Mercury, the Father

Mercury, also known as The Father, was a complex conman and pathological liar, but ultimately a flawed and tragic anti-hero.
== Background ==
Mercury, a human, grew up an orphan in Halcyon in the early-mid 200s C. He didn't remember his birth name. Early in his teens, he survived a dangerously powerful fire spell from a mage, which left his face horrifically scarred and burned, almost web-like and trypophobia-inducing, right down to the bone on one side of his face. He wore a silver expressionless mask to cover it up.
He was an older brother figure to many of the orphan kids who formed the 'Metallic Militia', a vigilante peacekeeping organisation primarily drawn from Halcyian street urchins. It was during this time he met and took care of his adoptive blood-sibling, Copper. However, his desire to see the world dragged him away from the others. He travelled the Danderillon until he came to Cranberry Brook in around 240 C. Here, he began a long con.
== The Long Con ==
In Cranberry Brook, Mercury styled himself as 'The Father' to the innocent halflings who had simple rural ambitions. He came to care immensely for his 'flock' or 'children', as he called them, and they regarded him with great love. He took care of them. However, he began to lie to the townsfolk, telling them about a monster called the Bog Beast which lay outside the town. He told them it would feast on people carrying metal, which allowed him to hoard the town's metal in the basement of his house. If people passed through town and expressed interest in trying to vanquish this beast, he would try to dissuade them. Failing that, he would project terrifying illusions to scare them into fleeing - and failing that still, he would sadly kill them to keep the ruse alive.
== Death ==
In 251 C, the Wildecards adventuring party arrived in town, looking to rest and recuperate after a fight at Bard's Crossing. Everything began happy and wholesome, with stories told to the enraptured villagers, and even inventing a game of 'halfling tossing'. They were told a lot about the Father by several halflings including Soren Birchbranch, and spoke to him, intrigued. They felt uneasy and realised something was off with him, but could not identify what. Later at night, Copper went to see him and the two spoke deeply and emotionally about why he left. Erros and Rhydia also snuck in to eavesdrop. But just then, Caricc walked in, wielding Xánwyr, and confronted him before forcing him to admit that the bog monster was a lie all along. Caricc attacked the Father with the Black Blade and killed him, shattering his mask in two and stealing his soul into the sword. In the wake of his death, the Cranberry Brook halflings tried to fight but were demoralised and fled - many of them were set upon by the vampires Octavian and Vishara and killed.
Category:Villains
Category:People