Howard the Raccoon

Howard was born beneath the tall oaks and whispering pines of the Big Woods, a place where night was not a time for fear but for living. To the other Nocturns, darkness was a cloak of safety, a realm filled with stars and secrets, the proper stage for their lives. But for Howard, the night was a burden.

He told the others that his mistrust of darkness was simply sensible. “In the night,” he would argue, “you cannot see things as they really are. Shadows deceive, sounds trick you, and nothing can be trusted until the sun shows its face.” To the other creatures, this sounded like clever reasoning. But beneath his words lay a truth Howard dared not confess: he was not afraid of the night itself—he was afraid of himself.

Howard’s restlessness was not of the body, but of the soul. He sensed that life held some deeper purpose, some greater calling just out of reach. It was as if the trees whispered of destinies yet unknown, and the stars glimmered with secrets meant for him but not yet revealed. He felt sure his path could not lie among the owls and badgers, the rabbits and foxes who lived content beneath the moon. For while they belonged wholly to the night, Howard believed his heart was meant for something more.

And so, Howard walked the edge of two worlds: the visible and the unseen, the safe path of reason and the shadowed way of faith. His struggle was not merely to accept the darkness, but to discover who he truly was within it. Only by facing both his fear of night and his fear of himself would he learn that sometimes, the greatest light is found not in the day, but in the heart that dares to trust the unseen.

Howard's Family: Grandfather Chevy, Mother, and his younger sister, Violet

After losing his father, Howard the Elder, Howard now lives in a stump in the big woods with his family.

Nicodemus the Deer

Nicodemus was the oldest of all the creatures of the Big Woods—so old, in fact, that none could say when he had first walked its paths. Some whispered that he had been there since the beginning, when the trees were saplings and the rivers still learning to run. Others said he was older still, a voice of the Woods itself, made flesh in the shape of a stag.

Yet no Nocturn had ever seen him clearly. To some, he was a towering shadow among the trees; to others, only the sound of antlers brushing unseen branches in the dark. What was certain was his voice—deep, steady, and full of ancient knowing. When Nicodemus spoke through Waldron the Owl, it was as though the very forest leaned in to listen.

He was not a ruler in the way kings rule with crowns and thrones, but a guide who pointed the Nocturns toward wisdom, courage, and truth. His words taught them how to prepare for winter, how to guard themselves against Man, and how to live with honor and compassion. Yet his greatest gift was not in telling the creatures what to do, but in awakening within them the courage to choose rightly for themselves.

Waldron the Owl

If the voice of Nicodemus was like thunder in the distance, then Waldron the Owl was its echo beneath the branches. With eyes that glowed like twin lanterns in the dark, he sat high in the trees, watching all that passed in the Big Woods. He was not only a messenger, but a prophet—a creature who seemed to peer beyond the present moment into what was still to come.

Bo the Skunk

If Petey was the heart of Howard’s circle, and Howard the restless mind, then Bo the Skunk was its spark. Quick-tongued and quicker-witted, Bo could turn any moment into mischief with a grin and a quip. He was the sort of friend who always seemed to know the clever reply, the daring scheme, and the most exciting way to spend a night in the Big Woods.

Petey the Opossum

If Howard was the thinker and doubter among the Nocturns, then Petey the Opossum was the heart. His mind often tangled itself in knots—he mixed his words, confused his sayings, and sometimes answered questions no one had asked. But what Petey lacked in cleverness, he more than made up for in loyalty and cheer.

Lena the Luna Moth

There were some in the Big Woods who said that Lena was not a creature at all, but a dream given wings. With gossamer sails that shimmered like moonlight on water, she drifted silently through the night, appearing and vanishing as though the very air itself had woven her from light. When she came, it was always in moments of need—when shadows grew long, or choices pressed heavily on young hearts.

Rock the Badger

In every wood there is a shadow, and in the Big Woods that shadow took the shape of Rock the Badger. He was broad-shouldered and heavy-pawed, with eyes that gleamed not with wisdom but with hunger—hunger for power, for advantage, for anything that might put him above another.
Rock was clever, but his cleverness was bent inward, twisted into schemes that served only himself. To the younger Nocturns, he could seem almost charming. When Howard, Petey, or Bo came near, Rock would smile, speak pleasantly, even offer scraps of advice. But once their backs were turned, his grin would harden into a sneer, and his words became knives. He bullied the small, mocked the timid, and preyed upon the weak, finding satisfaction in making others feel smaller than himself.

Jake the Garter Snake

Jake is a garter snake who has a gift for appearing at exactly the wrong moment and saying exactly the wrong thing with exactly the right timing. He doesn't cause trouble loudly. He causes it quietly, in the ear, at the moment when Howard is already halfway to doubting himself and just needs one more push.