William Asquith Farnaby

Will awakes on Pala with an injured leg to the sound of birds yelling for "Attention!", but doesn't immediately realize that he isn't at home in his London flat. Immediately upon regaining consciousness, his thoughts turn to Molly, his deceased wife. Will continues to blame himself for her death, though Susila will later suggest that it's not that he blames himself but that he simply hasn't gotten past the agony of losing someone.

Will is a journalist but is also the high-paid front man for Joe Aldehyde, Molly's uncle. Will travels the world, covering events for Joe's newspapers. While some of those travels are legitimately news assignments, Will is more often told to represent Joe on an array of business deals, perhaps paving the way so that a particular deal will go through smoothly. In the case of Pala, Joe knows that there are rich oil...