Race: Half-Elf
Age: 87
Time in Caravan: Newcomer

Appearance: Six-foot and slender, Mergoux's muscled frame presents as a pillar of strength. Though nearing her nineties, she still resembles a woman in her late twenties. Her shoulder-length coal-black hair is usually worn with braids to keep it from her face but otherwise loose. Her face is plain and unremarkable, neither ugly nor pretty, its most memorable feature being a vicious scar that travels from immediately under her left eye to the edge of her jawline. She has numerous tattoos across her body. Most visible is the word "Vengeance" tattooed vertically down her chin and onto her throat. On her wrists, she has tattooed manacles, which attach to chains that coil up her arm to the elbow, where they shatter and turn into vines. The vines coil up her arms to her shoulders, where they encircle a flower with eight petals on her left shoulder and a stack of eight coins on her right. For clothes, she usually wears a form of leather jerkin or medium armor, prioritizing freedom of movement. She also wears an enormous amount of earrings in her ears, enough so that they'll clink and jingle if she turns her head to quickly. Finally, she is never seen without her helmet, a sleek metal piece that covers all of her face but for around her mouth and chin, and has two jutting metal spikes.

History:
Born Thalia Coldstone, Mergoux was the child of a meadow elf Elaina, and a Nordic merchant. Unfortunately in her home country, such couplings were seen with ill-disguised hatred by the majority, for though in that land Meadow Elves were known for peace, their cousins the High Elves were known for quite the opposite. Young Thalia faced such prejudice, that following an incident when she was eight, her father decided it was time for his family to leave. Bundling them into one of his trading caravans, they set off for greener pastures. They did not live to see that happy future.

Partway through their journey, their caravan was attacked by bandits, but this was no mere rabble. Unbeknownst to them, a great Shaman, proclaiming himself the Bandit King, had risen to power in the hinterlands, commanding a crime organization so vast it rivaled some smaller nation's own military might. Young Thalia's parents were killed, and she was captured as a slave, and brought back to the hidden fortress of the Bandit King. There, for the next thirteen years, she worked as a slave. First, as a kitchen wench, then as she grew older, bigger, stronger, they sent her to the mines, then finally to work as a logger to keep the fortress's fires burning bright. There, she finally managed to escape, traveling down the mountainside with no food, no water, and little to account for the bitter chill of a winter's storm. She would have frozen to death had it not been for a chance encounter with a band of mercenaries out for bounties on bandits.

They made their way down the mountain but only barely made it to the capital city, most of their party slain along the way by more marauding bandits, desperate to stop young Thalia from revealing the location of their hidden fortress. It was only by the hand of a god she was spared recapture and her new allies spared death.

When brought before the Queen, she revealed the location of the bandit stronghold and more information about both the mysterious Bandit King and his organization than had ever been known. In return, the Queen offered her whatever she might desire. Thalia asked for three things. A weapon, the training on how to use it, and to be allowed to be the one to kill the Bandit King. The Queen agreed, and Lord Horrus, god of heroes, further agreed to bring her to his training grounds, where the greatest heroes were taught under him.

However, all was not as it seemed, for while she was away learning to use the weapon she'd been granted, an ancient blade from the Kingdom's history, enchanted and powerful, the Bandit King was toppled, his organization obliterated, and his bandit hordes scattered. Of himself, however, there was no proof of his death. Thalia was furious at this betrayal, wanting to personally avenge her parents' deaths, but there was little else she could do.

Instead, she resigned to take on a role of a soldier in the Kingdom's army, for though the bandit threat was over, there were still many wars to be fought. For fourteen years, she was a soldier, promoted several times until she achieved the rank of Champion, a specialist in the army, promoted for their fighting prowess instead of their skill at command. However, when she was thirty-eight, a controversy occurred, and she was branded a scapegoat. Her time in the army had been hard, for many of her fellow soldiers harbored the same hate in their hearts that had forced her family from their home, but this was the final offense. Booted from the army, she sunk low, her life, her career, taken from her, those few she had found a sort of family in, lost from her again.

Little is known of what happened to Thalia Coldstone after that. Her record vanishes, but half a decade later, there arrived Mergoux. She was a servant of the god of death, now one of her sworn killers, and she was very good at what she did. A lifetime of abuse had turned her into a hateful, vengeful soul. She wanted death, to bring it, and have it brought to her, yet she could not bring herself to throw her life away. She had a new purpose. To slay every bandit, every criminal, every single being who might do to others what had been done to her. To harm them in any way was to earn a death sentence from her. For a time, this brought the mysterious helmeted mercenary a level of fame in her homeland, then a level of infamy, then after murdering a local mayor for unjustly evicting local farmers so that he might claim their land, she was finally branded an outlaw and a criminal herself. From there, she carved a bloody path South and vanished over the border, her stories fading into legend. Yet still, thirty years on, tales come back of a helmeted warrior woman butchering evil-doers. It is these tales that criminals use to scare their children into bed, lest Mergoux the Butcher come and lop off their feet, then make them walk home.

Personality:
Outwardly, Mergoux appears more than an empty shell of a person. She finds no personal joy in the world, yet is granted a deep satisfaction by her actions, and what little enjoyment she has in the world she finds most often with a blade in her hands. Yet behind that exterior, she is a broken woman, robbed of family and friends time and time again. Those who did not die by the sword, she was forced to watch grow old while she remained young. She puts all she has into her task, viewing it as the only positive thing she has left that she can do, for all through her life she has buried most of her emotions so deep, she's unsure if she could ever dig them out again. All manner of hope, peace, love are gone, left by a bitterness that leaves her off-putting at best. She is Mergoux, and she is hate.

Motivation:
Once again on the run from the law, Mergoux joins the caravan as an escape, and to perhaps further her goals of slaying wicked men on the road. Bandits are those she hates most, and bandits are always on the roads.

Skills, Strengths and Weaknesses, and Tools:
Skills/Strengths: Mergoux is a skilled warrior, trained initially under the god of heroes for five years, then further improving her own skills through a long life as a warrior. She is an unmatched master with her enchanted greatsword and to a lesser degree, a master of very nearly every other style of swordswomanship. She is further adept with most weapons and is noted as a proficient markswoman with a crossbow. Through her long life she has also become adept at hunting and tracking. She also possess a keen eye and a cunning mind, often allowing her to outwit her foes, though she's no great intellect. Finally, when she wants to be, she can be highly intimidating, and interrogation was a specialty of hers in the army. She also possesses rudimentary medical knowledge, as she's often forced to patch herself up rather than attend any healers nearby.
Finally, as a half-elf, Mergoux possesses both a speed both of mind or of movement faster than any human could attain. She also possesses an incredible sense of hearing.

Tools: Mergoux's armory and personal possessions are limited by what she can carry, but she always takes with her two magic items. Her sword, gifted to her by order of the Queen. Vainoth's Bane is a two-handed greatsword nearly as tall as she is. It is indestructible bar for perhaps melting it in magma, and is enchanted so that to the wielder, it weighs near nothing, allowing her to move faster and strike harder with the otherwise extremely heavy blade. The second is her helmet. It covers all of her face and head, except for the eyeholes and the area around her mouth and chin. It is enchanted that it nullifies any force that strikes its exterior. A giant could smash a tree on her head and it would connect as little more than the lightest of taps.

Weaknesses: Social skills. Mergoux is unlikeable, and has a hard time forming bonds outside of those formed in combat. Her elven ears often also present the problem of being overly sensitive to sudden loud noises, occasionally even leaving her disorientated briefly if the din is deafening enough. She also has extreme motion sickness and cannot ride a horse, a wagon, or a boat without extreme discomfort and nausea. Finally, Mergoux received little to know formal education before her 20s. While she'd picked up a lot, including the skills needed to read and write, she lacks a lot of more basic knowledge that someone might acquire through a more standardized education.

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Name: Ark Andraste
True Name: To be revealed.
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Race: Magician (Human)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Time in the Caravan: Just joined the Pilgrim's Caravan 2 days ago.

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Appearance: Ark is a 1.60m (5'3) tall young man. He is slender, not having any muscles to show off, and is clearly uninterested in building a muscular physique since, according to Ark himself, doesn't fit his image as a mage and scholar. His hair is white by default (he hasn't bleached his hair), his eyes are blue and his complexion is white. His clothing is composed of a black bodysuit with white crystals attached to parts of it (for reasons Ark doesn't know how to properly explain), and his white cape with red strings adorning it.

Dressing Style: Ark's fashion style revolves around using casual clothing. However, because of his own clothing, he's known to have an "eccentric" taste and likes to actually experiment with various types of combinations. In tandem with these facts, Ark hates using formal dressing and cannot stand to wear a tuxedo.

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History: Ark is the only son of two magicians in a small village from the deep eastern ends of Alwyne. He was born on a cozy and rather lovely farm, where his parents both decided to use their magic for a small and peaceful life instead of aiming grand towards the magister courts from the kingdoms in the world. And so, Ark has been freely training magic in order to actually inherit the farm and become its next owner, where he would keep working until the end of his life.

But that wasn't exactly his plan in life. Ever since he was a child, Ark had a dream of becoming an archmage, dominating various elemental magics (except for Dark types), and becoming a scholar. His dream is to build an academy for magicians from scratch, even though this idea might or might not have been done by someone else, while also allowing normal humans and other non-magical creatures to develop the passion and desire to learn about magic, control it, and use it.

Ark studied hard to grasp whatever elemental powers he could control, but his mana as a child only allowed him to master Light elemental magic (which he sticks up to this day). And because his parents were against his dreams, they limited how much research material Ark had any access to, and how much they would teach him about magic, and didn't let Ark leave the farm to pursue other places in the village to study. This, in conjuncture with his age, made Ark a "prisoner" and he wasn't accepting it.

When he finally completed 15 years old, Ark packed his things and ran away from home. He grabbed a trustworthy horse and some money he had gained from some errands and went away to the next town. He never returned back home, so he doesn't know if his parents are still after him or not. Ever since his escapade, Ark started a new life of doing some quests here and there, going around towns in order to continue studying his magic and pursue his dream.

However, Ark ended up getting into some trouble when he hit 17 years old. His horse ended up dying because of age and it was in the middle of a storm. He managed to go to another town on foot but had to stay in that town for more than what he actually wanted to. He did some quests on his own but still had to stay stuck in town for over a year because he wasn't being able to afford another horse with the money he had.

That's when he met the Pilgrim's Caravan and asked to join them in order to keep traveling and pursue his dream. After some talk and settlement, he became (possibly) the most recent member of the Caravan, and perhaps the youngest of the whole squad. And so continues the story of Ark Andraste, who's now a member of the Pilgrim's Caravan while continuing his own research for the time being.

... At least that's the story he tells whenever asked about his origin. Where Ark truly hails from, though, is a mystery. As far as he knows, no one doubts him (or at least shows some doubt) and he hasn't been fully questioned about everything. Yet.

Personality: Ark is bibliophile at heart. He loves to dig himself into books and has a passion for studying. While he doesn't limit himself only to the studies toward his dream goal, he tends to focus specifically on the study of other elemental magic, as well as the history of magic himself. Another quirk is that he gets really passionate whenever discussing these topics with others and can go for hours and hours talking about magic.

Speaking of his social skills, despite being a bibliophile, Ark isn't a loner. He's actually quite well versed in socializing with others and his very charismatic towards other people, whether from the Caravan or not. As a result of his travels, Ark can easily speak with people and has no problems approaching strangers, which doesn't fit too much with his love for books but it works in his favor.

Ark's also very noble and is ready to make sacrifices for those who don't have the same power or conditions as him. He's a very compassionate and kind-hearted fellow, to the point that Ark can be somewhat invasive. He's a good listener but wants to listen and will insist to have a conversation with people going through some trouble until they snap at him.

One thing Ark actually hates speaking is about origins, because of whatever he is hiding at heart. Whenever the topic of speaking about the past or something of the sort, he's the first to leave the table or the room. He is, in no way possible, open to speaking about it and gets extremely defensive if he has to talk too much about it.

Likes:

• Books on studies of the history of magic, elemental tomes, summoning, and alchemy;
• Traveling around the world and learning about different cultures.
• Wolves. Ark's a wolf person.

Dislikes:

• Drinking, the smell of alcohol and drunkards;
• Abuse of power and dealing with the snobs of rich people;
• Talking about his past.

Worst Fear: Returning home without fulfilling his dream.
Favorite Color: White.
Favorite Time of Day: Daytime.
Favorite Season: Winter.
Heart/Will or Mind/Reason?: Despite being a bibliophile, Ark follows his heart/will more than he follows his mind/reason.
Motivation: Ark's motivation to join the Pilgrim's Caravan is to continue his travels and to keep learning about the world. He also believes that he'll be able to learn about summoning if he keeps traveling with them.
Lifelong Dream: Ark's lifelong dream is to build an academy of magic, where people can learn about it, about how to use it, and discover a new way of living life.
Spirit Animal: Despite loving wolves, Ark considers his spirit animal to be an owl.
Faith and Beliefs: Ark isn't very faithful or religious, since he has a notion that religion can be used as a way to trick and deceive people who don't know any better. He does pray sometimes to Marietta, known as the Goddess of Protection, whenever he and his current team are on missions.

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Skills: Ark, as a magician, specializes in ranged attacks by casting magic. This is his primordial skill, which means that he's one of the party's main magic-specialized attackers in battle. His magic, currently, consists of light elemental magic. This means that, through his mana, Ark's able to generate and manipulate light, as well as cast offensive spells based on this element, as well as creating shields and barriers of this element.

Outside of his magic skills, Ark is a great and fast reader, as well as a rather good teacher (if necessary). He's able to grasp information from a book in a matter of minutes and quickly tries to put it into ways to explain it to others in a way people can understand without using too many technical words.

He also has good negotiation skills and is able to work his way around with words. He also, somehow, is very skilled in dealing with nobles, but how and why are some things that no one knows, and Ark himself doesn't explain.

Strengths and Weaknesses: As a light elemental magic user, Ark is a great counter for dark elemental magicians considering the affinity between the elements. This means that his magic deals extra damage to dark elemental damage users. However, he also takes extra damage against dark elemental users, so while he is a good counter against them, he has to be careful since he has a weakness in this certain regard.

It's also important to notice that Ark loses if fighting against physical attackers because he lacks a weapon that's actually helpful in a fight. The fact that he has the stamina of a bibliophile also means that he can get exhausted quite easily because he doesn't do much physical exercise in the first place.

Weapons and Tools: Ark's "weapon" of choice is a light magic tome containing intermediate to advanced spells that he can use. Other than that, he carries a bag with some spare clothing, his wallet, some family belongings he took with him when running away (in case he needs to sell them for some extra money), and two other books with water and wind elemental magic, although he hasn't learned them yet.

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Main Theme (Ark): Pascal (NieR: Automata)
Main Theme (???): Song of the Ancients / Popola (NieR: Replicant ver 1.22)
Battle Theme (Ark): Snow Sisters (Under Night IN-Birth)