she has many aspects associated with the wicked witch trope such as avoiding sunlight and a predilection for surrounding herself with bones/body parts. Unlike her ally Shadwell, Immacolata acts out of revenge with no desire for personal gain. In achieving her goal she unwittingly brings about her own undoing when Shadwell betrays, humiliates and kills her. Shadwell: A charismatic, middle-aged salesman. Little is revealed of his origins or even his full name: he is simply an ordinary-looking salesman and through years of experience has honed his trade to an art. Shadwell can persuade, charm and intimidate any prospective buyer through his own talent and through the use of a gift given by Immacolata; a jacket with enchanted lining in which viewers see whatever their heart most desires. At an unspecified time prior to the book's opening he was approached by Immacolata to be her ally in unmaking The Fugue, the existence of which he seemingly accepted with ease. He initially accepts her mission as an exciting challenge; the ultimate sale, with both knowing that the selling of something so powerful into any inexperienced hands would result in disaster for both buyer and goods, as is Immacolata's plan. The Scourge: a catastrophic, ancient power of unknown origin that was present at the first emergence/evolution of the Seerkind. When they left their mutual garden home it reacted to their abandonment violently and slew them by the hundreds if not thousands. When its quarry vanished from sight into the rug, the Scourge returned to their ancestral garden to stand guard over the rest of time. In its lonely watch the Scourge slowly succumbed to madness forgetting itself, its duty and the Seerkind as well (although Immacolata given her great power could still sense its dormancy and inevitable re-awakening much to her terror). Secluded in time, when its garden (which is situated in a vast desert wasteland) is discovered by human explorers it learns from them the story of Genesis and after killing them takes its home for the garden of Eden and sees itself as an avenging angel: Uriel. Physically the Scourge (when not controlling a human host) is described as indefinite and full of paradoxes, genderless and at once dark and bleached, towering and infinitesimal and always surrounded by a smothering fog. Its only physical qualities, if any are innumerable eyes that rotate seemingly on wheels of fire throughout its shapeless form,