Wendel
Who he is
The cellarer who keeps Morwal’s gallery in Hushvault. Morwal is bigger than Selvane by volume and leans on machines where Selvane still cuts by hand, and its rivalry with the old estate is old against new. He took Carys in as a ward from Velyr and made her his apprentice.
Appearance
A big, red man who goes redder as the day goes on, to the ears and then to the scalp.
Personality
- Cheerful and loud. He talks as though everyone in the room were his oldest friend, and takes Dareth by both shoulders to prove it.
- A braggart, mostly about Carys: “Came to us from Velyr no higher than a cask, and look at her now.”
- Generous with a jug. On Opening night he pours from a crate behind Morwal’s stall for anyone who holds out a cup.
People in his life
- Carys: his apprentice, “my girl.”
- Dareth: greets him warmly at every chance. Dareth looks delighted every time. Ansel knows he can’t stand the man.
As the story unfolds
These details come from the story itself. Choose the last chapter you’ve read, and only what has been revealed up to that point will appear.
Hessary’s buyers
At the Opening he boasts that half the court has come to see what Carys can do. That night he comes up the road shouting for Hessary’s buyers, promising them a gallery. Four had asked; he can find only three, and takes them down with Carys behind him.
The gallery
Ansel and Dareth find him dead the next morning, sitting against a cask cradle at the far end of Morwal’s rack. Years before, he had given Dareth a key to his door, “in case.” Hessary’s factor tells the magistrate he warned Wendel at the stall that Hessary sent nobody to the Steps this year; Wendel laughed and said he’d ask them about it himself.