by Merrow Highriver
Height: 5’9”
Body type: stocky/sturdy
Hair: sides shaved, long mohawk-style braid, dark brown-black with teal highlights
Eyes: light green
Gender: Genderfluid
Weapons: fists, harpoon, daggers
Talents: strong swimmer, expert knowledge of boats and the Skysea, general ability to camp and prepare food, handy in a fight, navigation
Eld abilities: potions, rituals, runes, wind control, uncontrolled storm influence
Trade: Fishing
Real-world inspiration: Old Celtic and Viking civilizations
Likes: greens and blues, high winds, autumn, lazing around in the sun when work is done, swimming, sailing, challenging sailing conditions (she thinks they’re fun), bears, bar fights, reading, being outdoors
Dislikes: endless rain, anyone who takes advantage of others for their own gain, a moment of solitude ending unexpectedly, being caught unprepared, Ookami with his head up his ass
Hobbies: basket weaving, singing, wood carving/whittling
Merrow comes from the northern part of the Floating Continent. She’s a fisher by trade and makes her way on and in the ropes of water flowing in the Continent’s skies. She uses net and harpoon to fill her boat with fish and more to eat and sell. Merrow used to live in a small wooden cabin in a village (and still owns the building), but lately has taken up the life of a wanderer in order to follow the source of her income inland and explore more widely. Since the second Rift opened in the northeast, she and the fish have both been driven south and inland. She’s not looking for the Oasis in particular, but if her path takes her that way, she won’t complain about it.
Merrow has some skill with potions and rituals using eld. She’s not much for on-the-spot “spells,” though she can manage to produce and direct strong winds in a pinch. Instead, Merrow prefers to pre-make mixtures and inscribe runes to imbue her object with power. The handle of her harpoon is intricately covered in runes, and is her usual focus for channeling her eld. Though she doesn’t fight often, she’s capable of handling herself in a brawl, with fists or harpoon and dagger if necessary. When she has time to prepare for a battle, she dons the traditional face paint of a warrior.
Merrow also has some ability to influence the weather, especially storms. It is prompted by emotions, but only very severe ones. While there might be a light breeze for a day of frustration at trying to fix Selkie, when Ookami blows up a town, it’s more than likely that Merrow will unthinkingly and unintentionally summon the elements of a storm around herself (or just a whole storm) out of pure rage.
Merrow meets Ookami when he nearly runs her over in his ship. She’s sailing her catamaran as usual on the Skysea when Ookami plows through her section of the water, decimating most of Selkie and nearly killing her. She climbs the side of the ship, pissed as fuck, to confront him and realizes that he has no idea how to navigate or where he’s going. Reluctantly, she offers her services as a navigator in return for materials and space to build her new ship. Mostly, she’s not leaving until her catamaran is fixed. She insists that she’s only going to stay for as long as it takes to make repairs, but devises a ritual to help Ookami find other missing Pack members anyway who “just happen to be near a place that sells this rare part I need.”
Merrow quickly takes over the flying of the ship, making improvements with rituals and runes so that the ship handles and holds together better. Soon after they begin flying together, Merrow and Ookami encounter a storm surrounding what they think is a mountain. However, it is instead the Storm Void, a titan-sized void constantly surrounded by a massive thunderstorm. Merrow gets to show off their sailing skills, expertly maneuvering the ship (which they call “The Behemoth”) using skill and their controlled wind bursts to keep everything relatively intact. What progress they made on repairing their ship is lost (a running joke that happens every time their ship is nearly repaired), but Ookami and Merrow are impressed with each other’s skills.
Merrow tries to work as a corralling force on Ookami, trying to minimize his collateral damage and slap him upside the head when he does something stupid or forgets that other people matter. The two have a grumpy, gruff sort of familiarity, but end up quite fond of each other, even if they’ll never admit it. Their main point of contention is whether or not the repair of Merrow’s damaged catamaran matters (it does, but Ookami doesn’t think so). Merrow enjoys running things over with Behemoth when it’s an option. Because it actively takes Ookami’s Eld to maintain and repair the ship, she sometimes runs it into things on purpose when he’s being annoying.
Then, you know, Ookami destroys a whole town of innocent people and that’s a pretty fucking big point of contention between them.
Other Relationships
Avaline: Avaline and Merrow having run into each other before the whole Oasis business, as both are the "roaming the wilderness" sort of person, though Merrow does go into towns too. The two of them have been campfire buddies, and Merrow has picked up a thing or two for Avaline in town, if she needs anything. They’re generally friendly and enjoy spending time together.
Sol: Sol and Merrow spend a lot of time working on the ship together and commiserating about how much Ookami doesn’t know about ship building.
Ookami: Often grumpy and irritated with Ookami, Merrow (usually) knows that his heart is in the right place. It’s just that sometimes she wishes he wasn’t… Like That. They think he’s full of himself and needs to be brought down a peg or fifty, but once he pulls his head out of his ass, he’ll be a good friend to have around. When he’s being his usual self, they will fight Ookami for 5 cents and a stale sandwich.
I feel like everyone else sees Avaline fighting Ookami out away from the ship and everyone else is like "... should we... help him...?" And Merrow's just sitting on deck with a fruity drink with an umbrella like "Nah, it's cool, I know her KICK HIS ASS AVALINE"
To be COMPLETELY clear, Merrow has, at some point, constructed a lounging deck chair. She is sitting on it. She is wearing her normal outfit, but has somehow procured a large, floppy black hat and sunglasses. The drink is in a cup the size of a child's head and is a vibrant yellow. The umbrella is pink. She is rooting for Avaline and has a bullhorn to prove it.
Height: 5’9”
Body type: stocky/sturdy
Hair: sides shaved, long mohawk-style braid, dark brown-black with teal highlights
Eyes: light green
Gender: Genderfluid
Weapons: fists, harpoon, daggers
Talents: strong swimmer, expert knowledge of boats and the Skysea, general ability to camp and prepare food, handy in a fight, navigation
Eld abilities: potions, rituals, runes, wind control, uncontrolled storm influence
Trade: Fishing
Real-world inspiration: Old Celtic and Viking civilizations
Likes: greens and blues, high winds, autumn, lazing around in the sun when work is done, swimming, sailing, challenging sailing conditions (she thinks they’re fun), bears, bar fights, reading, being outdoors
Dislikes: endless rain, anyone who takes advantage of others for their own gain, a moment of solitude ending unexpectedly, being caught unprepared, Ookami with his head up his ass
Hobbies: basket weaving, singing, wood carving/whittling
Merrow comes from the northern part of the Floating Continent. She’s a fisher by trade and makes her way on and in the ropes of water flowing in the Continent’s skies. She uses net and harpoon to fill her boat with fish and more to eat and sell. Merrow used to live in a small wooden cabin in a village (and still owns the building), but lately has taken up the life of a wanderer in order to follow the source of her income inland and explore more widely. Since the second Rift opened in the northeast, she and the fish have both been driven south and inland. She’s not looking for the Oasis in particular, but if her path takes her that way, she won’t complain about it.
Merrow has some skill with potions and rituals using eld. She’s not much for on-the-spot “spells,” though she can manage to produce and direct strong winds in a pinch. Instead, Merrow prefers to pre-make mixtures and inscribe runes to imbue her object with power. The handle of her harpoon is intricately covered in runes, and is her usual focus for channeling her eld. Though she doesn’t fight often, she’s capable of handling herself in a brawl, with fists or harpoon and dagger if necessary. When she has time to prepare for a battle, she dons the traditional face paint of a warrior.
Merrow also has some ability to influence the weather, especially storms. It is prompted by emotions, but only very severe ones. While there might be a light breeze for a day of frustration at trying to fix Selkie, when Ookami blows up a town, it’s more than likely that Merrow will unthinkingly and unintentionally summon the elements of a storm around herself (or just a whole storm) out of pure rage.
Merrow meets Ookami when he nearly runs her over in his ship. She’s sailing her catamaran as usual on the Skysea when Ookami plows through her section of the water, decimating most of Selkie and nearly killing her. She climbs the side of the ship, pissed as fuck, to confront him and realizes that he has no idea how to navigate or where he’s going. Reluctantly, she offers her services as a navigator in return for materials and space to build her new ship. Mostly, she’s not leaving until her catamaran is fixed. She insists that she’s only going to stay for as long as it takes to make repairs, but devises a ritual to help Ookami find other missing Pack members anyway who “just happen to be near a place that sells this rare part I need.”
Merrow quickly takes over the flying of the ship, making improvements with rituals and runes so that the ship handles and holds together better. Soon after they begin flying together, Merrow and Ookami encounter a storm surrounding what they think is a mountain. However, it is instead the Storm Void, a titan-sized void constantly surrounded by a massive thunderstorm. Merrow gets to show off their sailing skills, expertly maneuvering the ship (which they call “The Behemoth”) using skill and their controlled wind bursts to keep everything relatively intact. What progress they made on repairing their ship is lost (a running joke that happens every time their ship is nearly repaired), but Ookami and Merrow are impressed with each other’s skills.
Merrow tries to work as a corralling force on Ookami, trying to minimize his collateral damage and slap him upside the head when he does something stupid or forgets that other people matter. The two have a grumpy, gruff sort of familiarity, but end up quite fond of each other, even if they’ll never admit it. Their main point of contention is whether or not the repair of Merrow’s damaged catamaran matters (it does, but Ookami doesn’t think so). Merrow enjoys running things over with Behemoth when it’s an option. Because it actively takes Ookami’s Eld to maintain and repair the ship, she sometimes runs it into things on purpose when he’s being annoying.
Then, you know, Ookami destroys a whole town of innocent people and that’s a pretty fucking big point of contention between them.
Other Relationships
Avaline: Avaline and Merrow having run into each other before the whole Oasis business, as both are the "roaming the wilderness" sort of person, though Merrow does go into towns too. The two of them have been campfire buddies, and Merrow has picked up a thing or two for Avaline in town, if she needs anything. They’re generally friendly and enjoy spending time together.
Sol: Sol and Merrow spend a lot of time working on the ship together and commiserating about how much Ookami doesn’t know about ship building.
Ookami: Often grumpy and irritated with Ookami, Merrow (usually) knows that his heart is in the right place. It’s just that sometimes she wishes he wasn’t… Like That. They think he’s full of himself and needs to be brought down a peg or fifty, but once he pulls his head out of his ass, he’ll be a good friend to have around. When he’s being his usual self, they will fight Ookami for 5 cents and a stale sandwich.
I feel like everyone else sees Avaline fighting Ookami out away from the ship and everyone else is like "... should we... help him...?" And Merrow's just sitting on deck with a fruity drink with an umbrella like "Nah, it's cool, I know her KICK HIS ASS AVALINE"
To be COMPLETELY clear, Merrow has, at some point, constructed a lounging deck chair. She is sitting on it. She is wearing her normal outfit, but has somehow procured a large, floppy black hat and sunglasses. The drink is in a cup the size of a child's head and is a vibrant yellow. The umbrella is pink. She is rooting for Avaline and has a bullhorn to prove it.
