The Creeper was one of the new Taken, which was a group of eight powerful wizards enslaved by the Lady. The Creeper, and the rest of the new Taken with the sole exception of Whisper, dressed identically. The Annalist Croaker could not specify if this individual was male or female. The Creeper, and the other new Taken, would become the Lady's champions against the New White Rose Rebellion during the events of The White Rose.
The White Rose[]
The Lady initially stationed the Creeper at the major city of Frost during the Imperial encirclement of the Plain of Fear. There, like the other Taken in their respective demesnes, the Creeper raised his or her intimidating stela. This was part of the Lady's plan to entrap her enemies Darling and the Black Company, who had been directing Rebel activity from a cavern on the Plain called the Hole for two years. The names of the Creeper and the four other newest Taken – unknown until this point – and the dreadful news of their arrivals were gathered by the Rebel agent Sir Tucker and reported by the informant Corder in person to Darling and the Company in the Hole. The Creeper was not named again in The White Rose but it is known that he/she participated in the events described below.
After the encirclement, a pair of the new Taken was knocked out of the sky by both a swarm of mantas and Darling's null as the Plain army marched on Rust. The Creeper could have been one of these Taken. Croaker surmised that those two Taken had grim odds of survival that night. Later events would prove that these two must have survived, however, as all seven remaining new Taken were mentioned by name to be alive afterward.
Battle outside Horse[]
All of the Taken, including the Creeper, were present with Croaker and the Lady herself in the modest town called Horse, and he/she participated in the dramatic airborne attack on the windwhales over Darling's army as it marched westward toward them. In this fiery battle, the Creeper presumably played a major role since the primary Imperial combatants were aboard the flying carpets. This was an Imperial victory during which at least three windwhales were killed and death was rained down upon the Rebel infantry and their allied formations of Plain creatures.
At the Battle of the Barrowland[]
After the Lady called a ceasefire and forged an alliance with Darling, the Creeper became a new ally of the Black Company.
Alongside the rest of the new Taken, the Creeper next participated in the Battle of the Barrowland, during which the Dominator was finally killed. He/she was certainly one of the Taken who brought formidable sorcery to bear against Toadkiller Dog outside Darling's null. In the aftermath of the battle, Silent performed the Rite of Naming on the Lady, stripping her of all her magical power. Because of the Lady's fail-safe sorcery, this caused the new Taken to become powerless as well, and they lost all control of their carpets. The Creeper was almost certainly one of the Taken who immediately plummeted, screaming, from the sky. But, although Croaker recorded that all the new Taken were "undone, and soon dead", later events would reveal that the Creeper actually survived this event.
Mention in Bleak Seasons[]
Many years after the Battle of the Barrowland, during the sixth chronicle (Bleak Seasons), it was confirmed that the Creeper in fact did not die at the Barrowland. Otto and Hagop reported reliable testimony from Imperial officials that the Creeper, as well as Journey, Whisper, Blister, and Learned, were all still alive and residing within the Empire's domain... albeit still stripped of their magic abilities.
New Taken |
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Whisper Journey • Feather Benefice • Scorn • Blister • The Creeper • Learned Mischievous Rain |