The stablemaster of Buckkeep who raises Fitz after Prince Chivalry's abdication, providing the closest thing to a father the boy has. Burrich is a man of fierce principles and genuine tenderness beneath a forbidding exterior, whose complicated feelings about the Wit - which he suppresses in himself with considerable cost - shape his relationship with Fitz in ways neither fully understands for much of the sequence. One of the most beloved supporting characters in the Elderlings universe.

A Witted man (Old Blood) who lives near Crowsneck with his bond-bear Hilda and companion Holly. He educates FitzChivalry about Old Blood ways and offers to teach him.

A woman with Old Blood who lives with Black Rolf. She is bonded to a hawk named Sleet and sends FitzChivalry a warning scroll about Regal hunting Witted folk.

Old Blood elder and Witmaster, bonded with a gyrfalcon named Risk

Burrich and Molly's Witted son who comes to Buckkeep to be trained

Young Bresinga nobleman with Old Blood ties who lures Prince Dutiful into the Piebald plot

Mother of Civil Bresinga and owner of Galeton estate. She harbours Piebald sympathies and hosts Fitz and the Fool during their pursuit of Prince Dutiful, though her complicity in the Piebald plot is ambiguous.

Laurel is Queen Kettricken's Huntswoman, a strongly built woman in her late twenties from Tilth. Skilled in tracking, riding, and field craft, she was recruited by Kettricken after impressing her on a hunt. She accompanies Fitz and Lord Golden to Galeton to find Prince Dutiful.

A young Witted man, Laurel's cousin; captured by FitzChivalry at the massacre site and turned messenger between the tracking party and the Old Blood elders.