Niavel

Niavel is a female dog and is traveling with Iacar's pack.

Appearance
Niavel is a northern dog with a short, stocky build, made rounder by her pregnant belly. She has white fur with pale gray-tan areas on her back, neck, and forehead. She has golden, amber eyes that are slightly slanted upwards. Her tail, since being bitten off, is now just a small puff of fur, though it used to be very poofy and curly.

Personality
Niavel is a goodhearted and strong willed dog. She is very open-minded, accepting the hellhounds, even though she was at first horrified. Niavel is not afraid to seek answers to her questions, even when the answer is hard to bear. She is very protective over those she loves, willing to risk her life to defend them.

History
Niavel was born in the Reindeerlands of the far north, and traveled with her uncle, a coppersmith, as his companion until they were attacked by a band of three thieves. The bandits killed her uncle and left her all alone, until she was found by Issan, Rummur, and Mooseneck, three hellhounds who had left The Crater.

While Niavel was at first horrified by their mutations, notably Issan's lack of eyes, the hounds showed her kindness and she joined their pack. She began to have romantic feelings for Issan, charmed by his personality, and no longer bothered by his strange appearance. She became pregnant with his puppies at some point later.

The group was attacked by the dogs of the Bear's Rock Guard Station. They initially thought Niavel was a prisoner of the group, and while they did not hesitate to maim and kill the hellhounds, did not harm her until she fought back in defense of her new family. Her tail was bitten off in the fight, and after Issan, Rummur, and Mooseneck were killed and their bodies left, Niavel was taken prisoner at Bear's Rock.

She was freed when Iacar's pack came to rescue Crippled. As Niavel had revealed that she was pregnant with Issan's pups, and Iralbe's last living relatives, Crippled insisted she be brought with them.

Trivia

 * Niavel's offspring will be half dog, half hellhound.
 * Due to their lineage, it is unknown how many of the puppies will survive, as Iralbe pointed out at least half of all hellhound pups are born dead, and many who do don't survive to adulthood due to their mutations.