Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 15:35:47 GMT
Merrill
Basic Information
Age: Early twenties.
Gender: Female.
Sexuality: Pansexual.
Rank: Wanderer.
Canon/OC: Canon.
Canon World/Face Claim: Dragon Age II - Merrill.
Cbox Name: Awkward Penguin.
Other Characters: Bernkastel.
Powers And Abilities
Strengths:
- Remembers elven history all the way down to the tone it was told in, or handwriting.
- Can navigate the fade and other spiritual realms easily.
- Able to make simple potions and salves from herbs and is trying to improve her skills.
- Is a blood mage. As far as controlling mana goes, she's quite talented at it. She's even learning how to use blood magic to heal.
- Despite what Anders calls her, she's not that stupid. Merrill is aware, perhaps more than most, that reaching beyond the veil is dangerous. But she also knows that the same way those powers can be used to hurt, they can also be beneficial. That's why she's careful.
Weaknesses:
- Carrying a staff automatically identifies her as a mage. A lot of people don't like mages.
- Being a blood mage is generally frowned upon by almost all of society (which is an understatement).
- Not experienced with the outside world or other people at all. It's a miracle if she can navigate through the alienage. It takes her a while to keep up with conversation, and jokes are beyond her.
- Awful at close-combat, would probably cut herself with a knife if she tried to use it (which can serve its purpose).
- Very mortal. Squishy in that regard.
- She's also pretty short and not that strong. She can't swing a hammer or a long sword and expect to get anywhere.
- Quick, but the faster she moves the more likely she is to trip.
- Can't sneak. In fact it's more likely she'd make noise with each step.
- Merrill just wants what she feels is best for her friends, and to make her clan proud... she doesn't know why that tends to backfire.
Weapons And Equipment:
Any weapons or important equipment that your character can usually be found carrying goes here along with a brief description.[/size]
Personal Information
Personality:
Less of a cat, more of a kitten. That's how Isabella described her anyway, Merrill was very much the ambitious child when she was with the Sabrae. She still had a lot of growing up to do, not maturing at all until she met Hawke. She adores learning about things and picked up spell-casting rather quickly, thirsting for knowledge. Those little hints or tricks she saw Varric do when he roamed the streets and the winks Isabella gave men just about made her day. They knew everything she wanted to know, it was so fascinating. Of course with improvement came mistakes, and Merrill was rather famous for messing up.
That being said, sometimes (more often than she'd like), among the other elves and burglaries and brawls she does get nervous. Even scared. The history is in the past but someone has to know, she's aware of that and reciting words doesn't help when she watches someone get beaten down. In a way she's kept the same mindset she had with the Dalish, sitting next to the fire as the Keeper told stories.
There was such a vast, big wide open world out there, so much of her hoped that someplace, there were people who would be kind to them. There would be a place out of harm's reach where she could lay her head... she really wanted to believe that. Merrill never completely got rid of her dreaming mind, her head is often in the clouds. Perhaps it's the only thing that keeps her spirit from breaking.
So it's easy for people to think it's alright to push her away and call her a witch. She won't mind, she just furrows her brows and sulks. Hmph, let them do what they want. It's not like arguing would change anything, it would be another reason to hate her more. A lot of the time the elf doesn't know right from wrong, and she does get them mixed up. Merrill still doesn't want to be criticized. She won't mess up. She knows what she's doing... kind of.
History:
Following the events surrounding the disappearance of Tamlen, Merrill kept a fragment of the Eluvian in the old ruins to cleanse it of its taint. Her efforts to repair it are what caused her to turn to blood magic, which she learned from a pride demon imprisoned atop Sundermount. She believed it was the only way she could access enough power to cleanse the taint in the mirror. She has become convinced that her efforts to understand blood magic are necessary for the survival of the Dalish, and faced the scorn and contempt of her clanmates as a result.
When Hawke arrived at the Dalish camp in Sundermount, she took part in a ritual that Hawke is to perform on a mountain-top altar. In the rite, Merrill recites the song In Uthenera. The ritual actually entails the resurrection of Flemeth, as a portion of her essence is revealed to have been embedded in the amulet. Merrill had been given permission by Marethari to leave her increasingly hostile clan in order to learn more about the outside world and continue her studies. Initially nervous when arriving in Kirkwall, Merrill found lodging in the city's Alienage and joined Hawke's party. However, while staying in Kirkwall, her use of blood magic put Merrill at odds with Anders and Fenris.
Three years had passed since Hawke joined the voyage to the Deep Roads, and Merrill seeked Hawke's help in facing Marethari to request a special dagger, an Arulin'Holm, to help complete the Eluvian. As they confronted the Keeper, she calls upon vir sulevanan, the right of every Dalish to claim any property or artifact of the clan in exchange for a service. Reluctantly, Marethari requested that they slay a Varterral that had killed a number of their hunters, as the deal for the dagger. While exploring the Varterral's lair, they run into Pol, who flees in fear at the sight of Merrill, straight to the Varterral itself. After killing the Varterral and returning to camp, Hawke discovered that Marethari had warned her clan that Merrill may potentially bring back the darkspawn taint. Though Merrill honored her side of the bargain, the Keeper does not trust her, and instead, gives it to Hawke for safekeeping.
After another three years since the invasion of the Qunari, Merrill found an alternative to fixing the still-inactive Eluvian, regardless whether Hawke gave the Arulin'Holm to Merrill or not. She planned to consult the demon, who said to her that he witnessed the creation of the mirror itself. The Keeper contained the demon within herself to keep Merrill from harm. She claimed that the demon was intending to use the Eluvian as a way out of its prison and Merrill would've been its first victim. Afterwards, the clan confronted and interrogated Hawke and Merrill about the Keeper's disappearance, and eventually discovered that she is dead. Hawke took the blame for Merrill's actions, so the clan will simply asked them to leave.
Back in the Alienage, Merrill was crushed. She still hasn't figured out what to do with the Eluvian yet.
Sample Post
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"Bye Varric! I'll go back to check the gardens later."
The elf stepped away from the dwarf and began to skip down the alleyway when Varric called her again. Merrill almost gasped and smiled when he threw a ball of twine in her direction, catching it easily with nimble fingers. She giggled and let the tool shine in her hand, did he really think she still needed this?
"I've got it covered," she chirped before continuing her journey, sandals tapping against the stone and mud of Kirkwall. The dark-haired girl paused, gaze flickering about walls she swore she hadn't crossed before. No. She didn't need help, it was okay. Everything would be fine. Her small teeth dug into her bottom lip, her pace grew a bit frantic. Merrill felt a dull throbbing in the back of her head, it grew and turned into paranoia.
More often than not, she was an outsider. The snorts and hidden smirks that came from Anders and Sebastian every time she messed up made her stomach tumble. Merrill didn't even know if Hawke liked her that much so she stayed in the alienage and stared at the floor letting blood dance on her fingertips. They weren't wrong... but there was no way she would let them be right.
I can do this. They'll laugh at me so I can do this by myself.