There are multiple characters with the surname Arden appearing around [[Olympia, WA|Olympia]] ([[Washington State]]) all throughout Barron's stories. These characters are probably related and perhaps all brothers. The following passages from [[The Croning]] and [[Hand of Glory (Story)]] give some insight into the Arden family: "The Arden clan extant comprised the inner circle of local old money families, the crème de la crème, the very royalty of three counties, and included such luminaries as the Redfields, Rourkes, Wilsons and Smiths and in roughly descending order. The middle sibling of eight Arden brothers, and the lone scientist from a brood of lawyers and playboys, he was the last standing and the least likely to consider peerage when making associations. His brothers had fallen by the wayside due to wars, duels, disappearances, and in one notable instance, natural causes." (The Croning, chapter 4) "The Arden family own the politicos, the cops, the stevedores and the stevedores' dogs." (The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, Hand Of Glory 1st page) Myron Arden, often referred to as 'Mr. Arden' is gangster [[Johnny Cope]]'s boss who appears in Hand of Glory. Argyle Arden is the middle sibling of eight Arden brothers and plays a part in The Croning. He lives at the Arden House in Olympia. "Argyle Arden was a phylogeographer who’d retired from Caltech, then again from Saint Martin’s, and currently served the Redfield Museum as a consultant." (The Croning, chapter 3) Him and his associate Hank die at the hands of the [[Children of Old Leech]]. “Your associates languish upon a metaphorical anthill. They will endure a right Christian Hell for ages to come. Those fools are beyond help." (The Croning, p. ) Skip Arden is the best friend of Wallace, the protagonist of [[Hallucigenia]]. In the story [[Jaws of Saturn]], we learn that the ballroom on the ground floor of [[The Broadsword (Building)]] is called the Arden Grand Ballroom. The Arden family members mostly appear in stories taking place in the [[Old Leech]] universe, but one of the Ardens showing up in [[Hallucigenia]] suggests that the [[Transhumanism]] universe is not completely seperate from the Old Leech universe, pointing towards a possible [[Multiverse]]. Arden seems to be one of the old families involved in a number of stories, alongside [[Redfield]] and [[Miller]]. #Character