The first elf ever seen on Knightmare. Known more fully in some circles as Velda the Huntress, and indeeed, she is a self-styled 'warrior elf'; but Treguard has identified her as a wood elf. Too cautious to give away her summoning name and allow humans control over her whereabouts, Velda was the name she shared with dungeoneers.
Velda is about as hostile as a Dungeon dweller can be without being an Opposition minion outright. Although massively distrustful of humans, she frequently gave dungeoneers crucial assistance, because they had helped her, summoned her with a horn (see: Elvandis), or appeased her with a goodwill token (a rose or gauntlet). While not invincible, Velda seemed to thrive on opportunities to indulge her pugnacious side, which may explain her presence in the Dungeon. Further explanation came during the quest of Team 9 of Series 3, when Velda ordered Treguard to tell Merlin to mend the breach between her realm and the Dungeon (a breach seemingly located on the Vale Of Vanburn), hinting that her entire race would attack unless this was done. (Apparently Merlin did not oblige, as more elves later visited the Dungeon (i.e. Pickle and Elita), and were less aggressive than Velda.) Velda introduced herself to Team 5 of Series 3 as "keeper of the gate, warden of the Lower Marshes", so perhaps the elven kin had appointed her to guard the breach.
Velda appeared during every odd-numbered quest in Series 3, but only one even-numbered quest - probably because these were the quests in which Natasha Pope played Brangwen instead.
Using her bizarre weapon - a crossbow that shot elongated bullets - Velda defended the following teams from the following adversaries: Team 3 of Series 3 from Grimwold, Teams 5 and 9 from the Behemoth, Team 7 of Series 3 from goblins. Team 11 of Series 3 freed Velda from incarceration, as did Team 10 of Series 3 (Velda's only appearance below Level 1 - she'd been tied up by goblins in the Level 2 caverns: see below). Aid given by Velda tended to take the form of step clues for use in Merlin's chamber, though she once awarded a spell (TRANSFORM, to Team 7) and a beryl (to Team 10).


As noted above, Velda was played by Natasha Pope, whose other roles were Brangwen and Morghanna.

In addition to numerous fanfiction appearances, Velda is featured in both the story and gamebook sections of The Labyrinths Of Fear, the second of the official Knightmare books.

[Second image courtesy of Rex Features. Lowest image courtesy of The Jackal's Knightmare Page.

Earlier version: 2006-04-10 14:31:10]

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