Melias Attacus
Melias Attacus was the seventh monarch of Atlantia to bear the title of Sorcerer-King, his reign tragically overshadowed by personal loss, manipulation, and portents associated with the recurring comet known as the Star of Lanis. Initially an unlikely candidate for the throne, his rule began with promise but descended into grief-stricken paralysis following the death of his wife and disappearance of his daughter. His vulnerability ultimately led to his seduction and betrayal by the enigmatic Gloriana, culminating in his death, the devastating Sheeda War, and a cursed immortality. His story endures as a cautionary tale, immortalised in Atlantean ballads.
In the original “Seven Soldiers” by Grant Morrison, the Sheeda come from the future to plunder the advanced Neanderthal civilisation and kidnap Aurakles. In our interpretation, Melias becomes the agent who grants them access to the ancient world. Emphasising the fairy tale aspect, he is depicted as the husband of the evil queen or stepmother.
Biography
Birth and Early Life
Melias Attacus was born under the celestial sign of the Star of Lanis, a comet whose periodic appearances were traditionally interpreted by Atlantean astrologers as heralding significant shifts in fortune, or marking births and deaths of great consequence. Its appearance at the time of his birth reportedly caused considerable discussion within the court regarding the infant’s potential destiny.
Melias belonged to the noble Domos Attacus, the son of Lord Durgeda and Lady Tarmioba. Through his mother, originally of Domos Arbouneas (a junior branch of the Royal House, Domos Atlaneas), Melias possessed a connection to the Atlantean ruling line, albeit one not initially considered dynastically significant.
Regency and Ascension
For much of his early life, Melias was not expected to play a central role in the line of succession. However, circumstances shifted dramatically when his elder cousin, the childless Queen Tocih, suffered a near-fatal assassination attempt and departed Atlantia for advanced medical treatment in Lansinar. Melias was named Regent in her absence. As Queen Tocih had no children and Melias’s own mother (Tocih’s closest eligible relative) was deceased, he became the heir apparent.
Melias served effectively as Regent for two years. When Queen Tocih chose to embrace immortality by becoming an Eternal in 13237 OC, she abdicated the throne. Consequently, Melias Attacus was crowned, becoming the seventh Sorcerer-King of Atlantia.
Personal Tragedies and Decline
The birth of their daughter, Arriachnon, should have secured the line and brought joy to Melias and Kilane. However, childbirth remained perilous, even in advanced Atlantia. Kilane tragically died shortly after Arriachnon was born, plunging King Melias into profound grief from which he seemingly never fully recovered. Refusing traditional burial rites, he commissioned a crystal sarcophagus, preserving Kilane’s body in magical stasis beneath the Temple of Twelve Waters on Mount Evanor. In later Atlantean religious traditions, Kilane would be venerated as a saint, with pilgrims claiming to witness tears perpetually trickling down her perfectly preserved face.
Melias raised Arriachnon alone. She reportedly inherited her father’s strength alongside her mother’s gentle wisdom and spirit, representing for the King a fragile link to happiness forever marred by loss. His fragile state was shattered when, during a subsequent return of the ominous Star of Lanis, Princess Arriachnon suddenly and inexplicably disappeared from the court.
Accusations were levelled, with the reclusive Dwarrow-men of Lansinar being scapegoated by some factions, although no evidence ever supported their involvement. Later accounts suggest the blue-skinned Dwarrow-men may have foreseen the coming troubles and intentionally withdrew from contact with the Old Ones (the uplifted population of Atlantis and Lansinar).
For Melias, Arriachnon’s disappearance was an unbearable echo of Kilane’s death. His grief morphed into a deep, inconsolable mourning that paralysed him emotionally. While he remained King, his participation in governance became mechanical. Decisive leadership faltered, with responsibilities increasingly deferred to his ministers or devolved upon Lord Poseidon of Lyr. Poseidon, a cousin once removed, served as Chief of the Atlantean Armies and a high-ranking General within the Coalition forces for the Earth Sector.
Paradoxically, while the King withdrew internally, Atlantia experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity under his ministers’ administration. The Court, perhaps seeking to bolster the monarchy during the ongoing Universe War or simply marking his tenure (which became the longest of any Sorcerer-King to date), proclaimed him Melias “The Constant.” To the King himself, entombed in his private sorrow, the title was a source of bitter irony, highlighting his detachment rather than his steadfastness.
Gloriana, Deception, and Downfall
The arrival of a mysterious woman named Gloriana at the Atlantean court coincided with yet another appearance of the Star of Lanis. Claiming high birth from an unspecified outlying Great Province, she possessed remarkable beauty and charisma, yet deflected all inquiries about her origins, speaking only directly with the King. Her presence briefly lifted Melias’s melancholic spirits.
Gloriana vanished shortly after her initial appearance, deepening the mystery surrounding her and fostering a longing in the vulnerable King. Her return during the comet’s next pass was perceived by Melias not as a warning, but as a form of salvation. He swiftly married her.
Soon after the marriage, Queen Gloriana stunned Melias with a revelation: she claimed to be a refugee from the far future, fleeing a predatory empire known as the Sheeda. Crucially, she dangled the possibility that it was the Sheeda who had abducted Princess Arriachnon. Playing on his deepest remaining hope and sorrow, she persuaded the King to divert immense resources towards extending the Maelstrom Network’s capabilities beyond space, seeking to create stable gateways through time itself.
The first test of this Temporal Maelstrom, conducted beneath a total solar eclipse, had an unexpected side effect: it temporarily pulled a figure known to Atlantean mythohistory as the “Dark Traveller” (identified in other chronologies as Batman) from the timestream. This recurring figure, appearing at various crisis points in Atlantean history, conducted a brief investigation into Arriachnon’s disappearance before being pulled back into the temporal currents, managing only to utter the cryptic warning: “Gloriana knows.”
Blinded by hope and infatuation, Melias dismissed the Dark Traveller’s warning. He went so far as to order the powerful and potentially obstructive Lord Poseidon away from the capital on military matters. Melias pushed forward with the Temporal Malestrom project. The moment a stable temporal gateway was achieved, Gloriana revealed her true nature: she was the Sheeda Queen. Her intricate deception had one goal: to ensure the creation of the Temporal Malestrom so that her own past self could later use it to travel back, locate, seduce, and bewitch Melias, while simultaneously hunting for Arriachnon. Unknown to Melias, his daughter was destined to become a seed of resistance against the Sheeda empire in that distant future.
In the ultimate act of betrayal, Gloriana killed King Melias. He died not merely as a monarch defeated by invaders, but as a man destroyed by the woman he trusted, whose machinations had expertly exploited his profound love and grief.
Death, Curse, and the Sheeda War
Melias’s death and Gloriana’s betrayal triggered the devastating Sheeda War. Atlantean and Lansinarian forces fought heroically to repel the invaders from the future. While they eventually succeeded, the cost was enormous: Gloriana escaped back to her own time, and Aurakles, the greatest of Lansinar’s heroes, was lost in the conflict. The war critically weakened Earth’s forces at a pivotal moment in the wider Universe War. Lord Poseidon returned to Atlantia and succeeded his cousin, becoming the eighth and, as events would prove, the final Sorcerer-King.
A final, cruel twist awaited Melias. Death was not the end. Whether through Sheeda magic, the chaotic temporal energies unleashed, or Gloriana’s specific design, Melias was cursed to rise again, imbued with a tormented immortality. He was condemned to wander the world perpetually, forever seeking the wife who betrayed him. His former title, “The Constant,” thus gained its final, terrible meaning: constant wandering, constant sorrow. In different eras and legends, this cursed figure would become known by various names, including Constantine and Melmoth the Wanderer.
Legacy
Melias Attacus leaves a deeply complicated legacy. He is remembered primarily through tragedy, most famously in the enduring ballad cycle detailing his doomed romance with the commoner Kilane, her death, the loss of their daughter, and the subsequent manipulations that led to his downfall and damnation.
His reign, despite early promise and a period of outward stability, ultimately facilitated disaster. His manipulated actions directly led to the costly Sheeda War, which severely hampered the Coalition of Light’s efforts in the Universe War. He is viewed historically as a fundamentally good man, a capable mage and potentially effective ruler, undone by overwhelming grief that left him vulnerable to sophisticated emotional and likely magical manipulation (glamour and bewitchment are often cited in analyses of Gloriana’s influence). His story serves as a potent archetype in Atlantean culture: the noble soul doomed by fate, love, and sorrow.
Family
This tree shows the Arboureas Dynasty, which ruled around the end of the Orcichalcum Age. Only those immediate descendants that have Codex entries.
This tree shows only those immediate descendants that have Codex entries.
- Segontius
Timeline for Melias Attacus
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Atlantean Chronicles The Star of Lanis is seen again
1208 year of reign of Tocih:
In this year, the Star of Lanis is seen again. Melias Attacus, the son of Lord Durgeda and Lady Tarmioba of Domus Arbouneas, is born.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. That Melias Attacus was born under the sign of the Star of Lanis did not go unnoticed during his lifetime, albeit more openly in relation to the tragedy at the end of his life. -
Atlantean Chronicles Melias becomes regent
1618 year of reign of Tocih:
An attempt is made on the life of Lady Tocih. The Queen is taken to Lansinar for treatment and is nursed by her lover, Dyeus Pitr (18283) of the Boreades. Her nephew, Melias Attacus (410), is left as regent.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. It is believed that the assassin was a follower of the Sun Prince who had allied themselves with the opposition in the War of the Timeless Ones. -
Atlantean Chronicles Accession of Melias Attacus
1620 year of reign of Tocih:
The second year of the regency of Melias Attacus (412). After healing in [Lansinar]], Lady Tocih (2955) becomes Eternal. Tocih and Dyeus Pitr (18285) are wed. Melias Attacus is proclaimed King of the Atlanteans, Eighth of the Sorcerer-Kings.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. -
Atlantean Chronicles The Romance of Melias and Kilane
418 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, the romance of Melias Attacus (830) and Kilane of Hoshan.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. A lover’s tale immortalised in later Atlantean ballads. He is the older King, she the younger servant girl. -
Atlantean Chronicles Birth of Arriachnon
433 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, Kilane of Hoshan begets Arriachnon, daughter of Melias Attacus (845). Kilane dies in childbirth.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. -
Atlantean Chronicles Disappearance of Arriachnon
1093 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, the Star of Lanis is seen again. Arriachnon (660) child of Melias Attacus (1505), disappears; the blue Dwarrow-men are blamed, but no proof is found. Melias Attacus mourns his child and wife.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. -
Atlantean Chronicles Melias the Constant
1650 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
This year, the people proclaim Melias Attacus (2062) as “the Constant” in recognition of him as the longest-serving Sorcerer-King since Lady Ahri’ahn, some six millennia earlier. Even the celebration cannot long stir Melias Attacus from his prolonged mourning.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. -
Atlantean Chronicles The arrival of Gloriana
1832 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, the Star of Lanis is seen again. The Court of Melias Attacus (2244) is visited by fair Gloriana from parts unknown. She bewitches the King and disappears as quickly as she appeared.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. -
Atlantean Chronicles Marriage of Melias and Gloriana
2560 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, the Star of Lanis is seen again. Fair Gloriana returns to the Court of Melias Attacus (2972), lifting him from the fugue. They get married at the end of the year.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles -
Atlantean Chronicles Gloriana's gambit
3123 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
Fair Gloriana leads Melias Attacus (3535) into believing that his daughter Arriachnon still lives and has been dragged into far time by an enemy called the Sheeda. She claims to have escaped into his yesterday and to have run to him. Melias Attacus orders the School of Art to extend the reach of the Malestrom Network into the far tomorrows where the Sheeda live.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. Here, Gloriana shows her hand. She, like the Sheeda, is from the far future, beyond even our present day. -
Atlantean Chronicles The Dark Traveller's warning
3127 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, amid a solar eclipse, the first successful test of the Temporal Malestrom pulls the Dark Traveller from his voyages. He investigates Arriachnon’s disappearance and counsels Melias Attacus (3539) that Gloriana knows more than she tells. However, his counsel is unfinished as he is pulled back into the unstable Malestrom.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles. The Batman, still time-lost reappears in ancient Atlantis once more. -
Atlantean Chronicles The Sheeda War
3128 year of reign of Melias Attacus:
In this year, a stable Temporal Malestrom is opened to the distant tomorrow, to the domain of the Sheeda. Gloriana is revealed as their Queen. Melias Attacus (3540) dies by her treachery. The combined armies of Atlantis and Lansinar led by Aurakles (18532) and Lord ] push back the invading Sheeda through the Temporal Malestrom. Aurakles is lost, pulled through the closing Malestrom by the enemy. After their losses, Lord Poseidon is proclaimed King of the Atlanteans, Ninth Sorcerer-Kings.
— Atlantean Proto-Chronicles.
| Melias Attacus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| High King of Atlantis | |
| Reign | 13237 OC – 16365 OC (Eighth of the Sorcerer-Kings) |
| Predecessor | Tocih. |
| Successor | Poseidon |
| Biographical Data | |
| Species/Race | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | 12825 OC |
| Died | 16365 OC (aged 3540) (Killed by the Sheeda) |
| Family | |
| Spouse | Kilane of Hoshan (m. 13655 OC) Gloriana Tenebrae (m. 15797 OC) |
| Children | Arriachnon |
| Father | Durgeda |
| Mother | Tarmioba |
| Affiliation | |
| Allegiance | Atlantis |
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