A Culture Special Circumstances officer who recruited Zakalwe and manages his operations. Sharp, empathetic, and more personally invested in her agent than professional detachment would advise.

Born a princess of the Sarl, a feudal people living within a vast artificial Shellworld. She left her homeworld to join the Culture and became a Special Circumstances agent. Now she must return to the world she thought she had left behind.

One of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, recruited from outside the Culture to change the destiny of planets through intrigue, dirty tricks, and military action. A man of extraordinary capability haunted by a past he cannot escape.