Sabine Thornmere (Half-Elf Ranger • Commander of Mortwatch • Martial Sister of Anwyn)
Sabine Thornmere is one of Dîmeril Laeghartha's oldest surviving friends and one of the most experienced Rangers of the Golden Woods. A former cavalrywoman of the Copper Crests, she has known Dîmeril since long before Merilrond existed and is one of the comparatively few people who remember the Heryn simply as another young Half-Elf trying to find her place in the world. Today Sabine commands Mortwatch, the northern outpost overlooking the approaches from the Mort Swamp. It is not a comfortable posting. Sabine would not have it any other way.
Sabine first knew Dîmeril during their years with the Copper Crests. Both were Half-Elven Rangers serving in a cavalry regiment, but even then there were considerable differences between them. Dîmeril possessed a natural talent for command and increasingly found herself responsible for other soldiers. Sabine was at her best ranging ahead of them, scouting routes, identifying threats and finding things which would rather not have been found. Their friendship became particularly close. For Sabine, however, it was not entirely friendship. She fell in love with Dîmeril. Whether Dîmeril ever fully understood the depth of Sabine's feelings at the time remains uncertain. Nothing came of them, and Sabine never attempted to make Dîmeril responsible for feelings she did not share. When Dîmeril eventually resigned from the Copper Crests, Sabine remained behind for a time. Eventually she left as well. She went looking for Dîmeril.
Finding her proved considerably more difficult than Sabine expected. Dîmeril had returned to Goerath, travelled again, bonded with the unicorn Aelheryn, crossed into other lands and generally demonstrated her longstanding ability to be somewhere other than where people expected to find her. Sabine persisted. Eventually she caught up with Dîmeril and became part of the loose collection of friends and companions surrounding her. By then Sabine had accepted that the relationship she once imagined between them was never going to exist. What replaced it proved considerably more durable. The two women became lifelong friends. There is an ease between Sabine and Dîmeril which comes only from knowing someone for decades. Sabine remembers Dîmeril before the titles, before Rose Hall and before hundreds of people began expecting her to know what to do. Consequently, she is largely immune to the mystique surrounding the Heryn. This is occasionally useful.
The Golden Woods
Sabine was amongst those who ultimately followed Dîmeril into the Golden Woods of Anwyn and helped build the life which grew around Merilrond. She became one of the senior Martial Sisters of Anwyn, although, like Dîmeril, her devotion to Ehlonna is expressed primarily through protection of the wilderness and those who live within it rather than through formal priesthood. As Merilrond grew, Sabine increasingly returned to what she had always done best. She watched the borders. The most troubling of those borders lay to the north.
Mortwatch
The Mort Swamp is not a place Dîmeril is prepared to leave unwatched. Its waters, ruins and mist-shrouded islands have produced enough undead, unnatural creatures and unexplained incidents to make the northern approaches to the Golden Woods particularly dangerous. An outpost was therefore established to watch them. Dîmeril gave its command to Sabine. The decision surprised nobody who knew either woman. Sabine is patient enough to spend hours watching somewhere in which apparently nothing is happening, experienced enough to recognise when that is not true, and sensible enough not to investigate every strange noise merely because it exists. Under her command, Mortwatch is primarily a place of observation and warning, not a fortress intended to conquer the swamp. Patrols watch its boundaries. Tracks are recorded. Unusual movements are investigated. Travellers emerging from the swamp are questioned. And when something unpleasant begins moving towards the Golden Woods, Sabine's principal responsibility is to ensure that Dîmeril knows about it before it arrives.
The Ranger
Sabine and Dîmeril are sometimes compared. Sabine finds this mildly irritating. They are both Half-Elves, both Rangers and both former Copper Crests, but decades of experience have made them very different warriors. Dîmeril is the more versatile battlefield commander. Sabine is the better scout. She is exceptionally quick, observant and patient, with a particular talent for moving unseen through woodland and identifying danger at a distance. Her long adventuring career has given her considerable experience fighting the undead and other unnatural creatures, knowledge which has proved particularly valuable during her first six months commanding Mortwatch. Sabine prefers the bow. Her ideal fight is one in which she has already identified the enemy, chosen her position and put several arrows into it before it discovers where she is. She remains an accomplished horsewoman from her Copper Crest years and is perfectly capable with a blade, but neither defines her any longer. If Sabine has drawn her scimitar, something has probably gone wrong.
Thorn
Sabine's constant companion on patrol is Thorn, a large grey wolf. Thorn is neither a magical beast nor some legendary guardian of the Golden Woods. He is simply an unusually intelligent, well-trained and thoroughly experienced wolf who has accompanied Sabine for years. He possesses many of his mistress's habits. He watches strangers carefully, rarely makes unnecessary noise and seems perfectly content to remain motionless for extraordinary periods when there is something interesting to observe. At Mortwatch he is notorious for sleeping in whichever doorway is presently most inconvenient. Sabine insists that this is accidental. Few believe her.
Sabine Today
Sabine is now an older Half-Elf, though still physically fit and remarkably quick. Time has softened some of the intensity of the young cavalrywoman she once was without diminishing her confidence or independence. She is warm, perceptive and generally easier to approach than Dîmeril can sometimes appear when burdened by the responsibilities of the Heryn. She also possesses a dry humour and a healthy scepticism towards dramatic reports from inexperienced Rangers. Sabine now shares her life with Amara, a human heraldist. Their relationship is settled, affectionate and comfortable, and Amara represents something Sabine did not possess during much of her younger life: a home and a partner to return to when the ranging is finished. The feelings Sabine once held for Dîmeril belong firmly to their shared past. Dîmeril remains one of her oldest and dearest friends, but Sabine is no longer in love with her. There is no lingering romantic tragedy between them and no secret hope that circumstances might somehow change. Sabine loves Amara.
Her friendship with Dîmeril has survived wars, separations, other relationships, the crossing of worlds and several decades of occasionally disagreeing with one another. That friendship also explains something important about Mortwatch. Dîmeril has placed one of the most dangerous approaches to the Golden Woods entirely in Sabine's hands. She does not supervise her, second-guess her patrols or regularly arrive to make certain things are being done properly. Dîmeril trusts Sabine. And Sabine, who knew Dîmeril long before anybody called her Heryn, understands exactly how much that means.
