Sephie of Meridian
Encyclopedia
Sephie of Meridian is a fictional character, the chief protagonist in CrossGen Comics'
comic book
series Meridian
. Her name is a contraction of "Persephone
".
One day, when Sephie was about 15 or 16, a strange raven appeared, granting magical Sigils to her father and uncle, Ilahn of Cadador
. The sheer energy/power of the Sigil overwhelms and kills Turos, and it transfers to Sephie.
Ilahn arranges for someone to attack her, so he can stop them and earn her trust. As part of the same staged attack, the Minister's house is set aflame. Ilahn convinces Sephie that it is no longer safe in Meridian and ships her off to Cadador. She quickly escapes, steals aboard an airship, and heads back toward Meridian. However, she is intercepted by Cadadorian ships, and is knocked off, to the surface of the planet.
Miraculously, she survives the drop, and is taken in by Maraya, the Minister of Akasia, one of the surface cities. Once there, she is enslaved, and forced to use her abilities to help the city. Once again she escapes, coming across a logging community and later a mining city headed by Deren Beq. While there, she meets Ghetan, a strange man with orange eyes who very briefly takes on a mentor-like role for Sephie. The Muse of Giatan, another orange-eyed Mentor also appears to her.
Eventually, the loggers and miners (and others) build a skyship for Sephie, bearing her Sigil as its standard. They take off for Meridian, with Cotson the logger and Deren Beq among the crew.
Sephie and her crew take on the name "Pirates of the Wind," and begin to attack Cadadorian vessels, adding them to their small fleet, while slowly destroying Ilahn's trade controlling operations.
Ilahn, with the help of Rho Rhustane then holds an embargo on the city of Torbel, which requires constant import of ore to keep it afloat. It falls out of the sky, crashing into the ocean. He plans to make this city an example of the fate of any who oppose him. During the ensuing battle with Cadadorian forces, Sam Rey, a Sigil-Bearer
from another planet entirely, appears in midair; she rescues him and he returns the favor by helping in the fight with Cadador. He vanishes shortly afterwards, but not before inspiring Sephie to think of other inhabited planets, and other Sigil-Bearers.
At the end of the battle, Rho Rhustane finally reveals himself to Sephie as one of The First
. Against him, Sephie's Sigil flares red for the first time... and part way through their fight, Rho Rhustane vanishes, presumably returning to Elysia
to report to Ingra.
Taking his airship, Sephie returns to Meridian, where she finds that Ilahn and Cadador have all but destroyed the island city. Meeting amongst the ruins of the Minister's house, Sephie and Ilahn clash directly and Ilahn is defeated. While it appears to onlookers as though she killed her uncle, she believes that he survives, having been mystically transported elsewhere.
Sephie then travels to Cadador to secure control of her uncle's island city.
She believes, at this point, that she can effect change from within, to purge Cadador of its corruption. However, in the end, this turns out to be a near-impossibility. Reesha Teramu seizes control of the island city, and exiles Sephie. She, in turn, decides that change must come from outside of Cadador, through uniting the other islands against it.
Some time later, after defeating a number of Sigil-Bearers sent by Ilahn to stop or kill her, she learned from one, Lord Biremma how to create Sigil-powered armor. Armed with this new ability; the knowledge that Jad Takarty (a friend of hers since childhood) is alive; and that Meridian is relatively safe, she flies off to join Danik
and the other Sigil-Bearers
in their fight against Charon
(see Negation War
).
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1998 to 2004.CrossGen Comics, Inc. was founded in 1998, by Tampa, Florida-based entrepreneur Mark Alessi who sought to create a comic book universe that was uniquely varied but also connected by a...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Meridian
Meridian (comics)
Meridian was a comic book series published by CrossGen Comics. It was written by Barbara Kesel, and penciled by a number of artists including Joshua Middleton and Steve McNiven. Meridian ran for 44 issues, from July of 2000 to April of 2004....
. Her name is a contraction of "Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
".
- Sigil Location: Forehead
Plot synopsis
Sephie grew up on the floating island city of Meridian. She was the only child of the island's Minister, Turos. She befriended many of the craftsmen of the island, and learned much about building airships and sailing them.One day, when Sephie was about 15 or 16, a strange raven appeared, granting magical Sigils to her father and uncle, Ilahn of Cadador
Ilahn of Cadador
Ilahn of Cadador is a fictional character, the former Minister of the floating-island city-state of Cadador on the planet Demetria, in the Sigilverse of the comic book series Meridian, published by Crossgen Comics.Sigil Location: Throat...
. The sheer energy/power of the Sigil overwhelms and kills Turos, and it transfers to Sephie.
Ilahn arranges for someone to attack her, so he can stop them and earn her trust. As part of the same staged attack, the Minister's house is set aflame. Ilahn convinces Sephie that it is no longer safe in Meridian and ships her off to Cadador. She quickly escapes, steals aboard an airship, and heads back toward Meridian. However, she is intercepted by Cadadorian ships, and is knocked off, to the surface of the planet.
Miraculously, she survives the drop, and is taken in by Maraya, the Minister of Akasia, one of the surface cities. Once there, she is enslaved, and forced to use her abilities to help the city. Once again she escapes, coming across a logging community and later a mining city headed by Deren Beq. While there, she meets Ghetan, a strange man with orange eyes who very briefly takes on a mentor-like role for Sephie. The Muse of Giatan, another orange-eyed Mentor also appears to her.
Eventually, the loggers and miners (and others) build a skyship for Sephie, bearing her Sigil as its standard. They take off for Meridian, with Cotson the logger and Deren Beq among the crew.
Sephie and her crew take on the name "Pirates of the Wind," and begin to attack Cadadorian vessels, adding them to their small fleet, while slowly destroying Ilahn's trade controlling operations.
Ilahn, with the help of Rho Rhustane then holds an embargo on the city of Torbel, which requires constant import of ore to keep it afloat. It falls out of the sky, crashing into the ocean. He plans to make this city an example of the fate of any who oppose him. During the ensuing battle with Cadadorian forces, Sam Rey, a Sigil-Bearer
Sigil-Bearers
The Sigil-Bearers are characters in CrossGen Comics' fictional universe, the Sigilverse. The metaplot strung across all of CrossGen's titles centered on the Sigil-Bearers, and many of the titles' main characters were Sigil-Bearers, especially in the company's early days.-Overview:The Sigil is a...
from another planet entirely, appears in midair; she rescues him and he returns the favor by helping in the fight with Cadador. He vanishes shortly afterwards, but not before inspiring Sephie to think of other inhabited planets, and other Sigil-Bearers.
At the end of the battle, Rho Rhustane finally reveals himself to Sephie as one of The First
The First (comics)
The First are a group of fictional gods who appear in a self-titled comic as well as other various comic books published by CrossGen. Styled after the Greek gods in many ways, the First represent very powerful, nearly immortal beings, who are each based on a certain emotion.The full powers of The...
. Against him, Sephie's Sigil flares red for the first time... and part way through their fight, Rho Rhustane vanishes, presumably returning to Elysia
Elysia
Elysia may signify:*Elysia , a deathcore band*Elysia , a genus of gastropods*Elysium, a section of the underworld containing the Elysian Fields*Elysia, pure heart.*Elysia, a gas giant in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption....
to report to Ingra.
Taking his airship, Sephie returns to Meridian, where she finds that Ilahn and Cadador have all but destroyed the island city. Meeting amongst the ruins of the Minister's house, Sephie and Ilahn clash directly and Ilahn is defeated. While it appears to onlookers as though she killed her uncle, she believes that he survives, having been mystically transported elsewhere.
Sephie then travels to Cadador to secure control of her uncle's island city.
She believes, at this point, that she can effect change from within, to purge Cadador of its corruption. However, in the end, this turns out to be a near-impossibility. Reesha Teramu seizes control of the island city, and exiles Sephie. She, in turn, decides that change must come from outside of Cadador, through uniting the other islands against it.
Some time later, after defeating a number of Sigil-Bearers sent by Ilahn to stop or kill her, she learned from one, Lord Biremma how to create Sigil-powered armor. Armed with this new ability; the knowledge that Jad Takarty (a friend of hers since childhood) is alive; and that Meridian is relatively safe, she flies off to join Danik
Danik
Danik is a character in the Crossgen universe. Found in the books The First, Crux, Sigil, Solus, and Negation: War, Danik is a Transitioned Atlantean who has split off from himself Avatars to watch over and mentor several sentient beings throughout our universe and others.-Origins:Danik of...
and the other Sigil-Bearers
Sigil-Bearers
The Sigil-Bearers are characters in CrossGen Comics' fictional universe, the Sigilverse. The metaplot strung across all of CrossGen's titles centered on the Sigil-Bearers, and many of the titles' main characters were Sigil-Bearers, especially in the company's early days.-Overview:The Sigil is a...
in their fight against Charon
Charon (CrossGen)
Charon is the main antagonist in the comic book universe known as CrossGen or the Sigilverse. He appears most often in Negation but has also had his own limited series Mark of Charon and is mentioned throughout many CrossGen titles...
(see Negation War
Negation War (comics)
Negation War was a comic book series published by CrossGen Comics, and serving as a culmination of the metaplots of nearly all of CrossGen's other titles. It only ran for two issues, in Spring 2004, before the company declared bankruptcy and ended production on all their titles...
).