Alpin Loomin
| Species | Gopher |
|---|---|
| Home | Farenworth |
| Weapons | A golden staff |
| Companions | Galabear |
| Status | Alive |
| First appearance | Sacred: Eslura's Calling |
Alpin Loomin is a gopher of Farenworth, a friend of Alistair Archibald against his own better judgement, and the escort who took Beatrice Tidal across half of Eslura while complaining about it the whole way.[1] He began by insisting that the Olphins deserved Morgaedion, and ended up fighting his way into the prison beside one of them.[2][3]
Appearance
Alpin is a gopher with a buck-toothed face, twitching whiskers and long claws that click on marble. He wears a monocle and carries a golden staff, which he waggles at people and wields like a sword when provoked.[1] He was in red silk pyjamas the night Alistair broke into his house.[1] He later took to wearing a plaid bowtie, and a knitted coat Vendalis made for him on the mountain.[4][5]
His accent reminded Bea of a Shakespeare film she had been made to watch at school, except that she could follow this one.[1]
Personality
Alpin is rude on arrival and softens slowly. He called Bea and Reagan Hideaway street urchins within a minute of meeting them, told Alistair that having names did not stop them being peasants, and haggled for several hundred kaps before agreeing to escort them anywhere.[1]
Twee is what he says when startled, which is often.[1] He sucks his big teeth when he is thinking and paces in tight circles when he is frightened for someone.[6]
He does not admit to affection and is transparent about it anyway. Piercio told the Olphins of Morgaedion that Alpin had paced the entire time Barnaby Britto was away hunting a spider, and the gopher crossed his arms and went crimson.[7]
He is fussy about dirt, insects and his own fur, and tiptoed around a doorway rather than let his feet touch where the bugs had been.[2]
Background
Alpin grew up in Haberpaw with Bowmidge Talorn, who now runs the gully post there and greets him as an old friend. Alpin says he does not miss home.[8] He lives alone at Farenworth in a house with marble floors, arched windows, a crystal chandelier and a great many books, and Piercio once tried to take the town off him, which he has not forgiven.[1][9]
He remembers the War of Shadows and the years before it. He told Bea that the Olphins were a hostile, savage race who betrayed the Sacred Rulers and sided with Obellius Kalaar, that there was not a single drop of good in their blood, and that the ones left alive after the war were rightly taken to Morgaedion.[10]
Alpin is in love with Lumikki Otsby, the Sacred Ruler of the Book of Water. The oath she swore on her Book forbids it: if the two were overheard, she would lose her position and he would be sent to Morgaedion. Trelluby knows and has told her the secret is safe.[11]
Story
Sacred: Eslura's Calling
Alistair Archibald arrived at Farenworth in the middle of the night with two girls, broke Alpin's vase and began barricading the windows against a Shadow Reaper. Alpin objected at length, then took them to the library and heard Alistair out.[1] When Bea's wrist was laid on the table he sank in his chair and said the choosing could not be serious.[1] He was asked to escort Bea and Reagan to Galecrest for the High Moon Festival, refused, and agreed once Alistair offered him the alternative of staying behind with the Reaper.[1]
Tabitha Glowdish ambushed the party on Galabear's back, scattered the beast and put a dagger under his snout before taking Reagan away.[12] Alpin went on with Bea. Finding Barnaby Britto in an abandoned house, he called him a spawn of Nelazgus, knocked him down with the staff, drove it into his forehead and locked him unconscious in a closet, telling Bea to know her enemies.[2]
By the next morning he was covering for the boy instead. At the gully post in Haberpaw he swatted Bowmidge's paw away from Barnaby's hood and told him the sun gave the lad hives.[8] At Treenode he sat through Seely's demonstration of the reactor stone and confirmed the Knower's account of it afterwards to Alistair, if grudgingly.[10][6]
When Alistair said there was no reason to keep the Olphins imprisoned any longer and Barnaby asked whether that meant he was free, Alpin warned him that the whole of Eslura still had to be won over, then offered him a room at Farenworth until it was.[6]
At Galecrest he learned that Lumikki had gone missing from Ovallia several days earlier, and paced in circles on the library steps while nobody answered him.[6] He was seized by a Nelazgian in the alley fighting and freed when Bea wound grass around its neck.[9]
Sacred 2: Flames of the Awakened
Alpin ordered Galabear to stay behind at Galecrest and help Millennium Loftwind move the townsfolk to safety.[4] He then set out for Morgaedion with Barnaby and Piercio to find Lumikki and whatever Olphins were still alive.[13]
He objected loudly when Barnaby agreed to carry Vendalis's dragon egg to the core of Alakyer, on the grounds that Lumikki had already waited long enough, and went along with it.[14] He rode a dragon down a cliff face with his eyes shut and threatened to be sick on everyone.[15]
Inside the prison he shouted into the halls for Lumikki and frightened the survivors hiding in the walls, and Barnaby had to pull him off the wall by the scruff.[15] Asked by Mavis who they were looking for, he gave her Lumikki's name, her title, her species and the colour of her eyes before Piercio cut him off.[16] He nearly said what she was to him twice more, in front of Monagan and in front of the camp, and caught himself both times.[3]
When Pemadee's letter reached Barnaby and the boy tried to leave for Ovallia at once, Alpin was the one who stopped him, admitted he wanted to go down the hole just as badly, and argued for a plan. He conceded the point when the survivors armed themselves and volunteered, and told Barnaby to lead the way.[3]
Relationships
Lumikki Otsby is the reason Alpin left Farenworth at all. He writes to her, loses his composure whenever she is in danger, and cannot say aloud what she is to him because her oath makes it a crime for both of them.[11][16]
Alistair Archibald is his oldest friend and the person he is rudest to. Alistair takes it in good humour and keeps asking him for favours.[1]
Galabear is Alpin's night hopper, a giant black bear-like beast with yellow eyes and a pointed tail. He talks to her in a voice that made Bea cringe, and left her at Galecrest to help evacuate the city.[1][4]
Barnaby Britto was a monstrosity to him on sight and became the person he waited up for. Alpin never says so; Piercio says it for him.[2][7]
Piercio once tried to claim Farenworth while it stood empty, and Alpin spat at his boots when they met again. They crossed a mountain range to Morgaedion together, needling each other the whole way.[9][7]
Bowmidge Talorn grew up with him in Haberpaw and is delighted to see him. Alpin is not.[8]
Behind the scenes
The pronunciation guide at the back of both novels gives the name as All-pin Loo-min.[9][17]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Book 1, Ch. 8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Book 1, Ch. 13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Book 2, Ch. 27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Book 2, Ch. 3.
- ↑ Book 2, Ch. 11.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Book 1, Ch. 24.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Book 2, Ch. 26.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Book 1, Ch. 15.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Book 1, Ch. 26.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Book 1, Ch. 17.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Book 1, Ch. 7.
- ↑ Book 1, Ch. 10.
- ↑ Book 2, Ch. 2.
- ↑ Book 2, Ch. 6.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Book 2, Ch. 18.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Book 2, Ch. 21.
- ↑ Book 2, Ch. 28.