Ghanior Y-See'voya Hastri'nom
Born on Perdita in 2095 A.E., Ghanior is the child of a single psychologically neglectful but very intelligent mother. The result of a one-night stand, he is unusual on Perdita in not knowing who his father is. Despite a prestigious social position as a student in Perdita's Jana Program, Ghanior always dreamed of immigrating to Ashtor, which he eventually does. He is the first to discover that Jana can be used by Jana Walkers for point-to-point travel. When he is twenty, he has a son, Kedren, with Jessa West-of-Now, shortly before his immigration to Ashtor. He is, thus, not present for most of his son's childhood, which occasions problems in their relationship down the line. He has the fortune to begin his career as an Ashtorian soldier at the same time Naeq, a powerful, charismatic, slightly unstable Ashtorian leader is rising to power. At around age forty, he has (by Ashtorian standards) a scandalous affair with a fellow soldier, Rah'yem Ha'jen, whom he loves deeply. She subsequently dies in disgrace. Some decades later, he settles down with 'Eblia Yoq. Physical: tall, thin, pale, short curly black hair, brown eyes.
Laran West-of-Now
Born 2096 A.E., Laran is the great-niece of Imasrase, the Pilgrim (i.e. the Pilgrim's brother's granddaughter) on Perdita. Younger sister of Jessa. She is raised on Zerin, Perdita, the island that is the center of the Jana Program. Her great-grandmother, Sylan (the Pilgrim's mother), is a leader of the Jana Program. Thus, she is initially very invested in finding the Pilgrim in Jana. She ultimately becomes an important ambassador in Leddie space (where Sylan comes from). Her eventual life-partner is a Leddie woman, a hypertelepath, Mahr, with whom Laran has a mainly platonic relationship. In her early twenties, she is involved briefly with one of the Pey (Epeylléyti) on Shi-Durn. This fellow, Far, is raising a small male child, Mey, and he and Laran have a daughter, Asoiya. When Far dies, Laran raises both children as her own. Physical: long, curly, red hair, tanned, blue-green eyes.
'Eblia Te'Zhano Yoq
Born 2135 A.E., 'Eblia is the daughter of two archaeologists, her mother Ashtorian, her father Leddie. When she's two, her parents die in an accident and she is sent to live with her mother's brother, Hasharah'ra Be'soq, a history professor, and his husband, Mae'joq Qy'qaemlé, a well-known painter. She is raised on the Ashtorian planet Me'mib, a mostly desert world. In early childhood, she is diagnosed as a hypertelepath, and like most HTs, she spends the rest of her life managing her over-acute telepathic capabilities. To compensate for her tendency to read minds unintentionally, 'Eblia grows up to be a very restrained, polite, but socially distant person. She also acquires an early interest in languages and literature, enjoyments that do not tax her telepathic blocks. In her early adulthood, she uses her telepathic capabilities to work as an intelligence agent in Ashtor. At around fifty, she retires from this position and becomes a writer and translator.
Ethan from Mesa and Sherayna from Meena
Ethan
Born: 1994 A.E. A main character in Perdita, Ethan is a dedicated pro-tech who grows up on the continent of Veshna, which is more anti-tech in sentiment. Abandoned at a young age by his mother, he is devoted to his father, Jessec of Mesa, a very popular pro-tech in Perdita's Space Program and, owing to his patient and reasonable attitudes, even well-liked among anti-techs. Jessec dies when Ethan is seventeen. His death, attributed to anti-tech sabotage of the spaceship The Outbound, kindled Ethan's long-standing contempt for the anti-techs. Ethan subsequently became a pro-tech soldier, rising quite young to the rank of warchief. His life is defined by a tension between his detestation for the anti-techs and his sincere desire to uphold his father's values of common understanding and open discourse. His great dream is to see Perdita rediscover space travel.
Sherayna
Born 2001 A.E. on Perdita, Sherayna is the daughter of two anti-tech rebels who die when she is two. She is raised by the farming family of Rajaneen and Shoshec in the town of Meena. Their daughter, Illia, becomes her foster-sister and best friend. Another Meenan anti-tech, Leric, is absorbed into the family at fifteen when his parents are killed. Sherayna is reserved and disciplined, dedicated to restructuring Perdita as a low-tech society. At a young age, she becomes an anti-tech commander. Her life is defined by a tension between the hard vehemence of her persona as an anti-tech leader and her deep love for the community and family she grew up with.
Shesen Shadowdell
Most adept of the original Perditan Jana Walkers. The child of a mathematical prodigy (father) who is a borderline idiot savant and an important politician (mother) who is often away from home, he is somewhat emotionally neglected by both his parents. He has a brother (10 years older) of more normal mental capacities to whom he tries to bond but who is envious of his intelligence and a bit unsettled by him. He finds a surrogate family among the Jana Walkers. Shesen is a wit, something of a writer. Eventually, he immigrates to the Kiri worlds and marries a Kiri woman, Shalta Shadowdell, who is a drug-addicted poet. They have three children. After many years, he "rescues" the lost Walker, Sorkuel, from Jana. He is also the greatest early expert on successfully navigating the dream-worlds within Jana. (He is the initial developer of the idea of singing as a means of stabilizing Jana, which eventually becomes standard practice.) His best friend is Elleen. Physical: moderate build, brown skin, curly black hair.
Elleen from Lo Renna
Another of the original Walkers, in her youth, Elleen is almost pathologically shy. In some ways, she's the antithesis of Ghanior, socially very awkward and often lonely, but on a deeper level, she thinks a great deal about other people and is quite perceptive. She has a strong strain of self-confidence despite her social ineptitude, which comes less from self-doubt than from a combination of native introversion and a young childhood spent in relative social isolation in the backwater of Lo Renna. She's been primarily paired (platonically) with Shesen, with whom she immigrates to the Kiri worlds. Elleen eventually becomes a féyshelaz, which, among the Kiris, is someone who can communicate telepathically with animals, a rare and honored, somewhat monastic calling. At one point, she "rescues" Shesen while he is in Jana to "rescue" Sorkuel. Early on, she rooms with Laran. Physical: thin, pale, long, light brown hair, big blue-gray eyes.
Cordec from Meena
The youngest and least adept of the original Walkers, he is the much, much, much (like 70 years) younger half-brother of the High Priestess Karmeena. However, he didn't grow up on Zerin but in Meena (a farming town) with his parents. He's more or less content with being the "average" kid. His childhood is stable and happy, and he's quite well-adjusted. He drops out of the Jana Program early on (he can't navigate Jana) and goes to work on the political end of program management. He eventually pairs up with Jessa (Ghanior's ex., Laran's sister), and they have twin daughters. He also serves as a sort of uncle/surrogate father to Ghanior's son, Kedren. Early on, he rooms with Ghanior. Physical: big, tall, tanned, blond, blue eyes.
Sylan West-of-Now
One of the Jana Program leaders, Laran's great-grandmother, the Pilgrim's mother. She'd be about 130 years old (which would look about 50) when the Jana Program succeeds in reaching Jana. She is a highly trained astrophysicist from Leddra (i.e. Leddie space). She is a rather cool, restrained person, rational but devoted to her family a forceful personality.
Nevan West-of-Now
Sylan's husband, the Pilgrim's father. He's a historian from the Kiri culture, which is very "back to nature" and fearful of high technology. He is the putative author of Perdita, a storyteller. A thinker more than an actor. In Perdita, a number of people view him as a wimp, but he has a firm grasp on the philosophical complexities.
Leric from Meena
Karmeena and Cordec's father, same generation as Sylan (about 15 years younger). He's a farmer in Meena (far from Zerin), an old anti-tech crusader but glad to embrace a life of peace in the Jana era. Leric is a real people person: friendly, outgoing, perceptive, not happy alone. At one point, he had a romantic involvement with Sylan; at the end of Perdita, it seemed to have fizzled, but who knows.