Maren
The Tax-Gatherer · The Evangelist of the King
“And as Connor passed by, he saw Maren sitting at the toll-booth; and he saith, Follow me. And he rose and left all, and followed.” — Glacial of Maren 9:9
Maren is one of the The Frostborne Twelve, called from the toll-booth where he gathered the warm tax for the Calorian occupiers — a despised collaborator made apostle. He left his ledgers “and at once went into the cold,” and made a great feast for Connor among “tax-men and sinners.”
The Gospel of the Winter King
He is the evangelist of the Glacial of Maren, the most ordered and kingly of the four gospel-lives, written first for the The Rimefolk to show Connor as the promised Winter King of Isen’s prophecy. His sign among the Four Living Frosts is the Rimehart — the royal white stag. Some traditions name him Maren of Hollowfrost, after Connor’s own village.
Veneration
Patron of tax-gatherers, accountants, and reformed sinners; an emblem of the call that finds a man in his guilt. Feast kept with almsgiving.