There are a lot of characters in these stories. A lot. As of this writing, 112, to be specific. Of those, 49 come from the game, and the remaining 63 are my creation.

It's a lot to keep track of.

So, while I have a massive character list for my reference, I'm breaking this up into chunks for you guys, starting with the village where Ivetta lives at the beginning of A Dove's Tale and A Beast's Tale.

Evelyn
Ivetta's mother is a very important side character. At the beginning of the story, she's sick with an unnamed illness (probably cancer) and gradually wasting away. Ivetta takes the job at the palace because of her mother's illness. They've always lived off of the odd jobs they can get in the village and the nearby city, but Ivetta needs a steady paycheck and consistent hours so she can tend to her mother and pay the doctor's bills, and she can get that working as a maid in the palace.

Ivetta knows very little of Evelyn's history. She knows her mother came to Rhodolite from another nation and that her father is dead, but the only evidence she has is her father's journal, which is written in another language. Evelyn will not talk about her deceased husband or her background prior to Ivetta's birth.

In the setting of the Middle Ages, the presence of a male to protect and provide for a woman was extremely important, which means Evelyn's appearance in Rhodolite as a single pregnant woman left her open to suspicion and abuse. The most common rumor about her is that she is, or used to be, a prostitute, and Ivetta is her bastard child. That puts them by default into the lowest class of society, just a step above slaves in terms of value and rights.

Fortunately, the village pastor took Evelyn in when he found her in his church's cemetery, and he helped her find a place to live and begin to settle into society. He wouldn't tolerate any ill words or mistreatment toward her in his church, and with his influence and Evelyn's hard work and perseverance, her situation began to improve. By the time the story begins, Evelyn and Ivetta have a slightly better standing in the village, where people know them personally. Gossip is ever-present, however, and they still have to be careful in the city, where they have fewer friends and a higher chance of encountering predators.

The Unnamed Pastor
This guy doesn't get enough credit, as is the case for most good pastors. His story is mostly in my head and not on paper (until now). He found Evelyn in the church cemetery when she was giving birth to Ivetta, and he took the young mother in and helped her get back on her feet. The shack where Evelyn and Ivetta live was originally a shed belonging to the house next door, at the time occupied by a different family than the Stotts. The pastor bought the shed from them and helped Evelyn turn it into a home.

Of course, tongues will wag, and the pastor taking care of a strange young woman who just appeared out of nowhere brought some suspicion on both of them. Fortunately, the pastor already had a solid reputation for being a genuine Christian with a high regard for moral standards and a loving, compassionate personality, so the rumors died down pretty quickly. There was an overall attitude of, "Well, he's a pastor, so he has to be nice to everybody, anyway." He immediately made it clear he would not tolerate any bad behavior toward Evelyn and Ivetta from his parishioners, which resulted in him losing some of his flock to the churches in the neighboring city, but he didn't consider that much of a loss.

So, the church, at least, became a safe place for Evelyn and Ivetta. Their new neighbors moved out, upset with the pastor because he didn't tell them he was buying their shed to give to a supposedly former prostitute, and newlyweds John and Maria Stotts moved in. They had met Evelyn in church, and while they were unsure about her background, they trusted their pastor's judgement.

The Stotts
This family has grown and developed a lot through the writing of A Dove's Tale. John Stotts, the husband and father, is a blacksmith with a beefy build and hazel eyes. He is ample protection for Evelyn and Ivetta—when he's home. Unfortunately, being a member of the working class, he has to work most of the day at his blacksmithing shop in the city to provide for his family.

Maria Stotts is a fun character for me. She's the wife and mother of the family, about the same age as Evelyn (late 30s), with a similar short and petite build that looks almost comical next to her large husband. Her size is not an impediment to her maternal authority, however. She has full control of her six children, and her natural maternal bent means she sees Ivetta as a daughter, or at least a niece, since Evelyn is her best friend and almost like a sister to her. She has thick brown curly hair and dark chocolate eyes, and she's passed her hair down to all of her children.

Jason Stotts was actually the first member of the family I created. He's the oldest son, a 13-year-old boy with his mother's dark chocolate eyes and a close relationship with his little sister, Rachel. He also has a massive crush on Ivetta. She used to babysit for the family, and he first confessed his love to her when he was eight years old.

Henry Stotts is the second oldest son. He's 11 years old and needs to step up his responsibility for his younger siblings because Jason will start helping at his father's blacksmithing shop soon. In the meantime, Henry loves swinging from trees and hunting for toads by the river.

Ron Stotts is the third oldest son. He's nine years old, and really, he's just here to fill out the roster. Like Henry, Fred, and Greg, he has his father's hazel eyes.

Fred and Greg Stotts are the youngest sons and twins. They're seven years old, and again, I really only created them as names to fill in the list of the six Stotts children. Making them twins was an intentional move on my part to increase the family's relatability with Licht and Nokto.

And that brings us to Rachel Stotts, the five-year-old girl who steals the hearts of everybody she meets. She is adorable, and she knows it. Being the only girl in a family full of boys means she gets plenty of special attention from her father, especially since she's inherited her mother's looks, and she has a very close relationship with Jason, too. But really, she doesn't know a stranger. She is trusting to a fault, and she especially likes people who prefer quieter, calmer activities than Henry, Ron, Fred, and Greg.

The Unnamed Doctor
Last (and definitely least) is the doctor treating Evelyn, whose character I'd given no thought to until I wrote this. He's a kind man who doesn't like to take money he knows Ivetta can't afford to spend, but she insists on paying for his services, so he complies by creating a bill he never intends to collect. He'll drop everything to make a house call for a patient in need, and he's dedicated to healing or, if that's not possible, at least improving comfort.