King Me'erta

Me'erta - Took the throne in 1779 at the young age of 31.

There were multiple leaders, many of them from the Church, who publicly feared that the appointment of Me'erta would cause great damage to the already fragile religious culture. Their fears appear to have been justified, as Me'erta's reign was a turbulent one. In fact it was often stated that it was his mother Jolatha who ruled the throne for most of Me'erta's 236 years in power. "Me'erta himself had no time to rule D'ni, he was much too busy too focused on satisfying the women who ruled him..."*

In 1817 Me'erta proposed construction of the Temple of the Tree marking the first time any King officially supported anything other than the original beliefs of Ri'neref. Just as important, Me'erta suggested that the line of the Great Zero (which had been chosen by Ri'neref) was inaccurate*. However, he did not officially change the line. He most likely realized such a change would have carried far too many implications upon the society concerning construction, navigation, etc...His goals (or Jolatha's) in such a remark were simply to question the beliefs of Ri'neref and encourage the cults to build in a newer section of the city. His remarks were all that were needed. The Temple was built, with strong opposition from some, in 1843. A few years later, Me'erta sanctioned the consctruction of the Temple of Water, and the Temple of the Sacred Stone. Both were finished in 1876, and 1902 respectively. All were built on Me'erta's recommended line of the Great Zero.

As the years passed, cults sprang up everywhere, wreaking havoc on the religious beliefs the D'ni once had. The Temple of Yahvo was empty and its priests and prophets were small in number, as many had left to pursue other beliefs.

In 1975, Me'erta attempted to change the rules and restrictions of the Writer's Guild including altering their oath. He claimed his proposals would leave them more "flexible" in their writing and allow the D'ni "to do more".

However, the proposal was met with staunch resistance from Grand Master Tremal who adamantly opposed the King and, as the records show, refused to change the oath that Ailesh had written. As it turns out, the refusal cost Tremal his life, many say on order from Jolatha. Years later, many viewed Tremal's refusal as one of the most heroic deed of D'ni history*. If those rules and oaths had changed many believed, as Tremal had, the path to Terahnee would not have been long behind. "And that is why we exist," wrote Tremal.

Once Tremal was found dead, the Writer's Guild as a whole, refused to change the proposed changes in the oath and regulations in support of their fallen comrade. Eventually, Jolatha through Me'erta, gave up trying.

By far, Jolath's most destructive action came the year of her death. In 1999 she convinced her son to break the seal on the Tomb of the Great King. Whey she wished for such an action is not clear, although numerous possibilities were proposed years later.

Though few in number, there were still some who believed the Great King would return and Jolatha was infuriated at any power the Great King had. She possibly wanted to prove once and for all that he was dead, an imposter, and fool. Others wrote that she was interested in gaining acess to some of the Ancient Books, as the Tree believed they held special power. Still others said she was simply mad while others claimed she was possessed and an agent of Jakooth*. Regardless, the seal was broken.

The act was carried out in secret, in the dead of night, as even those who opposed the Great King would have such an action blasphemous and dangerous. A number of Books were taken from the Tomb and placed in the Temple of the Tree, along with what Joatha claimed was a piece of the robe from the body of the dead King.

Jolatha died two days later, from an unknown illness, while the Books she had taken out remain in the Temple of the Tree. Me'erta quietly ordered the Tomb sealed again (and much stronger). It was said that Me'erta believed his mother had been cursed for entering the grave and he himself, was petrified of it, or any mention of the Great King in the later years of his life.

Me'erta, known as an unfaithful man, died 15 years later with one of his lovers. Guild of Healer's records indicated massive poisoning as the cause of his death. He was 267. His murderer was never discovered although there were numerous suspects. Though he had many enemies, most agreed it was either his wife for obvious reasons, or son, who despised his father's weaknesses and lack of judgement. Ironically, it was that son, his oldest, whom he left the throne too.

* From the journals of the Prophetess Aleshay
* Precedent existed for such a claim. On previous Ages, the line of the Great Zero could either point from the Great Zero itself toward magnetic North (as Ri'neref had chosen) or toward another prominent landmark (as Me'erta suggested it should have been).
* Grand Master Temas of the Guild of Writers in a speech to the Five Lords in 7034
* Jakooth was the equivalent of the devil in the D'ni religion