[b]Name:[/b] Coil Mercer
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Age:[/b] 41
[b]Race:[/b] Human
[b]Place of Origin:[/b] Derimoor, Elsin
[b]Appearance:[/b] Mercer approaches six feet in height, with a wiry, lean physique and tanned skin which must have endured long, grueling treks under the sun more than once. Somewhat worse for the ware, it would seem, as he carries himself with a mild limp on his right leg. His frayed hair is a dark brown, beginning to grey, locks curling slightly towards their end and falling just shy of dark, sunken eyes from which glints an irascible intellect. A rough, short black beard frames frame sharp, hard features.

His clothing is relatively simple, a white tunic and tan pants made of simple cloth, held together by a brown belt and accompanied by a sturdy pair of leather traveler’s boots. On the right occasion, the ensemble will be completed by a grayish, hooded cloak long enough to cover his ankles when worn. Around his neck, usually covered by his clothes, he wears a small, silver colored ring attached to flimsy metal chain as a necklace. 

[b]Belongings:[/b] It is rare that one might see Mercer without his cane, a sturdy, three feet long walking stick made of blackened wood. The shaft is straight and smooth to the touch, while the grip juts out perpendicular to it. It is a rather unassuming instrument at first glance, but on closer inspection, one might notice a series of fine runes painstakingly inscribed along its length in what seems to be ink, only slightly darker than the wood itself. It can be hooked to a hoop on his belt when not in use.

Under his left sleeve is strapped a sheath holding a small hunting knife. The weapon has a single, curved edge, and a deer bone handle bound in leather.

He also typically carries a large satchel with him, carrying all manner of things. Most commonly one might find chalk or charcoal, herbs, playing cards, and an old-looking pipe. Continuing to rummage through might let someone find stranger things. Candy, perhaps, or flowers, a pouch holding a lock of strange hair rather than coin (there is already a coin pouch strapped to his belt), bits of white rock further inspection might prove to be bone, well-padded vials of strange or oddly recognizable liquids. These contents may vary.

Mercer also owns a pet crow. The bird is not physically bound in any way, and indeed spends most of the day away from his master, but at the end of the day, the black bird always seems to make its way back to its perch on its owner’s shoulder.

[b]Personality:[/b] Stern, distrustful, and with a healthy dose of cynicism, Mercer’s character and temper has often been compared to that of a cantankerous elder at least twice his age. Any humor he might indulge himself in tends to be scathing, sardonic, and levelled at people who irk him.

Mercer has been accused of sharing that irritating habit most often attributed to wizards and certain magical creatures of treating every scrap of information another one lacks as a secret worth keeping. He certainly does little to dispel the notion that he might be hiding some vast, fell knowledge when it is to his advantage. 

[b]Background:[/b] Mercer was born to a tavern wench in lower Thanadan, a rather young girl with little desire to maintain a family at her age.  At least, that is what he has been told, as memories from those times are lost to him, though one must deduce from the fact that he is currently alive that the girl had some compassion and chose not to abandon him in the wilderness. Of his father, he knows nothing. Likely one of the patrons at the tavern so many years ago. Regardless, the girl took care of him for a few months, maybe up to a year. 

Perhaps she still felt insecure in her role as single mother, perhaps she resented having to feed a mouth other than her own, or perhaps she lacked to means to do so. Whatever the case, when an old mage knocked on her door, offering to take the toddler from her, she agreed. For a price, of course. Coin means much in the land of Teredor, particularly in its capital, and for those at the bottom of its structure, the trickle of coin is slim indeed. He never asked his new custodian how much he had paid for him, the idea that his worth could be measured in gold troubling him deeply.

He came to know the mage as Alvor Tellan. An old man, clear-eyed, beginning to bend in his stance, wrinkled and thin, carrying the robes and long beard that often come to mind when imagining the wise men among the magi. A high ranking member of the Elsinian, the man had lived for an inordinate number of years, far more than the already considerable number his appearance suggested. Some of the older Djinn in the organization going as far as to claim they could not remember a time when the man was not in the Elsinian. With a gift in divination that earned him the title of Seer, his sudden departure from Elsin, and equally abrupt return with a baby in tow was not the first time the wizard had baffled his fellow mages. As it tends to be with things born of prophecy, some of the wizened mage’s actions found meaning only in hindsight, if at all, and several years after the fact at that, and worked for the better when not questioned too deeply. 

So it came to be that Mercer was raised at Elsin. Servants of the old wizard took on the role of caretakers, the wizard Tellan too preoccupied with his own duties and seemingly random schemes to be more than a mentor figure, one of the many that presided over him once he was old enough to begin his tutelage in earnest. It may have been this lack of a stable, parental influence that resulted in Mercer developing a rebellious streak, making him contemptuous of authority, and often quarreling with other apprentices, be they young or old. Eventually, Tellan found it necessary to explain his origins to the young Mercer. The boy took it calmly enough, as if the wizard telling him his parents had sold him to the first person who offered confirmed something he already knew, and slowly the boy became more willing to cooperate with his fellow mages, though his mood remained as dour and ill-tempered as ever.

Soon after coming of age, Mercer joined Elsin’s police forces. His abilities as a battlemage left much to be desired, but he was adept with several kinds of magic that were useful to a security force in a land teeming with magic-users. An ability to detect, assess, and disarm wards, knowledge of enchantments and certain rituals, and spells that could be used to track suspects with hair or nail clippings ensured he remained useful. That said, his confrontational nature did little to endear him to his superiors, and he soon found himself being assigned to some of the worst, most dangerous cases they had to offer. His experiences in the job gave him an understanding on some of the darker applications of magic, particularly magic that affected the mind, and a disgust for its use on sapient beings.

One such case left him with a severe injury on his right leg. Healing mages did what they could for him, but the leg never recovered full mobility, and the injury gave his superiors an excuse to dismiss him. 

Insulted, and more than a bit resentful of the authorities in Elsin, Mercer left for Teredor.  He settled in a small hamlet to the south of Lake Fall. He lived there as a small time enchanter and tutor to those who wanted to know more of the arcane arts, occasionally playing host to Elsinian mages who needed a place to rest in treks across the empire. 

An apprentice mage recently contacted him, appearing on his doorstep with a letter from Tellan. Whatever the reason was for the old wizard to use an apprentice as a messenger all the way to the other side of the continent rather than use a sending, Mercer did not know, but his magic detected no foul play, and the letter carried the unbroken seal of the Seer and Tellan’s signature.

The message suggested that something interesting would happen at Nifu in the coming days, and he would do well to be there when the time came. The message was odd, the task inconvenient, but one ignored the Seer’s word at his own peril. He allowed the apprentice to stay at his home for the night, and parted the following day. 

[b]Class:[/b] Wizard

[b]Stats:[/b]
STR: 10
END: 12
INT: 16
WIS: 16
CHR: 10
AGI: 8
LCK: 8