Minor characters

Ensigns and officers

She/her - 37 years old - yutaaq

Not born to a noble family, Degird has given her life to the navy and earned her position. She is cautious and conservative, slow to anger, and handles stress well. She thinks before acting, and is a force for stability on the bridge. Kiiairo trusts her implicitly, but she often butts heads with Haarstad.

From one of the northern colonies. Enjoys playing music, especially the flute, and has previously dueted with Noksaitaa.

Red-brown hair in a chignon, hazel eyes. Dark skin.

Pilot Bjarne Lind

He/him - 38 years old - yutaaq

Obedient, hard-working, and faithful, Pilot Lind has doubts about Lament’s actions over the last few years but trusts the captain to guide them correctly. He knows his place in the hierarchy and trusts that those above him know better than he does.

Lind is from Pieksylaki, and spent much of his childhood at sea. In his off-time, he enjoys sailing and fishing with his husband and their two children.

Brown hair and hazel eyes. Pale skin which is now sun-browned and weathered.

Ensign Rasmus Thaulow

He/him - 27 years old - yutaaq

The son of a middle-class family, Thaulow sometime helps Friis during surgery. Has a steady hand and a strong stomach. Having joined the navy with the intent of becoming an officer, he now wants to leave and be a dentist.

He enjoys birdwatching and is deeply homesick.

Reddish hair, cropped short and beginning to bald. Grey-blue eyes, described uncharitably as ‘fish-like’.

Ensign Iselin Claewin

She/her - 29 years old - yutaaq

Daughter of a major landowner, Claewin is training to be a navigator. She is inquisitive, intelligent, and detail-orientated, but makes poor choices in her romantic life. Infrequently involved with Haarstad.

Likes neat raki and dancing.

Blonde hair and brown eyes, masculine presentation.

Gunnery Officer Ossi Haarstad

He/him - 31 years old - yutaaq

Son of a minor noble from Pieksylaki, Haarstad is a popular man with a reputation for romantic dalliances.

Haarstad was a newly-qualified officer when the War started – a typical bright-eyed, overly-keen public schoolboy. He has carefully retained this cheerful attitude throughout Lament’s outlawing and exile, which makes him attractive to people who want to forget, but also means that Commander Kiiairo considers him hopelessly immature and unfit for promotion.

Likes dancing, drinking, and flirting.

Short, dark hair with a fashionable pencil moustache and blue eyes.

Surgeon’s Mate Master Erik Nielsen

He/him - 26 years old - yutaaq

Used to be the butcher’s boy, now Friis’ apprentice on Lament. Nervous and wracked with impostor syndrome. Fully aware that the officers look down on him.

Originally from Felkirrin and worried about his family. Thinks he could manage to become a surgeon once they get home.

Used to whittle and carve in his spare time, but never has any now.

Brown-black hair, brown eyes, pale skin.

Marines

Marine Captain Katrin Ditril

She/her - 53 years old - yutaaq

Ditril is assertive, tenacious, direct, and somewhat unimaginative. She places her faith in the chain of command and believes in the strength on the hierarchy. She trusts Noksaitaa implicitly.

Unmarried and disinterested in relationships, she hopes to retire and join a nunnery where she can pursue in her interest in teaching fitness.

Dark blonde hair, grey eyes, and a large scar across her face, which twists her mouth and causes her to slur her speech. Speaks Bjerian fluently and Huswat badly.

Marine Sergeant Tobias Rask

They/them - 48 year-old - ialy

Career military, child of a military family. Reached the rank of Marine Sergeant before being killed by a nivris during the raid on the merchant vessel. They are also the soldier Magni fought on Kahawi.

Originally from Felkirrin, Rask has no surviving family to speak of and never married, but has an unknown number of illegitimate children.

Likes drinking, listening to the radio, and playing backgammon.

Light brown hair, grey-brown eyes, white aposematic stripes, mostly faded.

Lieutenant Finn Laugesen

He/him - 34 years old - ialy

The marine guarding Lament in Bulun. Married four years ago, during the war, to a teacher. He misses his wife and is unaware he has children but will be delighted when he finds out.

Likes jazz music and hiking with his dogs.

Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, yellow aposematic stripes

Sailors

Luitwin Haeften

He/him - 78 years old - ialy

Haeften joined the navy at 13, wanting to see the world. Widowed and childless, he sends all his money back home to his sister and her family and continues to work despite his arthritic hands and hips, because he likes to travel and enjoys the company. Soft-spoken with a gentle manner, his fatherly advice is well-received by his colleagues and he is well-regarded, even if he has a tendency to fall asleep during his shifts.

Collects postcards and enjoys sitting in the sun and listening to the sea.

Balding and grey across the muzzle, his aposematic markings are completely faded and many of his quills are broken or missing.

Lars Dalsgaard

He/him - 45 years old - ialy

Dalsgaard joined the service when his wife was conscripted. The son of a farmer, Dalsgaard is quick to play on people’s perceptions of him as simple and ignorant. He is honest, perceptive, and a solid engineer who enjoys romance novels and swimming.

He breaks his femur falling down a ladder shortly after Lament’s flight through the Sea of Storms and will never be allowed to forget it by his crewmates.

Reddish-brown hair, hazel eyes, and yellow-green aposematic marks.

Regine Mollens

She/her - 42 years old - ialy

Mollens has big personality and enjoys being the centre of attention. She is friendly, but prone to blasphemy and has little respect for hierarchies. She volunteered for the navy as soon as the war broke out, keen to defend her country, and met her husband, Juliaan Genest in service, pursing and seducing him. She and Juliaan abandoned Lament for a pirace crew in 9.21, both of them having having struggled to show proper respect to officers.

She is from one of Bjeria’s eastern colonies and enjoys drinking, gambling, and arguing with her husband, Juliaan Genest.

Juliaan Genest

He/him - 23 years old - ialy

Laid back and adaptable, Genest is generally happy to let others take the lead, but is quick to puncture overinflated egos. He is generally honest with a strong sense of fairness and shows affection via insults. He works as the ship’s cook and is married to Regine Mollens.

He is from one of Bjeria’s eastern colonies and enjoys cooking, drinking, and arguing with his wife.

Non-crew

Ioane

She/her - 45 years old - kana’onah

One of Alford’s closet friends, Ioane is a newcomer to Kono’i. Employed by the Kahamoana museum, she works with Alford and considers them to be friends. She has schizophrenia but is largely at peace with her hallucinations.

She is unmarried and is close to moulting.

Likes reading and trying new food, and is a member of the Kahamoana choir.

Gwynn “Doc” Edris

She/her - 27 years old (appears 90+ years old) - ialy

A member of Magni’s team of thieves, Doc is a previously-convicted conwoman who has adopted the identity of an elderly necromancer, Sister Anwynn, in order to get closer to Alford and help Magni and Sìle steal the totem of Sìle’s god.

She met Magni in prison three years ago, and they have worked and travelled together since. She has an extensive knowledge of medical treatment but is not a qualified doctor.

Bela Weiss

She/her - 24 years old - yutaaq

An agent for Transtep International, Bela is involved in smuggling and illegally trading artifacts. She has few ambitions beyond making money and enjoying life.

Equally comfortable socialising with all social strata, she enjoys music and dancing, especially in jazz halls, and – with a small revolver and a knife strapped to her thigh – she fancies herself a real-life Honey Mäkinen.

Queen Mejela Litia-Agbayani