The Hazel Tree... Again

So, waaaay back on December 6th, I posted about my story Secret of the Hazel Tree, and I was in the middle of introducing you to some of the characters. Time ran out, and instead of hiding the post away in the middle of a thousand and one forgotten drafts, I published it with the promise to finish the cast out as soon as I could. So, here I am... posting about the rest of the cast. I hope you all could wait this long. 

The housekeeper Ahna is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters of all time. She speaks with an awfully thick "peasant accent," makes the best gingerbread in all of Troisem, and becomes Celesta's self-appointed protector/confidant/friend. She loves Celesta probably more than anyone else in the world, and she would give her right arm to make Celesta happy. However, while being a superb friend in Celesta's opinion, Ahna has a quick temper, is extremely stubborn to boot, and insists on keeping up a regrettable habit of spitting when she comes across something that disgusts or angers her, all of which make her less than desirable for a housekeeper in the eyes of Celesta's stepmother. When I originally plotted this story, Ahna was meant to be a quiet, foreign servant dedicated to Celesta, acting as a sort of fairy godmother in the sense of being that slave to the girl she loved so much. However, when I started writing the story, Ahna looked at me with her lips pursed (a sure sign that she is about to spit) and told me that wasn't the way it was at all. From her first scene, she was loud, obnoxious, lovable, blunt, funny, and everything I hadn't expected her to be. That's probably why I love her so much: she gave herself character, and all I did was sit back and watch. The most difficult thing about Ahna is her appearance... I'm not exactly sure what she looks like, but I think it's something like the picture of Scarlet Johanson above. Another surprise, because Ahna was originally s'posed to be over 50.

Duchess Nicolinabeth Perrault Le'Blancard, an impressive name for an impressive woman. She loves everything elegant and expensive, and will do anything for her daughters. And when I say anything, I mean anything. Since her first husband's death, she has become so devoted to her two girls that they have become her whole world, and she sees little else. Marrying Celesta's widowed father presented her with a chance to become a duchess (even though she had been a noble with a higher title from her first marriage), and it was a step up for her girls. She tolerates Celesta as one might tolerate a feather stuck to one's sleeve, and although she doesn't despise her outright, she doesn't feel Celesta is at the same status as her daughters and therefore must be treated differently. I like this picture of Joley Richardson (from I'm not sure what exactly), and I think the expression on her face in this picture is perfect for Duchess Nicolinabeth.

This is Jessy Schram who apparently plays the part of Cinderella in the TV series Once Upon a Time. I've never seen it, nor have I seen Jessy act, so I'm going purely by looks here when I say that I think Jessy would be a good person to cast as the role of the eldest stepsister, Veroniscen Perrault Le'Blancard. Veroniscen is beautiful and knows it. Although she is almost twenty years old, her position as the step daughter of a duke hasn't gotten her very far in society (much to the dismay of her mother), and when the invitation to the prince's ball arrives, she is more than excited at the prospect. Of course, she and her mother immediately decide that Veroniscen will be the girl the prince will choose to marry. How could he not? Veroniscen hates Celesta with a passion, and she is always on the lookout for ways to further torment her stepsister. Unfortunately, Veroniscen is an excellent liar.

Georgettica is the simpler of the two stepsisters, and most of her affection and time is taken up in the adoration of the love of her life: her puppy, a small, wiggling ball of fur and energy called The Count. And you must call him The Count. He is named such because Georgettica believes that a count will one day arrive on her doorstep and marry her; thus when the prince's ball is made known to the kingdom, Georgettica changes the pup's name to The Prince. But she doesn't have much hope that the prince will marry her, knowing that Veroniscen, being the eldest and their mother's favorite, will undoubtedly get him. A rather naive girl, Georgettica tries to keep up with her mother's snootiness and her sister's cruelty, but oftentimes the effort wearies and confuses her, so her behavior towards Celesta varies day to day, sometimes ignoring her, sometimes ordering her about, etc. The picture above is Rachel Hurd-Wood, and I rather like it, so I'm casting her as my Georgettica.

Brother Van Leign is a local priest that has known Celesta's family for years. He is the one to oversee Celesta's mother's funeral, and when he sees the duke's coldness for his daughter, Brother Leign takes pity on Celesta. He and his wife, Jenisal, open their home and hearts to the little girl and are never too busy to find a minute to talk to her. They live in a tiny cottage just down the road from the manor where Celesta lives, and the cramped quarters of their home makes it an interesting life as the Leigns have six children: five boys (Donhans, Macob, Vrasen, Nodtren, and Kemual) and one baby girl (Setayla). Brother Leign, his wife, and his family aren't major characters in SotHT, yet they're great fun to write about, so I'd thought I'd be gracious and introduce them to you, in addition to the others in this list.

And here we have Ffans, the old, old, old butler. No one is really certain how old he is, and he won't tell anyone. I don't know that much about him for, while Ffans does like to talk and spin tales, he doesn't say much about himself personally. He thinks himself the master of all things when it comes to cleaning and other various house duties, so he's constantly following people around and telling them how to do their job, all the while oblivious to their smiles. He's been the butler at the manor for no one knows how long, and he was really the only one who knew Celesta's grandfather, the Baron Bladscol Marchalla, an eccentric man with odd habits and a disturbingly sudden death.

Well, there's more, but I think that's sufficient for now. The other characters are minor characters (such as some of these are) and I don't yet have pictures for everyone, so we'll leave it at this and call it good. 

God bless!