| “ | YOU OATH-BREAKING, BACK-STABBING, MEWLING BLOOD TRAITOR! | ” |
—The Warden, Puppet Strings | ||
Nalaagura Ep'ha the Warden is a major demon born in the Demon Lands to the Empress. She kept the rebels locked up in the dungeon through her vessel Treepelt, inhabited multiple members of the rebellion before finally becoming an ally to the rebels and guardian of Tree and Vox's children.
Appearance[]
The Warden is an involuntary shape-shifter. In general, her incorporeal forms are tall, feminine, humanoid and graceful to a certain degree, but she changes form with whomever she possesses. Ordinary mortals cannot see her in an ethereal state, but she can alter the minds of those she touches and project herself into their vision, somewhat like a forced hallucination.
With Treepelt, the Warden appeared as a ten-foot full-blooded half-breed cat, with thick mottled orange fur, huge ribbed ears and a dark cloak. Her form with Stonegit changed into a more human body, with darker, smoky-colored fur around her scruff and down her back, a forked tail, tusks curving around her jaw and shaggy hair covering her black eyes. When Stonegit began transferring her to Haddock in
The Warden's forms through all five seasons and an additional EU concept [by TreepeltA113]
the final duel with the Valkyrie, she was in the process of shifting, but she was blown away in the explosion caused by the Valkyrie's death before she could fully manifest.
When she returned to possess Haddock, her form was a lean olive-skinned woman with spiraling horns, short animal ears and long sable hair and fur, with black eyes and burning red pupils. Her tails merged back into one and turned long and whiplike and tufted.
Unbeknownst to her, the Warden's forms had been growing more and more similar in appearance to the Stitcher-made body that was awaiting her in Bloedrest. Tall and lean, with porcelain plates and muscle-tissue joints, the Warden's physical body was built for warfare, complete with curved swords and a very swift, agile motor system. Her face was is a blank white mask interrupted only with glowing eyes and surrounded by four horns and a cascade of celestial material that reflects the color of her essence. It was previously crimson and has cooled off to a violet-blue as her temperament has been changing.
All of the Warden's known forms [by treepelt]
She possessed Chief Akkey for a brief while, resulting in a more rabbit-like form, and she resided within Greg's mind as a bright-eyed, wild-haired young woman with several tails intertwining with each other. In the end, she returned to her body, and she stayed there for many years until she finally possessed the Arnasons' eldest son, Liam. In this form, she appears very young compared to her past forms, with a rounder face and tousled hair, short curved horns, multicolored eyes and a long fluffy tail. On her skin are various runes and symbols where freckles would normally be. (In meta, these are the symbols used to warp the Warden's speech when she flies into a rage.)
Personality[]
The Warden began as the epitome of the demon stereotype. Existing only to cause harm and death (so she thought), she actively sought out lives to ruin and things to gain for herself. Having been born of pure wrath, it came natural to her to be destructive and chaotic. She had a very aloof, condescending attitude towards mortals, viewing them much as a human would view an annoying insect. Bizarrely charming at times,
The Warden as she appeared possessing Treepelt [by TreepeltA113]
but better off crushed under her foot. But as much as she enjoyed ruining their lives, she couldn't stand possessing them. Physical pain is unbearable, emotional pain even more so, and she avoids both as much as possible. In fact, if her vessel is in enough pain, it could be enough to drive her into submission for a few hours, attempting to cope with the unfamiliar sensation. Older, more seasoned demons have learned to stand their ground in undergoing mortal pain, but the Warden is a juvenile and has little experience in such matters.
With the events of season 3, though, it's become clear to the Warden that her purpose is not to cause pain. She was stunned and angry by the revelation that she was meant to care for the mortals rather than hurt them. However, she grudgingly came to realize that this was her inescapable destiny and started to protect the rebels instead of torturing them, which was quite a surprise for them. She spent a good while trying to untangle her benevolent feelings from her malicious ones.
Soon, she realized that denying her affections would only harm those around her, and so she began to be more open about caring for the rebels, particularly when Greg approached and befriended her. With Stonegit, she developed a close, motherly, protective affinity towards him, and with Greg, the relationship resembled siblings, Greg being more free with touch and hugging. She recently began developing feelings towards Akkey, after the two were nearly killed together in Fenrir's attack. Akkey had been suffering since they were finished and the Warden took it upon herself to calm the girl after these episodes,
Since Greg's friendship, the Warden has taken a heel-face turn from where she had been before the rebellion. She changed from a menacing demon into a benevolent guardian spirit whom even Tree and Vox trusted to watch over their future children.
Nala's MBTI type is ESTP, and her alignment is Chaotic Neutral.
Abilities[]
As a demon, the Warden can possess multiple people at a time as long as she has an "anchor" to which she is bonded the strongest. Her control grows thinner with the more people she takes over. The slower and more subtle the possession process is, the more deeply rooted she is in her vessel's mind. Along with this, she can detect any living being within a large radius, the size of which is around 16km, depending on the area, the magical interference, and the Warden's own strength at the moment. If her vessel can use magic, their powers are magnified, but if not, they have very limited access to a few rudimentary skills.
Since Kiaama's death, the Warden has gained a much stronger focus on mental magic and finds it easier to meditate and access more mystical aspects of her abilities. Her power to possess is also stronger, although she rarely pushes to overtake others after the events of the rebellion and Ragnarok. With Greg's death, the Warden developed the sudden yet unstable ability to teleport across great distances.
As an archdemon, the breadth of her powers widened into controlling large amounts of heat and flame energy. She also gained the ability to have children, to shed parts of herself to grow them into new demons. Along with this, she also made the dark discovery that she could have children with other demons, combining their essences gloriously and painfully to create an incredibly powerful new being. This practice was often discouraged between other major demons and archdemons, because their offspring would usually become far stronger than their parents, eventually becoming greedy with power and bloodlust.
History[]
The Warden's birth (treepelta113)
The Warden was born to a massively powerful archdemon, H'zola R'nalath the Empress. She was brought to being in the demon city of Bloedrest, in the far north, but she despised her life there and wished to flee. One day she did just that, hopping from vessel to vessel in an attempt to escape her former life.
She was suddenly snagged from her body one day by a strange, immature force, and when she manifested in front of it, she was infuriated to see it was a young mage by the name of Darien Whiteland. Furious, she demanded he let her go, but he refused, telling her he needed to impregnate a golem with a kind of guardian spirit. For some reason unknown to her, she was unable to break the holds of the summons and was imprisoned inside of his golem.
Family[]
The Warden has seven other siblings: the Matriarch, the Praetor, the Archon, the Centurion, the Baroness, the Guardian, and the Shaper. She is the youngest of the eight and the most important, according to her mother. Her parents are the Empress and the Shepherd, both extraordinarily powerful beings who used to be a single soul. They split into the soul's intelligence and brute force, the mother and father being the result, respectively, and then the Empress "gave birth" by shaving off fragments of her soul and cultivating them into new demons.
The Warden also has countless cousins born of her lawful uncle and chaotic aunt, three of which she knows best: Sydiotraa, Skaimaru and Shaxurohm, all descendants of the demon of chaos, Ph'ctlekrug. She is on reluctant speaking terms with Shax and despises her other two pugnacious relatives. She has no contact with her uncle, Neual.
The Warden had no tolerance for any of her close family, finding them boring and restrictive and annoying, the Guardian and the Empress in particular. She feared returning home to Bloedrest and refused to even consider coming back with her sisters and brothers. Eventually the Warden's feelings changed with each interaction between every one of her family members, and soon she grew to love each one and mourned grievously over each loss that her deluded brother Kelzsam brought. She grew especially close to Kiaama and spent much of her time examining his leftover essence and memories embedded within her.
Hundreds of years later, when the Warden became an archdemon, she birthed seven of her own children -- the Laird, the Scribe, the Chieftain, the Duchess, the Viceroy, the Caesar and the Witch. The Laird's birth was a corrupted one, having met a dark, handsome demon named Glaeven X'aal, they birthed a child together, born of both demons' essences, and the shapeshifting, dark demon was the result. Nalaagura and her children spent much of their time keeping their rogue relative in place and dealing with their own strange relationship with humans.
Role in the Rebellion[]
Season 1[]
The Warden's imprisonment in the dungeon was not a pleasant one. She seethed against her captors and longed for revenge but she was trapped and had no idea of where the young mage might be. She instead turned her attention to the prisoners and began toying with them. One in particular caught her attention: a
The Warden guarding the dungeon [by treepelt]
passionate half-breed cat named Treepelt. The Warden was attracted by her strong feelings of protection towards her friends and her romantic feelings towards the scout, Vox. Craving these impassioned urges, the Warden left her golem and slowly began possessing Treepelt instead. She started with slow whisperings and eventually infiltrated the very depths of her mind, causing her to have violent mood swings and act very strangely around the rebels. Eventually they discovered the truth during the rebels' escape from the dungeon with the help of a massive seadragon named Furious.
And furious the Warden was. She outright declared war on the escapees, demanding that they return to their cells, but she was practically powerless in Treepelt's body to stop them. It was at this time that they realized that Treepelt was not acting under her own direction. They fled to a safe distance where Emily the
The Warden possessing Tree [by treepelt]
dragon half-breed used her ice breath to create a fortress for the rebels to live in. The Warden took a different approach and had Tree sneak into the fortress to steal from the dragon nursery, getting away with a clutch of Changewing eggs. The eggs hatched and she stormed their sanctuary, resulting in a massive battle between her brainwashed army and the Whispering Deaths of the rebellion. For a moment it seemed as though
The Battle of the Changewings [by kingofthewilderwest]
the rebels would win. Vox attempted to approach Treepelt and reason with her but the Warden flew into a rage and took possession of Emily. She tried to force Emily into killing Chief Akkey, but the King managed to break her free and everyone turned against the Warden once more, trying to reason with her and draw Treepelt out of her own mind. But the Warden threatened to destroy Treepelt's mind if they attempted to save her again. The rebels backed off cautiously and Treepelt returned to the ruined dungeon as the rebels fell back in turn.
The Warden hid a few of her filched dragon infants inside of a strange labyrinth, in which scouts Kiri and Clover became hopelessly lost in. Another rebel discovered them inside, Quickyslippy, and together the three attempted to escape the labyrinth. But it was too late. The Warden had already possessed Clover's mind and led them into a trap. She returned to attack the rebels once more with her new prizes, but Kiri was able to break free of the possession midway through the battle. The Warden was about to kill her when the King approached and nearly killed her. clover also awoke from the possession and knocked Treepelt over, causing the Warden to tear her claws across her ribs, grievously wounding her. But she was surrounded, and in a surprise turn of events, the Warden surrendered to the rebels' capture.
She was put into maximum-security confinement in an ice prison, chained by her hands to a massive ice spike, and left for the rebels to determine her fate. The King decided to confront her personally and speak to the Warden. The conversation did not go well. The Warden instead ignored his questions and taunted him,
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Haddock interrogating the Warden [by akkeyroomi]
infuriating Haddock to the point of being ready to torture Treepelt for answers. Then Vox entered the room. He explained to the King that he would be able to break the spell over Tree if just given enough time and quiet, and the King agreed. Vox spoke lovingly to Treepelt, and the Warden lost more and more control, eventually giving way completely. The Changewings that had begun to attack while Vox spoke to Tree retreated completely, and the King relented, unchaining a bewildered Treepelt. Vox hugged her tightly, and then Treepelt suddenly stabbed her claws into his chest. The Warden had returned. Everyone tried frantically to save the scout's life but it was too late. He died in Akkey's arms. Haddock locked Tree back up in a fury and told her she was no longer to be trusted by anyone. Tree begged for him to listen but he would have none of it. They left the cell and held a funeral for Vox, burning his body in a Viking ship set aflame on a lake to the north.
A day passed, and someone entered the cell. It was a strange, dark, hooded figure. He dangled the promise of escape in front of the traumatized Treepelt, and the Warden took over out of curiosity to try and discover the stranger's motives. He had to leave to avoid detection, but left Tree instructions on how to escape. However, Tree had already stolen the key from off of Akkey's belt and used it to escape the cell. Jokul and Hemlock tried to stop her, but she pushed past them and escaped into the fortress, running into the hooded stranger along the way. He grew angry at her for breaking from the plan but led her out of the fortress and into the Wilderwest, guiding her away from danger and to a lake--the same lake that Vox's ship was burned on. The stranger told Treepelt she was going to be able to see Vox again through the water. When he appeared, the Warden was alarmed by Treepelt's strong feelings, but rather than try and destroy them as she did before, she attempted to assuage them and tried reaching for him. Vox, however, leaped through the water before the Warden could force Tree to touch the surface and he was immediately sent to Hel.
Treepelt was absolutely broken and the Warden scrambled to get her vessel back on her feet before she fell apart. They traveled back to the rebels' camp, but what they didn't know was that there were now two camps, one for the rebels and one for the runaways. Tree ended up staying for a day before continuing onward to the main camp. The Warden encountered Jack Frost and recognized him as the reincarnated form of Jokul Frosti and immediately attacked him. Emily saw the confrontation and tried to stop the Warden, explaining all the pain she had caused and how it was unjustified. For the first time, the Warden felt apprehensive at harming another rebel, and she turned tail and fled the rest of the way to the camp. She was much slower in her approach of the rebels, opting for an innocent conversation with one of the new rebels, a sorcerer named Blue. While Treepelt engaged him, the Warden began infiltrating his mind, successfully possessing him. However, Kiri and Jackson were alerted to the commotion and attempted to stop Treepelt as soon as they saw her. The Warden attempted to attack them as well but Kiri took Treepelt down and stabbed her in the hip, giving her momentary clarity as the Warden was driven away by the pain.
The Warden returned to the surface of Tree's consciousness later as she talked to Haddock about rescuing Vox. She lied to the King about what the soul transfer required, simply saying that they needed his presence at the lake in order to get Vox's soul back, when in reality she was planning to trade the King's soul for Vox's. Haddock agreed and the Warden berated Treepelt on her lack of action, telling her that she was taking the reins now. The stranger appeared to Treepelt in the depths of her musing and asked if he would be safe once the Warden got what she wanted. The Warden replied that he would, and then expressed her confusion and uncertainty over the recent happenings, and Pitch gently explained to her that this was what it was like to be human.
After Pitch visited, Treepelt heard a voice in her head again, and it whispered lies about Akkey wanting Treepelt gone so she could have Vox to herself. The Warden tried to shut off Tree's feelings but it was in vain. Haddock came in at that moment, preventing Tree from taking action on her anger, and he and the Warden conversed about how the procedure at the lake would be undertaken.
When Akkey visited, Treepelt drew on the Warden's rage and strength to verbally assault Akkey, telling her how she felt betrayed and growing more and more unstable. They yelled furiously at Akkey until the Chief broke down, causing Treepelt to regain her consciousness, and the relieved Warden let them talk, and apologized to Akkey for everything she'd done. After the confrontation, the Warden then decided that she would give up her own soul for Vox, not Haddock's.
Haddock returned later to begin the journey to the lake, and the Warden backed out of her promise, admitting that she couldn't endure Hel as a demon. She took control of Tree the entire time they traveled to the lake. Pitch expressed surprise at the tag-alongs, and the Warden explained that they'd been insistent on coming and that it shouldn't affect the soul exchange. The members of the rebellion reacted with shock and outrage, and the Warden responded likewise, threatening to hurt anyone who interfered with the exchange. Stonegit registered the threat and threw his ax at Tree, who was saved by Akkey but pushed into the water where both Treepelt and the Warden were sent to Purgatory.
The Warden convinced Tree to travel to Hel in an attempt to rescue Vox, but they were stopped just in time by Pitch, who said he would be able to get one of their souls back. The Warden immediately told Tree to go,
The Warden in Purgatory [by treepelt]
admitting that she finally understood the pain she'd caused and wanted to make amends for it. She watched Treepelt go, and then spoke to Pitch for a while after. Suddenly she felt a pain in her middle and recognized that she was being taken to Hel. She assumed that it was because her vessel was gone, and she said goodbye to Pitch. She had a momentary second in limbo to speak to the newly reunited Vox and Treepelt before vanishing.
Season 2[]
After Treepelt emerged from the lake unpossessed, the rebels assumed all was well and quite forgot about her malignant presence. They let the Warden fade into a bad memory. Unfortunately, she was far from gone.
After the ordeal at the lake, Stonegit surfaced, blind and battered, and immediately carved a reaper's ward into his chest while he was still half-conscious. Throughout the next few days, Stonegit was subtly influenced by an unknown force, able to navigate his way around things and dodge falling objects as though he could see. He also was unable to commit suicide one night after Haddock's sudden expression of his feelings towards Stonegit, and he assumed it was because of a lack of resolve. Later, he discovered that it was the Warden who had done all of this, as she had been snagged as he passed through Purgatory on his way to Hel. He threatened to kill himself to get rid of her, but she convinced him to let them both stay so long as she stayed alive and whole and he gained sight and access to her power in order to protect the king. Stonegit carved a sigil into his hand marking the contract and the deal was set. The Warden then informed him that the king was currently being attacked by an enraged Pitch Black and he took off, managing to hold off the attack just in time.
Stonegit began attending to the king's wounds and Haddock was alarmed at the young man's dexterity, demanding to know why he was acting as though he had his sight back. He admitted to being possessed by the Warden and Haddock flew into a rage, under the impression that she was currently speaking to him.
Haddock shakes Stonegit angrily [by treepelt]
Stonegit went into a panic attack and drew on the Warden's strength to throw the king to the ground and protect him. For a moment he thought Orskaf had returned to hurt Haddock and himself, and eventually both the king and the bodyguard calmed enough to talk through their feelings. Stonegit let the Warden take control of him and speak to Haddock, and the two traded acidic words, ending in the Warden blaming the king for Stonegit's descent to Hel and Haddock threatening
The Warden greets Haddock [by akkeyroomi]
her with his sword. Stonegit took control again and scolded her, and she retorted unapologetically that it was a bad idea for them to have talked in the first place. Stonegit ignored her and said that if she would like to speak to anyone through him, he would have to approve the conversation first.
After their conversation, the Warden approached Stonegit again grudgingly while he was training, demanding to know why he had stuffed her away and what his plans with the king were. Stonegit responded that he didn't know, only that he trusted Haddock to make the right decision. The Warden suddenly picked up on a stream of thoughts running below Stonegit's consciousness and realized that he had been craving an ordinary conversation for years. She was faintly amused but also strongly curious about his emotions, and when he broke down and confessed his love towards Haddock and his feelings of hopelessness, she comforted him instead of mocking him. Thus began a tentative friendship between demon and vessel. Stonegit asked hopefully if she would be able to restore his sight and his damaged brain to what it had been before the run-in with Orskaf, The Warden regretfully told him that she was unable to perform such a task and he broke a wineglass in a flash of damage-induced rage. Stonegit apologized and was amused by her overreaction to the human pain. She helped him take care of the cut and he thanked her, going off to find the king.
Later, Stonegit left to interrogate Skye, whom the Warden had confronted earlier and whom Stonegit suspected may have been harboring another demon. He consulted the demon, who expressed uncertainty over whether she could rid Skye of his curse or not. He then asked the Warden to inspect Akkey. Upon exploring her mind, the Warden drew back in pain and told the bodyguard that it was not Akkey who lay within the half-rabbit's mind.
She resurfaced later when he suggested that the magic surrounding Akkey was similar to that surrounding the library as well. After the Warden confirmed this fact, they both came to the conclusion that Hemlock was somehow in control of Akkey. The Warden also offered to inspect Tezzeret as well, for any resident demons within him. Eventually, Hemlock was found out when both Akkey and Vox suffered immense pain from the events at the lake. With everyone congregated in the sick room, Stonegit finally revealed to the rebels that he had been possessed, and unveiled the truth about Hemlock--that she was not actually a human at all, but an empty shell for a fallen valkyrie, Dust, to wear like a skin while she attempted to retrieve her lover from where she had fallen as well. Stonegit and Dust agreed to duel and the Warden helped Stonegit prepare a stone dagger with a rune that would cause it to explode on impact when buried in the valkyrie's flesh.
The Warden fights Dust [by treepelt]
The duel began and both the Warden and Stonegit fought Dust together until Haddock suddenly intervened, causing Stonegit to turn and press the brand that marked the deal of possession against Haddock's hand, and it began to transfer. The Warden was ejected from both of their minds during the transfer and she was unable to help Stonegit as Dust dragged him away from the king and took over his mind as well, turning him on the monarch and using his inherent fire magic to advance on Haddock and kill him with a fireball to the chest. The Warden solidified at this moment and was able to attack Dust in a rage, pulling the valkyrie out of Akkey's body and fight her in mid-air. Dust was finally killed when Stonegit snuck into the fight and buried the dagger in her head. This created a massive explosion that apparently obliterated the Warden into nothingness, along with Haddock's body.
Season 3[]
The Warden had been assumed dead and destroyed after the events of the duel, and the camp preferred it to stay that way. They heard nothing from the Warden and thought she was gone for good. They were wrong. Again.
Both the Warden and Haddock had been suspended in limbo after the king's death and she had been
The Warden with Haddock [by treepelt]
attempting to heal his gaping wound with little success, for if he did not gain his health back, neither of them would be able to return. She was clumsy in her attempts to heal him and gained help from her cousin Shaxurohm. Haddock awoke in limbo and was shocked to see the two demons standing above him, not recognizing the Warden on-sight. His angry words spiked the Warden's temper and she spoke roughly to him, announcing that he was now her vessel due to the contract Stonegit had transferred to them. Haddock resisted, but the Warden took him back into the mortal world and a vicious fight broke out to gain dominance over Haddock's mind. The Warden crushed him with her words and her consciousness and succeeded in possessing him completely. She then walked him back to the camp and made her entrance clothed in his battered body.
Everyone could hardly believe their eyes when the king walked back into camp, clearly alive and whole after his very public and brutal death. He ordered for someone to search for Stonegit. The all gathered near and that was the moment the Warden revealed that she was still alive, speaking the ominous words, "Long live the king." Soon after, the queen approached the center of camp, attracted by the commotion, and upon seeing her husband alive, went to confront him, leaving her children at the edge of the crowd. Nalaagura brutally taunted her with words and the memories of Haddock's borderline infidelity, but Mera brushed it off as false creations and tried to speak directly to Haddock. Infuriated, the Warden throttled Mera, and Egil became enraged, rushing forward to protect his mother. He was stopped by Greg and the Warden backed off from harming anyone else, momentarily becoming uncertain and confused. She left them in a huff and headed back for the main fortress to decide what to do next.
Stonegit soon decided to show himself though, and despite Kiri's attempts to stop him, he went to investigate the rumors of Haddock's return. He soon found Haddock, but having been haunted by specters of the king before, and distraught and half-insane from the loss of his soul due to his escape from Hel, he began to fight the Warden within Haddock, and the fight took them to the roof of the fortress. The Warden attempted to use Haddock's voice and demeanor to break Stonegit out of his craze, and it seemed to work momentarily, but he suddenly fell unconscious, seemingly for no reason.
As the camp gathered around, an enormous, dark figure appeared, announcing herself as the goddess Hel, and told the Warden to relinquish Haddock and let him speak with her. The Warden initially resisted, but Hel put her in her place and Nala gave up her possession momentarily. The king was too broken and submissive to speak, however, and a displeased Hel told the Warden in secret that she would return, and if Haddock was not in an improved mental state when she did, there would be consequences.
A frustrated, angry Warden stalked the camp for a few days, ruminating on what to do. Soon, her brother the Archon arrived at camp with Tezzeret under his control, threatening to kill him unless Nala gave him a demonstration of her previously-denied affection towards the rebels. Nala continued to refuse and the Archon created an illusion of Tezz having his throat crushed, shocking and riling the Warden into attacking her brother with her astral form. Satisfied, Kiaama left the camp and revealed that Tezz was alive. Furious, the Warden retreated back into her stalking and allowing Stonegit to waste away. Blunt and Mera attempted to approach Nala about Stonegit in vain, although Nala allowed Haddock a short twenty minutes with his wife for the first time in over a year.
Greg grew curious about her and approached the demon peacefully while she was wandering one day, making conversation with her. She resisted at first but then was drawn to his sincerity and admitted a bit about herself and her past and family. Greg took the rest of the Boomerang Squad to meet her and while her greeting was lukewarm, they discovered Central had taken them all prisoner at the beginning, and she entrusted them with her name. A while after, the Empress and the Shaper arrived and brought the Warden her new demon-made porcelain body in an attempt at pacification, and she thanked them cautiously, awed by the gift. Igl stayed behind to make sure the body was in working order while the Empress left, and the sisters sparred a bit later to test the body. Nala admitted to the Shaper that she had changed and she did wish to return home.
Later, Blunt took it upon himself to "kill" Stonegit in order to motivate her into action. He locked her out of the room and smashed a melon, pretending it was Stonegit's head, and throwing Nala into a grieved rage witnessed by Clover. When she discovered he was still alive, she quickly gave him water, and Hel stopped time to give her a dry congratulations and tell her to continue taking care of him and the king until the king was ready to face her tests. The Warden did so somewhat grudgingly but thoroughly. When it came time for the tests from Hel, both Haddock and Stonegit passed, and Stonegit was returned to normal. The Warden pounced on him lovingly but cringed when he thanked her for keeping Haddock intact while he was "away." Stonegit later learned that the Warden's possession of the king had not been gentle and forced the truth of her breaking him out of the Warden. He was upset and quietly refused to talk to her, which shook Nala and she quietly resolved that she would leave the next day. Stonegit brought her to her new synthetic body and Nala gave him her full name as a parting gift and left the camp.
Season 4[]
Upon leaving the camp, the Warden found Orskaf's camp not too far away from the rebels, and she approached with angry curiosity, demanding to see their leader. Orskaf entertained her with some amusement, although sternly telling her if she was aligned with Hel, he would tell her nothing. Confused, Nalaagura demanded answers, and Orskaf eventually told her how he'd gone to the king and tried to get him to sign the rebellion over to Valhalla by torturing Stonegit. Nala tried to attack him in an outrage but was injured and thrown out of camp. She went to sulk in the nearby forest, shaken by her new knowledge of the rebels' alliance with Hel and of Stonegit's plight. Hel appeared just then and healed her wounds easily, asking for a heart-to-heart, and the Warden reluctantly listened to the goddess' petition to bring other souls to Hel's side as well. Nala hesitated, telling Hel she would think about it before asking Stonegit's condition, and when Hel told her he was doing okay, she relented and accepted her offer, thus binding herself to Hel's cause.
The Warden then traveled the land for a few weeks, convincing nobility and chieftains alike to commit themselves to Hel, using force when needed. After a while, she ran into Akkey, who was also collecting souls for Hel. Nala entertained her for a moment, but then caught wind of the noise the captured rebels were making in Loki's pit, and she quickly possessed Akkey and forced her to create a portal to the pit to help them. In doing so, she damaged Akkey's abilities so they were trapped for a few hours inside the pit. Akkey was extraordinarily upset with the new arrangement until Greg volunteered to house Nala inside himself to take the burden off Akkey. The demon enjoyed the transfer and the two talked for a bit, and then Nala brought up the subject of her name and the possibility of erasing it, and when Greg grew tearful she retracted her offer and receded into his mind.
When it came time to leave, Akkey quietly informed Greg that she would be sending him to the north. Before Nala could take control of the situation, Greg suppressed her quickly and went through the portal. Once Nala had gotten over her initial anger, the two of them began to travel back south. They passed through a village where they encountered Central guards attempting to expel the native half-breeds, and Nala used Greg's new fire magic to kill the guards and save the half-breeds. They continued to travel further, eventually becoming lost in the woods near Tezz and Clover's home. Tezz sensed Nala's mind and attacked Greg, the two fighting for a short bit before Nala revealed herself to Tezz and he dropped the attack, inviting them inside to rest until dawn. Greg fell asleep and Nala and Tezz spoke through the night, Tezz informing her of his new astral abilities and she telling him of the misfortunes that had befallen the rebellion. Tezz became concerned and decided to return in a few days' time, thanking the Warden for showing him what had occurred.
Season 5[]
Nala and Greg continued to travel once more, reaching the place where the fortress used to be, the aftermath of Walpurgisnacht. Greg mourned at the apparent death of the rebellion before Nala found traces of their minds, directing him back to the dungeon where they had taken residence. Greg ran there and reunited with his family, and the Warden watched contentedly, but realized she would have to leave if she
Greg and Nala saying goodbye [by Treepelt]
wanted to avoid trouble. Upon finding her body where Akkey had left it in one of the lower cells, she awakened Greg to tell him she was leaving. The two shared a tearful goodbye and the Warden cut off the possession, regaining her body and tracking down Akkey, waiting for her to open the door.
Akkey felt impressed to check on the body again and encountered the Warden trying to get out. She opened the door for the demon and the two talked for a bit, the Warden admitting her feelings and changed ways to a curious Akkey. She agreed to send the Warden outside the camp with a portal, but as she opened one, an earthquake caused her target to slip and they both fell into the water, emerging far beneath the dungeon and accidentally interrupting a blood oath between the goddess Frigga and the great wolf Fenrir, who had been chained under the Grounded Dungeon for millennia. Frigga attempted to forcefully remove their memories of the encounter, but they fought back, knowing that they had to warn the rebellion of the sudden threat and could not do so with no memories. Frigga succeeded with Akkey, but the Warden managed to escape the goddess long enough to escape back to the surface. By then, Ragnarok had started, and once Akkey had been roused, the two entered the battlefield.
Nala immediately tracked down Stonegit's mind, ensuring that he was safe, and began fighting furiously against the Valhallan army and Frigga's puppets, protecting those who were wounded and taking down dragons wreaking havoc from above. She came across Vox, who was struggling under Frigga's army of mannequins, and convinced him to let her possess him, and the two smoothly joined together, trying to fight
Nala possessing Tree and Vox [by Treepelt]
their way out of the battle in order to tend to his grave wound. However, Nala caught wind of Treepelt's cry of pain from the dungeon, and she and Vox raced to help her, escaping through the shaking dungeon to safety. One of the seven Eirs, Lust, followed them into the dungeon and attacked them. The Warden possessed Treepelt at her urging, splitting her possession between the couple and fighting the Eir all at once. While fleeing, Tree fell over the edge and Vox tried to help, all with the mannequins drawing near. The Warden managed to kill the rest of the puppets and the Eir and helped Vox and Tree back to safety.
She fought the rest of the battle doing a head count of the rebellion, frantically keeping track of everyone, but she couldn't find Stonegit--until it was too late, or so it seemed. Nala approached Stonegit's unconscious body, he having been knocked out by a tremor from the fighting gods, and saw Haddock with Orskaf's corpse in the river, assuming he had died in helping Haddock. In a blinding rage, she drew her sword and struck Haddock in the back, unintentionally breaking his spine and paralyzing him.
She felt tremendous guilt and sorrow for what she'd done, disappearing for the rest of the battle and only returning after a few days, appearing in Grey's mind and breaking down when Grey explained what had happened to a worried Greg. They consoled her and the Warden agreed to deliver a public apology to the rebellion.
Extended Universe[]
BOTGD 2[]
Extended Universe (ctd)[]
Relationships[]
Treepelt[]
Nala saw Tree at first as nothing more than a tool and sometimes an emotional burden as their emotions fluctuated throughout the first season, hindering each other from making decisions and helping others. The
The Warden and Tree in Purgatory [by treepelt]
Warden grew used to Tree's strong feelings of love, however, and eventually began offering stilted, twisted help, such as wanting to sacrifice the king to Pitch in order to bring Vox back and trying to lead Tree to Hel in order to see her love again. Eventually they came to a tentative truce, with Tree even thanking the Warden for helping in the end. After the Warden leaving, however, Treepelt once again grew wary and anxious, wrought with nightmares and flashbacks and panic attacks due to her previous possession, and she harbored a stiff grudge against the Warden whenever she revealed herself again, going into shock every time Nala returned, and even taking it upon herself to yell at Nala when she possessed Haddock. She came to reluctant terms with the demon when Nala proved over and over that she was trying to help, finally speaking with a level head when the Warden came to Akkey's aid after the dungeon was moved to avoid being destroyed by Fenrir.
After Ragnarok, Treepelt and Vox spoke and decided that Nala would be the best protector of their children, and so Tree allowed Nala to be around their family, regularly interacting with herself and her children, Liam and Kendra, displaying a level of trust that surprised even herself. She tried to keep their soiled history hidden from Liam especially, but he discovered the truth just before their home village in the South was attacked. Tree and Vox ordered Liam and Kendra to run, and for Nala to go with them, hoping that they would escape and be safe.
Vox[]
The Warden and Vox did not start off on a good foot, to say the least. Vox was determined to purge Treepelt of the demon, and nearly succeeded before the Warden took over and stabbed him through the heart,
The Warden's Vox form [by treepelt]
killing him and sending his spirit to Purgatory. When they met again, the Warden was bewildered and confused by Tree's strong love and nearly touched the water and sent the both of them to Hel before Vox stopped them by jumping through himself. The Warden focused on retrieving Vox after that to mend Tree's broken heart, and Vox acknowledged the Warden's help when they finally reunited. Beyond that, the Warden and Vox spoke very little until Ragnarok, when he was cornered by Frigga's puppets, and the Warden offered help in the form of possession and energy. He agreed for the sake of his life, and she gladly took control, saving him and then helping him fight off the puppets, keeping him alive. She warned him of Tree's cry of pain when she was stabbed in the dungeon, and the two of them raced to save her. Nala ended up performing a split possession between Vox and Tree to fight off the Eir Lust and her minions. When it was revealed that Nala had paralyzed King Haddock, he vouched for her to stay on the grounds that she could make mistakes and had saved many more people than she had hurt. Come Tree and Vox's wedding, the Warden offered a chain to string Vox's ring on since the scout lost his lower arm during Ragnarok. She felt truly sorry for the pain and misery she had caused the couple, and while there was little she could do to redeem herself in their eyes, she continued to try and help.
Vox was the one to suggest the Warden as a caretaker of their children, and he trusted her to watch over them and protect them.
Stonegit[]
The Warden's form while possessing Stonegit
Stonegit was the first person Nala began to truly care for in an honest, unfettered way. She kept him alive and safe while he was still blind and opened his dark eyes even before she admitted any love for him. She acted as a mentor, almost a motherly figure, and listened to his problems with Haddock and his injury, even offering him advice. It was a long time before the Warden would openly admit such positive feelings to anyone, especially someone like Haddock, but it was clearly she cared enormously for him. She still harbors venomous rage towards Orskaf, who had Stonegit beaten and raped trying to get Haddock to sign his contract.
Haddock[]
Haddock had always been the Warden's nemesis from the start. She found every opportunity she could to torture him, belittle him, break him. He was an obstacle, and eventually, he even became a prize for her to conquer, which she easily did. Through her time with Stonegit in a coma and Greg as a friend, she realized just how cruel she had been to him and offered him small comforts through the torture, including seeing his wife and promising to leave once Hel's tests were finished. Their relationship remained a strange, teasing, grouchy one after season 3, until the end of the rebellion's participation in Ragnarok where she broke Haddock's spine and paralyzed him after mistakenly believing that Stonegit was dead. However, he was not angry with her; his paralysis was something he came to accept as an eventual positive in his life, and the Warden left him well alone afterwards.
Skye[]
Nala and Skye had a brief interaction in season 2 in which she tried to determine the source of his strange behavior. She grew angry enough to try and break his mind, and withdrew when there was nothing more she could do.
Greg[]
Nala while possessing Greg [by treepelt]
Greg was the second person to get through to Nala while she was possessing Haddock. She was infuriated by his attempts at friendship until she saw he truly meant good will towards her and grew strongly attached to him. Greg trusted her with all his heart despite her warnings, and she constantly worried and cared for him during the rest of her time with the rebellion. In Loki's pit, he volunteered to be possessed by her to make Akkey more comfortable, and when she banished them to the north, they came all the way back to the rebellion together. Upon his apparent death during Midgardsormr's trial, the Warden's grief was big enough to shatter part of her consciousness and embed the shards into the nearby rebels.
Akkey[]
Akkey viewed the Warden much in the same way as all the other rebels did for most of the rebellion's existence--with aimless hatred and distaste. They only personally interacted when Nala found Akkey collecting souls at the same time she was, violently possessing her and taking them both to Loki's pit to rescue the trapped rebels. She loathed the possession and forced Nala and Greg to the north
Nala comforts Akkey [by akkeyroomi]
so they wouldn't give the rebellion trouble. But she still brought Nala's body back to the fortress and let her out of the lower cell she kept her porcelain body in. Nala acted very protectively of Akkey from the confrontation of Frigga through Ragnarok and during Fenrir's emergence from under the dungeon. She took it upon herself to calm Akkey's frequent panic attacks after the traumatic events onward.
Liam[]
Liam has a very deep emotional bond with Nalaagura, even if it doesn't seem like it on the outside. He enjoys verbally sparring with the demon and also appreciates her
willingness to have heartfelt conversations with him, without being too soft. He is familiar with her presence, she having lived near and protected the Arnasons for all of his childhood, but being naturally suspicious, he wouldn't let her into his mind until he was fourteen. The two have a relationship that is somewhat of a fusion of best friends and caretaker and ward, and they quip and chat very casually. Liam is often Nala's mortal channel if she wishes to remain incognito among mortals, and although he isn't entirely aware of it, she protects his mind solidly and fiercely from outside threats all the way through his young adulthood. Their combined minds during a fight are unmatched in cooperation.
Kendra[]
Nala is Kendra's gentle aid, helping her constantly with communication and protecting and entertaining her when the three of them are not getting into trouble together. Kendra has an unusually heightened astral awareness and thus shares a special level of intimate communication with the demon. At one point, she offers Kendra a link between their minds to allow Kendra to regain her hearing, and Kendra considers but eventually refuses. Nala does not possess her until far, far later.
The Empress[]
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