*~*
Andrew "Pond" Foworthy – bold, daring, 6-foot-tall native of NYC; called to Mongolia; spends time with two different clans—a Mongolian clan and a Kazakh clan
Duulgii – Lugsalkhaan's half-Russian brother-in-law, Kazakh clan
Dusbhan – Gan-gaad's nephew and gunman, Mongolian clan; adopted brother of Zima
Gan-gaad – Mongolian clansman chief who hates foreigners
Jugder – large Kazakh with only two fingers on his right hand
Li Chong – Chinese interrogator
Lugsalkhaan – head of a Buddhist Kazakh clan
Luyant – Gan-gaad's brother and mute clansman, Mongolian clan; owner of Zima
Kandal – elderly Kazakh nomad
Manai – orphaned 5-year-old boy, Kazakh clan
Randy Erickson – American missionary for 20 years to Eastern Mongolia
Rex – American pilot from Eastern Turkey
Sembuuk – skilled Kazakh hunter
Sergeant Xing – Chinese infantry officer
Zima – Russian-Kazakh woman, owned by clansman Luyant, Mongolian clan