Gwen

Gwen is a tall, reddish-brown deer with three sets of ears.

Gwen’s parents had been friends with Stella’s family long before they moved to North America. As such, Gwen had been one of the very few constants in Stella’s life up to adulthood. Gifted with a brilliant mind and a pragmatic attitude, she had a mischievous side. Being a couple of years older than Stella, Gwen had always been a big sister figure for her; one who would always nudge her towards self-affirmation and taking the risks she otherwise wouldn’t dare to take on her own.

Heir to an aristocratic but mostly dysfunctional family, Gwen had a difficult relationship with her father. He was proud of his daughter, but would often distastefully parade her and her intelligence as a way to receive self-aggrandizement. This was exacerbated by her father leaving Gwen and her mother at a fairly young age, to live with his boyfriend. Gwen only talked to the accountant a few times, including for several hours when her father died, and then never again.

Symbolic of her rebellious nature and her opposition to a guardian she had to call “Father”, Gwen picked up smoking at a very young age. Yet, despite all her courage and bravado, she never mustered the courage to smoke publicly or in front of him. Ironically, smoking is what eventually killed Gwen, when she passed from lung cancer in her 40s. As she reached the final stage of her disease, Gwen travelled back to her parent’s manor in Northern Italy’s Alpine Lakes region, and considered attempting suicide.

Ultimately, Stella reached out to her at that moment, and succeeded in helping Gwen accept her fate rather than taking her own life.