Poke was a female wereboar of the Black Blood tribe from Caer Moray on Moray in the Moonshae Isles during the late 15th century DR.[1] She was killed in the late 1470s DR while battling drow on the island of Gwynneth.[2][note 1]
Description[]
In her human form, she was slightly pudgy, with pink skin and pale yellow hair on the crest of her head.[4][5]
In her hybrid form, she appeared mostly like a large and hairy human woman save for her sharp, hoof-like hands and feet and her bestial face (with small eyes, wide and distorted nose, and curved tusks).[4] She spoke in grunts with a low and distorted voice in this form.[1]
In her pig form, she looked like a large, mundane pig with tusks.[2][3] Her powerful molars could crush bones.[5]
In all forms, she bore an intricate tattoo of a yellow rose inked in many colors under one arm.[1][5] It was designed to look like the Rose of Sarifal, and was modeled after the tattoo on her friend and leader, Lady Amaranth.[1][4]
Personality[]
She was modest,[4] and empathetic.[1] Having been raised in part by Lady Amaranth—a leShay princess—her manner of speech was overly formal even as it was punctuated by pig-like grunts.[3] She was considered clever (albeit forgetful) by the standards of lycanthropes.[6]
Poke had been raised by Amaranth to respect her humanity more than her bestial nature, and as such, she hated the feeling of losing her intelligence as she transformed into her pig form.[3] She felt most natural in her hybrid form, but assumed her human form in front of strangers or while out in daylight.[4][5]
Relationships[]
She was a trusted friend and servant of Lady Amaranth, a young leShay princess who had been marooned on Moray and come to lead the lycanthropes of Caer Moray.[6] Poke loved and admired Amaranth endlessly,[1] and it was Amaranth who had named her.[6]
History[]
In the late 1470s DR, Lady Amaranth became increasingly desperate to return to her home of Sarifal on Gwynneth, from where she had been abducted a decade prior. However, her adoring followers would not allow her to leave, even going so far as to sink a boat she had intended to use. Thus, she instead entrusted Poke with traveling to Sarifal in her stead in order to find her half-sister, Ordalf, and to ask for her help.[6] Poke thus built a boat to please her, and she and several others embarked on the journey across the Strait of the Leviathan to Gwynneth. However, as they departed from Kork Head, the boat was attacked by fire nagas, who destroyed it and left Poke as the only survivor.[1] She drifted in the cold water for hours and through a storm before she was discovered by the fey of Sarifal.[4][3]
Poke was taken to a hidden prison beneath the ruined city of Caer Corwell, where she soon came to realize Ordalf in fact wanted Amaranth dead.[1] She was interrogated and tortured for information about Amaranth, but although she refused to talk, her tattoo was evidence of her association with Amaranth and Ordalf recognized that she had clearly come from Moray. This was sufficient for Ordalf to hire the crew of the Sphinx to find and kill Amaranth, as well as to imprison one of them, the gnome Suka, alongside Poke as an added incentive for the crew.[4] By this time, Poke had befriended another fellow prisoner, the fomorian Marabaldia,[1] and had naively resolved to escape and seek the help of the Winterglen Claw, a rebel group opposed to Ordalf.[1][3]
Poke, Marabaldia, and Suka soon became friends, and bonded over an overly melancholy song that Suka would sing, known as Oh, Father Dear.[1] Suka devised a plan for their escape, and a tenday after her arrival in the prison, the trio overwhelmed their guards. However, they were then confronted by the leShay Prince Araithe, who (like his mother Ordalf) was also interested in learning from Poke where to find Amaranth. The trio attempted to fight him, but his magic confounded their minds. Only by transforming into her beast form, in which her mind worked more on instinct than thought, could Poke avoid the effects of his magic.[3] She swiftly defeated him, shattered his arm, and dragged his body out of the prison where she and Marabaldia decided he should be spared, despite Suka's objections.[3][5]
Fleeing from Caer Corwell, the group was attacked by drow in service of Prince Araithe, but escaped with the aid of the Winterglen Claw, who had also learned of Poke's arrival and apparent association with Amaranth. Poke was questioned by Captain Rurik as well as Lord Mindarion, Amaranth's paternal uncle, and told them about where Amaranth had been and what she had been doing in the ten years since she had disappeared from Sarifal. However, her tale was interrupted by a surprise attack from the drow,[3] and Poke was fatally injured by a darkwalker. Although she was obviously dying, Marabaldia insisted on helping to carry her to the rebels' hideout at Harrowfast. As her life faded, Poke slipped into her pig form, and when her corpse was laid to rest in the sepulchurs of Harrowfast, she was indistinguishable from a simple pig.[2]
Meanwhile, Amaranth remained oblivious to Poke's trials, although as the days wore on, she feared the Poke had forgotten her mission or else her crew might have mutinied.[6] It was not until Amaranth herself arrived on Gwynneth that she learned of Poke's death from Suka and Marabaldia, and this confirmation of the loss of her friend provided the young fey with a strong reminder of the need to sever her attachments to mortals.[7]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Canon material does not provide a year for the events described in The Rose of Sarifal, although the novel indicates that it takes place "more than a hundred years" after the return of High Lady Ordalf to Gwynneth in 1375 DR (ch. 1) and "nearly a hundred years" after the Spellplague in 1385 DR (ch. 3). While this fits the usual assumption that all 4th edition material is set in 1479 DR, the novel contradicts a number of other sources set during that year: at the start of the novel, Caer Moray is held by lycanthropes rather than by soldiers loyal to House Kendrick (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles), Citadel Umbra has been home to Prince Araithe for at least 12 years rather than being the base of his enemies (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, and Realmslore: Sarifal), and Malar is stated to be "dead" rather than an active exarch of Silvanus (as stated in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide). These contradictions are largely resolved by the end of the narrative, meaning that the novel is best assumed to be set prior to 1479 DR. Unless a canon source contradicts this assertion, this wiki will thus assume that the events of the novel take place after 1475 DR but before 1479 DR.
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 4. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 13. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 8. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 1. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 11. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 7. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 18. ASIN B006NPFFHY.