Meredith Stannard
“Magic is a cancer in the heart of our land, just as it was in the time of Andraste. And like her, we are left with no choice but to purify it with fire and blood.”Meredith Stannard is the Templar Knight-Commander of Kirkwall and is also the acting Viscount of the city.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
When Meredith was younger, her older sister Amelia developed magical talents but her family decided to shield her from the Chantry, knowing that she couldn't survive in the Circle of Magi or face their rigorous tests. The Stannards didn't have the knowledge or the skill to train Amelia as a mage, and the strange things that happened around the girl eventually brought their neighbors to call the Templars. When Amelia saw the Templars coming for her she was so scared that she made a deal with a demon and turned into an abomination, killing everyone in her family save for Meredith. The Templars eventually slew her sister, but not before the abomination had killed 70 more people in Kirkwall. This experience led to Meredith's harsh view on magic, and why she thinks mages must be treated as people with a curse.
When the Templar Captain, Ser Wentworth Knell, returned to explain what had happened, Meredith told him she wanted to go with him to become a Templar. He took her to the Gallows, where Meredith was dedicated to the Chantry and became an initiate. He became her mentor and guardian when not at lessons in the Chantry. When Ser Wentworth's failing health made it impossible for him to fulfill his duties as Knight-Captain, he named Meredith as his successor and gave her his prized greatsword. He also said she was the daughter he never deserved. Over the next two years until he died, Meredith would visit him whenever she could even when he could no longer remember who she was.
An orphaned native of Kirkwall, Meredith rose in the ranks of the Templar Order and became an accomplished warrior. She later became Knight-Captain. She proposed several changes to the administration of the Gallows that resulted in greater efficiency and a more orderly schedule for the mages. Many of her fellow Templars believed she had a hundred times the charisma of Knight-Commander Guylian and believed that she was the one who was the real leader of the Templars despite her junior rank.
During this time, the Templars became the largest armed force in Kirkwall and could have challenged even the Viscount for power. Knight-Commander Guylian would have preferred to stay neutral, but Divine Justinia V pressured him to force Viscount Perrin Threnhold to re-open the Waking Sea passage to allow Orlesian ships through. As a result, a year later the Viscount attempted to oust the Templars from the city: he hired mercenaries to storm the Gallows and had the Knight-Commander hanged. In retaliation, Meredith and a group of her best Templars marched on the Viscount's Keep determined to exact justice. The captain of the city guard quailed before the Templars and to prove his own innocence, asserted that the Viscount had acted unlawfully and had him arrested. Threnhold was thrown in his own dungeons, his lands and title stripped from him. Grand Cleric Callista Leroux promoted her to leader of the Order in Kirkwall.
In previous cases where the Viscount was ousted, the Templar-Commander was to suggest a new Viscount. Meredith, seeing the dangers of magic in every corner of Kirkwall, decided that she instead should take on the role of Viscount. Since that promotion, she has governed with an iron fist.
Morality & Philosophy
Meredith is vigilant and keeps constant watch over the mages of Kirkwall's Circle. She has enacted strict policies towards the use of harsh measures to neutralize apostate mages. Her reign over the mages has been considered by some as draconian and she would often employ the Rite of Tranquility as punishment for petty offenses, whether harrowed or not. Nevertheless, she has denied some in her inner circle the use of the "Tranquil Solution" plan to turn all mages in Kirkwall into Tranquil. She is also the real political power in Kirkwall, as she holds the highest seat of authority amongst nobility and the Templar Order. Meredith is willing to neutralize anyone in order to root out corruption among the mages. She views the very existence of magic and mages as a threat to the general populace and thus sincerely believes her unremitting vigilance and harsh measures are necessary for the safety of all.
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