Nicci
From Sword of Truth Wiki
- "She was probably the most powerful sorceress ever to have drawn a breath."
- — Richard Rahl
Nicci is a former Sister of the Light and Dark. She is sometimes referred to as Deaths Mistress or the Slave Queen.
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[edit] Attributes
Nicci is an excruciatingly beautiful woman who is said to look alike to "a good spirit in the flesh". She has long blond hair and intelligent, piercing blue eyes. Nicci has a soft, silken voice and is always clothed in a a black colored dress. She never grins, instead producing disarmingly subdued smiles.
Having grown up under the influence of the Fellowship of Order, Nicci felt that mankind is filled with nothing but selfish desires. She selflessly submits herself to the will of others, less advantaged than herself and feels that her resentment is proof of her wickedness.
As she became ever deeper immersed in the ideals of the Order, Nicci's emotional state slowly changed. She no longer possessed the ability to feel emotion and she became nothing more than a cold exterior. Any emotion that succeeded in breaching her mental barrier faded quickly and Nicci no longer cared whether she continued to live or die.
[edit] Appearances
First Appearance
- Stone of Tears: Chapter ???
Latest Appearance
- Confessor: Chapter 65
[edit] History
[edit] Early Life
As a young girl, Nicci was often told by her mother, of her fathers evil nature. Nicci's father was a successful businessman who had acquired vast wealth, which her mother believed he should give charitably to others. Nicci's father let her mother do as she wished, since they had agreed before her birth that her mother would have sole responsibility of the child's upbringing if she was a gifted daughter.
Eventually, Nicci's mother introduced her to Brother Narev and his Fellowship of Order. Nicci became a member of the Order and proceeded to spend most of her time working for others, to help with their need.
After several years, Nicci's mother is approached by Sister Alessandra who wishes to take Nicci to become a Sister of the Light. Despite Nicci's fathers objections, Nicci is taken to Tanimura to train to be a Sister.
Nicci was said to be the most selfless novice in the Palace of the Prophets and she worked hard to help others. Nicci eventually came across Brother Narev, working as a stablehand in the Sisters' stable. He asks that Nicci not inform the Sisters that he is gifted, so he may continue to live under the spell that slowed aging.
Eventually, Nicci's father died and she managed to attend his funeral. Her mother told her that he had begged to see her for the last six months, but that she had thought he would 'get better'. It was the first time that Nicci had felt any emotion, in some time. Many years later, Nicci's mother died. After acquiring a beautiful black dress from a tailor, whom she had to 'give favors' to, in order to receive the dress, she attended her mother's funeral. It inspired no feelings such as her father's had.
From that day forth, Nicci always wore black.
After becoming a Sister, Nicci is eventually persuaded by Sister Alessandra to join the secretive Sisters of the Dark, as she had.
[edit] Current Role
Nicci appears in the following books of the Sword of Truth series; Stone of Tears, Blood of the Fold, Faith of the Fallen, Chainfire, Phantom and Confessor.
[edit] Stone of Tears
Nicci first appears as one of Richard's instructors at the Palace of the Prophets. She was set as his instructor to watch and eventually kill him. Richard immediately notices how attractive she is and is brought under the impression that she would be willing to sleep with him.
Richard brings Nicci a flower from a forbidden section of the Palace and she is perplexed as to whether this was a simple gesture of kindness or a threat against her life. Nicci was able to see something in Richards eyes, that none of the other Sisters could and grappled to discover what this was.
When the Sisters of the Dark are discovered, Nicci flees the Palace by boat along with Sisters Ulicia, Armina, Merissa, Tovi and Cecilia.
[edit] Blood of the Fold
Nicci and the other five Sisters all awake screaming aboard the Lady Sefa. Each had dreamed a dream that was not a dream. But rather than the Keeper appearing, Emperor Jagang did. He ordered they arrive at his stronghold immediately. The Sisters were quick to oblige, fearing to feel the pain they suffered in their dream.
The Sisters order the boat be turned around and Sister Merissa makes an example of two of the sailors. The Sisters discuss their predicament and decided that the blame of their troubles lie at the feet of Richard Rahl. Nicci agrees with the other Sisters that they should rid themselves of Jagang and then Richard.
Having linked their powers, with Sister Ulicia as the director of the force, the Sisters arrive at Jagang's stronghold. Ulicia unleashes the combined powers of the Sisters, but while Jagang is embedded in their minds, their gifts cannot avail them. Nicci and her companions become the property of Jagang and each has a golden ring placed through their lower lips to mark them as such.
The Sisters are sent back to the Palace of the Prophets with instructions to ready the arrival of the Emperor, however Ulicia concocts a plan to swear loyalty to Richard and escape Jagang's power as a dream walker. Ulicia and the other four Sisters succeed at this, however they fail to find Nicci in time to include her.
[edit] Faith of the Fallen
The D'Haran Army quickly began noticing that there was something very strange going on in Anderith, the land that had rejected the D'Haran Empire in favor of the brutal Imperial Order. The army had received reports about a powerful gifted woman who had become even more feared than Emperor Jagang himself, by the people of Anderith. She was known as Death's Mistress. She was blond of hair and blue of eye. It was said that she looked like "a vision of the good spirits, though they themselves would fear her". She always wore a beautiful black dress. Nicci was not like the other gifted controlled by the dream walker. She acted as an agent, not as a tool.
Nicci had been sent to a small country town to punish the selfish people who resided there. She had the entire town stand in a line in the town square and proceeded to lecture them on the evils of selfishness.
Among the people was a small, plain girl. Nicci, as she had found herself doing many times before, grabbed the child's chin and stared deep into her eyes. Like every other time she had done this, she didn't find what she was looking for. The child was simple. However, Nicci did notice that the girl was ridden with lice. Nicci took her to the wash house and roughly scrubbed her hair, getting soap in the girls eyes. When she was done, Nicci ordered the girl to burn her linen.
When Nicci returned to the town square, the girl ran for her mother. The commander that had accompanied her, Jagang's second in command, Kadar Kardeef, then demanded that she ended her games and that it was time for the townspeople to learn the true meaning of ruthlessness.
Nicci agrees and orders two men to seize Kadar. The commander is obviously confused, but Nicci explains that true ruthlessness can be seen in having a hero of the Imperial Order, strapped to a pole and left to roast for no particular reason. Kadar orders his men to take Nicci, but the sorceress unleashes almost simultaneous blasts of her power on the men nearest her, stopping the other soldiers from even attempting to capture her, lest they be next.
The men take the commander, though not without casualties, strap him to a pole and stick him over a fire to roast. Jagang enters the mind of a nearby soldier, furious and through him orders Nicci to return to Fairfield immediately. It is then learned that Jagang does not always have free access to Nicci's mind, like he does the other gifted.
On the way back to Fairfield, Nicci finally realizes why Jagang cannot always enter her mind; her preoccupation with Richard Rahl. Some how she was partially bonded to him.
When Nicci returns to Fairfield she learns from Sisters Georgia, Aubrey and Rochelle that Annalina Aldurren had recently been captured by Jagang but had disappeared along with Sister Alessandra. She also learns that the chimes had been released into the world, but had then been successfully banished.
Before being on her way to see Jagang, Nicci also had to deal with a D'Haran prisoner. This prisoner was a Mord-Sith named Hania. Hania asked Nicci to kill her, because she would never betray information about the Lord Rahl's battle plans. Nicci then told Hania she would kill her, if she told her all she knew about Richard's time with a woman named Denna.
On her way through the Minister of Culture's mansion, which Jagang had made his own, Nicci ran into a venerable Sister of the Light; Sister Lidmilla. When Nicci had been at the Palace of the Prophets, Lidmilla had often told her that she was the one Sister, that she thought could handle learning some of the arcane magic she had knowledge of.
With this in mind Nicci asked Lidmilla if she could take her up on her offer, in particular in regards to the Maternity Spell. Lidmilla agreed to this and then Nicci made her way to Jagang.
Jagang beat Nicci and then had his way with her for the rest of the night. He told Nicci that he loved her and wanted her to come be his queen at the grand palace that was being built for him in Altur'Rang. Nicci denied him, saying that she was leaving, that his power of a dream walker no longer held over her.
She said she may return one day, before releasing a thread of Subtractive Magic into the gold ring the pierced her lip, marking her as Jagang's slave. The ring ceased to exist. When Jagang asked where she was going, she said she was going to eliminate Richard Rahl.
- "I am going to destroy Richard Rahl for you."
- — Nicci
Before leaving Fairfield, Nicci had her lesson with Sister Lidmilla, focusing especially on the casting of the maternity spell. She then made her way to the mountain country of Westland.
Nicci rode into Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan Amnell's small haven unexpectedly. While the Mord-Sith Cara was bathing and while Richard was busy elsewhere, Nicci confronted Kahlan. She rose her arms and begun to cast the maternity spell. A strange hum was admitted and a milky white thread of light ran between the chests of the two women.
Alerted by the humming set of by Nicci's magic, Richard quickly returned to his small camp. He noticed that the magic Nicci was casting, was not only hurting Kahlan, but herself too.
Cara too was alerted by the sound of Nicci's power and rushed her. Using her Agiel, Cara brought Nicci to ground. Richard immediately realized something was wrong when the pain Nicci felt at the hands of Cara, was mimicked by Kahlan.
After Richard forces Cara off of her, Nicci explains the concept of the maternity spell. It linked the two lives of the caster and the victim. If one should feel a pain, then so would the other. If the caster should die, then so will her victim. At the same time, the caster had the ability to end the victims life at any moment. However, the draw back was that the caster's gift was useless until the spell was withdrawn or the victim was killed.
Nicci then informs Richard that if he wishes for Kahlan to remain alive, he will come with her immediately. Kahlan tells Richard not to obey, to kill Nicci, even if it meant ending her own life. Richard tells her he cant do that and goes with Nicci.
Nicci takes Richard to Altur'Rang, in the heart of the Old World, to show him that he is wrong in fighting the ideals of the Imperial Order. She also hopes to discover what it is that has preoccupied her about him for so long. They live in the guise of a loving husband and wife, with Richard working as a labouror.
For an entire year they live in the capital of the Old World. Richard befriends many a people, including a blacksmith named Victor Cascella, who lends him a beautiful chunk of marble to carve a statue out of.
When the spiritual leader of the Order, Brother Narev, an old acquaintance of Nicci's, happens to see the carving, he hires Richard to carve a statue to stand outside the Emperor's Palace.
Several times during the year that Richard and Nicci would spend together, she would lose hope and think that what she had seen within Richard's eyes had been nothing and resigned herself to kill him. But each time she would go to do so, he would intrigue her once again, causing her to believe that there was hope after all.
Walking through the crowded streets of Altur'Rang, Nicci saw a familiar face in the crowd; Sister Alessandra. She knew that her former mentor was there looking for her and quickly disappeared from sight.
Walking down an alley, Nicci found herself come face to face with another person from her past, though no longer familiar looking. None other than Kadar Kadeef. It turned out that the young girl she had ridden of lice over a year ago had pleaded with the towns people to save Kadar's life and had nursed him back to health. Nicci quickly fled the alley.
When Richard's carving for the palace was finally unveiled, Nicci was present in the crowd. It was the moment that would forever alter the course of her life. Looking upon the stone, Nicci finally saw what it was that she had so long sought within Richard. It was life. Simply life. At that moment, Nicci broke down into tears, in horror at what she had done and in joy at what she had discovered.
She quickly left to find Richard, to tell him of her revelation and to plead forgiveness. When she caught up with him, she found him to be gravely injured, with the bodies of Sister Alessandra, Brother Narev and Neal beside him. Kahlan and Cara were miraculously, also with him. Nicci quickly ran forward to sever the link between her and Kahlan, so she would once again have access to her gift and be able to heal Richard.
However, Kadar Kadeef surprised her and begun to choke her. Just as Nicci thought she was to die, Cara came to her rescue, under the orders of a dying Richard. Kahlan at first didn't trust Nicci, but after realizing putting her trust in her could save Richard's life, she let Nicci do as she must.
When Richard came through, Nicci informed him that she was no longer a Sister of the Dark, but nor was she a Sister of the Light. She was simply Nicci. She apologized to Richard and Kahlan for her wrong doing and pledged herself to their cause.
[edit] Chainfire
(coming soon)
[edit] Phantom
(coming soon)
[edit] Confessor
(coming soon)
[edit] Notable Quotes
(coming soon)
