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Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role. Note: See updated character concept on second page.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so. Note: See updated Description on second page for updates.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. They struck up a correspondence, and he encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

See second page for a backstory update.

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow. See second page for updates to Deity.

Connections: 

See second page for updates to Branokras and Riaxis, Tiquirith, and Angus, as well as one entirely new character.

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role. Note: See updated character concept on second page.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so. Note: See updated Description on second page for updates.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. They struck up a correspondence, and he encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow. See second page for updates to Deity.

Connections: 

See second page for updates to Branokras and Riaxis, Tiquirith, and Angus.

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she tries to function in a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she steps up into a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.  This is also an introverted charismatic character who sometimes gets things wrong when she steps up into a more extroverted role.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OqwKfgLaeA - Cat's in the Cradle, song for Mery and her birth father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

-Decimus (Human Wizard) - Although Mery has not interacted with this character much yet, I do want to say that as a player, I am really enjoying this player's writing style and some of his(?) textual descriptions.  

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OqwKfgLaeA - Cat's in the Cradle, song for Mery and her birth father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.

Name: Generally goes by Mery

Character Concept: Nerdy girl face/support character constantly seeking new knowledge, wants to write a book that makes a difference, but is unsure what to write about.

Lineage, Background, Planned Subclass: Mery is a Half-Elf (Qualinesti/Human), with the Sage background and will take the College of Lore when she reaches the correct level.

Description: Mery has long blonde hair that she generally wears up in a bun to keep it out of her face and piercing green eyes. She prefers clothes that are functional and have many pockets. She wouldn't be the first one to come and greet you in a room, as she has a somewhat reserved nature, but she can be incredibly charming and persuasive when she wants to be, and she can be quite warm once she's had a bit of time to warm up to you. She often has a somewhat distracted air, as though her attention is elsewhere, and indeed it is, as she is commonly mentally cataloguing anything that strikes her as worth being written down. During downtime, she can often be found madly scribbling in one of multiple notebooks she carries. When she is distracted, she frowns very slightly and the right side of her mouth quirks upward.

Socially, Mery is fairly relaxed with people she knows, with the one exception being when people are standing too close physically to her or are trying to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. In those cases, she will ask them to either back off or let her go, and if they resist or continue to force her, she will walk away from the conversation if she has the option to do so.

Plothook: Mery met Ispin Greenshield when he once traveled through Palanthas and brought stories and goods. He encouraged her in her desire to write, but suggested that she travel and experience the world before she decides what to write about.

Relationships with other characters TBD.

Past is Prologue (backstory):

For as long as she could remember, Mery loved books. She loved the feel of them, she loved the smell of them, and most of all, she loved learning the wondrous things contained in their pages. It helped that her parents were parchment makers in Palanthas. They sold parchment to the Great Library, and Mery thought that was the most magical place in the world, a place she visited every time she had some free time.

Her fondest dream was to write at least one book worthy of being included in the Great Library, but what could she write about? Did Krynn need a book about the plants of Ansalon? Did it need a book about a great hero or heroine? Did it need a book about blacksmithing techniques?

When Mery was 15, she met two people who became very important to her. The first was a human boy about 2 years older than she was named Angus Whitequill. She met him in the Great Library and found she could talk to him about books and lore and knowledge for hours on end. The second was Ispin Greenshield. Ispin came into her family's shop one day looking to buy some parchment for letter-writing. What made Ispin different from other customers is that he took a genuine interest in people around him, so much so that her parents invited him to their house for a meal. During the meal, he asked her about her interests, and when she told him she wanted to write a book, he took that seriously and asked what she wanted to write about. When she confessed she wasn't sure, he laughed, but told her to keep learning, she'd eventually figure it out. After getting her parents' permission, he asked if he could write to her and she said yes.

When Mery turned 20, she applied to become an Aesthetic at the Great Library, mostly because Angus was doing it and encouraged her to as well. To her delight, she and Angus were both accepted, but something didn't feel right. In Ispin's letters, he wrote about the importance of doing as the best way of knowing, and being an Aesthetic seemed to skip the doing part entirely. After a week of deliberation, she reluctantly refused the offer.  She fell in love with Angus around this time, but he didn't appear to see her as anything other than a kid sister.

Ispin encouraged her to become an adventurer, as he felt this was one of the best ways to get to know more about the world, but for the next five years, Mery hesitated, continuing to help out her family's parchment-making business.

In his final letter to her, Ispin said he thought he might be dying and asked her if she knew yet what she was going to write her book about. He asked if she thought she could gain the experience she needed to write a good book if she remained in Palanthas. He told her he believed in her and was sorry he likely wouldn't be around to read her book.

Around the same time, Angus started becoming more and more distant from her, making excuses to avoid her company instead of going with her to their normal haunts. One day on her weekly trip to the Great Library to deliver parchment, she caught Angus kissing another girl. So that was why he was avoiding her! When she cornered him a few days later and asked him about the girl, he said it was none of her business.

Mery was more shocked by this response than she could say. Weren't they friends? Didn't friends share this kind of news and support one another in it? When she asked him these questions, he replied by saying she was a stupid half-Elf and didn't know anything about anything.

Now she was hurt and angry. But she did a lot of soul-searching and realized she'd been sticking around Palanthas because of a stupid hope that Angus might finally start to care for her as much as she did for him. It was now clear that not only would he never care for her in the same way, but he didn't even want her friendship anymore. And Ispin's advice was echoing in her thoughts - she should see the world.

Before she could make any concrete plans, another letter arrived announcing Ispin's death and funeral in Vogler. That made her course clear – Vogler would be her first stop, and then she was going to travel around a bit. She told her parents she was leaving Palanthas for a while and wasn't sure when she'd be back. With that, she purchased passage to Kalaman on a local ship and set out, unsure of what the future might hold, but determined to learn as much as she could about the world outside of Palanthas.

 

Truths, Rumors and Lies:

 

Provide at least two to your application:

Deity: Mery favors Branchala, whom she usually refers to as the Song of Life and when in need of inspiration, it is he to whom she prays.  However, her faith is not as yet particularly well-developed and with the right kind of pressures and stresses, it could very well deepen and grow.

Connections: 

Branokras and Riaxis Keryndon – Mery's mother and stepfather, both human, love her deeply and would be only too happy to receive guests if it means their oldest daughter is in town. They are not aware of Mery's falling out with Angus.

Tiquirith “Tiqi” Keryndon – Mery's younger half-sister, about 3 years younger than she is. Mery and Tiqi have a close relationship, although it does sometimes spiral into bouts of sibling rivalry.

Angus Whitequill – Mery's first love and a human Aesthetic who works at the Great Library.  Mery believes he does not reciprocate her feelings, but she nevertheless values him as a friend.

Markenzi Shanlon (enemy) – Another human Aesthetic from Palanthas.  Markenzi, Angus, and Mery all applied to be Aesthetics at the same time and studied together before the test.  During this time, both Mery and Markenzi became attracted to Angus, but Angus didn't seem particularly interested in either except as study partners.  Mery accepted that while Markenzi kept trying to flirt with Angus, who found the behavior annoying.  Mery pulled Markenzi aside and tried to explain to her that Angus wasn't interested, but Markenzi took it as Mery trying to horn in with Angus.  Finally, Mery and Angus decided to just study on their own without Markenzi.  Mery came up with a way of organizing their notes and made a copy for Angus, but not Markenzi.  After the tests, both Mery and Angus were accepted, but Markenzi was not.  Markenzi blamed Mery for breaking up the threesome, not sharing the reorganized notes, and ruining her chances with Angus.  Mery went on to refuse the position, much to Angus' surprise and dismay.  Markenzi is jealous of Mery's accomplishments and hates the fact that she owes her position as an Aesthetic to Mery, so she constantly belittles her, causes problems for her in the Library, and suggests that Mery can never truly be accepted in Palanthas due to her Elven heritage.  While Markenzi would not necessarily physically harm Mery, she would sabotage her in any way she could. (Note that the Order of Aesthetics are Monks; although many Aesthetics spend their lives in the Great Library, some are given missions and allowed to travel the breadth of Krynn.)

Impressions:

-Hunni Collic (Gully Dwarf Warlock) - Mery finds herself a bit intrigued by Hunni, largely because she's curious why Ispin would befriend a Gully Dwarf.  But as someone who has only been accepted in Palanthas due to having an all-human family, Mery wonders whether she and Hunni may share a kinship as fellow outsiders.

-Wybil D'Kazitwirx (Gnome Artificer) - Mery would definitely respect Wybil's intelligence and curiosity, even if her intellect runs in a completely different direction than his and she can't understand everything he says.

-Coltan Bluetemper (Hill Dwarf Cleric) - Mery doesn't see a ton in common on the surface of things with Coltan, but her curiosity is such that she would do her best to try to learn something new from the young Dwarf.

-Artanis Brightblade (Human Fighter) - Mery would find Artanis quite attractive, and would respect the practical skills he's learned in his humble upbringing.  Moreover (and more importantly in her mind), as a Palanthas native, she's had enough experience with knights to be inclined to trust him, at least until she knows him well enough to judge him by his own merits.

-Modri (Hill Dwarf Barbarian) - Never having met a barbarian before, Dwarven or otherwise, Mery would spend a lot of time watching Modri to see what he was about before making any judgments.  She finds his appearance rather intimidating, but knows that sometimes good hearts lurk beneath stern or fierce exteriors and aren't always readily apparent.

-Emil Rosenthal (Human Paladin) - Emil is not a knight Mery would instinctively trust like she would Artanis, but she loves a good mystery, and Emil's cryptic manner would definitely strike her as a mystery she would want to learn more about.  She would also want to challenge herself to see if her people skills (i.e. high charisma) could help draw him out a little.  

-Merituuli Kaiutin (Dimernesti Ranger) - Without even having to meet him, Mery would be enchanted by Merituuli's sheer exoticness and would want to learn as much as she possibly could about every aspect of Dimernesti society and the practical aspects around how life is lived beneath the waves, to such an extent that she might actually annoy him a bit.  However, her strong people skills would help her to moderate her curiosity to something she hopes he would be able to tolerate.

 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OqwKfgLaeA - Cat's in the Cradle, song for Mery and her birth father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxOUIddBm0 -  Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Mery's song for Angus, or for her quest for a book topic, for that matter.  😄

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdMwjQaUI8 - Dancing in the Dark - Mery's song for getting motivated to leave home and see the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtouot15cA - Sound of Silence - closest I could find to how I imagine Mery would sound musically - something I call "almost acapella" - think of it as vocal harmony with minimal supporting instrumentals.