Difference between revisions of "Steros Merroand"

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Steros Merroand, a human from central Fresia, was the first Arch-Warden and nominal "founder" of the Alexandrian Church. He was a member of the First Stand and one of the two chief mentors of Alexandria in the years following the razing of Tragidore. Originally a firebrand priest and justicar of Tarlos, the demi-god of justice and retribution, he served as the general of Alexandria's armies during the Prophet's War, and assumed leadership of her generals and allies when she left for the West. At the conclusion of the War, with the general religious collapse that came after Alexandria ascended to the Omnity, Steros and his Dwarven allies pushed the creation of a new, central religion to fill the void left by the death of the demi-pantheon. Steros, along with Mythrian, was also responsible for organizing the Crusade and served as one of her chief generals in the Realm of Shadow. After the Martyrdom, Steros returned to the mainland and redoubled his effort to unite the clerical orders of the mainland administratively, if not doctrinally. He spent the rest of his years developing the young church's organizational infrastructure, eventually establishing the Arch-Wardenship and being the first to hold the office. His testimonal, published late in life, became one of the four Testimonals that make up the Canon of Orthodoxy.

Origins and Pre-Tragidore Life

Steros's early life was one of tragedy and loss. His mother died in childbirth when Steros was very young, and he was raised by his father in near poverty. While still an adolescent, his father was killed defending the family's few remaining possessions from a desperate burglar. Steros, young and angry, found refuge in the Church of Tarlos, and he grew up, fixated on revenge, amongst the monastic warrior-priests of the faith. When he was satisfied with his martial and clerical training, he left the refuge of the church to hunt down the man that killed his father. Steros returned to his home town, and found that his father's murder had reformed. Although torn by a small level of sympathy for the once desperate man, his Oath of Vendetta effectively demanded his execution, and Steros obliged.

Less than a week after finding his vengence, his mind and heart still torn and searching for new purpose, Steros was drawn to Tragidore by a prophetic holy man. Steros, believing the encounter was divine purpose delivered to him by Tarlos, readily accepted the charge. His three traveling companions, who shared the holy man's prophetic quest, were the Petran merchant Sayid ibn Maimun and the elven princess-in-hiding Marrwyn Teldandilion. The three traveled to Tragidore, where Steros sought to leverage his religious fervor into a witch-hunt to purge the corruption from the town. Although the tree eventually found the source of the corruption and rescued the children of Tragedy, their victory over the spawn of the Black Wyrm was phyrric--before they could return to Tragidore, the Wyrm razed the town to the ground, orphaning the children.

Alexandria and the Orphans of Tragidore

After the events at Tragidore, Steros returned to Madros-on-the-Tinryll in Odessa and attempted to track down the extended families of the Tragedorian orphans. Steros, an orphan himself, was deeply moved by the plight of the children of Tragidore. He adopted the lion's share of these children, housing them at first at the Church of Tarlos in his own hometown, then later in the barracks of the church of Tarlos in Hakan City. He raised them in the monastic, militant manner reflective of his own time in the church, and honed a great many of them into holy soldiers bent on avenging the wrongs the suffered in Tragidore, many of whom played major roles in Alexandria's campaigns. Chief among them was Mythrian Arabelle, a disciplined, charismatic, and athletic boy who would become a son to Steros.

Steros also had a very strong influence over Alexandria during this period, and became one of her main tutors. Curiously, Alexandria did not take much from the clerical or martial training that was the focus of his training with the other orphans. Instead, his tutelage instead was focused on the theory, practice, and implications of revenge. Alexandria and Steros shared a bond deeper, perhaps, than she shared with any of her other mentors--the Oath of Vendetta. Like Alexandria, Steros had taken his oath young, and had grown to a man under its yoke. Alexandria drew first and foremost on his valuable wisdom regarding the taxing nature that living under, and even fulfilling, the oath could take on the soul.

Many believe that during this period Steros began a slow but powerful shift in personality and perspective that was a source of tremendous wisdom in his later life. There is no doubt that the fire-brand Steros raised the orphans fixated on discipline, vengeance, and religious fervor. However, at the same time he finally began to understand the pain that this fire and rage had tried, futilely, to consume in his own heart. This is particularly true in his relationship with Alexandria, in whom Steros saw a powerful reflection of himself as he struggled under the Oath. Steros, in a very real way, became deeply loyal to Alexandria and the orphans because, from them, he learned many powerful truths about the human condition.

Steros and Antioch

While in Madros-on-the-Tinryll Alexandria and Marrwyn began researching Tramaline's prophecies. Several months later, the Stand discovered another was searching for clues to the text of the Prophecies: Antioch, Sorcerer-King of Hakan Free City. After much discussion, the Stand decided the obvious next step was to relocate to Hakan Free City. Having not yet found homes for the orphans, the Stand decided to take personal responsibility for all of them, and they relocated with the Stand. It was on the journey to Hakan Free City that the Stand had their first run in with the Servitor Naga. It was this encounter, in fact, that brought the group to King Antioch's attention, as the reappearance of the Naga played into the sorcerer-king's mistaken belief that he himself was the one spoken of in prophecy. The Stand, hoping to clandestinely learn as much of the prophecy as possible, pledged themselves to Antioch's service and spent the next several years in research, exploration, and study. (For themselves and for the king, but not always both at once.) It was also during this time that the First Stand divided, as Sayid, Marwynn, Mikos, and several of the Orphans set out for Petera to investigate the recent troubles of Sayid's family, leaving Steros as the Stand's unequivocal leader - a role he had up until then grudgingly shared with Sayid.

The Prophet's War

The Second Crusade

Building the Church of Alexandria

Personality and Testimonal