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The Wisdom of Crowds

Page 63

by Joe Abercrombie


  Lord Marshal Forest—a hard-working officer with common origins and impressive scars, promoted to the Closed Council by Orso.

  Lord Marshal Rucksted—senior soldier with a penchant for beards and tall tales.

  Lord Marshal Brint—senior soldier and one-armed old friend of Orso’s father, betrayed Orso and joined the rebels.

  Lord Admiral Krepskin—commanding officer of the Union’s fleet.

  Lord Isher—a smooth and successful magnate of the Open Council, rebelled against Orso but fled from the battle at Stoffenbeck.

  Lady Isold dan Isher—an insipid young heiress, married to Lord Isher.

  Lord Heugen—a pedantic magnate of the Open Council, rebelled against Orso and was captured.

  From Angland

  Leo dan Brock—“The Young Lion,” a famous hero and disgraced Lord Governor of Angland, rebelled against King Orso and lost an arm and a leg in battle.

  Finree dan Brock—Leo dan Brock’s mother and a superb tactician and organiser.

  Jurand—Leo dan Brock’s estranged best friend, sensitive and calculating.

  Glaward—Leo dan Brock’s estranged and exceptionally large friend.

  Lord Clensher—an old worthy of Angland, with a beard but no moustache.

  In the Circle of Savine dan Brock

  Savine dan Brock—wife of Leo dan Brock and disgraced Lady Governor of Angland, once an investor, socialite and celebrated beauty, now imprisoned for high treason.

  Zuri—Savine’s peerless lady’s companion, a Southern refugee.

  Freid—one of Savine’s many wardrobe maids.

  Metello—Savine’s hatchet-faced, Styrian wig expert.

  Haroon—Zuri’s heavily built brother.

  Rabik—Zuri’s slight and handsome brother.

  Sand dan Glokta—“Old Sticks,” Savine’s father, once the most feared man in the Union, Head of the Closed Council and His Majesty’s Inquisition. Now retired.

  Ardee dan Glokta—Savine’s famously sharp-tongued mother.

  Gunnar “Bull” Broad—an ex-Ladderman wrestling with violent tendencies, once a Breaker, then handling “labour relations” for Savine.

  Liddy Broad—Gunnar Broad’s long-suffering wife, mother to May Broad.

  May Broad—Gunnar and Liddy Broad’s hard-headed daughter.

  Honrig Curnsbick—“The Great Machinist,” celebrated inventor and industrialist, and founder of the Solar Society with Savine dan Brock.

  Dietam dan Kort—a noted engineer and bridge-builder, partner with Savine in a canal.

  Selest dan Heugen—a bitter rival of Savine’s.

  Colonel Vallimir—ex-partner of Savine in a mill and child-labour scheme.

  Lady Vallimir—the colonel’s wife, fallen on hard times.

  Carmee Groom—a talented artist.

  Majir—an associate of Savine’s from Adua’s criminal fraternity.

  With the Breakers and Burners

  Victarine (Vick) dan Teufel—an ex-convict, then an Inquisitor working as a spy for Arch Lector Glokta, changing sides again to stand with the Breakers.

  Tallow—a skinny young Breaker, blackmailed into assisting Vick.

  Pike—Ex-Arch Lector of the Inquisition, with a hideously burned visage, revealed to be the mastermind behind the Breakers known as the Weaver.

  Risinau—once Superior of Valbeck, behind the violent uprising in that city. A self-proclaimed intellectual.

  Judge—an unhinged mass-murderer or fearless champion of the common folk, depending on who you ask, the firebrand leader of the Burners.

  Spillion Sworbreck—a writer of cheap fantasies and scurrilous pamphlets, turned to pamphleteering and demagoguery.

  Sarlby—an old comrade-in-arms of Gunnar Broad, now become a Burner.

  Bannerman—a cocky ex-soldier who worked with Broad, then joined the Breakers.

  Halder—a taciturn ex-soldier who worked with Broad, then joined the Breakers.

  In the North

  Rikke—Leader of Uffrith who has seized Carleon and half the North. Blessed, or cursed, with the Long Eye.

  Caul Shivers—Rikke’s right hand, a much-feared Named Man and noted humorist with a metal eye.

  Isern-i-Phail—Rikke’s mentor, a half-mad hillwoman, said to know all the ways.

  Scenn-i-Phail—one of Isern’s many brothers, scarcely saner than she is.

  Scofen-i-Phail—another of Isern’s many brothers, still madder than the last.

  Hardbread—one of Rikke’s War Chiefs, known for his indecision.

  Corleth—a girl with stout hips, standard-bearer for Rikke.

  Corleth’s granny—Corleth’s mother’s mother. Obviously.

  The Nail—a War Chief of the West Valleys, a feared and famous warrior.

  Caurib—a witch whose head is stitched together with golden wire, said to have returned from the Land of the Dead.

  Jonas Clover—once Jonas Steepfield and reckoned a famous warrior, now thought of as a disloyal do-nothing, betrayed Stour Nightfall to join Rikke.

  Downside—one of Clover’s warriors, with a bad habit of killing men on his own side.

  Sholla—Clover’s scout, a woman who can slice cheese very fine.

  Flick—an apparently useless lad among Clover’s men.

  Stour Nightfall—“The Great Wolf,” once King of the Northmen, a famed warrior and arsehole, now a hobbled prisoner of Rikke.

  Black Calder—once the true power in the North, cunning father of Stour Nightfall.

  Flatstone—Calder’s most reliable War Chief.

  Trapper—a Named Man in the service of Calder.

  Stand-i’-the-Barrows—notorious chieftain of a hundred tribes from beyond the Crinna, obsessed with bones.

  In Talins, Sipani and Westport, Cities of Styria

  King Jappo mon Rogont Murcatto—King of Styria.

  Grand Duchess Monzcarro Murcatto—“The Serpent of Talins,” mother of King Jappo, a feared general and ruthless politician, responsible for the unification of Styria.

  Princess Carlot—sweet-tempered sister of King Orso, wife of Chancellor Sotorius of Sipani.

  Her August Majesty Queen Terez—Queen Dowager and mother of the High King of the Union.

  Superior Lorsen—colourless Superior of the Inquisition in Westport.

  Filio—a senior Alderman of Westport and fencing enthusiast.

  Sanders Rosimiche—a junior Alderman of Westport and strutting loudmouth.

  Dayep Mozolia—a merchant in fabrics, influential in the politics of Westport.

  The Order of Magi

  Bayaz—First of the Magi, legendary wizard, saviour of the Union and founding member of the Closed Council.

  Yoru Sulfur—former apprentice to Bayaz, nondescript but for his different-coloured eyes.

  The Prophet Khalul—former Second of the Magi and arch-enemy of Bayaz. Rumoured to have been killed by a demon, plunging the South into chaos.

  Cawneil—Third of the Magi, about her own inscrutable business.

  Zacharus—Fourth of the Magi, guiding the affairs of the Old Empire.

  By Joe Abercrombie

  THE AGE OF MADNESS

  A Little Hatred

  The Trouble with Peace

  The Wisdom of Crowds

  THE FIRST LAW TRILOGY

  The Blade Itself

  Before They Are Hanged

  Last Argument of Kings

  Best Served Cold

  The Heroes

  Red Country

  Sharp Ends: Stories from the World of the First Law

  THE SHATTERED SEA TRILOGY

  Half a King

  Half the World

  Half a War

 

 

 
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