[hider=Meredith the Shieldbreaker][center][h3][color=d8cfbe]ℂardinal ℝift[/color][/h3][hr][IMG]https://66.media.tumblr.com/212507308c2588f235fc3bb35b550cf1/tumblr_p9thxwtDqi1rr9e97o1_1280.png[/IMG][hr][/center][indent][i][h3][color=d8cfbe]ℙersonal 𝕀nformation[/color][/h3][/i][/indent][color=d8cfbe]Name: [/color] [i]Meredith the Shieldbreaker[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]House: [/color] [i]Balaur[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Age: [/color] 45
[color=d8cfbe]Race: [/color] Human
[color=d8cfbe]Gender: [/color] Female
[color=d8cfbe]Appearance: [/color] [i] Standing at a hulking 6'4, Meredith is about as broad as she is tall. Were it not for her long hair, charcoaled eyes and fuller lips, one would have mistakenly assumed that she was a he. Her flesh is disfigured with swathes of scar tissue, even across her face and chin. She is usually clad in her darksteel armour for public events, upholding the image of a ferocious, Balaur-born Black Knight. Under less extenuating circumstances she can be spotted in very simple, sturdy pieces of clothing that sit tight around her scar-dappled muscles. She carries herself like a warlord.[/i]

[hr][indent][i][h3][color=d8cfbe]𝕊o 𝕆n & 𝕊o 𝔽orth[/color][/h3][/i][/indent][color=d8cfbe]Reputation: [/color] [i]The Shieldbreaker name isn't a name - it's a title, and it was earnt. The lives of Meredith's ancestry are short and brutal. Heir to a petty warlord's fortune, she stands alone in her lineage to do what she does best: bend the knees of the public by force. She's known as an odd mixture of a slavemaster, a warlord and a leader of her people, depending on who you ask.[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Alignment: [/color] [i] Neutral. Meredith spends little time worrying over the broader political implications of the decision, preferring instead to focus on the more immediate problems in her province.[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Skills: [/color] [i] Presuming, of course, that sheer brute strength isn't a skill, Meredith is extensively trained in combat through her many battles. She has some knowledge of tactics and planning, but her real speciality is the maintenance of a reputation. She can use propaganda and bribery to spread rumours throughout Croan and is skilled in acting and being able to falsify the truth around certain events to suit her ambitions.[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Backstory: [/color] [i] Meredith's ancestors were the first to kneel before Darius and she intends to maintain the tradition. She learnt what she knows from her father, who was far greater of a leader than she and left some pretty large boots to fill. It went without saying that a youth of working in the mines, rubbing shoulders with the destitute but gorging on three heavy meals a day, had coupled with her genes to produce a behemoth of a lass. Her father instilled discipline and forced humility by giving her a taste of serfdom. She still has mixed feelings about it, both grateful and resentful for the life lessons it brought. Regardless of her own opinion on the matter, it influenced the way she lead her people.

When Meredith was old enough to hold a sword, she challenged her father for dominance over the province. She was promptly defeated and learnt a valuable lesson in arrogance. Her teenage years were devoted more to study than to labour, cutting her hours by half to teach her behind closed doors. She started to become alienated from the people as the class boundaries began to widen between herself and the workers. She was still subjected to a gruelling workout each day, and had very little in the way of free time which stunted her socialisation skills. It didn't matter all that much - she was to be a ruler, not a friend.

When Meredith turned twenty seven, she challenged her father again, only this time she was armed with a hefty axe and a Gate. The magic was simple yet devastating; she gradually, slowly and painstakingly increased the heat and weight of her father's armour throughout the battle, and once he fell to his knees with fatigue, repeatedly slammed her axe into his shield until it was bent and cleft in twain, earning her the title of Shieldbreaker. As per tradition of her people, she had to execute her progenitor on the battlefield and assume his position as ruler over the mines. She never really comments on how that shift in power affected her emotionally.

For two decades since, Meredith has been uncontested in her rule over the province. For many of the natives, her traditional rise to power and the blood of a warlord were enough to garner respect for their new mistress. In the initial few years of her rule she mucked in with the labour to remind herself of the conditions in which her people work, donning her armour go avoid a pickaxe in the back and heighten the difficulty of the work. Since the mines exported a lot of steel, she worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for the slaves. Whilst the hours of labour didn't let up, the meals were more sustainable and a team of professional medics were employed to provide healthcare for anyone injured or sick. Pregnant workers in their last three months of pregnancy were given less hours, and after giving birth they only worked half days for the first year.

Nevertheless, Meredith's status as slave master was unflinching. Whenever some of the workers rested on their laurels and pushed for pay or better rights, Meredith inflicted swift, merciless suppression. She was shrewder than her father and paid some of her workers to be whistleblowers and spies as well as propagandists, receiving better benefits in exchange for spreading good word about her rule and reporting any schemes to her taskmasters. She'd misdirect hostility towards dissenters and leaders of rebel cells by framing them to be under her payroll, or simply blackmail them into submission. Torture and interrogation were not below her sense of honour.

Finding that the peace talks may fundamentally change the way she needs to control her province, Meredith is on call for summoning to the tower and answering to any orders given by her direct superior.[/i]

[color=d8cfbe]Miscellaneous: [/color] [i] Meredith has a retinue of six 'taskmasters' who report to her. They are unflinchingly loyal, nigh-worshippers of her rule, and each play an integral role in the management of her province without shirking their duties at the handle of a whip in the mines. By making these roles, Meredith shifts the public eye onto the taskmasters and elevates her authority. To see her personally walk afield was now considered an Occasion to remember. To see her carry the whip meant that the recipient was infamous enough to lure her down into the mines. The days when her mood was lighter and she handled the pulleys and listened to her people were the days where she was revered and beloved. Any other day was dominated by the shadows of these six followers.

Tyrus Adenti - the resident mageborn. He uses his air magic to eavesdrop and spy on his people (and the other taskmasters for that matter) by silencing his footfalls.

Jeremiah Oldesson - A hearty ex-slave who masquerades as a mediator between the populace and the taskmasters. Jovial, boisterous and fond of songs and poems, he boosts morale amongst the workers and maintains reverence of their mistress.

Ilmeri Daltmer - head of the medical facilities, she's also a priestess and uses religion to give the people hope. She goes out of her way to provide soup kitchens and sermons where she uses faith as a vehicle for gratefulness and optimism. Her healers, mostly female, are similarly agents who use their tender charms and gentle care to both bolster the morale of their patients and weed out any dissent to report back to the Priestess.

Bodkar The Cruel - Plays the role of 'taskmaster' in Jeremiah's region of the mines. He's the bad guy, the receptacle of the slaves' hatred. Jeremiah occasionally orchestrates revolts that are inevitably quelled by Bodkar. By focusing the slaves' contempt at Bodkar, Meredith feigns punishment and close surveillance over him to seem like a more justified ruler. 

Yorrick Pearson - A more generic taskmaster who watches over the rails, making sure shipment of iron is kept at peak productivity. Not as heartless as most, he uses the infirm as cleaners instead of labourers to maintain better hygiene standards in his portion of the mines.

Rudd the Quartermaster - lord and ruler of the commissary, Rudd guards the inventory of the mines, oversees the supply routes and punishes thievery severely. He's often likened to a Wyvern.[/i]

[hr][indent][i][h3][color=d8cfbe]𝕄agic[/color][/h3][/i][/indent][color=d8cfbe]Gate: [/color] [i] Combination Gate (Force and Heat)[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Flow: [/color] [i]Average[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Favour: [/color] [i]High[/i]
[color=d8cfbe]Field: [/color] [i]10m max range[/i]
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