Born in 1978 on Scotland's Kintyre peninsula, Fergus Alexander MacAlastair II comes from a family whose history contains considerably more magic than most family histories should. By 2012 he has spent years investigating the occult world that exists alongside ordinary European life, giving him experience with things most people would prefer to dismiss as folklore.
Fergus is intelligent, stubborn and accustomed to taking responsibility, although planning does not always receive quite as much attention as conviction. His oldest companion is Hadrian Vent, who has known him for most of his life and has consequently developed considerable expertise in keeping Fergus's decisions survivable.