Characters

• Baron Venedict Castaign: Lord of Shufflemoore Manor and the nearly forgotten Barony of Shufflemoore Woods, Baron Castaign is a somber, silent man, prone to melancholy and introspection.
• Desmond Othas: A peasant who ekes out a living cutting wood and performing rough carpentry in the Barony of Shufflemoore Woods, Desmond wears rough clothing and carries a hand axe.
• Winston Phipps: Butler and manservant to Baron Venedict Castaign, Phipps is a formidably competent and icily professional butler.
• Edgar: Caretaker and groundskeeper of Shufflemoore Manor, Edgar is an ill-kempt, lazy drunkard whose primary goal is to do as little work as possible while still collecting the pittance the Baron pays him.
• Curtis: A Gypsy juggler and husband to Maven, Curtis is an outgoing entertainer always ready and able to put people at ease with his clever wit and well-timed jokes.
• Mitchell Miller: A simple farmer who ekes out a livelihood in the Barony of Shufflemoore Woods with his wife Susannah, Mitchell has fallen on hard times with the disappearance of his daughter Krista. He has come to Shufflemoore Manor to petition the Baron's aid in locating his daughter.

• Esmerelda: A Gypsy girl and occasional dancer who travels the land with her brother, Curtis, and his wife, Maven, Esmerelda is bright and vivacious, a lively sort of person who always has a cheerful comment and smile, even for strangers.
• Maven: A Gypsy seer and wife to Curtis, Maven is wise and mysterious. She always seems to know more about people than she is inclined to let on.
• Susannah Miller: A soft-spoken woman, Susannah is the wife of the farmer Mitchell Miller. She has recently lost her young daughter, Krista, and is heartbroken and distraught.
• Luella: One of the maids of Shufflemoore Manor, Luella is a cheerful young woman who has aspirations of traveling to some place more cosmopolitan and compelling than Shufflemoore Woods.
• Constance Castaign: The sister of the Baron, Constance Castaign is a dour and devoutly religious spinster.
• Tatanya: A hunter and tracker of some skill, Tatanya is a taciturn woman, more at home in the wild than in a baron's castle. She dresses in rugged clothing and carries a pistol, something of a novelty for a woman in this time and place.