Henderbell — Characters

Enzo Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Enzo, Prince Enzo, Fairy Enzo, prince

• SN · 1Narrator, sixteen, from Palmsand, Florida. Dark eyes; a black sweatshirt and noise-cancelling headphones; burns “as red as a bell pepper” in the sun.
• SN · 1Draws dragons, castles and magical creatures; writes stories and comics he gives Ava every week. Keeps a vinyl collection.
• SN · 1Dropped by Billy and Cliff in freshman year (“Enzo stayed weird”). Rips up his sketchbook after his parents’ fight: “It was time to stop pretending.”
• SN · 3Tells his grandparents he has quit art: “Time to grow up.”
• SN · 4Drew Santa riding a dragon at six as Nicholas’ Christmas gift. On Christmas Eve the framed drawing glows and Molock calls him “prince”: “You are cursed.”
• SN · 6Finds the torn parchment reading Henderbell and the gold drawing on the back of his own; opens the Tree of Hender with Ava’s hands and his.
• SN · 7Falls hard for Doopar on sight. Gives her both drawings in the throne room.
• SN · 11Wears Bane’s old tattered gray coat with the sigil on the back. Tells his father’s portrait, “I hope I never have to see you again.”
• SN · 12Finds the eight-pointed star necklace on Bane’s bookshelf. Runs into the hall to draw a Soul Drainer away from Ava.
• SN · 15Mocks Ava’s vision of Kurah: “You’re just a kid who still thinks her teddy bear talks to her.”
• SN · 18Stabs a Shadow Spirit with a sword from the hideaway and flees with Ava to an ice cave.
• SN · 19Dying of cold, meets Kurah, who offers him the Everlasting and forgetting. He chooses to go back for Ava. “You are a prince crowned with power.”
• SN · 21Offers Molock anything for his family. Mary pulls him down the well.
• SN · 25Touches the Seeing Star with Ava; asks for time before accepting magic or the crown.
• SN · 26Opens Cliff’s message on Christmas night: a photo of “Dad” holding a knife to Cliff’s throat.
• SN · 3At sixteen he is almost as tall as his grandfather.
• SN · 6Enters Henderbell in a heavyweight jacket, snow boots, a black beanie and gray gloves.
• SN · 10Has his father’s eyes, which is how Ishmael recognizes him.
• SN · 10Arrives in Henderbell wearing a hat, which he takes off in the throne room.
• SN · 11From Bane’s wardrobe he wears a blue collared long-sleeved shirt, black pants and boots.
• SN · 25On Christmas morning wears a dark red velvet shirt from Bane's wardrobe, with a laced collar and swirls stitched in black thread.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Ava Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Ava, Princess Ava, sweet Ava

• SN · 1Enzo’s sister, nine, “almost ten” with a February birthday. Brown hair; pink-and-white striped pajamas; a pink astronaut jacket.
• SN · 1Never without Mr. Wombington. Pretends not to hear their parents fight so Enzo won’t feel bad: “I’m nine, not stupid.”
• SN · 5Walks into the storm toward a Shadow Spirit as if hypnotized and hands it Mr. Wombington.
• SN · 8Barthemeus gives her a sigil ornament: “Help always comes to those who believe.”
• SN · 10Sits on Mary’s throne and loves the view.
• SN · 14Narrates. Kurah, a golden elk, shows her as a queen in golden armor with an army, then in a purple gown with a silver crown. “He isn’t the seed Henderbell needs right now. You are, Ava.”
• SN · 19Decides to return to Enzo before Kurah finishes speaking to her.
• SN · 24Breaks Molock’s invisible chains on her own and stabs him in the nape of the neck with a Sacred Tears dagger.
• SN · 24Afterwards: “There’s no good or evil. Just perspective.” Nicholas asks whether she had been around magic before Henderbell.
• SN · 25Wants the magic and the throne, and feels no remorse: “I won’t allow it to be.”
• SN · 2Travels to Dorthcester in blue leggings and a beige knitted sweater.
• SN · 6Enters Henderbell in a bright pink coat, yellow snow boots, blue gloves and a white beanie.
• SN · 10Has her father’s eyes, which is how Ishmael recognizes her.
• SN · 10To Ishmael, her pink coat looks like the feathers of a wild bird.
• SN · 11Dresses from Queen Mary’s old wardrobe: a bright pink coat, a yellow suede long-sleeved shirt, blue pants and red boots.
• SN · 12In the castle she wears silky neon-yellow pajamas stitched with orange flowers.
• SN · 14Kurah’s vision shows her grown, looking like her mother but with Bane’s brown eyes and long dark hair braided with a yellow ribbon.
• SN · 14In the vision she holds a scepter whose tip is shaped like twisted tree branches.
• SN · 18In the hideaway she wears a yellow long-sleeve shirt and scarlet boots; Enzo thinks she resembles their grandmother.
• SN · 25On Christmas morning she wears a silver dress that parts at the waist over dark pants tucked into brown boots.
• SNRace: Griffin.

King Nicholas Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Nicholas, Grandpa, Gramps, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, the king

• SN · 3Salt-and-pepper hair combed back, trimmed beard, brown eyes, black-framed glasses. Drinks from a massive coffee mug.
• SN · 3Hates being called Santa: “I’d much rather be called Saint Nicholas.”
• SN · 3Once dressed as Santa and gave Enzo his first sketchbook.
• SN · 4Offers Enzo and Ava a home in Dorthcester. “The world we see in our minds become our reality.”
• SN · 5Watches every snowstorm: “It reminds me of a simpler time.” Taken by Shadow Spirits on Christmas Eve.
• SN · 9Ripped the edge off the map in the Room of Secrets because it “was simply needed.”
• SN · 11Portrait: wavy raven hair to his shoulders, jewels in his beard, a purple robe.
• SN · 12Made the Bending Shield as the royal escape route.
• SN · 21Kurah showed him at fifteen riding a white stallion beside his son as the twelve sigils bowed. He never told Mary.
• SN · 24Fights Molock one-on-one for the Seeing Star; stabbed in the thigh by Loomstak; heals himself with the Star.
• SN · 25“Wisdom is the magic all living things should pursue.” Addresses the city from the balcony on Christmas.
• WD · 1Orders Doopar buried in secret in Nohein, among criminals.
• WD · 2Mandeerun says Nicholas had Edwin Bartowmell buried in Nohein and that his spies hunted baby Ishmael.
• WD · 4Vaneeries: Nicholas planned to torture the Shadow Spirits until they fought for him. “There’s more to him.”
• SN · 3Meets the twins in a red button-down under a black coat and dark jeans.
• SN · 11His portrait shows the sigil of Henderbell pinned to his chest and a mysterious grin.
• SN · 25On Christmas wears a scarlet cape, a black shirt and metal shoulder pads with antlers, with a silver crown of twisted antler-like branches.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Queen Mary Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Mary, Grandma, Grams, Mary Rose, the queen

• SN · 3Hazel eyes, pink glasses. Dresses loudly: a yellow blouse, orange lipstick, silver pants, blue boots, white faux fur.
• SN · 4Buys candles that smell like food. A dry cough she calls “just a cold.”
• SN · 5“It’s the heart that’s the most precious treasure of all.” Taken with Nicholas.
• SN · 11Portrait: a platinum cone-shaped hairdo, pink garments, yellow lipstick.
• SN · 15Born in Rosethorn, the southern kingdom; her brother Julius came with her when she married.
• SN · 21Offers to die rather than let Enzo give up the Seeing Star, then pulls him down Molock’s well.
• SN · 22Calls Mandeerun and Ashtolia out of the Bending Shield and the Fire Knights out of the dungeons.
• SN · 23Married into the Griffins and received the magic through Blood Impartation. Tells Enzo the history of Elleanor and the curse.
• SN · 23Horthur warns her against using magic: “You know you’re—”. The illness is never named.
• SN · 5Bakes Christmas cookies in a neon pink apron.
• SN · 6Owns bright blue slippers.
• SN · 11Her portrait shows her wearing a gold necklace, hung on the queens’ wall of the Hall of Rulers.
• SN · 23Dresses for war in a red long-sleeve blouse with armored shoulder pads, a sigil pin, flat boots over tucked-in pants, and a dagger at her belt.
• SN · 24Has silver hair that falls in curls to her shoulders.
• SN · 25On Christmas wears a blood-red dress with golden patterns and a silver crown like antler-shaped twisted branches.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Bane Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Bane, Dad, the heir

• SN · 1In Palmsand: drinks, disappears for days, shoves Evelyn to the floor. “I pay your bills, kid.”
• SN · 9Nicholas and Mary’s son and heir. Lived in the castle with Ishmael for ten years; dreamed of being king.
• SN · 10Left at twenty-two with Evelyn, without warning, and renounced the throne.
• SN · 11Portrait: hair in a bun with a side braid, dark blue garments with yellow swirls, smiling.
• SN · 16As a young man, visited Doopar’s mother while her father was away. Left Doopar the drawing of the Tree of Hender as a farewell gift.
• SN · 17An illusion of him begs Ishmael and Doopar for help in the Prison of Krishmar.
• SN · 26The “Dad” in Cliff’s photo wears a pendant shaped like a skull crowned with thorns.
• SN · 11Has brown eyes, as seen in his portrait.
• SN · 23Had a red jacket made on his fifteenth birthday, its shoulders stitched with thick dark thread and a silver sigil on the back; it fits Enzo perfectly.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Evelyn Griffin

The Griffins · Griffin

Also known as Evelyn, Mom

• SN · 1Smokes. Locks Bane out after a night away. Tells Enzo to go to his room.
• SN · 2Throws out the broken tree and Enzo’s sketchbook: “You’ll thank me in a couple of years.”
• SN · 10Born in Henderbell; left with Bane.
• SN · 11Not royal: they did not marry in Henderbell, so her portrait cannot hang in the Hall of Rulers.
• SN · 23Mary: “I wonder if he would’ve stayed here had we been more accepting of Evelyn.”
• SN · 1Wears her hair in a bun and carries a strong smell of cigarettes.
• SNRace: Griffin.

King Oden Griffin

The ancients · Griffin

Also known as Oden, the first Griffin

• SN · 8Made the sigil of Henderbell after defeating Claudius the Fallen.
• SN · 11Long white beard, golden eyes, a scarlet robe, a gold elk-head pin. Ruled Moonrar in Lestee.
• SN · 11Kurah appeared to him; he crossed the Crystal Sea five hundred years ago and won the War of Swords.
• SN · 10Forged the crystal thrones and had the platform carved with conquered figures.
• SN · 13Burned Vaneeries and the Meoner at the stake on Christmas Day for treason.
• SN · 23Sent Kymern and Torm into Albernaith; blamed Elleanor for their deaths and locked her in the highest tower.
• SN · 23Died of an illness Elleanor caused.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Elleanor

The ancients · Griffin

Also known as the witch, Elleanor the witch

• SN · 23A witch of Lestee and Oden’s counselor. Urged him to cross the sea, carrying his heir in secret.
• SN · 23Mother of Valk, Qerth, Nora, Kymern and Torm. Found the Jewel of Ostrion and woke their magic.
• SN · 23Showed Oden Albernaith through a tree. After Kymern and Torm died there, she was locked in the highest tower.
• SN · 23Poisoned Oden; her discoveries “required a sacrifice,” and the curse entered the bloodline.
• SN · 23Mother of Vaneeries by a king of Lestee. Let Oden burn him.
• WD · 2Faked Valk’s death and sent him to Rosethorn with the Jewel of Ostrion.
• WD · 4Vaneeries: she seduced his father to carry royal blood, stabbed him on his deathbed, and invaded the Meoner’s dreams.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Valk

The ancients · Griffin

Also known as Valk Griffin, the firstborn

• SN · 23Oden and Elleanor’s firstborn, born months after Claudius’ defeat, with no sign of magic.
• WD · 2Elleanor told Oden he had died and sent him south to Rosethorn with the Jewel of Ostrion. Ishmael descends from him.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Qerth

The ancients · Griffin

• SN · 23Daughter of Oden and Elleanor.
• WD · 2Murdered after their parents’ deaths by a secret society hunting the Book of Lost Whispers.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Nora

The ancients · Griffin

• SN · 23Daughter of Oden and Elleanor.
• WD · 2Married King Wenaldween of Scorpio and ruled. Nicholas descends from her.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Kymern and Torm

The ancients · Griffin

Also known as Kymern, Torm

• SN · 23Oden and Elleanor’s sons. Sent by Oden into Albernaith; a week later Elleanor found their graves in a small village.
• SN · 23Their siblings were charged with watching over “the world their siblings had created.”
• SNRace: Griffin.

Julius Rose

The ancients · Human

Also known as Great-uncle Julius

• SN · 15Mary’s brother; came with her from Rosethorn. Funny; told Ishmael jokes and stories.
• SN · 15Killed when the Shadow Spirits last attacked. His silver armor hangs in the hideaway.
• WD · 2Found the Book of Lost Whispers in the castle, learned Ishmael’s lineage, and gave the book to Mandeerun.
• SNRace: Human.

King Wenaldween

The ancients · Human

• WD · 2King of Scorpio who married Nora Griffin.
• WDRace: Human.

Ishmael Bartowmell

The court of Ghenthar · Griffin

Also known as Ishmael, Lord Ishmael, the king’s advisor, my boy

• SN · 9Narrates. Thirty-seven. Chestnut hair in a neat bun, deep brown eyes.
• SN · 9Wears the advisor’s purple, a color no one else in the castle may wear, and a silver sigil pin. Named “to turn chaos into peace.”
• SN · 9Orphaned at twelve when the Shadow Spirits attacked; raised in the castle beside Bane. “I owe them. They saved me.”
• SN · 9Secretly loves Loomstak; overrules the law to send him into the Prison of Krishmar.
• SN · 10Ava: “You sound like a poem.”
• SN · 13Sleeps with his hands crossed like a corpse.
• SN · 16Throws away his pin in the Forest of Nick to resign; plans to propose to Loomstak and run to Lestee.
• SN · 17Unwittingly tells Molock where the hideaway is.
• SN · 24Holds Loomstak as he turns to dust.
• WD · 1Buries Doopar in Nohein; Othar shows him his father among the criminal dead.
• WD · 2Mandeerun tells him he is a Griffin through Valk and gives him the Jewel of Ostrion.
• WD · 3A vision in Elleanor’s tower: born in Rosethorn during a massacre of newborn boys; his mother Anwen Meelar fled across the Southern Sea with Edwin Bartowmell.
• WD · 4Asks Vaneeries if he can bring back the dead. Vaneeries: “A nightmare.”
• SN · 11His old room was next to Bane’s in the Hall of Rulers before he moved to the other side of the castle.
• SNRace: Griffin.

Doopar

The court of Ghenthar · Elf

Also known as the elf, stubborn elf

• SN · 7First appears as a face of hovering snowflakes. Purple eyes, fair hair in a long braid to her waist, pointed ears, a purple coat, a red scabbard.
• SN · 7Her sword has a maroon handle with antlers rising from the bottom. Her father trained her: “all girls needed to learn how to kill their enemies with a blade.”
• SN · 7Travels as a flurry of snow and can carry others with her.
• SN · 7Born free in Ghenthar; her parents were brought from Lestee as slaves and died twenty-five years ago.
• SN · 8The first elven woman in the elven army; elves and guards sneer at her. “There’s no good or evil. Just perspective, Enzo.”
• SN · 8Blackmails the guard Kormak with his secret to get through the gate.
• SN · 11Carried in by guards, voiceless and bleeding: a Soul Drainer has used her as a host.
• SN · 12Kills the Soul Drainer with the dagger in her boot.
• SN · 15Takes up the sword of Delier.
• SN · 16Bane’s affair with her mother; his farewell drawing. Asks Ishmael to kill her if a Soul Drainer takes her again.
• SN · 24Molock crushes her heart: “I’d much rather die knowing I protected Henderbell.”
• WD · 1Buried without honors in the Forest of Nohein. Othar: “Innocent, kind, loving, she was.”
• SN · 7Wears mud-covered brown boots, a knee-length purple coat and a black belt; her blade is silver.
• SN · 7Her loose hair is golden.
• SN · 7As a face of snowflakes she speaks in a croaked voice.
• SNRace: Elf.

Loomstak

The court of Ghenthar · Elf

Also known as commander of the elven army, the elf I love

• SN · 9Commander of the elven army. Silver hair in a tail, lavender eyes, beard scruff, silver armor.
• SN · 9Wants a law that lets elves love whom they choose. “The fact I have to hide what I feel for you is a slow-killing poison.”
• SN · 9Sent into the Prison of Krishmar against the law.
• SN · 20Hosting a Soul Drainer, he twitches as he kills two Shadow Spirits, then takes Enzo and Ava.
• SN · 24Missing an eye; stabs Nicholas in the thigh. Turns to dust in Ishmael’s lap: “I don’t blame you.”
• SN · 20His face is pale, with a gash running from his eyebrow down to his chin; he wears armor bearing the Henderbellian symbol.
• SNRace: Elf.

Horthur

The court of Ghenthar · Human

Also known as general of the human army

• SN · 10General of the human army.
• SN · 23Broad shoulders, dark eyes, an antlered helm, a purple cape. Leads the army and Fire Knights to Krishmar.
• SN · 24Bloodied, antlers broken, keeps Ghenthar’s ignorance intact and burns the dead.
• SN · 23Tall, in silver armor, with a sword on his belt; salutes by banging a fist on his chest.
• SNRace: Human.

Mandeerun

The court of Ghenthar · Fire Knight

Also known as Fire Knight

• SN · 11A Fire Knight who guards the Hall of Rulers. Bald, broad, pale-faced, with sunset eyes; rises from flame when Ishmael snaps twice.
• SN · 22Mary calls him from a hidden compartment in the Bending Shield.
• SN · 24Turns traitor at Krishmar.
• WD · 2Says the Fire Knights were in Henderbell before anyone from Lestee and served Claudius, then Oden. Tells Ishmael his true name and gives him the Jewel of Ostrion.
• WD · 2Holds the Book of Lost Whispers.
• SN · 11Has a chiseled chin and speaks in a deep voice.
• WD · 2Arrives as a hovering flame moving like a bird of prey that bursts into particles and regroups as a man; he leaves in a speck of fire.
• WD · 2Wears golden armor.
• SNRace: Fire Knight.

Ashtolia

The court of Ghenthar · Fire Knight

Also known as Fire Knight

• SN · 11A Fire Knight of the Hall of Rulers. Golden hair, blood-red lips, sunset eyes.
• SN · 11Asks on Ava’s behalf for a “royal decree” so she can sleep in Enzo’s room.
• SN · 24Turns traitor at Krishmar: “You won’t miss a thing this time.”
• SN · 11Carries a sword at her waist.
• SN · 12Holds herself like a war general, shoulders back and head high, and speaks deadpan.
• SNRace: Fire Knight.

Kormak

Ghenthar folk · Human

• SN · 8A castle guard in an elk-head helmet who mocks Doopar.
• SN · 8Sneaks around with an eighteen-year-old peasant boy; Doopar threatens to tell his wife.
• SN · 8Speaks with a thick accent; his breath stinks.
• SNRace: Human.

Tennar

Ghenthar folk · Human

• SN · 8A guard who rushes Doopar with his spear; Kormak calls him off.
• SNRace: Human.

Barthemeus

Ghenthar folk · Human

• SN · 8A bald ornament-maker in red-and-green stripes, born in Lestee. Resents “those bloody Rainsakens folk.”
• SN · 8Gives Ava the sigil ornament: “Help always comes to those who believe. Let it be in Henderbell as it is in your heart.”
• SN · 8Speaks with a thick accent, drinks from a silver mug and wears brown overalls with beige-swirled suspenders.
• SN · 8His market tent is scarlet fabric bedazzled with many-colored gems and rhinestones on wooden poles.
• SNRace: Human.

Edwin Bartowmell

The court of Ghenthar · Human

Also known as Ishmael’s father

• SN · 9The king’s sorcerer, “an honor much too great for a family of settlers from Lestee.” Died defending the castle.
• WD · 1Scar over his nose, hazel eyes. Othar shows him among the criminal dead of Nohein.
• WD · 3Not Ishmael’s father by blood: he smuggled baby Ishmael and Anwen out of Rosethorn to Moonrar.
• SN · 9His eyes were often ringed by dark circles.
• SNRace: Human.

Anwen Meelar

The court of Ghenthar · Human

Also known as Ishmael’s mother

• SN · 9A prophetess “who failed to see the coming of darkness.” Ishmael watched her die.
• WD · 3Fled Rosethorn with her newborn and Edwin.
• WD · 4Lies alone beneath the Bartowmell stone.
• SN · 9Remembered for a smile that persisted through every trial.
• WD · 3Deep dark eyes; in the vision she wears a tattered skirt.
• SNRace: Human.

Delier

The ancients · Elf

• SN · 15The first elven woman warrior. Sailed with Oden and beheaded Claudius the Fallen, then lost her own head. “Loyalty can get you killed.”
• SNRace: Elf.

Claudius the Fallen

The ancients · Human

Also known as the tyrant

• SN · 8The tyrant Oden overthrew.
• SN · 11Kept Henderbell under harsh rule.
• WD · 2Mandeerun: “Claudius was a tyrant, but he was honest.”
• SNRace: Human.

Vaneeries Trudant

Enemies · Specter

Also known as Vaneeries, King of the Shadow Spirits, king of elves

• SN · 13King of the Meoner. Doopar tells two versions of his history.
• SN · 23Son of Elleanor by a king of Lestee; claims the Seeing Star.
• WD · 4Long auburn braid, one side of his head shaved and scarred, a nose ring, a silver jerkin.
• WD · 4Freed the elves of Hellyhim with the Meoner and burned their captors, the Quentin; became king of the elves.
• WD · 4Crossed the sea hunting his father’s killer. Entered the dreams of Ghenthar, tortured people in nightmares, then appeared as their savior.
• WD · 4“Death crowned me. The living will fear me with a Griffin at my side.”
• WD · 4Raspy voice; defined cheekbones and a chiseled chin; his nose ring is in the right nostril.
• WD · 4Wears a cloak over the silver jerkin and dark pants stitched with silver swirls like lightning.
• SNRace: Specter.

Molock

Enemies · Specter

Also known as Specter of Vaneeries, the three-horned man

• SN · 4The dull gray eyes on the stairs in Dorthcester: “I found them… I know you can hear me, prince… You are cursed.”
• SN · 17Three horns (the middle one smallest), an X-shaped scar across his bare chest, near-white gray eyes.
• SN · 17“I am one of the Specters of Vaneeries, and we have returned to avenge our history.” Treats it all as a game.
• SN · 21Offers to spare Enzo’s family for the Seeing Star.
• SN · 24Crushes Doopar’s heart. Stabbed by Ava; bursts into ash.
• SN · 4First appears as a human-shaped shadow with a croaky voice.
• SN · 17Bald, with yellowed teeth; wears torn brown pants and dark blood-smudged boots.
• SN · 17Speaks in a guttural voice and first appears as a wisp of cloud descending from the Krishmarian sigil.
• SN · 17Blows dust from his palm that makes victims black out.
• SN · 24Conjures from light a sword with a jagged, rusty blade; stays bare-chested even in the freezing cold.
• SNRace: Specter.

Kurah

Gods & guardians · Divine

Also known as Kurah the Elk, the elk

• SN · 8Henderbell’s god; Christmas celebrates him and their freedom.
• SN · 10His white marble statue stands behind the thrones; the antlers on the thrones honor him.
• SN · 14Appears to Ava as a golden elk with dark eyes. Lives “where time is but a thought.” “Every living being is given the opportunity to choose their fate.”
• SN · 15Hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years.
• SN · 18Fought Hambeon for almost a hundred years.
• SN · 19Appears to Enzo as a tree shaped like a man, then as a man with tawny diamond skin, black eyes, silver hair and an elk pelt, wearing an iron ring shaped like two wings.
• SN · 19“One day, you’ll leave Henderbell and Albernaith behind to join me in the Everlasting.”
• SN · 14First appears to Ava as a blue speck of light that moves like a hummingbird, then bursts into glitter.
• SN · 14As an elk he is twice Ava’s size with a shimmering golden coat; his mouth doesn’t move when he speaks, and he wiggles his ears.
• SN · 14Speaks in a deep voice; silver sparkles gather around his antlers and he leaves as floating golden dust.
• SN · 14His vision shows Ava a sunlit land of rainbow flowers, a waterfall into a round lagoon, blue butterflies and faceless glowing white figures, smelling of cinnamon buns.
• SN · 15His coat is made of gold, a fact Ava was never told.
• SN · 19In tree form his leaves whirl into a crown with two antlers that glows when he speaks; he has no facial features.
• SN · 19He appears to Enzo in a sunny meadow ringed by green forest, where blue-feathered birds leave trails of glistening dust.
• SN · 23His statue in the throne room seems carved to intimidate those who look at it.
• SNRace: Divine.

Hambeon

Gods & guardians · Divine

• SN · 18Fought Kurah for almost a hundred years, according to The Battle of Hope.
• SNRace: Divine.

Othar

Gods & guardians · Guardian

Also known as guardian of dead criminals

• WD · 1Guardian of the dead criminals in the Forest of Nohein. Hunched, covered in boils, iron-masked, bald with stubs, holding a warped staff.
• WD · 1Summoned with “An offering, I bring, to the one whose life never withers.” Speaks in triplets: “Dead-y, scary, deceit.”
• WD · 1Shows Ishmael the innocent dead: “bury those who know secrets and they might never speak.”
• WD · 3The boatman who carried baby Ishmael out of Rosethorn also had boils.
• WD · 1He arrives with the clang of bells as two trees bend, their branches becoming skeletal hands around a sphere of light.
• WD · 1He is naked, his eyes glisten behind the mask's slits, and he brings a smell of rotting carcasses.
• WD · 1His voice sounds like a wailing crowd, its pitch shifting each syllable from a squeal to a guttural sound.
• WD · 1Some say he crossed the sea with King Oden; others that he was born in Henderbell and cursed with immortality.
• WD · 1His staff slithers a circle around a body, turning the snow into a dark pit from which skeletal hands drag it under.
• WDRace: Guardian.

Mr. Wombington

Albernaith · Albernaith

Also known as the teddy bear

• SN · 1Ava’s brown teddy bear with long legs. “Mr. Wombington and I would like that.”
• SN · 5Taken through the Tree of Hender by a Shadow Spirit.
• SN · 14Ava: he talked to her and gave her beautiful dreams.
• SN · 26Found wet in the Dorthcester snow on Christmas.

Billy

Albernaith · Albernaith

Also known as BillyVanilly20

• SN · 1Enzo’s former friend; won an award for a medieval knight in seventh grade. Crops Enzo out of a photo: “Friends until the end.”
• SN · 3Sends “Am I your dad yet?”
• SNRace: Human of Albernaith (Earth).

Cliff

Albernaith · Albernaith

Also known as CliffUpYours

• SN · 1Enzo’s former friend: “You cut out Fairy Enzo. You savage.”
• SN · 26The hostage in the Christmas-night photo.
• SNRace: Human of Albernaith (Earth).

Ms. Lumber

Albernaith · Albernaith

• SN · 1The Palmsand neighbor: “You can’t keep doing this to those kids.”
• SNRace: Human of Albernaith (Earth).