Nine ways a Deal becomes a character.

He holds the front line and fires thunder through clear paths. Silence, solid cover, and dense barriers stop the note.

Clear his executed partner’s name, and toll the true name of anyone who dies because of that pursuit.

Brass teeth and a mouth as dark as the inside of a bell.

She enters through one threshold, appears at another, and leaves pursuers briefly uncertain where she went.

Free her sister from a debtor prison. One day, she must leave one particular door unlocked without asking why.

Black hinges form at her joints while her shadow swings open ahead of her.

A Pallbox stores an impact, a Hush Casket traps sound, and a Wake Nail remembers who disturbed a sealed container.

Preserve his daughter through the glass fever, then build a casket for an occupant whose measurements never stay fixed.

Hinged knuckles and sealed devices that expand and contract as though breathing.

She identifies a vulnerable joint, marks it by contact, then slows a leg or weakens the arm using it.

Discharge the inherited Mark consuming her brother. Anyone she marks for death must never die alone.

Silver stitches move beneath her skin and appear across every joint she Seals.

Her moths scout, repeat one sentence exactly, distract an enemy, or fill a space with enough voices to conceal an ally.

Expose the debt courts selling verdicts, and never let an earnest secret die with its speaker.

Paper scales gather around her throat while a fluttering darkness fills her open mouth.

He reads where his Quarry means to go, claims a choke point, and punishes the target for following its chosen route.

Find his missing father, then deliver him to the destination he was trying to escape.

Red transit lines cross his eyes and branch down his neck.

Ash observes a power, identifies one operating rule, then sends burning script to redact or exploit that rule for a moment.

Annul the inherited obligation consuming his family’s memories, and record every broken Promise he witnesses.

Contract script scorches across his hands and climbs his arms when the opposing Grant is dangerous.

He grows brick armor, roots into foundations, reshapes dangerous ground, and travels through connected stonework.

Save a condemned neighborhood, then surrender the deed, address, and public memory of one building he preserved.

Cracked ceramic plates at rest; brick, glowing mortar, drainpipes, and roofline at full power.