Meridas Amaram

Highmarshal Meridas Amaram is a lighteyed general for the Sadeas princedom in Alethkar on Roshar. A close friend of House Kholin, and a hero to the darkeyes, Amaram once served as defender of northern Alethkar during the War of Reckoning. After becoming a Shardbearer, Amaram traveled to the Shattered Plains to serve his liege, Highprince Torol Sadeas, and secretly further the goals of the Sons of Honor by trying to return the Heralds to Roshar.
== Appearance and Personality ==
=== Appearance ===
Meridas Amaram is a tall man, even for an Alethi, with a lean build. His face is square, and has the appearance of chipped stone. He has dark hair, light tan eyes, and an angular nose. In his earlier years, Amaram was clean-shaven, but by 1172 he wore a beard. He speaks with a deep, strong voice. Amaram is a dignified man who carries himself with decorum and pride, walking with a straight back and head held high.
Amaram typically dresses in a green formal uniform that is always kept neatly pressed, with a sword at his side. Wearing a true uniform is rare among the Alethi highborn, but Amaram occasionally will wear a more modern lighteyes outfit for some occasions. In that instance he typically wears a buttoned shirt under an open jacket with stiff trousers and a stock at his neck. After he is made head of the Knights Radiant, Amaram wears a bright yellow-gold cloak bearing the double eye glyph, symbol of the Radiants. After he is stripped of this position, he abandons the cloak. In combat, Amaram once wore silver plate armor, until he became a Shardbearer, after which he wears his Plate into battle. Amaram's personal glyphpair is merem and khakh, meaning honor and determination. They are typically drawn in the form of a whitespine. His colors are burgundy and dark green.
=== Personality ===
Meridas Amaram is man who prefers to live his life honorably whenever possible. In most public situations, his conduct is above reproach. He refuses to take advantage of defeated dueling opponents, even when it would be socially acceptable. He speaks to his men with respect, paying and feeding them well and allowing some to take shelter in his warcenter during highstorms, switching squads with each storm. He serves his highprince ably, following the commands of his liege, Highprince Sadeas, even if he does not agree with the man's actions. He is kind to people regardless of their social status, knowing the names of his kitchen girls as well as details about their lives. Amaram is also something of a traditionalist in his leadership style, setting high standards for the men under his command, requiring that they are always neat when in uniform. Amaram also keeps a collection of flutes, which is unusual for a man.
Amaram is a person deeply concerned about his reputation for honor and honesty, and always acts with the intention of maintaining that reputation. For the most part, he has done an excellent job keeping up the appearance of his nobility. Among the darkeyes, he is seen as a famous hero and no one among the lighteyes questions his nobility. He is considered by them to be the paragon of Alethi honor. However, some think that his image is a little too perfect and wonder if he is concealing something. His reputation for honesty is strong enough that others overlook any evidence to the contrary. However, the revelation that he stole his Shards from Kaladin has damaged this reputation somewhat, although to what extent is still unclear. Amaram can also become a little obsessed with personal glory, sometimes trying to avoid the aid of others in order to make his accomplishments seem grander.
However despite Amaram's public persona, when it comes to the goals that Amaram really desires, he is willing to set his honorable principles aside and get his hands dirty. It could be said that Amaram is an adherent of the Philosophy of Aspiration, which states that objectives are more important than the steps taken to achieve them. For instance, he is willing to kill his own men and enslave Kaladin, who had just saved his life, in order to gain Shards for himself. This is not done merely out of greed though, Amaram legitimately believes that he is doing the right thing and is willing to sacrifice a few men for the greater good. Meridas thinks that as a practiced Shardbearer he can potentially save thousands of his men by sacrificing only a handful. Even still, Amaram's pragmatism wars with his honor and the result is the sense of guilt he often experiences for the things that he has done. This causes him to internally questioning his own judgement and decisions, even while acting outwardly confident. For instance he tried to justify his betrayal to Kaladin. It is this guilt that causes him to show some measure of mercy to Kaladin by merely branding him a slave instead of killing him as well. For the most part though, Amaram is able to ignore this guilt in the pursuit of his lofty goals. Ultimately, it seems that Amaram believes himself to be an honorable man, just one who is willing to go to lengths that others would not.
Amaram is also something of a religious zealot, a facet of his personality that he typically keeps to himself. As a member of the Sons of Honor, Amaram wishes to return the Vorin Church to the state of power it once held during the Hierocracy. To do such a thing, he intends to return the Voidbringers, hoping to trigger a Desolation. Meridas believes this will cause the Heralds to return to Roshar and the Radiants to be reformed. This is the ultimate expression of the code by which Amaram leads his life. He is willing to risk the world and cause the deaths of millions in order to return the Heralds to Roshar. As a result of Amaram's beliefs, he refers to Heralds, such as Taln as Great Prince. He also believes that Dalinar is a prophet of the Almighty, although he disputes the idea that the Almighty has died, believing it to be merely a metaphorical death in the minds of men. Despite his attempt to return the Voidbringers, Amaram still considers them to be an existential threat to humankind and works to unify the Alethi in anticipation of their arrival.
== Attributes and Abilities ==
=== Shardwielding ===
See also Shardblade and Shardplate
As of 1173, Amaram owns both a Shardblade and Shardplate. Shardblades are incredibly light and capable of cutting through nearly any material effortlessly and Shardplate makes a warrior nearly invulnerable to conventional weapons as well as incredibly strong. The Shardblade allows Amaram to be extraordinarily deadly in combat; capable of killing hundreds of enemies in a short period of time. The Plate allows Amaram to be a an unstoppable force on the battlefield. With the support of his honor guard, it is incredibly difficult to kill him in combat. Amaram has been trained in the sword since his youth, so he is well equipped to capably make use of both the Blade and the Plate by the time he gains them.
=== Military Commander ===
Meridas Amaram is a very capable military commander. His primary skill is producing troops that are well-trained and disciplined, which he supplies to Sadeas on the Shattered Plains. Without Amaram's troops, Sadeas's army would be much less effective. Amaram's force in Alethkar consisted of approximately six thousand men, including spearmen, archers, and cavalry. Amaram also keeps a personal honor guard of around fifty men. Common soldiers serve a four year tour in the army, and are paid well and fed decently, which makes Amaram a popular general. He prefers to take volunteers, but will conscript soldiers when his force is depleted. Amaram typically recruits soldiers that have little to no experience in combat and a tour in his army serves the purpose of forging practiced soldiers. The force is overall an honest one, although there is some mistreatment and corruption among the lower level officers and lighteyes. Amaram's soldiers are also well-kept, wearing traditional uniforms with takamas and polished buttons on their coats. Amaram is also a skilled leader and a very capable general as well, among the most accomplished in Alethkar. Prior to gaining his Shards, Amaram preferred to enter battle himself late, directing a cavalry charge against the enemy at an opportune moment.
=== Properties ===
As a lighteyed man of the third dahn, Amaram also has extensive lands and properties that belong to him within the Sadeas princedom in northern Alethkar. Upon his arrival at the warcamps, Amaram also keeps a manor house inside of Sadeas's camp. The manor was once likely a tavern or some similar building. The building itself is a rather humble and small two story building with several windows and only a few rooms on each level. On the ground floor at the front doors, there is a entry hall with a staircase leading up to the second floor. There is also a study on this level, where Amaram keeps his flutes, and a kitchen with its own staircase as well as a back door. On the second floor is Amaram's secure room containing all his notes pertaining to the Sons of Honor and the Voidbringers, which is kept locked with the windows covered at all times. This manor is only temporary; a much larger building constructed of crembrick and stone is planned on the same site. There are several outbuildings around the manor which house his honor guard and a guard station at the front of the compound. There are no walls around the manner, just some striped posts, but Amaram's soldiers still try to keep a secure perimeter. Amaram also keeps a staff of several people, including a butler named Stine, a Herdazian cook, and several kitchen girls, including Telesh.
=== Literacy ===
Unlike most men in Vorin Roshar, Amaram possesses some level of literacy. He knows how to write in the Stormwarden script, a non-standard way to write in Alethi. This script makes use of logographic glyphs primarily, with some words spelled phonetically out of glyphs if they have no glyph of their own. Amaram uses this style of writing to record his thoughts and studies on the Voidbringers and Urithiru. While not as unusual as knowing the women's script, it is still highly unusual that Amaram is literate at all and would be incredibly damaging to his reputation if revealed. Amaram's knowledge of writing allows him to complete his studies with complete secrecy and write his own correspondence with the Sons of Honor.
== History ==
=== Early Life and Gavilar's Assassination ===
Little is known of Amaram's early life. He was born in Alethkar as a member of the third dahn. His family is distantly related to that of Citylord Roshone. He became a close friend of King Gavilar Kholin, as well as his brother Dalinar. Over the decades, Amaram and Gavilar became convinced that the only way to return Roshar to its past glories is to attempt to bring back the Voidbringers, which they believed would trigger the return of the Heralds and the Knights Radiant. After Gavilar joined the Sons of Honor which pursued that goal, he brought Amaram into the fold as well. It is unknown if Gavilar shared the knowledge of his visions with Amaram. Gavilar also came to believe Meridas was a fitting match for his daughter, Princess Jasnah, but she was uninterested in the union.
In 1167, Amaram attended the feast celebrating the treaty signed with the Parshendi. Early on during the feast, he attended a meeting with King Gavilar and four other people, potentially members of the Sons of Honor. When Eshonai accidentally walked into the meeting, Amaram invited Eshonai into the room, before leaving her alone with Gavilar. During the course of the feast, likely later in the evening, Amaram and Gavilar stepped away from the festivities to have a private conversation about some unknown thing. Jasnah interrupted their conversation. After Gavilar made a veiled comment suggesting that Amaram and Jasnah be wed, Amaram excused himself from the conversation and left. It is unknown if he spoke to Gavilar again before the king's death.
=== Absendiar Highmarshal ===
After the swearing of the Vengeance Pact, Amaram remained behind in Alethkar as absendiar highmarshal in command of Highprince Torol Sadeas's soldiers. He was charged with the defense of northern Alethkar, repelling border incursions from the Vedens and the Reshi while the bulk of the Alethi troops were away on the Shattered Plains fighting the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi. In addition to this, Amaram defended the territory of the Sadeas princedom from the other highprinces, at times taking land from other highprinces that he claimed had been stolen from Sadeas. Amaram periodically sent his best soldiers to join Sadeas's main force on the Shattered Plains, aiding them in the conquest of gemhearts. During his time as highmarshal, Amaram recruited most of the able-bodied men in the region.
In 1168, Amaram visited his cousin Roshone in Hearthstone. As his force had become depleted and he was already there himself, Amaram personally drafted several soldiers from among the townspeople, including Kaladin's brother Tien. Amaram promised to ensure that Tien serve only as a messenger boy for the first few years, and Kaladin joined Amaram's army as well in order to look after his brother. A few months later, Amaram's army fought a battle against Brightlord Hallaw in which they were positioned on a hilltop. The fighting went poorly for Amaram's forces initially, and despite Amaram's promise Tien was put into the battle and killed. Amaram himself rode into battle with his cavalry shortly afterward, routing the enemy.
=== Assassination Attempt ===
Several years later in late 1172, during another battle against Brightlord Hallaw's forces, a Shardbearer, Helaran Davar, attacked Amaram and his men during the battle, killing members of Kaladin's squad. During the attack, Amaram's honor guard scattered and his horse was killed, falling on his leg and shattering it in multiple places. Before Helaran could take Meridas's life, Kaladin and the remainder of his squad arrived. While Amaram crawled to safety, Kaladin managed to kill the Shardbearer at the cost of most of his men's lives. To Amaram's shock, Kaladin refused the Shards, giving them to Coreb, one of his men.
In the hours after the attack, Amaram conferred with his counselors, attempting to determine the identity of his assassin, as Helaran's face had been ruined by Kaladin's attack. He communicated with Restares, a member of the Sons of Honor, who convinced him that the Ghostbloods must have been responsible for the assassination attempt, despite Amaram's disbelief that they would make such a bold move. Restares also convinced Amaram that he should take the Shards that Kaladin had won for himself. He had Kaladin and the surviving members of his squad brought to his warcenter. There he ordered his soldiers to kill the rest of Kaladin's squad and took the Blade for himself. Meridas explained to Kaladin that it was necessary that he possess the Shards, as he had trained as a Shardbearer and no one would believe that Kaladin had willingly given them up. As a reward for saving his own life, Amaram spared Kaladin's, having him branded as a slave and sold.
Several months later, Amaram revealed that he had won the Shards, concocting an elaborate lie with seventeen witnesses that all claimed that a Shardbearer had attempted to assassinate Amaram and he had killed the man himself. With his newfound status, Amaram made plans to travel to the Shattered Plains. At the warcamps, rumors began to spread among the soldiers and bridgemen about his upcoming arrival.
=== Life in the Warcamps ===
In late 1173, several weeks after the Battle of the Tower, Amaram arrived on the Shattered Plains and was greeted as an old friend by Dalinar. Kaladin was present for their meeting and shortly afterward told Dalinar of Amaram's treachery. Dalinar agreed to do some investigation, but expressed doubts about Kaladin's allegations. Amaram set up his residence within Sadeas's warcamp, inside a building that had once been an inn.
While in the warcamps, Amaram spent time working with both Dalinar and Sadeas, in an attempt to bridge the divide between the two. Dalinar tried to convince Amaram to secede from Sadeas's princedom, but Amaram refused to do so, as he believed it would worsen the friction between the two highprinces. He and Dalinar still spent much time together though; Amaram visited Dalinar at his stables while Dalinar was supervising his men learning horsemanship. Despite Amaram's friendship with Dalinar, Amaram continued to obey Sadeas's orders. He even participated in a plateau run that violated Dalinar's new regulations, but afterwards argued with Sadeas in favor of cooperation with Dalinar and a united Alethkar. After the attempt on Dalinar's life by the Assassin in White, Amaram attended the highprinces's meeting on the attack, conversing with Adolin.
During Amaram's time at the Shattered Plains, he spent much of his time attempting to locate the lost city of Urithiru, which he believed could be accessed via the Oathgate at Stormseat, which he thought to be located on the Shattered Plains. He also wished to make contact with the Parshendi to inquire about the Voidbringers. He had the Plains surveyed further than even the best Alethi maps. Amaram wrote about all of this himself in the stormwarden script. He kept all of his research and speculation locked away in a secure room within his buildings, as the knowledge that he could write and the subjects of his writings could be incredibly damaging. He also had dinner with Dalinar, trying to convince him to explore the Plains more thoroughly.
Not long afterward, on the orders of the Ghostbloods, Shallan sneaked into Amaram's home. Using her Lightweaving, she managed to break into Amaram's secure room, and discover his research and theories. Shallan recorded several of his maps and notes, returning them to the Ghostbloods for their analysis. Amaram briefly spoke with Shallan as she left the property in the guise of a messenger. During the conversation he showed her his Blade, which she recognized as having belonged to her brother. This confirmed Helaran's death to her, making her believe that Amaram had killed him.
=== Head of the Knights Radiant ===
When Dalinar decided to officially refound the Knights Radiant, he appointed Amaram as their leader. That day, Amaram accompanied Dalinar to a menagerie in the warcamps, looking for Adolin. A few days later, during Adolin's disadvantaged duel against Elit Ruthar, Relis Ruthar, Abrobadar, and Jakamav, Dalinar tried to get Amaram to step in to help Adolin and Renarin, but Amaram did nothing. After Kaladin aided Adolin in his victory, Kaladin used his boon to accuse and challenge Amaram to a duel, declaring that Amaram stole the Shards from him and slaughtered his squad. In that moment, Amaram recognized Kaladin as the man he had enslaved for the first time. Kaladin was imprisoned for this statement and King Elhokar demanded Kaladin be executed for this insult. Immediately after the duel, Amaram spoke to Dalinar, claiming he had refused to intervene in the duel because as the head of the Knights Radiant, he needed to stay out of petty conflicts.
During this same time period, Amaram heard from his men that one of their drinking companions, a man named Bordin had escorted a man claiming to be the Herald Talenel to the Shattered Plains. Reportedly the man had spoken of a cache of Shardblades hidden in a cave somewhere nearby. Meridas met with Bordin and had Bordin bring him to visit the man surreptitiously, who was being treated in a monastery in Dalinar's warcamp. Upon seeing the man, Amaram decided that he believed the man to be Taln and tried to get him to repeat his previous words, with no success. Worrying that others had heard Taln's words and would find the Blades first, the two men left to visit the cave with Amaram promising Bordin a reward. They successfully located the cave and found a Blade within, which Meridas took and gave to his men for safekeeping. Not long afterwards, Dalinar asked Amaram to look into Bordin's claims that the man had been speaking of Shardblades. Amaram told Dalinar nothing of the Blade he had recovered from the cave, pretending to investigate Bordin's story.
Later, after Kaladin had been freed from his imprisonment, Amaram attended one of Elhokar's feasts, where he was insulted by Hoid several times. During the feast, he discovered that Dalinar had been receiving visions from the Stormfather when Navani's accounts were released in an attempt to discredit Dalinar. He told Dalinar of this political attack at the feast. He believed these visions to come from the Almighty, a sign that Dalinar was his prophet. He dismissed Dalinar's beliefs that the Almighty was dead, claiming it was a metaphorical death. Amaram also expressed concern that Kaladin had been returned to his place as the head of Dalinar's guard.
=== Departing on the Expedition ===
On the day of the expedition, Amaram accompanied Dalinar as he inspected his troops and their preparations for the departure. Leaning on his authority as head of the Radiants, Amaram attempted to get Dalinar to reconcile with Sadeas before leaving on the trip, claiming that Sadeas hoped that the expedition would fail and pointing out that Dalinar had no idea where the Parshendi lived. Dalinar ignored requests, much to Amaram's annoyance, as he believed that Dalinar was unable to permanently give away authority to others. Dalinar asked after the results of Amaram's investigation into Taln's Shardblades. Amaram lied to Dalinar, telling him that he believes what Bordin said, but believes Taln's words to be the ravings of a madman. When Kaladin and Shallan returned unexpectedly from the chasms, Amaram avoided seeing Kaladin.
Later that day, Amaram and his honor guard mustered on the edge of the Shattered Plains with the armies of the Kholin and Roion warcamps. When it became apparent that Sebarial intended to join the group, Meridas expressed his distrust for the man and he was truly stunned when Aladar joined the force as well. Amaram unsuccesfully attempted to convince Dalinar to turn the two highprinces away in order to make their success all the more glorious. When Kaladin came to watch the preparations, Amaram attempted to avoid him, but Dalinar forced him to speak to the man. Dalinar asked Amaram directly if there was any truth to Kaladin's claims that Amaram stole his Shards and killed his men. Amaram denied the allegations forcefully. Upon Amaram's denial, Dalinar revealed that he orchestrated the story of the Shardblade cache on the Plains, ordering Bordin to leak the rumor to Amaram's men and lead the highlord to a cave where they had already hidden the madman's Blade. At that point Amaram attempted to summon his Blade, but Dalinar summoned the madman's Blade himself first and held it to Amaram's throat. Dalinar revealed that he had bonded it before it was placed in the cave. Dalinar explained to Amaram that after he knew Amaram had recovered the Blade, he had asked Amaram to investigate the madman's claims, hoping Amaram would tell Dalinar about his discovery. After Amaram told Dalinar that he had found nothing in his investigation, Dalinar waited to confront Amaram, hoping the man would come forward with the truth. When Amaram did not do so, Dalinar determined that Amaram was not a trustworthy ally. With his treachery revealed, Amaram admitted to having killed Kaladin's men and stolen his Shards, claiming that he had done it for the good of Alethkar and accusing Dalinar of doing much the same by sending men to fight and die for gemhearts. Dalinar removed Amaram as head of the Knights Radiant, demanding that he surrender his cloak. Amaram removed the garment and left the expedition with his honor guard. Dalinar allowed him to leave, intending to try him for his crimes upon his return from the expedition.
=== Retrieving Taln ===
Several weeks later, following the Battle of Narak at the center of the Shattered Plains and the arrival of the Everstorm, Amaram went to Dalinar's warcamp in a carriage to retrieve Taln. As he traveled, he wrote a letter to Restares about the recent events; that the Voidbringers had returned, which he believed would prompt the Heralds to do the same. He arrived at monastery building where Taln was housed, cutting into his cell through the side of the building with his Blade. As he helped the man from the building, Iyatil, an agent of the Ghostbloods, attempted to assassinate Amaram with a blowgun. This attack triggered some of Taln's reflexes and he managed to catch both darts in midair. With her assassination attempt failed, Iyatil fled before Amaram could apprehend her and Taln fell back into his stupor. Amaram then put Taln into the coach and left the warcamps for Urithiru.
=== Trip to Urithiru and Elevation to Highprince ===
Amaram traveled over the Shattered Plains towards the Oathgate at Narak, so that he could travel to Urithiru. During his trip over the Plains, Amaram and his attendants were caught out in an Everstorm. It is likely that it was during this storm or perhaps another that Odium appeared to Amaram in a vision. Odium showed Amaram the truth of the Heralds' madness, proving to him that 
Afterward Amaram arrived clandestinely at the Oathgate, let through the portal to Urithiru by Shallan, along with a caravan and a scavenging crew. After arriving at the tower city, Amaram remained anonymous until he made himself known to Ialai Sadeas alone. After his arrival Amaram recuperated for a time in hiding. Ialai chose to appoint him as the lead investigator in Torol Sadeas's murder, requesting that Adolin report everything from his investigation to Amaram. 
After the murder of Sadeas, Ialai names Amaram the heir of House Sadeas. This further perpetuates the tension between him and the Kholin family, notably Adolin and Jasnah. Soon after, Amaram receives Oathbringer, which he inherited from Sadeas. Amaram and most of his troops are suspicious of Dalinar regarding Sadeas' death. Dalinar later sends the troops of House Sadeas to help rebuild and reinforce Thaylen City. Amaram is unhappy with this, wishing to be on the front lines in the battle against the parshmen. Amaram's frustration with Dalinar, and with himself eventually leads to him submitting to Odium, and turning against Dalinar and Thaylen City.
=== Battle of Thaylen Field and Death ===
Main article: Battle of Thaylen Field
Amaram, heavily influenced by Odium, attacks citizens of Thaylen City, while Dalinar and the other Radiants try and minimize the damage. Odium has a Fused bring Amaram an uncut amethyst to serve as a housing for Yelig-nar. Amaram swallows the gem and bonds with Yelig-nar, undergoing a strange transformation hidden partially by his shardplate, and gains access to all ten surges. He then fights Kaladin with two shardblades (one of them Oathbringer, one of them Helaran's Blade). He nearly wins but gets shot in the back by Rock, who used a grandbow to kill him.
== Relationships ==
=== Kaladin ===
Kaladin and Amaram's relationship has evolved greatly throughout the years. As a boy, Kaladin looked up to Amaram as a true lighteyes, one of the honorable commanders and leaders from the stories, seeing the man as a symbol. During Kaladin's time in the army, his belief in the nobility of lighteyes faded, but his faith in Amaram's nobility remained strong, even when he noticed problems within Amaram's army. Kaladin made no impression on Amaram, even though he had recruited the boy himself, until Kaladin saved Amaram's life from the Shardbearer. Amaram was initially awed by Kaladin's actions and stunned by his refusal to accept the Blade. Despite this, Amaram was reluctantly persuaded to take the Shardblade, killing Kaladin's squad and enslaving Kaladin himself. This caused Amaram some guilt, but he believed that he was better equipped to make use of the Shards. Kaladin was furious and horrified at Amaram's actions, which deeply altered his perception of Amaram and all lighteyes.
Amaram's betrayal stoked a rage in Kaladin that he found it difficult to suppress. This manifested in several ways. Kaladin maintained a specific hatred for Amaram and he was determined to have his vengeance. Once Meridas returned to the Shattered Plains, Kaladin many times considered murdering Amaram quietly in the night, straining his bond with Syl. This hatred eventually culminated in Kaladin publicly challenged Amaram to a duel as a redress for Amaram's actions. In addition to this, for years afterwards Kaladin nurses a hatred for all lighteyes. He is convinced that no lighteyes was worthy of trust, and any reputation for nobility or trustworthiness was nothing but a lie. This makes it difficult for Kaladin to later trust Dalinar, especially given Meridas and Dalinar's friendship. When Amaram is appointed head of the Knights Radiant, this makes Kaladin even more reluctant to reveal his abilities to Dalinar. Amaram put Kaladin out of his mind, and did not recognize the captain of Dalinar's guard until, to Amaram's horror, Kaladin publicly challenged him. After Kaladin's release, Amaram avoids Kaladin unless forced to interact with him. Amaram is still feels sorrow for what he did to Kaladin's squad, but still insists that he would do it again, as humanity needs practiced Shardbearers to have any hope of defeating the Voidbringers. Upon further reflection, Kaladin's relationship with Amaram helps him to realize that he cannot allow Moash to kill King Elhokar, because that would mean that he too is sacrificing one life for the good of the many. Amaram now wishes that he had not spared Kaladin's life.
=== House Kholin ===
;Dalinar
Dalinar Kholin and Meridas had a friendship that spanned several decades. For years, Amaram promised Dalinar he would eventually come to the Shattered Plains to fight in the War of Reckoning. Once Amaram comes to the warcamps, he and Dalinar spend a good deal of time together, attending events and having dinners. Dalinar initially believes that Amaram may secede from Sadeas to join his own princedom, but Amaram still believes that he can get Dalinar and Sadeas to cooperate in the future. Amaram believes in Dalinar's ideals about a unified Alethkar, but wishes he would bend some on his principles. He also considers Dalinar to be a prophet of the Almighty due to the visions that Dalinar sees during highstorms, which gives him a certain reverence for the man. Dalinar himself considered Amaram to be a man whose honor was beyond question. He believed him to be such a good man that he initally made him the head of the refounded Knights Radiant. However, when Kaladin shares the story of Amaram's treachery with Dalinar, Dalinar investigates Amaram hoping to prove the man's innocence. When Amaram lies to Dalinar about Taln's Shardblade, unaware that Dalinar is aware of his deception, Dalinar gives Amaram plenty of time to share the truth with him, out of respect for their friendship. After he confronts Amaram about his lies and Amaram confesses to having stolen Kaladin's Shards, Dalinar's respect and trust in Amaram is completely broken and their friendship is ended. Amaram does not see how his actions of killing his own men is substantially different than Dalinar leading men to their deaths against the Parshendi. Dalinar's misjudgment about Amaram's character causes him to question his decision about refounding the Radiants, wondering if he is doing so in arrogance. Amaram regrets the loss of Dalinar's friendship, and wishes he had killed Kaladin instead of sparing his life. Amaram's later appointment to the position of Highprince Sadeas by Ialai does nothing to ease the tensions in their friendship, instead further dividing Alethkar and indicating that Ialai distrusts Dalinar's indictment of Amaram and indicating her opposition to the Kholins.
;Gavilar
Meridas and Gavilar were extremely close friends. It seems likely that their friendship is based upon their mutual desire to return the Vorin Church to dominance and the Heralds to Roshar. Even though they were friends, Amaram acted still slightly subordinate to Gavilar, slouching in Gavilar's presence even though Amaram is the taller man. It is unknown how Amaram reacted to Gavilar's death, but even years later Meridas's thoughts turn to Gavilar when working to achieve the goals of the Sons of Honor. For his part, Gavilar thought so highly of Amaram that he tried to arrange a marriage between his daughter Jasnah and Amaram, even though she had expressed disinterest in the union.
;Jasnah
Shortly before his death, Gavilar tried to set up his daughter with Amaram, and though Amaram expressed interest, Jasnah was steadfastedly opposed to the union. Between Gavilar's assassination and Jasnah's apparent death aboard Wind's Pleasure, the relation between them appears to have soured dramatically. When they meet again in Urithiru, Jasnah reacts to Amaram with utter venom. While he does initially attempt to bury the hatchet, he does so out of political needs, believing that Jasnah controls Dalinar. When it becomes apparent that there will be no peace, the two insult each other in increasingly personal way -- which Jasnah later regrets -- before Amaram storms off.
;Adolin
Dalinar's heir Adolin and Amaram are on friendly terms, sometimes chatting casually at various events and meetings. Amaram feels comfortable with Adolin, occasionally giving him small pieces of advice to him, such as advising him to find a wife and settle down. Adolin considers Amaram to be the perfect lighteyed general. However, he has always thought that Amaram seemed too perfect to not be hiding something. As a result, when Kaladin challenges Amaram to a duel over past wrongs, Adolin believes Kaladin's account and puts himself in prison as well in solidarity with Kaladin.
Following the revelations of Amaram's true nature, Adolin's opinion of him changes drastically. By the time they meet again in Urithiru, he has no compunctions against calling him a bastard to his face.
=== Other ===
;Torol Sadeas
Amaram is a loyal servant of Torol Sadeas, despite the fact that he disagrees with many of Sadeas's divisive actions, such as ignoring the plateau run schedule. However, he does agree with Sadeas that some things can only be accomplished via unsavory methods. Meridas dutifully remained behind in Alethkar to train soldiers for Sadeas's army on the Shattered Plains, an important but unglamorous duty. Once Amaram became a Shardbearer, he chose to remain a member of Sadeas's princedom, even though he had the ability to secede from Sadeas's princedom and join Dalinar. Sadeas for his part does not seem to value Amaram very highly, often acting dismissively towards Meridas. Sadeas is also aware that some of Amaram's honorable reputation is a facade.
;Shallan Davar
Amaram himself does not have any real relationship with Shallan Davar, and initially she knows nothing about him. However, Shallan herself mistakenly believes Amaram to be the man who killed her brother Helaran, as he carries her brother's Blade. As a result, she feels a strong hatred for the man she believes to be his murderer. With time, this hatred cools somewhat, as she comes to realize that Helaran had already abandoned his family and Amaram was just defending himself. However, her loathing does not fade entirely and she still believes him to be a bastard.
== Trivia ==
* Once Moash's eyes are lightened by his Shardblade, they are the same light tan color as Amaram's eyes.
* In the original draft of The Way of Kings Prime, Amaram wields two Shardblades. He ultimately does this at the Battle of Thaylen Field in Oathbringer.
* In a draft of Words of Radiance, Iyatil successfully kills Amaram when he tries to retrieve Taln from Dalinar's warcamp. In that same outline, Adolin does not kill Sadeas.
== Notes ==
category: viewpoint characters
es:Meridas Amaram