Monday, April 21, 2008

The Brethouwer family

Herluf Brethouwer. Village headman. A heavy built, middle aged man with a broad handsome face and calm eyes. Herluf inherited the job of head man from his father with no protestations from the rest of the villagers (most of whom are very conservative). Needless to say Herluf is one of the richest men in the region, owning no less than forty head of cattle (most of which are grazing in pastures up in the hills under the watchful eyes of Herluf’s tenants).


Ursula Brethouwer. Young, pretty and some what vain, Ursula considers herself the most important woman in the entire region and loves to play at being a ruler, even though it is her mother in law who seems to run the household. She does very little actual work, wears clothes imported from Takshendal rather than clothes she has made herself and loves to spend her husband’s money. None of the village women much care for her and her lack of children is a constant source of gossip.

Heike Brethouwer. De facto ruler of the village, Heike is a strong minded woman who carries the burden for her son who is often away in the fields. She disapproves of her daughter in law, but seldom criticizes her in public. Heike is considered one of the ‘three wise women of the village’ and is usually the person to whom the villagers turn for advice. She is tall, spare of frame and pale. Her hair is white and she is given to pouting a lot when speaking with people. She is also a very religious woman and was the person who proposed building a temple. She is very pleased to give shelter to Brother Jeppo and takes steps to maintain his comfort.

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