Lindal

"What are you gawping at, old fossil? Move your skinny shanks! Tell Doom that Lindal of Broome is here, and that he must see her. At once!"

- Lindal to Josef in The Isle of Illusion

Lindal, often called Lindal of Broome, is a hunter and warrior from the town of Broome in north-eastern Ruby territory and a trusted friend of King Lief, Queen Jasmine and the captain of the Del palace guards, Barda, with whom she is married. Lindal was an instrumental companion in the quests to destroy the Sister of the East and the Sister of the South. Lindal and Barda eventually married and had six children altogether.

Early life
Lindal was born and raised in Broome. As a child, she was told stories of Dragon's Nest and warned never to go near the place by her mother, who threatened to beat her if she did. Lindal went as far to Dragon's Nest as she could despite her mother's warnings and memorised the path. Lindal was also told stories of the Capricons and their city as a child, though she mistakenly believed that Capra was destroyed because the Ruby dragons envied it. Lindal has mentioned that she is descended from great warriors that ate the brains of their victims.

The Isle of Illusion
Lindal captured Jinks as the acrobat was fleeing from the Os-Mine Hills after abandoning King Lief and Barda. She hauled Jinks into the royal palace in Del, demanding to see Doom and startling Josef, the librarian. Jinks had told her, along with the rest of the palace, that Lief and Barda had been killed by Granous. Josef, who had told Amarantz about Marilen just as Lindal burst in, feared that she may have been responsible for the assassination attempt on Marilen, though this was not the case.

Lindal and Doom immediately departed for the Os-Mine Hills and met Steven on the way, who told them where Lief had gone, having been informed by his mother's bees. Lindal, Doom, and Steven met in the palace later on and were nearly poisoned by Amarantz, who was revealed to have been one of the Shadow Lord's secret servants. Lindal calmed Steven enough to keep Nevets from appearing. She argued with Steven briefly about the severity of the situation before Marilen burst in. Lindal complimented the Toran girl for her strength when Marilen refused to remain hidden away in the palace.

The Shadowlands
Lindal was there to welcome Lief, Jasmine and Barda home to the palace along with Doom, Sharn, Ranesh, Josef and Marilen.

Dragon's Nest
After Lief woke the Topaz dragon, Lindal heard rumours of disturbances in the Os-Mine Hills and set out to investigate them on Lief's behalf. On her way, she stopped in Ringle for the night and witnessed Lief's platoon of guards being slaughtered by a creature resembling a Ruby dragon. Lindal arrived too late to save the men, but witnessed Brid write a message in his own blood on a nearby tree before dying. Lindal cut the message from the tree and immediately went to End Wood to search for Lief, Barda, and Jasmine.

She tracked the companions through the forest, though Jasmine quickly caught onto her pursuit and mistook her for an enemy. She managed to throw Lindal off the trail by crossing through a stream, but Lindal caught up with them just in time to rescued the group from an Orchard Keeper.

Lindal made a camp for the group and prepared a meal for them before solemnly telling the king and his companions what happened to the guards. Lindal and Barda nearly came to blows when Barda suspected that she was responsible for the guards' deaths, though Lief and Jasmine chastised them and Barda apologised. Lief told Lindal about their quest to destroy the Sister of the East and she joined them for the journey to Dragon's Nest as a guide, mostly at her own insistence.

As the companions made their way past Broome at sunset, Lindal noticed that Lief had become hypnotised by a vision of Capra. She dragged him away and told the group a bit about the city and its people. When the companions mentioned Rolf and how he was seeking aid from the king, she curtly pointed out that Rolf could have entered Broome if he wanted help for his people, but was too proud to do so.

Lindal guided the group to the basin at the heart of Dragon's Nest, where Lief spotted Rolf, alive. Lindal suggested that the Ruby dragon had kept him for a later meal, but Barda suggested that he was there as bait. Nevertheless, Barda lowered Lief down with rope to rescue the Capricon, hoping to get him out of the way while the searched for the Sister of the East. As Lindal and Barda began to pull Lief and Rolf up, Rolf hurled insults at Lindal, disgusted at the thought of being saved by a woman of Broome. Lindal responded coldly, but Barda furiously demanded that the Capricon leave, to which he complied.

Shortly after Rolf vanished, a monstrous dragon arrived and attacked the companions. Lindal hurled spears at the creature and managed to wound it and give the others time to reach the water before she was wounded by the monster's wings and set ablaze by its fiery breath. She was knocked away and fell into the tide, which doused the flames and, though she was wounded, she managed to avoid grievous injury.

The true Ruby dragon arrived and made short work of its copy, which was revealed to have been Rolf, the guardian of the Sister of the East. Lindal nearly attacked the Ruby dragon when it returned to help destroy the Sister, though Barda held her back and explained the situation. Lindal was weakened by the Sister as the group neared it, but she recovered in the hours after it was destroyed. Lindal camped with the others quite a ways away from Dragon's Nest while they waited for Lief to wake. In the meantime, she watched as Barda buried Rolf after Jasmine found a piece of Doran's map in the Capricon's cloak, which revealed that their next destination was Shadowgate. When Lief finally woke, Lindal commented gladly on the destruction of the Sister, meaning that the east of Deltora would be prosperous once more. She encouraged the group not to dwell on the future for the moment and led them back to Broome to celebrate their victory and recover, taunting Barda along the way.

Shadowgate
Lief, Barda, and Jasmine stayed with Lindal in Broome for over ten days. Having been celebrating with Barda, she excused herself when she saw that Lief had received a message. However, Lief decided that Lindal was trustworthy enough to be included in their plans, and she helped the three create disguises and false names for the rest of their journey. She escorted them out of the city and nearly attacked the Ruby dragon once again, thinking it had come to attack Broome, though Lief stopped her. The dragon offered to carry Lief, Barda, and Jasmine to the end of Ruby territory's border, and the departed at once, leaving Lindal in Broome.

Isle of the Dead
Lief later recalled that Lindal and Barda had bid each other a lengthy, silent farewell in Broome by pressing their hands together. The memory prompted him to apologise to Barda in a moment when their death seemed imminent, as he felt he had robbed Barda of the chance for his own happiness.

The Sister of the South
Lindal travelled to Del at some point and caught Paff trying to sneak into Sharn's bedchamber to deliver a message from Josef, turning the girl over to Doom. Lindal had been helping to tend to Sharn, but caught the Toran Plague not long after. Lief saw her, comatose, near Sharn, both being tended to by Zeean. Barda, though badly injured, burst into the room and watched over Lindal as Lief spoke with Doom, Jasmine, and Zeean. Lindal eventually woke, strengthened by the Emerald on the Belt of Deltora, and weakly insisted that Lief gather their friends in Sharn’s room, refusing to be left out simply because she was too weak to walk.

Lindal suggested that a perimeter around the palace be secured to try and stop the people of Del from being poisoned any further. She questioned Lief's plan to use lesser emeralds from Dread Mountain to cure the people of Del, but Gla-Thon reminded her that even lesser gems possessed some power. Lindal revealed her distrust of dragons once again, commenting that she had been warning the people of Del not to trust the Topaz Dragon ever since she arrived in the city. As the group departed to follow Lief's orders, Lindal was forced to remain in bed, much to her frustration, due to her weakness.

Zeean collapsed while tending to Lindal and Sharn, seemingly with the same symptoms as the rest of the afflicted people, leading Lindal to conclude that Lief had been wrong, and there was a real plague in Del. She heaved herself out of bed but only made it partway down the stairs before she could go no further. Lief found her and she told him of her fears, leading the king to reach the same conclusion, much to his horror. Lief spoke with Zeean and passed by Lindal on the stairs, but he said nothing, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. Barda found Lindal on the stairs and she told him what she knew, prompting Barda to go to Lief immediately.

When the Topaz dragon returned to Del to help destroy the Sister of the South, Lindal, once again convinced that it was attacking the city, wounded the dragon with her spear. The Topaz dragon angrily knocked her aside before breaking down the walls of the palace chapel to help Lief. Barda called out to Lindal, but she did not respond, presumably having been knocked unconscious. Lindal woke in time to witness the destruction of the Sister of the South, one arm in a sling, the other holding her spear. She later helped Zeean walk to Lief and was pleased to see that Barda had recovered his eyesight. She chastised Lief, Barda, and Jasmine for remaining so close to the palace’s weakened walls. Lindal joined the rest of Lief's companions in a feast to celebrate their victory over the Four Sisters. Lindal witnessed the destruction of the grey tide and the events of the first Dragon Night near Hira.

Lindal returned to Del on Joyeu's back. When Fidelis commented that he disliked the spears and arrows it encountered in Del, Lindal apologised for her actions, but explained that she feared Del would suffer the same fate that Capra did at the hands of the Ruby dragons. Joyeu told Lindal the true reason that her people destroyed Capra; the Capricons had been killing Ruby dragon eggs to use as lanterns and refused the dragons' demands to stop. Lindal apologised to Joyeu and she made an oath with the Ruby dragon on behalf of all residents of Ruby territory; no Ruby dragon would harm the people in its territory so long as the dragons remained unharmed by the people.

Lindal attended Lief and Jasmine's wedding in the following spring, along with a crowd of people from Broome. The summer after this, Lindal and Barda were married in Broome. Barda and Lindal had six children, each of them taller than their parents and very much like one another.

Physical appearance
Lindal is a giant of a woman, towering over most other Deltorans. She is so large that even Fidelis, a dragon, referred to her as "the giant woman". Lindal dresses in rough, masucline clothing and often wears a fur cap on her head. She typically wears a leather jacket, leggings, and boots. Her head has been shaved and painted with red, swirling patterns, a Broome tradition to protect women from being attacked by dragons. She has narrow, black eyes and straight, black eyebrows. Her body is muscular, but toned and athletic. Lindal always carries several spears and a hunting knife with her.

Personality
Lindal is a boisterous woman, quite like Barda in temperament. She is very jovial and possessed a great sense of humour. She is stubborn to a fault and an immensely brave warrior, willing to face Rolf by herself to give Lief, Barda, and Jasmine an opportunity to escape. Though she was repeatedly injured, Lindal never complained about her actual injuries, instead joking about the inconvenience of her situation. For example, when Rolf set her on fire, she made no comment about her burns, instead jokingly complaining about the cold water that had put out the flames. She is rebellious even as a young child, deliberately ignoring her mother’s warnings to avoid Dragon’s Nest.

Lindal is deeply mistrustful of dragons, having grown up hearing stories of how the Ruby dragons had destroyed Capra. She attempted to attack Joyeu and Fidelis on several occasions, despite Lief’s insistence that the dragons are not a threat. She was, however, humble enough to admit her mistakes, and swore an oath to never harm Joyeu or any of her kin ever again. She is very loyal and protective of her friends and people in Broome. Though not stupid, Lindal's blunt way of speaking and blunt nature occasionally causes problems for her.

Lindal enjoys teasing Barda, typically referring to him as an "old bear". The only significant argument she ever had with Barda was immediately following the deaths of Barda's guards. Lindal was deeply offended when Barda suggested she had betrayed them, but accepted that Barda was grieving and not thinking clearly. She has a similar relationship with Steven, though to a lesser degree. She is a proud Deltoran and frequently explores potential situations in Lief’s stead, hoping to save him the trouble.

Abilities
Lindal was raised as a warrior and hunter and is highly skilled in both regards. She is a phenomenal tracker with an incredible sense of smell, often sniffing the air to track her targets. She is incredibly strong, able to carry Jinks for quite some time, and is highly durable, capable of being beaten back by dragons on more than one occasion. Lindal prefers to use spears for hunting and combat, carrying several of them at any given time. She is an excellent shot at throwing her spears and managed to wound Fidelis, an adult Topaz dragon, with one. Lindal has an excellent memory, able to navigate Dragon's Nest years after she had explored it as a young child.

She is a skilled survivalist, able to set up a fire and cook a decent meal in just a few hours. Her knowledge of the flora and fauna in her territory is substantial. Being very quick on her feet, she usually prefers to travel on foot, partly because horses were very rare in Ruby territory. On at least one occasion Lindal was able to calm Steven enough to keep Nevets from overtaking him.