Marcel Decameron

Maeve (sister, status unknown)

Marcel Decameron is a bright and curious young man who smiles easily and projects an aura of calm, but when his attention is not occupied, his gaze tends to wander over the people around him, as if searching for something or someone.

## Childhood

Marcel's father, Gabriel Decameron, was a Kul Tiran sailor who happened to be on shore leave to witness the festival of the Reclaiming at Orris Estuary; his mother Mirya was one of the Wellspring Witches overseeing the event. As Gabriel told Marcel and little sister Maeve, "Yer mother was like a mermaid in the tales. One look at her and I knew 'twas my fate to follow her anywhere, even to give up the sea. And I've no regrets." Gabriel did indeed follow Mirya--to Avonshire, where their children were born, and then trained up in the Old Ways on Wellspring Isle.

Upon his twelfth birthday, Marcel's training on Wellspring Isle took a break. As a growing youth, it was time for him to learn other skills before making the choice to devote himself as a witch of the Old Ways. This was not a particularly traumatic event, for the smith he apprenticed to was a family friend he'd known all his life; in fact the smith's own children were friends of Marcel's.

No, the trauma came when the Forsaken did. Like so many others, the smith and her family had to flee, taking young Marcel with them. A mysterious mist went up around Wellspring Isle, and there was no way to get Marcel back to his own family. In the panic and confusion of the evacuation from Gilneas, Marcel became separated from his host family, and in Darnassus, filtered through an emergency intake process, he was classified "orphan." The hastily put-together procedures did not ask enough questions, and young Marcel was too naive to realize that even the best-intentioned adults don't always know what they're doing, even when it looks like they do.

He ended up being routed to the already-overwhelmed Stormwind Orphanage.

Traumatized, separated from everyone he loved and everything familiar, crowded into an institutionalized living space among children ranging from barely communicative to cruel bullies and everything in-between, Marcel sought solitude every moment he could, often running away to spend time near the lake, the thing that reminded him most of home. At the lake, he could breathe. At the lake, he could practice the grounding meditations and energy-play he'd learned from his mother and the other Witches. It was during one of these sessions, as Marcel attempted to use his energy to extinguish a candle flame without touching it, that he caught the attention of a Tsushi Pandaren, who in turn brought him to the attention of Aysa Cloudsinger.

Within a week, Marcel was bound for a new home: the Peak of Serenity. There he stayed, cared for as a "lost cub" by the Pandaren and brought up learning to focus chi as they did--for healing, meditation, and defense. It was as close to life on Wellspring Isle as anything else could possibly be, with the days devoted to ritual, the hours marked by a bell, the focus on developing calm and wisdom. He became a skilled fighter, but with his memories of the bullying he endured in Stormwind, it was not difficult for him to resolve never to use those skills to gain power over others, or hurt others for fun.

Still, he studied the skies, searching for the familiar constellations of home, hoping one day he could return and finally discover what happened to his family.

Then the Legion invaded, and Marcel lost his second home.

## More Recently

Marcel knew he could not stay at the Peak forever. Though he hated what happened to it, he was better prepared this time, mentally, emotionally, and practically, to leave this second home and set out into the world and look for his family. He began his search in Darnassus, then Stormwind, Duskwood, Surwich--any place where Gilneans had settled, even temporarily. When Jaina Proudmoore sailed to Kul Tiras, he volunteered to join the expedition, knowing his father was Kul Tiran and could have evacuated his mother and sister there. He has found clues to their past, but no proof if they are alive or dead. Now that the Forsaken are withdrawing from Gilneas, and the land is open for resettlement, Marcel has made his way to the Duchy of Caerseren, hoping he will finally find answers at Wellspring Isle.