| Thripple | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
|
- “I know what it is you really think! You’re thinking she doesn’t come from Mistmantle! If you want to blame anyone, you’ll blame the queen, because you think she’s not one of us! Well, she is now! And quite right, too!”
- ―Thripple defending Cedar
Thripple is a female hedgehog, the wife of Captain Docken and the mother of Hope and Mopple.
Appearance
Thripple is described as having a squashed, lopsided look about her face and a hunched back, and eyes from which caring shines out, making her look lovely.
Personality
Thripple is a senior Threadings hedgehog, and she is described as being motherly, kind and sensible. She helped Needle when she first came to the Tower, and she later became Queen Cedar's best friend. Thripple helped Crispin in reuniting the island of Mistmantle when Catkin was kidnapped and animals began spreading rumors about Cedar. She was often seen taking care of Mistmantle's young ones, especially Princess Almondflower. It's also noted that Thripple never expected anyone to refer to her as a Lady when her husband Docken became a Captain.
History
Urchin of the Riding Stars
Thripple is a senior seamstress hedgehog working in the Tower’s threading rooms and Hope’s mother; however, she is separated from her son because he is staying in the Mole Palace with Mother Huggen due to his poor eyesight. When Needle begins to work in the threading rooms, Thripple sits next to her and teaches her sewing. She also appears when Urchin visits Needle in the workrooms before Husk and Aspen’s wedding.
After the battle at the Spring Festival, Hope wanders off to look for his mother, but gets lost in the tunnels. Eventually, he is rescued by Urchin and reunited with Thripple, and they are last seen building a sand castle on the beach.
Urchin and the Heartstone
Thripple’s husband, Docken, returns from the mines where he had been working with Hedgehog Host when Husk was in power. Later, Thripple fits Padra’s and Arran’s ceremonial robes for King Crispin’s coronation. After Urchin is kidnapped and the coronation is put off, Thripple and other workroom animals still prepare everything for it.
Thripple and Hope watch the riding stars from Brother Fir's turret together with Brother Fir, Damson and Sepia, and they are present when Urchin and Juniper arrive on a ship from Whitewings Island. She also makes a hat for Scatter that she wears at Crispin’s coronation.
The Heir of Mistmantle
Thripple and Docken have another child, a daughter called Mopple. Thripple is seen when she carries Catkin out during her Naming Ceremony. Later, she comforts Cedar after Catkin is kidnapped, telling Cedar that she can understand her because she was separated from her own son during Husk’s reign and that she missed him a lot. She and Cedar become close friends, and Cedar asks Thripple to call her by her name and not ‘Your Majesty’. Thripple also reassures Cedar when she has a nightmare about Smokewreath, saying that the sorcerer had no power over her.
When Crispin has a speech before animals of Mistmantle, Thripple speaks up to defend Cedar from the rumors, saying that she’s not mad and that she belongs on Mistmantle. Before Juniper’s ordination as a priest, Sepia brings Thripple and Needle an unfinished tunic that Damson had been preparing for him, and Thripple suggests that they leave it as it is to honor Damson, and Needle agrees.
Urchin and the Raven War
Needle calls on Thripple to discuss their newest apprentice, Myrtle. Needle shows Thripple the sword that Myrtle put into the Threading she was helping to work on, even though nobody asked her to do so. Thripple asks whether Myrtle knows the Threading Code, and Needle confirms that she doesn’t. Thripple is very concerned, since sword stands for battle, and Myrtle sewed it before the arrival of swans on Mistmantle.
Later, Thripple comforts Myrtle when Tay scolds her for sewing a flower in the sea, and tells Myrtle to call for her or Needle if she is sewing something she hadn’t been told to do in the future. When Myrtle sews this flower again, Thripple comes to see it and tells her that it’s hellebore, a symbol of danger.
When the ravens attack Mistmantle Tower, Thripple and Needle make nets out of wool to trap the birds, but the ravens easily tear through them. When the Tower is overrun by ravens, Thripple escapes underground with Mopple. After the end of the Raven War, Thripple and other workroom animals take out the Threadings hidden during the war, and she is last seen making hats for Apple’s wedding.
Urchin and the Rage Tide
Thripple, Needle and Myrtle pack the Threadings and move the workrooms in preparation to the coming Rage Tide. During the night of the Rage Tide, Thripple gives Circle animals white tunics so they could be easily seen by the refugees.
Along with her family, Thripple is present when Urchin is made Captain. She comforts Needle after Crispin’s death, and they share memories of the king. Thripple is last seen when Urchin hugs her and Needle after Sepia agrees to marry him, and she remarks that Sepia would want to keep her wedding dress simple.