Robert Asprin: Stealers' Sky

The Townspeople

ABOHORR-One-thumbed proprietor of the Vulgar Unicorn, now owned by Strick.

SILKY-A barmaid at the Vulgar Unicorn.

AHDIOVIZUN; AHDIOMER VIZ; AHDIO-Proprietor of Sly's Place, a legendary dive within the Maze.

THRODE-An employee at Sly's Place.

CLEYA; JODEERA-The woman Ahdio loves, and who works for him at Sly's Place. Since she is far too beautiful to travel safely through the Maze, Ahdio has arranged for her to be protected by a disguise of ugliness. OULEH-A doubly endowed denizen ofSIy's Place.

AMOLI-Madam of the Lily Garden brothel, a place of ill repute and endless possibilities.

CHOLLANDAR; CHOLLY-A master of glues and rendering.

FELTHERYN THE THESPIAN-Actor, director, and producer of Feltheryn's Players, a small theatrical company which has found a better audience in Sanctuary than in the capital city.

GUSSELRAND-His wife and partner in all things.

LEMPCHIN-The youngest member of their acting company.

SNEGELRINGE-The romantic actor of the company.

ROUNSNOUF-The company comedian.

HAKIEM-Storyteller and confidant extraordinaire.

HANSE; SHADOWSPAWN-Native thiefofSanctuary, with often surprising friends and connections. He has recently returned from a lengthy stay in the north.

JUBAL-Prematurely aged former gladiator. Once he openly ran Sanctuary's most visible criminal organization, the Hawkmasks; now he works behind the scenes.

SALIMAN-His aide and only friend.

LALO THE LIMNER-A native Sanctuary artist whose paintings are more than they seem.

GILLA-His indomitable wife.

VANDA-their eldest daughter, employed as a companion to Lady

Kurrekai at the palace.

WEDEMIR-Their eldest son, a member of Walegrin's guard, in love with Vanda's friend, Rhian.

LATILLA-Their younger daughter, just on the edge of puberty.

ALFI-Their son, a lively nine-year-old.

MORIA-Once one ofJubal's Hawkmasks, then a servant of Ischade. She was physically transformed into a Rankan noblewoman before the magic died, and the transformation endures. She is in hiding with Slilcho.

MYRTIS-Madam of the Aphrodisia House.

STILCHO-Once one of Shade's resurrected minions. He was "cured" of death when magic was purged from Sanctuary.

ZIP-Bitter, young terrorist. Leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Sanctuary (PELS). Now he and his remaining fighters have been designated as officials responsible for peace in the city.

The S'danzo

ILLYRA-Half-blood S'danzo seeress with True Sight. Wounded by PELS in the False Plague Riots.

DUBRO-Bazaar blacksmith and husband to Illyra.

TREVYA-A crippled foundling presented to Illyra by Walegrin.

MOONFLOWER-Seeress of considerable talent and greater bulk mistakenly slain by Beysib bodyguards.

MIGNUREAL; MIGNUE-Her daughter, who loved Hanse and went north with him, but now dwells alone in Firaqa.

JILEEL-Another, younger daughter.

TERETAFF-Moonflower 's husband.

THE TERMAGANT-Oldest of the S'danzo women practicing her craft in Sanctuary.

The Magicians

ILSIGI MAGES:

MARKMOR-A powerful, ambitious, youthful wizard.

MARYPE-His arrogant, yet blundering, apprentice.

RANKAN HAZARDS DWELLING AT THE MAGEGUILD;

RANDAL; WITCHY-EARS-The only mage ever admitted into the Sacred Band of Stepsons or trusted by them. Now a teacher at the Mageguild.

DARIOS-An apprentice accidentally imprisoned in the Mageguild during the False Plague Riots. He was freed by Lalo, from whom he is now learning a different sort of magic. Before his imprisonment he was Rhian's fiance,

THOSE WHO ADHERE TO NO HIERARCHY OR DISCIPLINE BUT THEIR OWN:

ISCHADE-Necromancer and thief. Her curse is passed to her lovers, who die from it. Since the diminution of magic in Sanctuary, she has been in isolation at her house on the White Foal River

STRICK; TORAZELAN STRICK TIF1RAQA-White Mage who has made Sanctuary his home. He will help anyone who comes to him, but there is always a Price, sometimes trivial and sometimes not, for his aid.

AVENESTRA; AVNEH-Strick's increasingly obese assistant.

Visitors in Sanctuary

THE SHEPHERD-A figure of considerable mystery. By his panoply he might be an Ilsigi warrior-but all such men have been dead for years.

The Rankans living in Sanctuary

CHENAYA; DAUGHTER OF THE SUN-.4 beautiful and powerful young woman, the prince's cousin, who is fated never to lose a fight. In her arrogance and innocence she made more enemies in Sanctuary than even fate could handle and has left town until her reputation repairs itself.

DAYRNE-Her companion and trainer.

LEYN, OUIJEN, DISMAS, AND GESTUS-Her friends and gladiators at her father's school.

DAPHNE-Rankan noblewoman and first wife of Prince Kadakithis. Ostensibly sent to safety before the arrival of the Beysib, she was actually kidnapped and sold into slavery on Scavenger's Island, where Chenaya rescued her. She is now divorced from her husband.

PRINCE KADAKITHIS-Charismatic but somewhat naive half-brother of the assassinated Emperor, Abakithis.

LOWAN VIGELES-Half-brother of Molin Torchholder, father of Chenaya. A wealthy aristocrat self-exiled to Sanctuary and hoping to return to the Rankan capital in triumph someday. He operates a gladiator school at his Land's End estate and has built a small, temporary arena there.

MOLIN TORCHHOLDER; TORCH-Archpriest of Sanctuary's war-god (whichever deity that is at the moment). Architect for the rebuilt walls of Sanctuary. Supreme bureaucratic administrator of the city.

ROSANDA-His wife. from whom he has been estranged for several years. She lives with Vigeles at the Land's End estate.

RASHAN; THE EYE OF SAVANKALA-Priest and Judge of Savankala. Highest ranking Rankan in Sanctuary prior to the arrival of the prince; now allied with Chenaya's disaffected Rankans at Land's End.

RHIAN-A young woman who has taken service with Lady Kurrekai.

STEPSONS; SACRED BANDERS-Members of a mercenary unit loyal to Tempus. Their years in Sanctuary were maong the worst in their history. Many of them have already left town.

CRITIAS; CRIT-Tempus left him in charge of peacekeeping in Sanctuary when everyone else left. Also the partner ofStraton, though that pairing has been in disarray for some time now. STRATON; STRAT; ACE-Partner of'Critias. Injured by the PFLSat the start of the False Plague Riots. He has been Ischade's lover and, though her curse has not killed him, most of his former associates count him among Sanctuary's damned.

WALEGRIN-Rankan army officer assigned to the Sanctuary garrison where his father was slain by the S'danzo many years before. He is now one of three officers responsible for the peace in Sanctuary. He is also Illyra's half-brother.

The Beysib

SHUPANSEA; SHU-SEA-Head of the Beysib exiles in Sanctuary; mortal avatar of the Beysib mother goddess. Lover of Prince. Kadakithis, whom she wishes to marry.

KURREKAI-The Beysa's motherly cousin.

Zaibar bristled and glared angrily as a passerby jostled his back, nearly dumping his lunch off his lap and over the edge of the wharf where he sat. The Hell-Hound's annoyance went unnoticed, however; the pedestrian continued on his way without a backward glance, picking his way through the crowds. Letting his tight-lipped frown soften into a twisted grimace, Zaibar shook his head with an inward sigh.

He'd have to find another place to eat his lunch in the future if he wanted any peace and quiet during his midday break. It used to be that the wharves were nearly deserted during the day between the time that the fishermen went out with the morning tide and the afternoon when they returned. Now there were trade ships arriving from the Beysib Empire loaded with goods, merchandise as often as not hawked directly from the boats, and the bargain hunters they drew were no different from the noisy, haggling crowds in the Bazaar proper.