Meo Li was a noble of the Meo family of Xai Chung in Koryo in the mid–14th century DR.[1]
Relations
Meo Li was the daughter of Meo Yungdo and sister of Meo Cha.[1]
Activities
Meo Li had spent her whole life in Xai Chung, raised at the family's ancestral mansion. She was kept cloistered with the women of the household: her mother and her maiden aunt, female servants, and tutors. She was taught the skills of calligraphy, poetry, languages, and courtly etiquette.[1] She learned many stories of the realm and its creatures.[1][2]
History
Although sheltered, when she was 14, she saw three dead bodies of members of Koryo's "night brotherhoods" in Lu Chan Street circa 1347 DR, apparently having slain each other for dark secrets.[3]
Around 1350 DR, the king of Silla ordered "nameless ones" of one of these brotherhoods to kidnap Meo Li (then only 17) and Meo Cha and sell them into slavery. His reason remains unknown; it may have been for leverage against Yungdo, or in cruel revenge over some perceived offense. The ninja swung down from the rooftops, used magic sleep powder on her, and whisked her away from her guards.[1][3][note 1]
Fortunately, Meo Li and Meo Cha were reunited and managed to escape. They stowed away on a ship that, rather than being bound for Xai Chung as they'd thought, was in fact part of the king's own secret invasion fleet, now underway for Kozakura. But a tsunami wrecked the whole armada and the siblings were lost at sea.[1]
Surviving the disaster, the Meo children were washed ashore, alive and well, in distant Shou Lung at Yu Tai Shuni. The dragon Mei Lung Cheng Shan found them and allowed them to live in his house, where he gladly heard tales of their homeland. He later related their stories to Elminster.[1]
Meo Li and Meo Cha eventually returned safely to Koryo, where the tyrant king had abdicated and their father became advisor to the new king, Wanang Sun.[1]
Appendix
Background
Meo Li and Meo Cha are the two narrators of the Koryo chapter of Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms, but their statements are "several years" out of date compared to the setting era of 1357 DR, so the precise dating is unclear.
Notes
- ↑ It is not clear which of the siblings Meo Li and Meo Cha is speaking in the "Races and Classes" section on page 124 in the Koryo chapter of Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms. As Meo Cha's kidnapping in Tu Pe is slightly different (as mentioned on the same page), it is assumed to be Meo Li. Thus details of her kidnapping and events on Lu Chan Street are assumed to be in Xai Chung, not Tu Pe or Pyong-do.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume II). (TSR, Inc), p. 117. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume II). (TSR, Inc), p. 124. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume II). (TSR, Inc), p. 118. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.