Seeker

Seeker appeared in the serial Seeker’s Quest by Chuck Melville, which ran for several issues in the Furversion fanzine.

Seeker was one of the original inhabitants of the ancient cities of Katara during the beginning days. She lived in the city of Eeronwi, and was known at that time as the Artisan, an artist without peer. Like the rest of the people born during those happy times, she was a Firstborn, endowed with such vitality that she and her fellows were potentially immortal, provided they were not directly killed.

When the Lord of Shadows, the Murk, destroyed the first cities, she fled into the mountains, carrying the only artifact she could save, a sword made from fine crystal. Looking back upon the burning cities, she swore vengeance against the Murk.

Over the dark days of the centuries to follow, she took on a new name, Seeker, and proceeded to wander the countrysides of the young world in search of the missing Lord of Light, Aln, in hopes of persuading him to return to his followers, to confront and defeat his ancient enemy, the Murk.

Afterwards, Seeker dedicated herself to passing along the knowledge of the fallen cities, and the teachings of Aln. She took on many students over the years, teaching them small and great things. She became known as the Wisar (the Kataran word for ‘teacher’). When her teachings began to include what the younger folk began referring to as ‘magic’, she was renamed the Sorceress (from the Kataran word, ‘wisarna').

From time to time, the Murk would reassert himself into the mortal world and spread death and chaos. During one such outbreak, the Wisar took the sword of crystal that she had spirited away from Eeronwi and magically consecrated it to the powers of Light, turning it into a mystic weapon. But, to her chagrin, the sword’s magic would not work for her. The Light chose who was to be the bearer of the Sword of Crystal, and would not allow the Wisar to be the vessel of her own vengeance. She had to content herself to be the companion and advisor to the Champions, rather than be the Champion herself. In time, she learned to her bitter regret, that vengeance resolved nothing and brought no satisfaction. The Sword of Crystal passed from her hands to a line of succeeding Champions, before finally winding up in the hands of the current Champion of Katara.

When the dark forces of the Murk reawakened and attempted to establish a new religion among the peoples of Dogonia, the Sorceress joined with the Magi (the association of Sorcerers and Wizards of the Free Lands) and the Dogonian royalty to destroy the Murk’s dark religion and thwart his plans forever. But she was betrayed by the Dogonians, who went beyond their stated plans to simply arrest and imprison the leaders of the Murk-inspired revolt, but instead slaughtered them in a bloody war. She severed her ties with the Dogonians and with the Magi, and took in a child who was a survivor of the massacre, a young vixen named Felicia, daughter of a slain nobleman.

Seeker raised the child as her own, taught her magic and the teachings of the Lord of Light. But when the vixen was of age, Felicia attempted to murder the son of the wolf who had murdered her parents. This led to an unhappy split between mother and adopted daughter, and Felicia soon went away to pursue her own way into the ways of magic and to seek her revenge. Seeker fell into recluse, and now spends her time watching her wayward daughter from afar, not interfering, but from time to time sending aid in secret.

Besides appearing in the Seeker’s Quest serial (as yet uncompleted) in Furversion, Seeker (in one or more of her identities) appears as an occasional supporting character in the Felicia stories.