The Good Townsfolk of Willingtown
Mistress Wyn Mercer, the Wool Merchant's Wife
Wynifred Mercer, sometimes called Jane, is wife to the sucessful wool mercer, Master Edward. Master Edward, who no one has seen in quite some time, is often away at sea doing his business. What that might be for a wool merchant on the water is left to much speculation. There has been rumor for some time that the Master Edward is not coming back, being namely dead. One must be warned ne'er to say this in the Mistress's hearing, unless one wishes to have his or her ears boxed.
Mistress Meg Wood, the Joyner's Wife
Margaret Wood aka Meg is the pious, respectable wife of the village joiner. She has no taste at all for brown ale, shopping, or gambling. No, really. No taste at all for them and she'll take her broom to anyone who suggests otherwise. She is a founding member of the Kit Marlowe Fan Club and thinks Shakespeare is a hack who'll never make it in the theater and poetry biz.
Master John, the Alchemiste
Master John is an Alchemiste, When asked he will tell you that this means that he has read the books by such masters of the art in antiquity as Galen and Bacon; He has also studied under the most accomplished of the practitioners of the art and is considered a master of the Hermetic Philosophy. Though not a noble he would also point out that he has such lineage to allow his comfortable presence in the company of those of noble birth. He has served the most powerful royal families and nobles in all of Europe. He is most recently arrived from the palace of the Doge of the most serene maritime republic of La Venizia - also known as La Serenissima.'Twas there he did acquire such substance (and trade connections) as to allow a return to merry England, and such livelihood as continued good fortune and a Merciful Providence do provide.
Mistress Alycs Strangewayes, Goodwife and her daughter Clare
Alys is the widow of a dairyman. Her poor old husband went to his
reward when he was kicked in the head by a cow. Clare is the younger of
the two surviving Strangewayes daughters. The older daughter ran off
with a roving Irishman. Alys and Clare are always trying to make
contact with her and her ne'er-do-well bridegroom.
Mistress Rosemary Strangewayes
Mistress Strangewayes is a thirty-ish spinster with few relatives since her parents died some years past, although she does have a cousin in service to the courtiers who host the Queen during Her Majesty's visit to Willingtown's Harvest Faire. Rosemary enjoys a good yarn (story or woolen), trading news with other gentle folk throughout the faire, especially while knitting. That is, when she is not earning her keep in Dame Arline's Buttery of a morning. Rosemary loves to sing, and she is capable of leading a tune or harmonizing; but she doesn't play any musickal instruments. Rosemary has an interest in the healing herbs, especially the one for which she was named.
Master Didymus Loveny and Family
Didymus Loveny is a Stationer by trade, or so taught by his father. His true passion comes from his Gammer, whom as a lad schooled him in art of hat making. He makes of that a side business of sorts, making hats when he travels to far off lands in search of new paper making techniques and other advancements in the parchment world. His most fervent hope is to one day bring a printing press to the town of Willington, like the few he has seen on his travels. He supports his family; a daughter of marriage age and that a sore subject he would say, a son who seems destined for service to the Queen’s court, a younger boy, who he will take as an apprentice soon and his wife Isabelle.
Master William Fletcher
William Fletcher makes his living crafting fine arrows and arrowheads of fit for all uses. As is proper, his trade has been handed down from father to son for many generations. The Fletcher came to Willington with his father when he was but a lad. His father, who grew sick to death of the uncertainty of the borderlands life, brought him inland to Willington, as he judged that it was far enough from the border as to not suffer from brutal raidings, like those he and his family had suffered.
