Evard Dirae

Craftmaster of the Cabal of Obsidians, Evard Dirae is a powerful sorcerer. His cold pale green eyes, narrow face and soft chin give him a sinister appearance that his dark wavy mane of hair failed to offset. He often wore the black hooded tunic of a Cabal sorcerer, embroidered with metallic threads of gold and silver into a filigree pattern useful for magic mnemonics.

In the novella, Evard Dirae is first seen in Hilt where he meets the Army of Westreach, this being some time after Aren Bennis had sent a message informing him of General Karpasic's actions and of the acquisition of an Avatar Blade. Upon arriving he was displeased to discover that both Aren and sword were missing in action, and began searching for the Captain by duplicating the homunculus Monk with a taxing magic spell.

Once he locates Aren and learns of his trip to Opalis, Dirae orders Karpasic to march within three days, heading west through the pass into South Paladis, then north to find and secure a five league region at the junction of the Sanctus and Fortus Rivers. He then travels to Opalis himself to retrieve Aren.

Evard notes that he has known Aren for a long time, since Aren was small.