Meredar

A great wealth of life thrives upon the soil of Ultheles, fueled by the powers of the Nexus at the core of the world – the source of all life. The Nexus is a fickle thing, however, and governed by law and chaos in equal amount. In no creature is this more apparent than the elusive Meredar, who embody the spirits of nature itself.

No one knows when the Meredar first walked Ultheles, but they predate both the Elves and Dragons and even written language itself. It is said that the oldest Meredar have walked Ultheles since the days the Nexus first was formed and that they are the caretakers of the natural realm, the incarnations of the Nexus itself. As such, the Meredar are a race of incredible power and are viewed as something akin to divinity. To some, even to the extent that they revere the Meredar as deities of the natural world, though this is primarily an occurrence within the Uncivilized Tribes and the Egranic Faith.

The Meredar typically shun civilization, however, and tend to prefer the untamed wilderness to the cobbles and streets of society. Indeed, to a certain extent they shun humanity itself and some may view mankind as having turn their backs on their natural state. In general, Meredar are solitary in nature and few have caught more than a glimpse of these beings in centuries, although rumors are abound that Meredar mingled with men in ages past, and that progenitors of such bloodlines have power unrivalled by other mortals.

More commonly, some Meredar have entered into Pacts with bloodlines of the past, and some of these ancient bloodlines retain an ability to summon this pact. These are few and far in between those and seem to be a recessive characteristic, and even in these cases they tend to be linked to a singular Meredar.

While Meredar have a rather distinct and individual nature, they put great importance on their elders and what society they have are centered around these elder Meredar. Some of these Elders are said to have lived through even the Wars of Dominion, but learned men should not put much stock in these legends perpetuated by religious dogma. That being said, specific elder Meredar have names that have been immortalized and told in tales of the believers.

In general, Meredar are vaguely humanoid in appearance, but they have taken on aspects of their environment and the Nexus itself so that some are almost translucent or have shapes vaguely resembling trees, rivers and mountains. Many of their shapes are abstract in nature, but according to stories each look uniquely different and that their individual nature affect what form the Nexus is represented in them. As such, some may seem almost completely human, but every Meredar will have something non-human about them, whether it takes form in their eyes, a light breeze always surrounding them or anything along those lines, something will always betray their connection to the Nexus.

## Types of Meredar

As Meredar are representations of Nature and the Nexus, the most common form they are depicted in religious iconography is in the four elements of Wind, Fire, Water and Earth, but some stories also claim that there exist Meredar of Light and Darkness, Life and Death and even the Lightning itself as well. The claims are far too varied to draw complete conclusions at this point, but their speciation seem to be far more prolific than initially thought. The four core elements are, however, viewed as the core types of Meredar and those who study the Meredar tend to believe that other incarnation than the four core elements are merely variations and crossbreeds between the core four. This theory has yet to be properly substantiated, however.

## Famous Meredar

In legend, certain mighty Meredar reoccur as either aids or foils to heroes and rulers and those who study the religious etymology of Meredar note similar names as reoccurring as objects of worship. These include the mighty Andru’Gaer, the Ruler of Heaven, Ledro’Haan, Keeper of the Flame, Niah’Thern, Queen of the Waves, Ulviun’Deur, The Mountain’s Voice, and Crondr’Aeth of the Lightningstrike.

## The Blood Meredar

One persisting myth is that of the Blood Meredar, a terrible creature that were said to follow the horrific Blood Rayne that the Elves unleashed during the Wars of Dominion. It is said that the power of their spell was so horrific that the Nexus itself buckled beneath the weight of it and nearly burst. So strained was the Nexus that it could no longer sustain all of Ultheles and in areas were it was stretched to the point of breaking, areas of Dead Magic would form. No life was able to persist in this area and mortals perished in thousands. This area spread over time as the horror of the Blood Rayne wreaked havoc across Ultheles and blood rained from the sky. It is said that Meredar, unlike mortals, did not perish in these areas of dead magic, but was instead driven insane, corrupted as the Nexus was torn from them. Some believe that these Blood Meredar were the first Dikenvar, and that these crazed Meredar would savagely attack Dragons and Elves alike.

For a long time, Dead Magic was thought to be no more than a legend, a myth perpetuated by the Elves in an attempt to scare Men from fully utilizing the power bestowed upon them. It was only once the Mage’s War raged that humans came to realize that this was no mere myth, but was actually substantiated by the re-emergence of Dead Magic zones, as the Mages used all their power in an attempt to establish dominion. In spite of this, the Dead Magic zones were limited enough in both scope and size that Blood Meredar have yet to emerge as a consequence and no Blood Rayne has fallen. It has, however, reinvigorated the theories of the veracity of Blood Meredar, even if it is still unsubstantiated.