Subnautica | Application

[dirtharama]

IC INFORMATION
NAME: Merrill
AGE: DON'T ASK ME HOW OLD SHE IS Dragon Age isn't helpful on solid ages but factoring in the Dalish Origins from DAO I'd peg her around 26 at least by the end of DA2
CANON: Dragon Age
CANON POINT: Post-DA2
CANON INFORMATION: Boop! In addition, there's a few notes I just wanted to leave here with regards to a few choices in canon that impact Merrill.
- Unromanced (though if a Hawke apps that wishes for a romance, I'm fine with it)
- Friendship path
- Clan killed
- Hawke sided with the mages
- Anders survived
- Dalish Origins Warden

PERSONALITY: A bright spot in a dark world, Merrill is the type of person to greet you with an enthusiastic smile, to pick flowers as she walks or coo at every dog she sees. She likes to name things and imagines what it would be like to have a pet Griffon.

She's also powerful and talented with blood magic in a world where it's considered horrifying, willingly and happily made a pact with a demon and will do whatever it takes for her clan, her people and her friends, no matter what stands in her way.

What I'm saying is don't judge a book by its cute cover.

Though it's not as though all those first things aren't true. Merrill is nicknamed 'Daisy' by Varric and 'Kitten' by Isabela, both quite suiting to her. As bright as a daisy and as sweet as a kitten, Merrill goes through life with a smile. She believes the best in people and tries to be polite and kind to those she meets. Of course, she's not an idiot. She's aware that not everyone is nice but that doesn't mean she should immediately jump to being rude! When she first meets the party, despite being raised on the clan's feelings about humans or having had a friend taken by them in the Dalish Origins, she still does her best to be friendly. Nerves won't stop her from pushing on to chat with people who may otherwise be antagonistic and indeed while some of the party - especially Anders and Fenris - may not always be kind to her, she's still the first to show them compassion and worry about their well-being after terrible events in the game. Her heart goes out to those in need and troubled, even if they don't give her the same respect.

Which isn't to say she's a pushover. Her willpower is just as strong, if not stronger, than her compassion. This stubborn streak sometimes costs her dearly but she has pride in who she is, in where she comes from, even more than most Dalish elves. When Anders tries to explain the distinction between demons and spirits to her, to try to explain the Maker, she simply tells him he has his stories, they have theirs. She doesn't need his. When they get on her for her blood magic or her pact with a demon, she even tells them off for judging her choices despite their own or chides them for thinking they understand her life better than she does.

This pride costs her. It isolates her from her own people, sometimes even from her friends, but she stands strong despite it all. When her clan is killed by her own hand - optional but happened to this Merrill - she still decides they never understood her goals and will not waver from her path. To her, this path, this life, is hers and any prices that must be paid are hers to pay. She's well aware of how destructive her choices can be, even warning Hawke against being close to her in some romance paths, but it won't stop her. Even after seeing the demon had lied to her and intended to use her, she marches on. All she can do is hold her head high, remember her mistakes and strive to do better. Everything she does is for her people and while the cost may be high, the result of regaining their lost and fragmented culture is worth it to her.

But she still shows doubts and fears. In Act 3 especially after the destruction of her clan, seeing the increasing tensions between mages and Templars and the way Kirkwall slowly crumbles, she expresses to Anders a wish that everything could be certain again. Merrill is smart. That's why she knows the truth of so many of these matters. She knows that things aren't simple, that they could all die in the coming days but she keeps trying. Without the support of her friends, she knows she wouldn't have been able to come this far. For all the downs, there have been so many ups. When she's afraid, she knows she has someone to turn to. And if she doesn't? Then she goes back to relying on her desire to help her people. It's why when it goes so wrong it leaves her broken for a time, uncertain. And she knows now that her fears were well-founded: she can break, she can do things wrong and she is a danger at times. It won't stop her. But it scares her, just enough, knowing it.

It's a good thing therefore that she has wonderful friends. Her friendship with Isabela is especially strong. She looks up to her as a real woman and it's with Isabela you realise that she's not so innocent, joining in Isabela's drinking games and exchanging dirty jokes and stories (to the point where she once tried to get dirty spells from Anders). Isabela in turn is protective of Merrill while often being the first to speak in her defense, because no one has the right to limit Merrill or tell her how to live her life. She believes in Merrill's right to be herself and Merrill loves Isabela for who she is and everything that means. Isabela treats her like an adult capable of making her own decisions and Merrill knows Isabela's heart, the one she hides from others.

But she loves all of her friends, a motley crew they may be. Varric bribes people away from hurting her in her dangerous little home in Lowtown and tells her stories. She values him so much, even trying to cheer him up during her attempt at bargaining with the demon on what a good story it might make someday. Despite the issues between her and Anders, she tries to get him a cat and tries to comfort him during dark times. Likewise, though overbearing, he truly does worry about the path she's chosen. She knows he truly believes in his cause, just like her, and that's why they butt heads so often. She admires that, though. Aveline and Merrill have an odd friendship, as while Aveline also disapproves, she worries, but the two are prone to teasing each other, especially if one of them is in a romantic relationship. Aveline is someone she sometimes relies on to hear what's right and just. Even with Fenris, someone she honestly has trouble understanding, she expresses happiness when he's happy, teasing him gently or hoping to help him in her own way despite how harsh he is with her. Hawke of course has always been a supportive friend. While perhaps too supportive in this path, she appreciates it especially, as it's given her the strength to continue seeking her people's heritage and bringing it back when she thought all was lost. It's Hawke's leadership that keeps them together and she knows it. When Hawke went into battle, Merrill followed readily.

Merrill is so many things. A young woman who will do anything for her people and yet the same person who had to use a ball of string to find her way around Lowtown. She pets guard dogs and picks flowers in nobles' gardens while researching new ways of using her blood in magic she learned from demons. She believes in herself and she's scared. She is a flawed person, ready to walk alone if she must but pouring her heart out to others. She'll continue to do what she believes is right, what is good for her people, and she will defend all of her friends to death.

Ultimately Merrill is a good, if prideful and stubborn, person, with a kind heart and a strong will. If she's on the right path, she can work miracles. Good thing she has people who believe in her.

ABILITIES: As a mage, Merrill has access to several schools of magic. As a blood mage specifically, she's capable of amplifying her abilities using her own blood (or any blood but she believes in consent okay) and has access to special spells in addition due to it.
- Elemental spells: limited to various fire and ice spells, it's a very basic school
- Primal spells: focusing on earth and lightning spells, these have a larger spread. There is also the protective spell 'rock armor'!
- Spirit spells: these spells vary from siphoning energy from corpses, striking with a bolt of spirit energy and infecting enemies with a spell that turns them into a bomb when they die.
- Arcane spells: more defensive in nature, these spells form protective barriers and shields, allowing the caster to stun enemies briefly, enchant weapons with an element or cage an enemy in telekinetic damaging prison.
- Entropy spells: spells that manipulate the enemy's mind and body, these allow her to curse an enemy, weakening it, or terrify a foe with horrifying visions. It can also blind or confuse or cause a foe to go to sleep.
- Dalish Pariah: her specialization combines her blood magic with her knowledge of Dalish lore for powerful spells. What makes this so dangerous is that it doesn't rely as heavily on the Fade but rather on her blood. As a talented blood mage, she can control the blood of enemies while its still in their bodies, tearing them apart from the inside out. With her knowledge of nature and her connection to it, she can have the land itself hurt her enemies while healing her. She can also draw in enemies with tendrils of magic that hurt them in the process. Most interesting, she can use her magic to travel through the earth itself to a nearby location to defend an ally.
- She's also gotten very good at boiling water!
- Expert on Dalish Lore! Probably not useful here.

INVENTORY:
- Her staff, which has a nice sharp blade on it
- A pack with a few of each item: lyrium potion, elfroot potion and injury kit
- There's also a ball of string in there, just for luck

MEMORY ALTERATION: While taking a break from caring for elves and other displaced people in Kirkwall, she took a moment to reflect (pun unintended) in front of her Eluvian. Imagine her surprise when it decided at that moment to finally work and showed her a beautiful, lush world of oceans and strange creatures and fantastic things she couldn't understand. Merrill touched the glass and in she went to Iniidae!