- "I will shield your back, and keep your counsel, and give my life for yours if need be. I swear it by the Light with total devotion."
- —Melara swears her oath to the Queen.
Lady Melara Redpool is a Dame of Entsteig and Commander of the Queensguard. She is the only living daughter and heir of Lawrence Redpool, Lord of Stoneheart and head of House Redpool. Melara has garnished a nigh-legendary reputation in her nation. Entsteig recognizes her not by her excellence as a warrior, which she has proved in battle countless times, but rather her attributes of female masculinity.
Now she serves—a symbol to some, a stalwart fellow soldier to others. But for Melara, it is a chance to use her great strength to protect the ones she loves. The Queen of Entsteig regards her as the most valuable Dame in the history of the Western Kingdoms. She has trained famous female warriors such as Lydia and Jillian Weeper, and is the Godmother of the former. In Entsteig she is known as The Maiden of Entsteig by friend and foe alike.
History
Melara Redpool was born in castle Stoneheart, near the city of Lakeshore, that was on the front lines of the Tarlock Rebellion. She had two older brothers who both were murdered by the rebel forces. In 1246 A.K. her father, Lord Lawrence Redpool, fought off against rebel forces of Earl Reynard Tarlock. Young and adolescent at the time, Melara was surrounded by the post-war destruction, and as she grew older, she swore that she would gain the strength to help her people recover.
Her Queen's Guardian
The Hidden Oath
Something to Fear
Mark of War
Embrace of the Heiress
Character and Appearance
Melara is fierce and proud, and defies traditional Entsteig gender roles by her military position. She is both stern and sensual, and in some cases voluptuous. Even those who love her best find her stern, serious and unforgiving. She is described as having a "harsh beauty" and seldom smiles.
More often than not Melara will be garbed in armor, and when garbed, she wields two ancestral swords: Lament, formerly her late eldest brother's Zweihander sword passed down to her after his death, and Flame Sister, whose slender blade is designed for a woman's hand.
