Meerō Dolysoh
| Meerō Dolysoh | |
| Gole of Toor | |
|---|---|
| Reign | 1811-1847 FR |
| Predecessor | Opol Dolysoh |
| Successor | Mosk-Sopoh Dolysoh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1795 FR |
| Died | 1847 FR |
| Parents | Opol Dolysoh and Byskoh Losoh |
Meerō Dolysoh /'miːrɒ dɑ'liːsə/ was the third gole of Toor. His reign was probably the most uncontested among all other monarchs of the Dolysoh dynasty, but he was considered a weak and indecisive ruler. The family's declining influence led to an almost successful coup by several of his generals. It was thwarted by Meerō's unexpected death from an illness, which triggered an automatic succession of power to gole's son Mosk-Sopoh.
Reign
Military campaigns
Meerō's reign started during the campaign against the Negy and he was respected as the son of a great father. However, after the passing of Opol in 1815 FR and the passing of Byskoh in 1816 just mere months later, Meerō experienced a breakdown from which he never truly recovered. He became moody and indecisive, and short bursts of activity would be followed by long bouts of depression.
Meerō did begin a series of campaigns against the Laeooy Coast in honor of his father who wanted to subjugate the territory. Four separate campaigns - 1824-1825, 1829-1831, 1834-1835 and 1841-1842 - were fairly successful, but all stopped short of actually finishing the job, with Meerō's inconsistent strategy and erratic behavior leading to bizarre decisions.
The "Pale Rose" campaign
The 1824-1825 campaign, known as the "Pale Rose", which reached the city-state of Troun, failed to confront it, with Meerō suddenly turning the army around. Confused generals tried to interpret Meerō's actions as having religious significance, and the army eventually returned to Gaskal. Troun, competing with another powerful city state, Tirna, for supremacy on the Laeooy Coast, used Meerō's retreat as propaganda.
The "Teal Orchid" campaign
The second 1829-1831 campaign was similarly odd, with Meerō ordering his forces to the south at Frooj. The army made an exhausting crossing of Kōnzoh and then returned back through Uzar, Dol and Palas. According to Porteek, Meerō's goal was a pilgrimage to the place of death of his father and then his mother.
It is at this time that the Jeenor of his army, Brone Forod, became his advisor and the official interpreter of his actions.
Writes Porteek:
Forod took on the role of the gole's advisor, but ultimately it was a fantasy that he and others in the court wanted desperately to believe. Meerō was a good listener, but a poor student. He did what he wanted and Forod became a pitiful translator of the gole's actions, summoning all the confidence and dignity he could muster in order to give an appearance of intent where there was none, of order where there was only chaos, of religious providence when there were just the unpredictable whims of a truly lost soul.
Forod portrayed the "Teal Orchid" as a march to demonstrate the strength of the toorian army to the world.
The "Orange Tulip" campaign
Forod then attempted to orchestrate and basically lead the third campaign. During the preparation for the campaign in 1833 FR two influential Ienana named Olboloh Joleeloh and Gorōntoh Kōtele were able to get Meerō's attention through disseminating what many believed to be important prophecies. Both Ienana were singers of lore and their arrival at Gaskal became an important event of the summer of 1833.
They were then able to upset Meerō's trust in Forod's judgement and tried getting him executed. This, however, had not worked and the gole had him imprisoned and then embarked on a third campaign against the peoples of the Laeooy Coast. With Olboloh and Gorōntoh at his side, Meerō led the army past Troun to Koalderood, where according to Olboloh's prophecy was supposed to be the next Laeooy Coast gole. At the time Koalderood was populated by the people known as the Hadeer. Their ruling clan, the Jumpelee clan, had offended Olboloh's family, although this was unknown to Meerō.
Meerō's army began ransacking Hadeer settlements, when suddenly confronted by a superhero warrior Damluk. Damluk was seen hitting the ground with his fist, which caused a powerful earthquake, forcing soldiers and horses off their feet. In the midst of the confusion the Hadeer attacked, pouring into the valley, archers and mounted warriors with long spears "ushering a rain of arrows and destruction". Suffering losses, Meerō was forced to fall back.
Olboloh encouraged Meerō to turn back and attack, citing the prophecy and ensuring that he will be successful. Meerō listened to her and turned his army back that same night, reengaging the Hadeer the next morning. The enemy did not expect the toorians to come back so quickly, and this time Meerō forced the Hadeer into retreat. They followed them for several days, all the way to Lake Marood. Believing that the Hadeer have no ways to escape, Meerō was preparing for the final battle, when they saw a dark cloud come over the lake. Very soon they realized that the cloud was a fleet of incredibly fast small boats that were transporting the Hadeer across the lake. By the time the toorians made it to the shore, most of the Hadeer were already on the water, sending swarms of arrows and securing their escape.
It is at this time that Meerō was informed that the Hadeer stronghold is on the other side of Lake Marood, ruled by the Jumpelee clan, and that the Hadeer command a much larger territory and potentially a much larger army than previously thought. Meerō became overrun with his usual indecision and was considering turning back home, when Olboloh and Gorōntoh once again convinced him that he should attack immediately.
Meerō again gave in to the prophets' advice and led his troops around Lake Marood. The Hadeer stronghold turned out to be a fortress with relatively low walls, but itself extremely wide and with a cell-like structure, with each cell being a small fortress in of itself, surrounded by sturdy walls and with four towers in the corners. However, the toorians knew how to construct siege engines, something that was not taken into account by the Hadeer. When the engines were constructed, Meerō's forces quickly defeated the fortress and then slaughtered its inhabitants, essentially destroying the Hadeer army. Most members of the Jumpelee clan were executed, thus ending the generations-long rivalry in Joleelohs favor.
Meerō then led his army back across Hadeer territory, locating the city of Brum to the south of Koalderood. The city closed its gates and Meerō set up siege and was able to enter the city a month later. The city was sacked, then burned, but its population was largely spared, with part of the troops marching them to Gaskal and forcibly resettling them in a number of Toor-controlled regions.
The city of Gor was more agreeable towards the toorians and its nobility struck a deal with Toor. Meerō, however, also led most of the population of the city out and resettled it to various regions on his way to Gaskal, including gifting some of them as slaves to his generals.
Porteek considers this campaign, christened the "Orange Tulip", as the most important campaign in the history of Toor, arguing that the destruction of the growing Hadeer empire made it possible for Meerō's, Mosk-Sopoh Dolysoh to exert dominance of Laeooy Coast, something that Porteek believes to have been unlikely if Hadeer emerged as a force. He specifically points to Hadeers' ambitions, given their temporary subjugation of Nadd, and that had the Hadeer been given just a few more years, they might have become a military power that would have made Laeooy Coast much more resistant to a single conqueror.
At the time, however, the "Orange Tulip" was seen as a mediocre campaign, as nobody heard of the Hadeer in Gaskal, while the city-states of Troun and Tirna continued to be independent. The only redeeming quality of the campaign was significant loot brought with the troops, as well as the long-term value of infusing Toor with new subjects, namely the people of Brum and Gor.
