Merrid

Favour-Finder, The Once Come Merrid

Merrid was the first person to invoke Favour for the people of Oralia. Although he died soon after the change occurred, his legend lives on to this day.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

fluttering, expressive hands

Special abilities

none

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Merrid was born to fruit farmers on the outskirts of Oralia, but he always dreamed of being an artist. However, he had little chance to pursue his passions because the city-state was constantly besieged by raids. The neighbouring countries thought them weak and their borders poorly defended. But they struggled along until a fruit plague swept through the country and caused a famine. Meanwhile, Merrid traveled around performing for people and making them laugh, but he discovered that less and less often his humour could make the world a better place. His wife, Evernia, taught children, while he amused them. But they were sad and dying, and Merrid grew desperate. There was a rumoured shrine to Justice on the peak of Mt. Crumble, so Merrid went on a ten day journey, without food or water, leaving his wife behind, to climb the mountain and plead with Justice. As the legend goes, he reached the top of the mountain and fell to his knees, crying out to Justice that this isn’t fair. That people deserve to be recognised for their virtues, rather than punished for their vices, if this was the intent behind the plague. Delirious with thirst and desperation, he cried on the rocks, ready to lay down and die. Then, he heard a voice: “It is not Justice you are looking for. Justice has no place in the struggle of your human lives. Justice has no interest in them. Justice will change nothing.” “Then what will change this? What will stop the children from dying?” “What you seek is Favour. Would you like your people to be Favoured above all others?” “Of course I would. They are my people.” “Then they shall be Favoured. But be warned; Favour falls not evenly, and to be Known through Favour may create as much damage as joy.” “Will it repel our enemies and rebuild our city? Will it save our children?” “You will know nothing but prosperity.” “Then do it.” And so the voice on the wind became the wind and the wind became a storm and the storm blew across the dry land of Oralia, flooding the desert and bashing the rocks with a rain that was anything but ordinary. This Favour-made, life-giving water purged the plague and sank the ships of their enemies. It also changed the people who drank it, the people who ate from its soil, and suckled babies from their breasts. The storm gave the people of Oralia something that no other people in the history of the world had ever possessed; the power to be Known. How individuals discovered the potential of being Known has been lost to history, but discover it they did. The children indeed recovered, and the land prospered, but one man did not prosper with it. Despite eating and drinking the water of Favour, Merrid himself never developed any power to go with his fame. But his wife, whom he had abandoned at the bottom of the hill, did become known. She was known for her fierce perception and empathy, and her students grew up to spread the word about her. Gradually, the developed the ability to predict the future, and thus she knew, when only a year after he changed the world, Merrid came home with a hacking cough, that he would die before the month was out.

Sexuality

straight

Education

none

Employment

traveling puppet-master/comedian

Accomplishments & Achievements

Brought Favour to the people of Oralia.

Failures & Embarrassments

Did not secure a lasting peace.

Intellectual Characteristics

compassionate, stubborn, fair-minded

Morality & Philosophy

There is no Justice in a world in which children die.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

To save his people.

Ethnicity

Oras

Life

25 1

Eyes

solemn brown

Hair

dreadlocks

Height

6'0''

Quotes & Catchphrases

People deserve to be recognised for their virtues, rather than punished for their vices! This plague punishes unjustly.