The Gardener is a nameless old man of the palace who recruited the Wordbreakers for the final arc of Vala, from the Tower Ob Caligni to the meeting with the King in Uruk; he is recorded as a local manifestation of the Cakravartin.
| Type | Character (palace elder) |
| Identity | Manifestation of the Cakravartin |
| Possible son | Prince Debo |
| Spanish entry | El Jardinero |
Description
Only his title survives. Those who saw him noted the virtues of a good ruler, though he never governed in a form the cities recognized. He evokes the walled paradise: the first garden and the first city as one, the sovereign who tends rather than commands. He seemed to remember lost cycles of the world as his own.
Role
He told the Wordbreakers frankly that they were his chosen and also his meat for the slaughter: what he needed could only be given by those willing to be consumed by it. His agency, as far as can be reconstructed, was benevolent. He is the Cakravartin in his oldest, humblest form, before the wheel turned to make him recognizable.
Open questions
- Whether he is the father of Prince Debo; the line of succession was never declared.