Maristo, also called Maristo Aguas Profundas, is a paladin who also made a pact with the devil Bel (Bael, Belial). His shadow does not match his body: it shows a scythe where he holds a staff and a horned, thorned armor where he wears plain clothes.
| Type | Character (paladin) |
| Era | Before the Contest; reappearances up to and after 1370 DR |
| Origin | Tanastias |
| Companions | Arfan, Orpheus |
| Spanish entry | Maristo |
Description
A sturdy man, about 1.80 m tall, whose pale eyes glow silver so brightly that his face stays dark; a crown-like halo surrounds his head. He carries a lowered banner, a lit lantern and a removable helmet, and wears a tank top tucked into his trousers, “like a cowboy”. His shadow and light project thorned full plate with a two-horned helm, “like a minotaur”.
The pact with Bel
Bel was Maristo’s first enemy before becoming his pact-holder. Maristo offered his soul for the release of his companions, with the Vala Cristalis as pledge: «yo doy mi alma por ellos» (“I give my soul for them”). The debt stands.
Powers
Maristo fires radiant rays from his cacto; one destroyed an obelisk. He can lose his paladin powers; holy water restores them.
History
- He travels with Arfan and Orpheus; each of the three knights has a personal squire.
- His recorded route includes forty days and nights in the desert, an earlier advance on a tower “that had a contest”, and the mirror where the reflection of the Templar women is seen.
- Told that the Vala could be recovered only by bringing one of those Templar women across the reflection, he refused to bring “one of the purest and most innocent” to “this side of rot”. The Vala stayed lost and the debt to Bael remained.
- Purified with holy water, he lost the thorns, horns and scythe and appeared as a classic knight in full plate, “a mix of Lancelot and some saint” (Saint Francis is named).
- In the fourth circle of the Descent, asked to describe himself in five words, he said: “Solemn face. White, monastic tunic.” Prompted for a color, he added: “A blood-stained red cape.” This distich opens the anthology of the Poet Paladins.
Open questions
- What the cacto is, and whether it is the staff whose shadow is a scythe.
- Where the epithet Aguas Profundas comes from (place, deed or lineage).
- What the lowered banner bears and why it is not raised.
- How he lost his paladin powers, and whether the pact caused it.
- What the tower’s “contest” was, and whether Bael accepted the soul.