Samol

This article is about the character. For the song of the same name, see Inside & Outside: Friends At The Table Soundtrack, Season Three.

Samol
Basic Information
Pronouns	He/him
Titles	The Original Pattern Physicality Alive Hieron Himself
People	Deity
Connections
Re­la­tion­ships	Severea (sister) Samothes (son) Samot (adopted son)
Meta Info
Season	Autumn in Hieron (mentioned) Marielda Winter in Hieron Spring in Hieron

Samol, nicknamed Sam, is a god in Hieron associated with the land, plants, and trees. He is the first of the five gods of Hieron's old pantheon, and is said to give his body and blood to be worked on.

He is the narrator for the Marielda openings and Hieron: The Months of Autumn. He is often seen playing the guitar.

Appearance

Samol has very dark skin (darker than Sige's), blue eyes, and a somewhat angular and androgynous build, described by Austin as "what if David Bowie was super black". When Sige met him, Samol wore brown slacks and suspenders, a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a wide hat that shielded his face.

This section contains spoilers for Marielda 14.
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Samol also appeared during the Quiet Year in the form of a monstrous purple plesiosaur that emerged from the water around Marielda, broke through a cracked section of the wall, and went on a rampage. As the creature came onto the beach, its fins began to pick up sand which formed around them into legs, feet, and claws. Similarly, it picked up stone as it moved through the broken wall, becoming a mixture of mortar, dirt, rock and scaly flesh.

This section contains spoilers for Winter in Hieron 24.
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When the party meets him in Winter in Hieron, Samol is described as "a black man, with dreadlocks that are ... very clean and well-kept, but his body is not. He looks emaciated. His face is receding into itself. You can see the sockets of his eyes ... the pants that he's wearing are way too baggy for him." A chunk of his shoulder has been displaced and now floats above where it would have been. This chunk represents Ordenna, which is made of land displaced from the Mark of the Erasure, as the state of the continent of Hieron is reflected in the state of Samol's body.

This section contains spoilers for Spring in Hieron.
Click here to reveal.

In the beginning of Spring in Hieron, Samol is described in his human form as having "dark, leathery skin," with blotches of discoloration that weren't there during Winter in Hieron. He has long, gray-white dreadlocks, a weathered face, and sharp, thin features, now even older and with more wrinkles. Samol can take the form of a great purple dragon with a chromatic sheen to his scales. In this form he is known as the dragon Hieron.

Personality

Samol plays the role of storyteller throughout the story of Hieron, and is a playful and subjective narrator, adding his own wry commentary on the events which he retells. He is also an omniscent narrator, and has knowledge of everything that happens in Hieron (as Hieron is his own body). Austin describes him as "a god who knows everything, and also has fucking thoughts!" Nick describes him affectionately as "an irascible old bastard".

Samol is short-tempered and sharp-tongued, especially after being sick for an unknowably long period of time. At the same time, he is largely friendly towards the player characters, even when he is frustrated with them. Even though he often resents the actions of his family, he expresses a great deal of love towards them.

Despite being a major and very opinionated presence, he is largely a passive actor in the events of Hieron. As the land itself, other people fight over him, for him, or seek to harm him with Samol usually watching on without intervening.

History and Involvement

Creation and Early Hieron

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“

If every god sprang from somethin' else, where did I come from? Well, one day, Nothing flinched. And there I was. And instantly, it regretted me.”

Samol is the first "material being", born into the void when Nothing "flinched". Immediately regretting Samol's existence, Nothing sprang forth Death in the form of Tristero in order to kill Samol. However, because Tristero was also a material being, he and Samol became friends instead, "like a farmer and a butcher". From then on, Nothing would only send immaterial forces like the shadowy Word eaters and the Heat and the Dark after Samol and the other gods.

Seeing that the world was lonely, Samol sprung forth his sister, Severea, who in turn filled it with creatures. Seeing then that those creatures were "dumb and unable to care for themselves", Samol sprung forth his son, Samothes, to build them tools and shelter.

At some point, a particularly violent shadow slew Severea and stole her name, but subsequently became fascinated with her name and freed her shortly afterwards. Samol and Severea's joy upon their reunion filled the world with "new, imaginary creatures". As a reward for his repentance, Samol gave the shadow a body and took him in as a son, Samot. Later Samol would also grant him godhood.

As part of the five-god pantheon, Samol's religious icon is a man "kind of split into four", holding an uprooted blooming tree in one hand and a ball of fire in the other. He has also been represented as a tree-like humanoid whose limbs turn into blooming flowers and whose hair turns into tree branches.

Marielda

Prior to the events of Marielda, Samol began to fall ill due to the effects of The Heat and the Dark, manifesting in Samol as a cancer. Knowing that the progression of the disease would eventually lead to his death and the destruction of Hieron, Samol urged his family to let him go and to find a way to live without him. However, out of sentimentality, he gave Samot and Samothes a mansion as a token to remember him by. Samol later speculates that this gift might have helped drive them apart.

During the war and the events of Marielda, Samol disapproves of his sons' actions, but acts mostly as a bystander. During The Quiet Year, he takes the form of a purple plesiosaur and destroys part of the city, killing about a hundred people, possibly as a warning against people entering the Western Wood.

Later, he recruits Sige Coleburn and asks him to help stop The Gardeners, as Samol does not approve of their attempts to expand the woods. When Sige fails, Samol offers him a new deal, asking him to stop Maelgwyn from killing Samothes. During the climax of Marielda 14: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 4, Samol again takes the form of a plesiosaur and attempts to reach the volcano, but he is too late to stop Samothes' death.

Samol does not take direct part in the events that follow Marielda, but it is clear that he has become more and more cynical and resentful of being kept alive.

Some time after Samothes' death, Samol moves into the mansion himself and lives there with Ethan and Edmund Hitchcock.

Winter in Hieron

In the latter half of Winter in Hieron, Hadrian, Hella, Adaire, and Lem arrive at Samol's home, the mansion that he once gave to Samot and Samothes, on an island in The Buoy. There he tells them the story of Marielda and makes food for them. He does not try to assist the party or defend himself when the Ordennans attack his home.

During one of the battles with the Ordennans, Lem plays a note with his broken violin that injures Samol further. Samol gives Lem his guitar to use instead. Samol's guitar is one of Hieron's five artifacts of power.

Lem later causes the house to begin flooding, and then attempts to use the guitar against the Ordennans and fails to play it, making the flooding worse. Frustrated at Lem, Samol becomes younger for a moment and angrily changes the guitar into a violin. As Forest Party is subsequently swept away by the flooding, Samol climbs to the roof of the house.

The last scene with Samol has him sitting on the roof speaking to Stornras Glasseye, beginning the narration for Hieron: The Months of Autumn.

The Months of Autumn

Samol tells Stornras Glasseye the story of Autumn in Hieron. When he is done speaking to Stornras, Samol gives him a sword and tells him to either kill him with it so he can finally die, or to deliver it to Lem, Fero, and Fantasmo in the mountains. Because this was recorded before Winter in Hieron there are some continuity errors here. It is later confirmed that the sword was the Blade in the Dark, which Stornras ultimately passed along to Sunder Havelton.

Spring in Hieron

After losing his house in The Buoy, Samol moves to the ruins of Samot's tower near the Mark of the Erasure and there begins to work on the Breath of Hieron, a mass of his own life energy that he hopes could serve as a "beating heart" for Hieron after his death. Fero spends several years living beside Samol, learning to control his powers of creation and keeping Samol company.

After Samot is fatally injured by an Ordennan attack, Samol takes the form of a dragon and flies to the Last University. There he performs Tell Me and other songs for the people of the University and speaks with each of the player characters present. He goes to Samot to have a final conversation. Without telling Samot, he passes the Breath of Hieron to him while they speak, bringing Samot back from the brink of death but killing himself in the process. Samol's death causes magic to fade from the world of Hieron, as the land that remains is merely a corpse now.

Relationships

Spoiler warning! This relationships section contains major spoilers for all of Seasons of Hieron. Tread carefully!

Tristero

Samol became friends with Tristero after he was created by Nothing. For a time they were the only two material beings to exist. Samol has not seen him since Tristero isolated himself to Nacre.

Severea

Severea was born of Samol, and he calls her his sister. He was deeply joyful and grateful when Samot allowed her to return to life. As of Winter in Hieron, Severea and Galenica have both spent many years leading The Grand Tour, responsible for stitching up Hieron where the Heat and the Dark has torn it apart. Samol seems to resent this process.

Samothes

Samothes was born of Samol when he saw that the creatures in the world were helpless and unable to care for themselves. He is Samol's son. Samol seems to have a regard for Samothes that goes beyond fatherly affection, and speaks with a certain degree of respect about Samothes' inventions and teachings.

Samot

Samot was taken in by Samol after he killed and then freed Severea. Samol gave him a body and later godhood. Samol considers him like a son. They seem estranged in the present day, and Samol speaks of him both affectionately and disparagingly. Nevertheless, when Samot is on the brink of death Samol does not hesitate to come to his side, and has even written a song about their father-son relationship.

Fero

Samol and Fero spend several years living as neighbors at the Mark of the Erasure. Samol enjoys Fero's sense of humor and the two develop a close friendship. Eventually, Samol encourages Fero to return to the Last University to help the other characters, but he affectionately tells Fero to "stay rude" before they part. Samol also uses his powers to speak to Fero one last time before he sacrifices himself to save Samot.

Trivia

• The name "Hieron" comes from a joke about Art and Austin's college friend Ron ("Hi, Ron"), who comes up several times during the Hieron worldbuilding episode. Keith lampshades this when Fero calls Samol "Ron" during Spring in Hieron 03.
• Olday is named after him.
• The Cult of Wolf and Dragon is dedicated to him and Severea.