Character Compendium
The people of Bramble Hollow. None of them special. All of them present.
Luna
The first to notice. Luna lives on the valley's northern slope with a father who does not believe in warnings until they arrive in the form of mud on the doorstep. She is not brave. She is watchful. That is different.
Arrax
A large man with a stillness that animals trust. Arrax patrols the northern boundary with Heather and Valerie Whiteclaw, reads the land the way other men read clocks, and carries the weight of every life he could not save.
Heather Whiteclaw
Sister to Valerie, keeper of the border markers, and the person who turns panic into procedure. Heather does not have time for fear. She has routes to map, people to move, and a younger sister who runs toward trouble.
Valerie Whiteclaw
The younger Whiteclaw, faster and less patient than her sister. Valerie finds the animal carcasses upstream and leads the rescue that fails. She carries the list of the missing in her head and will not let it go.
Coda
A quiet figure who hears through stone what others hear through air. Coda senses the river's unnatural behavior before anyone else can name it, saves a child from a flooded porch, and keeps watch for three nights without sleep.
Peony
Her garden is her language. Peony notices soil moisture before the scientists arrive, guides people away from collapsing walls using senses she cannot explain, and shares the last of her stores without hesitation.
Senako Steel
The village smith, broad and silent girl, who helps at the community hall and feels the unease in her hands before she understands it. Senako's forge goes cold. Her silence afterward is not empty. It is full.