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The Compendium

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The titanic hand-shaped drilling machine a Helldiver pilots alone in the deep tunnels.

The Society's rigid caste system dividing humanity into ranked Colors, each marked by Sigils and bred to a role.

The Society's bureaucrat Color, copper-haired administrators of data, management, and quotas.

The legendary Helldiver of the rival Gamma clan, a leathery veteran who insists raw pull never matters.

Dancers Rebellion

The failed peaceful protest led by Darrow's father, whose hanging ended it and defined Darrow's grief.

Sixteen-year-old Red Helldiver of Lykos, the youngest and best driller his clan can remember.

Darrow's sixteen-year-old wife, a Webbery silk-harvester whose fierce spirit embodies the soul of their people.

The insulating nanoplastic mining suit that seals a Helldiver in his own heat, sweat, and stink.

The favored Red mining clan of Lykos that has held the Laurel and its luxuries for as long as anyone remembers.

The ruling Color of the Society, golden-haired overlords who govern all other Colors from the top of the pyramid.

The Society's gray-clad garrison police and soldiers, called Tinpots, who enforce order over the Reds.

A rare flower Eo leaves after a death, a small emblem of grief, tenderness, and quiet defiance.

The precious mineral the Reds mine from the deep tunnels of Mars, said to be the lifeblood of terraforming.

Darrow's cautious elder brother, a Lambda driller with a wife and young twins.

Darrow's Red mining clan of Lykos, perennial also-rans to Gamma in the race for the Laurel.

Darrow's cousin and friend, Narol's son, a playful Lambda driller married to Eo's sister.

The underground Red mining colony on Mars where Darrow was born, a warren of tunnels, townships, and taverns.

The red planet where the Reds toil underground, its barren surface awaiting the terraforming their labor is said to fuel.

Darrow's uncle, the Lambda crew's drunken headTalk and last surviving brother of Darrow's hanged father.

Nero Au Augustus

The Gold ArchGovernor of Mars, supreme Society authority over the planet, invoked but unseen.

The Society's colossal soldier Color, warriors nearly twice a Red's size.

Octavia Au Lune

The aged Gold Sovereign of the Society, whose broadcasts preach obedience and sacrifice to the Red pioneers.

Oil-black tunnel serpents that seek warmth in a Helldiver's suit, their venomous young the deadliest.

The lowest Color, red-haired mining slaves who dig helium-3 in the deep tunnels of Mars.

A cruelly curved half-moon cutter carried by Helldivers to hack free limbs caught in the drills.

A shadowy terrorist movement warring on the Society for the sake of its oppressed lower Colors.

The tiered central plaza of Lykos, ringed by taverns and Gamma homes, where the clans dance beneath the gallows.

The Society's quarterly prize of luxury and food awarded to the top mining clan, a carrot to keep the Reds grasping.

The domed fortress high in the ceiling of Lykos where the colony's Gray and Copper keepers live.

The rigid color-caste civilization ruling humanity across the planets, built on obedience, hierarchy, and sacrifice.

Timony Cu Podginus

The simpering Copper MineMagistrate of Lykos who awards the Laurel and administers the colony's quotas.

The greasy, crippled Gray captain of Lykos's garrison who taunts Darrow and leers at Eo.