Ammonite

Acting Commander of the Mirrors at Port Central; reads Marghe's dossier, meets her in person, and attempts to build a frank alliance by sharing her own dossier and disclosing the dire realities of the mission.

Mirror sublieutenant who survived the virus and gives Marghe a candid, ground-level account of its lethality, failed treatments, and practical survival advice.

Community woman who shelters Marghe and negotiates a trata with her—travel supplies in exchange for metals and Company goodwill—enabling Marghe's journey north.

Speaks for the Singing Pastures women in trata negotiations; departs northward with her herd after agreements are reached, gifting Marghe a promise of a future horse.

Companion to Holle; assists Marghe during the taar stampede, mounts up with her, and takes charge of the horses.

Surviving SEC field researcher who withdraws from Jeep after Winnie's presumed death, leaving Marghe without support.

SEC anthropologist undergoing physical and psychological transformation; survives a blizzard by killing her horse, then undergoes a planetary gong meditation that resolves her identity crisis and leads to her formal adoption into the Ollfoss community.

Marghe's horse, present through the taar stampede and cave shelter scenes; requires care and responds to Marghe's handling.

Ship's doctor who administers FN-17, processes Marghe through the airlock, and makes an off-record confession that planetside deployment is permanent; later guides Marghe through a severe vaccine reaction.

Danner's loyal assistant whose name appears on the list of seventeen personnel requesting departure to the Estrade, shocking Danner with a sense of personal abandonment.

Technician who pinpoints the spy's location, decodes her transmission, reassures Danner about her command decisions, and is dispatched north by sled to retrieve Day.

Leads her tribe through the aftermath of Uaithne's death; tells a funeral story about Uaithne's youth and issues a restrained personal curse at a viajera while protecting tribal interests.

Healer who shares Aoife's yurti; warns Marghe to conceal her off-world origins from Uaithne and explains the deepsearch crisis that broke Aoife and Uaithne's soestre bond.

Aoife's estranged soestre who believes herself the Death Spirit; watches Marghe from a distance, delivers a cold account of her own violence at the feast, and rides off before the Briogannon raid.

Young tribeswoman assigned to keep Marghe in sight while herding; less skilled with a sling than Aoife.

Leader of the Echraidhe winter camp who assigns Marghe to Aoife's yurti and later presides over the storytelling feast.

Aoife's daughter, approaching sixteen, who moves into the yurti alongside Scatha as part of a kinship arrangement.

Daughter of Aelle; moves into the yurti with Marac as part of the Levarch's plan to strengthen tribal ties between Aoife's and Aelle's families.

Uaithne's former lover from the Briogannon, cast aside after the deepsearch; tried to knife Uaithne, was nearly killed, returned to her tribe and renamed herself Ojo, swearing blood feud.

Danner's older sister who raised her and encouraged her military ambitions; invoked in Danner's memory as someone who believed in her but was 'wrong about many things'.

Championship fencer among the Mirrors; Danner schedules a workout with her to clear her head before the spy-trap planning session.

Signals technician who provides a precise bearing on the spy's transmission.

Mirror officer who was apprehended as the spy; under drugs she confesses her belief that Danner has been deliberately undermining the Mirrors' purpose and identity.

Viajera who explains her role to Marghe, draws out Marghe's self-discovery, guides her to the gong meditation, and facilitates her formal adoption into the Ollfoss household.

Young community woman; part of the Ollfoss household; brings Marghe food during the gong vigil and eagerly welcomes her as a new sister.

Senior woman of the Ollfoss household who formally officiates Marghe's adoption ceremony.

Community woman whose advocacy helps persuade the household to accept Marghe; perceived by Marghe as also seeing her as a trata asset.

Household member nursing an infant; present at Marghe's adoption ceremony.

Household member who deflects Gerrel's pressure on Marghe and confirms her acceptance.

Thenike's blood sister; a sailor who tells a story of her last voyage at the adoption meal.

Journeywoman/viajera who visits Danner to relay Cassil's trata demand, interprets the message knot, and declares trata broken when Danner refuses.

Indigenous messenger from Scatterdell who delivers Marghe's message knot to Port Central.

Experienced sailor who met Thenike in a fish-gutting contest years ago; tells the story of their first encounter while splicing rope with Marghe and Thenike.

Methodical, slow-but-reliable deputy who provides a cautiously optimistic assessment of permanent settlement viability and manages evacuation planning.

Briogannon representative who participates in the joint funeral and subsequent trata negotiations at Holme Valley.

Accompanies Marghe and Thenike on the river journey; provides route guidance through the Yelland hills and roasts gram roots at camp.

Leads a band of seven seasonal olla shapers who offer hospitality to the travelers in exchange for one of Thenike's stories.