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Characters / Kingdom's Disdain

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The characters of Paul! Lang's Kingdom's Disdain series and tie-in novellas.

Except for folder labels, all spoilers are UNMARKED.

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The Main Party

     In General 
"Don't worry. We excel at putting ourselves in danger."
— Cardinal

  • Fire-Forged Friends: Except for Sareash, they all joined the crew in the middle of a fight.
  • Love Triangle: Cardinal and Sareash eventually become a couple, but there's obviously some mutual attraction between Sareash and Worm.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Cardinal is the "Nice" to Worm's "Mean" and Sareash, Mad, and Trog's "In-Between".
  • The Power of Hate: Cardinal has his "Decay Beam" spell, Sareash has Valsrofen, and Worm uses hatred as motivation as a follower of Jareth.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A transplant from another dimension; a runaway princess; an emotionally-detached necromancer; a haughty assassin; and an exiled orc.
  • Sole Survivor: Cardinal, Sareash, Trog, and Worm are the only known survivors of the attack by the Beast of the Gulch. This also makes the former three the only known living Night-Star hunters.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Prone to bickering and feelings of resentment.

    Cardinal 

Cardinal, Heretic Wizard, Bloodmage

"“The future isn’t real, it’s just a dream. It’s just a game.”

A nineteen-year-old human from our world who wakes up in Laskmeer, and decides to become a hero.

  • Ambiguously Bi: He claims not to be into dudes, but he gets just as distracted by Mad's appearance as he does by cute women.
  • Animal Motif: Birds, specifically cardinals.
  • Anti-Nihilist: Judging by his speech to Trog in "The Nature of the Beast", he's becoming one.
  • Bad Powers, Good People: He wears a cloak that grows teeth and eats its opponents and as of Book 6, learns a spell that can utterly annihilate a hated opponent. He's also kind, heroic, and chivalrous.
  • Black and Nerdy: A fan of Star Wars, fantasy, anime, and video games before he was flung to Laskmeer.
  • Black Mage: After learning combat spells from Mad and Gamoriel.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: At his age a high libido is to be expected, but he doesn't cross any boundaries and mostly keeps sexual thoughts to himself.
  • Classical Anti-Hero: He's very emotionally insecure and sensitive to criticism, and his attempts to act heroic often come across as awkward and unthreating (at least early on).

The Red Cloak

Cardinal's enchanted, blood-red cloak that can summon the spirits of angry demons and become a ferocious monster.

  • Arsenal Attire: When Cardinal starts out, he lets the Cloak do most of his fighting.
  • Living Clothes: How sentient they are is unclear, but they at least have some amount of animal instinct and loyalty to their master.
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: Cardinal basically sics him on his enemies like one.
  • Team Pet: Level of sentience is unclear, but it's kind of Cardinal's pet as well as his clothing.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Cardinal.

Rainbowdash

Cardinal's horse, named after a character from My Little Pony.

    Sareash 

Sareash Hellel Raleria Hallocen Farmaldas, Crown Princess of Ald and Aldroy

"I've never had a conversation with a wizard covered in blood and guts."
The crown princess of Aldroy, who wants to get out of the crownlands and see adventure.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: This is what bonds her to Cardinal; she wishes that the Rot Lord was real, just so she has somebody to defeat.
  • Blood Knight: Fantasizes about killing her enemies in righteous fury. She finds the real world's not that simple.
  • The Big Guy: The heaviest hitter of the main group, relying primarily on martial weapons rather than spells.
  • Bruiser with a Soft Center
  • High Hopes Zero Skill: She wants to be a swordfighting adventurer, but has no natural talent with the blade; her father and Thermavorous note she's more likely to hit an ally than an intended target. However, through hard work and training, she eventually becomes competent enough to take on the Beast of the Gulch and win.
  • Hunter of Monsters: She becomes one after her exile, joining Mad and Cardinal.
  • Innocently Insensitive
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Abrasive, insensitive, and arrogant; also more compassionate towards the commonfolk than most of the Royals.
  • The Kirk: Out of the original trio, she's very brash and the first to charge into battle. She's connected to her own emotions, but has difficulty with those of others.
  • Official Couple: With Cardinal as of "Corpse Beetle".
  • Overly Long Name: Sareash Hellel Raleria Hallocen Farmaldas, Crown Princess of Ald and Aldroy.
  • The Power of Hate: Her sword, Valsrofen, can only strike down someone/something its user truly hates.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Cardinal.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Mad trains her to use Valsrofen, and gives her a spell that makes her stronger.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Cardinal before they start dating; then later with Worm.
  • Upper-Class Twit: Somewhat, but not as bad as most of Laskmear's royalty.
  • What You Are in the Dark: Spares Worm's life, but tells Cardinal she killed him.

Valsrofen

An enchanted sword said to only be able to kill an opponent its master truly hates. Currently wielded by Sareash.

  • Mundane Utility: In The Nature of the Beast, Sareash uses it to slice a table in half and get everyone's attention. This works because, apparently, she always hated that particular table.
  • The Power of Hate: Actually restricts the damage it can do, since it supposedly only works if you truly hate someone.

Gigabob the Brave

Sareash's horse.

    Mad Crossbones 

Mad Crossbones

"He forgot the difference between the living and the dead. Both were equally comprised of reusable parts. Neither had anything interesting to say."

A powerful Elven wizard, Necromancer, and monster hunter for hire.

  • Bad Powers, Good People: A Necromancer who commands armies of skeletons and specializes in killing things. He mainly uses this power for the public good, and shows compassion to the victims of the Mother Leeches.
  • Bile Fascination: He carries around a disembodied, still-beating heart and enjoys dissecting bodies of monsters and humanoids alike.
  • Black Mage: Though he's proficient with weapons, he primarily battles using elemental and other combat spells. This is also how he trains Cardinal.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: He has a difficult time telling the living apart from the dead.
  • The Comically Serious
  • Dark Is Not Evil: It remains to be seen if Crossbones is ever altruistic, but at the very least he uses his necromancy and dark arts to save whole towns.
  • Dem Bones: He raises skeletons to not only fight for him, but to act as servants and pull his chariot.
  • Elemental Powers: A lot of his most frequent spells
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Cardinal, despite claiming not to be a "dude who's into dudes", can't stop thinking about how hot Mad is when he first encounters him.
  • Expy: Shares a few similarities to Gerault, being an aloof Hunter of Monsters with No Social Skills.
  • For Science!: His core goal is to find the secret to immortality. While he's mentioned in passing he'd take it if he could, his main reason is because he wants the knowledge for its own sake.
  • Frontier Doctor: Laskmeer, to humans, is a new frontier, and Mad is a traveling "Crossbones", or doctor.
  • An Ice Person: His favorite spells, next to necromancy, are ice-based. Fitting for his cold personality.
  • Immortality Seeker: His main goal is to find the secret to eternal life, although not necessarily for himself (though he mentioned he might use it), but because that would be an amazing thing to discover.
  • Lack of Empathy: Unlike fellow Elf and wizard Worm, Mad isn't actively cruel. He just doesn't really care how you feel one way or they other.
  • The Mentor: To Cardinal in spellcasting, and Sareash in Elven combat.
  • Put on a Bus: Leaves the crew without warning at the end of "Corpse Beetle".
  • Really 700 Years Old: He's lived for hundreds of years but looks no older than his 30s-40s.
  • Shock and Awe: Not as frequent as his ice spells, but he knows how to weild lightning.
  • The Spock: Matter-of-fact and calculating, not regarding emotional stakes at all.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: Cardinal keeps getting distracted by how hot he is.
  • Token Non-Human: An Elf in a human realm, traveling with two humans.
  • Token White: The only fair-skinned member of the initial Main Three.
  • Zerg Rush: His battle application for his Bone Boys.

Bone Boys

Skeletons reanimated by Mad who assist him in various tasks.

  • Cannon Fodder: Used by Mad as human shields.
  • Chariot Pulled By Dead Guys: Mad and Cardinal enter Aldroy with them pulling their cart.
  • Dem Bones: Reanimated skeletons.
  • Mundane Utility: Mad uses them to hand him items in experiments.
  • We Have Reserves: A non-villainous example, as they're already dead and nonsentient. Many are destroyed throughout the story because Mad can always make more.
  • Zerg Rush: One skeleton is easy to beat, but dozens of them swinging at you will at least wear you down enough to give Mad the upper hand.

     Worm 

Edreimlecheth / "Worm"

"Since you are a human, you would probably butcher my elvish name with your indelicate tongue. Among those in my field, however, I am known simply as Worm.”

An Elven sorceror and assassin in the League of Shadows and the first enemy the group encounters. However, as of "The Nature of the Beast", circumstances led to him joining Sareash, Cardinal, and Trog.

  • Animal Motif: He nicknamed himself "Worm", and the narrative often compares him to a caterpillar or butterfly. (Caterpillars are sometimes referred to as "worms").
  • Character Development: Thanks to his failures to manipulate Sareash and the bravery of Cardinal, he starts to reconsider his stance on humanity.
  • The Chessmaster:: He thinks he's one, anyway. His actual track record is hit-or-miss.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Sareash spares his life, and though it's not an overnight switch, he eventually forms an alliance with her.
  • Evil Is Petty: He doesn't just want to kill people; he wants to humiliate them for the slightest provacations.
  • Fantastic Racism: Regards humans as an inherently destructive plague.
  • Fiery Redhead
  • The Fundamentalist: A devout worshipper of Jerath.
  • The Heavy: He's only a hired hand in Lacturn's conspiracy, but he and Zavieeur are the first non-animal enemies the heroes directly fight.
  • Heel–Face Turn: In "The Nature of the Beast", he's so put-off by Drathe summoning the Beast of the Gulch that he sides with the heroes against it, and eventually joins them for real.
  • Hidden Depths: In "Corpse Beetle", Sareash notes he looks serene when he is near death, and he comments, "You people took everything from me, and now you've come to claim my life." What this means is yet to be seen, but from the sound of it either humans or the Royals in particular may have caused his Start of Darkness.
  • Jerkass: He's rude and condescending to enemies and allies alike.
  • Noble Demon: Cruel as he is, he has a code.
  • Smug Snake: A lot more confident in his abilities than he should me.
  • Spanner in the Works: Drathe's coup may have succeeded had it not been for Worm turning on her.
  • Token Evil Teammate: A smug, manipulative, merciless zealot with an insult for everybody eventually joins the Party without fully shedding any of these traits.
  • Token White: When he joins the main party, he's the only fair-skinned member since Mad Crossbones left weeks before.
  • Tragic Bigot: While he takes it too far, he has reasons for distrusting humanity given his backstory and what the Samaar did to the Goblins.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Sareash.

     Trog 

Trog

"Still just Trog."

The competent but unpopular Orcish leader of the Night Star Barrack. Joins the main party after the devastating battle with the Beast of the Gulch.

  • Because You Were Nice to Me: After wanting to kill Cardinal and Sareash for challenging her leadership, she joins them as a sort of protector when Cardinal offers her compassion.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Appears to be the more "human" enemy to the Beast's "monster" enemy in the Night Star Arc. In actuality, she's not the one the heroes needed to worry about.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Exiled from her homeland, then briefly found love before it tragically fell apart. Then targeted by who she thought was her best friend to be murdered and usurped as leader.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Despite being seen as plain-spoken and unwitty by herself and others, she has her moments.
    Sareash: "It's Sareash. My name is Sareash"
    Trog: "Um, Trog. Still only Trog."
  • Death Seeker: Her desire to die is constantly at battle with her natural will to live.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: After Cardinal beats her in a duel, spares her life, and gives her some life advice, she decides to join him on his quest.
  • Determined Defeatist: She's pretty sure that having hope in a better future is foolish, but at the end of Book 9 decides to at least try.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Due to her insecurity and self-loathing, she readily believed her husband would leave her for somebody else. It even turns out a lot like the trope namer.
  • Hunter of Monsters: Her upbringing as an orc made her one of the best in Lasmeer.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pretty impersonal and closed off, initially coming across as the arc villain; but eventually shows a good side.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: After killing her husband and his possible lover in a blind rage.
  • No Social Skills: Despite being a competent leader, she's also gruff and un-charasmatic; making her barrack ripe for mutineers.
  • We Used to Be Friends: She and Drathe were best friends with the latter first joined the barrack; but now they've grown distant and bitter toward each other. Subverted, in that Drathe was planning to kill her the whole time. She still looks sad when informed of her death, however.

Aldroy Royal Family and Court

     Sareash 

See "Main Party" above.

     King Farmaldas 

King Farmaldas of Aldroy

The King of Aldroy, regarded by most of the commoners as a loon because of his belief in The Rot Lord.

  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Although not so much due to wanting a specific life for his kid, but rather an (understandable) fear that his wreckless daughter will get herself killed trying to be a fighter.
  • Properly Paranoid: Prophecy or not, the way Sareash swings a sword at the beginning of "Ten Thousand Teeth" makes his worry about her trying to slay the Rot Lord understandable.
  • Upperclass Twit: Regardless on whether or not the prophecies he believes are true, they distract him from conspiracies right under his nose and the plight of his people.

     Lady Solth 

Lady Jenieer Solth, Queen of Ald

  • Ambiguously Evil: Until the end of "House of Flies", where she's revealed to be good.
  • Gold Digger: Her ultimate reason for marrying Farmaldas was to escape poverty, but luckily she's also genuinely fond of the man and ultimately cares for her stepdaughter despite their disagreements.
  • Rags to Riches
  • Wicked Stepmother: Sareash sees her as this, and she's not exactly blameless; she forces her to act like a "proper lady" and is very cold and controlling; though she's ultimately on the side of good.

     Lacturn 

Minister Deraldo Lacturn

The youngest and most charismatic of the King's council, who often gives out stupid advice. He is actually a revolutionary attempting to overthrow and kill the royal amily. Also the Protagonist of upcoming prequel book, "The Useless Prince".

  • Affably Evil: Genuinely charming and witty, even while leading a coup to kill the royals (which includes women and children).
  • Anti-Villain: If the story were all from his point of view, it wouldn't be difficult to see him as the good guy. The prequel tie-in, "The Useless Prince", is based around this concept. His methods are still extreme and cruel, but at least in that story, the monarchs he's facing are worse.
  • Big Bad: Leading the coup that sends Sareash on the run.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The Tale of the Useless Prince is all about his journey from an idle, hedonistic Governor's son to a violent revolutionary.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: As the son of a Governor, he had privileges but no purpose. He sets out on a boat to nowhere in particular and eventually embraces the goal of overthrowing the rich and monarchs.
  • The Ofzblart: A hedonist turning revolutionary in a whim, who only seems to fall upward.
  • I Am Legion: His true form, kind of. The spiders can split apart and think for themselves, but they have all of the living Lacturn's memories and personality.
  • Mighty Whitey: While race relations aren't the same in Laskmeer as in our realm, his story in Useless Prince still fits; the wealthy son of a nobleman shows up to a group of poor, oppressed revolutionaries (mostly made up of non-human races), and within a few days leads them to victory. Culhut weaponizes this, reasoning that a human of high birth can bring about change better than the rest of them could.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: As a member of the council.
  • Token White: Of the King's council, he's the only one of Alto descent.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's a radical revolutionary seeking to end monarchies, for the good of the people.
  • The Worm That Walks: After Culhut's pact with the Rot Lord to revive him, his body is turned into a hoarde of spiders that only appear human.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Sareash is technically nineteen, but just barely grown and he's more than willing to have her killed.

     Thermavorous 

Alucant Samhed Thermavorous, Minister of Warfare

     Malphum 

Minister Malphum

  • Out of Focus: So far, the least focused-on member of the Council.

     Igrislid Dajame 

Igrislid Dajame

The Captain of the Guard in Aldroy.

     Queen Velvet 

Queen Velvet

     Filsa the Seer 

Filsa the Seer

The Seer who foretold the slaying of the Rot Lord. She was eaten by a giant dragonfly.

The Shadow League

A group of skilled assassins for hire.

     Worm 

See "Main Party" above.

     Zavieeur 

Vslrischssch Zaiveeur Hrklsshssyk

A Clokken member of the Shadow Guild, and a pretty personable guy.

  • Above Good and Evil: Doesn't see himself as so much "above" as "alien" to most humanoid morality.
  • Affably Evil: A skilled killer-for-hire, but also a great conversationalist who means every word he says.
  • Anti-Villain
  • Because I'm Good At It: The main reason he's an assassin.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Clokkens don't have concepts of glory, heroism, deceit, or hate like most other races. They simply wish for the survival of their people. This makes attempting to appeal to Zavieeur's "better nature" a fool's errand.
  • Deader than Dead: Ultimately annihilated by the Decay Beam.
  • Friendly Enemy: He regards Cardinal as his friend even as he has him tied up, and the latter remarks that he finds it impossible to be offended.
  • The Heavy: He's only a hired hand in Lacturn's conspiracy, but he and Zavieeur are the first non-animal enemies the heroes direct fight.
  • Grappling-Hook Gun: Wields two of them; they suit his reptilian flexibility.
  • Lizard Folk: The Clokkens.
  • Simple-Minded Wisdom: A strange variant; Zavieeur is quick-thinking in a fight, but as his POV chapters show, he thinks in single sentences and experiences base emotions. Because of this, he cuts through the bullshit and gives Cardinal some interesting things to think about.
  • Smug Snake: Confidant that his fighting prowess and incantations will defeat the trio, and tells Cardinal as much as if it is scientific fact. Had Cardinal not just trained with a goddess, he might have been right...

Gods and Angels

     Gamoriel 

Gamoriel

A higher being with ambiguous intentions; often takes the form of a woman with blood-red hair.

  • Ambiguously Evil: She seems to be a force for good and for tearing down oppressive hierarchies. Cardinal, narrating from the future, notes that she is "fallen".
  • Fallen Angel: "I DIDN'T SIMPLY FALL! THE DESCENT BECAME THAT WHICH CONCIEVED ME!"
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: Implied throughout, and confirmed in "The Nature of the Beast" when she reveals her horrifying true self
  • The Mentor: To Cardinal, teaching him magic.
  • Shapeshifter: Takes on various forms during her training with Cardinal, most prominently that of a young woman with blood-red hair.

     The Rot Lord 

Keltnin Savos / Freghk-Lihng-Ghaugh / The Dirt King / The Rot Lord

A legendary god of decay who the ancient goblins and later the people of Laskmeer blame for the monsters that plague their land.

     Bal'zomest 

Bal’zomest

The ancient Dragon God of the Islands.

     Jareth 

A fairy god whose worshippers regard humanity as the source of all that's wrong in the world.

     Brannuc 

Branuuc, the Mighty Armed God

     The Almighty 

The Almighty

The Creator of the universe, and top of the foodchain as far as deities go.

  • Big Good: Said to be the highest on the heiarchy, and benevolent at that.
  • God - Quite possibly the Abrahamic God, or someone similar; Gamoriel speaks of Him creating both Earth and Laskmeer.

The Night Star Barrack

A clan, or "Barrack", of Beast Hunters led by Trog that Cardinal and Sareash join in "Sick Butterfly".

     Trog 

See Main Party above.

     Drathe 

Drathe

     Memeunta 

Memeunta

     Graggi Nucolt 

Graggi Nucolt

A Dwarf who wants to persuade Night Star to go after the Beast of the Gulch.

     Releeze 

A Clokken bartender in the Night Star common area.

  • Lizard Folk: A Clokken.
  • Non-Action Guy: Appears to be a sort of "support staff" to the. monster hunters, rather than a hunter himself.

     Vostag 

Vostag

The original leader of the barrack, and Drathe's father, who was killed by Trog.

  • Ascended Extra: Gets a larger role in "Bru-Nack".
  • Asshole Victim: A xenophobe who picked a fight with a wounded orc just because of his prejudice, and winded up getting killed.
  • Death by Racism: See above.
  • Entitled to Have You: Thinks that Bru-Nack is obligated to stay with him because he took him in.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Genuinely gentle to his daughter, and at first to Bru-Nack.
  • Tragic Bigot: Hinted at; he grew up in harsh lands under a treaty to honor foreign customs, and views other races outside humanity as more powerful and therefore more dangerous.

Animals, Beasts, and Monsters

     In General 

  • Non-Malicious Monster: The monsters either natural predators trying to eat, instinctually territorial, or being controlled by The Beastmaster. They can't really be blamed on a moral level even if their actions are horrified.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Since they're animals who terrorize the human population, their deaths aren't met with much pathos.

     Teratietus Loxineegus 

Teratietus Loxineegus

The first giant bug Cardinal faces in "Web of Bones".

  • Giant Spider
  • Starter Villain: For an amnesiac waking up in a cave, these things are deadly. If Cardinal were to encounter them in the series' current spot, they'd be cannon fodder.

     Horses 

The most common mount in both Laskmeer and historical times in Cardinal's homeworld..

  • Token Heroic Orc: The only non-humanoid animals who aren't either predators or prey to people, due to being herbivores bred for riding and probably not native to Laskmeer.

     Zarklago 

The Zarklago

A giant, cat-like beast; the first Cardinal actively fights.

     Yellow Horned Dancers 

Yellow Horned Dancers

Large flying stinging bugs that can kill human beings.

  • The Swarm: A swarm of deadly insects.
  • Jerkass: As a species, they don't even eat meat. They just kill because they're territorial.
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: The color of bees or yellow jackets, chirp like crickets, devour like locusts, have a reputation for being needlessly aggressive like wasps, and are referred to in the title as "flies".

     Mother Leeches 

Mother Leeches

A species of giant leeches that paralyze their victims and lay eggs in their bodies.

  • Body Horror: They paralyze and sedate their victims and put their larva in their bodies.
  • Fantastic Drug: Their sedating venom can be harvested into controlled dosages to get people high. It's actually a popular side-gig for Monster Hunters to sell after they kill them.
  • Fate Worse than Death: As parasites, they prefer for their victims to stay alive as long as possible while their young feast on their flesh. Even ''Mad'' feels sympathy for those caught up in their swamp.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Monsters before them could be intimidating and creepy, but the Mother Leeches using their venom on Cardinal and almost laying eggs in him kicked off a consistently darker tone for the rest of the series; taking things from action/adventure to pure horror.
  • Mama Bear: A dark example; they paralyze other creatures, including humans, for their children; and fight anybody who tries to stop them.
  • Parasititic Horror: Comes with being leeches.

     Valps 

Valps

     Corpse Beetles 

Corpse Beetles

     Beast of the Gulch 

The Beast of the Gulch

A miles-spanning underground monster residing in a Gulch near the Night-Star Barrack.

  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: After her duel with Cardinal, it grabs Drathe and drags her to its clutches.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Initially seems to be the monster enemy at the same time as Trog being the "human" enemy by opposing the heroes at Night-Star; turns out its actually this to Drathe.
  • The Dreaded: Directly challenging it is seen as a suicide mission.
  • Eldridge Abomination: The closest monster to one so far.
  • The Heavy: Its true role in the Night-Star arc; summoned, though not necessarily controlled, by Drathe's flute.

Races of Alto-Sammar and Laskmeer

     Humans 

In General

  • Always Chaotic Evil: Worm and other followers of Jareth see them as a plague, with no regard for individual variations.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Seen as shallow and destructive by many other races.

Samaa People

The brown/tan-skinned people native to Samaar, who were exiled by the Alto 111 years ago to the dangerous island of Laskmeer.

  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Their belief in the Dragon Gods has similarities to Abrahamic beliefs (lampshaded by Cardinal), and they physically resemble people from the Mediterranian, Middle East, or South Europe.

Alto People

Fair-skinned humans and current rulers of Alto-Samaar.

The Calde

     Elves 

High Elves

Forest Elves

     Dwarves 

     Clokkens 

A humanoid reptilian people who generally live in homogenous swamp communities in Laskmeer, though some individuals strike out to do business with other species.

  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: They're not evil, but they can come across this way to humans because their culture lacks abstract concepts like dignity, honor etc. They value family, the survival of their species, pragmatism, and politeness. It's to the extent where it's actually diffict to be angry at a Clokken assassin, because you really know it's not personal.
  • Lizard Folk: They resemble humanoid lizards.
  • The Spock: Driven primarily by pragmatism and efficiency.

     Orcs 

In General

  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: Something common in all orc cultures; even the studious Bloodskulls, outside of their elite intellectuals, hold an esteem for battle and bravery.

Jackalfang Orcs

  • Dumb Muscle: Their culture isn't as invested in science as the Bloodskulls, and are regarded as savages by them.

Bloodskull Orcs

  • Flat-Earth Atheist: They reject any gods and embrace invention, despite living in a world surrounded by magic.
  • For Science!: Inventors are regarded with the highest esteem in their culture, even higher than the still-respected warriors.
  • Warrior Poet: The ideal Bloodskull is a skilled and ruthless warrior who also can write poetry and is inquisitive about the world around them.

     Goblins 

The native inhabitants of Laskmeer, driven away or into hiding by the Saama. Small green people who are regarded by historians as cruel, but whose folk beliefs influence the current culture.

  • Always Chaotic Evil: Deconstructed. Treated this way in in-universe histories and stories; they were apparently a culture based around cruelty who worshipped a God of Decay; and the Saamar were defending themselves from attacks when they slaughtered them. However, everyone from the peasants to the King of Laskmeer takes heed of their folk stories, and when we see a clan of them in Drathe's backstory they're superstitious but benign, and honor their end of a treaty with her village.
  • Fantasy Conflict Counterpart:
    • Like Europeans and Native Americans, they were nearly wiped out by foreign settlers and villainized by history as savage aggressors, while their folklore was still held in high esteem by said settlers.
    • Like Australians and Aboriginies, the settlers were forced (as a penal colony in Australia and as a people-group exile in Laskmeer) by a more powerful government than them to go to an island widely seen as wild and dangerous, where they had conflicts with the Natives that ended with said exiles gaining most political power.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: As a culture, they're demonized as another monster that the people of Laskmeer had to put down. It's implied that this is widely victors writing history.
  • The Remnant: After the genocide, a few tribes still exist on the island.

     Crowmen 

A race resembling humans and crows that lives in treetops.

  • Bird People: They look like giant crows and emit "CAWS!" between sentences.

Historical and Legendary Heroes

     King Aheerum 

King Aheerum

The King who was given Valsrofen by Bal'zomest, to slay his traitorous son.

     Prince Alcoor 

Prince Alcoor, son of King Aheerum

     General Turp Glurborn 

General Turp Glurbob

Characters Introduced in "The Tale of the Useless Prince"

     Captain Lodin 

Captain Lodin

     Davel 

Davvel

Mr. Exposition: Of theme rather than plot; he explains the wrathful Branuuc and the Dawrfish concept of "ofzblart" (a theatrical stock character whose role is to be a joke), which both become critical motifs for Lacturn.

Characters Introduced in "The Chronicle of Quelk the Slime"

     Melatala 

     Quelk 

     Selijah 

Characters Introduced in "Bru-Nack the Giant and his Eternal Stew"

     The Acolyte (MASSIVE SPOILERS) 

     Chaucer 

The halfling owner of the Silver Coin, who appears in "Bru-Nack the Giant".

  • Ambiguous Gender Identity: To Chomole's frustration, whether they are a man or a woman is hard to pin down. Though they seem to be nonbinary.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Has a wiseass remark for everyone.
  • Extreme Omnisexual: Men, women, angels, goblins... they seem to be into almost everyone, as long as they're not traditionally attractive.
  • Has a Type: Claims that they used to be into the young and beautiful; but their current taste is extremely ugly people.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They're a greedy, selfish wiseass; but they speak gently to Bru-Nack when he's been upset.
  • Mx. Exposition: Catches Chomole (and the audience) up on Bru-Nack's journey through the Time Skip.
  • Seen It All: Uninterested in the supernatural, if it won't yield a profit, because they've been around it so often before.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Trades horrible insults with Yaziz, which seems to be an odd sort of foreplay.
  • Shout-Out: Their name is one to Geoffrey Chaucer, who was also a crass storyteller.

     Bru-Nack the Giant 

  • The Alcoholic: Ever since the age of seven; Lak gave him grog to treat the pain from his burns, and he got hooked.
  • Animal Motif: Whalesnakes; a large but gentle creature often mistaken for fierce.
  • Beard of Sorrow: His beard in Part 5; it's dusty gray, unkempt, and harboring dandruff.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Deconstructed; the giant sometimes performs feats of stregnth that prove you don't want to piss him off; but his stamina gives out very quickly and he always feels immense guilt.
  • Celibate Hero: He's only been significantly attracted to two people, Hek and Clemori. After the latter's death, he doesn't show any interest in sex or romance at all.
  • Cordon Bleau Chef: How Chomole sees his "anything edible can go in" rule for his stew.
  • Disabled Badass: He's a burn victim with crippling gigantacism and only one ear; but he survives extremely harsh conditions and is capable of swift acts of retribution. At the very least, he's good at appearing badass.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: For most of his life, he drinks and eats hallucinogenic plants to keep bad memories and physical pain at bay. It becomes ten times worse after Clemori dies in childbirth.
  • Functional Addict: Justified; due to his immense size, it takes a lot of ale to actually get him drunk. Though not for lack of trying. He chases any and every high he can find, but it rarely affects his ability to function in life.
  • Genius Ditz: He's slow on the uptake and mispronounces words (also completely butchers the Goblin tongue), but he's a voracious reader with an encyclopedic knowledge of myth and culinary facts.
  • Gentle Giant: He never wants to hurt anybody, just tend his stew and help people.
  • Gonk: Increasingly as he ages, depending on whose point of view he's being seen from.
  • Heroic Redhead: When he was a child, he had bright orange hair. This extends to his beard, which later turns grey-and-white.
  • Hidden Depths: In Lak and Chomole's POV chapters, he comes across as a moron; but in his own, it's shown that he thinks deeply about literature, religion, and ethics. He also picks up a little more on social cues than others expect, he's just slow on the uptake until after conversations are had.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Part of why Chomole hates him is that he'll unintentionally insult him with his crude ways. His wife even chastises him for coldly refusing the stew to an orphan, based on the rules.
  • Insufferable Imbecile: How Chomole reads his "Bru-Nackisms".
  • Lethal Chef: Chomole thinks he's one, but nobody else seems to agree.
  • Malaproper: Because he reads a lot but spent most of his childhood speaking broken Goblin, he mispronounces a lot of big words. Mosspelt and Chomole find it annoying, while his wife Clemori thinks his "Bru-Nackisms" are adorable.
  • Manchild: Because of a mixture of traumatic events stunting his emotional growth and what's probably autism, he acts like a kid (albeit a Precocious Child) well into adulthood. He struggles with understanding social nuances and reacts to hardships by shutting down.
  • Stopped Caring: After Clemori's death, the only thing he doesn't have this attitude toward is his stew. He's completely forgone self-care and forming relationships beyond pleasantries.

The Eternal Stew

  • Companion Cube: Bru-Nack treats it as a living thing he's responsible for caring for.
  • Disney Death: Chomole poisons it with bloodfruit extract, but a splash of it got on the Acolyte's shirt beforehand and she's able to restore it.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It remains unknown if it's truly a stew heated in the hearth of gods at the dawn of creation; or if it's just a 20-year-old parlor trick. Bru-Nack ultimately decides it doesn't matter, he's going to treat it as sacred.
  • Ship Of Theseus: Most likely does not have any of the ingredients it started out with.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Due to being constantly added to, it serves as one for multiple people; Bru-Nack joins it with the creek soup Hek cooked right before he died in battle (which also had greenspice from his parents' bushels), then later becomes the guardian of the whole pot when Petri dies. It's also the only thing he has from his role with the Yiroites.
  • Vague Age: Due to the legend around it being difficult to prove or disprove; it may have been around since the dawn of time, or it may have just been thrown together by Petri before he met Bru-Nack.

     Chomole Orlock 

  • Animal Motif: The riverrat; a solitary rodent obsessed with cleanliness.
  • Death Seeker: Bru-Nack speculates he may be one when he tries to pick a fight.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He hates Bru-Nack, but draws the line at potentially hurting his child.
  • Foil: To Bru-Nack; a tidy, handsome young man concerned with appearances.
  • Freudian Excuse: As the son of a baker, he had to act as a target for the peasants' discontentment in his hometown. This causes him to view lower classes as dim, crass, and cruel.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Weirdly enough, his snobbery does not extend to animals or children. His best friend at the Inn of the Silver Coin is a giant rat.
  • Jaded Washout: Essentially the fantasy version of a guy who peaked in college.
  • Kick the Dog: Even after hearing Bru-Nack's life story and realizing he read him entirely wrong, he still poisons the stew.
  • Pretty Boy: Described as pretty or handsome by multiple other characters.
  • Sitcom Archnemesis: A coworker variant; he and Bru-Nack do not see eye-to-eye, and he eventually poisons his stew.
  • Villain Protagonist: His POV chapter places him at odds with the hero.

     Lak 

  • Defrosting Ice Queen: It takes decades, but she finally warms up to showing parental affection to her adoptive son by the end.
  • A Lighter Shade of Black: She leads a clan that raids and pillages from other goblins, but she does so out of necessity, not cruelty; and while she's cold and insulting to Bru-Nack, she's his only surrogate parent who doesn't lie to him.
  • Parental Substitute: As leader of the clan who takes in Bru-Nack, she reluctantly becomes his.

     Clemori 

  • All Women Are Lustful: She plays this up to mess with Bru-Nack.
  • Dude Magnet: Bru-Nack falls in love with her at first sight and Cahtan builds her up as something of a goddess in his stories.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Subverted; if she were with any other male character, she'd be the tall one. But her husband is about two feet taller, and significantly wider as well.
  • The Leader: Though as a Yiroite she doesn't want to be considered one, it's clear she's the one coordinating her group.
  • The Lost Lenore: Her death sends Bru-Nack into a decade-long depression.
  • Statuesque Stunner: About six feet tall, making her tower over her entire team until her husband joins the mix.
  • Troll: Limited to light teasing rather than hurting feelings; but she enjoys seeing people flustered.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: How Cahtan describes her relationship, anyway.

     Mosspelt Hollyclove 

  • The Cynic: Doesn't believe most people are smart or capable enough to handle the whole truth about anything.

     Cahtan 

  • Control Freak: Has to monitor everything his followers do, no matter how arbitrary.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: He believes himself to be the ultimate messenger of God, who will usher in a new age by overthrowing the current rule. In reality, he only has a hold on a few dozen people and hardly any of the great leaders know he exists.
  • Smug Snake: He's not nearly as good at manipulation as he thinks he is. While those in his cult are under his charm, Clemori and co. don't for a second fall under his spell.

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