Amariel

**Amariel** was a Marizu leader and holder of a castle in southern Lotor, the Castle Haslant. She was slain by Huinesoron and the Raven.

## The Tale of Amariel

When the valiant Huinesoron was first dubbed a knight of Plort, he was eager to bring ruin upon the Marizu who befouled the once (or at least could-be) fair mountains of Lotor. Journeying to the southern city of Andbuc astride his horse Maklar, he took up the shards of his old blade, the blade which had been broken as he fled the ruin of the Eyes of Pace, and forged for himself a new weapon. Long and straight it was, engraved with curving runes and glowing with an inner light that many thought cruel. Davuth he named it, and rode down from the mountains to war.

In the city Borrd he was reunited with that knight called the Raven, who had fought for a time with the Eyes. A dagger she bore of darkened steel, which she named Selin; her black steed she called Vinfleur, and braided silver stars into its flowing mane.
‘Now it so chanced that a new ship, laid some months earlier, had just been completed: a vessel of new design, light and fast, which its builder named Aberration. Though not suited to the great armies Cam led out of Ofum, it would serve well as the courier of Huinesoron and the Raven. They sailed forth onto the wine-dark sea, eager for battle.

Aberration reached the shore in the dead of night, and put in on the shores of the northern wastes. The captain, by the name of Boshay mal Orn, vowed to hold his position until they returned - or for two weeks, or until he was spotted. Laughing uneasily, the knights rode forth into the wilderness.

The road was a long one and a perilous. Skirting the eastern borders of the Empire of Fanvik-Neht, they came upon the young nation of Fixionarly, hold of the Lady Cassandra. Its forests were dense and wild - but, Huinesoron deemed, safer by far than entering Fanvik-Neht, or attempting the passage of the Marizu-held Potread Open Academy (though the Raven would have preferred the latter choice). Dismounting their horses, the brave knights entered the woods.

No stories tell what they encountered there - only that four days passed before they again saw daylight. Returning at last to the saddle, they rode hard to the east, passing out of Fixionarly and into the Kingdom of Lotor.

Lotor in that day was a vast and sprawling nation, stretching from the northern coast clear around to the southern marches of Fanvik-Neht. Seeking to confound their enemies, Huinesoron and the Raven had not elected to land directly in Lotor - rather, they had made their way south to open a new front against the Marizu who held the kingdom.

Close to the border stood Castle Haslant, a peaceful realm after the manner of the Marizu. The lady of the realm, whose name the knights discovered to be Amariel, ruled with a light touch - insofar as a Marizu ever could. All the woods and hills of that land were thick with glitter, urple - and the insidious stench of pla’tool magic.

Tethering their horses to a tree, Huinesoron and the Raven crept into the precints of Castle Haslant. It was dusk, and while the Raven’s armour hid her in the shadows, Huinesoron was clad in gleaming steel - up until his comrade in arms persuaded him to smear mud on it. So the embodiment of Night and the embodiment of Muck sought their quarry, lurking in stables, behind houses, and under carts until at last they came upon Lady Amariel alone.

The Raven crept from the darkness, her knife Selin in hand, and approached Amariel from behind - and that was when Huinesoron saw a movement down the corridor, and realised that Amariel was not alone. There was no time to call out to the Raven - which would have alerted Amariel besides. Lunging from hiding, he swung his great sword Davuth, trusting to luck that the blow would connect.

It did - and through luck, indeed. For the Marizu he had seen was Amariel’s loyal guard Theaden, who stumbled when he found himself under attack, and it was this fall which brought him into Huinesoron’s reach. The guard fell without a sound - and when Huinesoron turned, he found that the Raven, too, had completed her task. They crept out, unseen.

By dawn, the castle was in turmoil. Amariel’s followers had discovered her body, and now sought their own advantage, resorting to open battle to decide who would lay claim to Castle Haslant. It was a simple matter for Huinesoron to make the decision - to slip once more into the keep and set a blaze. Distracted by their feud, the Marizu did not notice the rising inferno until it was too late.

Watching from afar, Huinesoron turned to the Raven. “Many a day passed before we reached this place,” he noted, “and many a day has passed here. Think you that we can return to our fast ship ere her captain departs?”

The Raven laughed harshly. “In truth, I fear he has already fled,” she said. “He has not the stomach for war.”

“So goes my thought also,” Huinesoron mused, and raised his face to the northern sky. “How many miles would you say it is between us and the host of Cam?”

The Raven grinned broadly, gripping her dagger in her hand. “I do not count the distance in miles,” she declared, “but in Marizu slain. And by that measure, I say: not enough.”