Ernest Boot

Churlish Chronicler ~ Age: 27

A snide Leylandian colonial historian, whose drafting and military service proves to be an ordeal that he absolutely can not be bothered with - with his extremely unwelcome promotion to lance-corporal remaining a particular regret. Boot's casual claims of futility seem to unsettle everyone he meets, and even his own men find him aloof and difficult.

Ever the opportunist, and wanting to sit out the war in captivity if at all possible, Ernest does not stay on his side of No Man's Land for long. He sees chatting to a cynic like Elfriede as the ideal way to wile away his time as a prisoner - through, if perfectly honest, she tends to prefer her darkness unmined for Leylandian entertainment.