I like Nirupam a lot! He's about the most sensible person in WW, isn't he? He does almost destroy the universe, but he does it sensibly. :P And more seriously, he's rounded and interesting, which is all I ask.

I really like your reading of Chrestomanci as a colonial official! That fits perfectly within the setting - and it would be lovely to know more about how magic works in the universe. Is it a white-people thing? Or do people have all their own different types of it? Does Chrestomanci-in-training have to learn about how Indian people and Chinese people and South African people and people everywhere do magic?

Re: Oneir. The thing that makes me not read him as brown is actually his daughter, who is such a pink 'n' white with pigtails archetype.