Go here to return to the main characters page
The Marlovans are a horse-riding, martial oriented people descended from the Venn many generations back. Their name comes from the term Marolo-Venn, the exiled Venn.
About two hundred years prior to the time of the Inda books the Marlovans took over Iasca Leror, leaving their nomadic existence to settle in castles and blending through marriage with the original population of the area. The current rulers are the Montrei-Vayir family, who came to power when their ancestor stabbed the then-monarch, Savarend Montredavan-An, in the back. The Montrei-Vayirs made a treaty that forced the Montredavan-An descendants to remain confined to their lands of Darchelde for 10 generations, unable to send heirs to attend the royal Academy and not permitted to marry their daughters out to other families.
Due to the nature of Arranged Marriage in this society (the daughters being raised with their betrothed's family from childhood), aristocratic girls/women will be included under the families they are to marry into rather than their own.
In General
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Because given names are handed down and repeated a lot across generations, particularly in the aristocratic families, a lot of characters end up being referred to only by their nicknames. Most nicknames in the series came from the characters' stints at the Royal Academy (for the boys) or the Queen's Training (for the girls).
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: They measure honour and glory by fighting prowess and battle, and the emphasis on the importance of violence to their culture is a trait for which they are well known.
- Samurai Ponytail: They're descended from Vikings, not Samurai, but the men definitely all have the Samurai hairstyle.
- School Bullying Is Harmless: It's culturally expected that the older brothers in aristocratic families will beat on the younger, as it is believed that doing so will help toughen them up and make them better at their prescribed task of defending the family home. When the first class made up of younger brothers (the Tveis) begins attending the Academy, the older brothers encourage them to feud with one another, resulting in excessively violent fights that the adults only put a stop to when one child loses an eye and two others get broken ribs. Later on, the adult Tveis look back on their classroom days with nostalgia and good humour, none of them seeming to think there was anything particularly wrong about their behaviour or that of their brothers.
The Royal City
Anderle-Sierandael/Harskialdna
The younger brother of Tlennen-Sieraec and married to Ndara Cassad, the Sierandael is the head of the royal Academy to which the boys are sent to learn of warfare. He has dedicated his life's ambition to leading the Marlovan army in war and intends to serve as advisor and maintain power once his nephew the Sierlaef ascends the throne. To that end, he has worked to ensure the Sierlaef feels loyalty and debt toward him, while alienating him from the intended Sierandael-to-be, Evred-Varlaef.
- Believing Their Own Lies: It is mentioned a few times that part of what makes the situation with him so difficult is that he wholeheartedly believes that what he's doing is right. He really does think his way of doing things is the only right way, and that, for example, ship-to-ship battle is a ridiculous concept because warfare cannot possibly be decisively fought on water.
- Control Freak: He alternately fears or scorns anything beyond his control, and causes all sorts of problems trying (and ultimately failing) to be in complete control of the Sierlaef.
- Evil Uncle: It's a bit more complicated than flat-out evil, but he essentially plays this part to Evred and the Sierlaef.
- Parental Neglect: He really, really doesn't give a damn about his son Barend, even effectively thinking "good riddance" when he is told his son is probably dead.
- The Unapologetic: He never once acknowledges that his efforts to control the Sierlaef and everyone and everything else in his life and in the kingdom ended in disaster.
Aldren (the Sierlaef) Montrei-Vayir
- Alas, Poor Villain: As awful as he was, the scene we get from his father's point of view upon finding his recently killed body is pretty touching, as his father laments how difficult it was to communicate with him when they had nothing in common, and how much he regrets the distance that was always between them.
- Big Brother Bully: To Evred.
- Freudian Excuse: The first reason he became so aggressive and nasty toward Evred was because he couldn't learn how to read and felt humiliated that his much younger brother was so good at it. The Sierandael built on that resentment in order to drive a wedge between the two siblings.
- Pet the Dog: He is generally an arrogant, spoiled and entitled brat, completely unable to accept Joret's rejections of his attention and generally making a dishonourable ass of himself in literally everyone's eyes... but he also genuinely likes and cares for Hadand, his intended wife, and tries to come up with a way to give her honour even as he continues pursuing Joret.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Joret.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He has a brief moment of this in the first book, when his scheming leads to a kid being killed by accident.
Evred (Sponge) Montrei-Vayir
The second son of Tlennen Montrei-Vayir, king of the Marlovans, he values knowledge of history and languages and enjoys philosophical debate on those and other subjects with the other children in the Royal Nursery. He is supposed to become the Shield Arm of his brother (and therefore the entire country) when he inherits the throne, but due to his uncle's and brother's resentment he might be replaced by one of his brother's friends.
- Big Brother Bully: He has one, in the Sierlaef.
- Bookworm: His brother hates him for being one.
- Control Freak: He shows shades of this as he gets older, and even remarks on understanding his uncle a little better as he gains responsibilities.
- Gayngst: He has a little of this in the first book, worrying that he might lose the easy friendship of his classmates or become the target of seduction attempts if they realize he's only into men.
- Known Only by Their Nickname: Played with - he starts out this way, as do most of his peers, but at some point during the first book people (and the narrative) start referring to him by his given name more often than the nickname.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He tries to be this once he becomes king, with varying degrees of success.
- Spare to the Throne: He becomes king after his father, brother and uncle are all murdered as a result of an attempted coup.
Kialen Cassad
Evred's intended.
- A Death in the Limelight: The one and only time we see anything from her point of view is in the brief passage during which she overdoses on kinthus.
- Shrinking Violet: She's easily frightened by noise and violence, and mostly speaks in whispers and only to Hadand.
Ndara Cassad
Barend Montrei-Vayir
The son of Ndara and Anderle-Sierandael, he gets along well with Hadand and Sponge when they are children and is in fact the person who gave Sponge his nickname. Never having attended the Academy, he was sent to sea at a young age and has loved it ever since.
- Abusive Dad: Even by the standards of Marlovan's heavily violent culture, the Sierandael's attitude toward and treatment of Barend is pretty nasty.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He has a few scenes early in the first book, but it is mentioned later in passing that his ship was taken by pirates and he is presumed dead. Then he shows up at the very end of the first book with the pirates taking over Inda's ship, and becomes an important character for the remainder of the series.
Hadand Algara-Vayir
Inda's elder sister and the intended wife of the Sierlaef, whom she is afraid of because of the way he treats Sponge. At her mother's behest, she helps Inda learn the women's secret martial art, the Odni.
Queen Wisthia Shagal
The wife of Tlennen-Sieraec/Harvalder and mother to Evred and Aldren-Sierlaef. A princess from Anaeron-Adrani across the mountains, she was sent for political reasons to marry the Marlovan king. She loathes Marlovan culture, fearing its dedication to violence and viewing many of the Marlovan practices as barbaric.
Nallan
Hened Dunrend, King's RunnerOriginally introduced as Dun the Carpenter's assistant, signing onto the same merchant vessel as Inda at the same time, he is actually a King's Runner who was ordered to look out for Inda when the king sent him into exile. He never reveals his identity to Inda, hoping that someday they might both be able to return home, where it would be essential to avoid letting anyone know that the king had had anything to do with Inda's disappearance.
- Undying Loyalty: Literally. After he is killed he becomes a ghost and continues protecting Inda in battle.
Nightengale Toraca
The Adaluin (Prince)
Indevan-Dal (Inda) Algara-Vayir
The eponymous and main character, Inda loves his home and looks forward to his future as his brother's Randael (Shield Arm). His mother taught him much about history and ensured he learned how to speak and read Old Sartoran. He has a natural talent for command and battle tactics, which attracts negative attention from the wrong people and results in him being exiled from his homeland. Nevertheless, his skills as a leader and strategist, as well as the martial expertise drilled into him since childhood, allow him to flourish in his new life. He eventually becomes famed across the world.
- Blessed with Suck: He eventually feels this way about his talents as a fighter and commander, inwardly lamenting multiple times that the only thing he's good at is killing people.
- Covered with Scars
- Expecting Someone Taller: He's a lot shorter than people expect him to be, and this combined with his poor/plain dress sense and youth leads to people being frequently surprised that he's Elgar the Fox.
- Improbable Age: He's younger by at least a few years than a lot of his classmates, and yet at the time when they are still kept away from direct fighting and learning the ropes of command at the Academy he leads a mutiny and starts his war against the Brotherhood of Blood. Most people who meet him in the second book are surprised that he's really Elgar the Fox. By the third and fourth, the surprise tends to be at his actual age because he's been prematurely aged by some pretty awful experiences.
- Living Legend: He becomes famed across the world as Elgar the Fox, from the misspelled false name he chose when he was first banished and hired on to a merchant ship and the fox banner that he flies on his main ship. In the third book, he also earns fame in his homeland as Evred's Harskialdna. According to
Word of God, after his death the legends of Elgar the Fox and Indevan-Harskialdna eventually become separated into two distinct entities. - Obfuscating Stupidity: He uses this so Walic doesn't have him killed.
- Oblivious to Love: He has no idea Evred is in love with him.
- Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Several of his scars were gained when he was being tortured by Wafri.
- The Prodigy
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: By the end of the third book.
- These Hands Have Killed: The first time he kills someone it's with his bare hands. Afterward, he is really shaken up.
- The Oath-Breaker: In the fourth book, after he decides not to follow Evred's order to take the Strait and ensure a lasting peace by placing it under Marlovan control.
- You Can't Go Home Again: He believes this for the second half of the first book and almost the entirety of the second.
- Young and in Charge: Of the Marine Defenders and later the Fox Banner Fleet. By the time he becomes Harskialdna he's an adult, but people are still surprised by how young he is.
Tdor Marth-Davan
Inda's wife-to-be, she is nearly two years older than him. She's very introspective and thoughtful
- Parting-Words Regret: The last words she says to Inda before he goes to the Academy (and then is banished for almost 10 years) are "It's not a war game, haywit," scolding him for being childishly excited at the prospect of watching a battle. She regrets it for the whole of those nine years.
- Plain Jane: She's no great looker, especially next to Joret.
- Single-Target Sexuality: For Inda. She goes to pleasure houses sometimes, like everyone else, but he's the only person 'for whom the fires burn'.
Jarend-Adaluin Algara-Vayir
Tanrid-Laef Algara-Vayir
- Big Brother Bully: To Inda, though he does also genuinely love and feel proud of him.
- Tough Love: The way he treats Inda - physically abusive as he is, he acts the way he does because he's been told all his life that the reason his father's first family died was because Jarend-Adaluin didn't train his little brother well enough in defense.
Fareas-Iofre Fera-Vayir
Branid Algara-Vayir
Joret Dei
- Seduction-Proof Marriage: Somewhat unusually in this series, she ends up in one with Valdon.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: She's drop-dead gorgeous, even as a child, and finds herself uncomfortable with the amount of attention she gets. When the Sierlaef falls head over heels for her it just gets worse.
Runners
ChelisGhosts
The Jarls and Other Noble Families
Savarend Montredavan-An (Fox)
- Alcoholic Dad: He has one.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: He's the best fighter in the entirety of the Fox Banner Fleet, hands down.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: He wears one while fighting, to keep his hair out of his face.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He's introduced within the first several pages of the first book, and is later mentioned in passing as having disappeared when pirates took his ship. The next time we see him is on the last page of the first book, among the pirates battling Inda's Marine Defenders crew. He becomes a major character from then on.
- The Cynic
- Deadpan Snarker
- Functional Alcoholic: He has shades of this. He's frequently described as being drunk or in the process of getting drunk, moreso than other characters. It's prominent enough that at one point Inda asks him not to drink himself to death like his father is doing.
- Limited Wardrobe: He always wears all black, because it doesn't show blood stains or dirt.
- Mean Boss: To his crew, though they all acknowledge he's at least fair and not just wantonly nasty to everyone.
- Parting-Words Regret: He says "I hope the Venn kill you" to Inda when Inda goes scouting alone in Venn-held territory. Then Inda doesn't show up at the assigned meeting place...
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's prepared to go on one when he thinks Inda has been killed, but when he realizes Inda might be alive it becomes...
- Roaring Rampageof Rescue: When he saves Inda from Wafri's prison. They end up setting fire to the entire palace together.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ramis of all people gives him a speech to this effect, letting him know that from his behaviour, he's well on his way toward Norsunder.
Shendan Montredavan-An (Shen)
Savarend Montredavan-An (Sr)
Marend Jaya-Vayir
Savarend Montredavan-An (historical)
- Ironic Nickname: His nickname 'Flash' was given to him by his brother on account of how long it takes him to get moving in the morning.
Kendred (Dewlap) Arveas
Liet-Jarlan Tlen
Ndand Arveas
Kethadrend Arveas
Jarend (Rattooth) Cassad
Landred (Cherry-Stripe) Marlo-Vayir
- Leader Wannabe: In the war games at the Academy he tries to declare himself leader because his brother demands it of him. Instead everyone listens to Inda.
Fnor
Mran Cassad
- The Prankster: He loves pulling tricks on people, and is in the middle of setting up a fine sting when he is accidentally killed.
- Sacrificial Lamb: His death results in Inda's banishment.
Senrid (Whipstick) Noth
Dauvid (Horsepiss) Noth
Starand (Honeytongue) Ola-Vayir
- Blood Knight: He really, really, really likes fighting.
Tdiran Montrei-Vayir
Dannor (Mudface) Tya-Vayir
- Embarassing Nickname: She hates being called Mudface.
- Noodle Incident: Her nickname comes from a time when she was very small and committed some crime so heinous that Tdiran took her outside and rubbed her face in the mud as punishment. What it was that she did is never revealed.
