Birth

Meredith was born on Erastus 14, 4686 AR in a coastal village named Selwyn's Landing in the province of Cheliax, a land known for its strict law and devil-worshipping aristocracy. Her father, Alistair, was a carpenter, and her mother, Elara, was a seamstress. The household was modest, and they eked out a simple life.

Early Life

From as early as her toddler years, Meredith displayed a dual nature. At times, she was an almost eerily calm and intelligent child, deeply observant and articulate beyond her years. However, these moments of tranquility could be shattered in an instant, replaced by inexplicable fits of unbridled rage. During these episodes, her eyes would cloud over, and her gentle demeanor would harden. She would throw objects, scream incoherently, and claw at anything or anyone near her. It was as if she had been temporarily possessed by an entirely different entity. Even during her tranquil periods, her family noticed unsettling traits—like her fascination with dissecting small creatures or the way she would linger over the anatomical drawings in her father's medical textbooks. These mood swings perplexed and frightened her family, making them deeply concerned for her well-being and that of others around her.
 
Upon her admission to St. Iomedae's Asylum for the Unsettled Mind in Westcrown, the medical professionals were initially intrigued by her case. Given her age and fluctuating temper, they diagnosed her with a rare form of mania and subjected her to a battery of treatments. They tried everything from old-world phlebotomy practices, bleeding her to "balance the humors," to more magical methods involving weak enchantments to calm her mind. However, their efforts were largely ineffective. The magics used seemed to provide only temporary relief, and sometimes they exacerbated her violent tendencies. Over time, it became clear to the staff that Meredith was not responding to traditional treatments. Her condition, puzzlingly resistant to both magical and non-magical therapies, became a subject of whispered debates among the clinicians.
 
Meredith found little solace in social interactions during her time in the asylum. The other patients often avoided her, unnerved by her mercurial temperament. Her intelligence and insight also made conversations with others her age difficult, further isolating her from any form of friendship. But this loneliness proved to be a catalyst for her voracious self-education. Meredith found her only friends in the characters populating the pages of medical journals, alchemical treatises, and historical accounts she managed to get her hands on. Through these tomes, she started teaching herself about medicine, psychology, and alchemy—the very subjects that the doctors seemed to struggle with in her case.
 
It was during these long hours of solitude that she became aware of the architectural quirks of the asylum—tiny imperfections in walls, slightly ajar panels, and hidden latches. This curiosity led her to discover a series of secret passages and chambers, likely remnants from a darker period in the building’s history. Planning meticulously for weeks, Meredith eventually used her newfound knowledge to orchestrate a daring escape at the age of 16, leaving the bewildering enigma of her condition unsolved by the medical community she left behind.

Self-Education

Meredith’s keen interest in alchemy led her to undertake experiments that were considered taboo by conventional scholars. Her first makeshift lab was located in the cramped, hidden space under an abandoned building. Utilizing stolen alchemical reagents and glassware, Meredith began by exploring basic transformative and transmutative techniques. She made rudimentary health potions and tried her hands at crafting elemental grenades, with varying degrees of success.
 
As she grew more proficient, her focus shifted towards mind-altering substances and neurochemical agents. These were the compounds that had fascinated her since her time in the asylum, given that they had the potential to offer her the balance and control she so desperately sought. She synthesized and tested a series of tonics and inhalants, recording their effects meticulously in a worn leather journal. Some experiments led to bouts of heightened awareness and almost supernatural reflexes; others plunged her into temporary states of depression or even disassociation. Through trial and error, she gradually built a personal pharmacopeia of substances that she could utilize in various situations, both for herself and for trading.
 
Meredith's intrigue with anatomy and medicine did not wane; instead, it thrived in the unregulated underbelly of the cities she wandered through. Veiled by the cover of darkness and donning a hooded cloak, Meredith began to shadow illegal or back-alley surgeons and apothecaries, watching them perform life-saving or life-altering operations. She took note of their techniques, their use of magical and non-magical anesthetics, and the quick, precise spells they employed to stanch bleeding or mend tissue.
 
Eventually, Meredith began to undertake her own minor surgical procedures, starting with animals and then progressing cautiously to willing—or desperately ill—humans. She became adept at stitching together wounds with almost artistic precision, removing infected or necrotic tissue with alarming steadiness, and setting fractured bones with a mix of physical skill and minor magical interventions. Despite the unorthodox nature of her training, her outcomes were often more successful than those of more traditionally educated practitioners, a testament to her innate skill and hard-won experience.
 
When Meredith arrived in Saltspire in the Shackles, she came with a treasure trove of specialized, unconventional knowledge. This haven for outcasts, renegades, and all who defied societal norms was the perfect setting for her to flourish. With her unorthodox yet effective medical and alchemical skills, she quickly gained a reputation as a person who could procure rare alchemical compounds or perform delicate surgical procedures without asking inconvenient questions. It was here that she felt she could truly start anew, leaving behind the haunted corridors of St. Iomedae's Asylum and the lingering shadows of her past.
 
 

Kane Metsk

When Kane Metsk, or Kael as he preferred in disguise, first walked into Meredith's makeshift clinic in Saltspire, she felt a spark of fascination she hadn't felt in years. He emanated an aura that was both unsettling and deeply captivating—a paradoxical blend of human warmth and otherworldly detachment. The scent of his dhampiric blood, a tantalizing blend of mundane and magical, filled the air, rousing her scientific curiosity.
 
It wasn't just his biology that intrigued her. Kane had a way of holding himself—a quiet defiance, an unspoken understanding of the burdens of being an outsider—that resonated with her own life experiences. The more time she spent around him, the more she realized how well they complemented each other. If she was the fiery blaze, he was the icy calm; if she was the insatiable quest for knowledge, he was the enigmatic riddle waiting to be solved. He soon became a muse of sorts in her ceaseless academic endeavors, and without realizing it, Meredith found in him a kindred spirit that gradually evolved into something more personal and emotionally complex.
 
Meredith's fascination with Kane led her to propose a series of experiments designed to delve into the mysteries of his dhampiric biology. She had a repertoire of methodologies by this point, honed through her self-education and underground practice, and she was eager to adapt these techniques to a subject as compelling as Kane.
 
One of her first experiments involved a comprehensive analysis of Kane's blood, seeking to understand how his unique lineage influenced his biological functions. She isolated various components—red cells, white cells, plasma—and subjected them to alchemical reagents to observe their reactions. Using minor necromantic rituals and counteracting abjurations, she explored Kane's resilience and healing capabilities. What she found both confirmed and defied existing lore about dhampirs, offering new directions for her pharmacological research. Meredith administered small doses of toxins, mundane and magical, to assess how his body coped with these external challenges. Her experiments revealed an incredibly adaptive immune system, which could offer potential benefits for broader medical applications. Meredith used her homemade neurochemical agents in controlled environments to probe these areas. Through rigorous documentation and analysis, she unraveled some of the psychological complexities that came with his hybrid existence.
 
In Kane, Meredith discovered not only an intriguing biological phenomenon but also a genuinely challenging intellectual puzzle. Every experiment they conducted together unfurled a new layer of complexity, enriching her understanding of life's intricate tapestry. In that tapestry, she and Kane wove a unique pattern of their own—a blend of scientific pursuit and a mutual connection of the need to persue it that neither had anticipated.

Travel to Port Peril

Meredith saw Port Peril as an opportunity to test her newly developed Sanguine Conduit in real-world conditions, outside the controlled and often frustratingly restrictive environment she was accustomed to. The pirates of the Shackles, she reasoned, would be willing to volunteer for her risky experiments if it meant a higher chance of survival in their brutal world. Meredith felt this could be her legacy, a revolutionary development that could change the field of emergency medicine forever. It was this compelling need to validate her life's work that made her readily agree to accompany Kane to Port Peril.

Formidably Maid

At the Formidably Maid tavern, Meredith acted as both observer and social chameleon, adapting her persona to fit in with the pirate crowd. She carefully inquired about recent battles, injuries, and survival rates, slyly probing for opportunities to introduce her Sanguine Conduit to a willing pirate crew. Unfortunately, she was so engrossed in her quest for knowledge and recognition that she failed to notice the shady figures eyeing them. Trusting and drinking with a charismatic corsair led to her and Kane being poisoned, captured, and press-ganged onto the Wormwood, thus putting an abrupt halt to her plans but marking the beginning of a new, uncertain chapter in her life.