Character guide

Lucas Trask

major

Also known as Prince Trask, Trask, Lord Trask, Lord Lucas, Lord Lucas Trask, Prince of Tanith, Prince Trask of Tanith

Trask moves through the galaxy as a nobleman-adventurer whose private war against Andray Dunnan slowly becomes something larger: the founding of a new civilization on Tanith. He is courteous, calculating, and unflinching — he will threaten a city with nuclear fire and then negotiate its surrender with the same calm voice. His early arc matters because every alliance he builds and every raid he orders is measured against two competing hungers: the old need for revenge and the newer ambition to plant something that lasts.

Otto Harkaman

major

Also known as Harkaman, Captain Harkaman, Count Harkaman, Admiral Harkaman

Harkaman commands the Nemesis for Trask and treats the whole galaxy — rival captains, hostile planets, awkward nobles — with the same amused, unflappable competence. His scarred face and easy banter mask a professional's cold judgment about when to fight and when to bluff. He matters because he gives Trask something the prince lacks: a partner who can read a situation, crack a joke, and still put a missile exactly where it needs to go.

Andray Dunnan

major

Also known as Dunnan, Lord Dunnan, Gehenna Dunnan, Dunnan the Great, Admiral Dunnan

Dunnan is the wound at the center of Trask's story — a killer who escaped Gram and turned himself into a legend among the Space Vikings, gathering ships and reputations while Trask builds Tanith. He is never quite onstage in the early chapters, only reported: a blue crescent here, a green monster there, a feast on Melkarth where four crews drank together. That absence is the point: he is the enemy Trask must find in two hundred billion cubic light-years, and the hunt shapes every decision Trask makes.

Simon Bentrik

major

Also known as Prince Simon Bentrik, Prince Bentrik, Bentrik, Commodore Prince Bentrik, Prince Simon, Prince-Protector Simon Bentrik

Bentrik is a man of a stratified world trying to understand men who refuse to bow — he is genuinely shocked that Trask's crew expect to drink in the best places in town. He is a democrat by conviction and a prince by inheritance, and the contradiction leaves him both useful and uneasy as an ally. His early role is to give Trask a foothold on Marduk and to show the reader what Tanith's new order looks like from the outside: strange, dangerous, and possibly the future.

Zaspar Makann

supporting

Also known as Makann, Even Makann

Makann is the domestic face of the same violence Trask fights in space: a rabble-rouser who seized a kingdom with Dunnan's ships at his back and ruled through terror and torture. He is glimpsed mostly through the wreckage he leaves — barricades of furniture and statuary, prisoners herded for veridication, a king brainwashed into a ventriloquist's dummy. His fate in the Throne room, crown on the floor and pistol in hand, is the story's warning about what happens when a Viking war comes home.

Boake Valkanhayn

supporting

Also known as Captain Valkanhayn, Valkanhayn, Boake, Baron Valkanhayn

Valkanhayn first appears as a rival squatting on Tanith with Garvan Spasso, then becomes one of Trask's captains — a man whose instinct is to loot and whose new commander keeps telling him not to. He is aghast at the idea of burning an unlooted city, and that very reluctance makes him useful: he is the reader's measure of how far Trask has moved from ordinary Viking practice. His presence in the fleet keeps the story honest about what the Vikings actually are.

Angus of Gram

supporting

Also known as King Angus, Angus, King Angus I of Gram, Duke Angus, Duke Angus of Wardshaven, Angus of Wardshaven

Angus rules Gram from Wardshaven, styling himself king while Count Lionel of Newhaven and Duke Joris of Bigglersport defy him, hang his tax collectors, and build their own fleets. His chartered ships and court favorites crowd out captains who owe him no love, and his looming war with the rebel duchies shadows every trade route Trask's people touch. Whether he strikes at the rebels or at Tanith, his ambition is the weather the whole Sword-Worlds must sail through.

Garvan Spasso

supporting

Also known as Spasso, Sir Garvan Spasso, Captains Spasso

Spasso once let himself go into barfly decay, but since Amaterasu he dresses sharper, speaks cleaner, and fights his ship well enough that his men jump to obey again. He is still the chicken-thief at heart, outraged at the thought of Valkanhayn absconding with loot, and Trask uses that very fear to send him along as a watchdog. Trask's private plan for him — a meaningless court title, planted misinformation, and a knife waiting somewhere — shows how expendable even a recovering Viking can be.

Nikkolay Trask

supporting

Also known as Sir Nikkolay Trask

Trask arrives at King Mikhyl's court on Odin as a curiosity — a raider who saved a life at Audhumla and spoke face-to-face with a king — and the diplomats crowd him accordingly. The King's private summons and the phrase "valued friend to me and my house" mark him as something more than a Neobarbarian curiosity, even as he wonders what Angus's court looks like now. His easy rapport with a ten-year-old count and a serving robot shows the man behind the regalia, and why the older powers are quietly deciding he matters.

Elaine

minor

Also known as Lady-Demoiselle Elaine

Wife of Lucas Trask, whose murder sets the plot in motion.

Baron Rathmore

minor

Also known as Rathmore

Nobleman and political figure in the Tanith power struggles.

Guatt Kirbey

minor

Also known as Kirbey

Space Viking and crew member serving under Trask.

Sesar Karvall

minor

Also known as Karvall, Lord Sesar Karvall

Nobleman and ally of Trask, involved in Tanith's governance.

Rovard Grauffis

minor

Also known as Grauffis

Space Viking captain and occasional ally of Trask.

Count Steven of Ravary

minor

Also known as Count Steven, Count Ravary, Steven, Ravary, young Count Steven of Ravary

Young nobleman who becomes a key figure in Tanith's court.

Alvyn Karffard

minor

Also known as Karffard

Space Viking and crew member, known for his loyalty.

Sir Paytrik Morland

minor

Also known as Sir Paytrik, Paytrik Morland, Morland, Paytrik

Knight and officer serving under Trask's command.

Crown Prince Edvard

minor

Also known as Prince Edvard, Edvard

Crown prince of a major kingdom, involved in diplomatic missions.

Lady Valerie Alvarath

minor

Also known as Lady Valerie, Valerie Alvarath, Valerie, Lady Alvarath

Noblewoman and love interest of a main character.

Vann Larch

minor

Also known as Larch

Space Viking and crew member on Trask's ships.

Admiral Shefter

minor

Also known as Then Shefter, Shefter

Naval officer commanding forces in the interstellar conflict.

Duke Omfray of Glaspyth

minor

Also known as Omfray of Glaspyth, Omfray, Duke Omfray

Duke and political rival in the Tanith power struggles.

Sir Nevil Ormm

minor

Also known as Nevil Ormm, Sir Nevil, Ormm

Knight and officer serving under Trask.

Paul Koreff

minor

Also known as Koreff

Scientist and engineer serving under Trask.

Lothar Ffayle

minor

Also known as Even Lothar Ffayle, Lothar, Ffayle

Space Viking and crew member, known for his cunning.

Basil Gorram

minor

Also known as Young Basil Gorram, Basil Gorram, the elder Gorram

Space Viking and father of Alex Gorram.

King Mikhyl VIII

minor

Also known as King Mikhyl, Mikhyl VIII, Mikhyl, Goodman Mikhyl, Old King Mikhyl

King of a major kingdom, father of Crown Prince Edvard.

Crown Princess Melanie

minor

Also known as Melanie, The Princess Melanie

Crown princess of a major kingdom, involved in diplomacy.

Prince Viktor

minor

Also known as Prince Viktor of Xochitl, Viktor, Viktor of Xochitl

Prince of Xochitl, a minor planetary ruler in the interstellar conflict.

General Dagró Ector

minor

Also known as General Dagró, Dagró

Military commander in the service of Prince Bentrik.

President Pedrosan Pedro

minor

Also known as Pedrosan Pedro, President Pedrosan

President of a planetary government, involved in negotiations.

Elaine Karvall

minor

Also known as Karvall

Noblewoman and relative of Sesar Karvall.

Princess Myrna

minor

Also known as Little Princess Myrna, Myrna, Queen Myrna, Crown Princess Myrna

Young princess who becomes a pawn in interstellar politics.

Alex Gorram

minor

Also known as Gorram

Space Viking and crew member, known for his combat skills.

Manfred Ravallo

minor

Also known as Ravallo, Manfred

Space Viking captain and occasional ally of Trask.

Lord Valpry

minor

Also known as young Valpry, Valpry

Young nobleman serving in Tanith's court.

Count Lionel of Newhaven

minor

Also known as Lionel of Newhaven, Count Lionel, Count Lionel of Newhaven

Count and military commander in the interstellar conflict.

Queen Flavia

minor

Also known as Queen Flavia, Flavia

Queen of a planetary kingdom, involved in diplomacy.

Lady Lavina Karvall

minor

Also known as Lady Lavina, Lavina Karvall

Noblewoman and relative of Sesar Karvall.

Roger Morvill Esthersan

minor

Also known as Morvill, Esthersan

Space Viking and crew member, known for his loyalty.

Sharll Renner

minor

Also known as Sharll, Renner

Space Viking and crew member on Trask's ships.

Captain Gompertz

minor

Also known as Gompertz of the Grendelsbane, Gompertz

Captain of the Grendelsbane, a space Viking ship.

Captain Nial Burrik

minor

Also known as Burrik

Captain of the Fortuna, a freighter captain.

Baron Cragdale

minor

Nobleman and political figure in the Tanith power struggles.

Fleet Admiral Bargham

minor

Also known as Bargham

Fleet admiral commanding naval forces in the conflict.

Captain Rainer

minor

Also known as Rainer

Captain of a space Viking ship.

Princess Lucile

minor

Also known as Lucile

Princess of a minor kingdom, involved in diplomatic marriage.

Horris Sasstroff

minor

Also known as Sasstroff

Space Viking and crew member, known for his greed.

Sir Thomas Kobbly

minor

Also known as Sir Thomas, Sir Thomas Kobbly

Knight and officer serving under Trask.

Nikky Gratham

minor

Also known as Gratham

Space Viking and crew member, known for his youth.

Prince Vandarvant

minor

Prince of a minor kingdom, involved in the conflict.

Margot

minor

Woman of noble birth, involved in court intrigue.

Burt Sandrasan

minor

Space Viking and crew member, known for his strength.

Sir Maxamon Zhorgay

minor

Also known as Sir Maxamon

Knight and officer serving under Trask.

Stefan Kintour

minor

Space Viking and crew member, known for his skill.

Duke Joris

minor

Duke and political figure in the interstellar conflict.

Fedrig Barragon

minor

Also known as Barragon

Space Viking and crew member, known for his loyalty.