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.) For their loyalty and usefulness to the the king, they rapidly integrated themselves into his confidences. 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.

Although Steros shared an amicable enough report with the sorcerer-king, in time the priest grew frustrated at pretending to work for Antioch. Hours wasted in useless research. Treasure spent on pointless expeditions. Through it all, Alexandria counciled the need for patience and steadiness, and it was her hand that ultimately kept Steros' sometime reckless nature in check. Indeed, many sages point to this period in Hakan City as something of a "growing up" period for Steros, as his relationship with Alexandria developed from a straightforward mentorship into a more complicated friendship and he began to learn the nuances of leadership.

On her advice, Steros continued to maintain the secret of the Stand's true errand, even as Antioch prepared for his one-man assault on the Shadow Kingdom. By this time, Antioch accepted the Stand as his truest circle of believers and followers, and so left the regency in their hands during his attempt to assassinate the Dark Lord. Likewise, they were participants in the forging of the Thorn of Midnight, Antioch's star-iron bastard sword that Alexandria would later reforge into Entropy's End.

Steros spent several months on Antioch's regency council as Minister of Law before the Sorcerer-King's return from the realms of shadow, where again Alexandria's aid and comfort were critical to Steros' ability to focus on long term projects while not losing his patience or temper due to day-to-day political banalities. According to his own testimonial, it was a frustrating period for Steros: honor and expectation tied him to a position he did not want and responsibilities he had no taste for. When rumors of darkling prophets started to filter down from the city states, he grew restless as he "feared outpaced by prophecy and impotent to act."

Thus, when a humbled and magically deformed Antioch returned to his kingdom on 11 Sunforge 31 BI, Steros immediately began to divest himself and the Stand from positions of responsibility in Hakan. Antioch would only accept Steros' resignation in person, and only in the presence of the greater court. The King attempted to convince and coerce Steros' into reconsidering, which later became hectoring and needling for reasons. Finally, Steros' passion overcame his patience and he loudly and angrily berated the king: for his short-sightedness, for his arrogance, and for his "aloof and intemperate rule". He admitted to having never truly believed Antioch's claims to prophecy and, to drive the point home, began to list all of the reasons he believed Alexandria to be the savior from prophecy. It was the first public declaration of the sort and, coming from a popular and influential priest of Tarlos, it send waves through an already strained religious community. The mural "The Declaration" by the halfling painter Anzo Riveroler in the Main Antechamber of the Sacellum Chancel is a famous depiction of this moment. Needless to say, Antioch was more than willing to accept Steros' resignation at that point.

The Prophet's War

The Second Crusade

Building the Church of Alexandria

Personality and Testimonal

Steros was, beyond a doubt, the most strict and structured member of the first stand. As a church administrator, first for the Church of Tarlos and later in the nascent Church of Alexandria, he adhered strictly to rules and laws. This quality is prominent in his contributions to the early Church doctrine, as Steros is responsible for a large body of rules and regulations for the church. As a civil leader, he was a strong supporter, and often a participant, in enforcing laws and putting down rebellion. While Steros was not a heard-hearted leader who disregarded the value of the individual in favor of the laws of society, he would certainly err in the favor of law and order.

Through the middle of his life, Steros was very much a fire-brand: quick both to judge and exact retribution.