Meraerth ke'Désach

## Meraerth ke'Désach "The Warriors of Change"

* **Name:**Meraeth ke'Désach ("Warriors of Changing" in Sperethiel)
* **Location:**Throughout the Niswi-mishkodewinan andManitou Council.

The Warriors of Change have their origins in the power struggles among the Manitou in the 2050's after the Highsun Coup. The Manitou were divided between Derek Highsun's pro-government "Solars" (*Maeltish*) and Laura Hawkmoon's Elven -nationalist "Lunars" (*Isilmëtish*). While the Solars relied upon the Niswi-mishkodewinan military to support them, a lot of the Manitou minority that served in the military had Lunar leanings. These Elven-Manitou soldiers and ex-soldiers formed their own, clandestine 'direct action groups' to defend 'the Elven Way of Life'. By the late 2050's these groups had started to organize, largely led by retired military leader *Zarien Teleg'faskit*"Zarien Lawkeeper" (Capt. retired, John Michael Bedford, formerly of the CAS  army) and Marietta Greengrove, a former confidante of Manitou founder Adrienne Silvermoon, into what Greengrove first referred to as 'Warriors for the coming change' or just "Warriors of Change", providing security for nationalist rallies and self-defense training for their fellow Lunar partisans. Greengrove was killed in 2061 in the lead up to the Algonkian-Manitou Civil War, leaving the more militant Lawkeeper as the primary leadership in the Warriors.

When the Manitou Council broke away from the Niswi-mishkodewinan in spring of 2062, the trained and organized Meraeth ke'Désach formed the core of the revolutionary army, which begins as a coalition of nationalist groups (the Meraeth ke'Désach, Thelem Makkanagee etc.) and Elven volunteers from within the Council and outside. In early fights, the Meraeth ke'Désach serve as the special forces of the new Manitou Army. However with the death of Lawkeeper in the fall of Kuugjuaq in 2064, the Meraeth ke'Désach fractured. Many stayed with the convential military of the Manitou, and to this day the highest ranking Warrior of Change also serves as a *Dresneri*to the *Raegh*and as senior *Meraeth Eoerin*(senior judge of the Path of the Warrior) in the Manitou. Others were behind enemy lines and joined the ranks of the "Left Behind" *Ozidan.*

However, no matter where the Meraeth ke'Désach serve, they are still devoted to the fight, on the lines or behind it, known for their high levels of training and unpredictable tactics, devoted entirely to the Manitou revolution. The Meraeth ke'Désach have reliably defied and ignored each of the three cease-fires that have been negotiated in the last decade. Their unofficial motto, equally feared by their enemies and the moderates in their own camps alike, is *Speren-ya pechet Chalha* "No Peace but Victory".

### Relations with Other Organizations

* **Thelem Makkanagee "The Mother's Sons"**: This group of guerrilla fighters for the Manitou cause often fight behind the lines in enemy territory and come in contact with the Warriors of Change. That being said, while they work together often, it is not always harmonious, with both the Warriors of Change and the Mother's Sons vying to lead the fight. Both groups consider themselves the "original" rebels and the power clashes between the two have not, yet, led to violence.
* **Faceless Men :**The small community of Shadowrunners in the Niswi-mishkodewinan (about a dozen or so for the whole nation at any given time), is generally made of non-elves and Three Fires veterans. Combine with that with the bounty on members of the Warriors of Change in the Niswi-mishkodewinan, the relationship between the Faceless and the Warriors of Change is often a shadow of the open war between the Niswi-mishkodewinan and the Manitou Council.
* **Lake of the Woods Enclave**: There's a lot of tension between these two groups, despite their distance. While a lot of Lake Elves are sympathetic to the Manitou cause, they draw the line at becoming involved in any direct way beyond occasionally hiding out refugees or random donations, while the Warriors consider this isolationism to be short-sighted, cowardly and a betrayal of Elvenkind. There is currently no contact between the two groups, which suits both of them just fine.
* **Lindenwood Elven School**: Without the knowledge of most of its staff and members, the Lindenwood School in Fargo is secretly used as a conduit for funds and support from Rachael Schlossman-Martin, CEO of Goldmark-Craig-Schlossman, who is a regular supporter and secret contributor to the Manitou cause. Funds, supplies and information flow between the Lindenwood School and the Warriors of Change under the cover of trips for "Elven Cultural Exchange".
* **Blood Worgs**: While not as close to the shapeshifters as the Mother's Sons, the Warriors and Blood Worgs have a distant and wary respect for each other. They aren't exactly on what you'd call the same side, but they do have a lot of the same enemies, such as the Niswi-mishkodewinan military and the big megacorps. Blood Worgs also make for good mercenary backup and a source of arms when Warriors are behind the lines.
* **Road Warrior Company**: Mercenaries hired by the foreign allies (mainly Quebec) to support the Manitou war effort, the Road Warriors are often found in the same combat situations as the Meraeth ke'Désach, but the fiercely elven-nationalist Meraeth ke'Désach and the mostly non-elven Road Warriors do not work well together, having formed a intra-service rivalry that has been worrying to high command.
* **Keepers of the Eastern Door**: While certainly the Warriors of Change are at war with the whole of the Niswi-mishkodewinan military, there is a special rivalry and hatred between the Meraeth ke'Désach and the elite Keepers of the Eastern Door unit and the two outfits will go out of their ways, sometimes even violating orders to get a shot at each other.

Return to: Algonkian-Manitou Civil War