Darkonian Kargatane Record
- Known Name: The Amaranth / The Divine Child
- Race: Unknown - believed to be some form of Outsider taking a human form
- Apparent Age: Early teens
- Birthday: Unknown
- Height: 5'1"
- Alignment: Evil (unknown ethical alignment)
- Affiliations: Nevuchar Springs sect of the Church of Ezra (hypothesized)
- Religion: Unknown
- Character Class: Unknown
- Place of Origin: Unknown
- Player/Type: NPC
Appearance
The Amaranth is a deceptively innocent-looking entity, typically appearing as a young girl of around 13 years of age. She has long, dirty blonde hair that falls in soft waves, and her grey eyes carry a glimmer of curiosity and mischief. Her attire is simple yet striking: a simple white dress common for Barovian children, faintly weathered as though well-worn but not tattered. She is most often found wandering through reddish fields of amaranth flowers, playing with childish glee with a small black silk bag filled with vibrant red rubies. Her presence exudes an almost ethereal serenity, her delicate movements and youthful visage putting those around her at ease—though an air of unease lingers for those more highly attuned to the supernatural.
When the Amaranth sheds her carefully constructed façade, however, her otherworldly nature is laid bare. Her once soft and curious grey eyes glow with a sinister crimson light, her expression twisting into a predatory, almost feral grin that betrays her true malevolence. Blood stains frequently smears her once-pristine dress and pale skin, the blood of some poor mortal who earned her wrath, and she takes delight in the feel of their warm blood on her skin and clothing, further enhancing the horror of her transformation. Her slender hands become clawed and blackened, as if dipped in ash, clutching the same black silk bag—now pulsating and spilling with unnatural energy as the ruby-like orbs that seem to glimmer with their own inner malice as the souls of the condemned in them scream in anguish. In this form, her presence shifts from eerily peaceful to palpably terrifying, the surrounding field of flowers and the very skies seeming to darken and wither as though consumed by her otherworldly power. A swarm of predatory carnivorous locusts or other insects frequently appears out of nowhere and surrounds her when she begins to flex her power and anger.
Background
Arrival
Nobody knows (or at least, no-one left alive with the knowledge and willing to share) when the being known as The Amaranth arrived in Leiksburg, or even the Land of Mists. But "she" is believed to have arrived over a century ago and the growth of Leiksburg as a community and settlement has been synonymous with the Amaranth's presence.
Why Leiksburg was chosen is also unknown, but according to the few local legends and recovered records from the Amaranth Cult's leader's home, the former Burgomaster of Leiksburg, it is known that at the time the Amaranth was first believed sighted Leiksburg was a small hamlet set up after the discovery and establishment of a silver and iron mine in nearby Mt Ghakis. As Barovia has many such small settlements and mines, Leiksburg did not stand out and its growth was slow as, like most of Barovia, there were many threats in the night, in the forests, and in the mountains and nearby river and lake Luna. It's location in-between major settlements, however, gave it a slight advantage, especially after the annexation of Gundarak, and this may have been a reason why the Amaranth chose it. Soon after tales began of a golden-haired innocent child playing in the Amaranth field began, things got... safer. Wolves and werewolves appeared to keep at bay. Hags avoided Leiksburg and would curse its name if mentioned. Vampires seemed to choose other locations to prey on. Even mindless or hungry undead that preyed the nearby forests and roads seemed to never want to get closer than the village's outskirts, and the few that did were usually never seen again, or seen in literal pieces. The villagers began to see the presence of the child as a divine being of some sort - and the cult of the Morninglord in particular were quick to hail the young girl with hair as golden as the morning dawn as a "divine child". No-one ever really knew if she was either a mortal blessed by a divine being, or some form of divine being herself - but it was a moot point. It became quickly obvious that her presence kept away the creatures that most Barovian settlements had to be weary of - and that led many into a false sense of security.
Birth of the Cult
Soon after, the divine child peaked the interest of the locals, but she would always remain a little distant, as if shy. But slowly, she began to have limited interaction with the locals, seeming to be keen to listen to their woes and provide comfort when they were harmed, injured, and upset. Then she began aiding the occasional person in need, but only those in the most dire need or the most desperate, or ambitious. It is around this time that the Amaranth began approaching certain people - some being the utterly desperate, but others being the ambitious and cruel. Over the next couple of years she built a network of servants - most of who knew at least something of her true nature... they knew they were serving some kind of diabolic being, though not what. But she offered them what they craved, to gain power and wealth and fear no enemies, in return for an eternity as a superior in her infernal horde after their death. For many, this was a fair deal and a way to power both in mortal life, and in the afterlife - better than resting mindlessly for eternity, which is what most Barovians believed the afterlife was. The cult brought others into the fold - some as knowing, willing members, and others as hapless lackeys. They flexed influence in secret by hiding their membership and existence from outsiders, and used this influence to ensure their loyal members got positions of power in Leiksburg (and surrounding nearby settlements and towns that Leiksburg grew to have contacts with) - ensuring the cult remained in control of the political, economic, and social elements of the town. They even had cultists in the town guard, although this was harder to control as the guards belonged to the Barovian army under the rule of Boyar Stanislav. The solution became simpler, and the cult groomed a cousin of the Stanislav line to become the Burgomaster, all the better to keep the Boyar's attention diverted or obfuscated. For several generations, the title of Burgomaster was handed down by members of the Stanislav line, all of who grew up and were inducted into the Cult of the Amaranth from an early age. With the aid of insiders in the village to direct the desperate towards the Amaranth and encourage them to seek "the Amaranth's blessing" and dissuade any concerns, slowly but surely the legend of the divine child became a local legend and the Leiksburg believed they were blessed, and more and more people began to seek her blessing, unwittingly selling their souls in the process. With every blessing made and soul sold, a new ruby would appear in the Amaranth's black silk bag, glowing faintly with a portion of the victim's soul. Once the mortal passed on, their soul would immediately be pulled into the ruby and forever detained, to be used by the Amaranth in the future for her own hellish schemes.
With prosperity, the hamlet grew into a village, and made many trade connections with nearby villages, hamlets, and towns such as Vallaki and Immol. Some Forfarians moved from Immol to Leiksburg but, curiously, few if any ever ever made deals with the Amaranth or accepted her help. The relationship between the Forfarians and the Cult was cold but respectful. The Cult were mildly frustrated by the Forfarians' unwillingness to "accept the blessings" but as long as they kept to themselves and did not get in the way, the Cult did not much care. The Forfarians never truly found out about the cult, but soon realised SOMETHING was up and there was some kind of secret society running things - but they equated that to being much like many towns and settlements, where noble blood or nepotism was a standard way for politics. Unbeknownst to the Cult, they had their own magical healers and protectors in the form of druids of the Old Gods, which they kept as secret as the Cult kept its own existence, and so the Cult or the Amaranth offered little that the Forfarians needed - and a natural suspicion and reticence to accept aid of outsiders made Forfarians accepting the blessings few and far between, though they did occasionally occur. In fact, it was one such cursed Forfarian that would ultimately cause the fall of the Cult.
Natalia Stanislav
Leiksburg grew to the point where it was approaching town status. This began to get the attention of Boyar Natalia Stanislav, who had inherited the position of Boyar and General of Barovia's army after the death of her father at the hands of Gundarak rebels. Investigating and wanting to learn about the lands she was now Boyar over, she grew interested in Leiksburg, both for it's strategic location, value of its mines, and strange economic success and lack of need for protection. Whilst other hamlets and villages in the area needed guards to protect against zombies and hungry dead and other predators in the shadows, Leiksburg had no such need. All her attempts to gather information from Leiksburg's Burgomaster, a cousin thrice removed of hers, seemed suspiciously deflective to the smart Boyar, and she grew to believe there was something going on that was being deliberately kept hidden from her. But there were more immediate priorities, so she allowed it to keep being deflected. That was until one of her own soldiers, maimed by Gundarak rebels and losing the use of his legs and malformed face, heard the legend of the divine child and went. He then returned, seeking to return to duty, looking as healthy and hale as he had been in his prime - limbs mysteriously regrown and scars undone. This led Natalia Stanislav to decide to visit. Cultists embedded by her side manipulated her, however, convincing her that "a friendly family visit from a cousin" with aims to bolster relations between a Boyar and her Burgomaster cousin would be better served than a General of the army entering with troops. When Boyar Stanislav went to Leiksburg with a handful of her most loyal guards for protection, she was unaware that all her guards were secretly cultists, and she was walking into a trap. Soon after arrival, the Boyar - not privy to years of Leiksburg legends and indoctrination and misdirection to the cult - with an Outsider's natural suspicion and a Boyar's power to demand answers, quickly began to realise that things were not right. This was when Burgomaster Stanislav placed a curse on Natalia Stanislav, making her simple-minded and her memory foggy. He introduced her as a simple-minded niece of his that he was adopting after the tragic death of her parents, and none suspected otherwise - with her own "loyal" guards acting as go-betweens whenever the Burgomaster needed the Boyar's influence - a Boyar going missing, after all, was too attention-demanding. To most who knew the Boyar, she simply settled in Leiksburg and began to work remotely through those who served her. In reality,, she became the Burgomaster's plaything - used and abused for his every dark whim.
The Heroes
For several months the status quo remained as the cult and their master desired it, until a group of adventuring heroes arrived at Leiksburg, seemingly by chance. These heroes had not heard any of the legends but were quickly struck at the calm and prosperity of the village, and naturally made enquiries. On one night they met a couple desolate as the wife was crippled and with a fatal malady - and the next morn she was as right as rain, after the Amaranth had given them their blessing. Used to fighting all form of evil beings that take many guises, they quickly became dubious about the "divine child" and miraculous recoveries, and began to make investigations, with the Halloways - nobility from Mordent - socialising with Burgomaster Stanislav whilst Warden Marcus and others mingled with the populace. Their investigation, however, was more curiosity peaked with doubt, than an inquisition but, for some reason, two key pivotal events occurred.
Nathaniel Halloway met Natalia Stanislav and, although she was simple-minded and he knew no better about her staus, saw her true heart and a love blossomed between them. In a few rare moments of lucidity, however, she hinted that she was a prisoner and the Burgomaster a cult leader. Although fleeting, random, and lacking in enough information to know anything close to the truth, Nathaniel believed that Natalia was a victim kept against her will, and sought to rescue her.
As this was happening, the others investigated in the taverns. A Forfarian male came in, screaming and cursing, his mind seemingly gone. He ranted about the Amaranth, cursing her name, and that "the blessings are lies! We are all damned!" However as the heroes began to question him, preventing locals from "helping the man for his own good" (unbeknownst to them, cultists attempting to take him away to silence him), the Forfarian began to scream in agony and blood poured out of every orifice, before he collapsed and expired, a lifeless shell whose last moments had been sheer agony. This caused the heroes to redouble their efforts and suspicions.
Once Nathaniel secreted Natalia away, with a distracting performance by their halfling bard friend Dominique Petite to keep the Burgomaster and his entourage distracted, they secreted her out of the village. Once they left the outer areas of the village, the curse on Natalia's mind appeared to lift and she recalled who she was. Although she did not know everything, her time as the cult's prisoner had enabled her to learn enough to understand what was going on - that Leiksburg was run by a cult that worshipped and served some form of evil outsider entity, and that the populace and travellers to Leiksburg were being lied to and duped into selling their souls in infernal deals. Natalia revealed that she was a General and would return to her fortress and gather her troops, and return to capture the Burgomaster. Cultists attempted to prevent Natalia leaving, but the heroes fought them and enabled Natalia to leave along with Strahd's Spymaster to assist her return.
On returning to Leiksburg, things quickly soured. The cult, realising what the heroes had done and the problem that the Boyar General's escape would bring, attempted to enact vengeance on the heroes, but the heroes were no simple travellers and the cultists paid a high price - but they had numbers. Many numbers. But then the Amaranth herself appeared - her first known visit to the village centre itself. She seemed a strange mixture of annoyed but bemused. The heroes attempted to attack her, but barely took a step before swarms of giant carnivorous locusts appeared out of nowhere, their quantities darkening the very skies. The locusts began attacking indiscriminately, tearing flesh off innocent villagers and cultists alike. The Amaranth seemed to laugh with glee and amusement. She told the heroes that they were insignificant next to her, and she could end them - but that she was amused by their actions and had become bored of the situation anyhow. She told the players to enjoy their victory, they had exposed her and she would leave, and they had "saved" Leiksburg - but that she would leave with what she was due. Suddenly, the village was filled with the sounds of anguished screams as hundreds of people - the cultists and those who had willingly or unknowingly sold their souls for her blessings - began bleeding through every orifice just like the Forfarian in the tavern days earlier.. and expired horribly. Dancing as though the screams of anguish were a symphony to her, the Amaranth disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, and has not been seen since.
Personality
Little is known about the Amaranth's true personality, only some of her goals - claiming souls. She is evidently extremely patient and plays "the long game" in everything she does. She is immortal, so the span of a human lifetime is little to her. She has displayed arrogant self-confidence - which may be her weakness if it weren't for the fact she seems to be almost deity-level in power. But her true personality is otherwise a mystery, other than her desire to collect souls for her own purpose, of which no-one alive seems to know much of.
When she takes a form, however, her personality is a perfect facsimile of what people expect. As "the Amaranth" divine child, she was always sweet and innocent, playful, spoke like a young child would. She would say or do anything to make people believe the lie. And that is the only truth that heroes can really say about the her personality - the Amaranth lies.
Other Notes
Dominique's Songs
Audrey's friend and famed bard Dominique Petite has written and performs songs about herself, her allies, and notable legends and events.
They can be accessed here:
Dominique's musical repertoire
Specific songs about the Amaranth:
- "The Amaranth's Blessings" - Dominique's song about the events at Leiksburg regarding the Amaranth.
How Did She Do it?
In the aftermath, many of the newcomers and/or survivors in Leiksburg wonder how the Amaranth managed to pull off what she did - especially in a place as notoriously paranoid, superstitious, and unfriendly as Barovia. The answer is a combination of patience, and using human desire, greed, faith, and desperation in her favour.
Barovia is a dark country. It's always cold even in summer. You can barely see the stars through the clouds. Vampires, zombies, and werewolves (and allegedly worse things) roam the night and the shadows, rumoured monsters in the lakes, rivers, forests, and other places. People marry and start having children at 14 years old and typically have 6 children, of which 2-3 may survive to adulthood due to disease, famine, and other threats. With luck, one child may survive to old age. Barovians are used to high child rates to support the high death tolls. It's simply the way of things.
And this girl comes along with such an innocent face. Her touch cures all diseases and curses, letting the blind see, the deaf hear, the crippled walk, and those with terminal illness recover to perfect permanent health. Her very presence also makes the monsters stay away from the village. This made Leiksburg the most prosperous and safe place in Barovia since her arrival. The only thing she asks of those who seek her blessing is "that you believe in me and give me everything you are in dedication". Everyone who received her blessing appeared to live normal lives and suffer natural deaths. No negative effect of receiving her blessing has been witnessed in generations… leading over time, to a reputation of being a miraculous "divine child".
The reason that it all remained so quiet is that the Amaranth is immortal. With the agreement made and blessing given, she owns the soul - and she will automatically take it when the human dies. And humans live so little... and there are many threats in the Land of Mists, so what is the rush? Most of the desperate never ask about "the small print" of what exactly it means "to give her everything you are"
And a cult that helps her, promised power and that when they die, their souls will be esteemed members of The Amaranth's infernal forces, not tortured as emotional fuel and twisted into basic otherworldly beasts like the others. The members of the cult have political power, money, fame, and can do whatever they want (no matter how bad it is) and either the cult or the Amaranth protects them. Who would doubt the word of the mayor, the politicians and financiers and popular people, when they support the divine girl who performs miracles "without consequences". Those few who learnt the truth invariably either went mad, like Cleric Grigori of the Morninglord, or were silenced by either the cult or the Amaranth herself. Once her blessing was granted and she had fulfilled her end of the bargain, she could claim her due (the promised soul) at any time - she did not do so as a matter of lack of urgency and better to protect the secret. But those who learnt the truth of the deal and tried to warn others had their souls claimed in a horrible and painful way, typically out of plain sight to preserve the secret.
Combat Style
No-one has witnessed the Amaranth in combat, but a few witnesses have testified to seeing the Amaranth tear apart with her bear hands a human who threatened to betray her secret. As some form of demonic/infernal entity, she appears strong and is likely also capable of growing claws, horns, or other form of natural weaponry, and will almost certainly have resilient or scaled skin to grant her natural armour. But this is all hypothesizing.
The Amaranth is highly intelligent, cunning, manipulative, and entirely self-serving. Whilst she is undoubtedly physically powerful, she prefers to avoid combat - relying on her servitors or hirelings rather than "getting her own hands dirty" though most suspect this is simply to prevent any suspicion that may affect her disguise and illusion of innocence, than concern about getting physical.
During the incidents at Leiksburg, as a show of force against the heroes to demonstrate her power, the Amaranth summoned swarms of otherworldly insects - locusts, wasps, and other flying insects but of a shadowy, otherworldy and more deadly nature. The unleashed these insects on the populace of Leiksburg - especially on members of her own cult, demonstrating just how little these loyal cultists truly meant to her. The swarms attacked innocents, damned, and cultists alike without discrimination, seemingly for the most part ignoring the heroes to inflict harm and chaos on the Leiksburg populace, seemingly simply to anger the heroes.
Signature Equipment
- Ruby bag: a large bag made out of black silk containing many small red rubies that glow faintly - each ruby is created when the Amaranth grants a "wish" and a soul is claimed. When the wish-receiver dies, their soul is automatically transferred into its ruby as property of the Amaranth for eternal damnation and servitude under the Amaranth.
Signature Quotes
- "You are beneath me. You could not ever dream of defeating me in combat. But you have exposed my ruse to the world, and so this place has little worth to me any more. So I shall leave. Congratulations... you win! Enjoy your victory... until the next time." *fades away, and half the village population screams in agony and drops dead as she takes their souls with her*
