Meres

Meres was a Mystic (of the Yakra type) who disguised himself as a human so he could live in Human society. A devout follower of Spekkio, Meres eventually rose to become Archbishop of the Church, and then lead the Kingdom as Regent up until the Cleansing Wars.

Biological

Full Name: Unknown; "Meres" was the name he assumed on entering the priesthood

Born: 2261 AD

Birthplace: Denadoro, Guardia

Sex: Male

Race: Yakra

Hair: None (in his human disguise, his hair was white)

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5'10"

Status: Deceased

Personal

Religion: Spekkian

Title: Archbishop of the Church of Spekkio, Regent of the Kingdom of Guardia

Nicknames: The Betrayer (posthumous)

Hobbies: Reading Scripture

Known Skills: Elemental Magic (displayed the use of Fire, Water, Lightning and Shadow-type spells), Mystic Disguise Ability

History

Meres was born and grew up in the midst of the chaos of the Syndicate Wars in Guardia. Though the Zenan continent was left largely untouched by the fighting that marred Guardia Proper during the latter half of the 2200's, it would be a lie to say that anyplace in the Kingdom could escape the reach or influence of the Technology Syndicates and their private armies.

Born to Mystic parents in the city of Denadoro, high on the summit of Mount Denadoro, Meres longed for something above the pastoral life of his heritage. Adept with sorcery from an early age, Meres mastered the all but forgotten Mystic art of illusory human disguise at an early age, and in 2270 he left Denadoro to make his way in the human world.

Meres made his way to Bangor, and in 2274 he fought alongside Arris Syndicate forces to liberate the city from the Trann Syndicate's control. It was in this battle that Meres was wounded, and came to an epiphany; as the story goes, he was scraped off the battlefield by priests of Spekkio, who tended his wounds, and when he was well enough he asked to join the church as a priest. He studied in the West Bangor Parish, as an aide to one of the Pastors, and in the year 2279 he was ritually inducted ino the priesthood and named as one of the Pastors of West Bangor Parish. Turnover was high at West Bangor in the 2280's, as Trann and Arris constantly waged war to control the city of Bangor, and the priests were kept busy healing the wounded and protecting the innocent from being caught in the crossfire. In 2284, West Bangor's Mon Signor was slain, and Meres rose to fill that position. Then in 2289 Bangor's Bishop was killed while attending a Conference of Bishops in Truce, which had been scheduled to begin just days before the Proto Syndicate launched its surprise attack on Truce in a daring gambit for power over its rivals in Trann and Arris. Meres, respected and, indeed, admired by his colleagues in Bangor, was unanimously elected from among all the Mon Signors to replace the prefecture's slain religious leader.

He remained in his post as Bangor's Bishop for the remainder of the war, and then would ascend to become the Archbishop in the year 2300, after the assassination of the Archbishop Antrel Lindauer, who had guided the Church through the chaos of the Syndicate Wars from the very beginning. Meres' installation was concurrent with Doan's coronation, and history credits Meres with being instrumental in helping Doan to unite the Kingdom by drawing upon the common faith in Spekkio that was found in all the lands being brought under the Kingdom's banner. Meres was not even 40 years old by this time; his rise to the highest position in the Church of Spekkio was meteoric by any reckoning.

It was after the Battle of Atlantis that Meres made his biggest grab at power. With the news of King Derik's disappearance and presumed death, many in the Kingdom feared a diminution of Guardia's clout in the Web of Worlds, as Guardia was left with Queen Naraya to govern them. Naraya was, at the time, very pregnant with Derik's third child, and many in the Kingdom chaffed at the idea that they should lose their King in battle and be left with a foreigner to preside over them. Her poor performance in attempting to negociate a repeal of the Extraterritoriality Act with Rhodes Palmerston of Tasnica didn't play well among Guardians; it seemed to underscore the perception that Naraya was a weak leader (though none seemed to take into account Rhodes' reputation as a master negociator, nor the difficulty of what Naraya was attempting to do in her summit with the Prime Minister).

Meres saw himself as the remedy to this situation. He believed he had the power and strength of judgement to guide the Kingdom through this dark time, and to keep the Kingdom strong in the interdimensional community. He used his influence among the members of Parliament's lower house to have himself installed as Regent, and as Regent he declared that he would marry the widowed Queen to strengthen and legitimize his rule. In fact, no wedding ever took place between Meres and Naraya, but their status as betrothed achieved the same effect as a marriage would have; Meres' reasons for not following through with a proper marriage likely had to do with his wish to keep his true identity as a Mystic a secret.

Meres, unlike Naraya, was very comfortable using the power to which he was entitled as head of the Monarchy. He worked closely with Sir Scorpius, of the Order of the Shield, to create the Archons (R-CONs; Robotic Custodians of the Nation), who are today one of the most potent fighting forces in the Gate Dimension, though they are no longer beholden to the Guardian Government. Meres also tackled the issue of Tasnican Extraterritoriality by enacting the largest-scale economic warfare in the recorded history of the Web of Worlds, by single-handedly organizing the mass, Dimensions-wide boycott of Tasnican goods and services in every territory that counted itself a part of what was then known as the Guardian Hegemony. Buckling to this pressure, Rhodes' allies in the Tasnican Senate helped him to dismantle what had been the AAA Corps' strongest weapon against foreign competition and regulation. Meres also dismantled Guardia's own Parliament when it became an inconvenience to his rule; he replaced the Parliament with a council comprised of the Church's Bishops and like-minded Nobles, who governed from the pulpit and did all but fully merge the hierarchy of the Church with that of the Kingdom.

Meres did much to solidify Guardia's ties with her most important allies in the time of the Leviathan War. A staunch anti-Communist, Meres committed Guardia to the cause of defending the Esper Union, and sent a contingent of soldiers, Knights and Archons to join with General Halberg's Returners Expeditionary Force. He also signed pacts and peace accords with the Esperians and with the Tasnicans, vowing that his government would stand with its allies in the face of Protectorate aggression. It is suggested by some that the Archbishop's hardline stance during the Leviathan War sowed the seeds of his eventual demise, for the leader of the Archon Host that fought in the Battle of New Year's Day, one Danarael of the Chalice, became the First of the Fallen due to an error inherent in the morality programming of the Archons. He would eventually become Rajaat, and instigate the Cleansing Wars in the year 2321. At the Battle of Truce, Rajaat bewitched the Archbishop and caused him to murder the former King, Doan Pendouris. Sir Toadus, Captain of the Knights of the Square Table, would discover him mere moments after the deed was done. This, and seeing Meres inadvertently revert to his Yakra form, would cause the Knight to slay Meres. He is remembered in death as a treacherous liar, and his reign is not remembered fondly by Guardians; any good he may have done in his time is overshadowed by his dishonorable end.

Preceded by:	Archbishop of the Church of Spekkio	Succeeded by:
Antrel Lindauer	2300AD-2321AD	Madrigal Mundoza

Preceded by:	Monarch of Guardia	Succeeded by:
Naraya Pandora	2316AD-2321AD	Derik Pendouris