DENETH, a minor nobleman from Thalas, and the most gifted bard in the Union: his music can make flowers blossom and stones rise up and dance. He is a terror in a fistfight, a capable opponent in a swordfight, and almost as good a thief as Habie: one learns much of the arts of self-protection in the streets of postwar Thalas City, where he received his bardic training. He is not reluctant to go on the quest as much as he is disbelieving that the gods would have chosen him over someone who openly acknowledges their existence.