they/them; Mön's partner. Anpetek is a part of a blast furnace's maintenance staff. they mostly perform check ups, minor repairs, cleaning at the end of the workday, and overall are "responsible" for health of the machine. besides that, they aren't anyone special in the Furnace itself — just another ordinary worker with no way to bail themselves out, having to sacrifice their body to the place to repay a debt the colonizers have put on their shoulders. however, their mind and analytical skills have aged alongside them, which culminated in their conclusion to plan a strike. better to die fighting than being a mindless cog in the machine.

over the years spent in the Furnace, they became an extremely bitter individual who finds it really hard to forgive, make compromises and be patient. they also hold beliefs skewing to the conservative territory — this, and the fact they are of a marginalised gender identity might be confusing, but this is so because their gender identity, as an AFAB person functioning as a man socially, has always been validated in their culture.

above everything, however, they are extremely loyal to what they consider they 'responsibility', be it a person or a cause, and are very dedicated towards ensuring everything goes without complications. no matter the cost, and whether or not the colonizers extend group punishment towards them. at least they can choke on the gunpowder they waste to kill them when it happens.

she/they; Anpetek's partner. a foundryman-turned-warehouse clerk because of a disabling accident, Mön has given up on almost everything in their life — if living in the Furnace could had been called "living" anyway. everyone except Anpetek and Nao have difficulty trying to figure out what is behind Mön's apathetic and indifferent facade, or even deciding whether or not it is an empty space altogether. many have given up, and thus Mön is left to their own devices, that is preparing the cargo and securing the packages, while wishing that they could get away with doing so carelessly and crash all of it into the ground. it is all rather silent, however — Mön struggles to define what truly constitues her 'true self' and its desires, if she wants to hope and feel, or just be cut off from life altogether. they don't want to die, they just want to be left alone and never bothered by anything or anyone.

what she has luckily kept deep within her, however, is an unquenched curiosity and the need to tresspass, as she is an observer and listener first and foremost. this leads to her slowly getting a separate POV over time, as she starts to slowly explore the furnace and rekindle an ember of hope that she can stop being more than a worker done just for a little while — though she doesn't expect salvation, and considers death to be the more realistic option. she might as well run with it, not that she cares.

they/she/he; Mön's friend. formerly a machinist who supervised the production line, Nao, like countless of others, has been cast away to work her life away at the warehouse. all of this, however, did not erase gentleness from within them, which they partially consider the biggest form of action against his captors that he's capable of at the moment. as such, Nao has become one of the favorites among other warehouse workers, keeping their spirits from stumbling down completely just by their disposition alone. no one here is a fool, though, and they know Nao is just as tired as the rest of them — if not even more so — and that behind their chit-chat is a sediment of bitterness slowly wearing him out from the inside. they would do just about anything for their life to not be like this.

it goes without saying that Nao is enthusiastic and supportive of Anpetek's idea of a strike, taking part in the way he is capable to. she is part of the impulse that pushes Mön out of inertia, and they both become a sort of "unassuming" investigative team that explores the Furnace's cellars and filth.

they are very important to the story, but i haven't got them all fleshed out -- the two guys you see on this drawing are Anpetek's "adoptive uncle" i mentioned a few times, on the left, and his friend whom i haven't mentioned so far yet. their names aren't conlanged yet, sadly. both he/him

Anpetek's uncle is essentially a man who took them under the wing back when they were a terrified child freshly separated from their family. they reminded, and still do, him of his own kids that were left without a father back home, as to his friend, he simply considers Anpetek a cool little lad. i am not yet sold on his ethnicity, but i know for sure Anpetek's uncle is of the same background as them. both of these characters will play their roles in helping navigate through the furnace and organising the strike.

she/he; keeper of connections. to say that one does not recognize Gossamer is more impressive than any other statement one could say about her. in the few years that Gossamer has spent at the Houses, she has become an important knit in the community, initiating many social events linked to theatre and the stage overall - especially when the subject was someone's body. Gossamer enjoys people, gathering them around her and studying their behaviour, but she has no ill intentions in doing so - it is simply one of the types of information that easily enters her head and serves as an useful tool to enhance the aura of mysticism and mystery that accompanies her during any social interactions. they happen to be quite peculiar, for Gossamer is famous in her circles of friends for being able to give the impression of a bond freshly forged between himself and his interlocutor after a single conversation, while the latter knows as little as nothing about Gossamer herself. Gossamer feels safer living this way.

he makes her first appearance in the comic when Anpetek needs to obtain information about the city's architecture. this is not a friendship at the first sight - Anpetek is distasted with the glamour and frivolity of Gossamer's "deviation from the norm", as well as the irony and a slight feeling of superiority oozing from his mouth - but they manage to find an unexpected compromise against the background of faith and some life experiences, from which their relationship improves onward.

she/her; keeper of knowledge. she's spent her good while on this earth catching a hold on occupations most various, and finding herself in places she wouldn't have ever imagined she would go -- so she offers her wisdom to good hands and for good deals. she knows better than to disregard a person and not track what trails does the information walk. she knows and understands perfectly that people under conditions like hers get opportunistic, and doesn't let them walk over her (hell, she doesn't allow them to even raise their shoe to do so.), or bite off more than she can share, as she's a community woman all the way through. because of this, baru might be just as cautious and distanced as she is kind and warm.

even if she's been through a lot, she doesn't hold anyone who wasn't to lower standards, and gods forbid it if she had ever started to think someone is a naïvete because they hadn't suffered enough loss. even if she isn't officially a head of, or a coordinator, of the House she lives in (as she isn't from the same one as the rest of the characters mentioned here), without doubt she became one of its most, if not the most prominent member over time. thus, she was the first member of her House to be heard of by Anpetek, and while they didn't warm up immediately, Baru's understanding and non-invasiveness made them weave an unbreakable bond as Baru helped Anpetek gather the intel they required for their strike.

she/her; keeper of the hearth. the fact that Ceremony lacks a creative spark does not mean that she is not a respected member of her own community. as head of the House, Ceremony is responsible for the safety and health of the residents and guests on her doorstep and does everything possible to ensure it. even if she is more of an idealist than Baru - as a personality more focused on the functioning of the community than on each individual - it cannot be denied that Ceremony puts herself at risk every day so that she and others can live relatively well. she wages her own small war against the colonisers, gathering medical knowledge from wherever she can, and supplying her House with bandages and medicines through... a variety of means. it was mainly because of this that she was willing to help Anpetek, although at first they didn't fall into her graces, because of their temperament and views on the reality they faced in the Houses.

Ceremony is not overly cloying or overbearing - she stands her ground firmly and weeds out people who might threaten the unstable harmony Ceremony is trying to weave in her corner on the world. for good measure, she is not the best at interpersonal relationships, which she wants to make up for by risking her life for the cause out behind the scenes of her House.

he/him; the engineer. altar is possibly one of the nicest guys you can ever meet. he keeps to himself and tries not to disturb anyone, quietly doing his job while whistling or singing poetry under his breath. participant and regular attendee of poetry evenings, where he also reveals himself as an amateur of sweet and salty snacks. on a daily basis, Altar functions as a handyman for everything - he takes care of minor repairs, replaces boards when mold begins to bloom on them, and helps prepare the stage for theatre performances. his specialty, however, has always been, and still is, automatons along with their motion system - which is why Anpetek looked to him for help. at the very beginning, they were discouraged by the partnership he shared with Gossamer, but even a hardened mechanic like Anpetek had to admit that Altar is really hard not to like.

she/her; the youngin. pipit is one of the youngest members in the House, having joined it three years before the comic's plot kicked off at just thirteen years old. she puts her entire, skittish little heart into everything she does and feels strongly towards, often blaming herself for not trying hard enough while failing to accomplish something. horribly aware of her own fragility, she keeps her head down, dresses into her old boy clothes, and goes to work at the docks every day.

the place she truly blooms on is the stage. performing arts have truly, completly enamored her, and she's always extasic to design elaborate clothing for herself and her friends from various recycled mateirals and scraps she's found. nothing makes her feel better than being able to share the joy of creation with her friends and the audience, deeply enjoying the connection to humanity theatre can give to people - the only place where she truly feels confident and free.

pipit doesn't have skills that concern Anpetek directly, although they do appreciate her knowledge of the city and how it functions socially, as Pipit knows the machinations behind it a little too well. Anpetek doesn't hold many deep feelings to Pipit, other than slight sorrow coming from the fact she reminds them a little of their younger self.

they/them; the acolyte. a horribly neurotic individual, but with a lot of charisma and spite to motivate them nonetheless. tanaab, while having neither optimistic nor pessimistic tendencies, is extremely devoted to a cause when it sweeps them off their feet, and will do just about anything to spark its flame and keep it burning for as long as possible. they are trapped and entangled in their past in a lot of ways, and in this case scenario this aspect of them is especially important — they will never let outside circumstances drive them to passiveness and numbness again.

they are distrustful to the people who aren't in their inner circle, which goes doubly for colonizers with whom High Tide is outright twitchy and hostile; this doesn't change the fact they would walk into a wildfire for the people they care about nonetheless. tanaab likes to be the leader, but power and influence is not what they seek — it just makes others listen to them more, which gives them more opportunities to spread the ideas they care about — and if someone is not willing to be put on the frontlines, they are willing to serve as a representative even if it kills them. their relationship to death is convoluted — obviously they do not seek it out, but as someone who got to know just what the colonizers are capable of, tanaab's mind is a host of paranoia and recklessness at once — simply put, their natural reaction is to keep safe, but it is easy to make them feel like a cornered animal, and thus, fight to death.

the scribe. he/him (for both); the scribe is not particularly religious, but he's happy to hang around chronicling while also being a little shit like it is his sidejob. his son, however, is delightful — and the scribe loves his young one very much.

it isn't like the scribe's particularly horrible. the most important thing is that he's an egocentric hedonist who thinks of how to live in accordance with his values (and whimsy), and other people second. his jabs can be a little too sarcastic at times, his pranks a little too similar to cons, and his smiles a little too jagged. he enjoys muddling around and raising ructions, while he quietly and all-innocently slinks into the shadows. it's another one of the reasons why Tanaab keeps him around — not only he is a good asset for getting hands dirty when the situation calls for it, he can also be a fun company when the evenings get too boring — and since the scribe has a stupid little crush on Tanaab, he is more than likely to hang around with them.

as to the scribe's son, he's simply… there. i don't think he needs to serve any sort of "purpose", whatever it means, to be included in the plot. everyone from the exiled monastery takes care of him, not just his birth parent, and he loves his big family with his big, big heart very much!

they/he; the actor. Gull is Gull. one of the characters that don't have much too say — yet — in the comic itself, but whose backstory fits into an entire book, quite literally. Gull has an unassumming posture, gentle smile and a slight curve to their brow, but something tells Anpetek that they're the one to generally avoid. such a bright personality rendered to yet another face Anpetek has given their cold shoulder... eh, what a waste, Gull would click his tongue and shake their head, what a waste!

gull themselves doesn't care much for Anpetek, as they are too commited to their friends and overall community to make place for focus on someone whose views are so repellent. up until Anpetek's plans of the strike become clear enough, Gull doen't do much other than observe them from distance, analyze how they affect and interact with their environment, and silently hope they will see better days.

we might eventually use them to coax secrets out of other people, as they are a master of making himself look like a dumb little dandy, but who's to say. he has standards and boundaries in the little tricks he likes to pull on other people, but, let's finally admit it with our full chest, shall we? disadvantaging the colonizers' every step is a moral obligation!

ve/vem; the performer. a quiet and an unimposing presence, Veneer is like a ghost haunting ver own life. ve doesn't seem to be worried by ver own withdrawness, or be happy, for that matter. or anything at all. expressing ver feelings still comes hard to vem, and ve only dares to let ver guard down a little around ver friends and beloveds. as a silent guard of ver friends, Veneer didn't come to like Anpetek at first because of their crass personality, but their relationship will change over the course of the comic, especially if Veneer would've got involved in the strike anyhow.

the one place Veneer truly glows in is the stage. ve has a silent love for acting and drag, and the freedom these two give to be as much (or as little of) yourself as possible, while sharing a mutual understanding with others that this is a farce, and they are all safe, in the end. it gives vem a sense of security and stability ve cannot seem to get out of relationships with people any other than Pipit, Gull and Masa. ve knows just how scared ve is, and imagines everyone else is too — so at least they can offer them a little relief by being sure someone is always at their side.

she/he; the jester. Anpetek didn't get to interact much with Masa due to various reasons at hand, but one thing is for certain — people around Masa are happy to have her. despite the hardships she faced, she's never given up and goes through with her day trying to be the kindest to herself and other people as much as she is capable of at the moment. this doesn't mean he is a pushover in any capacity, whatsoever — his jokes are often on the rather ironic, and even sarcastic side, but his purpose is never to insult someone… and when it is, it hardly ever isn't clever enough that the other person notices.

Masa is another face that appears episodically in the comic itself as of now, yet has a horrendous amount of backstory. i don't have much to say about him in regards to Chaos Theory as a comic itself, but he's just our little gal who is a guy who is, most importantly, a woman who is a man. and we love him!

she/her*; the bride. she has never wanted to be one, but with her family breathing down her neck, well, she only could pick the lesser evil instead of run away from it. she also has never wanted to be a mother and luckily, the contraceptives she manages to buy on the side are working well enough for now. that, and flaunting her husband's family's wealth through uncomfortable dresses are fair enough of a price in exchange for living in material comfort she had never experienced before. yes, it is only fair this way.

despite her instistence on doing fine and the masterful art of putting up a facade of a trophy wife, she struggles with a lot of depersonalisation issues as a result. when left to her own devices, she seems almost completely absent and unaware of her surroundings in an almost naïve, superficially carefree manner. it is, however, very easy to snap her back to responsiveness, as skittish as she is; her vocal response is near automatic and nowhere near genuine, though. this kind of behavior has led Anpetek to believe Katia is an easy target to influence and get information out of under the guise of a potential servant or perhaps a misled native. what they didn't predict, however, that Katia can also get devoted to a person near limitlessly. and this is where things start to get difficult.

he/him; the military man. katia's husband. he doesn't think he's a bad one. some of his colleagues even tell joke on his expense that he lets Katia have a little too much of freedom and ought to tighten the leash, but Onfim doesn't seem to listen. he seems to be haunted by the ghost of automation too, and is distant or outright cold to Katia at times. if she fares well on her own and stays in her lanes and business, then at least he can devote more time to work. she's fine enough, though; not only a wife but someone close in age he can actually talk to about various topics when it strikes his fancy.

he used to be a much more carefree boy, but he knows better now. he grew into a lawful man of order, and this is what he hopes to be remembered by. not a father (maybe it would be nice to have a heir. but only maybe.), not a husband, not a son, but an ideal administrator and guardian of what's proper, fending off what is not. he has the weapon collection and war theory to prove it.

she/her; the failed heiress. baby butch of all time, if she knew what "baby butch" had meant. Khī is a long-time friend of the House-dwellers, prowiding them as much of financial support as much she is capable to without her family noticing. she is on thin ice either way, with her refusing to conform to femininity, distancing herself from her family crest's mercantile profession and… just being kind to her servants.

she harbors a lot of survivor's guilt of sorts, her conscience weighing heavy with the fact she was burn into a well-off family that doesn't lack tasty food or any other necessities. this, however, came with heavy assimilation, making Khī's knowledge of her own cultural heritage scarce, which she desperately tries to fix by utilising her reading skills (this makes her eligible to support Houses with academic resources, which she happily does) and interviewing people. she's also the designated black sheep of the family and their social circle, having been a subject of gossip, ugly rumors and verbal abuse, despite being only the wee age of seventeen. despite it all, she still tries to maintain hope and be as warm as she can be, which have gradually won Anpetek's sympathy as they got to meet Khī and make use of her help more.