| The Willow Sourcebook |
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Few knew her in life, and not many know her name today. But for two months after the birth of Elora Danan, the midwife Ethna was possibly the most important person in all the kingdoms. She carried Elora from the dungeon beneath Nockmaar Castle. With the army of Nockmaar at her heels, she crossed and recrossed the wilderness on a random course. One time she returned almost to Nockmaar Castle, a move so unexpected no one thought to look for her there. Finally reaching River Freen, Ethna built a small raft of reeds, and set the child adrift on the current. Moments later, the Death Dogs attached Ethna and killed her. She died alone, far from any shelter, with none to mark her passing. Fin Raziel has written, "Bavmorda was destroyed by armies and heroes. Thanks and glory and good wishes to them all. But their effort hinged on Ethna's bravery. Had she been a hair less cautious, had her courage once faltered, the labor of armies would have gone for nothing. "Bavmorda, who built mountains and toppled kingdoms - destroyed by this old woman with swollen joints and tattered robes. Her greatness humbles me." THE JOURNEY FROM NOCKMAAR It is not known how Ethna came to Nockmaar's dungeons. Princess Sorsha knew her only as a servant in her mother's castle. Otherwise, our sole knowledge of Ethna comes from a party of hunters who found her in the mountains near Nockmaar. "Hunting near river, happened on woman cradling child in arms," the terse account begins. "Old, very dirty and ragged, looked withered like oak bark. Asked leave to sit, she did not attend. We sat, she began to moan, recited woes, as nearly as we can recall as follows: "'O child, Elora, am too weak for thee. Crooked back must bear not only your weight but Bavmorda's and her army's. Aching legs must outrun packs of dogs. My heart still pounds strong for love of you, for glory waiting. Fate like mad parent, acts in love and spite by turns, giving you at time most needed, trusting you to me alone. Infants together before Fate, dances us like father in play.' "Moaned. Said more we do not recollect. Mentioned dungeons under Nockmaar, we grew nervous. Thought to leave. Then child laughed. "Laughter wonderful. Soothed all. Woman cried, but happy now. Talked to us, said name was Ethna. Child was Elora, said she was child of prophecy, would overthrow Bavmorda." The account mentions the few other details we know. But the midwife appeared reluctant to speak of herself. Soon the party heard a Nockmaar patrol approach, setting the scene for one of the many sacrifices in the war against Bavmorda. "FOR NIRIENSA" The three hunters were a husband and wife, Khaldyn and Latarre, and Khaldyn's best friend, Roke. Nockmaar had annexed their village a year before. The army had seized all food supplies, so the three hunted to feed their families. They had much to lose if the patrol caught them with the midwife. As the account has it, they looked at one another but did not discuss what to do. Roke asked, "For Niriensa?" and the others nodded. Then they helped up the old midwife and set off down the canyon. They were hunting in a steep gorge with sides of shingled rock. A minor stream, the Rance, which had carved this gorge, still flowed sluggishly between its sloping walls. As they escorted the old woman to their raft, the hunters heard echoes in the gorge, the sound of approaching warriors. They shoved off from shore and drifted downstream, not needing the poles they used to push their way to the hunting ground. "Old woman fascinated. Seemed not to have ridden raft before. Asked questions. Mumbled to herself." A minute behind them, a tribe of Pohas, subhuman savages riding armored warhorses, galloped into the stream. "Howled, waved swords, screamed in strange language. Roke said, 'Soon upon us. Let me off here.' "No time to argue. Poled to shore, steep place of gorge, many loose rocks. Roke saluted, pushed us into current, climbed." The Poha squad followed standard tactics, namely an all-out frontal charge. This berserk rush, always amid screeching war cries, has demoralized far superior forces. But the hunters kept their wits. Splashing through the shallows, the Pohas quickly gained on the raft. Seeing Roke climb the steep bank, half the Pohas broke off to pursue. Roke threw small rocks downhill, skidded with arms wide, grabbed and threw larger rocks, all in hopes of starting a rockslide. The Pohas dismounted and raced up the slope, laughing. They came within ten feet of him, says the account, "when we [that is, those still on the raft] heard shouts, noises, deep cracking sounds. "Huge roar echoed down gorge. Lost sight of Pohas in dust clouds. Roke lost footing, slid down, more rocks fell after him. Heard him shout 'Niriensa.' No more sounds after that." That left three Pohas following the raft. The Rance flows slowly along that stretch, just before a flight of stairstep rapids. And it is shallow, as the Pohas soon realized. They stampeded for the raft. Khaldyn took time enough to embrace his wife, and then leaped from the raft into knee-deep water, only yards in front of the lead Poha. With just enough time to nock an arrow and draw his bow, Khaldyn shot the horse. It slid headfirst into the river, the Poha leaped onto Khaldyn, and both fell into the current, fighting all the way down the rapids. Later reports mentioned two bodies found downstream. The remaining two Pohas reached the raft. "One leaped onto raft from his horse, upsetting raft and spilling all of us into water. I landed better, got up fast, killed him with dagger. Old woman protected baby, waded to shore. Last Poha's horse panicked by upset raft, threw rider off." Latarre, the only surviving hunter, used the chance to catch up to Ethna on the shore. Unhurt though exhausted, Ethna said the soldiers were hunting her and the baby. She would take the child and leave, so that Latarre could survive. But in the last of these many mysterious acts of sacrifice, Latarre stayed by Ethna, intending to go with her as protector. Unfortunately, the surviving Poha attacked, and in the midst of battle, Latarre did not see Ethna running off into the forest, carrying the child. "Could not beat Poha," Latarre's account concludes. "Hamstrung me, but I wounded him so he could not follow woman. Then Nockmaar minions showed up, took me prisoner." AFTERMATH The account was transcribed in the nearby Nockmaar camp by a minion who wrote none too well. His undoubted slowness in recording her words must have prolonged Latarre's torture by several minutes, but at last she was allowed to expire. She may have hoped, though she could not know, that she and her friends had rescued the instrument of Bavmorda's destruction. And the raft may well have given the midwife the idea to send Elora drifting downstream when her own death proved inevitable. The account shows Latarre died bravely, still defying Nockmaar's rule, and claiming revenge for "Niriensa." At the last, her account finally explains Niriensa's identity. She was Roke's wife, and close friend to both Khaldyn and Latarre. She was expecting her first child when Bavmorda's troops took her to the dungeons of Nockmaar, as were all expectant mothers while Bavmorda waited for the birth of Elora Danan. In a damp cell Niriensa and her unborn child sickened and died. By protecting Ethan and the infant, Niriensa's husband and friends seized the chance to revenge her. So in yet another way, Bavmorda's savagery proved her own downfall. GAMING NOTES 0 skill-level normal person SKILLS Midwifery, infant care, stealth, wilderness survival. Ethna has no weapon skills and is treated as a normal old woman in your game system. EQUIPMENT None. |
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