The Berthmaster
Who he is
The berthmaster at the port at the foot of Veylan Steps. He knows every ship that comes down on Tiravel and every crate in every hold. Nobody on the Steps has ever heard his name; everyone calls him the berthmaster, and he answers to it. In all the harvests he has overseen, he has never left the port on the night of an Opening.
Appearance
A narrow man with a squint worn into him from years of watching the sky. He wears his port collar and brings the smell of fuel with him.
Personality
- Watchful and practical, a man who lives by sums: what is due in, what is due out, and whether the two agree.
People in his life
As the story unfolds
These details come from the story itself. Choose the last chapter you’ve read, and only what has been revealed up to that point will appear.
Opening night
For the first time anyone can remember, he comes up from the port on the night of an Opening, still in his port collar. He walks Tolliver off to the edge of the lamplight, talks low and fast, and holds up four fingers. At Tolliver’s short answer he goes very still, “the way a man does when a sum comes out wrong.” A look passes from him to Tolliver, Maudry, Ruthe and Dareth, and nobody else on the road sees it.
The crank
In the lower berth he turns the shutter crank by hand, steadily, with his eyes on the gap in the door. When the shot comes, he sits down hard against the wheel and doesn’t get up. Ansel had never once heard his name. “Now he never would.”