On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

Nia is Janner, Tink, and Leeli’s mother. She is a strong, stoic woman who is always elegant, even in difficult situations. She is the former queen of Anniera, which is foreshadowed when she rides “high like a queen on a royal horse” on the way to Peet’s house (307). Nia embodies traditional Christian gender roles: She takes care of her household, educates her children at home, and is always beautiful and graceful, even when faced with violence and danger. Nia believes that she is protecting her children by keeping them ignorant of the fact that their father, Esben, was the High King of Anniera. Her role as their mother is to keep them safe in the home while also preparing Janner to take on his role of physical protector of the family and preparing Tink to be king. She only tells her children the truth about their father when Janner and Tink have both proved that they are mature enough to shoulder their responsibilities.

Podo is Nia’s father. He used to be a pirate and is now missing one leg, though he remains physically agile and is a strong fighter. He talks fondly of his past adventures on the high seas but, like Nia, he is reluctant to talk about the more recent past. He is a fiery character who is always ready to protect his family, but he can sometimes be intimidating. Janner does not understand Podo’s vitriolic hatred of Peet. He is perturbed that his grandfather sometimes physically assaults Peet even after Peet has saved the children’s lives. Podo expects a lot from Janner and tries to encourage him to look after his younger siblings. He is furious with Janner for letting Slarb kidnap Leeli. Although Podo’s emotions can be extreme, his heart is in the right place: He wants to protect his family. He blames Peet for his wife’s death. When the children learn this, they gain a better understanding of his behavior.

Peet, also known as “The Sock Man” because of the socks he wears on his hands, is a strange, misunderstood man who wanders around Glipwood. He is skittish and eccentric, and he has a reputation for being a recluse. He spends much of the book watching over the Igiby siblings from afar and frequently comes to their rescue when they run into trouble with the Fangs. He fights the Fangs with talons instead of hands; this book does not explain what happened to his hands. Even when Podo treats Peet poorly, Peet continues to watch over the children. He brings Nugget back to life with Water from the First Well and later does the same for Podo when he is gravely injured. At the end of the book, it is revealed that Peet is in fact Artham P. Wingfeather, Esben’s older brother. This makes him Janner, Tink, and Leeli’s uncle. As the oldest brother, he was the Throne Warden before Anniera fell to the Fangs. Janner feels a sense of connection to Peet because of their shared duty to their younger siblings. Peet helps him gain a deeper understanding of his own legacy and sense of belonging.

The Fangs are the book’s antagonists. In The Struggle Between Good and Evil, they are straightforwardly evil with very little depth or nuance. They are not human, but they are intelligent and sentient. They are humanoid lizard-like people with scales and venomous fangs. Their characterization draws extensively on antisemitic stereotypes, which often connect Jewish people to conspiracies about reptilian creatures that secretly rule the world, or the medieval blood libel conspiracy theory, which purported that Jewish people kidnapped and killed Christian children for vague and nefarious purposes. All Fangs serve Gnag The Nameless, the evil ruler of Dang, the eastern continent of Aerwiar. Gnag led the invasion of Skree and Anniera, eventually defeating the High King and exerting his power over the whole western continent. Now, all humans live in fear of him and the Fangs.

The Fang Slarb hates the Igiby children and tries to attack, kidnap, or kill them several times. He particularly dislikes Leeli and Nugget, especially after Leeli kicks him. Slarb becomes an outcast among the Fangs, after which he targets the Igibys with even greater vitriol. Podo eventually kills Slarb. The leader of the Fangs in Glipwood is Commander Gnorm. Although Gnorm does at first also want to send the Igiby children away in the Black Carriage to be tortured and killed, Nia bribes him and convinces him to free them instead. Podo kills Gnorm in battle. Before his death, Gnorm answers to General Khrak, “the most powerful Fang in all of Skree” (153). It is Khrak who discovers that the Jewels of Anniera are in Glipwood. He leads the army of Fangs there to destroy the town and find the Jewels.