Name: Marlis Jaegar
Gender: Female
Age: 41
Nationality: Alvina
Appearance: When standing up straight she peaks at a height of 5'11". She has short, sable, matted hair that rests just above her shoulders. Her eyes a deep grey, and just below them lies a hooked nose and cracked, scarred lips. Marlis also has a deep cut under her left eye going down her cheek, a result from one of her many fatal altercations during her travels.
Bio: Born to a simple farming family, Marlis was always the runt of the litter. Constantly teased and abused by her siblings, and occasionally by even her parents, she always pushed herself to do better than the rest. Some may have thought her behavior as competitive and idiotic, but damn did she just want to succeed at something nobody else could. She wanted to prove to her family, maybe even herself, that she wasn't just small, fragile, and useless.
While living in the middle of nowhere had it's disadvantages, it certainly had its perks. There was no one there to take all the game besides their large family, however, the forest that surrounded them had always scared them all into just growing simple foods and placing easy-to-reach traps. No one had ever gone deep inside the woods, and they didn't plan on going in anytime soon. But as every day passed, the winds got colder and the ground was beginning to set. Soon the family would have no soil to plant on, and the game caught from the traps would not be able to sustain them for long.
With this, the family ate less just to ration their foods long enough. The older familial members were beginning to die off, and they could do nothing. One night, with her father's untouched hunting bow and a bag, Marlis slipped away from her home and ventured deep into the woodlands, preying on food for her family. Luckily for her, she managed to catch a multitudinous of small, wild animals to bring home. It was enough to last until spring came along again.
Her bag fastened to her body and her bow strung on her shoulder, she walked home, shivering and carefully navigating the dark woods. At one point she had stopped walking, something had clasped onto her ankle, the bone snapping and forcing her to fall to the ground in pain. Marlis was afraid to call for help, aware that something (or someone) other than her family would come to her instead. She struggled to stay awake, but it was nearing dawn, and she knew someone would come by soon to check on the traps, so she waited just a little longer.
Eventually her older brother came, a look of relief washed over her face as she held up the small bag. He only looked down at her, his gaze was unnerving, and only then did she realize his ill intentions. He grabbed her bag and the bow, dragging her body and the trap farther into the forest, so that no one would be able to find her. He knew she wouldn't dare to scream, he knew she was afraid of what else was in the lands. And so he left her, going back home to claim her prize as his, explaining how Marlis had run away and died.
The long silence and sight of blood travelling from her ankle to the dirt filled her with ire, her breathing ragged, her mind running miles an hour. Eventually pulling herself free from the trap, she limps back to the cabin. It was nightfall by the time she arrived, and she knew that they would all be sleeping. Finding a hatchet they used to cut wood with, she snuck inside and creeped to her brother's room, holding the weapon above her head. Then, she swung down. Her blood went cold, but she knew she was far too gone to stop now. And so she went into every other room, and did the same. She was only 15.
At first Marlis was shocked, she refused to leave the cabin. She spent her time trying to pamper the corpses any way she could. Dressing them up in whatever rags they had left, forcing food down their throats, etc.. Eventually the shock turned into anger: she didn't owe anyone anything, she did what she had to do. Marlis certainly wasn't going to take anymore of their abuse and teasing, and for once in several days, she felt grateful for what she did. The feeling didn't last long, as a group of young men and woman had stumbled upon the cottage in search of treasures.
The only thing the treasure hunters found were rotting corpses. The four of them split up around the area, digging up and searching whatever they could. Frightened, Marlis hid in one of the rooms, hatchet in hand. One of the hunters had stumbled into the room, tearing up the place in frustration. Once again, anger replaced her fear, and she slipped out of her hiding spot, killing the intruder. She looted his body, grabbing the crossbow out of their hands. She replaced her axe with it, but she still kept it at her side. Instead of swinging at the 3 other hunters, she shot them in the head from behind. No one had expected it at all.
Leaving what was once home to her, she brought along her newly acquired wealth. Furs, money, arrows, and just anything she got off of the bodies that she could carry herself. Marlis left the forest, but with nowhere to go, she just wandered. She got in all types of trouble, but nothing she couldn't handle. By the time she turned 24, she had hardened even more, and became the woman she is now.
One day, whilst lingering near the forest she once called home, she found a hamlet that was conflicted with hunger. The villagers admitted to Marlis that they would hunt for food themselves, but their main problem was a group of bandits who simply did not let them leave their home. For some reason she could not (and would not) explain, Marlis was reminded of her younger self's afflictions, and lent her aid to the people. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
She hunted game to the best of her ability, returning to the village with a large bag, enough to sustain the people for a while. At the entrance, she noticed a group of well-armed and armored persons, as if they had been waiting for her arrival. In their charge she saw a young child, no less than 8, who was gasping and sobbing to go home back to their parents. Enraged, Marlis commanded that they let them go. To the coterie of barbarians, an angry woman was not enough to strike fear into their hearts. They laughed and laughed, but one of the men's hearty cackling was replaced by sputtering and quiet groans. As they were cracking up over her appearance, she had taken the opportunity to lodge an arrow into her crossbow, and aimed it a one of their throats. Luckily for the other two their necks were covered, otherwise they would have met the same fate as their companion.
Their offensive actions ceased. They looked down at their dead partner, back to each other, and back at the spot where Marlis was, but lo and behold, she wasn't there. Panicking, the two scrambled to sheath their weapons, which was knocked out of their shaking grips by arrows. One of them was hit in the eye and through their skull, while the other slumped to the ground, hands above their head. They pleaded for her to spare their life, but Marlis only agreed in exchange for information. She wanted to know if there were more of them, and the man replied with a nod of his head and directions to their camp. Taking the hatchet from her side, she knelt down, lifted the steel helmet off of the bandit's head, and swung.
After bringing the child home, the bag of food to the people, and the promise that the bandits would not bother them anymore, she left, en route to put an end to a band of misfits. The travel was short, and those there weren't prepared for a slaughter. From a high tree she managed to take out a number of them, the only one left she assumed was the leader. Before she could aim and fire, she was shot out of her tree and managed to grab onto a branch, which snapped, but successfully kept her from landing on her back. With a nasty scar on her cheek, she approached the camp to face the chief head on. When she met with the leader, she was surprised to see a large woman in a fur coat, smiling at her.
Marlis wasn't so sure about what happened then, because one moment she blacked out in a fit of fury, and a few hours awoke with the woman's dead body in her arms, the fur coat now secured around her own body. Deciding it best to leave, she made her way towards Dragon's Maw, anticipating for some sort of change in her life.
As Marlis neared Alvina's capital, she felt someone had been tailing her from dawn to dusk. If this was someone wanting to rob her blind, she wasn't going to have it. Furious, she turned around and stopped walking, glaring at an armored figure down the road. Instead of conversing, like normal people, she stomped towards them, holding her crossbow close to her chest. It was obvious to the person in front of her that she was not one for words, and they drew their weapons, but quickly introduced themselves before engaging in anything with Marlis just yet. "I'm a Reaper," they said, but she knew next to nothing of the Order. However before continuing her attack any further, Marlis questioned them. At first it was simple questions about the Reapers, the Black Order, and whatnot. Then it took for a turn when she asked, "what makes a good person, a hero? What makes a person a villain?"
She was left unanswered, as the Reaper had had enough and continued their fight. It wasn't long until Marlis had them down, 9 years of surviving by herself, and she wasn't going to let anyone take her meaningless life just yet. Marlis was a little disappointed that her last two questioned were unsolved. She was hoping that, maybe she wasn't a bad person that she made herself out to be.
And so Marlis joined the Order, hoping to make something good out of it. She wasn't going to make herself a villain, she was going to make herself a hero. She made her new home the Order, seemingly at peace and finally able to control her unbridled anger. Up to this point, she has been in the Order for 17 years.
Fighting Style: Marlis is a ranged rogue, specializing in combat from far away while hidden well. She takes to the bushes and trees, but if she's out in the open, Marlis can handle knocking a few skulls in with her fists and/or with the end of the crossbow itself. She has a hatchet, but she prefers not to use it in fights. Only when she's really desperate will she make use of it, which is rare.
Equipment:
-Crossbow
-45 arrows
-Hatchet
Skills/Abilities:
-Stealth: Whether it's because she's perched in a high tree, concealed in bushes, or waiting in a dark alley, Marlis almost always goes unnoticed.
-Intimidation: If a tall, sturdy woman who has lived with anger and death her whole doesn't even scare some of the smallest, milquetoast person, then what will?
Other Information: Despite her tough mien, Marlis is a total sap. She'll never admit it, though.
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