Merryk Tzadur

Merryk Tzadur was an aasimar inquisitor for the church of the Tree of Life. His skills were in interrogation and investigation. He was born in Orthos but eventually moved to Ein Soph, where he helped the resistance fight the dragons who ruled over them. His actions would lead to the world of Ein Soph (at least, that particular iteration of it) being freed from death and instead becoming a living hell.

## Description

Merryk was an aasimar, his primarily human blood tinged with the celestial ichor of the angels. As such, he had a azure tint to his skin. He stood at 5'8" and weighed about 170 pounds. His looks were average and he kept all of his hair shorn. His eyes were brown.

He typically wore dark blue, hooded clothing to better hide in the shadows.

## Personality

Being raised by a shadowy religious organization, Merryk was never taught to be forthcoming about his emotions. He remained pretty reserved throughout his life, but when he opened up to talk, he was a complete ass. He constantly deflected with dark sarcasm and said hurtfgul, biting things to others. Early in his life, he managed to keep these tendencies under control, but after the death of his beloved, he turned to alcohol and any illusions of politesse vanished. He actively shunned his deity and wanted to die, though deep-seated beliefs prevented him from taking his own life.

After joining the resistance in the world of Ein Soph, he started warming up to his companions and came out of his shell a little. He even cut down from two wineskins on his person at all times, to one. His faith in god was reinvigorated and he revelled in resisting the heretical dragons.

Following his actions that turned the world into a living hell, he fell back into alcoholic despair.

Regardless of time period or disposition, Merryk always maintained an unnerving love for torture. He considered it a pure form of expression and a deeply religious experience similar to taking a mikveh.

## Possessions

Merryk bore the Sword of Bahamut which could expel both radiance and necrotic energies. He also kept with him the studded blackjack he used to bludgeon his undead lover back to proper death. He also wore a *cloak of elvenkind*.

He also tended to carry around various implements and restraints for torture, but he was not averse to using materials lying around. He kept two wineskins on him at all times.

## History

### Early Life

Nimble of mind and body from a young age, Mariel, son f Tariel, was chosen by his high priest to undergo training as an inquisitor for the Tree of Life. Shedding his former name, he became Merryk Tzadur, a shadow for the faith, hunting down heretics and performing other clandestine acts that the faith could not openly associate itself with. All of this, despite their faith being very small in Merryk's native world of Orthos. After a time, Merryk found his name inspired fear wherever he went, but he didn't know how long he could keep up his inquisition. During a particularly long and brutal mission, wherein he was tasked with protecting a powerful priestess, he fell in love. This was not something his training had prepared him for, and neither was beating his lover back to death after a necromancer had his way with her. He left the church and settled in a city where he became an oft-drunk private investigator called Mawryn. Where he once hunted enemies of the faith, he now hunted cheating husbands and petty criminals.

### Convergence

During the Convergence with the world of Ein Soph, he found his way onto the wrong caravan and drunkenly stumbled into the other world. He fell in with a group of resistance fighters and began fighting the dragons that ruled this land. He intended to end his life going through this journey. Despite this, he slowly began to warm to his companions, though he did his best to pretend otherwise. He started to come out of his alcoholic slump after a few torture sessions and a plan to kill an old dragon to inspire slaves to revolt went off with only a couple unforseeable setbacks. He cut back to one wineskin and more of his old magic started to come back to him. He had an oppotunity to abandon his friends to what he thought was certain doom, but at the last second, he returned to aid them and they ended up succeeded despite the odds.

### What is Alive May Never Die

He recieved another vision and the Tree of Life blessed the staff he had acquired with a powerful *wish* to be used at his leisure. With the details of the vision showing that King Neku was going to attempt to become a lich and turn the resistance into his undead army to defeat the dragons, he started considering his options. When they got back to Neku with the things he needed for his ritual, Merryk used his wish to make it so that no one could die, negating Neku's ability to become undead. A battle broke out nearby and everybody found that they could not fall. Unfortunately, Merryk had not considered what a world without death would be like. People could stillbe hurt, dismembered, incinerated. No one could die, ever. Even those burned to ash were still conscious and live, stuck in a hell of their own making. Horrified at what his actions had wrought, Merryk would spend the rest of his immortal life drowning in a sea of alcohol and regret.

### A Slim Chance and a Shady Deal

After living in grief for so long he forgot how old he was, Merryk came across a leftover ripple from the Convergence. Through it, he saw his original home and a pair of dark entities looking back at him. Addar Redigatari and Kuiril al-Wasat (the embodiment of death) offered to correct his mistake and restore death to the deathless world, if he would come back to his original homeland and help create a new body for al-Wasat to inhabit. Overcome with his grief, Merryk agreed, but there was one more stipulation. Addar wanted to ensure his legacy, but his sons were dead. So, he took a mind seed, basically a psionic copy of Kyanan Redigatari's soul, and placed it in Merryk's mind. His memory was modified and he was given a black horn and dreadlocks. Counting on Kyanan being dead for two centuries to cover up the difference in appearance, he was sent out into Orthos, hypnotized to find a way to reincarnate al-Wasat, now going by the name Kyanan Ophanes.