One of the Intagliated – her entire body marked with an intricate tattoo that signifies her family's debt and her status as property. Determined to win her freedom at any cost, her release comes at a price that draws her into a conflict far larger than her personal vendetta.

The richest man in the Enablement, Lededje's owner. Charming in public, monstrous in private, his lust for power extends beyond his own world into the digital realms where the dead are stored.

Prin's mate and fellow activist who enters the Pavulean Hell with him. The experience breaks her psychologically; she denies the existence of any reality beyond Hell and refuses to activate her escape code. Her virtual self remains trapped in Hell after Prin escapes, while her sleeping physical body is eventually woken without the Hell memories.

The humanoid avatar of the Culture warship Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints. Gaunt, cadaverous, and dressed in dark clothes with a red jewel at his neck. Sardonic, irreverent, and ruthlessly effective, he operates the most powerful warship in the region and ultimately destroys the Hells and kills Veppers using an intelligent tattoo weapon.

A Culture warship of the Abominator class – designed and built for pure destruction. Arguably deranged by any civilised standard, it is nonetheless extraordinarily effective. Assigned to assist Lededje, though its definition of assistance can be alarming.

The humanoid avatar of the Culture ship Me, I'm Counting, a Hooligan-class LOU that has gone Eccentric. Appears as a terribly old, skeletal man with an impossibly deep voice. He met Lededje when she was sixteen, took a hyper-dimensional image of her Intagliate body, and secretly planted a neural lace seed that would later save her life.

Veppers' principal bodyguard and chief of security. A pale, lean man who habitually wears Enhancing Oculenses. Pragmatic and dutiful, he was secretly Lededje's lover but ultimately chose loyalty to Veppers over her. He gives Lededje a gun and tells her where to find Veppers before evacuating the remaining staff.

A Pavulean activist who voluntarily enters the Pavulean Hell with his mate Chay to witness its horrors and bring evidence back to the Real. A metre-and-a-half-long quadruped with twin prehensile trunks. After escaping Hell alone, he testifies before the Pavulean Senate, sparking a political crisis over the continued existence of the Hells.

The avatoid and later avatar of the Culture GSV Sense Amid Madness, Wit Amidst Folly. Appears as a pleasant elderly woman in the virtual environment and a small, bronze-skinned figure in the Real. She receives Lededje's transmitted mind-state, facilitates her revention into a new body, and imposes the condition of a slap-drone escort.

Veppers' personal physician. A blocky, grizzled man with dark yellow skin and thin brown hair. He manages the disposal of Lededje's body, discovers the neural lace in the furnace, creates the cover story for Veppers' nose injury, and provides medical expertise throughout the events.

A soldier fighting in the War in Heaven, the virtual conflict over the fate of the Hells. He experiences countless incarnations across the war's many simulated battlefields, rising through the ranks based on his imagination and resourcefulness. He is part of a secret group that votes to escalate from legitimate warfare to cheating through hacking and sabotage.

A Culture agent from the Quietus division, which deals with the afterlives and digital heavens and hells maintained by various civilisations. Sent to investigate the escalating war in the virtual realms.

A young Pavulean Representative from the Outlying Habitats who champions the anti-Hell cause in the Pavulean Senate. She arranges for Prin to testify about his experiences in Hell, strategically outmanoeuvring the conservative pro-Hell establishment.

The avatar of the Culture GCU Armchair Traveller. A fat little man in a shiny patterned dressing gown who frequents Divinity In Extremis. He helps Lededje navigate Culture society and connects her with information about Special Circumstances ships, including a dangerous elevator shaft surfing excursion.

A Culture slap-drone assigned to accompany Lededje. A cream-cased, smooth device about the size of two outspread hands, surrounded by a misty aura field. Officially designated as Lededje's protector and companion, tasked with preventing her from harming anyone, particularly Veppers.

A Jhlupian trader and honorary consul who serves as Veppers' principal contact with alien civilisations. A twelve-limbed creature resembling a giant soft-shelled land crab with bright green skin and three stalk eyes. Xingre confirms the neural lace found in Lededje's remains is genuine Culture technology.