〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Chris
AGE: 29
JOURNAL: milennialfalcon
IM / EMAIL: canadia.dayo@gmail.com
PLURK: objectpermanence
RETURNING: Cisco Ramon, Lando Calrissian

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Merle Highchurch
CHARACTER AGE: approximately 200, which amounts to vaguely "old" in human terms (plus 100 years when he didn't age at all)
SERIES: The Adventure Zone: Balance Arc
CHRONOLOGY: post series, in the epilogue, immediately prior to officiating Carey and Killian's wedding
CLASS: vaguely Hero-ish? he isn't actively villainous, but he probably won't be gung-ho about being a hero either (he's retired!)
HOUSING: put him in Maurtia Falls with the other TAZ nerds?

BACKGROUND: wiki link

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.

POWER:

1. Dwarven Physiology Being a dwarf, Merle lives longer and is hardier than normal humans. Dwarves don't reach adulthood until age 50, and can live up to 350 years. As a dwarf, Merle is resistant to poison. He also had the ability to see in the dark, but gave that up in Wonderland, so now he just has normal vision (albeit he lacks depth perception, only having one working eye). He's also shorter than humans, only coming up to 3'6" tall. Like most dwarves, Merle has a big, bushy beard.
   
   
2. Cleric Powers and Spells Merle is granted three abilities due to being a cleric: Turn/Destroy Undead (used to make undead creatures such as zombies or vampires run away, or possibly be destroyed if he rolls well enough), Channel Divinity: Nature (used to speak to hit on plants), and Divine Intervention (used to beseech his god, Pan, for help). Due to the fact that Pan doesn't exactly exist in this universe, I am willing to give up his Divine Intervention ability, but I would like to keep Turn/Destroy Undead and Channel Divinity: Nature. (Usually none of Merle's magic works if he is cut off from Pan, but that would leave him powerless so I don't want to do that.)
   
   In addition to his cleric powers, Merle also has spells that he knows. These spells range from cantrips that he can cast as often as he wants, to very powerful spells that he can only cast once per day before he needs a long rest to recover. Merle canonically knows at least 41 spells, but I'm not going to be that cruel to you, so I would like to limit Merle's spellcasting ability to the following 15 spells:
   
   0. CANTRIPS (cast any time):
      
      • Light - Makes an object glow so it can be used to see in the dark. Lasts up to 1 hour.
      
      
   1. LEVEL 1 (cast several times per day):
      
      • Command - Merle speaks a one-word command to someone, and if their will is not significantly strong, they must obey. Sample commands include "Halt," "Flee," or "Drop," which would make the target stop what they're doing, turn and run away, or drop what they're holding, respectively. Has no effect on undead creatures, or people who can't understand Merle's language. The command will not work if it's directly harmful to the target (you can't command someone to hurt themselves).
        
      • Cure Wounds - A healing spell which heals a wounded target for a moderate amount of damage. Enough to heal a cut, but not a severed limb. (Can be cast at higher level for more healing power.) Has no effect on undead creatures or constructs (i.e. robots, golems).
        
      • Healing Word - A healing spell that's about half as powerful as Cure Wounds. Could heal a scraped knee. (Can be cast at higher level for more healing power.) Has no effect on undead creatures or constructs.
        
      • Shield of Faith - A shimmering forcefield appears around a person within 60 feet of Merle, protecting them from harm. Lasts up to 10 minutes.
      
      
   2. LEVEL 2 (cast several times per day):
      
      • Calm Emotions - A spell which suppresses strong emotions in a 20 foot radius around a point Merle chooses. Can be used to stop subjects from being afraid or magically charmed, or can be used to make subjects indifferent towards a creature they were previously hostile towards. Lasts up to 1 minute.
        
      • Enhance Ability - Increases one of the following attributes of a target:
          - Bear's Endurance (makes the subject more durable)
          - Bull's Strength (makes the subject stronger)
          - Cat's Grace (makes the subject faster)
          - Eagle's Splendor (makes the subject more charismatic)
          - Fox's Cunning (makes the subject smarter)
          - Owl's Wisdom (makes the subject wiser)
        These effects last for 1 hour, and the spell requires Merle to touch his target.
        
      • Prayer of Healing - A healing spell that's about twice as powerful as Cure Wounds. Could heal a broken bone. (Can be cast at higher level for more healing power.) Has no effect on undead creatures or constructs.
        
      • Spiritual Weapon - Merle summons a floating, spectral weapon that he can attack with, in a range of 20 feet. This weapon can take any form Merle chooses. Lasts up to 1 minute, or 10 rounds of attacks.
        
      • Zone of Truth - MERLE'S FAVORITE SPELL - Merle creates a 30 foot diameter sphere of TRUTH! All creatures which enter the sphere must tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They can resist, if they are significantly strong-willed, but where would be the fun in that? Creatures within the sphere are aware that they are being made to tell the truth, and can choose to give circuitous answers to avoid spilling the beans, but nothing they say can be a deliberate, outright lie. Lasts up to 10 minutes.
      
      
   3. LEVEL 3 (cast a few times per day):
      
      • Mass Healing Word - Like Healing Word, except it heals up to 6 people.
        
      • Spirit Guardians - A host of angelic spirits appear surrounding Merle in a 15 foot radius. Anyone who Merle doesn't designate as unaffected by the spell who enters this area takes damage from the guardians, and can only move half as quickly as normal. (Can be cast at higher level to increase damage.) Lasts up to 10 minutes.
      
      
   4. LEVEL 4 (cast a few times per day):
      
      • Guardian of Faith - A large spectral guardian wielding a sword and shield appears at a point within 30 feet of Merle. Any creature who comes within 10 feet of the guardian takes damage (unless they can successfully dodge out of the way). Merle's guardian takes the form of Della Reese from Touched By An Angel. Lasts up to 8 hours, or until it has dealt enough damage to fell one medium-sized creature.
      
      
   5. LEVEL 5 (cast once per day):
      
      • Legend Lore - Merle picks one person, place, or object to be the target of this spell. The spell gives him a summary of the significant lore/history surrounding the target. The more Merle already knows about the target, the more specific the information he gets will be. (I will obtain OOC permission from players before using this spell to gain information about a PC.)
        
      • Mass Cure Wounds - A healing spell like Cure Wounds, except it heals up to 6 people, and heals significantly more severe wounds. Could reattach severed limbs. (Can be cast at higher level for more healing power.) Has no effect on undead creatures or constructs.
   
   
   
3. Loot During his time as an adventurer, Merle has picked up various magical items, some of which he will be bringing into game with him:
   
   • Extreme Teen Bible - Merle's holy symbol which he uses to cast all his spells. It basically just makes all his spells a little bit more powerful.
     
   • Ring of Recall - A ring which gives Merle the ability to cast a spell again if it fails the first time.
     
   • Slippies of Haste - A pair of fuzzy slippers with wings that make Merle react faster in combat.
     
   • Physician's Pendant - Gives Merle the ability to cast one extra healing spell per day.
     
   • The Zoom Broom - A flying broom which Merle can summon remotely by shouting the words, "Hang Ten!"
     
   • Gilley - A wooden club which Merle made himself. Using it, he can sacrifice the ability to cast another spell later in order to make a spell he's casting now more powerful.
     
   • Pan Chick Tracts - These aren't actually magical. They're just little pamphlets about Merle's god, Pan, of which Merle has an unending supply. He likes handing these out to people to spread the word of Pan.
     
   • Soul Wood Arm - Merle is actually an amputee (thanks, Magnus), and has a prosthetic right arm made out of "soul wood" with four fingers, that moves and behaves just like a normal arm would.

〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[ The voice that comes on sounds fairly normal, until halfway through he remembers to do a character voice and coughs, afterwards speaking in a wizened, gruff tone. ]

Hey, uh... I know this world's got problems and all... Trust me, I've been to my share of worlds to know when a place is hecked right up, but uhh... I was kind of in the middle of somethin', you know, before this "Porter" decided to get its hands on this fine piece of dwarf meat. I mean, they can probably do fine without me, really. I'm only officiating a wedding. They can find some other ordained cleric, or a justice of the peace...

You know what? On second thought, scratch that. The Porter can have me! That was way too much responsibility. I mean--! [ He laughs, ] Can you imagine me officiating a wedding?! I'd probably have to give some kind of speech. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of our loved ones, under the watchful eye of Pan, to affirm what we all know to be true: the love these two saps have for each other."

You know, actually, I think I'd do a pretty great job officiating a wedding...

I changed my mind, I wanna go back!

LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: tdm thread

FINAL NOTES:
In addition to his magical Loot, Merle also has the following non-magical items:

• "Smoosher" the War Hammer
  
• "Lil' Choppy" the Hand Axe
  
• A bracer with the Bureau of Balance symbol on his left arm, which he can't actually remove because of magic
  
• An eye patch over his left eye with a carving of an owl on it