( app ) for hadriel

[cowed]

PLAYER
Player name: kyne
Contact: jeyne + nephalem valor on aim
Characters currently in-game: n/a

CHARACTER
Character Name: Merodach Rivermourn
Character Age: In the few hundred years range. elves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Canon: Warcraft (OC)
Canon Point: During Wrath of the Lich King, prior to the construction of the Argent Tournament Grounds.
World Description: whats up hope u like reading about azeroth for the tenth time this app round

Azeroth is, at its core, no different than any other standard fantasy world; it's a series of haphazardly placed continents, all of which are war-torn and inhabited by far too many sentient races to be practical. Magic and elves and demons are all available in spades, in varying varieties. There is some technology available-- advanced machinery, limited use of electricity, etc-- but most races dismiss it in favor of the tried and true 'magical bullshit that does whatever you want, conveniently' instead.

At the current point in time, efforts on all sides are being focused on the northmost continent, an icy wasteland aptly named Northrend. There, the Lich King formerly known as Arthas Menethil is in the process of raising a legion of undead in order to conquer the world, as villains are wont to do. In light of this impending catastrophe, most of the prominent races of Azeroth are reluctantly setting aside their differences to work together lest they become overwhelmed by the risen Scourge.

Meanwhile, this asshole works for the damn guy.

History: From the beginning, Merodach's life was nothing special. The second (and last) child of a middling house, he at least had the fortune to be born with all the arcane talent in the family. Naturally, this led to him being pushed along the path of becoming a magister, a bid by his mother to secure more notability for their otherwise irrelevant family. The studies involved were welcome; the politics, less so, but a tolerable sacrifice to make. It was something to be content with, and so, he was.

And then the Scourge came.

Thanks to a bit of poor luck, all of his family's holdings rested in the exact path that Arthas used as his army marched on Silvermoon City. Merodach was lucky enough to be away, less lucky to be at the forefront contributing to the defense-- lucky again to escape death there despite their failures, but a survivor's fortune is debatable at best.

More than anything, it directly acquainted Merodach with his own mortality in a way that nothing else in elven society ever had. Conceptually, death was no stranger, but their society had previously been so controlled that not even the seasons changed in Quel'thalas. Now? Nothing but the realization that you were vulnerable all along, just too blind to see it.

It was an idea that Merodach brooded on far too long, as he no longer had any family or support network to distract him from his thoughts. There was something equal parts compelling and terrifying about the concept that he could die at literally any point; he was also not interested in accepting that as the immutable truth. Any previous research he had been working on was cast aside in favor of this new pursuit, to gain access to life unending.

There were many ways to stave off the inevitable that already he knew of, to heal wounds and to try and stretch your life as long and thin as possible before it breaks-- but only one group in history had ever transcended death entirely, and that was the Scourge itself. If there was anything to be done, they would be the ones to know, wouldn't they? Thus... anything he might learn would be under their counsel.

The decision was hardly that easy, though. Turning to the people that had caused all of your grief in the first place sounded counterproductive at first, and even after it started to make sense it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Despite this, within the year he had enlisted himself within the ranks of the Cult of the Damned, the currently living section of the Scourge.

Their lower ranks were little more than fodder for the war machine they supported, but a lifetime of political navigation and headaches hardly did him a disservice; in time, Merodach distinguished himself as more useful alive than not, acting as a spy first inside of Silvermoon and later within the Horde at large once the blood elves joined forces with them. Eventually, this gave him cause to investigate their methods and magic on his own time-- with great care, of course, lest anyone think his motivations were something aside from pure devotion to the glory of undeath.

With the campaign against the Scourge moving to Northrend proper, so too has he, operating within the ranks of the Lich King's most prominent opposition, the Argent Crusade. This is the point he comes from now.

Personality: Merodach is first and foremost a man driven by his anxieties, and hoo boy does he have a lot of them. He's always been a bit flighty and nervous at his core, and the sudden death and destruction of everything he previously held dear has done nothing to soothe them. As a result, his first impressions given tend to be "reactionary" and "snappish." It's hard to be kind when you evaluate everyone you meet on their threat potential before anything else. Even at his softest, he is acerbic, unable to give honest emotion without a bit of venom behind it.

His surly attitude goes deeper than that; survivor's guilt and survivor's bitterness combine to make a potent mix. Some days it's spite for any whose hardships could be considered lesser than your own, and others it's hollowness of thinking that maybe the world would be better off if someone else had survived in your stead. Elves live long, long lives, after all, and are slow to change. He's still very much mired in his own grief, unable and unwilling to fully process his emotions for years to come.

Of course, no person is all negativity, even with their best efforts be so. He is the driven and passionate sort, especially in the context of learning and academia. Merodach is a person who enjoys questioning the nature of things, even when the answers he receives in turn lead him down the wrong path... such as the one he's currently on, incidentally.

Not that he'd ever admit it, of course! All elves come with a certain measure of arrogance and stubbornness, and he has dedicated far too much of himself to the wrong pursuit to back down and acknowledge the faults in his plan now. Transitioning from the intensely political and passive aggressive nature of Silvermoon directly into spywork and sabotage does not train someone well for honesty, either. Part of him is aware that he's lying to himself. The rest of him is just too scared at the possibility of self-examination to care.

He can even be a caring friend, in the right circumstance. At this point, his losses have left him desperate enough to latch onto any continual source of positive attention, regardless of how sparse those interactions actually tend to be. While his attention is easily gained, his trust is not. Even in the context of an otherwise safe relationship, he constantly pushes at the other party, as if to test their willingness to put up with him. If he does drive them away, so be it-- better that than to watch them die, eh? This is what he tells himself, but somehow it doesn't quite keep all the loneliness at bay.

In the end, it is maybe not death itself he's scared of as much as it is dying alone. That's a realization that would only come with far more introspection than he's willing to do for now, though; he'd rather follow a more objective pursuit than deal with something as abstract as an emotional need. It's a self-centered and childish approach, but the truth can be just as terrifying as the unknown.

Inventory: He'll be wearing the armored robes typical of a cultist; he'll also have a dagger for spellwork with him, as most magic users on Azeroth like to have some sort of weapon-based magical aide for their spells. Aside from that, charcoal, scratch paper, and a few scribbly journals (one for research, one for his actual life)... nothing special.

Abilities: At this point in time, Merodach is officially a destruction warlock, which is basically a fire mage's angrier cousin that hangs out with a few too many demons. Practically, what that means is that most of his skills involve conjured fire in varying amounts, with a small dash of being able to sacrifice their own life force for more powerful or continuous spell usage.

Warlocks also have a ton of fun draining the life and soul of other living creatures, but given that he's still adjusting to the whole class change thing he's a dabbler in this at best. The only real ability he has from that side of things is the ability to create a soulstone, which is an item that allows someone to store their soul outside of their body to allow themselves to be resurrected in the event of their untimely demise. (This is not particularly useful in Hadriel.) Warlocks can also summon and command demons, but as his transition has exclusively been in the company of the dead the idea isn't even present enough for him to give it a try.

Outside of magical abilities, Merodach is multilingual, as most on Azeroth are: he knows Common, Thalassian, and Orcish, all of which are pretty standard to elfdom. He also has some skill with enchanting objects to have minor magical properties, his primary hobby prior to the fall of Silvermoon.

Flaws: Regardless of what excuses or justifications he might have, Merodach is still a dude who betrayed his people, his faction, and also literally every other living being on Azeroth to join a group on mostly undead hellbent on destroying the world for no reason other than his own potential personal gain. Even if he's not out and about killing anyone directly, he is still contributing to the deaths of hundreds of people and complicit in thousands more, just for a shot at immortality. That's pretty bad.

Beyond that he's difficult and disagreeable even when there's absolutely nothing to prompt it; regardless of how or if he cares about other people, at the end of the day all of his primary motivations are selfish and his actions reflect that.

SAMPLES
Action Log Sample:
tdm thread that got way too long sry