Agatha Sedge has never been particularly interested in sitting around and wondering what might be behind the next door.

Compact, athletic, and perpetually ready for trouble, Agatha is the practical half of the Sedge expedition. Where her brother sees a centuries-old mystery, she sees a locked door that needs opening, a collapsed passage that needs navigating, or a problem that needs solving before someone gets hurt. She's blunt, observant, confident, and possessed of a dry humor that tends to surface at exactly the wrong—or right—moment.

She has spent enough time exploring ruins to know that caution and curiosity aren't mutually exclusive. She checks every door twice, pockets interesting stones without thinking about it, and has an uncanny habit of muttering, "That's probably fine," immediately before doing something questionable.

Agatha doesn't care much for ceremony or strangers standing on formality. Once the expedition is underway, the protagonist is simply another member of the team, expected to pull their weight, speak honestly, and share responsibility when things inevitably go wrong.

With Agatha along, the expedition has someone who can keep moving when the careful plans inevitably fall apart.

Ephraim Sedge has spent years chasing fragments of the past, following old records and half-forgotten accounts in the hope that somewhere, beneath centuries of dust and neglect, something remarkable is still waiting to be found.

Lean, long-limbed, and usually accompanied by a pair of spectacles and an ink-stained thumb, Ephraim is a researcher first and an adventurer almost by accident. He approaches ancient ruins with meticulous care, recording observations, examining details others might overlook, and occasionally thinking aloud when his mind gets ahead of him. For all his methodical habits, however, little can contain his quiet excitement when confronted with something genuinely significant.

The discovery of the forgotten ruins in Lyrandel may be the opportunity he has been waiting for. An ancient facility. Lost research. A library untouched for centuries. And, at its heart, something that may predate even the oldest surviving records.

Ephraim considers the protagonist a true expedition partner rather than a hired hand or simple companion. Their judgment matters to him, particularly when the evidence refuses to fit neatly into his theories.

Unfortunately, ruins have a way of being considerably less orderly than books.