Mother Brightly

Mother Brightly was the manager of the Rithmere Games during its eleventh year.

History
Mother Brightly took over the Rithmere Games after the previous owner, Fardeep, was driven away from Rithmere on the Shadow Lord's orders. As the new leader of the games, she changed their original design to be more like gladiatorial matches where contestants would fight one another in brutal single-combat, often to near death, for the chance at 100 gold coins it they were a finalist, and 1000 gold coins if they were champion.

In actuality, the games were a trap set by the Shadow Lord to find new gladiators to fight in the Shadow Arena. After the games were over, the champion and all finalists were captured and brought to the Shadowlands. Mother Brightly would then spin rumours that the combatants ran off with their money to live in secrecy.

The Shifting Sands
On the eve of the 11th Rithmere Games, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine came to the Champion inn to resister for the games in the hopes of winning money for their quest. Mother Brightly was more than happy to register them in—under the false names of Twig, Berry, and Birdie of Bushtown respectively—before confiscating their weapons for the duration of the games. She then explained the rules to the companions and gave them their room key.

The next day, on her way to the games, Mother Brightly spotted one of her bed sheets hanging from a window in the Champion Inn. She unlocked the room to discover Lief, Barda, and Jasmine locked inside after an attempt by Doom to keep them from competing. She escorted the companions to the arena so that they could participate in the preliminary rounds, which she watched from a private booth in the stands. That night, she collected all of the participant's room keys so that there would not be another mishap.

Due to Dain serving Glock and Neridah drugged Queen Bee Cider, the champion match between Jasmine and Doom was moved forward a day. Mother Brightly watched the match and later congratulated Jasmine's victory while presenting her, Lief, and Barda with their winnings. Afterwards, she offered to let the companions leave the Champion Inn through a back door so they could avoid muggers. However, this was just a ruse and the three were knocked out by Grey Guards.

The Sister of the South
At some point after Lief was crowned as the king of Deltora, Fardeep retook possession of the The Champion Inn and the Rithmere Games from Mother Brightly. What happened to her afterwards is unknown.

It is likely she learned of the Shadow Lord's defeat and heard of Lief being crowned the new king of Deltora, and went on the run to avoid punishment.

Anime
In the anime, Mother Brightly's role is the same as in the book. However, the anime expands on her story after the Shadow Lord's expulsion from Deltora. Once the Shadow Lord disappeared, the Rithmere Games were no longer necessary to send fighters to the Shadowlands. Mother Brightly was forced to shut down the inn. She became bankrupted due to the failing economy, and she then became an appraiser along with her two servants. While squeezing money from a debtor, she came across Filli, who was accidentally stolen. She accepted the animal as payment as her subordinates told her he was possibly a rare animal known as a Opa-Opa that was worth ten million gold coins. Believing this to be her good fortune Mother Brightly opted to quickly sell Filli to a potential buyer, though she had to resist the urge to harm Filli as he continued to show his disgust for her and break her valuables. To promote a sale, Mother Brightly took him to an animal fighting ring. When Filli was on the verge of being eaten by one of the animals the woman had physically to intervene to ensure Filli was unharmed. Eventually Jasmine came and rescued Filli, and several collectors became interested in buying Filli. However, after further examination, they determined that Filli was just a round rodent as he lacked the two split hairs that an Opa-Opa was depicted to have, much to Mother Brightly's despair.

Physical appearance
Mother Brightly stands a little below average, has a plump and jovial appearance and gives off a maternal air, especially with her rosy-cheeked smile. She wears a bright green dress decorated in many frills and ribbons, and has a large bunch of keys at her waist. The next day, she is dressed in a bright red dress and a sunbonnet tied with green and blue ribbons. In the anime, she wears an orange dress with lace frills, and has strawberry blonde hair pulled back into two pigtails. She also wears jewelry.

Personality
Mother Brightly, as her name implied, acted very kind and motherly towards any who registered at the Champion Inn, though she was known to pick favourites. She enjoys the sport of the Rithmere Games, displaying an almost childish delight for the excitement and even the sheer violence. On the night before the finals, the finalists got a glimpse of the real Mother Brightly when she encouraged them to compete in their coming matches with all of their strength and without mercy.

However, her cheery, rosy-cheeked behavior was a ruse, for truly she was an underhanded and manipulative agent of the Shadow Lord, to whom she sold champions and sometimes even finalists from the Rithmere Games for his Shadow Arena. This shows that Mother Brightly is a callous and wicked individual, as she was selling innocent people for money and sending them towards a fate worse than death, and likely felt no remorse.

Abilities
Mother Brightly is a business woman and likely a good cook, but her true abilities are her ability to act like a bubbly and positive woman and manipulate those around her by fooling them.

Deltora Quest 1

 * The Shifting Sands (only appearance)