Season 1 

al-Ghuri, Sultan of Tumanbay, came to power following the untimely death of his brother, the previous Sultan.

Shajah, Sultan al-Ghuri’s Chief Wife, previously married to his brother the murdered Sultan, she grew up in poverty, arrived in Tumanbay as a slave and soon learnt to exploit her dazzling beauty in exchange for power and wealth.

Madu, the Sultan’s nephew and only son of Shajah and the former Sultan.

Maya, widow of a deceased governor of Amber Province and leader of the rebel movement.

Effendi Red, Maya’s envoy.

Grand Vizier Cadali, the Sultan’s chief advisor.

Commander Gregor, head of the elite Palace Guard and the Sultan’s spy-master. He arrived in Tumanbay as a slave-child with Qulan.

General Qulan, Commander of Tumanbay’s armies.

Manel, Qulan’s teenage daughter.

Ibn Bai, slave trader and recent arrival to Tumanbay. His wife and daughter are travelling by ship to join him.

Heaven, daughter of the slave trader Ibn.

Sarah, a slave with a baby who Ibn Bai purchases in Tumanbay’s slave market.

Daniel, Sarah’s brother, also purchased by Ibn.

Basim, an officer in the Palace Guard.

The Frog, Basim's son, a young boy with prophetic powers.

Slave, an escaped slave from a ship bound for Tumambay.

Wolf, leader of a proudly independent band of warrior-horsemen.

The Hafiz, symbol of religious authority in Tumanbay.

Bello, a priest and the personal assistant to the Hafiz.

Season 2 

Red, Maya’s envoy in Tumanbay and the face of the new regime. A devout follower of Maya, he is also a practical and pragmatic ruler, interested in how things work and how best to get things done.

Barakat, Maya’s Inquisitor, a religious zealot who will stop at nothing to root out the heretics. Having risen from poverty, he has a reputation for bringing Maya’s conquered lands under control. His disarmingly relaxed and friendly manner, hides a brutal psychotic personality.

Akiba, once a prince in a distant land, then a slave, he is now the proud expectant father of Heaven's child. 

Alkin, a doctor who has travelled the world. She found herself trapped in one of the towns “liberated” by Maya and is now treated as an honoured guest.

Dorin, director of the city’s Medical Institute, Dorin is working under Barakat on a series of “scientific” experiments on the corpses of executed prisoners. He is also a key figure in the resistance movement.