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Protagonists
Tammy
Tamaura Bernice Rhodizia Adelaide Llyn, Princess of Aberwelle, Caretaker of the Seals, High Priestess of the Royal Order / "Tammy"
- Animal Motifs: Quails.
- Berserk Button: Tammy hates Academists for what they did to her family; and if the Academic history is true, she was the only royal member who supported them before, so she mostly blames herself for it. Never imply she's working with them.
- Black Eyes of Evil: While possessed by a spirit.
- Chocolate Baby: It's pretty conspicuous
that Tammy's the only member of her family to have red hair and she's a strong nexus of Orphic power in a line otherwise acknowledged to be dying out. No wonder there were mutters of "Bastards at Court" behind her back. It is even possible that the spirits took a direct hand in Tammy's birth, as her spirit guide says "this is what you were created for" instead of "this is what you were born to do" when Tammy expresses doubts about her role. - Compressed Hair: Despite its volume, Tammy's hair can be easily tamed and reduced to long braids whenever she needs to leave Torstenn manor. It's also apparently much lighter than it looks. Street lampshades the improbability of all this.
- Cute Witch: Just look at the picture.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her past is still shrouded in mystery, but her family was killed off by guards after a failed rescue attempt and only she and her sister survived. Even then, her mother had no choice but to enter into a contract with the spirits to save them and Aliana remains in a coma, only kept alive by the contract.
- Demonic Possession: Tammy is possessed by a spirit in Chapter 235.
- Doom Magnet: The more cautious Wayfarers are worried she'll bring the full might of the Academists down on them, either by acting as The Mole or just by being the missing Llyn princess. Her dark and troubled past and history of alleged cooperation with the Academists does not help her here. Even Harris associates giant magic explosions with Tammy. * Earthy Barefoot Character: At least until she gets into the city.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: As the official bio says: "Little has changed for Tammy, except the whole world around her".Tamaura: (tries to cross a road)Imogen: (stops her) Are you trying to get hit by a car?
Tamaura: What is a car?
Street: Should have let her cross. - Foil: She's one for fellow Princess/Priestess, Rajani. Tammy's family was overthrown, the spirits of Aberwelle are shady and in danger of extinction, she never finished her priestess training, and she has to be kept secluded for her own protection.
- Girly Girl: Draws a firm line against wearing pants, insisting that they are not ladylike.
- Green Thumb: Tammy's song brought Imogen's garden back to life. This is because she's a priestess and not fully sealed, while Imogen cannot use her magic and isn't a priestess. And then she made an entire tree appear out of nowhere.
- Heroic Bastard: Page 244 reveals she was born out of wedlock.
- Hidden Backup Princess: Tammy's place as the Red Headed Step Child and Aliana's insistence that Tammy stole her role as high priestess imply that Aliana thought she was the youngest daughter and thus destined to be priestess until Tammy showed up at court to replace her.
- Hime Cut: Has her bangs cut straight across by Street and Imogen to maker her hair less noticeable, and fits as she's a literal princess.
- Immortality: Tammy while in the Wickwold forest was basically immortal and not bothered by cold, aging, or sickness. Page 119 reveals that she also didn't need to eat, though she could eat the flowers if she wanted to.
- Immortal Immaturity: The spirits stopped her aging and thanks to the messed up time in blindsprings, she's still mentally and physically 12 years old.
- King Incognito: The last member of a lost royal bloodline, passing under the radar by (initially) dressing in rags and later as a commoner.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: While she's passive under normal circumstances, when her duty is clear she becomes much more proactive.
- Living Macguffin: Many people desire to have a hold on Tammy for her status as the lost Orphic Royal princess, no matter if she's able to use magic or not.
- Locked Away in a Monastery: What the Alt Text of this page describes her life prior to being brought to court to become priestess.
- Loophole Abuse: The thorns around Tammy's seal are a loophole provided by the spirits that allow her to use the ambient magic around her even though her own magic is still sealed, which is why she still has True Sight and can turn sigil magic on Academists.
- Magical Incantation: When reviving a dead Blindspring in 233.Tammy: "Oh Spirit, hear me. Use my blood as your strength. I pledge my allegiance as High Priestess of this land. For Aberwelle."
- Magic Staff: Yup.
- Modest Royalty: Prefers to go by Tammy and reserves her mouthful of titles for confronting the spirits. The comic even uses different tags to separate the pages where she is "Tamaura" the priestess from the pages where she is just "Tammy" the little girl. She tells Imogen that no one ever really called her "your highness" in the past.
- My God, What Have I Done?: She has this reaction when she gets Imogen, Street and herself sucked into a blindspring, without knowing how to get out.
- Mysterious Waif: Little is know about Tamaura's past or her contract with the spirits. As far as the modern Aberwellians are concerned she's a legendary fairytale character come to life. What little we see of her past through flashbacks is also enigmatic, implying that even then her background was murky.
- Mystical Waif: She's capable of influence magic and be influenced by it even though she's sealed, and she has knowledge lost to others because of her age. She's also implied to be the key to save Aberwelle's dying magic.
- Nature Hero: Tamaura fits the mystical variety more than the savage variety.
- Nice Gal: Tammy seems to be pretty considerate and sweet for a princess. Is neither arrogant or ungrateful. It's revealed that Tammy is a retroactively legitimized bastard child who, was far from spoiled if the hostility and condescension she receives at court are any indication, yet she remains sweet. At one point a guard showing her genuine affection and respect literally gives her pause until she realizes he's sincere.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: If Academist history is true, she willingly supported Master Gregoire's efforts to replace Orphic with Academic magic and voluntarily submitted to the Great Seal. In return her family was overthrown, imprisoned and ultimately massacred, leading to 300 years of oppression for the rest of the Orphic community.
- Overly Long Name: Tamaura Bernice Rhodizia Adelaide Llyn, Princess of Aberwelle, etc, etc. Just call her "Tammy."
- Really 700 Years Old: She's 312 years old, but hasn't aged a day since the spirits of the forest prevented her from doing so because of their contract.
- Redheaded Stepchild: Her servants are condescending, Aliana calls her a usurper, people mutter "bastard" behind her back, and she's literally the only red-haired child in the family.
- Regal Ringlets: Her 'do is entirely composed of these, despite living in the wilderness for 96% of her life without a curling iron in sight. They start to get messed up once she leaves the woods.
- Royal Blood: She's of the Llyn blood, which gives her some leeway with spirits.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: When it comes to the spirits, she acts as a priestess without hesistation.
- Shrouded in Myth: Over the years she's become a literal fairytale princess in children's stories, actual folktales and Academist history books. The record has become so confused the Wayfarers aren't quite sure what to do with her.
- Sibling Rivalry: Despite Tammy's apparent desperation to save her sister, she and Aliana did not get along in the past, especially after their mother the empress named Tamaura high priestess in Aliana's stead.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: "Needlepoint" is among her likes, and in Chapter 3's cover art she's seen knitting a long scarf.
- Town Girls: The femme of the trio consisting of herself, Imogen, and Street.
- Trademark Favorite Food: After tasting pancakes once, she loved them enough to be listed in her official "likes" and "eating pancakes" is among the things she wishes to do. Justified as pancakes were the first thing she ate in 300 years.
- Tragic Keepsake: The necklace she wears seems to be a token meant to identify its owner as Aberwelle's High Priest(ess), so to her it's a constant reminder of her duty towards the spirits and her country. But it's also a memento of her sister Aliana, who was its former owner before being replaced as high priestess when Tammy was born.
- Transformation Sequence: Undergoes one here.
- True Sight: She maintains this ability due to her Loophole Abuse.
- Unwanted Rescue: Harris refused to listen to Tammy no matter how much she told him she didn't need rescuing. She called him out on this.
- Virgin in a White Dress: in the forest Tamaura wore a white toga decorated with flowers, which added to her purity theme along with not wearing shoes (No matter how cold it gets.) It does not survive long in the city. note
- We Used to Be Friends: She was close to Harris as a child, but after he joined with the people who killed off her family returned to kidnap her just as she was on the verge of completing her 300 year contract she doesn't like him any more. She also feels guilty because he misguidedly did those things for her sake.
- Youngest Child Wins:
- She was named High Priestess instead of her older sister Aliana. Later Tammy reveals that the youngest Llyn is always a strong spiritual nexus of Orphic power making her more fit to be High Pristess, though Aliana disagreed.
- She's also the only Llyn to be unambiguously alive.
- Youthful Freckles: Not just on her face, but Tamaura's got some on her shoulders, knees and elbows, too. They seem to emphasize how much time she spend living in the forest, under constant sunlight, if those portraits of her without freckles are accurate from her time as a princess.
Harris
Frederic Oswald Harris
- Agent Mulder: He tries to prove to the higher circle of Academists that spirits and Tammy are real, with the expected results.
- Animal Motifs: A falcon over a cage with a quail inside. The remade version, however, has the cage empty.
- The Apprentice: He was one to the Prime Minister, and it's noted he was an excellent student.
- Being Watched: Harris knows full-well he's being watched after Tammy's return is made public, but he's following his normal schedule to avoid suspicion.
- Breaking Speech: He's on the receiving end of a particularly blunt one by Indra, which ends up forcing him to accept his Orphic magic and heritage.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: It's been hinted that he and his antics with secret societies and vocality about Orphics would be far less tolerated were he not an otherwise excellent Academist mage and at the top of his class.
- Child of Two Worlds: He's the half-orphic son of former Khalan High Priestess Layla and spent a significant part of his childhood playing in the Wickwold Forest Blindsprings. He was also raised in Aberwelle, a decidedly anti-Orphic country, and is thoroughly trained in Academic magic. Rajani calls him "a link between Khalan and Aberwellian magics", as he has both Aberwellian and Khalan bloodlines.
- The Chosen One: A rather cruel example. He was the one chosen to find Tammy so she could save Aberwelle and its spirits. It also means that he was meant to betray her trust by joining up with the people that killed her family in order to retrieve her from the forest by force. The fact that both Harris and Tammy appear to be the Chosen One while at cross purposes implies they may represent opposing factions amongst the spirits as well.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Whatever problem Kirkwall is facing, he's trying to tackle it as best he can. Ewan points out that he throws himself into helping others even when he's not wanted.
- Complexity Addiction: One of Harris' main issues with Orphic magic is that it's based in esoteric knowledge and Don't Think, Feel applications, unlike Academic magic that takes years to learn and has scientific backup. When he finally heals himself, he complains that it seems "too easy" to just imagine himself healed. Perhaps slightly justified in his case, as the very first time he healed himself, Indra only warned him afterwards of the consequences of using Orphic magic so freely, and Harris promptly collapsed against Indra once healed.
- Cover-Blowing Superpower:
- It is extremely important to him that he deny his own Orphic heritage, lest he begin to exhibit any signs of magic that would oust him as such. To the point where he will not even allow himself to 'give in' and try to heal himself with magic when in danger of bleeding to death. Slightly justified, in that being revealed as an Orphic at this point would put him in a rather dangerous position, given that he would be an Orphic who has spent so long working and learning Academic magic right under the nose of even the Prime Minister himself.
- However, despite his self-denial, he does occasionally slip up and admit to seeing things that non-Orphics should not be able to see. Such as when Rajani was sitting atop Indra's head, and everyone assumed that she was floating. Harris remained wondering aloud why no one else could see Indra (the tiger Spirit). Luckily for him, all the other Spiritualists Failed a Spot Check and didn't make anything of his comment about Indra.
- Crazy-Prepared: Harris apparently had several backup plans in case his Faustian Rebellion of Tamaura's pact went south. He also rigged his apartment with protection magic.Alt Text: In his panic, [Ewan] neglected to remember that inscribed the seat of his chair was a protection seal, for moments such as these. It's no use if someone doesn't ignite the magic, though.
- Determinator: He never gives up. Not even when bleeding to death. Rajani is even impressed of his willpower, to the point of keeping his powers controlled out of pure stubbornness.
- Deuteragonist: Harris shares the spotlight after Tammy, and his focus seems to be on resolving the magic crisis in Kirkwall with her help.
- Embarrassing First Name: And he hates it.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Gets at least two within the span of one page while in the midst of realizing and accepting his Orphic heritage, meant as a way to show him 'maturing' by accepting the truth while being confronting by Indra in his own mind. Every time he 'ages up' more, it shows what his hairstyle was like at that age in his life. Changes it again later on, after accepting his heritage.
- Faustian Rebellion: Harris thinks he's doing this when he breaks Tamaura's contract without her consent, right at the point when she'd almost completed it. She is not pleased.
- Healing Hands: He's told to use these abilities by Rajani, then Indra, as a means of forcing him to use magic for the first time.
- Hidden Depths: Even in his official bio, there's some mysteries about Harris' true skills and power.
- I Am Who?: He took the reveal that he was Orphic with a healthy dose of shock and denial.
- Ignorant of the Call: Though it turns out he isn't ignorant so much as deliberately ignoring it; his workaholic and busybody tendencies stem from his efforts to drown out the call he doesn't want to hear because...
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Harris would really rather have nothing to do with the magic from his Orphic side, to the point where he would utterly deny that he has it even to himself. He would much rather continue his life as an Academic mage.
- Internalized Categorism: Having learned Academic magic for most of his life, and living in a country where Orphics are a very discriminated and hated people, he has willingly completely denied that he is half-Orphic his whole life, to the point where he will not even consider the idea, even if having such magic would benefit him.
- Irony: Two important people for him (his mother and Ewan) have health issues that were caused by Academic magic. He's an Orphic with the potential of healing magic, but refuses to give in even to save himself.
- It's All My Fault: Harris was in the Grand Square when Ewan was crafting the Great Seal, and his Orphic magic allowed him to see that it would fail, so he feels guilty over not being fast enough to save Ewan from the blast until it was too late.
- Last-Name Basis: He hates his first name, so he insists people call him by his last name.
- Magical Incantation: The trap spell he used to stop the unicorn required him to call upon his Mystery (his patron deity):Harris: O Harpocrates, lord of silence, unleash your thunderous silence. Exordior.
- Mental World: Indra has forced their way into Harris's, taking Harris himself with them. Harris seems to wear his Academist wear in here, and Indra is a tiger kitten. And as time passes, Harris started to shrink back into a child to emphasize his immaturity. However, once he accepts what Indra is saying and acknowledges his Orphic magic, along with other truths, he ages up back to normal again.
- Missing Mom: Subverted. Harris confirmed Layla is alive. Weak and ill, but alive.
- Momma's Boy: A more subdued version, but yeah.
- Motor Mouth: A flaw of his, he doesn't really know how to stop talking when he should, and its caused him some problems with both Tammy and the Academy Society. For instance, he spent an hour going over how Tammy escaping wasn't his fault, so they won't listen to a word he said. They gave him his patron deity as a sort of ironic joke.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Harris at the end of Chapter one, after Tammy told him how much he hurt her and escaped.
- Nay-Theist: He knows that spirits are very real, yet doesn't considers them nothing more than "fake idols".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He only wants to help others, but "rescuing" Tammy put her sister's life on the line by breaking the original contract and inadvertently exacerbates Imogen's bullying by treating her as the Teacher's Pet.
- Oh, Crap!: Has this look on his face once he recognizes Rhiannon outside of Wisteria's shop.
- Older Than They Look: Off-panel variant. Word of God states that, because Harris spent so much time in the Wickwold Forest blindsprings as a child, his growth came to a stagnate at a certain age, so for a good period of his childhood he ended up appearing shorter and younger than the rest of his peers, making him a target for teasing. However, once he left home to study magic in Kirkhall, and left the forest's reach, the magic wore off and he began to age normally again, so at present he looks to be just about his age.
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: Harris spent a handful of summers with Tamaura, promised to "save" her, shared a kiss, went to school to study Functional Magic, came back ten years later, and whisked her away. It didn't work out for him. Rationally thinking, it probably never will.
- Pet the Dog: did not reveal the Thorne sisters were out of their rooms and then slipped them back before their father could see them so they wouldn't be taken away like their mother.
- Pretty Freeloader: Harris is freeloading in Ewan's manor; Ewan's family is loaded.
- Psychologist Teacher: Harris tries to be this; God bless his kind but oblivious heart. While he tries to encourage Imogen to be more sociable, he's oblivious that her classmates bully her and when he realize it, he thinks it can't be bad enough for someone not to pass her last day's assignments. He's also making things worse for her by marking her out as the Teacher's Pet.
- Real Men Wear Pink: As shown in a trypicht at the beginning of book two, Harris's magic is actually a shade of bright pink, as opposed to the typical shades of green, like with Tammy, or blue, as is often seen in Academic magic. An alt-text by the artist claims that this is because he is a 'beautiful boy'.
- Refusal of the Call: He has been doing this his entire life. His hate for idleness is revealed to be because in the silence he's able to hear sounds that aren't there, confirming his Orphic blood, so he does anything else in order to ignore them.
- Secret-Keeper: He purposely kept the fact that Tammy could turn his magic back on him away from his fellow Academists (except Ewan) because they wouldn't take her in unharmed if they knew.
- Secret Legacy: He's the Orphic son of the High Priestess of Khalan, Layla, but was unaware of his mom being an Orphic it until Rajani told him.
- Selective Obliviousness: To anything that might indicate that he has Orphic magic.
- Self-Made Man: He grew up in a small town yet his persistence with his studies gained him a scholarship, and later an apprenticeship with a respected Academist.
- Sticky Fingers: He did steal the Thorne sister's heirloom book.
- String Theory: He's got one set-up, along with a disorganized room.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He looks like a male, lighter skin colored version of his mother, Khalan's High Pristess and Rajani's mentor, Layla.
- Tragically Misguided Favor: Harris just had to "save" Tammy from the spirits who were keeping her safe, forcing her to make a much harsher contract while ejecting her into a harsh world where the powers that be wants her dead or worse. The Spirits may have been coercing him into it all along.
- True Sight: Harris is able to see Indra when the other Spiritualist couldn't. The Alt text hints that he falls into the 5% percent of Kirkhall able to see the magic released during the Earthquake as well, meaning he has this... which might explain why he was able to find and enter the Forest Blindsprings, when you think about it.
- Unwitting Pawn: Indra implies that the Spirits knew or arranged for Harris to meet and betray Tammy to rearrange her contract to save the land.
- Weirdness Magnet: Since awakening as an Orphic, he has been attracting even more spirits. The Rain Spirits are especially drawn to him.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wanted to save his childhood friend; he ended up doing her untold damage instead.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- The spiritualists call him out on what happened with Tammy, rushing into trying to save her without understanding the situation. In his defense, for all he knew he was saving her from being a Human Sacrifice.
- Later revealed that the Spirits let him into the Blindsprings in the first place because they expected and WANTED him to do this, in order to get Tammy to leave the Blindsprings to begin fixing the magic crisis.
The Nawonan Wayfarers
The Wayfarers as a Group
A group of Orphics who operate out of the Nawonan district. They used to be really active until an incident some time ago.
- Cool Mask: They wear masks that resemble the spirits' but may not know the connection.
- La Résistance: One of the Orphic groups running around the city, they operate specifically in the Nawonan district.
- The Scapegoat: It was hinted that some of the more radical branches hurt innocent people, so the Academists targeted this branch in a sting operation since they were the most vocal.
Ember
Ember Chu / "Fox"
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Kadi revealed, in one of the questions in her Tumblr, that Ember is non-binary, in-universe Duine.
- Animal Motifs: A red cardinal.
- Not a Morning Person: One of their dislikes is "mornings".
- Polar Opposite Twins: One just has to compare their character bio's images to realize how different they are from Ariel. Ember's field of bamboo is well-treated and the swords are mostly for decoration, demostrating their level-headness and code of honor; Ember's also holding their Wayfarer mask to show their devotion to their position as leader and its cause.
- Official Couple: With Irelia. So much they're engaged.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ember plays this role as best as they can.
- Rebel Leader: The present leader of the Nawonan Wayfarers.
- Team Dad: Of The Wayfarers. They try to keep order in the divided group and tries to look out for solution that can please both parties.
Irelia
Irelia Thorne / "Dollface"
- Aloof Big Sister: Subverted. Irelia cares for her little sister but because of her reluctance to involve Imogen in anything risky, despite or because of Imogen's desire to continue Deidre's legacy, the sisters have a somewhat tense relationship.
- Ambiguously Bi: Her fiancé is Non-binary so it seems gender isn't an issue for Irelia romance-wise.
- Animal Motifs: An owl.
- Big Sister Instinct: Towards her little sister, Imogen.
- Broken Bird: Watched her mother taken away and her sister turned into a Graver.
- Hello, Attorney!: Irelia works as a public defender.
- Irony: She dislikes paperwork and meetings; she practically hates everything that an attorney does. But being a public defender is a safe way to fight the system.
- Must Have Caffeine: She likes coffee and considering her job and morning routine, coffee can be credited as the key to her Instant Waking Skills.
- Not a Morning Person: Averted. She likes mornings (contrasting Ember) and she's the only one in the whole boarding house who goes down for breakfast properly dressed until Tammy arrives.
- Official Couple: With Ember. So much they're engaged.
- Only Sane Woman: She's the voice of reason in the Wayfarers and keeps Ember of doing anything rash.
- Promoted to Parent: For Imogen; she's basically taken their mother's place.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Irelia took from both her mother and father, looking like a blonde and blue-eyed Ms. Thorne.
- Team Mom: For The Wayfarers. She even prefers to this role instead of one of leadership despite being the elder sister of the group's former leader, preferring to help Ember keep things in order.
Deidre
Deidre Thorne / "A"
- Animal Motifs: Subverted. Deidre is the only main character without a representative bird.
- Big Sister Instinct: Towards her little sister, Imogen.
- Bookworm: She only likes books and nothing else.
- Broken Bird: Watched her mother be taken away, had her second-in-command executed, and she was turned into a Graver.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Before she had long hair, now she has a practical bob haircut.
- Improbable Age: Became leader at the age of 16 and a Graver around the age of 17.
- It's Personal: Her motives weren't that complicated: hatred for her father, revenge for her mother.
- Madwoman in the Attic: Deidre is kept in an isolated room, filled with books and old family portraits, some with her father's face removed. And, from how she looks, something pretty bad happened to her. It's revealed she was turned into a Graver.
- Mark of the Supernatural: Her right eye is an unnatural electric blue. A close up then reveals the blue color is because an active sigil is located in her eyeball.
- Nothing Is Scarier: She's the only main character without a representative bird, flower or item in her official bio. The Alt Text implies it's intentional to give her a more ominous feeling, and the comments suggest it's signs of a case of Loss of Identity caused by her Graver status. The updated character bio averts this by placing her around books and destroyed portraits of her father.
- Perky Goth: Deidre gave out this vibe when she was younger. She comments that the need for blood to open the Orphic book is "wicked," and is more into Orphic stuff than the suspicious Irelia.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Deidre took mostly from her mother, practically being a younger version of her.
Imogen
Imogen Thorne
- Animal Motifs: A dove.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Sometimes comes across as this, but she means well.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: She decides that after being left out by Street and Tammy that she wants to meet with the Spirits to gain power. The Cistern Spirits promptly kidnap her.
- Broken Bird: Watched her mother be taken away by her father, gets bullied at school, her stepmother treats her like dirt, and her older sister was turned into a Graver.
- Childhood Friends: With Street.
- The Cutie: She's sweet and lovable for the most part.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her hair is kept this way, twin-braid front of the shoulders style.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She didn't even know Tammy for a second but still helped her out, and she's kind to most people.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: She even quote it word-by-word (well, almost). She wants to be an official Warefarer and continue where her sister Deidre left off.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Variation. Imogen is an Orphic girl but has been sealed since the day she was born. Though she's studying Academic magic, she wishes she could be able to use her innate magic and she says she has lost a part of herself before she could even know it. Her bio reveals that the possibility of not having any unique power terrified her.Imogen: Real magic. That's all I want.
- The Load: Out of all of Asher's daughters, Imogen is the one more at risk of being a liability for the Wayfarers, despite her desire to join the ranks. Irelia is old enough to take care of herself, Deidre is a Graver under house arrest, and Lottie is constantly watched by her mother and security as the youngest and most "proper" daughter; Imogen on the other hand is the youngest of the Orphic Thorne, prone to seek trouble, and Asher's favorite. So when the Cistern Spirits spirit Imogen away into the Torstenn Blindspring, with nobody knowing about it, in just one day both goverment and Wayfarers are worried sick about her.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Irelia, Tammy, and Ember haven't told her about the Cistern spirits' request because she'd throw herself at them for a chance to break her seal. She remained in the dark until page 177, when Tammy and Street had no other option.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Despite the strain, Asher keeps an eye on his Orphic daughters and provides for their monetary necessities; and Irelia has turned the Torsten manor into a boarding house, so money is no issue. Still, Asher's emotionally distant, her stepmother openly despises her and keeps her from her little half-sister who adores her, Imogen is bullied at school and her only friend was Street before meeting Tammy.
- Parental Favoritism: Irelia claims that she's their father's favorite, but she hates the man herself. So far nothing has shown that they're wrong. He comes off as treating her the best, if stern.
- Poke the Poodle: Imogen's attempt on rebeling against her dad, stepmother and expectations on her in general. Since doing something big would get all her sisters in trouble, she just refuses to wear the frilly "respectable young lady" clothes they bought her. Street lampshades that, no matter what she does or how she behaves, she's the most respectable girl she knows.note
- Saying Too Much: A bad habit of hers, which is part of the reason that they don't tell her a lot of things.
- Strong Family Resemblance: From all her sisters (including Lottie), she takes after her father the most. Many readers theorize that Asher's favoritism on her is because she's the one that mostly resembles him.
- Teacher's Pet: Subverted. Imogen is actually quite the opposite but Harris favors her anyway, giving her classmates one more reason to bully her.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The sheltered yet open hearted and caring girly girl to Street's tomboy.
- Town Girls: The neither of the trio with Tammy, herself, and Street.
- You're Not My Mother: A variant. She makes it very clear to her father that her step-mother is not her mother when he refers to her as such. With good reason.
Street
Elodie Dominae / "Street"
- Ambiguously Brown: Word of God is that she'd be Egyptian by our equivalent.
- Animal Motifs: Sparrows.
- Baker Street Regular: Street runs a gang of urchins who inform her of the police and the Academists' moves.
- Born Lucky: One of her skills is listed as "luck" in her bio.
- Childhood Friends: With Imogen.
- Cool Big Sis: To the children in her group, the Sparrows. Or even full out Parental Substitute.
- Cute Witch: Street is an unsealed Orphic witch, so she actually has access to her Orphic powers. Thing is, she doesn't know how to use them, and she doesn't have True Sight.
- Deadpan Snarker: She can snark without changing her expression.
- Hearing Voices: The Fountain Spirit focused on her during their trip into the blindspring and ended up drawing her further into its mind.
- Hidden Depths: She likes math and is a Master of Unlocking and well as making them.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Street is pretty mean to Tammy when we first meet her, but she also gives Tammy her scarf and looks after a pack of street urchins.
- Little Miss Snarker: She'll get snippy with even spirits.
- Little Miss Badass: She calmly tells ancient sealed spirits off and isn't easily impressed.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Kadi has confirmed that only her aunt calls her "Elodie". She's called "Street" because she moves around the streets without papers and takes care of street urchins.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents, former diplomats, left her behind while she was in school in order to flee the country on their own.
- The Quiet One: Tammy says that she doesn't talk much and Imogen says it's because she has a lot to think about.
- The Stoic: She doesn't really react or say a lot more than needed.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The street-smart and independent tomboy to Imogen's Girly Girl.
- Took a Level in Badass: She officially became the priestess of Kieran's fountain in page 294, in exchange of having Kieran teach her more about her Orphic powers.
- A few pages later, the results are shown.
- A few pages later, the results
- Town Girls: The butch of the trio with Tammy, Imogen, and herself.
- Trash of the Titans: She claims to clean her room, but it never remains orderly for long.
- Undying Loyalty: She's devoted to her children's well-being, and hates disloyalty.
Ariel
Ariel Chu
- Animal Motifs: A red cardinal, just like her twin.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Ariel constantly interrupts Ember, does not pay them much respect and sarcastically mocks them.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Sibling example. Ember doesn't do anything foolish out of concern for Ariel turning out like Deidre, and Ariel made a contract with a spirit not just for the power but to keep her twin safe.
- Blood Knight: She likes to fight.
- Damsel in Distress: In Chapter 6, she detonates a sort of magic bomb in the middle of Kirkhall and was chased and almost captured by the Academists.
- Faustian Bargain: Ariel makes one with the spirit of the tree that Tammy released, becoming her priestess in exchange for keeping Ember safe.
- Half Identical Twin: to Ember, who is biologically male though androgynous looking and identifies as duine.
- Polar Opposite Twins: One just has to compare their character bio's images to realize how different she is from Ember. Ariel has her bamboo field cut down and the swords are broken, showing her recklessness and disregard for consequences. Ariel's Wayfarer mask is on the ground and far from her but she has an active Lodestone right behind her to demonstrate her alliance with her Spirit and that being part of the Wayfarers is mostly for the satisfaction of getting back at the Academists.
- She Who Fights Monsters: Ariel has a strong sense of justice, but justice to her is the Wayfarers causing mayhem to get back at the Academists; her habit of seeing only the little picture doesn't let her consider consequences like innocent people getting caught in the crossfire of her actions, like when she detonated the magical bomb in the middle of a street.
- Sibling Rivalry: She needles Ember constantly, trying to get the Wayfarers to take a more active role.
- Thicker Than Water: One of Ariel's likes is "family", and her wish to keep Ember safe really shows how important it is to her.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Ariel's ponytail emphasizes her reckless attitude.
The Spiritualists
The Spiritualists as a Group
Clockwise, from the bottom left: Wisteria, "Howie", George and Dani
- "We seek the light in the darkness"
- Secret-Keeper: Turns out, they knew that Harris is an Orphic after he commented on Indra before Rajani made him visible for the rest to see.
- Secret Legacy: According to Indra, all the Spiritualist have either Orphic blood or are Sensitives.
- You Can't Go Home Again: After Chapter 7, they can no longer return to their ordinary lives.
Wisteria
Wisteria Eris
A "wealthy entrepreneur" Academist who acts as the head of the Spiritualists. She runs a high-end boutique selling Academist premade spell cards and fosters orphan or abandoned Orphic children.- Curtains Match the Window: Her eyes match her hair, if a shade darker.
- Deadpan Snarker: Towards her friends.
- Floral Theme Naming: Wisteria is a type of flowering plant with lavender/purple flowers.
- I Did What I Had to Do: She had to take money as compensation for one of the children she takes care of being turned into a Graver, otherwise she would have been seen as too sympathetic and powerless to stop the rest from being taken.
- Little Miss Badass: Downplayed. Wisteria is a petite girl but she's no shy in calling out a guy two heads taller than her.
- My Greatest Failure: She had to let one of her children be turned into a Graver.
- Older Than She Looks: She looks like she's no older than 16. She's actually ten years older than that.
- Orphanage of Love: She appears to run one for Orphic children. Played for Drama though, as she risks her name and reputation in doing so and has to be careful of not being seen as "too sympathetic" and keep it as just an philanthropic act, despite how much she actually cares for the children under her wing.
- Sadistic Choice: Either she lets a few of her children be taken to become Gravers every once in a while, or she loses them all at once.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She calls Harris out for trying to cover up what was going on with Tammy. As she puts it, he wouldn't constantly attend the meeting and they wouldn't allow him to come if they didn't think they could help each other.
Howie
Howard Smythe / "Howie"
Another contemporary of Harris and member of the Spiritualists, who has a habit of snooping around in search of a story. He's a reporter with the local newspaper and a close associate of Ember, which probably explains his pro-orphic sympathies.- Intrepid Reporter: His job, apparently.
- No Sense of Personal Space: He has no problem getting touchy with Harris when they meet, nor going through Wisteria's stuff.
George
George Maloney
A member of the Spiritualists, he can really talk... a lot. He's also a General.- Motor Mouth: Dude can talk.
- Quintessential British Gentleman: Gives off some elements of this.
Dani
Danyalla Adino / "Dani"
An associate of Wisteria and Harris, also one of the Spiritualists, she is also investigating into the incident plaguing the town. She's a detective of the National Intelligence Agency.- Ambiguously Brown: She has a definite middle eastern Muslim look.
Academists
Ewan
Ewan Peters
- The Ace: He's considered the example of an ideal Academist.
- Animal Motifs: A crow/raven.
- Curtains Match the Windows: He has gray eyes to match his white/grey hair.
- Dark Secret: He refuses to tell anyone, even Harris, about what he was working on the Grand Square.
- Dramatic Irony:
- He's unaware that his boyfriend is not only an Orphic, but a Khalan Orphic, the two kind of people he despises.
- He believes that Khalan Orphics possing as Gravers sabotaged his seal at the Grand Square, and left him in a wheelchair. In reality, his seal was doomed to fail from the beginning, either by a miscalculation on his part or because of the lack of magic to properly power it. Also, those Gravers are heavily implied to not have been Khalan, but actually been sent by Master Lumens, the one he's working with to refine the Gravers.
- Evil Uncle: To Tristan and Rhiannon.
- Fantastic Racism: Really, really hates orphics. To the extent he's working with Master Lumens. Not even his own blood family is safe from his hatred, if they show Orphic powers.
- Foil: He's the perfect contrast to Harris. Ewan is respected and admired by his fellow Academists for his genius in factible theories while Harris is barely tolerated for his high potential but he's focused in "fables" about lost princesses and Orphic magic.
- Genius Cripple: He has one of the highest Mastery class at 5th rank, is already assured he'll obtain 1st class in a few more years and is already working on top secret projects that are highly classified.
- In the Blood: Turns out he has Orphic blood running in his family, which played a part in his prowess in using seal.
- Innocently Insensitive: He's pretty dismissive of Orphics, but doesn't know that Harris is one. His comments now hit a lot closer to home.
- Odd Couple: Harris is a conspiracy theorist who can't keep his mouth shut when he has a new idea in mind; Ewan is more mellow and dislikes conspiracies. They're in a relationship as well.
- Older Than They Look: A minor case. His appearance makes him seem fairly young, to the point where people assume that he's Harris' little brother, but he's actually a year older than Harris.
- Only Friend: He appears to be Harris' only friend.
- Second Place Is for Losers: Implied. One of his likes is "winning".
- The Spock: He's a genius mind that likes science and research.
- Straight Gay: It was a little ambiguous at first since he's close enough to Harris that when Wisteria asks if his paramour was found, Harris presumes she's talking about Ewan instead of Tammy at first. Not to mention half of their dialogue sounds like a couple bickering. It's later confirmed they're sleeping together.
- Trauma Button: He had a breakdown when the earthquake happened, thinking that Khala was dropping bombs again, until Harris gave him a Cooldown Hug.
- Tragic Bigot: He not only grew up indoctrinated by his culture to hate Orphics, but also lost the mobility of his legs to an attack by Orphic Khalans.
Asher
Asher Thorne
- Archnemesis Dad: All of the Thorne sisters, sans Lottie, are Wayfarers, and hate him. He also allowed his second daughter to be turned into a Graver.
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Has this vibe here. It's telling that he's being reasonable and trying not to start an all-out war.
- The Chains of Commanding:
- While at first it seemed like arresting his first wife was his idea, it's implied that he did out of political pressure in order to prove his loyalty to the Academists and/or that he was not an Orphic sympathizer just for marring one. His lecture to Harris about someday making tough decisions and not letting his feelings get in the way of his responsibilities further imply he did not enjoy his part on the arrest of Mrs. Thorne, especially regarding how it made him look in front of his daughters.
- In the aftermatch of the giant tree growing in Kirkhall, Asher is obviously being pressured into taking drastic measures and his face gives away the fact that he doesn't want to set the Gravers into action, but has no other option in order to regain stability.
- Domestic Abuse: Emotional abuse variety, telling his wife that she has no rights and then ordering his men to destroy her when she breaks free.
- Evil Mentor: He was this to Harris several years ago. Considering how they have pretty contrasting views, it's amazing Harris managed to last under his tutelage without being corrupted.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- The first time he appears is six years in the past, and he definitely was not a nice guy, but in the present time there have been a few instances that show he does care about his daughters. He refuses to allow his meeting with Imogen to be derailed by some important delegates, telling them that his daughter is more important than anything they might have to say. Lottie mentions that while it doesn't happen often Asher does play with her. Irelia is at least on good enough terms for Asher to speak with her. According to some sources one possibility for Deidre being rather blasé about getting caught as a Wayfarer was because Asher was her father, and while she was turned into a Graver when captured, the wayfarer who was caught with her was executed.
- Imogen's seal was applied to the middle of her back, presumably the other girls' seals are in similarly inconspicuous places, so they aren't visibly branded as Orphics the way Tammy is. Though whether this was intended as a mercy for them or a PR move for him is debatable.
- Lumens talking about removing his children as Orphic threats was enough to elicit him warningly asking if that was a threat. Lumens also mentioned it was because he cared that he held sway over Deidre.
- When Imogen is missing for a day, he blows up on the school for not taking notice and is worried to the extent his work is being backlogged.
- Fantastic Racism: Towards Orphics. His ex-wife and older daughters fall into this category, for the record.
- Golddigger: Hinted to be the reason why he married Mrs. Thorne. She was super rich, in a nutshell. The same is implied with his second wife.
- Heel Realization: He seemed to have undergone one at some point in the past, based on his conversation with Lotte after Imogen went missing.Asher: It took me a long time to understand that truth myself.
- It Meant Something to Me: His bio reveals that he grew significantly cooler after he had to arrest Mrs. Thorne, and despite Giselle softening him a little, he's still quite distant. It's debatable is he really loved Mrs. Thorne, but there's subtle hints that point that he at least appreciated her; she was, after all, his wife and the mother of his daughters.
- Kick the Dog: Telling his daughters that he didn't need to them to understand why he was taking away their mother, and telling his wife that she has no rights and then trying to kill her using a destruction sigil.
- Marriage of Convenience: Giselle points out that they only married in order to avoid a scandal.
- Parental Betrayal: He arrested Mrs. Thorne, his first wife and the mother of his first three daughters. It's further compounded when he turned Deidre into a Graver.
- Parental Favoritism: Irelia claims Imogen is his favorite. Imogen has trouble seeing it that way.
- Remarried to the Mistress: It's implied Giselle was the "other woman" while he was still married to his first wife.
Gregoire
Master Gregoire
The most renowned Academist and the one responsible for toppling the Llyn family three hundred years ago.- Anti-Villain: He did start the events that led to Orphics being persecuted, but it's mentioned that he did it so that everyone else could improve their lives rather than only Orphics, and he didn't order the execution of Tamaura's family, the guards did that. Book 2's prologue increases the ambiguity by showing he was the only one in the royal castle who was nice to Tammy. And when the rebellion did begin, he bargained for her safety.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Gregoire seems to be of this mindset when it came to the old Orphic class, more of a product of their society. He notably sees Tammy as an exception because she doesn't seem to have come from the same place.
- Blue Is Heroic: Zigzagged. He wears blue suits and the academic magic he uses is the same color; although his actions caused the Orphic persecution, he wished that everyone could improve their lives and save Tammy.
- Dramatic Irony:
- He wanted to create a world where Tammy was free but his actions of sealing the Orphic, putting the academics in power and almost extinguishing the spirits only managed to create a hostile world full of people who want to exploit Tammy for their own purposes.
- A special point is the Academics that he used in the rebellion to free Tammy from the spirits; now one of them wants to transform her into a human weapon and exploit her just like the spirits that he overthrew.
- False Friend: What he was to the Llyn family. The empress trusted him, and it's mentioned according to the books that Tamaura originally approved of his work.
- Fantastic Racism: He has one with the spirits, calls them false gods, kills one in cold blood and tells Tammy that they are the true enemies with whom they are at war.
- Foil: For Harris. Both are academics with a close relationship with Tammy that motivated them to "free her from the spirits" only to fail because neither of them ever listened to her or asked her what she really wanted. The difference is that Harris managed to realize his mistakes in time and is willing to help Tammy without forcing her to do anything. As for Gregoire, in everything we have seen so far, he does not seem to have understood that forcing Tammy to be saved is not very different from imposing on her to serve the spirits as High Priestess.
- Evil Costume Switch: In the prologue, while he is still a loyal servant to the royal family, he wears a three-piece suit of light blue and gold but when he betrays them he changes to a much more threatening suit in dark blue and black.
- Posthumous Character: He's been dead for centuries by the time the story begins.
Engraving Units/Gravers
Lumens
Master Lumens
The Academist responsible for the creation and oversight of Gravers.- Affably Evil: He doesn't act overtly evil, but he's the one responsible for the Gravers and has been in charge since its creation despite knowing full-well what their creation ensures.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: Essentially, he's perfectly willing to ensure that excessive force be used to eliminate all Orphics through the use of his Gravers, even if innocent people get hurt, so long as it removes Orphics from the republic.
- The Exile: He was exiled before Asher called him back.
- I Have Your Wife: Threatens to use Deidre unless Asher complied with what he wanted. And he makes it perfectly clear that it's because Asher cares that he'll do it.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: It's implied that Lumens is the one who came with the way to turn Orphics into Gravers, who're basically mind raped slaves. The fact that most of the Gravers seen so far are preteen children just increases the notion.
- Viler New Villain: While Asher peerpetuates the persecution of Orphics, had his own blood sealed and under watch and his first wife arrested, compared to Lumens he's a decent person. Lumens is in charge of the Gravers, who are basically brainwashed slaves who had gone through a traumatizing remaking of a core part of their being, he's willing to use them in public places and risk civilians precisely because fear would give him more impunity, has Asher (the Prime Minister) under threat and is plotting on a coup against him, already having attempted at Asher's life once.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: As long as it removes the threat of Orphics from their republic, he's fine with whatever it takes.
The Peters Twins
From left to right: Tristan and Rhiannon.
Graver twins who came to Kirkhall along with Master Lumens. Rhiannon is the more unstable of the two while Tristan is much saner.Rhiannon Peters
A young Graver girl who seems to take everything she does in stride.- Always Someone Better: Feels that Tammy is this, as she can easily outclass her in magic.
- Berserk Button:
- Messing with Tristan. Her reaction to Tammy "attacking" him (really trying to free him from his control seal) is to get pissed.Rhiannon: How dare you touch him! Tristan is mine.
- She gets pissed that Tammy might be stronger than her too, because if Tammy becomes a Graver then she'll lose both her position and her brother.
- Messing with Tristan. Her reaction to Tammy "attacking" him (really trying to free him from his control seal) is to get pissed.
- Comes Great Insanity: As a Graver, her natural Orphic magic has a boost thanks to the Academic seals on her, but it's obvious that she's quite mentally unstable. This has been implied that because of her rage and insanity clouding her reason, she has done pretty horrific things without realizing it or even meaning to, and she still grieves over it, turning her into a Tragic Monster.
- Cute and Psycho: She's pretty adorable at times...but then she gets the go ahead and proceeds to show why Gravers are terrifying.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish sibling to Tristan.
- Humanoid Abomination: How she appears to Tammy's True Sight.
- It Amused Me: Why she does things. She mentions trying to electrocute someone as being fun.
- Kids Are Cruel: She appears to enjoy causing carnage and pain. However, she also seems to be either bipolar, suffering dissociative identity disorder or just Brainwashed and Crazy from the Graver magic — when her brother talks her down from a rage, she temporarily turns into a tearful, scared little girl.
- Magical Eye: She has an active sigil in her right eyeball, just like Deidre.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Compared to her brother. At least when he's not being controlled.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Tries to kill Tammy repeatedly as competition for her brother. And when magic doesn't work, she tries drowning her instead.
- Parental Abandonment: Even before she displayed Orphic powers, she was ignored by her family. Once she did, they turned her over to Lumens to become a Graver.
- Riches to Rags: She and Tristan belonged to a prominent family whose ancestors took part in the revolution. A few generations they made a pledge to turn over any children who possessed Orphic powers that entered the bloodline into becoming a Graver, stripping her of whatever position she had.
- Shock and Awe: She's capable of using electric magic.
- Would Hurt a Child: She promptly tried killing Tammy despite not being told to. She also showed no real hesitation at the thought of killing Street.
Tristan Peters
A young Graver boy and brother to Rhiannon.- Big Brother Instinct: He exposed himself up as an Orphic, giving up a life free and a position in the main family line, just to be with his sister after seeing in what she was turned into.
- Enemy Mine: As soon as he sees that Tammy could be capable of helping him, he asks her to remove the seal that bounds him to Lumens so he can help her escape.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible sibling to Rhiannon. It's implied (and later confirmed) that he's basically her minder.
- Humanoid Abomination: How he appears to Tammy's True Sight.
- Just Following Orders: He really doesn't like doing what Lumens tells him, but he has to because of the seal on him. Without that, he'd be out of there.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Tristan's presence is the only thing that can calm Rhiannon down, and he's the only one that can prevent her rampages before they turn unstoppable.
- Mind-Control Eyes: His eyes are completely blue when at Wisteria's orphanage and he doesn't seem to have any free will left.
- Morality Chain: To Rhiannon. Even the thought of something happening to him will turn her into a very violent girl.
- Parental Abandonment: Same as his sister.
- Riches to Rags: He and Rhiannon belonged to a prominent family whose ancestors took part in the revolution. A few generations they made a pledge to turn over any children who possessed Orphic powers that entered the bloodline into becoming a Graver. Unlike his sister, he hid it well enough that he was about ready to enter the main line of the family. He ultimately threw it away for the sake of looking after her, losing his position.
- Troubled, but Cute: Tristan is obviously miserable with his lot in life, and unlike his sister who has passed the point where she finds glee in her situation as long as she can destroy (when not lucid), Tristan reluctantly complies because he has no options.
- True Sight: Somehow possesses this ability.
Becky
Becky
An Orphic orphan turned Engraving Unit.- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: A girl named Becky originally appeared on page 239 with a different hair/skin tone, haircut and Graver markings. The tone could be explained with the differences in lighting, but it's unlikely her hair would have grown out in about a week.
Other Characters
Rajani
Rajani Adali
- Ambiguously Brown: She'd be Indian if she were in our world, according to Word of God.
- Appeal to Tradition: One of her likes.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Rajani has a heavy built and curves, and she's a beautiful princess.
- Color Motif: Purple. She not only has purple eyes but also is seen dressed in purple clothes more often than not. It's to show off that she's a member of royalty and that she's a powerful Orphic witch.
- Culture Justifies Anything: She comes from an Orphic ruled, spirit-friendly country, so she sees no issue on letting Indra, a huge tiger spirit trail behind her in the spirit-sceptic, Academist governated Aberwelle. After all, Aberwelle was Orphic ruled in older times, and most people can't see Indra anyway.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She appeared in the second chapter and as part of an annotation before but was introduced in the fourth chapter.
- Foil: She's one for fellow Princess/Priestess, Tamaura. Rajani comes from a country that has maintained its relationship with its spirits, is a trained Priestess, she has a friendly partnership with Indra, she has enough power and name to be an ambassador and she often goes around the city of Kirkhall on her own.
- Hot Witch: A trained Orphic priestess and beautiful foreigh princess. Out-universe, readers consider her stunning and in-universe, despite the little racism she faces, people think of her as an "exotic beauty".
- Jungle Princess: The portrait of her gives off this vibe. It's noted she was not happy about it, since it was done without her permission.
- Miss Exposition: Because Harris doesn't like to do things without knowing the "why", Rajani has to feed him a lot of exposiion.
- The Nose Knows: She can smell magic in blood. This is how she knows Harris is an Orphic.
- Politically-Active Princess: She's acting as the ambassador for her country. Her bio revealed she even volunteered for the job.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Yep. This is the exact moment you know she does not screw around.
- Summon Magic: How she calls for Indra, a Tiger Spirit.
- Weather Manipulation: Mentions once that she called down a monsoon because she was upset as a child.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Although there are plenty of Orphic artifacts that can only be activated by magical Orphic blood, she chooses to prove Harris's Orphic heritage to him by stabbing him in the arm with her earring, then forcing him to heal himself. Made worse because she didn't have a backup plan in case it didn't work, as she is unable to use her magic at the time, and was entirely relying on her plan of revealing Harris's magic working. If he didn't think so fast, there is a high chance that she could have ended up making him bleed to death, and she still can't do anything for the cuts she left behind. Harris calls her out on this, and even the artist claims that most of what drove Rajani to do this was frustration at being unable to use her magic and that she was depending on it working so that her actions would have been either forgotten about or forgiven as necessary once it worked.
- Wild Card: While she's an ambassador from her country towards the Academist government in Aberwelle, she's quick to join the Spiritualists. Her bio also reveals that her intentions are not clear and she has her own agenda.
- Wolverine Claws: Her earrings double as this, as poor Harris finds out.
Ms. Thorne
Ms. Thorne
Asher Thorne's first wife, mother of the Orphic Thorne sisters and the last member of the ancient Torstenn family. Six years ago she was arrested by her own husband in her own house, apparently for reading Orphic history to her daughters. Her whereabouts are unknown.- Blue Blood: The Torstenn family was a noble house in the times of Orphic reign.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Her arrest was the last straw to the Orphic Thorne sisters, especially for Deidre.
- Defiant to the End: Even though she was outnumbered and already in handcuffs she did not hesitate to call Asher out for branding his daughters as Orphic even though he didn't want them to know anything about their roots and tell him he'd regret his actions against Orphics one day.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Seen in flashbacks wearing purple or wine dresses.
- Hidden Depths: It's heavily implied that she was aware of the spirits and the Blindsprings inside her house and that she might have been their former Torstenn priestess, suggested by her knowledge of the same magic song Tammy and Aliana know.
- Last of Her Kind: The last person to use the Torstenn name.
- Last Stand: She used Blood Magic and some magic crystal as a last attempt to defend herself from arrest. Sadly, Asher's Destruction spell was too much for her in such a close range. Though her expression implies that she could just as easily killed Asher with her crystal attack, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
- Meal Ticket: Word of God declared that the main reason why Asher married her was because she was the sole heiress of the vast Torstenn fortune.
- Missing Mom: She was arrested and has been out of her daughters' life for six years, but there's subtle hints that suggest she's still alive.
- Motherly Side Plait: Always styled her hair in a long Princess Curl that she wore over her shoulder. See Asher's image above as an example.
- Mum Looks Like a Sister: Downplayed, but she looks very good despite being mother of three girls.
- No Name Given: She's only known as Ms. Thorne, but the author has expressed her desire of giving her a name soon.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one to Asher about not allowing their daughters to know about their Orphic roots; after all, he can't just pretend they're normal girls when he himself branded them with the Great Seal.
Giselle
Giselle Thorne
Asher Thorne's second wife and mother to Lottie Thorne.- Hair Color Dissonance: Is her hair red or pink?
- Jerkass: She actually manages to beat Asher in the Jerkass department, in fact he looks down right nice comparatively. Mostly because where he comes off as a product of society, she's just trying to rid herself of his ex-wife's child.
- Rich Bitch: She's not the most pleasant person to meet.
- Wicked Step Mother: She is not a nice person, upon entering the scene she starts berating Asher for not sending Imogen to a reform school. And when she noticed Imogen was carrying Lottie, she takes her child out of her sister's arms. When Imogen is missing for a day, she openly states that she hopes she stays missing.
Lottie
Lottie Thorne
Only daughter of Asher and Giselle, Lottie is the orphic Thorne sisters' younger half-sister.- Children Are Innocent: She seems to not have any ill feelings towards her orphic sister and she's as sweet and innocent as the five years old she is.
- Hair Color Dissonance: Same as her mom.
- Nature vs. Nurture: Despite having two rather nasty parents she is very sweet and loves Imogen. It might have something to do with her being a preschooler.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Luckily she is nothing like her parents.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Lottie looks like a mini Giselle to emphasize that she's the daughter of a different woman.
Millie
Millie
An Orphic orphan living at Wisteria's.- Identical Stranger: She's a 12 years old, long haired redhead girl. Looked from afar she's near identical to Tammy, with both Harris and Rhiannon pointing it out.
- Morality Pet: She's Becky's best friend, and while she was forced into getting any of Wisteria's orphans out of the protection barrier around the orphanage, when she saw that it was Millie the one to answer her call, Becky turned against the Peter twins.
Layla
Layla
Former Orphic High Priestess of Khala and Harris's mother.- Family Eye Resemblance: Shares eye color with her son, Harris.
- Foreshadowing The last line of this interstitial newspaper clipping states that the ongoing Space Cold War between Khala and Aberwelle began "when a Khalan citizen was sealed without permission" implying that Layla was that citizen or something similar may have happened to her.
- Missing Mom: Averted. She's still alive, just very weak and currently bedridden at home. It seems that her son, Harris even comes and visits her still. He certainly writes to her.
- Motherly Side Plait: Played with. Kadi jokes in the comment box under page 207 that the reason that she's alive is because she didn't have 'anime mom hair'.
- Not Quite Dead: In spite of what Rajani believes, Layla is still alive, if unwell.
- Secret Legacy: Is this to Harris, as she is his mother and is an Orphic, formerly a High Priestess
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Shares an awful lot of similarities appearance-wise (eyes, hair, nose) with her son, Harris
Aliana
Aliana
Tammy's older sister who remains in Tammy's blindspring in a deep coma-like sleep. Keeping Aliana safe cost Tammy three hundred years of service.- Ambiguous Situation: Why she is asleep and what it has to do with the spirits is a mystery.
- Celibate Hero: Well, Heroine: The biggest reason why she wants to be High Priestess again is because then she wouldn't have to get married.
- Big Sister Bully: She was very unhappy that Tammy took over her role as high priestess and this unhappiness usually showed itself as petty pranks.
- I Have Your Wife: In order to get Tammy to agree to help them, the spirits agree to take care of Aliana like they had before Harris broke the old pact.
- The Resenter: Was very unhappy to be replaced as high priestess, and took it out on Tammy.
- Royal Brat:: Downplayed. Aliana is just a 15 year old teenager who lashes out in anger over something she considers an injustice.
The Empress
The mother of Tammy and her sister Aliana, last empress of Aberwelle.
- Abusive Parents: In all her appearances her motherhood leaves much to be desired: first she forces Aliana (who is just a teenager) into an arranged marriage despite the fact that she repeatedly expresses she dislikes the mere idea, forces Tammy first to be High Priestess and later, while being imprisoned, she makes a contract that basically turns her into a weapon against academics, never caring about the feelings or opinions of any of her daughters and when anyone calls her for her actions, she basically tells both of them that they should do it because it is their duty (and obligation in Tammy's case).
- Mum Looks Like a Sister: She looks very good despite being the mother of eight daughters.
- Green and Mean: She wears a green dress in the prologue of book 2 and in the story of Mrs. Thorne she wears jewelry with green gems. She already showed little concern for Tammy except if she needs to use her to maintain the power of the Llyn and, if we believe in Gregoire's words, she also does not care that her subjects can improve their lives.
- Requisite Royal Regalia: She almost always wears jewelry, elegant dresses and a crown.
- Pimped-Out Dress: She always dresses well but especially her dress in Mrs. Thorne's story.
Spirits
Spirits as a whole
Beings that exists as residents of the world, they are now often thought of as fictional beings.
- Ambiguous Gender: Spirits don't have a gender and often appear as they wish.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Subverted to hell and back. All spirits (of any shape and form) are either astonishly beautiful or incredible cute but their goodness is only available for peole who are in a contract with them, and even then they're more of Aloof Allies who only see their humans as tools.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Spirits have a difference sense of morality than others.
- Cast From Life Span: Contracts with spirits have the price of a life of servitute as priestesses, and it's implied that the alternative is paying with life energy, especially over more complicated wishes.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: They draw power from being believed or worshipped. If they aren't they can fade out.
- Spirits that are bound to holidays, like the Mistletoe Spirit, only have extensive power during that holiday, otherwise they are fairly weak.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: The spirits never lie; so even if they use Exact Words with no mercy, you can be sure those are true, despite they not meaning what you would expect.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Often with Spikes of Villainy.
- The Fair Folk: Most of them act like fae you would read about in mythology.
- Invisible to Normals: Outside of a Blindspring, most spirits don't seem be seen by ordinary folks. Tammy had to use her True Sight to see the Rain Spirit, while Harris could see Indra while the other spiritualist couldn't.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Drastically, even in the same webcomic.
- People Puppets: They can do this to a Willing Channeler, such as Tamaura.
- Sacred Hospitality: The spirits are bound to be good host to their guests.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Spirits are akin to ideas, thus you cannot truly kill them. That being said, see Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
The Wickwold Forest Spirits
The Wickwold Forest Spirits & Quail Spirit
- Brutal Honesty: Thanks to spirits never lying. When Tammy said that The Chief Spirit's words made being in a contract look like if they were human sacrifices, the Chief simply said "Aren't you?"
- Manipulative Bastard: They purposely manipulated Harris into finding and betraying Tammy, using it to rearrange their contract.
- No Face Under the Mask: There's no face under that mask. Only a mouth fixed into a Psychotic Smirk.
- Oh, Crap!: The Quail Spirit had this reaction upon sensing Indra being summoned.
- Our Fairies Are Different: They are often referred to as faerie, and many of them are made of Living Shadow and don White Masks of Doom,, though some of these fairies wear white robes with gold trimmings and jewelry over their shadowy figures.
- Psychotic Smirk: Hi there smiley man!!!
- Talking Animal: The Quail Spirit that survived Harris' rescue attempt. But it only speaks when it has something to say, otherwise it just acts as a normal quail.
- Yandere:
- They appeared out of the woodwork after Harris kissed Tamaura and basically clung to her with no intention of letting go. Afterwards they were talking about adding to her contract for even thinking of leaving them.
- The Quail Spirit gets upset with her for promising to help Tristian, claiming that she was promised to them first.
- They appeared out of the woodwork after Harris kissed Tamaura and basically clung to her
Kieran / Faust
Kieran, The Fountain Spirit / Faust
Click here to see its real form.
The spirit within the fountain of the blindspring that Tamura first visited, the Quail Spirit refers to it as Kieran.
- Big Damn Heroes: It returns in Page 288 to save Street from touching the electrified fence.
- Everyone Has Standards: Unlike Royal Spirits, Kieran felt obligated to warn Street about the consecuences of the very costly contract she intented to do, and even brought upon an alternative that would fulfill Street's desire (getting to protect those she loves).
- The Fake Cutie: It tried to pull off this on its first encounter with Street, but Street can see a con for what it is.
- Horned Humanoid: It has a single horn in the middle of its forehead.
- Mass Teleportation: Thanks to the pipeline system spreading the water of his fountain, he's able to teleport to pretty much the entire city, and take a large amount of people to his Blindspring now that he has a priestess.
- Morality Adjustment:
- When he first tries to court Street's cooperation, he's a standard manipulative spirit. When he next meets Street, she basically tells him "Do what you want with me as long as you save Tammy." He seems to undergo an epiphany and insists on putting her well-being ahead of his goals. He appears to be growing a genuine conscience.
- At first he's unwilling to take any Graver to his Blindspring out of fear that their corrupted magic will damage it further, but when Becky promises not to purposely corrupt it he relents, and even apologizes to her and calls her a good girl.
- Our Dragons Are Different: It appears as a skeletal dragon in a field of ashes, signalling how its dying.
- Our Elves Are Different: The innermost layer of its blindspring, its Loci, reveals it to look like a golden elf.
- The Runt at the End: Unlike most Spirits we have seen so far, Kieran is the only one without a mask and the only who has taken a step further to protect its potential priestess.
- Sacred Hospitality: It brought Tamura and her friends into its blindspring (against their will at that) and was thus obliged to see them out safely. It tried to circumvent this in order to get a pact with Street, but she wisely called it out.
- Stalker without a Crush: Page 289 reveals it (somehow) has regained enough strength to follow Street around in order to find the perfect moment to try making her its priestess again.
- Trickster Archetype: Now that he isn't in fear of fading away, he's behaving more like a trickster fairy; he brutally honesty with Street, appears at the last second when he's called, and likes to have his priestess ask nicely for his help.
The Cistern Spirits
The Cistern Spirits
- Ambiguous Gender: Averted; Taking on the likeness of the statues, these spirits are distinctly female in appearance.
- Guardian Entity: They act as guardians of the Cistern, only allowing for those of Torstenn lineage (or Llyn) to pass. Anyone else is fair game for lethal removal.
- Living Statue: They act as statues until the lodestones were lit, then they came to life.
- Snake People: They appear like this, matching the appearance of a lamia.
The Rain Spirit
The Rain Spirit
The cute and small house spirit within Torstenn Boarding House, it follows Tammy around.
- House Fey: Though its a rain spirit, it acts much like a house spirit, playing pranks and worring over the darkness in the estate that is Deidre.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: It should be a crime for it to be so cute.
- The Speechless: So far, unlike every other spirit, it hasn't said a word.
- Teru-Teru Bōzu: It was based off of these, which is why its a rain spirit.
- Visual Pun: Rain spirits seem to be especially drawn to Harris after he accepted his Orphic side. They're his Personal Raincloud.
Indra
Indra
- Bishounen Line: Indra normally appears as a huge tiger. He then takes a more normal form (by spirit's standards) in Harris' Mental World in order to talk with him but then reveals he has a third form much more humanoid that really take the "bishounen" part for all its worth.
- Bond Creature: He is bound to Rajani.
- Break Them by Talking: Delivers a particularly brutal one to Harris in order to force him to accept his magical abilities.
- Brutal Honesty: He flat-out tells out Harris that he's running from the truth that he's an Orphic and reveals that the Forest Spirits manipulated him into finding and betraying Tammy, citing they had been orchestrating his life in that aspect.
- Cute Kitten: First manifests in Harris' mental world as a tiger cub, and he's adorable. You can't deny it.
- Invisible to Normals: Only some people can see him (such as Harris) as to everyone else Rajani appears to be floating in the air, when she's actually on his head. Rajani can subvert this if she wishes, letting others view him.
- Panthera Awesome: Easily the most awesome cat seen in the series.
- Power Glows: He's shrouded in an orange glow.
- The Speechless: He doesn't say anything in his tiger form, but he has a humanoid form who's able to speak.
The Tree Spirit
A dying spirit who asked Tammy's help in the middle of Ariel's struggle with the Academists. After Tammy revived its blindsprings, Ariel made a contract with it: she'll be its priestess and the spirit will keep Ember safe.
- People Puppets: It can possess a Willing Channeler, such as Tammy, and it's shown as the spirit manipulating her via strings.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Subverted. The spirit was in a desperate situation when it got the chance to contact Tammy, the only one able to revive the blindsprings it was bond to. But after being energized anew, it used Tammy's body to taunt the Academists and reveal the return of Aberwelle's High Priestess, bringing the city into instability.
