Baldy Pate and Mistress Mulch – Fiddlehead Spring’s most formidable competitors in the inn business

Battle Axe – fierce underground operative and storyteller

Broken Talon – legendary outlaw, usually hungry

Captain Kneecap – veteran of the Northern Invasions with an extraordinarily useful leg

Cat – shady character of uncommitted loyalties

Coriander – self-styled problem solver

Fire Fade – rather thin sister of above-mentioned fierce underground operative

Glossy Petal – remarkable masseuse from the countryside

Head Steward – in charge of palace “stuff” like tea supplies and drapery

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Purple Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years – self explanatory

Inkstone – you shall see

Little Lizard – under-under keeper of imperial cellars

Long Spring – Broken Talon’s tired Number Two

Moonface – virtual orphan, a little dim

Municipal Minister of Sanitation – boss of Pearl City’s sewer maintenance and controller of bad smells

Municipal Vice-Minister of Excavations – unfortunate wretch

Rats – smarter than you think

Secretary Spangle – the Emperor’s right-hand man, very fond of fried dishes

Sesame Seed – an excellent baker, a bit of a mercenary

Snaggletooth – manager of the largest pawnshop in Pearl City’s Cloth District

Twisted Tree – very old sage with numb legs