D. Oswald Heist

D. Oswald Heist is a black cyclops novelist who lives on Quietus. He has authored at least forty novels and has been nominated for the Louper Award. Heist is (or at least was, at one time) highly regarded for his book In Lieu of Flowers. Currently highly regarded by Alana for his romance A Night Time Smoke, which many consider trash or a "piece of shit" while others see it as a "treatise on radical pacifism" and inaction.

His son Parone was a member of the Coalition Forces, volunteering to help Landfall after Threshold None. He hanged himself at some point after his tour(s) of service, which may or may not have led Heist to pen A Night Time Smoke.

Prince Robot IV visited Quietus in search of Alana, Marko, and Hazel, questioning Heist about the reasons behind his writing the romance novel. At first, the visit seemed peaceful enough, with Heist assuring the prince that the book was as trashy and superficial as it appeared to be. However, after Prince Robot IV accused Heist's son of being a coward, the author drew a toy gun on the robot. In response, the prince shot Heist in the knee and offered him a chance to take revenge by stabbing the prince in the neck--a test of Heist's potential pacifistic tendencies. When the cyclops failed to attack, Prince Robot IV took a seat and threatened to stay there until Marko and Alana arrived. Unfortunately for him, they'd already been in hiding at the lighthouse for a week.

Heist reveals that his toy gun is legitimate in issue #13, when he shoots the bone bugs attacking Alana, Marko, and Klara. Then, in issue #17, Heist fires upon Prince Robot IV in order to protect Klara, whom the Prince shot with his arm cannon. This wounds the Prince, but his missed shots start a fire in his tower. When Gwendolyn and Lying Cat enter the tower searching for Marko, Heist aims the gun at Gwen, who uses The Will's retractable lance to pierce a hole into his eye and through the back of his head, killing him.

Heist used to be married to Yuma.