Mariki

Mariki is one of the central NPCs in the Elite Quest, Vowed in Blood. She is a Blood Knight and acting chaptermaster of the chapter Thys, "having walked the dunes over a lifetime"^[1]. As a novice, she has dispatched the fallen^[1]. As a chaptermaster, she has presided over nearly a hundred rituals of induction, of which she has also stated, "the failures outnumber the successes"^[2].

In Bellon's memory, she has single-handedly resurrected and inducted him into her order. It is noted she has implied that she has gone through the same fate as his, when he stated to her, upon resurrection, she was basically conscripting him when he is serving another. After fighting the thralls in the location of his bounty, Bellon requested to see his wife, Cathrien. She allowed him but ordered him to do so quickly. When the two arrived at his home, she stayed outside while he entered, but after he accidentally killed Cathrien while confronting Edelard on his fraudulent sigils and plans to sabotage due to overhearing him, she rushed inside and attempted mitigation. However, he blamed Cathrien's horror and the whole ordeal on her and succumbed to his curse. She sentenced him in response.

At some point, she has brought and kept his keepsake in her chapterhouse.

Over a century later, Mariki appears in a camp Bellon has brainwashed in Shassar Sea, and dispatches his remaining thralls which the hero(es) has not. She reveals the abomination, summoned by the camp earlier, to be Bellon, and recruits them in destroying him via his keepsake, giving information about Blood Knights in the process. Inviting them into her chapterhouse, she strikes his keepsake but to no avail and thus proposes two cenotaphs that are capable. Just then, Bellon breaks in, so she instructs the hero(es) to take the keepsake further inside for destruction, while she stays behind and fights him. When the hero(es) comes back, having relieved his memory instead, she has trapped him in a dome, as the two realize he is clinging to the curse. Bellon overpowers the dome, leading to a final fight, in which Bellon expresses desire for vengeance while she apologizes for mistaking him. After thralls invade the chapterhouse and are slain by the hero(es). she transforms into an abomination, overpowers and binds him. Under her guidance, the main character destroys Bellon's keepsake. As Bellon dies, she vanishes along with him, but her keepsake is left behind.

The main character opts to place her artifact on the table where she has attempted to destroy Bellon's.

Character

Clad in Blood Knight armor, Mariki has medium long white hair and pale skin, red irises amongst black sclera with veins spread out from her eyes, as typical of the knights. She speaks with a notable accent.

She often uses red magic out of her hand for psychokinetic and defensive purposes, to close and seal doors without touching them, trap a being into a dome, or restrain one with magical binds. She has also used it to form a portal. Possessing considerable strength, she can overpower multiple thralls at once, although unable to successfully defeat Bellon on her own.

Her keepsake is bright and appears violet, mixed with other light colors.

personality

For all classes of shard-seekers, she is helpful and informative while behaving closer with Blood Knights. Besides addressing Blood Knights as a cousin, she is more open with her comments toward the pledge and the Annulet's wish toward Thys. In alignment to her role as an acting chaptermaster, she is not only knowledgeable but also assertive and leading. In the present, she gives out orders and delegates tasks while focusing on Bellon herself. In the past, she was forceful on measures to take with Bellon's condition post-induction, with a disregard for his wellbeing. For her status, Thys' knights show deference to her.

As the quest progresses, she becomes desperate and despaired. After realizing Bellon clings to his curse, she is truly apologetic over inducting him and views his induction as a mistake. For various reasons, whether it be guilt, devastation, a greater interest in upholding the order or vanquishing Bellon, she transforms into an abomination and allows the destruction of his keepsake to swallow them both. The act is self-sacrificial in nature, as it fulfills his vengeful motive which has become known to Mariki while condemning her to fall. As Blood Knights do not tolerate the fallen and Mariki has declared herself one, she subjects herself to the destruction, a sign of her loyalty to the order and the pledge.

Reference