Amelar is also known as the Hierophant of Constant Sorrow. There is also a figure known only as the Knight of Constant Sorrow. There are a number of other Hierophants in the Shrouded Lands.
Amelar is mistress of the Garden of Amelar (36.04). Family: The Weeper (grandchild of Amelar)
The Ancient Gardener
An elf older than any other within the Court (29.07), who, uncharacteristically for elves shows her age, wanders freely through Kingswood, occasionally making unexpected stops in nearby lands. She dressed in layer upon layer of wispy, colorful, ragged silks, with her motley dreaded mass of grey hair entwined with vines. Her face isn’t wrinkled, but is undeniably ancient – nearly skeletal, with the most pallid of skin. She only refers to herself as the Hierophant, having long since forsaken her given name and title of Amelar the Immaculate. In fact, the Hierophant will speak of Amelar as if the two were separate people entirely. Although she is an elf of the Bloodied King’s Court, she is in many ways above the King and above elven (and round-eared) politics.
While she is unquestionably the most powerful druid in the Shrouded Lands, unlike the more militant druids more directly aligned with the Court, the Hierophant takes a strict hand-off policy when dealing with the world. She only observes people, often unseen, even if they are directly harming one of her many gardens, only repairing the damage once the interlopers have left.
Those that show respect for her gardens, in particular her favorite rose garden (36.04), can (on rare occasion) achieve her attentions. She speaks casually about horticulture and druidic philosophy, seemingly ignoring questions about more pertinent subjects with an aura of airy indifference or via claiming flighty memory. However, those that listen carefully may notice that her words are veiled riddles. A discussion on tending to rot on the ancient tree of the Mirror Lake (37.01) may be an allegory for the Prince of Men, for example.
If attacked she steps into the ground, and is never seen again by the aggressors. The Hierophant doesn’t hold grudges, but if an elf of the Court should happen to spy on someone attempting to bully her, her attackers would be on the wrong end of an elf-Hunt that never ends. The Weeper, (13.08) in particular, takes a personal interest in stories of those attacking the Hierophant – one of the few times that he leaves his tower behind is to join a Hunt called against one who attacks her. No elf will speak of it with an outsider, but it is common knowledge within the Court that Amelar is the Weeper’s grandmother.
Those of any race that display particular wisdom and connection to growing things are sometimes mentored by the Hierophant, though her apprentices cannot expect her to appear to impart lessons with any regularity.
Connection:
- The Hierophant’s magics are potent and she can return the dead to life, although generally not in their previous form (40.09).
The Hierophant of Constant Sorrow
It is not the passing of years that age a man but the worries and cares that accumulate with each passing day. Perhaps it is elven frivolity and their famous lack of empathy or others that explains why an elf may live a thousand years and never age.
Or at least most elves. Amelar the Immaculate, the Hierophant of of the Kingswood, is skeletal with age and as wizened as any crone. This is because she takes on those memories that other elves find distressing into her own mind and keeps them there. She remembers the betrayal of Ilsenaire and the thousand crimes of Alvadr while their victims dance freely.
While the Hierophant still takes on the tragedies of the elven race, they press as heavily on her mind as on her stooped body and she no longer finds pleasure in anything in this world, not even her garden.
So, while all elves respect the wisdom of the Hierophant, they find being in her presence rather distressing and generally try to avoid it, unless necessity prods them into seeking out her wisdom.
Connection:
- It is rumored that the Ferryman (35.06) once took on tragic memories much like the Hierophant currently does. So many that he has aged into a creature more wraith than elf but still lives, for no elf ever dies of old age. That this has to do with fingers specifically nobody knows.
Hooks:
- Is this theory abut sad memories aging you really true?
- What sort of memories has the Hierophant taken on?
- Who were Ilsenaire and Alvadr?
- Are there any other elves who take on memories in this way?
- Why doesn’t the Weeper give up the memory of his daughter’s disappearance and live happily?