Morgaine and Company
Morgaine
Morgaine
An immortal dimensional traveller tasked with sealing the Gates lest they destroy reality itself. She is mysterious, cold, and ruthless, willing to do anything to achieve her goal.
- Anti-Hero: She has undeniably good aims, but she's utterly ruthless about accomplishing her goals.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: She becomes uncharacteristically angry when Vanye expresses sympathy for her PTSD-induced nightmares, although she apologizes shortly after.
- Heroic BSOD: She goes into a major one after Ryn is accidentally killed by Changeling.
- Ice Queen: She's stoic, cold, and ruthless, but she warms significantly to Vanye and shows a soft spot for him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's cold and ruthless, but she's not heartless. She has genuinely noble goals and she genuinely cares about Vanye and Ryn, even though she tries hard not to show it.
- Not So Stoic: She's generally calm and cold, but when the image cracks it cracks hard, most notably after Ryn's death where she pleadingly asks Vanye why he decided to die for her.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: She's heavily implied to suffer from PTSD, having nightmares each night about her failure to destroy the master Gate and the deaths of her troops.
- The Stoic: She's generally cold and calm even when in severe danger. When the mask cracks, though, it cracks had.
Nhi Vanye e Chya
Nhi Vanye e Chya
The bastard son of a Nhi lord and a Chy captive exiled after killing his half-brother in self-defense. He was declared an illin, essentially a ronin who has unwittingly sworn loyalty to Morgaine and to help her on her quest.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's kind to a fault, but extremely ruthless and violent in a fight.
- Fatal Flaw: His tendency to put Honor Before Reason results in him doing a lot of stupid and self-destructive things even when he's aware it likely won't turn out well for him.
- Heroic Vow: After unwittingly pledging his loyalty to Morgaine, he becomes dedicates to helping her in her quest to destroy the Gates.
- Honor Before Reason: His Fatal Flaw. He values his honor above all else, and thus he dedicates himself to helping Morgaine in spite of knowing the dangers wherein. When Erij offers to end his banishment and pardon him entirely, Vanye refuses because he's honorbound to aid Morgaine.
- Nice Guy: He's compassionate, gentle, and good-natured to a fault. He's also far more prove than Morgaine to trying to use diplomacy with their enemies.
- Subordinate Excuse: He clearly has feelings for Morgainr, but hides them beneath his code of honor and his Heroic Vow to help her.
Andur-Kursh
Nhi
Nhi Erij
Nhi Erij
Vanye's legitimate half-brother, who wants to capture him avenge the implosion of their family after his exile.
- Aloof Big Brother: While he joined in on Kandrys's bullying, he was generally kinder to Vanye even if he kept him at arm's length.
- Anti-Villain: He's an antagonist towards Morgaine and Vanye, but all he wants is his brother back so he can hold on to the only family he has left. Unfortunately, his desire to keep Vanhe safe puts him at odds with Morgaine.
- Fingore: Vanye chops off several of the fingers in his right hand when he tried to protect Kandrys. It leads to gangrene that results in his whole hand being amputated.
- Mood-Swinger: He has frequent mood swings, alternating between angry, gentle, or depressed on a dime.
- Moral Myopia: He admits that Kandryss was trying to kill Vanye and that he would have went along with it, but still holds a grudge against him for killing him and chopping off Erij's hand.
- Red Right Hand: A hook in place of his hand, lost to gangrene after Vanhe injured it.
- Tragic Hero: His refusal to allow Vanye to finish his quest with Morgaine and his pursuit of them ultimately results in him losing any chance he had of keeping his brother close to him, and forces him to exile him once more.
- Unreliable Expositor: Everything he says about his and Vanye's past is contradictory and tends to alternate depending on his mood swings.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: He initially wants to kill Vanye in revenge, but the loss of his family has left him lonely and ultimately he decides he'd rather have his brother by his side than anything else.
Nhi Rijan
Nhi Rijan
Vanye's father and the lord of Nhi.
- Abusive Parents: While he favored Kandrys, it's implied he was neglectful towards Vanye and Erij. After Erij lost his fingers, Rijan turned on him for being disabled and is heavily implied to have abused him.
- Death by Despair: He loses his will to live after Kandrys's death and Vanye's banishment, and ultimately dies because of it.
- Domestic Abuse: Erij implies he began abusing his wife after Vanye's exile and speculates he actually killed her.
- Jerkass: While he genuinely cared about Vanye prior to Kandrys' death, he's still a neglectful and at times abusive man.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives an absolutely vicious one to Vanye while banishing him.
Nhi Kandrys
Nhi Kandrys
Vanye's brother, who he murdered in self-defense.
- Big Brother Bully: He delighted in bullying Vanye and even tried to murder or at least injure him, resulting in Vanye killing him in turn.
- Posthumous Character: He does shortly before the beginning of the story, with it beginning directly after Vanye kills him.
Chya
Chya Roh
Chya Roh
The lord of the Chya and Vanye's cousin.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's Hot-Blooded and aggressive, but he genuinely cares about Vanye and offers him refuge with the Chya out of kindness. He even agrees to help him with Morgaine's quest simply to help free him from the debt (and for the added benefit of taking down Thiye).
Leth
Leth Kasedre
Leth Kasedre
The mad lord of the Leth.
- The Caligula: He's completely out of his mind due to the Gates's influence, but he still commands an entire clan. Even Liell seems put off by him.
- The Dreaded: He's feared by pretty much everyone for his violent insanity.
- Psychopathic Manchild: He has a distinctive childish disposition, and he certainly didn't earn his reputation for nothing.
Chya Liell
Chya Liell
A Chya defector who serves as Kasedre's advisor.
- Grand Theft Me: His body was stolen by Vri sometime prior to the story.
Hjemur
Chya Vri
Chya Vri
A former ally of Morgaine's who betrayed her to serve Thiye. He eventually cut ties with Thiye and used the Gates to become a body-swapping entity possessing his descendants.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's nothing but polite and genteel, but it hides a shcoking amount of brutality and ruthlessness.
Thiye
Thiye
The leader of Hjemur who hijacked the master Gate to grant himself immortality.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's murdered by Vri at the end of the first book.
