Salina Christmas

Also known as Raden Soekarno. The cousin of Wak Ahmad, the grandfather of the protagonist, Sarah. The youngest of the five cousins from the Ceribon royal court who migrated to Malacca from Java. Karno’s mental instability and practice in black magic worry his family and relatives alike. He loves music and is accomplished in playing the lute and the Sunda kecapi (or zither), skills he picked up growing up in the royal court. Karno isn’t always mad. As a young man, he lost his sanity after the black magic he practised during the war went very wrong. In his desire to get even with the enemies, he lost the very thing that kept him grounded as a human being. His cousins constantly monitor him, fearing he’d go off the wall again.

See ‘the were-tiger’.