Merlin Mendel

**Merlin** is a Tenebrion inventor who was born into nobility. His father and mother were very respected nobles of Tenebrous, who were both incredibly skilled in battle and politics. He pushes himself in order to live up to their legacy, severely damaging his health while doing so.

## Background

### Early Life

Merlin was born to two high ranking nobles in Tenebrous. He was born with a limp in his right leg and requires a crutch to walk around. His father had already given up on trying to turn him into a strong warrior when he found out about his disability and instead spent his time trying to cultivate his mind and would invent things with his son. While Merlin was at first happy to go along with his father’s wishes, he felt betrayed when he found out their inventions were being used in war and battle. Merlin had no interest in war, and argued frequently with his father about the ethics involving different forms of weapons in war.

His mother was assassinated when he was a teen, which only made his father pressure him more. Merlin grew to hate his father, and was glad when he left to retire.

### The Prototype

Merlin had little to no interest in creating weapons due to his past relationship with his father, but believed that it was the only way to gain respect throughout Tenebrous. He created something that he named the Prototype. The Prototype is a relatively small, metal weapon with likeness to a gun. However, he deems the Prototype as a failed attempt due to its tendency to be too loud, and to burn the user. The Prototype is covered in scratches and is slightly melted in a few areas. It is usually seen disassembled on Merlin’s desk.

### Magic

Merlin wasn’t born with magical talents, yet has always had an interest in it. Most of his studies are dedicated to magic and he aims to find a way to control or use it, despite him not being suited for its use.

### Recent Events

Merlin’s usefulness to the kingdom had started to run short, and in an attempt to save his job and reputation, he turned to the Undercity. There he discovered the existence of dark magic, and started to incorporate it into his work, finding it much easier to control and use than regular magic. The dark magic started to take a toll on his health, and his friend Hades tried to talk him out of using it. He continuously denied any attempts of help from Hades, and started to act more paranoid and irrational. His health kept declining, almost killing him. After waking up in the medical chambers after passing out, he was told he had permanently damaged his health and was dying. Hades left him, not wanting to see him continue to destroy himself.

Merlin threw himself back into his work, also trying to look for a cure in the process. His search for a cure led him back to Cathal, his old research partner. Cathal ‘cured’ him, but also used him as a test subject for his experiments. Cathal made Merlin reliant on him, where if Merlin stayed away from him for too long his illness would return, but this time much more aggressive than usual.

## Appearance

Before his discovery of dark magic, Merlin was a scrawny man of average height, though appears very short due to constantly being hunched over. He has fluffy brown hair that was swept back and has a few white streaks running through it. He has a small scar on his right cheek and has golden-brown eyes. He wears large, thin silver glasses and is always wearing a tight brown suit with a red tie. His hands are covered with cuts and burns and he has an underarm crutch that he uses on his left side to help him walk.

After repeated exposure to dark magic his skin turns pale and grayish. He appears much more frail and seems a lot more reliant on his crutch than usual, and is easily exhausted. His hair is noticeably longer, and is a lot more messy and spiky.

During Cathal's experiments, he developed strange black and purple lightning-shaped marks on his body, particularly on his back and neck. These would never heal, and eventually turn into scars.

## Personality

Merlin was a workaholic genius who often threw away sleep and food for discovery. He easily gets invested in certain topics, and spends almost all of his time in his workshop. He seems to switch between doubting his talent, and being unable to admit fault quite often, and can be very stubborn when he wants to. He dislikes confrontation, and tries his best to stay out of others’ ways.

After his exposure to dark magic, he grew paranoid and prone to intense mood swings. He villainises anybody who is against him in his mind, including his close friend Hades. He becomes a shut-in, and takes increasingly more dangerous risks to prove himself. During a heated confrontation between Hades and Merlin, Merlin reveals that he doesn’t care about keeping his job anymore. He accuses Merlin of not knowing what it’s like to be constantly undermined and seen as weak and useless, and says that he’s doing what he’s doing to prove them wrong.

## Relations

### Hades Lee-Monroe

Hades and Merlin had first met as children, while Hades’ father was on a political trip to Tenebrous. He encountered Merlin building a toy boat beside a pond and the two chatted for a while, promising to be each other’s first ever friends. Hades soon had to go back to Mistral, so Merlin gave him the toy boat, promising that they’d meet again when they were grown up.

The two re-met at adulthood during one of Hades’ political trips to Tenebrous. The two passed by each other in a hallway and Merlin grabbed him by the horns, intrigued at the fact he was a creature. Hades pushed him off and Merlin apologised for being so invasive. Hades later had decided to wander around the castle and stumbled upon Merlin’s workshop while he was out. Hades hung around the workshop and messed around with his stuff until Merlin returned, at which Merlin tried to kick him out but eventually let him stay due to his curiosity in creatures. Hades’ curiosity kept bringing him back to Merlin’s workshop, and while Merlin saw him as a bit of a nuisance for returning at first, the two grew very close to each other.

Hades is always looking out for Merlin, making sure he’s not doing anything stupid or self-destructive. Merlin often talks to Hades about his discoveries, and often asks for his input on various projects. The two have known each other for about 5 years now, and Hades visits Tenebrous often to see him, using one of his father’s estates during his visits.

###  Auderon Mendel

Auderon is Merlin’s father, and was a very well respected warrior. Auderon was incredibly strong and intelligent, modifying his weapons and inventing new methods of battle. Auderon had given up on attempting to turn Merlin into a warrior when he realised he was born disabled, and instead spent his time trying to cultivate his mind and would invent things with his son. While Merlin was at first happy to go along with his father’s wishes, he felt betrayed when he found out their inventions were being used in war and battle. Merlin had no interest in war, and argued frequently with his father about the ethics involving different forms of weapons in war.

During Merlin’s late teens, his mother was assassinated by a band of paid hitmen. Auderon became incredibly distant with his son and treated him like a soldier, constantly pressuring him to be better, to be stronger. Merlin grew hateful of his father, and was glad when he retired and moved away. A part of Merlin still wishes Auderon had visited him at some point, despite his hatred towards him.

###   Valerie Earheart

Merlin has heard of Valerie via Hades’ stories about Mistral. He knows that Valerie is a friend of Hades back in Mistral, and that she’s a very upbeat bird creature. Merlin has requested for Hades to ask Valerie for some of her feathers a few times, though Hades had denied him every time. He doesn’t think much of her, and isn’t interested in meeting her due to Hades’ stories about her explosive personality.

###   Cathal Deòir

Cathal had arrived in Tenebrous after moving in from a different continent. Merlin was the one chosen to show him around and the two became partners due to their matching intellect. The two shared a goal of learning about magic and how to control it, and researched it together. Cathal believed using live subjects provided the best results, and the two often argued over whether or not it was moral to test on people. Cathal was incredibly unstable, and eventually moved away to Mistral and left Merlin in Tenebrous, deeming him ‘too weak and soft to be his partner’.