Maeriel Thornbow
Maeriel Thornbow is one of the senior members of the Martial tradition of the Sisters of Anwyn, standing alongside Dîmeril Laeghartha, Sabine Thornmere and Yvaine Silverwind. An experienced half-elf ranger, Maeriel has followed Dîmeril for many years and is now one of the most respected figures within the community at Merilrond. Now eighty-eight years old, Maeriel has the appearance of a human woman of about fifty. She is a seasoned woods-woman and accomplished ranger, although her greatest talent has never been with bow or blade. Maeriel is exceptionally good with people. Patient, perceptive and approachable, she has an instinctive understanding of when someone needs encouragement, when they require correction and when it is wiser simply to leave them alone. She is consequently a very capable leader, though one with remarkably little interest in authority for its own sake.
Maeriel first encountered Dîmeril Laeghartha in the Caledor Woods of Goerath, during the period following Dîmeril's service as a Border Lord. Unlike some of those who subsequently gathered around Dîmeril, Maeriel did not arrive because she needed rescuing, sanctuary or somewhere to belong. She sought Dîmeril out because she had heard of her and admired what she was attempting to do. That admiration survived actually getting to know her.
The two became close friends, although there has never been any romantic element to their relationship. Maeriel admires Dîmeril without idolising her and is quite capable of disagreeing with her. She has remained principally because she believes that, for all Dîmeril's faults and occasional stubbornness, the things she is trying to accomplish are fundamentally good. Maeriel has never sought to challenge Dîmeril's position as Heryn. Indeed, she has little desire to rule anyone. She will readily take command when circumstances require it, and just as readily relinquish that authority when they do not. This has made her particularly valuable to Dîmeril: Maeriel can be trusted with responsibility without ever coveting the position that accompanies it.
For much of her adult life Maeriel shared her life with Dendran, a human druid whom she eventually married. It was a long and happy marriage, despite the inevitable difference between human and half-elven ageing. They both understood from the beginning that, barring accident or violence, Maeriel was likely to outlive him. Understanding that did little to make the reality easier. Dendran died two years ago, aged seventy-five.
His death devastated Maeriel. They had spent decades together, and suddenly the person around whom much of her private life had been built was simply absent. The fact that his death came naturally, at the end of a long life, offered rather less consolation than well-meaning friends sometimes imagined it should. Maeriel remained at Merilrond. Her friends were there, as were people who had known and loved Dendran, but for a time she seemed to have lost much of her sense of purpose. She continued her duties and remained recognisably herself, but those who knew her well could see the difference.
The Greenward
The transformation of the Golden Woods of Anwyn has unexpectedly given Maeriel something new. As the Woods have grown and the need for their protection has increased, Maeriel has taken an increasingly important role in training the Greenward. What began simply as another duty has become something considerably more important to her. She has proved exceptionally good at it. Maeriel teaches woodcraft, tracking, archery and the practical skills expected of woodland guardians, but she places just as much importance upon judgement. A Greenward must know the difference between a traveller and an intruder, between frightened people and dangerous ones, and between a situation requiring intervention and one best solved with a few sensible words.
It is here that Maeriel's gift with people has become every bit as valuable as her abilities as a ranger. She is demanding without being harsh and has little patience for swaggering or unnecessary displays of toughness. Those she trains quickly learn that Maeriel is far more interested in whether they can keep their heads than whether they can impress her on an archery range. Among the younger Greenward she has consequently acquired a reputation as a formidable but deeply trusted teacher. The work has not replaced Dendran, nor has Maeriel attempted to make it do so. She still misses her husband terribly. But after his death left her wondering what she was supposed to do with the years still before her, the Greenward have given Maeriel a reason to look forward again.
