The main protagonist of the series is Casey, a teenage felsian girl whose parents were killed in a shuttle accident when she was just a little girl. She was adopted by her foster mother, Elissa Hart, who was a close friend of Casey’s father. Casey has no surviving family, no uncles or aunts, grandparents or otherwise. Casey’s only aunt passed away from DEMRES, prompting her parents to secure a ‘kit’, and the reason Casey is a felsian.
At the start of the story Casey is 17 years old, having spent her entire life in the mining town of Fuldarnus on Alerean-6. She has virtually no friends as very few people raise families in Fuldarnus, instead spending her days helping Elissa run her artefact hustling business. She is very astute and dedicated, but the relentlessly repeating cycle of their dreary daily routine takes its toll on her, and although generally a kind and understanding person, she tends to exist under an existential storm cloud that constantly tests her altruistic demeanor. Elissa was strict on Casey, making very sure she never went the way of doing drugs or alcohol despite being a solid drinker herself.