Varis Lodd

"When did you last feel the warm sun on your back, Alquix Venvax? Or rain in your face, or the wind in your beard? When did you last see the stars?"
—Varis Lodd

Varis Lodd was the daughter of Fenbrus Lodd, the sister of Felix Lodd, and one of the bravest and greatest[1] Librarian Knights who ever lived. She rescued Rook Barkwater after finding him in an abandoned banderbear nest while she was writing a treatise, titled A Study of Banderbears' Behaviour in Their Natural Habitat.[2] She spent much of her life defending the Free Glades. She was the commander of the Librarian Knights, was a member of the Library's High Council,[3] and was also a member of the Freeglades Council.[4] She died in battle during the War for the Free Glades.[5]

Biography

Before the Rook Trilogy

Varis was a gifted and legendary librarian knight from the Second Age of Flight. She was the pilot of the skycraft Windhawk.[6] She saved Rook's life[2] and later went on to teach skyflight at the Lake Landing Academy.[1] As their commander, she led the Librarian Knights in battle during the First Attack on the Tower of Night, which ended in retreat.[7]

Role in The Last of the Sky Pirates

When Rook, Magda Burlix, Stob Lummus, and Xanth Filatine were apprentices at Lake Landing, she was their skycraft flight instructor.[1]

After Rook had mastered skyflight, he accompanied Varis and Knuckle on a rescue mission to the Foundry Glade to liberate banderbear slaves. They were ambushed and she almost killed the Foundry Master, Hemuel Spume, with a crossbow bolt. During the skirmish, Rook was shot by a long-haired goblin who fired a poisoned arrow from a longbow; Varis made sure he made it back to Lake Landing, saving his life for a second time.[6]

Role in Vox

Varis informed Magda that Rook was missing after he and the Stormhornet were shot down over Screetown.[8] Varis gave a rousing speech soon before the Dark Maelstrom hit Undertown and the Guardians of Night, General Tytugg's goblin mercenaries, and Mother Muleclaw the Second's shrykes attacked the Great Storm Chamber Library. Her speech convinced the Librarians to escape Undertown and to venture to the distant Free Glades, bringing all of their barkscrolls and lecterns with them in order to create a new library at their destination.[3] When Alquix Venvax resisted leaving with the Great Library Fleet, she attempted to comfort the old professor.[9] She was aboard the fleet and made it to the Great Mire Road.[10]

Role in Freeglader

Varis helped the Librarians and the Undertowners in the Third Great Migration, the mass exodus of Undertown's entire population to the Free Glades in 87 ᴇ.ʏ.. She led a flight of skycraft to the Free Glades to get help, to inform them of the Dark Maelstrom, and to warn the sanctuary about the imminent threat to its existence; from the shrykes of the Eastern Roost, the goblins of the Goblin Nations, and the industrial might of the Foundry Glade.[11][12]

Once she returned from her voyage to the Free Glades,[12] she commanded the Library's forces in the Battle of Lufwood Mount. The Librarian Knights tricked the shryke battleflock into entering a stand of ironwoods, manned by dummies filled with entrails. From their skycraft, they fired flaming crossbow bolts. This lit the stand on fire, burning a large amount of the shrykes alive.[13]

Varis died in the Battle of the Great Library of the War for the Free Glades, fighting for the Free Glades against an allied invasion force of the Goblin Nations and the Foundry Glade. Her skycraft was seen crashing into an ironwood pine after catching fire.[5]

After the Rook Trilogy

In the Third Age of Flight, Zelphyius Dax named his skycraft the Varis Lodd.[14] One of the largest skycraft ever created, the ship had a carving of Varis as its figurehead.[15]

Personality

Varis had a serious demeanour and was a brave woman. She was a charismatic speaker and a respected leader as a result, allowing her to convince the Librarians to abandon the Great Storm Chamber Library in Vox, to start a new life in the Free Glades.[3] She was unable to allow the injustices she witnessed be left alone, so she rescued Rook Barkwater[2] and raided the Foundry Glades.[6] 

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Last of the Sky Pirates, Chapter 12: Flight
  2. 1 2 3 The Last of the Sky Pirates, Chapter 1: The Great Storm Chamber Library
  3. 1 2 3 Vox, Chapter 10: The Eleventh Hour
  4. ↑ Freeglader, Chapter 18: Sunset in the Free Glades
  5. 1 2 Freeglader, Chapter 20: The Three Battles
  6. 1 2 3 The Last of the Sky Pirates, Chapter 13: The Foundry Glade
  7. ↑ The Last of the Sky Pirates, Chapter 18: Skyraider
  8. ↑ Vox, Chapter 3: The Sunken Palace
  9. ↑ Vox, Chapter 12: The Great Library Fleet
  10. ↑ Vox, Chapter 18: The Ghosts of Screetown
  11. ↑ Freeglader, Chapter 2: Exodus
  12. 1 2 Freeglader, Chapter 7: The Ironwood Stands
  13. ↑ Freeglader, Chapter 8: Blood Frenzy
  14. ↑ The Immortals, Chapter 44
  15. ↑ The Immortals, Chapter 60
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