Merle "crunchy granola murderer" Highchurch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
extremeteenbible) wrote2019-09-09 04:54 pm
extremeteenbible) wrote2019-09-09 04:54 pm
Entry tags:
Deerington app
IN CHARACTER
Character Name: Merle Highchurch
Canon: The Adventure Zone: Balance
Canon Point:
*canon updated on 11/8/19
In-Game Tattoo Placement: just over his heart
Current Health/Status: healthy, but old
Age: approximately 200, which amounts to vaguely "old" in human terms (plus 100 years when he didn't age at all)
Species: dwarf
Content Warnings: typical D&D violence/murder, eye damage, a century of dying and being resurrected every year, drug usage, plant-based sexuality.
History: wiki link
CRAU History and Impact: Merle spent just under a year living in an alternate universe America where a mysterious "Porter" pulls in people from various realities and universes, and gives them superpowers. These people are known as "imPorts," and are treated like celebrities. Merle's powerset included everything he already had: 1) being a dwarf, 2) his cleric powers/magic, and 3) his magical loot. He lived in a house with his friends from home who were there, and made a bunch of new friends as well. Having led such a long and storied life, this short stay in America didn't have a huge impact on Merle's personality. The most important events to note are: 1) when a friend of his got possessed by a relic brought from Merle's universe and turned a whole city into plantlife, and had to be hunted down and killed by Merle and his friends to break the thrall; 2) the time another relic spread its effect throughout the imPort population and changed people's ages for a week or so, making Merle regress to a young dwarf of 50 before he had met any of his friends; and 3) the time an imPort had gone on the network and solicited nudes, which Merle happily provided.
Personality: Despite being an integral part of Tres Horny Boys, the IPRE, and the Bureau of Balance, a great deal of Merle's history and personality is defined by him running away from responsibilities and not wanting to be tied down. He felt stifled by the Pan commune he grew up in, so he left. He married another beach dwarf named Hekuba, had a son with her, became a father to her daughter from a previous marriage, but felt that he would never be a good husband and father, so he left. Heck, you could even say that joining the Starblaster crew was the biggest act of leaving of all! A chance to fly away from your entire plane of existence and explore new worlds? Sign him right up!
Though Merle has lived a long and eventful life, he's constantly on a journey of self discovery and affirmation. He grew up in a community of Pan worshippers, and though he still believes in and preaches the word of Pan, he has gone through several periods of doubt in his beliefs. These were exacerbated when the Hunger found its way to Faerûn and cut off Merle's divine connection to his god. Merle felt like finally, Pan had abandoned him, leaving unable to cast any spells or perform any healing magic. Once Taako opened up the other planes, and Pan was able to come through, however, Pan reassured Merle in person that he had never, and would never, give up on him.
Merle's D&D alignment is "Neutral Good," which basically means that he's on the side of good in the fight versus evil, but he's not going to pay too much attention either way to obeying or disobeying any laws or rules on the way to do so. Merle's gonna do Merle, basically, and what Merle does is try to help people. Sure, he's killed things, he's been killed, he's lied and stolen and seduced his way through problems. But in the end, Merle wants to do good. Oh, and when I say "seduced," I mean plants. Merle's sexually attracted to plants. He likes people too, but plants are what really does it for him.
In any event, Merle may not be the best dad, the best cleric, or the best friend, but he tries. In his way. And he's gonna keep trying until old age finally catches up to him and his soul moves on to the astral plane for its final rest.
Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: Merle's powers will remain largely the same as they were in Mask or Menace. See: the red and green sections of this chart. To warp his powers, every time he tries to cast a spell, I will roll a die. On a 2-10, the spell fails. On an 11-15, the spell is cast as intended. On a 16-20, the spell does too well, and there are unintended consequences. On a critical miss, there's just an explosion.
Inventory: Please reference the teal section of this chart. Merle will have all items except the Physician's Pendant.
Writing Samples: MoM TDM & MoM text thread
OUT OF CHARACTER
Player Name: Chris
Player Age: 30
Player Contact:
Other Characters In Game: Gwen Poole
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Merle Highchurch: Chris
Permissions for Character: placeholder from last game (this entry will be updated if accepted)
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: yes
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: body horror, alignment swaps, characters dying a lot
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: cutting or puncturing of eyes
Additional Information: A note on Merle's inventory: as the Soul Wood Arm, the eyepatch he wears, and his Bureau of Balance bracer are attached to him, I would prefer those not count towards his inventory items. If that is not acceptable, let me know and I will have him lose other items instead.
Revisions
Merle's primary relationships in his canon are with Taako and Magnus. Together, they form a tight knit group of adventurers who can take on any challenge. They tease each other relentlessly: Merle constantly reminding Magnus about the time he cut of Merle's arm, Taako complaining that Merle never heals them when he should. But at the end of the day, they rely on each other and trust each other more than they trust just about anyone else. When all three of them were in Mask or Menace together, they easily fell into their old routines, despite the fact that Merle was from a more advanced canon point, and knew things that would shake Taako and Magnus to the core if he divulged them. The thing is, it never occurred to any of them to have the "so what was the last thing you were doing before you were Ported in" conversation, so all the secrets went unspilled.
Outside of Taako and Magnus, Merle's most significant relationships in canon are with Lucretia, aka Madame Director of the Bureau of Balance; Angus McDonald, boy genius; and his stepdaughter Mavis and son Mookie. While Taako and Magnus are more distrustful of Lucretia, Merle forgives her for what she had to do in order for the world of Faerûn to survive, even if that did mean messing with their memories so fundamentally. He takes a laid back attitude to Lucretia, just like he takes a laid back attitude with most things. Angus, he doesn't really like and keeps forgetting the name of, but there are moments they share where Merle confesses some of his innermost thoughts and feelings to the boy, so he does trust him at least a little bit. His standoffish approach to Angus stems from Merle's self doubt and insecurity— he doesn't feel like a full member of the team, so anyone new being added, especially someone as competent as Angus, threatens his position. However, he grows to appreciate Angus in his own right. Angus is the first Bureau of Balance member that Merle introduces to his kids, and he confides in Angus his fears about being a good parent. When he walked out on his family, it was because he was afraid he wouldn't be a good role model for Mavis and Mookie, but by the end of canon, he, Mavis, and Mookie are all living together in a little town by the beach, family reunited.
Merle's last (or first) other significant relationship in canon is with John, the representative of the Hunger, the evil, worlds-consuming force that chased the IPRE throughout the planar system for a century, killing them over and over again. Partway throughout the century, Merle developed a technique to speak with the Hunger in a "parlay," a series of conversations between Merle and John, taking place in an extradimensional board room where John has the power to kill Merle, but Merle has no ability to fight back or defend himself. The purpose of these talks is to exchange information and build a better understanding of each other, ostensibly to find a peaceful solution to their conflict. Merle was patient with John, and listened to his life story. He listened as John spoke of the desire to gain complete mastery over life and time themselves, and how that led him to stretch out across the planes in what would become the Hunger. Merle and John would ask each other questions, and they would each answer truthfully. In the end, Merle came to think of John as a friend, but John couldn't see past his own dissatisfaction with life, the universe, and everything, to accept Merle the same way. In the end, the Hunger consumed John like it consumed everything else, and when Merle and John met on the other side of the conflict, it was as friends.
Merle had a few significant relationships in Mask or Menace, outside of his canon mates. The first is Archie, who was Magnus' friend first, but who quickly became friends with the whole crew. Archie is the one who was possessed by the Grand Relic that Magnus had brought with him, and who went on a rampage that resulted in the boys having to kill him to break the Grand Relic's hold on him. Archie felt extremely guilty afterward, but Merle calmly explained to him what the Grand Relic was (because at their canon points, Magnus and Taako didn't know the full story) and assured him that he wasn't to blame for what he did under the Relic's thrall. His other most significant relationship was with Lucien Lachance, who Merle knew as two people: himself, as a friend who would discuss religion and philosophy with Merle, and as the anonymous representative of the Dark Brotherhood, a cult of assassins, who Merle would have friendly debates with on the network. He started out his conversations with the anonymous assassin decrying his profession and calling it amoral. But as their conversations progressed, Merle confessed that he's done plenty of amoral things in his own time, and he came to see the Dark Brotherhood as a religion just as valid as his own, if a little darker and more sinister.