Captain Noel Arkwright

Captain of a company of ex-colliers who work in mines and shafts, clearing what the miners will not face. His company is the only one that will go into Ironmere.

Arkwright was a colliery captain whose shaft broke into a cavern full of lights and voices. He went down with his men to bring the trapped colliers out, and came back with a company.

The Tower Company has cleared flooded shafts, sealed caverns and escorted Cambridge examiners into the deep levels. Its men are all colliers, and they fight with picks and powder.

In 4621 he has been offered a commission at Ironmere and has not yet answered. He knows why the Brethren were never called.

In person

55. Heavy and powerful, with a coal-scarred face, a grey beard and deep-set dark eyes. He wears a leather miner's coat over a mail shirt, a hard helmet with a lamp, and carries a heavy pick.