him to be suspicious) and was nearly dragged away to an ogre work camp for violating the elvin-ogre treaty. But final punishment was left up to the Council, and the Councillors voted to constrain her abilities with a prototype “ability restrictor” designed by Dex Dizznee instead. The gadget appeared to cause Sophie some discomfort, but it also succeeded in limiting her power. And Sophie cooperated with the punishment—until she “lost” the ability restrictor through suspicious circumstances, right before illegally teleporting to the human world. She—and all of her friends—fled the Lost Cities not long after, hiding with the Black Swan until they were captured while attempting to liberate Prentice Endal from Exile. During the confrontation, Sophie revealed her possession of Councillor Kenric’s cache and bartered a deal for her and her friends’ freedom by agreeing to formal banishment and attendance at Exillium. Her group’s role in finding a cure for the gnomish plague restored their citizenship and admission to Foxfire. Sophie also convinced the Council to free Prentice from Exile and performed a healing on Prentice’s mind—but she was unable to recover any of his memories. She was also selected to participate in the ogre treaty renegotiations at Lumenaria, and her warnings during the Neverseen’s attack on the castle saved numerous lives, including the Councillors’. Despite that, her relationship with the Council has remained tenuous. Sophie often questions their authority and refuses to play by their rules—particularly after her human parents were captured by Vespera. Miss Foster’s desperate rescue led to the discovery of one of the Lost Cities’ more dangerous secrets, and she continues to advocate for that information to be made public, despite the chaos that would likely ensue. She and her friends have also become the “faces” of the revolution, both for saving Atlantis from flooding, and because they were broadcast standing up to the Neverseen during the troll attack that occurred at the most recent Celestial Festival. In light of Sophie’s growing support, the Council elected to begin working with her and appointed Sophie and several of her friends as Regents in the nobility, forming Team Valiant, which Sophie was assigned to lead. The team was sent to Loamnore to negotiate with King Enki, to mixed results—though King Enki has since been outed as a traitor, so it’s possible the lack of success was not Team Valiant’s fault. As of this writing, the Council remains committed to the project, but only time will tell if it will find true success, or whether Sophie will fall back into her ways of disobedience and rebellion and finally end up exiled.
DECEASED BUT NOT DEAD:
Sophie was kidnapped by the Neverseen, along with her best friend (Dex Dizznee). But their disappearance at first seemed to be a tragic accident. Evidence at their last known location, as well as the recovery of their registry pendants from the bottom of the ocean, led the Council to believe that both Sophie and Dex had been washed away by a tidal wave. With no evidence to suggest any alternative, both Sophie and Dex were declared “deceased.” Plantings were held, and their Wanderlings remain in the Wanderling Woods to this day, since it would be wrong to destroy innocent trees simply because they were planted prematurely.
AN ABUNDANCE OF BODYGUARDS:
After Sophie escaped from her kidnappers and returned to the Lost Cities, the Council reached out to Queen Hylda and requested that she supply Sophie with a goblin for protection. Queen Hylda complied, assigning one of her best warriors (Sandor) to serve as Sophie’s bodyguard—and he takes his job very seriously. Sandor’s motto appears to be “I go where you go,” and he does his best to never leave Sophie’s side. He’s also reportedly hidden trackers in her clothes in case she’s ever abducted again—or tries to sneak away. And while Sophie doesn’t always appreciate being shadowed by an overprotective, seven-foot-tall goblin (particularly since so many of her “investigations” into the Neverseen require a hefty amount of risk), she and Sandor have still managed to form a unique friendship. In fact, when Sandor considered resigning after what he viewed as “failing Sophie” during one of the Neverseen’s recent brutal attacks, Sophie begged him to stay and even agreed to adding additional bodyguards to her detail to make Sandor feel more confident about her level of protection. Sandor in turn surprised everyone by opting for a multispeciesial approach, which is how Sophie ended up with an ogre bodyguard (Botros), a gnomish bodyguard (Flori), a dwarven bodyguard (Nubiti), and a