Arvicola was a large male water vole who had a hairy face and possessed a slow, rustic voice. He was the leader of a water vole tribe that lived in the Northwest by the river. He and his voles helped Triss and Shogg to escape to the shore by diverting Princess Kurda and her Ratguards. It is likely that the name "Arvicola" is derived from the Scientific classification for the subfamily of the vole species--Arvicolinae.