“You have usurped the Maker's creation. He made us both of the same matter, but you wear a crown and I a yoke. The world hasn't room for us both. For me to be content, you must be destroyed; and for you to be safe, I must be dead.” ―The Elusive Iconoclast
The Elusive Iconoclast is a rebel leader inciting a peasant uprising across Serault. Some of her more fervent supporters believe she is Andraste reborn.
Description
The Elegant Abbess describes her as:
“A kind offer "Some poor lunatic, no doubt," the Abbess sighs. "It is easy to mistake madness for visitations. You have so many troubles; let me help you with this one. Though her sedition is secular, her heresy is not. Should you capture her, let her be the Chantry’s problem. With care, prayer and seclusion she may even repent her errors." There’s something she’s not saying.”
The Kindly Knight describes her as:
“A gentle reproach "Hm? Oh, yes. Charming young lady. Golden hair - but cropped, of course. Eyes brown as fresh-tilled earth. Like my poor Acerie. She’s wilful, yes, but she’s young. You remember what that’s like. Better than I do, at least. "And she does have a point, doesn't she, eh? Comes on a bit strong, but the common folk... well, things change, don't they.’ "Where is she? I couldn’t say. She comes, she goes. If she doesn’t want to be found, she can bow her head, put mud on her face, and vanish among the serfs. If we paid more heed to them, perhaps we’d be able to tell them apart, hm?"”
Involvement
She attempts to incite anarchy by claiming herself to be Andraste reborn. Not all peasants dance to her tune however as many find her claims to be heretical. She does gain significant support until she manages to convince the Kindly Knight to turn his manor into a freehold. Many peasant from the surrounding area sought shelter and protection there.
Shortly after she is captured by the Cheery Baron when she was preaching her anarchy on one of his hunting lodges. He leaves her fate up to the Marquis of Serault.
If interrogated it is revealed that she was an initiate in the Chantry trained at the Serault Abbey. As for her reasons for rebelling:
“The Chantry has lost its way, you have seduced it with gold and comforts. It props you up when it should burn you down. Therefore, those it has abandoned must do the burning ourselves. I have foreseen it. The sky, aflame. On your ashes we will build a second Golden City, and the Maker will descend to dwell among the meek.”
If she is handed over to the Chantry, the Elegant Abess will come personally with a chevalier named Joleise to fetch her. She calls the Iconolast "Aulienne" and tells her that she is to be confined to the Rose tower in the Abbey and watched over by Joeise while she seeks repentance:
“Back to the beginning The Elegant Abbess waits, masked, in the courtyard. "We'll cloister her in the Rose Tower," she tells you, leading the way, "where she will spend her days in isolated prayer." The chambers are modest but comfortable, with an adjoining walled garden planted with neat, alternating lines of rosemary and basil. A heavy, pepper-haired woman is waiting there, clad in silver armor decorated with diving hawks. Her smile is lazy, but her eyes are sharp. "The chevalier Joleise will guard her night and day," the abbess explains. "It is my fervent hope that one day we can cure this poor child of the visions that have allowed her no rest." For the first time, the Iconoclast speaks. "You can't cure revelation, mother." "Enough, Aulienne," the Abbess says. "Enough, now." Without her, the revolution goes from sear to simmer. The dissidents wait to see if she will return to lead them. But the chevalier Joleise sleeps little and lightly, and the Iconoclast is not seen again beyond the abbey walls.”