Heroes: Lord Meriatan
Position: Lord Marshall of the Army of the Swallow
Magic: Idealist Church; Noble Adept of Saint Carpattia, unique heroquesting powers
Perhaps the greatest Loskalmi hero of his generation, Lord Meriatan was born the son of a knight in the city of Salona. From an early age, he showed a keen intelligence and an instinctive grasp of Loskalmi honor and chivalry. There was never any doubt that he would achieve great things, given the opportunity, and today, some even describe him as ‘Siglat reborn’. He became a wizard-knight at the age of twenty-two, an almost unheard of feat, and championed the cause of his kingdom as a knight errant, as well as serving in the Order of the Griffin.
Meriatan has always possessed an unshakable faith in the virtue and inherent superiority of the Loskalmi way of life. He has pursued this through the military, and, while he cares deeply for the common people he protects, he has little time for those who argue for peace or who extol Loskalm’s non-martial virtues above those that he himself typifies. Artwork, romance, and academic learning are all important, he argues, but they mean nothing without a strong army to protect them and to overthrow their enemies in foreign lands. He believes firmly that the armies of Loskalm are the greatest in the world, and that the Idealist creed is capable of creating the perfect man, supreme in all forms of endeavor. The road to ultimate domination of all Fronela will not be easy, and will require great strategists as well as armies of brave knights, but it is a road that Loskalm must follow, and one that, in the long run, it will be victorious in. For Meriatan, no other option is possible.
Five years ago, while campaigning as a knight errant in central Fronela, Meriatan saw first hand the atrocities of the Kingdom of War. He grasped immediately that they were his nation’s nemesis; the embodiment of all that Loskalm was not, save only for their great military prowess. He came to see the defeat of the Kingdom of War as not only a moral imperative, but as the great proving-ground from which Loskalm could launch its conquest of all Fronela. By defeating the forces of death and horror that the Warlords represent, Loskalm would prove itself worthy of rule, and demonstrate to all the superiority and inherent rightness of their ideals.
It became clear to him that the only way to achieve these goals was to leave behind errantry, and seek military command. He rose rapidly through the ranks, and, as Colonel of the Washland regiment, petitioned the King for permission to forge a special army to combat the Kingdom of War. After the fall of Perfe in 1619, he received his wish, and founded the Army of the Swallow. In the months since, the new army has grown hugely in size, and Meriatan has shown tremendous skill in marshalling its resources, and turning it into an efficient fighting machine. He has built fortifications along the Junoran border, using magic to raise them in a matter of months, as well as offering help to the Junorans themselves against their encroaching foe. He has gathered great heroes around him, becoming one of the most powerful and influential people in the Kingdom almost overnight.
And now, he is eager for the battle.
I post this as an appetiser for the upcoming Book of Glorious Joy, Meriatan is one of the excellent Heroes of Loskalm that are detailed in the book, which is currently in the layout wars – with numerous layers of polish being applied on the advice of the Grand Magus Ben Monroe (long time ally of Chaosium and now firm friend of D101) who is checking the final layout.
Soon my friends, soon 
