Fenna stands barely three and a half feet tall, full-grown and unmistakably an adult, with lean cheeks, high cheekbones, a firm jaw, narrow eyes creased by laugh lines, and a dry, knowing smile. Her bright green skin has a matte, pebbled texture, like river stones dried in sun. Long pointed ears angle outward beneath dark hair wound into a tight bun and tied with a yellow ribbon. She walks with a quick, slightly lopsided hitch, favoring her left side as if forever sidestepping an invisible audience. When unsettled, her breath catches in a dry little rasp before she speaks. Unexpectedly, she is a patient and enthusiastic birdwatcher, keeping careful notes on the village swallows between performances. Her tall puppet booth rises far above her head, with its stage twice her height; a rain barrel reaches her shoulder, and a cart wheel behind her is taller than she is. She holds a knight hand puppet with a tiny bee shield high over her head.

Fenna is observant and dryly funny, but not as carefree as her show suggests. With an audience she is bold, quick with a barb, and delighted by a well-timed surprise; alone with someone frightened, she becomes patient and practical. When she is ashamed, she turns theatrical and evasive. When she is angry, she speaks plainly and stops using the puppets.

Fenna grew up repairing props for a traveling company that performed at crossroads and harvest fairs. At seventeen, a winter performance went wrong when a panicked crowd stampeded after a lantern set fire to the canvas roof. Fenna crawled back through smoke to pull a trapped child free; the child survived, but her mentor, puppeteer Old Tavi, was badly injured and never performed again. Since then Fenna has built her act around small, sturdy stages and stories that turn fear into laughter. She travels alone now, though she sends earnings to Tavi, who lives above a cooper's shop in Namar. Her current trouble is that the local reeve has forbidden her show until she pays a fee she cannot afford, while a rival performer is quietly spreading the claim that Fenna's puppets are cursed.