# James Roverton — Short Fiction character guide > James Roverton in Short Fiction by Clark Ashton Smith. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Roverton, VI The Great Plain Roverton **First appearance:** 0000-the-malay-krise ## Snapshot A seasoned explorer whose cautious instincts and scientific training cannot save him when eyeless pygmies and their lizard-mounted cavalry capture him in the fog. ## Who they are Roverton is one of three mutineers aboard Volmar's space-flier, a man of rigorous intellect and prime physical fitness who has spent years enduring the vertiginous horror of the interstellar deep. Unlike the fanatical Volmar, he is more human, and the bleak confinement has broken his morale enough that he risked everything on a failed attempt to turn the vessel homeward. When he and his companions are marooned on an alien plain and stumble into a fog-bound ambush, his caution and quick assessment of danger become the reader's anchor in a hostile, incomprehensible world. ## Relationships ### [Chester Deming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/chester_deming) _professional_ Chester Deming is a business partner or colleague of James Roverton, involved in trade negotiations. ### [Herbert Albert Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/herbert_albert_adams) _professional_ Herbert Albert Adams is a clerk or accountant working under James Roverton's supervision. ### [Mallek Khan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/mallek_khan) _professional_ James Roverton negotiates trade rights with Mallek Khan, maintaining a tense but profitable alliance. ### [Captain Volmar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/captain_volmar) _professional_ Captain Volmar commands the merchant ship that transports James Roverton's goods across the Indian Ocean. ### [Mallek Khan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/mallek_khan) _professional_ James Roverton negotiates trade rights with Mallek Khan, maintaining a tense but profitable alliance. ### [Chester Deming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/chester_deming) _professional_ Chester Deming is a business partner or colleague of James Roverton, involved in trade negotiations. ### [Captain Volmar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/captain_volmar) _professional_ Captain Volmar commands the merchant ship that transports James Roverton's goods across the Indian Ocean. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/i) One of the three mutineers; tries to maintain morale with jests despite despair. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/ii) Leads the group, observes the environment, and makes scientific conjectures about the alien world. ### [Marooned!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/marooned) The leader of the mutineers, he remains pragmatic and observant, noting the gravity and suggesting they wait for sunrise. ### [A Strange Land](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-strange-land) Leads the group, investigates the luminous phenomena and the carnivorous boulder-forms, and decides the direction of travel. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/iii) Observes the pygmies with scientific interest, refers to them as 'troglodytes', and expresses alarm at their situation. ### [Captured!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/captured) One of the captured mutineers; expresses frustration at their helplessness and lack of weapons. ### [A Conference](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-conference) Surmises the pygmies' gathering sounds like a caucus; feels growing disquietude and scientific interest. ### [IV The Brink of Doom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/iv) Leads the group with dark humor, grabs a pygmy during the fall, and pushes it toward the monster to buy time. ### [The Brink of Doom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/the-brink-of-doom) Jests about the darkness and later identifies the creature as the pygmies' god, realizing they are to be sacrificed. ### [Into the Stream!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/into-the-stream) Leads the escape, grabs a pygmy and uses it to distract the monster. ### [Into the Pouch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/v) Retains cognizance during the bird's struggle and leads the escape from the pouch; witnesses the horrors of the plant jungle. ### [Into the Pouch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/into-the-pouch) Dived to avoid capture but was retrieved by the bird; retained full cognizance during the struggle and led the escape. ### [A New Horror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/a-new-horror) Witnesses the plant-monsters and is dragged through the jungle, eventually flung unconscious onto the plain. ### [VI: The Great Plain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/vi-the-great-plain) First to recover; leads the way across the plain and examines the alien ruins. ### [Volmar Again!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/vii-volmar-again) Leads the defense against the insect swarm, builds a fire, and decides to return with Volmar. ### [The Uncharted Isle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/chapters/the-uncharted-isle) The narrator and protagonist who discovers the uncharted island and experiences its horrors. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters/james_roverton - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_9_se/characters