An alien deity pulled into the Malazan world from another realm and chained by the Elder Gods. Broken and in constant agony, the Crippled God seeks to corrupt and destroy the world that imprisons him. His poisoned influence spreads through the Pannion Domin and touches events across the continent.

The youngest Beddict brother and the King's Champion - the finest swordsman in Lether. Brys is honourable, devoted to duty, and increasingly troubled by the corruption he sees in the Letherii court and the threat posed by the Tiste Edur.

Tehol Beddict's apparently humble manservant, an old man of unassuming appearance who handles the practical details of Tehol's schemes with quiet competence. Bugg's true nature is considerably more than his presentation suggests.

The eldest Sengar brother and a Tiste Edur warrior of great skill and honour. Fear serves as Weapons Master to the Edur and watches with growing horror as his youngest brother Rhulad is transformed by the cursed sword into something he can no longer recognise.

A young Letherii slave among the Tiste Edur who possesses the ability to read the Tiles - a form of divination. Feather Witch is ambitious and resentful of her bondage, and her growing power as a caster of the Tiles draws dangerous attention.

The Warlock King of the Tiste Edur, who unified the six Edur tribes through a combination of sorcery and political skill. Hannan Mosag made a pact with the Crippled God that set in motion the events consuming his people, and watches his power slip away as Rhulad's madness grows.

The middle Beddict brother, a former Sentinel who betrayed the tribes he was sworn to protect when Letherii expansion demanded it. Hull is consumed by guilt and has turned against Lether, seeking to bring about its destruction through alliance with the Tiste Edur.

A half-Jaghut wanderer of immense age who travels with his companion Mappo Runt. Icarium is cursed with an inability to retain memories for more than a few years, leaving him gentle and inquisitive in his normal state. But within him lies a capacity for destruction so vast that civilisations have fallen when his rage is unleashed.

An Avowed of the Crimson Guard - an elite mercenary company whose members have sworn a vow that grants them near-immortality. Iron Bars and his squad find themselves stranded in Lether, far from their company, and become entangled in the conflict between Letherii and Edur.

A young girl who haunts the grounds of the Azath Tower in Letheras, tending to the dead buried in its yard. Kettle is not entirely alive herself, and her connection to the dying Azath Tower and the entities imprisoned within it makes her central to events she barely comprehends.

The Ceda - the most powerful mage in the Letherii kingdom and advisor to the king. Kuru Qan is ancient, eccentric, and deeply concerned about the threat posed by the Tiste Edur and the unknown powers behind them.

A Tiste Edur woman betrothed to Fear Sengar but claimed by Rhulad after his transformation. Mayen is trapped between the brothers, her fate a casualty of Rhulad's madness and the power dynamics tearing apart the Sengar household.

The youngest of the Sengar brothers among the Tiste Edur. Rhulad is vain, insecure, and desperate to prove himself to his brothers and his people. His discovery of a cursed sword transforms him into something terrible - a weapon of the Crippled God, resurrected from death with the sword fused to his body, driven mad by the agony of repeated dying and rebirth.

A Letherii Acquitor - a sanctioned diplomat and guide between the Letherii and the Tiste Edur. Seren is competent and perceptive but carries emotional scars from a past betrayal. Her role as intermediary places her at the nexus of the coming war between two civilisations.

A thief in Letheras who happens to be dead - an undead woman animated by residual magic, she retains her personality and appetites despite her condition. Shurq is pragmatic, darkly humorous, and enlisted by Tehol in his economic schemes.

The eldest Beddict brother, a financial genius who once nearly destroyed the Letherii economy through speculation before deliberately collapsing his own fortune. Tehol now lives in apparent destitution on a rooftop, attended by his manservant Bugg, while secretly orchestrating another economic assault on Lether's debt-based civilisation.

A Tiste Edur warrior found chained in a flooded cavern, left to die by his own people for an act of perceived betrayal. Trull is honourable, thoughtful, and carries the burden of having spoken truth to a people who did not want to hear it. His partnership with Onrack forms one of the novel's most affecting threads.

A Letherii slave serving the Sengar household among the Tiste Edur. Udinaas is intelligent, observant, and quietly bitter about his bondage. His proximity to Rhulad and an unexpected connection to the Wyval and the Errant draw him into events far beyond his station.

A Meckros blacksmith imprisoned by the Crippled God on a remote island and forced to forge a cursed sword. Withal is a craftsman of exceptional skill whose creation becomes the instrument of Rhulad's torment and transformation.

One of the Sengar brothers, a powerful Tiste Edur sorcerer. Binadas is capable and independent, often away on missions for the Edur that bring him into contact with strange and dangerous forces.