Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams - Discussion

[Celuien]

An idea for a new character...

NAME: Sæthryd

AGE: 30

RACE: Human, Rohirric

GENDER: Female

WEAPONS: None

APPEARANCE: Sæthryd could be the perfect image of the Rohirric maiden – tall, blonde and blue eyed. From a distance, she appears beautiful. On closer inspection, she appears far older than her age and has what can only be described as a glint of manic intensity in her eyes, which tend to stare far away. What she ‘sees,’ she keeps to herself. She is unkempt and disheveled at home, but can put herself in order when required.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Insanity. But though Sæthryd is quite mad, she can hide her illness under reasonable words and actions when the apparence of sanity is needed to achieve her purposes. She possesses fanatical intensity over her obsessions, and she can be both ruthless and bold in their defense when threatened.

HISTORY: Sæthryd’s birth was an event of great joy to her parents, freeholders living near Dunharrow. As she grew, however, oddities in her behavior began to appear. While other children played, Sæthryd wandered alone, talking and singing to herself of outlandish visions. At first her parents believed that she would outgrow what they thought was merely a wild imagination coupled with shyness. But Sæthryd’s ‘imagination’ did not recede with the years. Instead, it took on an alarming nature when she became obsessed with the Dwimorberg. Saying that it and its inhabitants called to her, Sæthryd made numerous attempts to go to the Paths of the Dead but was stopped by her parents, who grieved for her shattered mind and hoped that she would one day be healed of her madness.

Sæthryd finally succeeded in reaching the Paths of the Dead a year after the War of the Ring concluded. With the curse removed and the Dead departed, no harm came to her, and she passed through to the other side of the Ered Nimrais safely. Having survived the journey, she developed a possessiveness about the mountain, believing that it belonged to her – and the visions she received of the inhabitants of the Paths of the Dead – alone. She then began the life of a hermit in the mountains and became a jealous guardian of the ways to the Paths of the Dead.

~*~

Opinions? Feedback? I thought it might be interesting to have the current ladies of the story encounter a dangerous madwoman who will try her best to keep them from getting to Erech, or anywhere else near the Paths of the Dead - - - or could alternately lead them right to the Paths if the fancy struck her.