#mlotd

Jaster Mereel, a deeply pious human and extraordinary soldier, immediately noticed a deep-seated dissatisfaction in the hearts of many a hard-boiled Mandalorian. As a former Journeyman Protector, Mereel brought a strong ethic that extended far beyond the limited Mandalorian ideology of fighting for credits. His prowess in combat earned him the respect of his peers, and when Mereel fought tooth-and-nail to become reigning Mandalore and unite the disparate clans, his ideals became the foundation of a new creed: the Supercommando Codex.

The history of the Mandalorians encompasses tens of thousands of years, but the Mandalorian Protectors burned brightly for only a few decades.Embodying the highest ideals of their warrior culture, the Protectors were the antidote for a people who had too often slipped into the relative morality of mercenaries.

The roots of the Protectors stretch back to Jaster Mereel's formation of the Mandalorian Supercommandos (Mando Ori'ramikade).

During the Mandalorian Civil War of 60-34 BBY, the Protectors' ranks were split into two factions: the rebellious Death Watch and the reformist True Mandalorians of Mereel and Jango Fett. The True Mandalorians met their end at the Battle of Galidraan, but their moral teachings, embodied in the Supercommando Codex, inspired many back on Mandalore.

The Mandalorian Protectors are motivated by their adherence to the high moral standards of the Supercommando Codex. The Codex contains hundreds of commandments, resurrecting and modernizing the forgotten Canons of Honor.

The Canons are a text of laws extrapolated from the fundamental Six Actions (resol'nare) of Mandalorian culture: Wear armor, speak the Mandalorian language, defend oneself and one's family, raise one's children as Mandalorians, contribute to the welfare of the clan, and respond to any order handed down by the ruling Mandalore.

The Mandalorian Protectors were formed in response to the overtly mercenary ways of other Mandalorians and are reluctant to take jobs for pay.

The Protectors are not necessarily natives of Mandalore. Membership requires only that an individual follow the Six Actions and the teachings of the Supercommando Codex. All Mandalorians belong to a clan, but such clans do not specifically influence rank or deployment.

After the Mandalorian Excision, the exiled warrior clans began calling themselves "The Faithful" as a description for following the true warrior traditions. In opposition they labeled the New Mandalorian followers "The Faithless", to describe that faction's shunning of the warrior traditions.

As the centuries progressed an underlying movement began within "The Faithful" that exploded into open conflict when Jaster Mereel became the "True Mandalore" around 60 BBY. True Mandalorians rose to power within the warrior clans, believing that Mandalorians should adhere to a code of honor and do battle as honorable mercenaries. This code of honor became known as the "SuperCommando Codex", and was put in place by Mereel to define and guide the actions of Mandalorian warriors. Mereel realized that to protect the ancient Mandalorian traditions, attempting to conquer the galaxy was not realistic or healthy for the future of his people.

Jaster Mereel was a human male from the planet Concord Dawn, an agricultural world in the Mandalore sector. He served as a Journeyman Protector, the lawkeepers of Concord Dawn, until his high sense of morals led him to kill a corrupt superior. Charged with murder, Jaster was exiled from Concord Dawn and found refuge within the faithful Mandalorian clans.

Earning the respect of his peers through combat and skill, Mereel would eventually assume the title of “Mandalore" around 60 BBY, leading the Mandalorian clans faithful to their warrior code.

His greatest feat as Mandalore would also become his greatest defeat. Finding that other Mandalorians felt dissatisfied with the savage ways that had become prevalent among Mandalorian warriors, he became a reformist for restoring honor to the clans and issued new behavioral guidelines for the Mandalorian faithful.

His "Supercommando Codex" was a modern revision of the ancient Mandalorian "Canons of Honor," which had been followed by the Crusaders and Neo-Crusaders of bygone eras. Mereel's goal was to turn savage Mandalorians into highly-paid and honorable mercenaries.

supercommando codex: This was the name used by Jaster Mereel to describe the set of tenets and canons that he developed to oversee the new Mandalorian Mercs several decades before the onset of the Clone Wars. The codex was created to define the rules and roles of his new supercommandos, in an effort to unite the disparate clans of Mandalorian Mercs under a single leader.

Resol'nare: A term that described the basic tenents of Mandalorian culture, or "Six Actions": the wearing of armor, the use of Mandoa language, loyalty and defense of one's family and oneself, raising children in the Mandalorian way, contributing to the welfare of one's clan, and answering the call to combat of the Mand'alor during times of strife.

uj'alayi/uj'alayise(p) - dense, very sweet flat cake made of ground nuts, syrup, pureed dried fruit, and spice. "Sometimes Ordo felt just as he did when he was a small child and Skirata first towered above him: part of him was competent far beyond his years, and the rest was hollow terror because the kaminiise were going to kill him, but Skirata had snatched him and his brothers to safety and fed them all on uj’alayi, a sticky-sweet Mandalorian cake." (True Colors)

haarshun/haarshune(p) - thin bread/parchment bread - a thin sheet of bread dried to preserve it, and reconstituted in liquid. Mando ration-pack staple. Made properly, it's so thin you can read through it, hence the name; 'see-bread'.

epar - to eat

eparavur - to feast, devour

isirir - to taste

kai'goran/kai'gorane(p) - chef, someone who prepares food for eating

nadir - to cook/boil

ru'nadi - cooked (in the past)

ven nadi - will cook(future)

ke'nadi - cook (command)

hokaanir - cut/slice

ru'hokaani - cut/slice (past)

ven hokaani - will cut/slice

ke'hokaani - cut/slice (command)

hoshap/hoshape(p) - spoon

gaid/gaide(p) - plate- for armor or food use; armor was often used to heat food over open fires in the field

haili cetare! - "Tuck in! Enjoy! Lit. 'Fill your boots. “The others will show up when they smell the food. Haili cetare. Fill your boots." (501st)

Kaysh guur' skraan - "They love their food.”(Used affectionately)

skraan/skraane(p) - generic slang for a meal or food. “You won’t be fit for much without some decent skraan inside you.” (Order 66)

ori'skraan/ori'skraane(p) - a delicacy, a real treat in terms of food; a blow-out meal, a feast (slang), "big eats"

skraan’ikase (p) - assorted small snacks like meze or tapas - "small eats" - a celebratory meal for Mandos because it can take hours to eat, and the dishes are often fiddly, a contrast to the easy-to-eat, quick meals necessary in the field. "Inside the house, the veshok table was laid with an impressive spread of skraan’ikase, an assortment of small fancy snacks that could be lingered over for hours." (501st)

epar'yaim/epar'yaime(p) - restaurant, canteen

sha’kajir - to have a mealtime conversation/to discuss over the dinner table/sitting down for a meal, like the French "à table" - the word for table comes from the word for level, flat, so the implication is one of equals breaking bread together

shig/shige(p) - tea- any infusion of whatever's available, but usually a mildly stimulant herb with a citrus flavor called behot. "He stopped at each tapcaf along the Chortav Meshurkaane and had a mug of hot shig, then ambled along the market stalls that lined the alley." (501st); "Mereel made her a pot of shig—a tisane made from a plant called behot—before getting on with examining the data." (True Colors)

tihaar/tihaare(p) - alcoholic drink - strong clear spirit made from fruit, like eau de vie. "Every tihaar was different, made from whatever local fruit was available" (501st)

ne'tra gal/ne'tra gale(p) - black ale/ sweet, almost spicy black beer similar to milk stout. "Ordo, sweat-streaked and visibly pleased with himself, halted the game to hand out mugs of ne’tra gal." (501st)

buy'ce gal/buy'ce gale(p) - pint of ale. "The chieftains and neighbors who drank here had become Fett’s cabinet, and if there was any serious attempt at government going on—Mando’ade regarded that as a deeply unhealthy and aruetyc thing—then it would only be tolerated over a buy’ce gal in the tapcaf."

papuur'gal/papuur'gale(p) - wine

pirun/pirune - water

gal’gala - invitation to drink/Let me buy you a drink/Have a drink. “Gal’gala?” (Bloodlines)

galar - pour

Ni copaani buy'ce gal - "I’d like a pint of ale"

Ni copaani buyc'ika cin papuur'gal - "I’d like a glass of white wine, please"

jatisyc - delicious

draluram - vivid - used only of food, to indicate strong, distinct flavor, lit. "bright mouth" - one of the four essentials of Mandalorian cooking

heturam - mouth-burn spicy-"mouthburn" - a sought-after state of intense burning in the mouth brought about by very spicy food

hetikles - nasal-burn spicy-burning sensation in the sinuses brought about by specific spices - Mandalorians prize this. "It was a blisteringly spicy meat-and-vegetable casserole, which had the prized characteristic of hetikles, pungent enough to burn the nasal passages, one of the four qualities in Mando cooking." (Order 66)

tiingilar/tiingilare(p) - spicy meat-and-vegetable casserole

hetikleyc - spicy, as in makes the sinuses burn (a sensation like eating horseradish or wasabi)

janad - spicy

paak - salt

pirpaak/pirpaake(p) - broth, soup. "salted water"

epan/epane(p) - stomach

lalat/lalate(p) - tongue

ni n'epa - "I don't eat it"

emuurir - like, enjoy (food, activities, etc)

haryc b’aalyc - "tired and emotional" - i.e. drunk. "Shysa went quiet and poured a third tihaar for himself. He tilted the bottle at Skirata in a mute offer of a top-up, but Skirata shook his head. If he wanted to get completely haryc b’aalyc—tired and emotional, as Mando’ade called it—then he’d wait until he got home." (501st)

lararyc - drunk (noisy, lively, and fun version)

batnor - blackout drunk

ruik - bittersweet root (chewed on). "Skirata, chewing vigorously on that bittersweet ruik root that he’d recently taken a liking to, stood with his fists in his jacket pockets, watching Jusik stepping delicately between chunks of debris." (Triple Zero) "Skirata was still chewing the ruik. She could smell it on his breath, sweet and floral." (Triple Zero)

neral/nerale(p) - grain, grains

shuk'la gett'se - rushed or ground nuts (topping or ingredient for uj)

uj'ayl/uj syrup - thick & sweet scented syrup used in cooking