Sarah

Sarah, Pre-Searing
Sarah is a healer in Ashford Village and the mother of the little girl Gwen.

Location

 * Pre-Searing Ascalon
 * Lakeside County (by the Resurrection Shrine near the Ashford Village; she does not always appear &mdash; see notes).

Dialogue

 * "Poor Mrs. Twindle. Both her children sick with the croup again, and her husband ran off a fortnight ago."


 * "Oh, drat. I've run out of myrtle weed again, I'd better go look for some."

Sarah, Post-Searing
She perished in the Searing and her ghost can be found in the Underworld. Even in death, she is very concerned about the whereabouts and welfare of her daughter.

Dialogue

 * Sarah: "Gwen! My poor baby... Gwen, where are you?"
 * Benton: "This is not at all what I expected. I was a great warrior once. I gave my life defending the wall. Is this my reward?"
 * Sarah: "I... I'm sorry, did you say something? I'm looking for my daughter. She's just a little girl. Have you seen her?"
 * Benton: "Nay, lady, I'm sorry to say I haven't. May the gods be with you, if they yet live."
 * Sarah: "Gwen! Oh where can she be?"

If Gwen is in the party the following dialogue occurs.
 * Sarah: Gwen? Has anyone seen my daughter, Gwen? Gwen?
 * Gwen: "Mommy...? Mother, is that you?
 * Sarah: "Gwen! Oh...my! Look how you've grown! How many years have passed me by in this place...? I feared I would never seen you again; that you were lost to me forever.
 * Gwen: "Mother, I...I don't know what to say. I've wanted to see you for so long.  I searched everywhere after... the Searing. I tried to find you.  Others survived, so I thought...I hoped...that somehow...
 * Sarah: I know I wasn't there for you. I'm so sorry about that.... But look at you now. You've become a beautiful young woman! Oh, the years I missed. There's so much to say; a lifetime of regrets I can never turn into words.
 * Gwen: You don't need to regret the words we haven't spoken...only those we have yet to say.
 * Sarah: To think that my little, carefree daughter, whose head was once so filled with adventures, could say such a thing.
 * Gwen: I'm not that little girl anymore, Mother. Those days are lost behind a wall of fire.
 * Sarah: Your life wasn't easy, was it? I can't even imagine. You were so young...Gwen...too young to grow up alone in that hellish world. Is it better now? I pray everyday that your suffering has ended, that the world has become sane again...
 * Gwen: The Charr are... they still threaten our homes, our people. We fight them even now, so that others will never know the pain we carry in our hearts.
 * Sarah: We?
 * Gwen: Yes. We... I and my friends... and many other brave warriors. We do what we can; what must be done. The Charr... they took you away from me.  They took so much... from us all. I can never forget that.  Never!
 * Sarah: Oh, Gwen. I know you were hurt.  But you can't let wounds from your past guide the decisions you make in the present.
 * Gwen: I can't forget what I lost, Mother. I won't forget you.
 * Sarah: I'm not asking you to forget. Some things we carry within our hearts, always. We all have scars and memories, tears of loss and laughter from mirths long gone.  They're a part of us.  But they are not all that we are.
 * Sarah: We are something greater than the sum of our parts. We can learn and grow.  Let your experiences, both good and bad, teach you, guide you.  But never let them control you.
 * Gwen: Mother, I... this is not a fight I can abandon. Not after all we've lost.  I must see this through.  I must.
 * Sarah: No matter how hard you fight, you can never bring those things back, Gwen. They belong to the past now.  Your life... you... you belong to the present; no, to the future... Let me tell you something I learned only after my death.
 * Sarah: We view this world through eyes cast forward, so we can see the future stretching out in front of us, beckoning us onward through our lives. So, if you must fight, fight for the life you want to lead... for the future you want to live in.
 * Sarah: If you fight to fix the regret of the past, you will lose. The past cannot be beaten.  As you said, we shouldn't regret the words we never got a chance to say... or the life we never got to lead.  Live your life, my little girl.  That is all a mother wants... all I ever wanted.
 * Gwen: I... I don't know what to say. I love you.
 * Sarah: As I love you. Your eyes speak the words you cannot say.  I know there is something you must do, Gwen.  I always knew you would achieve great things.
 * Sarah: Now, I see you before me. I see the kind of person you have become. Strong but willful, caring and empathic, but so driven. I will worry about you... that is a mother's right... but I won't stop you.
 * Sarah: Go. Do what you must.  Just be careful.  I will be here, waiting for you to return.
 * Gwen: When this is all over, I will return. I promise.  And, if the gods are just, I shall bring good tidings...
 * Gwen: But, please don't wait for me, Mother. You must move on as well, and you will always be in my heart.  Always.  That is something I can take with me as I look forward to that future; that bright horizon yet to dawn.  I love you, Mommy.