Founder of the Meinand line of Mambos leading the Danaki people. Once a mortal, she rose to godhood by being the first necromancer of Eler and raising herself from the grave. The Danakis worship her to this day as Maman Squelette.
In the beginning, while the Midianites were busy obsessing over their own mortality, the Danakis had a very different approach to theirs. Though they fully accepted that their lives would end one day, they could not stand to be separated from their loved ones. The death of friends and family was heavily mourned and, quite often, the pain was too much to bear, which resulted in waves of suicide.
The leader of the Danaki people, Ménandu, Mambo of Sanguinat, and her husband whose name has been erased from history, had a daughter, Justinia, who died from an illness when she was still very young.
While the Nameless mourned in acceptance, Ménandu went mad with grief. The child she had carried and nursed, gone forever. She couldn't bear it. But she also couldn't bring herself to take her own life. She saw her people as her children too. She could not abandon them.
In her suffering, she consulted the Witch of Iracomté for a vision to guide her. The Witch saw Ménandu and Justinia united together in death, yet still amongst the living.
This did very little to ease Ménandu's worries. In her sleepless nights, she prayed and prayed in Justinia's sepulchre and implored the return of her daughter.
Until, one night, a strange whisper urged her to lay her hands upon the corpse and to pray for it to rise. The prayer was in a language she had no previous knowledge of, yet somehow still knew the words and their meaning.
The spell woven, Justinia finally stirred. Nothing but a dead, soulless husk. Regardless, Ménandu was overjoyed. Her beloved daughter was back.
The people hailed the risen Justinia as a saint. It wasn't long before Ménandu discovered the miracle was her doing as she could now raise the dead from their grave. This elevated her to a goddess-like status. She began to teach this power to her followers so no one would ever have to part with their loved ones. Though none of them could bring back a full soul into a corpse, leaving their dead relatives mindless and hollow, it didn't matter to them.
With this newfound religion surrounding their Mambo, the Danaki adopted the sigil of a sword pointed upward towards the suns they also adored. A symbol of defiance against death and the cycle of life. They also developed a taste for conquest and moved from their native Outremer for the continent of Almer. The zombie workforce would begin the construction of the city of Dan, which would become the Danaki seat of power.
Almost everyone fully embraced their newfound necromantic powers, but a few of them refused to try their hands at it. The Nameless was amongst them, seeing the zombified corpse of his daughter caused him even more pain than her death. He and his followers viewed this practice as an abomination, a disruption of the natural cycle of life solely out of selfishness.
Soon, his grief was too much to bear. Having to witness his dear Justinia, decomposing, with no mind of her own. This wasn't his daughter anymore. This was heresy.
One night, while Ménandu slumbered, he took their daughter outside of the city and burned her until nothing remained to be risen again.
The next morning, Ménandu's mind came undone at the revelation. She had lost Justinia forever, not knowing it was her own husband who had done the deed.
In her despair, she began having anyone she deemed a suspect put to death, only to rise them back as zombies. That way, she would be sure everyone would obey her without ever betraying her trust.
Although she dared not allow herself to even think that her beloved husband was the one who had burned their daughter, she began to isolate herself from him. She hid the fact that she had become pregnant again a few months ago. She believed this child would be a reincarnation of Justinia and she would protect it with her own life, if need be.
Though Ménandu was now acting like a tyrant, the people worshipped her in both fear and awe.
But the Nameless would no longer stand for this wanton defilement of life. Over time, he mellowed his wife out, played her emotions back into his favour, using their shared sadness over the loss of their daughter.
On the first day of Kelte, he murdered Ménandu, putting an end to her reign.
The Danaki mourned their Mambo. Suspicion of the Nameless grew, but none had proof.
Ménandu, so deeply versed in necromancy after tapping into the scattered power of Nemeresis sacrificed in Midian, rose from her own grave as a zombie, but with her soul still fully encased deep within her being.
She revealed her husband as a traitor, but instead of having him being put to death, she decided to banish him and his followers to the mountains. Death was too kind a gift for these betrayers. They were shunned, cast out, losing all they had.
The Nameless accepted his sentence with courage. He saw the extent of the terrifying powers his wife now harnessed and resented himself deeply. Had he not killed her, she would have never become such an abomination. He realized that death was never the answer, be it given or taken. They had to let the cycle decide when one's time was up.
Cast away into the mountains, the Nameless and his followers headed as far North as they could. Many died along the way despite his best efforts. He did all he could to keep their spirits high. He gave himself, body and soul, to deliver them to safety. These people called themselves the Margrace, as they were marching away with grace, proud of their status, freed from the madness of necromancy.
Eventually, after months of exile, they settled in the temperate mountains. There the city of Margracier was founded around the first church as faith became a driving force in the new Margrace people.
The Nameless preached non-violence and acceptance. He never sought revenge upon the Danakis who had shunned them. He never remarried. Never had more children. He died of old age after a long life of humility and dedication to his people. Per his request, his remains were burned, his ashes scattered into the sea, and every image or depiction of him and his name were destroyed. He did not want a murderer to be remembered.
The Margraces took the sigil of the Danakis, the sword pointed upward, and pointed it downward instead to signify peace, as well as their constant battle against the heresy that is necromancy.
A religion stemmed from the Nameless' life. The priests advocating kindness, non-violence, and helping those in need. They often remained celibate to pay respect to their spiritual leader. The city of Margracier was long led by the Church.
Back in Dan, Ménandu soon shed her skin and organs and became a skeleton. The only flesh that remained was her pregnant belly, which kept growing until due, yet she never delivered. She taught her people the art of necromancy and death became a cause for celebration rather than sadness.
Ménandu lived for a thousand years until, one day, her followers found her, mysteriously crumbled to dust inside of her temple. A living, newborn baby girl was laying amidst her remains. She was named Justinia in honour of her previous daughter and was raised to become the new leader of the Danaki people while Ménandu herself was now their official goddess, called the Maman Squelette(Mother Skeleton). Her line would endure to this day. At first, her children took the surname Ménandu, which transformed into the modern version used now, Meinand.