Souls-Tirade-Unwielding (Tirade) is a Aelfir Witch with a calling towards Enlightenment. Tirade's family name was ruined after they were sent to kill a Gnoll that had managed to get their way into the Spire but chose to befriend it instead. A member of a rival Aelfir family had been spying on Tirade and witnessed the act, revealing their secret to their social circles.
Tiradecarries patchy evidence of their step-sister's betrayal and sacred symbols of the Old Gods, which are outlawed in the city Above. They also carry an imported book of meditative stances and spirit-cleansing recipes.
Their familiar, Enara, is a deep purple, skinny, medium dog-sized creature with large claws, an arrow-tipped tail, a long drawn-out snout, small protruding teeth, and tiny black beady eyes.
Tirade's impossible thing is to find someone capable of leading a revolution against the High Elves, starting by seeking out rebels wherever they can be found. They have learned that bringing down the Spire is linked to bringing down the Heart.
Anagan Leif (Anagan) is a Drow Cleaver with a Forced calling. Anagan hails from the Ice Peaks of Cthon'aicch, a frozen land in perpetual night lit only by an aurora. His tribe offended the Great Weaver - a goddess described as the darkness between the stars who sees all things - and each member succumbed to a wicked illness that turned them to ice.
The tribe's chieftess required a penitent soul to travel to the Heart, and Anaganwas not a willing volunteer. In Drow society, men have no rights and are considered extensions of the women's will. Anagan carries Ävor, a friendly but dim pocket-mouse, and a well-worn brass statuette of an open-mouthed toad.
Anagan'smasters are the women of the Anagan tribe. They wish for him to corrupt the Heart on behalf of the Great Weaver, tainting the City Below to earn the tribe's forgiveness. Anagan has no concept of disobedience - his sense of self would be destroyed if he defied them. He believes that upon death he will return to the Anagan, and he hopes to be reborn as a woman.
He receives instructions from the Weaver through shadows and darkness that move in the shapes of creatures and insects. A set of instructions is tattooed on his forearm in patterns resembling constellations, encoded in madness so the Heart cannot tarnish them.
Anagan'stime in the Heart has already tainted him, and his transformation gave him pitch-black eyes and bestial claws. The Weaver's darkness, corrupted by the Heart, has manifested as a shadow spider that fights alongside him.
Anagan arrived at the Heart with Anagan Tilah, a woman of his tribe who was mortally wounded. They encountered Tirade and a Gnoll. Tirade was open about their desire to bring down the Spire, and Anagan Tilah offered Anagan Leith as a tool to complete her task.
Tirade accepted the gift, and the shared understanding that "the Heart will bring down the Spire" drew them together.