Character · from book 6

Rishi

A four-armed green-and-purple naga in dented plate, the Blood Sultanate's representative at the warlords' table, married into the royal family, the only one who does not flinch at Juice Box's bomb: 'honor-bound to follow you. Or your companion, Katia.' The sultanate is 'quite versed in dealing with terrorism.'

Race and class, since book 6: Naga

First appears: Book 6

Series arc

Through book 8

His household's junk comes out of a cobra-headed fan box: a melted eighth-place trophy, a bloody microwave, legal papers (B8 ch. 10).

Through book 6

Unflinching; a compromise and a threat (B6 ch. 21, B6 ch. 22).

Through book 7

The last of the original Sultanate: armless by a precaution Carl lays to Li Na, he buried himself outside the castle and surrendered to Donut, having stayed out of the temple because he knew it meant death. He offers Carl, 'the de-facto leader of Earth', citizenship and five generation ships in exchange for terraforming, signed by himself as Sultan Rishi the Usurper; Carl tells him to drive the ships into a star, marks him, and calls him the opening act (B7 ch. 58).

Where they appear

Book	Chapters they are in (of the book's)	Where
6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride	2/74	Ch. 21, Ch. 22 · the book's own page
7 — This Inevitable Ruin	4/89	Ch. 42, Ch. 46, Ch. 53, Ch. 58 · the book's own page
8 — A Parade of Horribles	2/99	Ch. 1, Ch. 10 · the book's own page

By book

Rishi in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

A naga at the warlords' table who counts Carl as a cousin of the family, his wife included — a name Carl commits to memory (ch. 21); the only one who does not react when the others bolt, with a compromise and a threat (ch. 22).

Rishi in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin

Rishi in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles

His household's junk comes out of a cobra-headed fan box: a melted eighth-place trophy, a bloody microwave, legal papers (ch. 10).