Neridah

Neridah was a young Deltoran woman whom Lief, Barda and Jasmine briefly encountered in their travels to restore the Belt of Deltora. She later became a member of the Resistance. Eventually she succumbed to her greedy nature, when she tried to steal the Diamond from the Guardian, and as a result its power caused her to drown in a stream.

The Shifting Sands
Neridah entered into the 11th Rithmere Games and managed to impress the audience with her speed, earning her the nickname Neridah the Swift. She was able to advance into the finals. She was paired against Lief in the first round, where she pretended to be frightened by the games. Lief took pity on her, which allowed Neridah to gain an early lead in the fight. Lief eventually managed to strike her, but hesitated when he saw the look of fear in her eyes. Neridah took advantage of this and knocked Lief out.

Before the semi-final round, Neridah was served a drugged glass of Queen Bee Cider by Dain, who had infiltrated the games with Doom. Their plan was for Doom to face Glock in the finals, but Jasmine declined her drugged drink, which Glock drank instead. Both he and Neridah were later kidnapped by Grey Guards, but Doom rescued them before they could be taken to the Shadowlands. Neridah and Glock then agreed to join the Resistance.

The Maze of the Beast
Neridah was at the western stronghold when the companions arrived with an injured Dain. She giggled at the memory of her victory over Lief and watched as the companions were imprisoned by Doom.

The Valley of the Lost
Doom and Neridah both travelled to Tora to recover Dain after he left the Resistance. They found him outside the gates of the city with Lief, Barda, and Jasmine. The trio told Doom and Neridah to enter the city to ensure they were not Ols. Neridah was offended by the request, but Doom forced her to follow through with it.

Neridah listened to Lief interrogate Doom while he was under the effects of the Toran magic, and was amazed that he had been in the Shadowlands. When the companions said they were travelling to the Valley of the Lost, Neridah asked to accompany them for a time so she could go back to her home. They reluctantly agreed, and during the travels Neridah told them stories of how Doom broke her heart.

It soon became apparent that Neridah had no intentions of going home, and her constant whining and complaining began to aggravate the companions. One night they attempted to abandon her, but she tracked them down just outside the Valley of the Lost. She met the Guardian and was welcomed into his palace alongside Lief, Barda, and Jasmine.

Once inside, the Guardian proposed a game for his guests. If they could correctly guess his true name before the next morning, they would win the great Diamond from the Belt of Deltora. However, if they failed, they would remain in the Valley of the Lost forever. Neriah was quick to decline the offer and the Guardian allowed her to leave.

When Lief, Barda, and Jasmine began the challenge, Neridah snuck back into the palace and stole the Diamond from its box. The Guardian was aware of her, but allowed her to go because the Diamond brought bad luck to those who take it through illegitimate means. When Neridah tried to cross a stream on her way out of the valley, she slipped on a smooth stone and drowned. The companions later found her body and buried her.

Physical appearance
Neridah was the same height as Lief, but slender and graceful as a deer, with a deer's huge, dark eyes. Though her age is never stated, she is implied to be much older than Lief and Jasmine.

In the anime, Neridah is a young woman, roughly the same age as Lief, with cropped, reddish-brown hair that she wears up with yellow barrettes. Her tunic is yellow, with blue accents, as well as loose, allowing for easy movement. She wears a pink belt around her waist.

Personality
Neridah was greedy, deceitful, clingy, flirty, and selfish. She cared little for anyone other than herself, but pretended to if doing so would prove beneficial in the end. She would often play the role of a frightened young woman to get others to lower their defences, which she did to Lief during the Rithmere Games.

The Guardian also mentioned that the smell of envy was strong on Neridah, but it is unknown what she was envious of in others.

Abilities
Neridah was very fast and agile, which earned her the nickname "Neridah the Swift" in the Rithmere Games. She was also quite skilled in deceiving others by pretending to be meek and frightened, though she was less convincing to those who already knew her trickery.

Anime
In the anime, Neridah's character remained the same, but several changes were done to her story. She is an acrobatic young girl with a personality similar to her book counterpart, but she was given a romantic subplot with Lief. She gains Lief's trust through describing her 'fears' about the Games and lures him out at night to kiss him. During their battle, Neridah pretended to throw the match so that she would not have to fight Lief, only to use the ropes as a swing to catch him off guard and knock him out.

When Neridah and Glock confront the companions at the western stronghold, Glock taunts Neridah over deceiving Lief, and Neridah reveals that she truly did have some feelings towards him.

Her role in the Valley of the Lost is completely reworked as well. Instead of stealing the Diamond while Lief, Barda, and Jasmine are playing the Guardian's game, she steals it while they were busy fighting the Guardian by leaping over the battle. The Guardian does not try to stop her because the power of the Diamond punishes those who take it through illegitimate means.

Shortly after stealing the Diamond, Neridah is captured by the sorcerer Oacus and used as bait for the companions. She is rescued in the resulting fight and willingly gives the Diamond to Lief for saving her life. She then steals Jasmine's money and leaves.

She runs into Lief's group again, after the fall of the Shadow Lord. She pretended to be a noble lady, claiming that Queen Sharn had asked her to bring Lief home. After Lief told her he could not go back yet she offered to come with him on the journey. Later she asks Jasmine if she plans to marry Lief: Jasmine says no. Neridah then asks if it would be all right if she asked Lief to marry her. While Neridah appeared to have fallen in love with Lief, she really only wished to marry him in order to become a wealthy queen. She had also hired some mercenaries to help in her plan. Unfortunately for her, Jasmine overheard her talking to them. Neridah had them capture her. But Lief and Barda arrived in time to help. Then, the two men captured Neridah and threatened to kill her if Lief and the others did not give them any money. Kree attacked them and Neridah was accidentally knocked over a cliff. As she fell, Jasmine grabbed ahold of the rope she was tied with and pulled her back up. Neridah eventually realised Jasmine had been kind to her despite what she had done. In the end she decided to give up on marrying Lief, taking some of Jasmine's money in exchange. She left the group once again.

Trivia

 * In the books, Neridah claimed she was in love with Doom.
 * It is believed she is much older in the books than in the anime, perhaps it was not fit to let her die in the anime, being only 16.
 * Unlike the other participants of the Games Neridah's place of origin was never stated.