The Bokkel family

Bernold Bokkel is a well built middle aged man with a red weather beaten face. A fisherman by trade he can normally be found on the lake or home mending his net or salting fish. He has the typical dirty blonde hair that is common in Slapershaven, a grizzled beard and usually wears stained dirty weather clothing. He is not well liked in the village due to his surly nature and habit of knocking his wife about when he gets drunk. He lives with his wife, his mother and four children.

Isobel Bokkel is a tired looking woman in her late twenties. She has blonde stringy hair and a long nose. Some what eclipsed by her mother-in-law she runs her house hold as a near invisible entity. She always seems to be in the company of children and it is immediately obvious that children like her. Every so often her husband hits her and whilst the other adults of the village usually turn a blind eye, this makes her stand out some what to the children who empathise with her. The rest of the village takes little notice of Isobel, refering instead to her mother-in-law as the female head of the house. Her only true friend appears to be the ever cheerful Hermina Garrison.


Grishilda Bokkel is one of the three 'old women of the village'. She is universally regarded as a foremost authority on herbal remedies in general and healing cattle in particular. Her age, experience and force of character mean she is often heard as an authority on many matters though she is often contradicted by her rival Heike Brethouwer. An old woman in her seventh decade, she is still as energetic as she was in her youth. She has dark hair and sallow skin and her joints are getting weak. Her eyes are also dimming now and this has caused her to be more belligerent in her old age.