Zama the Zealot. Imagine Sislo, but bigger, stronger, and way nastier. When we first see him, he's filled a shack full of butchered folk, and he wastes no time attacking Tetheril and throwing Sislo around.
The way he pulls a bloody sword out of his mouth during the same confrontation.
The nightmare Sislo has where Onxiox taunts him with the fact that he cannot run from his past. It features our protag Atop a Mountain of Corpses as he feasts on his own wife. Sislo's pretty freaked out when he wakes up, but it's a perfect indicator of how traumatized he is of his past with the Iron Industry.
High Witch Chela. Ondiox's second-in-command, and master manipulator. The more we learn about her, the most unsettling she gets.
The fact that even Ondiox can barely control her. She only really joined the Druden because that way she could get away with sowing chaos everywhere, particularly with a Fantastic Drug known as witch blood (the origins aren't clear, but the name is indicative enough). Should she get bored, there's no stopping her from turning on presumably the most powerful man in the land.
Her fascination with Zama is a twisted take on Sislo and Tetheril's relationship. Unlike that couple's wholesome and powerful bond, she treats Zama like a guinea pig she can use in any way she wants. This is best shown how Zama comes back from the brink of death because of her, bandaged and more bloodthirsty than ever.
Any and all times Sislo's eyes go red. Then you just know he's going to tear everyone and everything apart as his mind devolves into that of a voracious rage-fueled animal. The bad guys ensure this happens more than once.
Iron Lord Ondiox. As if his insanely muscular build and tall stature (even taller than Sislo) wasn't intimidating enough, he's the number one reason everything in Etrea's gone to pot. That cold red-eyed stare juxtaposed with his gentlemanly disposition/apparel just sends all the wrong vibes. But even worse is how he just seems to CASUALLY be able to throw even the strongest characters around like ragdolls when given the chance.
Him forcing Sislo to watch as he unveils the Awful Truth of his past to Tetheril. And all the Cherufe can do is beg him to stop, so powerful is his grip on the guy.
Chela using her magic to trick Sislo into thinking Ondiox shot Tetheril. It causes his promise to fight the Iron Lord as a man instead of a monster to go to pieces, and the Cherufe devolves into a red-eyed beast. Soldiers are torn apart and he and Ondiox trade vicious blows as he shouts incoherently that he'll kill them all. All while Chela forces Tetheril to watch.
Sislo getting his arm graphically sliced off by Zama. We get a nice look at the bloodied stump still oozing blood and viscera.
The nightmare realm Chela traps Tetheril in. All of her worst fears, from spiders (which, to be fair, doesn't phase her for long) to Sislo's berserk mode are here. But worse than that is Chela herself, who toys with the dryad until she gets the chance to gouge her eyes out and magically make them her own. While in the form of Sislo. Thankfully, she didn't account for just how powerful Tetheril could be.
