Qinefer

Qinefer (IPA: /kɪnɪfə/) is a half-Sommlending, half-Cloeasian peasant girl who appeared only in the Legends of Lone Wolf series. She survived the invasion of Sommerlund in MS 5050 and became one of Holmgard's most stalwart defenders. It is rumoured that she became a lover of Lone Wolf as their paths crossed.

Family

Qinefer is an orphan. Her parents and brother (named Shimar) all perished in Zagarna's invasion of Durenor.

Qinefer's father came to Sommerlund from Cloeasia.

Biography

When the Darklords invaded Sommerlund in MS 5050, Qinefer miraculously survived the scourging of Sommerlund by hiding when her homestead was attacked. Her father successfully killed one Giak, but him, her brother and her mother were all quickly killed afterwards. After watching her family murdered she took the dead Giak's sword, intending to kill as many darkspawn as possible in revenge. She made her way to the safety of Holmgard, where King Ulnar V appointed her a lieutenant. King Ulnar judged her to possess many of the latent qualities of the Kai, and was about to send her to Durenor to retrieve the Sommerswerd when Lone Wolf showed up. She stayed to defend Holmgard while Lone Wolf was away, becoming one of the city's most distinguished defenders.

After Zagarna's death, she was given a province of land, becoming the Baroness of Southlund Marches. She was recalled to help restore the Kai Monastery when King Ulnar sent Lone Wolf to Kalte to track down Vonotar the Traitor. She later gave up the barony to join the Kai full-time. Many believe that she was a lover of Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf was abducted by Darklord Haakon in The Claws of Helgedad, as a pawn in the struggle for Archlordship. Qinefer left the Kai Monastery to relay the news to Ulnar, who sent her to Vassagonia to act on Banedon's and Jenara's reports of darkspawn in that desert country. Here she encountered the Birthplace, the magical Nadziranim portal through which darkland agents were infiltrating. The right-hand magic of the Birthplace injected her soul with Nadziranim essence. Qinefer was not aware of the damage she had suffered, but she did feel immensely scarred by the experience, and she immediately returned to Sommerlund.

Qinefer would struggle against the new soulstuff within her for the next few years. She was initially able to keep control. When Barraka and his Vassagonian renegades invaded Ruanon during the events of The Chasm of Doom, Viveka and Lone Wolf went south to Ruanon, leaving Qinefer behind to continue work on the Kai Monastery. While on Ruanon Pike, Lone Wolf daydreamed that Qinefer was experiencing depression that she was concealing from the other members of the Kai. When he told Viveka about the daydream, she left the mission and returned to the Kai Monastery. Qinefer was indeed distressed, and became even more distressed when some spirit possessed Viveka's body to utter vague warnings about the upcoming sacrifice. Eventually Qinefer convinced Viveka that they should hurry to Ruanon. Since travelling there directly would take too long, they instead went to Toran and solicited the aid of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. This way, they arrived at Ruanon in time to assist Lone Wolf and Petra with stopping the sacrifice.

Afterwards, the Nadziranim essence within Qinefer started doing more damage. Initially, it only distorted Qinefer's memories and caused her nightmares, but Qinefer realized that to combat this entity, she needed to return to Vassagonia. After journeying through Cloeasia, the "other entity" started taking control of her body as she entered Barrakeesh. This other entity got her arrested by the Sharnazim, then actively welcomed the pain that the Zakhan's torturer inflicted on her, although Qinefer briefly reasserted control and killed the torturer. Still chained in the Zakhan's dungeons, Qinefer encountered Banedon when the latter (who had been arrested along with Thog for an unrelated reason) broke out of jail. Banedon freed Qinefer, who left to seek the Birthplace; the "other entity" was curious why Qinefer was so keen to visit the Birthplace, and wanted to see what was actually there. This time Qinefer realized what was happening to her, and she was able to destroy the Birthplace with a prayer to Ishir. The experience gave her newfound abilities and wisdom. She discovered that her path ahead in the future was different from Lone Wolf's, unless Lone Wolf explicitly took actions to align the two paths. She told him as much when she encountered Lone Wolf during the latter's escape from the Zakhan's palace, but Lone Wolf did not understand her. She then left Vassagonia, heading south.

Petra states near the end of The Secret of Kazan-Oud (the novelization of Castle Death) that Qinefer had gone to "the outside of the Labyrinth", or the place Alyss calls the afterlife, implying that Qinefer had died.