Esmae Amarantha
Esmae Amarantha was a skilled wizard whose motivation centered around gaining the love of Count Strahd von Zarovich. However, Esmae's love is a star-crossed and unrequited one, much like Strahd's love for Tatyana Federovna. After merging with the Evening Glory, a vestige of undying love, Esmae became determined to supplant Tatyana by becoming her.[1] A byproduct of her plot caused part of Faerun to slip into Barovia, unwittingly bringing adventurers to thwart her plan.[2]
History
Originally from the village of Barovia, Esmae Amarantha was quite an alluring woman in her youth, catching the eye of many. Yet she loved a person she couldn't have: that of Strahd, whom only truly loved Tatyana. Rejection made Esmae bitter and jealous. Things changed, at least in her perception, when Strahd accepted her into the Barovian Witches. In truth, it was merely Strahd venting his anger with the failure to find love with Tatyana's latest incarnation; Strahd wanted to make somebody suffer as he had suffered. And so Esmae came closer to Strahd in a proximal sense, but yet no closer in an emotional or intimate sense.[3]
Esmae's bitter feelings rose as time passed. In addition, she worried about how her beauty and mortal years were slipping by. Esmae became driven to win's Strahd's no matter the sacrifice. She recruited four special agents, calling them her Obsessions after their own fixated desires and, with their help, broke into the Amber Temple. There Esmae freed the Evening Glory and let the vestige merge with her, on the promise of forever keeping her hope for Strahd alive. From this merge, Esmae's power grew greatly, even giving her the power to snatch lands from the Prime Material Plane to enlarge the domain of Barovia for her master.[3]
Despite the above gains, Esmae's true goals went even further beyond. To earn Strahd's attentions, Esmae felt she needed to become the object of his attentions. To accomplish the transformation, she needed four items formerly owned by Tatyana. Esmae sent her Obsessions, (Glovia Falinescu, Graxxygak, Ivan Randovich, and Omou) to find the former possessions of Tatyana (her powder box, her gloves, her comb, and her mirror).[1]
Esmae planned to use the above object to become an eternal, immortal embodiment of Tatyana. With it, Esmae would have gained more power and influence over outlander lands, such as Faerun. However, her ritual was disrupted and her plans foiled by adventurers. All of the people, places, and things from Faerun she had caused to become displaced were taken back home.[4]
Game Statistics
female human wizard 13, Chaotic Evil[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Darklord p. 7-8
- ↑ Esmae is the final and ultimate villain of the Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts arc of Adventurer's League modules
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Darklord p. 7
- ↑ The Darklord p. 24-25
- ↑ The Darklord p. 30-31
