The most important thing, of course. Here is the main cast of IMPENDIA:

THE AMBIMORPH

A specimen of an alien fox-like species that is believed to be from some planet orbiting the red dwarf Xolrut, which may itself be orbiting a black hole. He has a scary ability to drag other parts of spacetime in his wake, and emerge from one part of spacetime into another...

TURMAL BRANNPELS

An artist and part-time chaw k’wok barista at the outset of the story, brother of Mayeul and son of Frigg, he’s a mouse from a working class upbringing who doesn’t understand his own ability to see alternate outcomes—he thinks they’re normal daydreams. He’s a stubborn, often angry mouse, though, who tends to have problematic views and generalize others.

SIA KAMIL’ME

A native Impendian and great grand-niece to Sha Rikk’tor, she’s a field biologist working for her great uncle by suntide and ruthless bounty hunter assistant to Apophis by shadowtide. Don’t you dare call her an alien.

APOPHIS SIMHA

A tough, well-built giant canid of a hyena-like species. He's a bounty hunter who works with Sia, whose claim to fame is capturing the main antagonist from off-world, whether for the good of Impendia or not...

FEX DYR-DU/SAMUEL HUNSTEAD

Fex is a squirrel and member of a clan of bounty hunters along with his partner Miguel. While attempting to capture the Ambimorph, though, he is replaced by Samuel Hunstead, a father and husband from a more business casual life who isn’t quite prepared for what’s about to happen to him.

MIGUEL DELUMUD/Schrödinger

Miguel is a friend of Fex and his partner in their clan of bounty hunters. The Ambimorph replaces him with a domesticated housecat, though, so somewhere Miguel is probably scrambling out of a bath tub full of cat toys in someone’s house!

MARISSA COLE

Friend of Turmal’s who’s tragically invested in him on an emotional level, but who’s also had enough and is right on the edge of letting that ship sail. She tries her best to get through on some level, even with the help of other friends, but is constantly vilified by the stubborn mouse.

DALE HUXLEY

Best friend of Turmal’s, kind of timid and soft-spoken, who nevertheless isn’t afraid to challenge Turmal’s hot takes and provocations, at least every once in a while. He’s careful not to be seen as Marissa’s tool for getting through to him, but he’s torn, very torn.

ZWEEN-DA

Native of Soruica, who now lives on Impendia like many immigrants, and a friend in Marissa’s circle. She’s less conflicted about Turmal—though she’ll hang around him for Marissa’s sake, she takes his mild racism even less in stride than Marissa does, having a predator boyfriend.

CAPTAIN AMOS DAVERMANN

 Captain of the Cloud Port Authority on Feratilos, he oversees everything that comes and goes to and from the colony, and doesn’t like it too much when folks, especially predators and aliens, bring things into his port from other dimensions!

FRIGG BRANNPELS

An old mouse and mother of two sons. A very plain-spoken lady whose favorite color is red. Severe when she wants to be, yet always nervous, whether about what trouble her sons have gotten themselves into or millions of other things.

SHA RIKK'TOR

An erudite, bookish native of Impendia, though an alien by the standards of most of the other characters. He's also one of few who understand most of the myths, legends, miracles, and nightmares of Impendian lore and the lore of surrounding systems.

LYEN RIKK'TOR

The aunt of Sha Rikk’tor, Lyen was a theoretical physicist and curator of the Kilometer Mirror and Ultra-vast Wavelength Detector on Umud. Her discoveries of ‘Lyen Radiation’ earned her a place among the most influential scientists of her generation, but she died tragically at a young age, leaving her estate to her even younger nephew when he was old enough, and was honored posthumously with an observatory on Feratilos dedicated to her memory.

MIGUEL ALCUBIERRE

The inventor of the drive that first takes species from Earth into the far reaches of space. Artifacts of what appear to be the same drive were found on two separate planets in the Impendian system, dated several hundred years apart in age...

ODILO HALE

An off-world squirrel who comes to Impendia seeking to learn more about the dangers of its system to his people back home. Like most of the other squirrels back home and the ruling monarchy, he is extremely wary and discriminating of predatory species, even in the context of the mostly peaceful co-existence enjoyed by Impendians.

MAYEUL BRANNPELS

Brother of the main protagonist, who is a well-traveled soul unlike Turmal, and who was adopted by the rulers of Odilo's tribe and given unprecedented access to their very secretive underground bases. He starts to become tired of their very strict policies and severe attitudes toward many innocent species, though, and wants to leave it all behind.

 GENERAL NIDLORF

The militant leader of the squirrel tribes of Soruica, who adopted Mayeul into his camp as the only non-squirrel after his life is saved by the mouse. As such, he trusts him with his life but, being the ruthless leader he is, also holds him to a very strict standard.

QUEEN SORUICUS

Queen of the Soruica birds, who are currently at war with the squirrel tribes occupying the hidden oases of their planet, she rules a vast ring-shaped metropolis of birds, situated at the center of the planet’s largest oasis, the city of Ornithopea.

CHIK-TAK

Daughter of Queen Soruicus, she runs away from her mother at a very young age, is captured and put aboard a cargo ship bound for Impendia, no doubt to be sold in the black markets of the Platis Verminus to the highest bid.

ZDITH QWOL (ZI-dith Qu-OLE)

Leader of a cult of predators on the Platis Verminus, who meets the Ambimorph and hails him as their messiah, pledging what loyalty he’s able as the dishonest, double-dealing opportunist he is. He also commands the six legions of the Ambimorph’s combined forces.

TARGA WFOL (Tar-guh Wuh-FOAL)

 Leader of a less civilized tribe of predators on the Platis Verminus, who is also visited by the Ambimorph to help prepare for ‘his second coming.’ Though normally in contention with Zdith’s cult, they form an alliance.

CEABOL KAO (SEE-bowl Kow)

Leader of a tribe of predators already in alliance with Targa, who worship the reptile-like extinct creatures of the Platis Verminus, and the legendary Oormdrak. They believe that the Oormdrak Bridge on Feratilos is a live Oormdrak encased in stone and tied down with cables, and want nothing more than to enter the city, rape and pillage it, and free their idol.

QWUFA NYX (QWOOF-uh Nix)

The short one of the six leaders, he’s a half-blind poor street rat who lives in the ‘great’ equatorial metropolis on Umud, and leads one of its most violent underground predator gangs.

QWOL FUSIL (Qu-OLE Foo-SILL)

The cunning and wealthy banker of the black market of Platis Verminus, who controls all of the business loans taken by those wishing to sell their wares in the expensive stalls of the market. On the surface he’s a charming businesslynx, but underneath lives a crime boss who snuffs out those who would try to establish other markets or provide alternative loans. The Ambimorph promises him to be treasurer of his soon vast wealth.

GARI BAGAT (GAH-REE BA-GAT)

Gari is kind of a dull wolf who agrees to help the Ambimorph and rally disenfranchised predators already living on the colony of Feratilos to revolt, even though most of the other predators on Platis Verminus would just as soon kill them as the non-predator species living there.

KEVI

A wandering thief of the equatorial metropolis on Umud, one of the best there is. Even so, she was caught once, and faced a horrific punishment leaving her permanently disfigured.

REZZ

An obsessed follower of the Ambimorph, another member of his species and religion, and what could be called his ‘cousin,’ who just wants him to recognize her. If he doesn’t, she’ll simply find a way to destroy him or make him feel her pain and anguish! ‘Rezz’ isn’t her name, it’s a moniker some ravers in the underground gave her when she appeared to them...

D3DWOLF

A DJ and music artist in the underground music scene of Feratilos, well-loved even by predators. They hide their face under a helmet resembling a dead wolf, and champion androgyny being of androgynous gender themselves.

KAS VERSO

A dancer and singer in the same dance studio as her friend Flo the deer. Though she looks up to the superior dancer, she’s stuck between their shared values as dancers and being with her more popular friends.

MERCI BLUUM

She has a bit of an ironic name, and is the leader of the trio including herself, Kas, and Ingrid. She’s never sorry, never going to apologize, because she’s just doing her, raising the roof on the club, living her best life, and trampling on anyone who gets in her way. She’s an extremely bad influence on Kas.

INGRID GRISHOLM

The most wicked bully in the trio, even by Merci’s standards, Ingrid has decided to single out a younger bat named Gwenn for her most depraved, willfully-destructive bullying.

GWENN YVONNE

A small bat with a large backpack who just wants to go to school and learn things, loves animals, and tries to ignore bullies. She’s also way tougher and way more powerful than she knows yet.

FLO SIMMONS

Dancer at the Newbloom School who also studies privately at a dance studio in Rezdon Studios along with Kas. She sees the younger ferret’s potential but is deeply disappointed in her choice of friends.

VIMZIE AVERIZE

Artist and social media star, looked up to by Turmal, she evokes his jealousy when she decides to take Marissa into her circle instead of him. She’s a kangaroo mouse whose gimmick is using her tail as her brush!

KIM SUN

Panda aspiring researcher who studies the work of Sha and dreams of one day working in the Lyen Rikk’tor Observatory’s impressive library. For now, they’re stuck recording ship dockings in Feratilos’ Cloud Port.

MENDELSSOHN FERATAN

Siw’lu player at the Feratilan School, and one of the most promising musicians on the Impendian colonies.

T.U.X.

A wildly-deviant and mischievous penguin AI who can’t seem to stay out of trouble with the law in the equatorial metropolis on Umud, and has a weird jealousy/fixation on the pets of politicians. He’s racked up quite a long list of infractions, but his more elaborate plans... need some work.

VIDDICK ADHIKARI

A drug dealer rat who sells ‘B-lim’ in the Rezdon Studios district, who dreams of quitting his current life and making films.

RODIGERO DECARO

Cast-aside member of General Nidlorf’s tribal court, who is deeply vindictive toward Mayeul and sees his place in the court as a non-squirrel to be a blemish on their heritage, and will stop at nothing to ensure the purity of their society.

MORUWIL

A lost member of the squirrel tribes of Soruica, now wandering the Umud mines underneath the great equatorial city. He doesn’t speak, and emotes with his tail for the most part.

AMI-37112

A mammoth cyborg who has the features of a male but identifies as female. There’s a lot of different types of injustices she has to face, as a cyborg, being mistaken for an AI (though there’s nothing wrong with AI either), and judged for her appearance.

ZWEEN-TAK

Great grandmother of Zween-Da and servant to the Queen Soruicus. Most Soruicans have been relegated to second class citizenship under the rule of Queen Soruicus.

MRISI DUCAT

F-pop singer living in Rezdon Studios who gives Kas private singing lessons. She’s very small, absolute fire on the mic, and has the total adoration of her millions of fans.

ARCS

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