'''Name:''' Merriannabelle “Merry” Fitzborough
'''Age:''' 25 (ish)
'''Race:''' Wick (Laughing Sky)
'''Place of Origin:''' Somewhere on the open grasslands of Anaxas

!!!Backstory:

Merry was born into the Laughing Sky tribe to Jaecobi and Elitzabeté Fitzborough on Roalis 25th, 2687 AT (her twin brothers Taeve and Tulstoi came later). Her childhood was full of travel and pure bliss, surrounded by a loving family and tribe. Her parents, both merchants, began teaching her the ways of their trade not long after Merry had turned three years old; by age five, she could successfully sell a box of dirt to a curious and unsuspecting customer (without having to be cute) in the Kingsway Market.

The one incident that left a mark in Merry’s otherwise happy youth was a routine stop in Vienda when Merry was about eight years of age. While wandering the Kingsway Market, Merry and some of her playmates were wrongly accused of stealing by a prejudiced galdori shop owner. The accuser took the opportunity to give the children a sound beating before running them off, knowing full that he had the upper hand. And he was right - the Seventen ignored any complaints from the parents of the wick children, and the matter was dropped without further notice.

That event planted the seed of hatred against the galdori in Merry’s heart, but she refused to be bitter from the injustice done to her, saying, “If you shout in a cave, you’ll only get a louder echo.” She is wise enough to know that an open offensive against the galdori would only result in punishment far worse than a severe beating. So she put it behind her and went on with her life.

Now roughly twenty-five, Merry is a full-fledged merchant, traveling with her parents and younger brothers and helping with the upkeep of the family business. But she hasn’t forgotten the scars on her back, or what they signify; in fact, she has begun to truly ponder the situation of Anaxas, being under the heel of the galdori, and considering how she could help against it. Tales of smuggling have cropped up now and again, and the prospect of smuggling resources to the Resistance has appealed to her – it wouldn’t deviate from her current occupation, and it would add a level of excitement to her life, especially by doing so in secret.

!!!Personality:

Merry lives up to her name – she is the physical description of a free spirit: full of fun and life. She has a way with children, and can often be seen with small groups of the young ones in the clan, telling stories or teaching them new games to keep them out of the way. She is polite and respectful to those older and more experienced than she, even if they’re galdori - she’s disrespectful to them later behind their backs. And she takes a certain amount of pride in being polite – to her, it’s not only a matter of manners, but a matter of first impressions as well.

She is quite the tomboy, and isn’t afraid to admit it. She’d just as soon climb trees and gambol through a meadow than sit and giggle about boys and braid her hair. Granted, she can be flirtatious to the young men and has her eye on a few choice ones, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to make a boy nervous by chasing after him. She believes the right guy will come along someday – there’s no hurry while she’s enjoying the single life, and she’s a patient girl.

When asked to describe Merry, one of the first things her friends and family mention is her sarcasm. Merry is the type who would rather use her wit to insult someone rather than use profanity (although she could swear a person under a table if she really wanted to). Sometimes, people don’t know whether if she’s being serious or sarcastic; that alone is a compliment, according to Merry.

Merry is also well-liked and loved for her generous spirit. She has no specific group of friends – she has friends in every age group in the tribe. She loves to share with others – be it food, hobbies, or just conversation – and she does her best to make everyone happy, no matter what. She is a natural optimist, despite any troubles, and many times people come to her to talk and take in some of her sunny disposition. She feels that one of her spiritual goals in life is to try and make everyone happy; her favorite ways of doing so is by making people laugh, and by simply giving a hearty bear-hug.

!!!Physical Description:

Merry has olive skin nicely tanned by days spent in the sun, and she is very freckly across the cheeks and the bridge of her short but round nose. She seems to always be smiling, or at least smirking. Her eyes are deep set and hazel – she tends to wear a lot of eye makeup as well, which makes her eyes quite striking. She’s only about five feet tall, but that doesn’t hinder her in any way – she is a strong, fit individual from hard work and long days spent outdoors. She has a stocky build, but that doesn’t stop her either - she describes it as having been blessed with her mother’s curves.

Her back is covered with scars from her ordeal at the hands of the prejudiced galdor, though they’re usually hidden beneath her clothing. If they are somehow noticed and questioned, Merry will tell the story in a very unassuming way – she believes that making a sob story out of a bad experience only makes the teller look pathetic and unable to move on with life. She also has several tattoos; four matching tribal designs decorate her arms (from the shoulder to fingertips) and legs (from mid-thigh to toes), and a circular one around her navel (though she doesn’t flaunt that one around that much).

She gave up trying to tame her thick red hair long ago, and has since put the whole thing into dreadlocks, tying them back frequently with a scarf or some twine; her recent experiments with hair dye resulted in a wonderful red-and-maroon color scheme. She also enjoys adding metal rings and clay beads to the thick tendrils of hair for further color.

She also has asthma; she can’t run for long periods of time, and cold weather heightens the constricting effects; even a stressful situation has occasionally caused her to start wheezing. Merry usually doesn’t have the time to burn the necessary medicinal herbs in order to quell a sudden attack, and any healing spells have never seemed to work. So came up w/ a way of quickly burning the medicine during an emergency: she rolled them into spurs, and keeps them with her at all times. It gives her a tough appearance, but anyone within the Laughing Sky clan knows all too well what it means when they see Merry puffing on a spur.

!!!Inventory:

Transportation:
*her small wick kint
*Beesly, the kenser that pulls the wagon – obedient, sweet-tempered beast with plenty of snuffly kisses to spare for anyone who gives him a pat or two

Attire:
(Anything she is not currently wearing is either hanging somewhere in her wagon, or stuffed into the large travel chest she has pushed under her bed)
*cotton tunic with voluminous sleeves – wears layered tank/halter tops during warm/hot weather
*gaucho-like pants that fall a few inches past her knees, or a skirt of the same length
*lots of bracelets, necklaces, sashes, etc., much of which she has made herself
*slip-on shoes – travels barefoot much of the time except during cold weather, and will don footwear when entering a city

Stuff :
*canvas sling bag – uses it like a purse/messenger bag, especially for trips into a town/village
*Small jewelry/music box her father made for her for her 16th birthday; plays an old wick lullaby when opened
*large carved chest (used mainly for clothing)
*baskets and cases containing items/materials Merry uses to create her jewelry and other accessories
*a portable clay pot-bellied stove
*cooking utensils
*small food larder
*medicinal herbs/potions, including the ingredients for her medicinal spurs
*an assortment of books she’s picked up during her travels, one being the Spokes Almanac – her reading skills are at a 2nd grade level at best, but she’s slowly teaching herself
*extra blankets – stacked under the bed near the chest

!!!Career
Spoke Merchant/Artisan and aspiring Resistance Smuggler

Skills:
*Bead-working – creates ornate kiffa beads for necklaces, earrings, etc.
*Jewelry-making – creates bracelets, earrings, rings, etc. out of clay, string, hemp, wood, etc.
*uncanny trading/bartering talents – her father says she could buy the wings off of a miraan, turn around, and sell them right back for ten times the original price
*Level 1 Spells – doesn’t focus so much on these, though
*Level 1 Tricks – stuff every good wick should know by heart…

!!!Goals

*to become a full-fledged smuggler for the Resistance while keeping her career as a merchant as a front
*to assist in the downfall of the galdori

Hello and welcome to Thorns!

I'm on my way home from work, so I don't have time for a full list of edits to your sheet. If you could do me the favor of going back and spelling wick correctly, that'd be great.

Also, the Tek for wagon is kint.

Thanks again!

whoop, my bad. i don't know where i got "wik" from!
and hey, take your time perusing. i know about the whole work thing.

Yay for another Laughing Sky!
(wise choice: we got the best ale around here)

i don't doubt that!
it was the very first of the different tribes that i clicked on, and it reminded me of my own family SO much that i couldn't help but pick it! i mean, come on - "Laughing Sky." It practically screams "fun and downright awesome."

Hey Merry! Welcome to Thorns

Couple issues here I need to address. Firstly, the Seventen would probably want to see proof before publicly whipping children, and after the whipping, they'd probably just let them go; jails are crowded, and the whipping's bad enough already.

Could you remove any non-canon references from the sheet (Pied Piper, gypsy)?

There are a couple places in the sheet where you explain a lot of stuff that's commonplace for the game, like her build being unusual for a wick, the translation of cigars, or the style of a wick kint, etc. This isn't strictly necessary, so you could cut back on some of the parenthetical remarks if you wish.

Eyes changing color is a bit too fantastical; could you maybe say "seem to" change color instead?

"Many of the more fashionably acute (and snobbish) girls in the tribe look down their noses at Merry’s hairstyle, whereas Merry couldn’t give a morgan’s erse about their opinions." Cute, but kind of inaccurate, considering wicks do a LOT stranger things with their hair than what Merry is doing. Wicks aren't prone to snobbery about fashion or appearances, hence the whole nonsense hair approach.

Thorns equivalent of asthma is...asthma She wouldn't have been exposed to smoke in the jail, since the jail is in the Law District, pretty far from the Soot District. I like the idea of the cigar; I have no idea if it would actually work, but it sounds cool, and this is fiction so I'm fine with it.

The backstory doesn't mention her actually becoming a resistance smuggler, so could you change the second career to "aspiring smuggler" or something?

Apart from that stuff, this sheet is looking good. I can approve once you've made a few edits.

first off, thanks for edit. i do a lot of writing, and i readily admit that my biggest fault is too much explanation/description - i guess i want my readers to really see what i'm seeing. *places paper sack over head* non-canon stuff and excessive descriptions - bye-bye.

what would you suggest by way of Merry having a bad run-in w/ the galdori to give her the classic hatred of them that seems to be going around? i want her to be a character that had a bad experience and yet chooses to do something about it w/out bringing a sob story along with her. (sort of a Han Solo character, if you will. )

and btw, I was looking for the aspiring smuggler label, but wasn't sure how to come about it. thank goodness for Mods like yourself.

looks good. your approved darl, welcome to Thorns.

oh joys! can't wait to get started!!
soooo...how DO i get started?

http://thornsbook.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?n ... lesForPlay Should give you some info on how to get started! You can make your own thread, jump in on an existing thread or write yourself a literature thread. If you need any help, let me know