Kit Orrell

The Ash Cross's delver, a small quick man who goes first into crypts and ruins and opens what needs opening. He was a thief, and his captain does not ask about it.

Orrell was a London housebreaker who was caught by the Ash Cross on a commission and offered a choice between the watch and the company. He chose the company.

He has opened crypts, vaults and doors that should not have been opened. He has an instinct for traps and a horror of being underground that he does not admit.

This year he is going first into the crypts below a plague ground. He has asked for extra pay, and been refused.

In person

27. Small, wiry and pale, with a sharp ferrety face, dark hair and quick dark eyes. He wears a dark leather jerkin, soft boots, a belt of picks and tools, and a short knife.