius Maxinius Antonius, which would have seen Antonius crowned as king of Itreya.
However, with the assistance of the Red Church, both men were captured on the eve of battle, and Darius was hanged with his would-be king, Antonius, beside him.
To say Mia took his death badly would be something of an understatement.
Jonnen Corvere—Mia’s baby brother. Thought to be dead along with his mother, Mia has recently learned the boy was raised as Scaeva’s