Mariel

Mariel is an ancient wise woman, unpaired with a dragon, who travels with Jeriel and often advises him.

History
Mariel was once the tool of Ouros, in ancient times. She was turned into a husk, and had her memories replaced with all of the dark, tragic tales of human and dragon kind. She was given great abilities as a story teller, able to speak many languages, in order to devastate the Tarascon wherever she could find a weakness.

This she proceeded to do, sitting before him and telling him a hundred and one stories, each more depressing than the last. As she did so, it gradually broke into his heart, softening him more and more, but he did not die. However, it was her final story that broke the Dragon-King. She had exhausted all of her known stories, and so decided to tell one of her own making.

The tale wound history together, and was in part directed by her knowledge of Ouros. Mariel cast it as a prophecy, pretending to fall into a trance, and proclaiming that dragons and mankind would fall into chaos, into a war.

Story Stuff
Friends with Warrick, gets introduced to Jeriel by Warrick. She doesn't like the boy, thinking him to be a silly boy only concerned with the present day. However, his belief that Alcrisus is the true danger, not the Southern Kingdoms wins her over.

It takes a while for her to reveal her backstory, and does so in parts: first that she is ancient. Second, that she was once a Husk. Third, that she saw the death of the Tarascon, and knows that it is Tartas. Finally, when they reach Tartas, she says that she in fact killed it, and that Ouros has significant power stored there, trapped by the Tarascon, that might allow some way to defeat Alcrisus.

Because her husk memories are still present, and her old ones unrestored, Mariel still has urges to kill dragons. She still has story-telling and her languages, however, which makes her indispensable. Her languages, as an important note, are very archaic versions, and will lead to translation issues.

Her ability to tell stories well, using the evil half of her, will allow them to escape the imminent wrath of one of the Nobahtu. The Sheik will wish to kill her, but their respect of story-telling is such that when she offers to tell him the greatest story she knows, he will sit down. Then, she will tell the story of Monica and Joseph, and get them free.

Quotes

 * "The most scenic paths are never short and straight. And that means we can't see what's ahead."
 * "The un-chained heart hears little logic, and may thus listen to its true power."
 * "All roads are dark sometimes."
 * "I have seen a thousand years come, stay, and go. Empires have risen and fallen, dictators have created monuments in their name, only to have them replaced with the next king's. Life cycles forwards, lives cycle to an end, life cycles in a new set of faces, and it all continues. There is truly no change."
 * (Jeriel responds, "And yet, the Southern Kingdoms and the Free are rejoined. What greater change can you ask but in the heart of a people?")
 * "Humans can judge far faster than dragons, and that is why we have finer language, can make smaller tools, and can know each other by the face. But dragons have the advantage: they do not judge each other quickly, and thus, have no fear of first impressions."

Ending
She dies, but gets her memory back, revealing her past. At the beginning, she was Alcrisus' love, a historian of arcane secrets, and the first person to sail out far enough to contact Ouros. She did so, in order to discover more secrets, but she was taken captive by him, and used to begin The Unrest. This was against the will of Alcrisus; but when the dragons began to war, he took her research, and used this to contact Ouros for himself.

In the end, she is killed by having a bolt pierce her lung, allowing for a slow bleed out. She and Alcrisus talk, agree that cycles can be ended by a true, faithful heart.