father of Luciano Strega-Borgia. Appears briefly in the first book, in a flashback to the birth of Titus. The Beasts The series takes place in a world similar to our own but where magical creatures are apparently quite commonplace. Among the pets belonging to Strega-Borgias are a large menagerie of sentient animals and monsters collectively referred as the Beasts. It is worth noting that Tarantella resents being called a Beast and instead refers to herself as "an arachnid." Ffup - A teenage dragon. Pregnant twice during the series, mother to Nestor, fiancée to The Sleeper. Fairly selfish, especially when it comes to nails and dieting. Strangely she is referred to as "he" throughout the first book. This was caused by the fact that Ffup did not realize that "he" was in fact a girl during the first book. In Pure Dead Wicked, Ffup finally realized that she was a female with a slightly hinted encounter with a male. Sab - The intellectual of the beasts, Sab is a gryphon with a fondness for cross-words. He and Strega-Nonna are revealed to be old friends in Deep Trouble. He is egotistical and has the ability to turn into stone. Gryphons according to Sab have very long lifespans and are widely believed to be immortal although this is not the case. Tock – A crocodile, who lives in the castle moat. Supposedly a vegetarian by the later books. Knot - A yeti who loves revolting food (including Marie Bain's slippers and the contents of Nestor's nappies). Nestor - Ffup's young son, a half dragon. Multitudina the Illiterat - An illiterate rat who 'was raised to eat books, not read them'. She is a free-range rat and one of Pandora's many pets. Multitudina has an intelligent daughter named Terminus. Terminus - One of Multitudina's many children and one of Pandora's pets. In contrast to her "illiterat" mother Terminus is highly intelligent and well-educated and she and Tarantella have many intellectual discussions. Tarantella - Pandora's pet spider. A highly sarcastic but very intelligent individual Tarantella is obsessed with lipstick and fond of eating male spiders. She is missing one leg after losing it to Fiamma D'Infer. Gliori acknowledges her similarities to the character of Tarentella. The Sleeper - Fiancée of Ffup and Father to Nestor. Also known as the Loch Ness Monster, lives in Lochnagargoyle Loch on the Strega-Borgia grounds. He loves it when his