Murdoch

Murdoch (formally spelled Muireadhach) is a player character in Wishchasers. He is played by Jay. He is a mysterious figure with several unusual mutations, who joined the party's crew at the request of Lord La Rosche.

## Appearance and Personality

### Appearance

Murdoch is a tall man with pointed ears and ashy, pale skin. His hair is white and his eyes are red. Several white wings protrude from various parts of his body. In terms of clothing, he often wears a black jacket above a blue shirt tied with a brooch made of a blue gemstone.

In his monstrous form, Murdoch is said to grow unnatural amounts of eyes, wings, and teeth.

### Personality

Murdoch is incredibly socially awkward. He takes most things told to him at face value and rarely assumes malice, which sometimes gets him into troublesome situations. His intimidating appearance and his casual acceptance of his severe life circumstances sometimes scares others.

## History

### Early Life

Murdoch was born in The Shattered Archipelago. At some point in his past, Murdoch became a physician. For unknown reasons, he performed experiments on himself that caused him to transform into a dangerous monster he would later describe as "a collection of eyes and wings and teeth". Eventually reverting to a (mutated) humanoid form, he was discovered adrift and unconscious in the ocean by La Rosche, who took the now largely amnesiac Murdoch in. After discovering that the transformation had given Murdoch a propensity for occasional destructive "outbursts", La Rosche began secretly housing the man in a lavishly furnished dungeon cell beneath his manor in Regency.

### The Wishchasing Expedition

La Rosche picked Murdoch to be one of his representatives on the research and wishchasing expedition that he was co-funding with the Crown of Regency. On the day the expedition was due to depart, La Rosche brought the other members of the expedition - Silver, Remilio Valdez, and Marceline Havelock, as well as Gem, who was tagging along - down to the manor dungeon to introduce them to Murdoch and inform him that he would be travelling on the expedition. Murdoch, in turn, explained what he could of his circumstances to the bewildered group. After the party invited Gem to join the expedition's crew, they exited the dungeon together. Outside the manor, they had a brief chance encounter with Duke Merry, a friend of La Rosche and famed former Wishchaser, who Murdoch - still relearning social graces - shook the hand of. After receiving their first job from La Rosche, the party departed to the docks to inspect their ship.

When they arrived at the docks, Murdoch took part in business with the Red Man, diving into the waters beneath one of the docks to retrieve a feather from a rock. He would trade this for a brass-coloured skeletal hand that could be worn over his own hand to improve his melee combat abilities. Once the party reached the ship, met Owen, and began to discuss their skills as a crew, Murdoch declared himself to be "the greatest doctor the world has ever known". Following the hiring of Owen and the completion of their crew, Murdoch went with Marceline and Gem to ask Gem's uncle, Drago, to permit his nephew to join the voyage. In the process, Murdoch personally vowed to guarantee Gem's safe return, convincing Drago to give his permission. On the way back to the docks, he revealed his confidence in his medical abilities was, in part, due to his ability to use Wish magic to "cheat". At the wharf market, he asked La Rosche to let Duke Merry know they were recruiting and offered to cannibalize a cello he was carrying for parts of a wishing focus Silver was building for Gem. Once the party returned to their ship, Murdoch used his wings to make several gliding leaps from the pier onto the ship's deck, carrying the crew's heavier possessions and most of the crew themselves aboard. The party then began to inspect the ship personally.

## Abilities

Murdoch is capable of transforming into a monster of some variety. Its exact abilities are unknown.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Heart of Regency