Being the principal persons and powers of Volume One — the Hollow descent. No entry here knows anything of what lies beyond the thirty-eighth level.
The Sixfold Bond
Jabril — the Verdant Monk. A boy the forest remembered, raised among druids and trained in the flowing sequences by Brother Saren. The first to touch a seal and refuse its offer — the heart around which the Sixfold Bond was forged. He wields an elemental sword that burns green-white.
Aldric — dwarf of the Bond. His strength is matched only by his refusal to abandon his people. He wields a storm-hammer that can call thunder — and make unstable things remember how to stand.
Nyra — the Twice-Bound. A tiefling warlock who became what the old schools deemed impossible: warlock and wizard both, her two traditions strengthening each other. Called the terror of the Hollow, she wrote the names of the Six into the dark between the stars. She carries a grimoire — and a blank book.
Kael — elven ranger. His eyes find dangers before others know they exist. He carries the weapon Starleaf (as named in the text), and his arrows seldom miss what matters.
Nephira — warrior of faith. A warrior of faith and iron discipline. She bears the Sanctum, a shield of layered light that has carried the Six through thirty-eight levels.
Kaelen — the fallen aasimar. His presence carries the weight of a grace he no longer trusts. He wields the sword Crownblade, dark metal lined with white radiance, and he can step between moments.
Allies & Kindred
Veyra — dragon; Jabril's familiar. Bound to Jabril by choice, not command — a consensual, symbiotic bond of shared emotion, shared memory, and complementary power. She stands outside the Sixfold Bond. She is the mother of Sol.
Sol (he/him) — the Seventh. A child, and Veyra's son. The Hollow's seventeenth level is named for his mother: the Mother of the Seventh.
Maelin — the old druid. He walked through the night to hold the infant Jabril, and was the first to speak for him.
Brother Saren — the wandering monk. Jabril's second great teacher. He taught that strength without control is simply another form of weakness.
Dain — the training partner. A monk two years Jabril's junior — quick, earnest, and not yet wise about his own limits.
Powers & Perils
The Mirror Warden — boss of the third level. Armor of polished black glass, a transparent sword, and a shield that reflects everything except the one looking into it. To pass, you must answer.
Azaeroth — the Devourer, the World-Eater. "The thing the first seven seals were made to contain." It waits at the bottom of the Hollow, beneath the Last Hollow.
Orunax — the Star-Eater, Archivist. Warden of the thirty-fourth level, the Dead Star. He devours magic itself — so he must be met with something else.
Vaelor — the Broken Warden. Warden of the thirty-sixth level, the Shattered Sky. His Boundary Severance can separate things that should stay connected — like the Six.
Aradia — Queen of the Crowned Memory. She ruled the city of statues on the twenty-second level, the Throne Beneath the Sky — every face Jabril's face.
Elyndra — Mother of First Beasts. A white lioness with an antlered crown and six feathered wings, met on the thirty-first level, the Cathedral of First Beasts.
Marael — Keeper of Hours. On the thirty-second level, the Orchard of Hours, she plucks moments from history and preserves them as fruit.
Maerith — first citizen of the Kingdom of What Might Have Been. Met within the twenty-ninth level. Her welcome is warm; her eyes are a pond with no bottom.
Vaelith — a name on the horizon. Spoken only in the epilogue: beyond the Hollow wait the Seven Realms, and the Wardens — and Vaelith.