Jennis Runge (wolf type)
Jennis describes herself as a 'big shaggy byotch', but she's a lot more. Straw boss to Elistary and union head to the whorehouse 'Mistress Elistary', she's seen it all and takes no shit. The only thing she has sympathy for is innocence- which she sees almost none of in her line of work. An explosive personality, and equal to anything.
Daucery (Cery) Nerre (cat type)
Not just mercenary, this feline is mercen-Cery! A stripey, rangey butterscotch Nerre, Daucery is unusually tall and powerful, and a very successful courtesan to the Runge. She has no sympathy whatever with traditional Nerre protocol, and is second in boldness only to Magarce- but she tends towards the cynical, wanton and lazy. And in need of coffee.
Allindme (Allie) Runge (wolf type)
Allie had very good reasons for running away from her home in Dennte. She was young, clever, resourceful, and desperate. She thought she would run Tally Road late at night when nobody was around, make it through the mountains to Verss, and start a new life in the big city. She almost made it through the mountains- and a new life did start, but it wasn't much better than the one she'd left... for now.
Finn Blenstrom Runge (wolf type)
This big wolf is somehow central to everyone's schemes- and forever uncomfortable with that fact. His past started out colorful and strange, and only got darker as things progressed. He's ended up running a pirate stronghold off Tally Road, for nefarious purposes, with strange and demanding companions. He's a smart guy and good at it- but sometimes you have to ask yourself what you're doing with your life- and whether you have a chance at changing it. Finn's bitter streak could end up getting in the way of that.
Derrz Runge (wolf type)
Sometimes when you hire somebody to do a dirty, illegal, nasty job, you end up with a dirty, illegal, nasty guy. Derrz has been more trouble than help, but he knows too much to let go now. Finn will never trust him- but has to deal with him, which usually means keeping him on a very tight leash. Derrz hates and fears Perre, who keeps him in line also- the besotted fox is death on anybody troubling Finn, and Derrz is troubling even to a pirate or criminal.
Second Guard at Finn's Base Runge (wolf type)
Not at all sure he should have signed on for all this... but it's never boring!
Hijacked Flatbed truck Driver Runge (wolf type)
This really isn't his day. Between the fox-pirate hijacking his truck and the cat-pirate hijacking Boodins on the BACK of his truck, this poor bastard just wants to go home. Unless he runs afoul of Derrz, he probably will get there eventually.
Perre Estrai (fox type)
This bold little Estrai will stick at nothing. He's a specialist at truck hijacking, and honorable in his way- what he wants is money, and Finn. Some of his devotion may come from the fact that he's had Finn- who does not typically mount guys, but made an exception which Perre would dearly like to see repeated. Failing that, he will be Finn's most fiercely loyal ally, savage in his protectiveness, with no morals beyond his devotion to the big wolf.
Demarle Nerre (cat type)
Demarle! This ebullient, passionate Persian-looking Nerre is the madam of the Cathouse, the mum-cat of the bunch (though she defers to Faisand as well) and about half again too much in every sense. Voracious in all things, and formidably practical. Her bed is in the front room because this allows her to go naked and lure in clients- and also to stand guard over the other ladies as needed. Demarle is as strong as a lioness, swathed in ice-cream fat and Persian fluff, and the Cathouse ladies rely on her strength a great deal.
Elistary Brinmont Doestral Evensring (Relf) Resten (dog type)
Our aristo-puppy. Elistary was supposed to be a kidnap victim, but is also supposed to be running a rival whorehouse, and seems very self-assured not to say bitchy. NICE pearls. (She has had the string of pearls stolen repeatedly and refuses to quit wearing them in public). All in all, the stories don't really add up...
Alonifi Nerre (cat type)
Alonifi is a younger Nerre- in fact, too young to work in the Cathouse (Demarle's rule, not the city's). She is a refugee from Nerre culture, and wishes to join the other Cathouse ladies in their work, but Demarle and Faisand consider her too inexperienced and naive. She's been promised that she can enjoy carefully chosen clients who will be paying a fortune for the privilege- but her safety has to come first and she must learn to handle herself. Actually, Faisand keeps putting that event off because she's distressed that Alonifi is entering that life at all...
Faisand Nerre (cat type)
Faisand is the first of the Cathouse whores we meet. She's still pretty lithe despite her advanced age, but struggles to cope with the waning interest of clients. Faisand provides special services for some VIPs in Verss City Hall. Unfortunately, the services may involve things like diapers. The pay and the influence is fantastic, but none of the Cathouse kitties are that thrilled with it. But having that kind of hold on the Mayor is too good to miss...
Anarchist Road Rage Guy Runge (wolf type)
This guy doesn't mind a mad Nerre pouncing onto his car, or being asked to give said car to her, but the instant he thinks he's being coerced at gunpoint, he flips right out. Might even have given our heroes the car if he thought it was important enough- just don't imply that it's not his choice to make!
Anarchist Lab Assistant Runge (wolf type)
This guy isn't a subordinate, obviously, as they don't have hierarchy in the normal sense- he doesn't have the depth of knowledge of the Scientist, but he's definitely more practical.
Anarchist Scientist Runge (wolf type)
This guy's very serious about learning the effects of propaganda on unbiased test subjects (i.e. Boodins), but he's taken aback at... Boodins. Hopefully he learned something useful at some point, poor guy. He's nothing if not sincere.
Lil' Anarchist Boy Runge (wolf type)
This kid is way too precocious and mischevious. He's the son of the biker wolf who has so much influence in this place, and he's about two steps ahead of almost everybody. The concepts he's espousing are in fact from Proudhon, implying that property cannot be reduced to hard and fast rules but is a synthesis of various needs and contexts. Ironically, the little girl delivers a better lesson on authority to Dene through example.
Lil' Anarchist Girl Runge (wolf type)
This blonde wolf pup is happy enough to hang out with Dene eating milk and cookies- she seems to be easily manipulated by the boy cub, but she's definitely not as dumb as she looks. More wise than clever, which is the opposite of the boy.
Lead Anarchist Biker Runge (wolf type)
This guy waves our heroes away from the silly 'Anarchist Base And Gift Shop' signs and directs them to the real base, where Boodins is put to work watching movies while his reactions are observed- Dene is put to work babysitting some anarchist kids- and Rai, well- the wolf biker has different plans for him entirely. Mr. Wolf knows how to say extremely direct propositions in Nerre language, and very likely other languages too.
Voustrets Talanstre Laimontre Estrai (fox type)
Voustrets is a brilliant genius of a detective- at least, he will cheerfully tell you this, and he's not far wrong. He's a bit small even for an Estrai, and if you abbreviate all his names you get 'Vu Tal Lai'- vutallai in the Estrai language means 'hold his tail out of the way with your teeth and get busy' so Voustrets does not permit abbreviation. He is married to a reclusive female Nerre named Embe, who is devoted to him. Voustrets regularly exhausts himself scheming. His success comes from the fact that this scheming often works- but he all too often will not reveal his schemes until they have unfolded, which is maddening to Anzende, the cop he turns to for implementation most of the time.
Anzende Ndeschwin Runge (wolf type)
Anzende Ndeschwin is pretty much the head cop in Kiesens, actually better than the cops in the larger nearby city of Verss, which are more nepotistic and corrupt. He looks more decripit than he is, with the white chinfur and dark circles under the eyes. Anzende is known to work closely with the Estrai detective Voustrets, and is close friends with the little vulpine despite much frustration. He is also on good terms with the ladies of the Cathouse, particularly Faisand who is roughly his age. The suspicion is that he's one of the pervy 'special clients' of Faisand's. The suspicion is not exactly true...
Bent the AE Runge (wolf type)
Bent is Dene's sound engineer friend. He's good at what he does, which does not spare him much of the insanity of working with performers all day. He's not inherently mean, but he's cranky from too much coffee and chaos, gives no freebies, and does no favors. You might say this mixer-wuf is all TOO reality based. And yes, he would pick getting an expensive microphone over getting laid.
Singer Vixen Estrai (fox type)
I'm not sure what her name is. She's a nightmare client, who wants to perform holding a microphone worth more than her car and also a beer in each hand, for 'vibe'. She's not actually a bad sort, but not the most reality-based Estrai around, and she is certainly accustomed to getting out of difficulties by extreme wantonness. And yes, her clothing is one ribbon wound around and around her body interestingly. That's her stage gear, too.
Sergeant Nutzhak Runge (wolf type)
This is a Kiesens cop who tries to apprehend our merry band- his full name is Trippdt Nutzhak. And Rai did not trip him in a frenzy. Honest. (this is probably the most obscure and laborious pop reference I have ever or will ever do, but I couldn't resist. If you don't already get this ridiculous reference... you're not familiar with the wonders of the immortal, historical DFC. And either I'll never reference again- or I'll only make DFC references ever :) watch for psychic ferns!
Magarce Nerre (cat type)
Two Siamese felines (species 'Nerre', bloodline 'Taistronn'). One's a ninja, one's a pirate-girl, and both have some major issues... Magarce is a serious handful. She's got the morals of a pirate in every possible sense, and a considerable grudge against the world- any world, but most of all the Nerre world she comes from and rebels against. She is little but fierce, undauntable by anything short of orgasmic fainting through way too much fun, and schemes as hard as any two Estrai (the fox types). Plus, she is a crack shot and makes entire plans in an instant, which she flings into action unhesitatingly. Note we do not claim they are good plans, necessarily ;)
Kran, a street thug Runge (wolf type)
Kran isn't the leader of the gang, but he's a lot smarter than leader Berk, and less mean. It's unknown whether he continued the gang after Berk's death, but he'd seen enough movies to know what happens when a calm little Nerre says 'vrironste': immediate carnage until the accompanying 'ok, safe' word follows. He panics, immediately lays plans to flee with the other subordinates without waiting for Berk's say-so, and his wariness saves his life and that of the other gang members, even as it distracts Berk and causes his ruin.
Berk, a street thug Runge (wolf type)
Berk makes the mistake of trying to shake down Rairate for money. He then decides raping the little Nerre might be almost as good- it's later learned that he's unwelcome at the Cathouse for tearing Faisand's ear during sex. He's not up to speed on the Nerre word Rai warns him with, 'vrironste', and shortly thereafter, Berk dies as he whirls to yell at his subordinate, his throat and wrists slashed with razor claws.
Etze, the Head Chef Estrai (fox type)
Think a gay fox Gordon Ramsay with PMS and Anthony Bourdain's mouth. Etze is the head chef of Hallos, owns 47% of it and controls another 4% through intermediaries. He is tiny, driven, and absolutely fearless of anything that walks- His fear is reserved for delivery failures, and baking, for which he has a carbon thumb. Apart from baking, this little vulpine manages to stay on top of everything.
Jens, the Sous Chef Runge (wolf type)
Jens is a sous-chef at the Kiesens restaraunt Hallos, working for Etze. He really does know better than to talk with strangers fifteen minutes before the rush, but Etze doesn't trust anybody who isn't another Estrai (fox-type), and has no patience for things going wrong in his kitchen in any event. Jens is steady, unflappable, and specializes in baking and pastry- the hulking wolf makes terrific delicate pastry.
Denenke (Dene) Tieschtet Runge (wolf type)
Dene's a computer nerd whose life rapidly became epic when she met Rai and Boodins. Within 24 hours, she got mugged and questioned by a suspicious Siertes, fired from her job for computer hacking, flirted with by Siertes (who became entranced with Dene's inability to cower properly when threatened) and swept up in a scheme of Voustrets' for extracting information from a commune of anarchists. Dene is possibly the only person in the cast who is truly thriving on the chaos, though if you asked her what she wanted she would be totally confused. She has a thing for Tompar action heroes, and racing videogames.
Boodins Earncy Resten (dog type)
Boodins Earncy is a lower 'scruff' class Resten, a canine race not quite up to the speeds of the big city, and he's in the protection of Rairate, being a silly whelp. At least, this is true up to the point Magarce runs off with him, whereupon he rapidly learns way more than he could ever have imagined...
Rairate Taistronn Nerre (cat type)
Rairate, or Rai for short, is something like a Siamese ninja cat. He is a Nerre, a feline race of rigid protocol and strict personal honor- and he is also Hse-Nerre, a trained martial artist with death as his profession, bearing razor claw implants as the mark of his trade. We meet him as he investigates the mysterious kidnapping of the aristocrat Elistary- which turns out even more mysteriously to be no kidnapping at all...
Lanste Nerre (cat type)
Lanste is never fully seen, but she is very well heard. Just as we're meeting Rai and Boodins, we pass by a darkened bar, within which is the Nerre girl Lanste, being seduced by an arrogant Runge...
Carjacker Wolf Runge (wolf type)
This Runge guy made the terrible mistake of trying to carjack Siertes. He pulled a gun on her. She floored the gas, and then proceeded to use her Tompar peripheral vision to punch him in the mouth while still driving top speed in traffic. You win some, you lose some...
Siertes Tompar (snake/lizard type)
Siertes is a female Tompar- not just a Tompar, but a Tompar Mued, essentially a reptilian assassin. Her exact mission remains unclear- but she has shown clear interest in the hapless Denenke Tieschtet.
