Meriliah Forger

Dame Meriliah Forger is a young paladin within the First Regiment of Stormwind. Daughter of a simple blacksmith and scribe, she joined the Regiment with her brother, Eli Marshall, after their home of Theramore was destroyed.

Recently knighted, she takes pride in her title, 'The Brave', after nearly two years of referring to herself as a coward due to her initial reaction to events in Theramore.

Appearance
Meriliah is fair enough to look upon. She has a youthful face, being only seventeen years of age, with hooded, almond shaped, green eyes. She doesn’t do much in the sense of makeup to her face, other than darkening her lashes and occasionally lining them with kohl. Being in the regiment, she doesn’t exactly have time to beautify herself and she isn’t too interested in being courted. She does however take time on her hair, using a number of potions to keep it long, healthy, and shiny. She spends time styling it each morning, although ironically, her hair usually just ends up being covered by her hood, which she wears nearly all the time while she is out to hide her ears. She’s fairly tall, standing 5’11”, with a slightly curvy form. As a young woman coming of age, her build is fitting, although she has been known to express her distaste for her lack of feminine physique up until now. She has a decent bit of muscle, like anyone would if they wore plate armor all the time, and moves with a fair amount of grace like most of her kind. More often than not, she prefers to wear her uniform rather than any casual clothes. If she's not in uniform, she likes to wear anything with the color green or blue, although preferably trousers and a loose shirt. She usually wears some sort of ribbon in her hair as well, along with a rose, given to her by Urie, a fellow soldier. She carries her sword with her at all times, along with a bag containing her few books, scrolls, slingshot, and yes, stinkbombs (which have come in handy multiple times). She’s starting to get her first honorary ‘badges of battle’ thanks to her time in Westfall. She has a scar on the side edge of her left knee from an arrow wound. Her hands have a number of small scars on them too now from weapons training. She also bares a rather thick scar on her left shoulder from an axe wound. In Arathi she was wounded badly through the stomach and now has a scar from a sword on her left side. After a recent incident involving a warlock, her eyes have also taken on a fel taint and she has a few burns on her arms and back. She now sports a thick scar as well through her midsection, her first near mortal wound.

Personality
Under Construction

Early Life
Meriliah’s exact birthplace is unknown, although she has always considered her home to be Theramore, where a young scribe by the name of Ariana Forger asked to take her in after some scouts found the then two-year-old Meriliah roaming around on the docks in some cargo. After some conversation and quite a bit of paper signing, it was agreed that Ariana could take the child home to live with her own family. Meriliah was brought home to a father named Roland Marshall and an older brother named Eli Marshall. Roland, already used to his wife’s impulsive nature, was hardly surprised by the new addition to the family, and took on the roll as her father. It was a simple life—a happy one. Merliah would run around the forges where her father worked to make weapons, armor, or even nails depending on the day. She would spend time with her mother, helping her write and keep record of the happenings in Theramore. She would run around in the swamps and steal sweet buns or crocodile skewers from the chefs in the local inn’s kitchen.

The day that Theramore was lost, Meriliah had been out in the swamp hiding rather than fleeing with her brother, while her parents remained behind to help with the defending forces. Upon hearing the manabomb and seeing the smoke in the distance, Meriliah did the only thing she could do, although it came to be her biggest regret. She ran. She didn’t look for survivors, or try to help. At fourteen, what could she do? From that moment on, she referred to herself as ‘the Coward’.

Meriliah managed to make her way to Ratchet, where she boarded a ship and left for Booty Bay and finally, Stormwind. Upon her arrival, she cut off all her hair, leaving her blonde locks just shy of her brushing her chin. She did this in honor of the deaths that occured in Theramore.

Once in Stormwind, she worked as a messenger for a time, before joining the First Regiment at fifteen.

Joining the Regiment

“I’m a coward,” Meriliah said, “But I don’t want to be. I want to help…to take back what was taken from me and to repent for my actions.”

 It was with these words that Meriliah joined the Regiment. At the time, she had no real purpose, only to get vengeance for the death of her family and the destruction of her home. For a while, it was this hatred for the Horde and herself that fueled her to train.

Then, Mairaed Montclair, then O’Callaghan, took her in. After a few months in the Regiment, she became Mairaed’s squire. Meriliah became utterly dedicated the Mairaed. Her knight master was one of the first to show her the art of being a paladin, explaining the thoughts behind being a wielder of the Light. The Battle For Dalaran

It wasn’t until Meriliah’s first battle that she finally managed to gain access to the Light. After being wounded in the ground fight (in spite Mairaed telling her to stay back from the fight), Meriliah was sent up to the city to aid the healers with bandages and washing wounds. This busy work helped with her initial shock of killing her first adversary along with Mairaed's philosophical words. It wasn’t long though before simple bandages weren’t enough to aid the wounded when a patient came in having been affected by the Blackshade Plague.

Meriliah was alone in tending the mage, other than a draenei paladin who had come to help stand guard over the wounded. With the draenei’s words of encouragement and her own stubborn will, Meriliah managed to fight the plague festering within the mage, channeling the Light for the first time with the aid of an old lullaby her mother used to sing to her. As the mage gained consciousness again, the draenei began to refer to her not as ‘Meri’, but ‘Child of the Light’, words that helped to spur her deeper into her training.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was only after her first battle and discovering her talent as a healer that Meriliah gave up her vengeance. That, and discovering her older brother among the celebrating soldiers once that day drew to an end.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">The Conquest of Kun'Lai and Tanaris <p class="MsoNormal">Meriliah spent much of her time in Kun’Lai and Tanaris studying under the tutelage of Mairaed Montclair. She was given a number of books to read on the teachings of the Light as well as practical training in harnessing the Light for healing and combat use. Whenever she wasn’t training, she was getting to know her brother again, as well as unwinding after months of grief, anger, and resentment from the loss of her home. Meri spent time having fun, for the first time in ages. She went swimming with her brothers and sisters in arms, learned some pandarian cooking, and even made friends with a lost baby cloud serpent, which she gave away to a proper handler before leaving Pandaria.

<p class="MsoNormal">Likewise, in Tanaris, she continued her training, although she withered under the sun and spent much of her time wishing she was back in a proper swamp, or Stormwind. She didn’t enjoy her time in Tanaris quite as much as she did Kun’Lai, especially after hearing the news that the Lord Marshal would be retiring. <h3 class="MsoNormal">Squire, Aspirant, Knight, "Ordinary" The road to knighthood wasn't an easy one. After being taken in by the Lord Montclair's wife, Meri was devistated to learn that the Lord Mashal would be retiring. For a time, she left the first, transferring into the fifteenth. She returned after a few months away, when she learned that the Lord Monclair had returned to the Regiment. Upon returning, the Lady Monclair asked for Dame Andraste Tygen, the Ordinary of the Order of Saint Isaac , to take Meri under her wing and to teach her. The Dame agreed, and once again, Meri's training began in earnest. While training, she met Sir Aab Lynned. Between the two of them, Meri received a well rounded education in what it meant to be a follower of the Light and a paladin. Both encouraged her to follow her own heart and ideas and to further her understanding of the Light.

It wasn't long before the Ordinary felt that Meri was ready for her trials. The trials tested her on multiple levels; emotional, moral, and physical. After completely her trials, she found herself changed. Many said for the better.

She was knighted before the regiment and a number of important guests at the Cathedral in Stormwind by Dame Andraste Tygen and Sir Aab Lynned at the age of fifteen.

Not long after being knighted, the Dame Andraste Tygen suffered a debilitating wound, leading her to resign from the regiment. She also left behind her position as something akin to an Ordinary. The burden fell upon the shoulders of Meriliah. It was not a role she wanted, but at the request of Lord Monclair and Sir Aab, she took the responsibility. Initially, she balked at the idea and often said that she wasn't of high enough standing, wise enough, or old enough to hold the position. After numerous talks with Sir Aab, Sir Kuth, and Lord Monclair, she has finally started to take on the position and make it her own.

However, even as she began to gain confidence in the matter, Sir Aab left the Regiment, leaving Meriliah to lead the Order alone with Mother Maverith and the Inquisitor, Thomas. For a while, the three worked to bring the Order up and back onto its feet after the departure of so many leaders. They remained only for a short time though, before the Mother and the Inquisitor both decided to leave the Regiment as well for personal reasons, leaving Meriliah once more to try and reform and hold together the Order alone. The Lone Paladin of the Order, she worked hard to bring more aspirants in, including Claire Greystone and Sebastian Blake.

Pandaria Again and Meri's Choice
Months since she started leading the Order, Dame Forger finally had stability. Under her wing, multiple aspirants and Sir Ythvar, whom acted as both her mentor and student. The more students she took on though, and the more she learned from Sir Ythvar, she found herself questioning whether leading the Order was really her path to take. However, she didn't have too much time to think on it before the regiment was on the move again.

After nearly a year since her last trip to Pandaria, Meriliah joined the regiment on their expedition to Pandaria  where they intended to aid the locals in any way possible. During her time there, Meriliah became disillusioned with many of her comrades and even a few officers. The lens was turned on her though after she was briefly affected by a sha, causing her to attack her best friend, Harinton Jones. The incident finally broke her, although she kept her feelings to herself, withdrawing and pretending to smile whenever questioned.

Upon returning to Stormwind, Meriliah started to pen her letter of resignation from the Order of Saint Isaac. She confronted Dame Theodora De Vries, inquiring about joining the Brotherhood of the Horse as a squire. Dame De Vries agreed, under the condition she relinquish her titles temporarily while she trained and earned her place within the Brotherhood. Meriliah accepted without hesitation, ready to start a new journey. She was eager to stop pretending and to finally be herself. She decided to leave the Order to Sir Ythvar and soon to be, Dame Greystone in her stead.

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Trivia

 * <p class="MsoNormal">Merilaih considers herself a vegetarian, but will never turn down a crocodile skewer, and actively hunts crocodile whenever she has time off.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">Out of Characterly, Meriliah's model used to be a male, but her creater became frustrated with the model and changed it.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">She likes hitting people with her slingshot when they aren't looking, especially Finley.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">She always has food on her. Always. Just ask. She'll share.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">She likes to experiment with potions, although she is terrible at brewing them herself.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">Her title, "Child of the Light", was given to her by another player during the Battle for Dalaran after she helped to heal a number of mages, prior to having competent training in the Light. It was after this that her training began in earnest, with Mairaed Montclair teaching her.


 * <p class="MsoNormal">She has had a total of four paladin teachers during her time as a squire, a title she held for 1 ooc and ic year due to her age and her ooc runner having to deal with irl school.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">Her last name was a pun on her parent's professions--blacksmithing and scribing. A blacksmith forges armor. A scribe forges documents.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">Her personality was inspired by a mix of Lirael from the Abhorson Trilogy, Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones, Alanna the Lioness from Song of the Lioness, and Sasha from Attack on Titan.