Par Ohmsford

Shannara character


name=Par Ohmsford
nickname=
race=mostly Human, partly Elf
gender=Male
hair=blond
eyes=
loyalty=Himself and his family, Other scions of Shannara
magic=Wishsong
appearance="The Scions of Shannara"
birth=Shady Vale
death=N/A

Par Ohmsford is a fictional character from the Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks. He is a descendant of Jair Ohmsford, and has a brother named Coll Ohmsford.

Par, as the descendant of Jair, has the magic of the wishsong. Par has a fierce dedication to the history of his family, and used the wishsong to create images of other times and places. With his brother Coll, Par intended to spread the old stories beyond Shady Vale. However, the brothers were soon noticed by Rimmer Dall and his Seekers. Luckily, they were able to escape and along the way met Cogline. He came to tell Par that the dreams he had been having for some time before had been sent by Allanon, and that he, his cousin Wren Elessedil, and his uncle Walker Boh were to go to the Hadeshorn.

Par soon gained the aid of Morgan Leah, his best friend and wielder of the legendary Sword of Leah. After a journey through the Eastland, they collected Walker Boh and set out for the Hadeshorn. During this journey, Par's magic began to evolve into something more real, different from the magic of Jair Ohmsford. Upon reaching the Hadeshorn, Par was given the task to recover the lost Sword of Shannara, for use against the Shadowen. In order to accomplish this task, Par, Col, and Morgan set out to obtain the aid of the man who saved the Ohmsfords in Varfleet. It turned out to be Padishar Creel, the descendant of Panamon Creel and leader of the Free-born rebellion.

Sneaking into the city of Tyrsis, Par and co. met Damson Rhee, a Resistance member and secretly Padishar's daughter. After a failed attempt to retrieve the Sword, Par and Coll lost Morgan and Padishar and were left with Damson Rhee. On the second attempt, Par got to the Sword, only to be confronted by Rimmer Dall. Dall revealed himself as a Shadowen, and claimed that Par was one as well. Though he let Par take the Sword, it did not work when used against him, and Par doubted from that point on that the Sword was real. Worse, Dall replaced Coll with a Shadowen doppelganger that Par was forced to destroy, making Par believe that he had killed his own brother.

For a long period of time after that, Par hid out in Tyrsis with Damson Rhee and the Mole, a small Man who lived in the tunnels beneath the city. Padishar later found Par, but lost Damson to the Shadowen, only for them to retrieve her but lose Padishar. Remembering a promise he had made to Padishar and knowing that he could not be saved without help, Par took Damson and escaped Tyrsis. Along the way to the Free-born headquarters, they discovered the return of Paranor. While attempting to get closer in to find Walker, they ran into Coll, alive but driven mad by a Shadowen cloak. Seeking to pursue his brother, Par separated from Damson, but not before obtaining from her half of a disk that would allow her to track him.

Par continued pursuing Coll all the way to Southwatch, the Shadowen stronghold. There, he caught up with Coll, and the magic of the Sword of Shannara freed his brother from the cloak. However, it was too little too late, as Rimmer Dall and his Shadowen arrived to capture the brothers. The King of the Silver River appeared to help, but in the struggle of magics, Par lost control of his already dangerous wishsong magic, forcing the King away and leaving himself in Dall's grasp.

While in Southwatch, Par's magic became more and more volatile, no longer the illusory magic of Jair, but the reality magic of Brin Ohmsford. Luckily for Par, a company led by the now Druid Walker Boh consisting of Damson Rhee, Morgan Leah, Coll, Rumor the moor cat, and a Resistance fighter named Matty Roh came to rescue him. In escaping his cell, Par lost control of his magic, and could not break free. It was only because of the love that had grown between him and Damson that he was stopped long enough for Coll to use the Sword of Shannara.

The Sword revealed that because of his Elven origin and magic that Par was much the same as a Shadowen. However, that did not mean that he was bound to their cause. Joining the rescue group, he battled into the depths of Southwatch, and a final confrontation with Rimmer Dall. With his magic now controlled, Par was no match for the Shadowen leader, and only escaped possession with the help of Walker. Using the Sword of Shannara, Par discovered the truth of the magic trapped beneath Southwatch, and calling on all that he had left, he used the wishsong to shatter the bonds about the magic, freeing it and destroying the Shadowen.

Following that incident, Par's magic returned to what it once was, and he, his brother, and his love Damson made plans to set up an inn in Varfleet, where they would provide good food and drink and of course, the stories of the past. Years later, Par's bloodline would produce two more wielders of the wishsong: Grianne Ohmsford and Bek Ohmsford.