The Composer, Source of the Deep Music and all Creative Power, unseen, all-knowing, beyond the comprehension of everyone but the Maestro

The Maestro, Conductor of the Music, Integrator of the Airy Music and the Deep, and the Giver of the Gifts

Gambit, Second Chair of the Celestial Strings; adopts the form of a male Liege on the Prized Earth

Baruch, Scribe of the Celestial Symphony, makes written records of the Music using hez Quill, Gift of the Maestro; like Gambit, he adopts the form of a male Liege on the Prized Earth

Stoker, First Chair of the Celestial Strings, master of the finest Instrument in the Celestial Symphony; resides currently in the body of a male Liege on the Prized Earth; calls hemself “The Only One”

Chalan, shuh-Lahn, rhymes with baton, digger of wormage, and listener to the Voice of Wonder

Auntie, Chalan’s aunt

Uncle, partner of Auntie

Argil, (of the skulls), clay baker of Looster, mentor to Chalan

Zhoktan, Honcho of Looster

Zell, son of Zhoktan

Omerson, the chanter

Sneeflix, leader of one of the lesser circles

DipDip, racer in the stone carry, daughter of Firebrand, friend of Chalan

Sherronigan, racer in the stone carry

Firebrand, racer in the stone carry, mother of DipDip

Heldzugga, racer in the stone carry, matron of the Greater Circle

Segudon, race announcer and boxer

Yolan, mother of Chalan

Diasic, dee-Ahh-sick, second son of King Seth

Pravo, first son of King Seth

Abiday, mother of Diasic and wife of King Seth; sister of Balinor

Balinor, mother of Pravo and wife of King Seth; sister of Abiday

King Seth, King of Briggs Land

Arkeen, hiker of the mountains

Tograggin, gate keeper for King Seth

Shockneg, understudy of Tograggin’s

Jolly, the Fire Keep

Happy g’Jolly, elder son of Jolly

Smiley g’Jolly, younger son of Jolly

Hoolihoo, girl who befriends Chalan

Tadawa, runner in The King’s Race

Nims, a rock climber

Urubko, a rock climber

Canticle, singer, friend of Diasic’s

Finch, carver of instruments, friend of Diasic’s

Calligan, contestant in The King’s Race

Jillian, a man with many wives

Hawk: orphan boy at Vistatrace Canyon, an excellent runner

Spider: orphan boy at the Vistatrace, younger than Hawk, but nearly as fast

Chief, leader of the Shustaka

Lawana-hah: firstborn daughter of Chief

Takimba, firstborn daughter of Chalan and Diasic

Nightfall, second born daughter of Chalan and Diasic

Baku, young son of King Balucha

Shunam, a thief

Sledborne, infant son of Shunam

Ka, a clever carpenter

M-M-Tuh, pronounced mm-mm-Tuh

Blizzard, the white bull

Blackie, the black yak cow

Goldie, the golden yak cow

Wave, the blue bull

Yag-Soot, a black calf

Jockluck, leader of the three snow trolls

Pointy, pointy-headed snow troll

Crusty, rough-skinned snow troll

Bud, troll raised by Chalan from infancy

Forest Troll, the verlack

Horn Trolls, unnamed

Coral, the pink hog

Fang, the black hog with only one tusk

Blue: the blades on the saw-leg are short and close together

Red: the blades on the saw-leg are long and widely spaced

The Speaker, announcer for the Canyon races and guide for tours of the zoo; he walks upright, massive and hairy like a great bear, but he wears the face of a human, the tail of a shimto, and the claws of a djero

Chookie

Rahra

The Waymaker

Red, the “fuff,” the enormous master who guards the boll hill

Blue, the adults that live in the deserts, bringing homage to the fuff and laying eggs in the hill; a blue boll that eats the head of the fuff quadruples in size, molts its blue coat, and promptly transforms into the next red fuff

Yellow, the young ones; they ride on the backs of the blue adults

Bar-kan, first among equals, the one who acquires a fuff leg

Shak-riar, next in command after Bar-kan

Taymi-yan, skilled with a sling

Jussa-tar, a fast digger

Tik-tan, smallest of the travos

Shope-kan, has wounded feet

Desta-nak, friend of Yolan’s

Letah-senbet, aka Senbet, meets Chalan in the Poison Field

Fahn-lun, the one who has seen the most

Taymi-nok, deceased, mother of Taymi-yan

Justa-pok, deceased, sister of Jussa-tar

Bergan, Gatekeeper of the Vistatrace Canyon

Chew-pop, capturer of animals

Heefa, leader of the djereem

Shewagala, hates the Heefa

Nashapon, fifth sow of the new Heefa

Hoojaba Ha, the shimto who claims to be the Hoojaba

Chibaba, the one who captures Diasic and sails with him to meet Hoojaba Hoot

Hoojaba Hoot, the real Hoojaba

Chammo, wounded mother with two babies

Saphara, the old Marah

Hoorel, shares notches with Saphara

Big Teep, leader of the six surviving flecken

The Bbboojesh, great beast with a thick shell

Mammoths, unnamed

The Stoneworm, encountered first in the Vistatrace Canyon

Fireworms, unnamed

The Pooper Toad, unique creature

Greater Elyks, six-stride wingspan, fly in formations of eight or twelve

Lesser Elyks, smaller wingspan

Missile Birds, male progeny of a mother elyks, function as exploding guided ammunition