• Addi Gleason: Accomplished blacksmith and leader of the Trellston Mavericks who fought with Cornelius in the battles of the north.
• Aether: Magical force that radiates throughout all of Avalon.
• Avalon: Parallel world to earth where aether permeates all living and non-living things.
• Blazer: Aether tier above Sparker. Can placidate animals. Aether level common to lords, knights, businessmen, and local magistrates.
• Borinder Besselink: Guild Lord of Hagzarad and collector of rare and unique items.
• The Collector: Inferno level enforcer for the emperor who specializes in quelling cities and retrieving missing aether tax. Rides atop a dragon-bat hybrid and collects mementos from his most notable victims. Has a penchant for hunting down cowboys.
• Cornelius Thompson IV: Leech and cowboy of the purest blood. Passive member of the Ogland Mavericks who fled from the battles in the north to seek a quiet life of smoking his pipe and playing cards.
• Drainer: One who can destroy aether without using aether of their own.
• Eldest Tree: The oldest and most powerful of the Nartareen. Uses the collective aether of the Nartareen race to grant miracles to those she deems worthy.
• Emperor: Ruler of Avalon and only human to reach Eternal tier.
• Enhanced: Soldiers of the Collector that have been granted enhanced characteristics through grafting and hybridization.
• Equine-ape: See Gorilla-horse
• Eternal: Highest tier of aether possession. Extent of abilities is largely unknown.
• Gideon Vanduker: A traveler and trader of rare and exotic goods.
• Gorilla-horse: Rhino-sized hybridized animal with gorilla-like facial features, long arms, clawed hands, and shaggy fur.
• Grafting: Process by which aether is used to augment a living thing with inanimate material.
• Gurn: One of the first two thugs that Sam meets upon arriving in Avalon. Has a grafted wooden hand and a deep voice like a bullfrog.
• Hagzarad: City at the northern tip of Lake Vista and home to the largest black market in the South Isle.
• Haydn: Steward of Borinder Besselink. Has grafted fingers of precious stones.
• Hybridization: Similar to grafting, it is the process by which aether is used to augment a living thing with parts from other living things. Extreme hybridization is used to create new species of animals.
• Inferno: Second highest tier of aether possession. Level reached by kings and queens, rulers of races, and the emperor’s most powerful enforcers.
• Jerg: Hulking member of the Trellston Mavericks.
• LaRue Overly: Head housemaid at Trellston Castle and longstanding member of the Mavericks.
• Lawrence Brintworth: King of worthless information, blown pranks, and one of Sam’s best friends.
• League of Cowboys: Group of cowboy Leeches descendant from the first cowboy who arrived in Avalon ~1870 A.D.
• Leech: Aether level designation several generations removed from a Void. Is limited in the total amount of aether he/she is able to possess but has the unique ability to use aether on his/her own body, increasing speed, health, strength, etc. Cannot infuse aether into other objects.
• Matthias Abromite: AKA the Corpseman. Undertaker who ferries the deceased from the island of Trellston to the city cemetery.
• Mavericks: Rebel group who opposes the emperor and his aether tax.
• Milla: A gorilla-horse that joins Sam, Cornelius, Roanna, and Willow after being placidated.
• Mongrel: A distorted and grotesque creature that is the outcome of a failed species hybridization.
• Muskteer Guild: Group descended from musketeers who came over to Avalon ~1650AD. Have all but lost their ability to drain aether.
• Nartareen: A dryad-like race of tree people who live in the forest and are lead by an Eldest Tree.
• Ogland: Walled town east of the Sea Cliffs and south of the Vale of Edgemont.
• Placidation: When an animal is drained of its natural aether and infused with the aether of another being for the purposes of controlling that animal. It is a practice of controversial morality.
• Reynold: One of the first two thugs that Sam meets upon arriving in Avalon. Has a grafted cat eye and has an unpleasantly squeaky voice.
• Rinnivas Manikhantan: Sam’s best friend and technophile. He holds a fourth place standing on the worldwide leaderboard for the computer game Warcraft of Empires.
• Roanna: Adolescent aether prodigy and member of the Ogland faction of the Mavericks.
• Samwise Shelton: Prankster extraordinaire from Bozeman, MT who gets inexplicably transported to the land of Avalon during an earthquake. Later called the Techno-Wizard for his power as a Void drainer and his control of his technological gear.
• Scorcher: Tier of Aether possession above Blazer but below Inferno. Enables one to detect aether levels in other individuals by sight (within a certain distance). Has the ability to graft and hybridize. Typical level of Named warriors, Noblemen, Princes/Princesses.
• Screecher: The Collector’s large, dragon-like creature famous for its terrifying scream.
• Sparker: Lowest tier of aether possession. Typical level of farmers, peasants, and craftsmen.
• Trellston: Beautiful island city on the east side of Lake Alexandra.
• Vendrin: Member of the Trellston Mavericks and advisor to Addi Gleason.
• Void: Completely without aether. Term is used to describe those who are completely incompatible with aether to the point that they can drain limitless amounts by touch.
• Willow: A young member of the Nartareen race, she is a fascinated with humans and is the first in Avalon to befriend Sam.
• Ziptalk Apollo: Shatterproof, waterproof, shockproof, and solar-powered. It is the very latest in cell phone technology and Sam’s birthday present from his mother.