PROFILE

LINES

Knowledge is power -- and Tolys Mareika craves it, devours it, drinks it down like he's desiccating in the hot sun and books are the water that he needs to survive. A botanist, anthropologist, and city researcher by day, his real research lies in the alchemy and black magic that he studies by night, as he searches to unravel the secrets that lie behind the curtain of death and surpass the limits of his own human body. Tolys returns to his hometown of Ana with the rising sun, carrying his head high, his willingness to do whatever it takes to win carefully concealed behind his cheerful mask and friendly facade.

ANGLES

Anya and Pierre de la Cour's take on him: "Oh, we absolutely adore Tolys! What a wonderful specimen of humanity… made slightly less human solely because of its own unyielding desires. Hilarious, really -- sad at the small-town level, but very, very funny at the cosmic level! We'll warn the Rat King as many times as it takes, but in the end, that pathetic little shriveled heart of his will have to start pumping all on its own. Good luck -- and au revoir."

Elizaveta Lisouskaya's take on him: "Minute that big-city academic walked into town, I knew that something had to be up. Isn't every day that we get visitors in Ana, after all -- and the Mareikas never had a good reputation around here in th'first place. His grandfather… what the hell was he even thinkin', building up a big tower like that in the middle of Ana, and then letting the thing rot after his death until his pretentious-lookin' grandson waltzed back into town for some reason nobody can puzzle out? I don't like it. I don't like that Kolya -- and Matvei, Talia, and I -- are getting roped into his goddamn schemes. His eyes are bright, but I can't read them, not for the life of me."