haven appppppp

[sylvanwood]

Name: Christy
Contact Info: swagu
Other Characters Played: Diva (madamemoiselle), Xerxes Break (madhatted), Arcueid Brunestud (ifs)
Preferred Apartment: n/a

Character Name: Merrill
Canon: Dragon Age II
Canon Point: Between Act 2 and Act 3
Background/History: The Dragon Age storyline, Merrill's, and a summary of the game events/choices for Merrill!
Personality:
Strictly speaking, Merrill is one of the kindest people you could ever meet. She's optimistic, cheerful, giving and truly just a kind-hearted person. She loves being around people and loves learning new things, taking in everything with a wide-eyed sort of wonder. She's a perfectly agreeable young woman, and one who has purpose and devotion to her cause.

The problem is, she's a blood mage.

Before we delve more into what defines Merrill, it's important to define her culture, because it shapes her, of course, but it's also her largest motivating factor. Merrill is Dalish, elves that live away from humans and other races and largely govern themselves in a clan system. Each clan is headed by a Keeper, which a position of leadership, but also like a head of a family and a historian. The Keeper works for the good of the clan and is the one charged with preserving the history of their race that's already known, and if possible, recovering things that were lost in the age of the Tevinters. As Merrill is the next in line to become the Keeper of her clan, she only wishes to do the best in this role that she can, but it sends her down a dangerous path.

To restore an ancient artifact of her people, Merrill commits a great taboo and becomes a blood mage. Blood mages are highly feared, since they are the most likely to be possessed by demons and become dangerous Abominations or worse. Though Merrill truly had the best intentions, since she only wanted to help her people and restore some of their former prosperity, the means that she goes through to do it alienates her from her clan, to the point that she's effectively banished and works with Hawke in the subsequent years.

The events shape Merrill and act as her primary motivating factors, yet she's hardly the person you'd expect from these events alone. Merrill has a kind and bubbly personality. She's very deeply empathetic and is usually one of the first party members to ask about another's well-being. She cares very deeply for those around her, and she's the sort of person to open her heart very quickly. She sees the best in people and loves them for it, and even to those that are very harsh to her, her kindness and concern barely falters at all, since she simply wants those around her to be happy.

But this is also her biggest flaw. Her naive, trusting nature makes her easily fooled and used, but she rejects the idea that she can't handle herself quite vehemently. Other party members often express their concerns for Merrill's safety, whether it's with her blood magic from Anders or simply walking through dark, seedy alleys alone from Varric. Despite being an adult woman, Merrill is very unwise to the world, since she's lived in isolation with her clan until she came to Kirkwall with Hawke. She does things for others and rarely for herself, so she's easily taken advantage of, which is why many people worry so much for her using blood magic. They fear that Merrill's innate thinking that people have the best intentions first will ruin her, since she's blinded from seeing the bad in others. And unfortunately, with how her quest concludes, this is true.

Merrill is also not very confident in herself. She works tirelessly and will give someone the clothes off her back, but it's almost like she's trying to make up for some deficit she hinds in herself. She doesn't feel like she's a very strong or smart person, and these are qualities she deeply admires in others. Merrill says that she wishes she was more like Isabela or a female Hawke, since they both are witty, strong, and don't need to rely on others like Merrill often finds she has to. She admires others greatly and sees the best of them, but she has difficulty seeing the good qualities in herself, which leads to a lack of self-confidence and a lot of doubt in herself.

She also doesn't understand nuance, and though she's very intelligent and studious, sarcasm or dirty jokes often fly right over her head. By her canon point, she's at least gotten to the point where she can identify them, but she usually has to make sure, as in "that was sarcasm, right?" She's lived a sheltered and isolated life, so there are many things she simply doesn't understand about living in the city, since she's lived amongst nature up until that point, but Merrill takes it all in with a smile. She sees it as an opportunity to learn, which is probably why so many party members still care for her so deeply in the face of her glaring, dangerous naivete. She's very innocent, when it comes down to it, simply wanting the best for others at any cost to herself.

Though, it's also worth noting that she's also a bit... awkward, to put it lightly. Maybe it's because of how she's learning about people or maybe it's just her personality, but Merrill has a tendency to say strange things at times. She asks a pirate if she has a parrot, asks dwarves if they frolic like elves do, or assigns personalities to inanimate objects. She's a bit socially awkward and will sometimes ruin plans because it flies over her head too, such as when Hawke tries to district some thugs with a made-up fire, Merrill essentially says to Hawke "but there was no fire." She's honest, not brutally so, since there's no a mean bone in her body, but she has a tendency to say whatever is on her mind without thinking about it first. This will either lead to those strange expressions of what she's thinking or to an awkward, stuttering, rambling mess when she's stressed. She's not the best at social situations, but she hardly shies away from them, at least...

Overall, Merrill is a person who stubbornly refuses to acknowledge her own flaws. She's not a bad person for it, but she's blinded by her own hopes and ambition, and this has the potential to drive her and her people that she so desperately wishes to help into ruin. Merrill wants the best for everyone around her and wants to see only the very best in them, but the world simply isn't as good as she imagines it. She's a sweet, gentle young woman who has a big heart and easily makes friends. She's genuinely kind and caring, which also makes her a very good friend. But ultimately, Merrill truly needs good people to stand beside her as she learns about the world, because they're the ones that can look after her and make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble that she truly can't handle.

Abilities/Powers:
They're listed in more detail here, but essentially, Merrill is a skilled magic-user that uses elemental spells, for the most part. The sort of gross stuff associated with blood magic like reanimating corpses are things she does not do. The blood magic essentially provides her additional power for her elemental spells. By cutting herself, she's able to power her spells through her HP/life energy, which I'll be treating along the lines of when she uses blood magic, she'll have to be careful to not bleed to death while she's using her spells.

Outside of combat abilities, it can be assumed that Merrill is able to use magic for basic tasks. What this can entail isn't very clearly stated, but she seemingly can't fix her leaky roof with magic, but she could learn spells to spice up her sex life, apparently. I'd say that complex physical tasks aren't possible with magic, but simpler ones are, and she can probably augment people's abilities in small ways.
Items/Weapons:

1. Her armor (Silver-Threaded Dalish Embroidery)
2. Her staff (Hubris)
3. A ball of twine

Sample Entry:
Oh, goodness...!

[ The video starts with the sound of a lightly Welsh accented voice, but there's really nothing shown on the video. It's just black, though the black sort of shifts on occasion. Clearly, this person just has her fingers over the camera and doesn't realize it's on. ]

Is that a light...? What an interesting little thing you are! Does the blinking mean it's listening to me? I hope so. That nice man said that I could talk to people with it, so good. Um... I hadn't thought of what to say yet, though. I just thought I would fiddle around with it a bit first, to see what would happen, but, oh, I'm rambling, aren't I? I'm sorry.

Well, if you'll take a message to someone, I'd appreciate it very much. If you could take a message to Kirkwall and please tell Hawke that I appear to have been kidnapped, that would be wonderful. Oh, but make sure to tell her not to worry, since my kidnappers are very nice, at least. Or... They haven't tried to kill me or any of the other people kidnapped, so that's quite fine. Tell her not to worry, but if she could come help, I'd be grateful. Oh, and tell Varric that his ball of twine didn't quite work for this, before he makes fun of me for it. Yes, that's it. Thank you—oh, what were you called—Fone'e? Something like that. Yes, thank you, Fone'e.

[ The view finally shifts, showing her face finally as she smiles and patiently seems to wait for it to return her message... ]

Sample Entry Two:
She didn't like to think about it, but when she did, Merrill would remember how alone she was. And in a place like this, it was hard not to, she quickly realized.

It was like being back in Kirkwall a few years ago, thrown back into a situation where she had to stand very much on her own. She didn't mind it, she would often think to herself, because it was very exciting, in some ways. There was the potential to learn so many things and see so much that this part was thrilling. Any time she went to a new place, often with Hawke, she would always marvel at some new thing it provided her. There was a lot to marvel over, after all, since both Kirkwall and this place—Haven, wasn't it—were so very different from the woods of Ferelden and the hills of Sundermount.

She walks along empty alleys with rubble piled up around her with a ball of twine slowly unwinding so that she can find her way back, just like Varric had taught her. But rather than striding through interesting alleyways with a curious smile like she had in Kirkwall, there's a melancholy, nervous expression on her face now. Because it was very different. Kirkwall had been quite scary in some ways, because Merrill had never lived without her kin, but Hawke had always been there as a truly wonderful friend, as had Isabela, Varric, and even grumpy, disapproving Anders. And all the rest. She could fear for what may come as she lived away from her clan, but she had precious friends to help her.

...She hates to think negatively. It's such a toxic thing, especially for her, because it just spirals down until it feels like she's caught in a pit. So she really tries not to. But here... Here, in Haven, all she has to help her is this little ball of twine.

"Oh, if only you could lead me back to Kirkwall..." she sighs out as she looks at the twine sadly before she grips it to her chest instead. She doesn't want to think this way. This was supposed to be something new and exciting too, and surely, surely she could make friends here. The people she'd met so far had been quite kind.

But still, she can't help but wish that Hawke would show up to make things right, like she always did.