Mercy

Merc Firewater was born Human parents in a modest fishing village on the outskirts of Cliffsunder. A deep blue Devilborn child whose appearance unsettled the household from the start, his childhood was marked by suspicion and cruelty. He was bullied by both the children and adults from his village, as well as his own sister Camas Firewater; but as he grew older, Merc began to explore the strange gifts of his devil blood. He discovered an inherent ability to create magic, using minor Spellcraft to prank Camas and the other children, though made sure his parents were not aware of his magical talents.

In time, he realized that while his magic came easily, control did not. During a period when Camas had fallen horribly ill, Merc decided to use his gift to conjure an illusion of a giant camas flower, his sister's name-sake. When he conjured this giant purple flower, it exploded filling the room in brilliant purple light, and somehow the stunning display instantly healed Camas. Stunned at Merc's power, the Firewater kids ran out of the house and played all day in the fields of camas together until their parents came home that evening. His parents thought her healing was a miracle sent by the divine, but the children knew that the devilborn was behind it.

As a teenager, Merc helped his father on his fishing boat and brought the village's fish to the Grandport and up to the Middlecliff Market. He used illusions and cantrips to draw customers, disguise flaws in the day’s catch, and magically persuade competition to offload inferior fish; though his father did not like Merc's use of magic, he was willing to turn a blind eye if he did not cause an problems. Back in his village, however, the devilborn had few friends outside Camas and a few other misfits, who would sneak around and cause chaos.

Late one evening, seventeen-year-old Merc and his friends came up with an idea for a heist. Old Man Breagurd kept a strange little fish mounted in his dining room, said to bring him luck, and they meant to take it. After their parents were asleep, Merc and Camas slipped out, met the others, and crept aboard his ship. They found the fish above the table, small and brightly colored, and pulled it free. On their way out, a door slammed open and the group scattered, leaving Merc and Camas behind. With Breagurd rushing toward them, the devilborn panicked and reached for magic he had never used before.

He meant only to put the old man to sleep, but a sudden Wild Magic surge followed and seven bolts of force shot from Merc’s hand, killing him. While their friends had already began rowing away, Camas had seen everything, and ran from her brother. Their parents knew enough of his magic to understand what had happened, but could not excuse it. If the truth came out, the village would demand answers, and Merc would not be shown mercy; they decided he had to leave that night. Merc and his father packed a cart and set out for the city in the dark. Before he left, Merc tried to speak to Camas, but she would not look at him and told him to go to the Nine Hells where he belonged.

Money was tight in the family, but Merc's parents gathered their savings and sent him to the Whiteharbour Academy on his twentieth birthday. However, at the academy, the sorcerer found himself out of place. The structured, intellectual approach to magic clashed with how his wild magic manifested naturally. The harder he tried to impose discipline, the more volatile his magic became. One storm-lashed night, the devilborn received a later from his parents; Camas' illness had come back swiftly, and she had passed away days earlier.

His parents begged forgiveness, not wanting to risk Merc coming back to their village. Burdened by guilt and frustration, the devilborn climbed to the academy roof and abandoned formal spellwork entirely. Choosing to surrender to the chaos rather than resist it, he unleashed a devastating thunderous blast that destroyed his Spellbook and confirmed what he already suspected. The academy could teach him nothing. Acknowledging both his capacity for harm and his deliberate restraint, he adopted the virtue name "Mercy", a quiet assertion of who he chose to be that also played to his given name.

Mercy left the school soon after, unable to return home, but by chance met Nessa Nina Quickpick Rumbauld Pennyluck, a former master Rogue. She convinced the budding Sorcerer to join the Whistledrop Crew, where he learned to help fence goods for them with his merchant skills; in this period, he found himself given a Cloak of Billowing. However, his lack of control over Wild Magic did mean he was not always chosen for more precise missions. Nonetheless, Mercy made friends with the various and diverse Crew members, and saw a future with them for a time. However, he was not present for the Ambush At The Whistledrop Hideout, and after the attack, Nessa Nina decided to disband the Crew, leaving Mercy in limbo.

In the year after the ambush, the devilborn reopened a stand at the Middlecliff Market, and chanced upon a man who could help him control over his abilities. Stratus, a Windborn sorcerer, was himself an experienced user of wild magic, and took on the devilborn as a student. As they progressed through various training, he gifted Merc a Wind Fan, and the two bonded. Though his own wild magic manifested differently, Stratus helped Mercy learn to at least shape his own magic into more-desired outcomes, even if he could not attain full control himself.

In Break-In At Bleak End, Merc Firewater was still figuring things out; his training with Stratus was hitting some rough barriers, and he literally killed himself after throwing himself off a ledge, only to be brought back by wild magic. Agreeing to re-meet in a week, he returned to his stall near-dead. He didn't have much time before Nessa and Elle approached him: Merben Ordri Fizzlehide Pennyluck had gotten himself into trouble with the Glitterati. Realizing that his old boss needed help, Mercy agreed to help when Poons suddenly appeared in his stall, and all three went to the Pixis Palace before the guards chasing her found them.

Don Coriander Thorn requested that the former Crew steal a key from Bleak End, in exchange for Merben's life and a small percent of the take. During negotiation, Elle noticed sympathy from Snapdragon Poplarchop, and learned from him to contact Captain Jolly of the Jolly Dodger. At a cut rate, they boarded and sailed to Farrozandmar, seeking out the Plot and Hook. They learned from Hollyhock Barrowes that only Prisoner 13 knew of the key's location, and were given Bleak End Magical Maps that acted as arcane lockbreakers. To enter the prison, they decided to knock out incoming staff and pose as new employees, keeping their targets in the hull of the Dodger in the meantime - Merc posed as cook Mica Langelo, not realizing that the charlatan had been boasting he was a world-class chef.

The former Crew successfully entered Bleak End, learned how to moved around the prison without arousing suspicion while adopting work, and Mercy somehow made a good impression on his boss Tiny Tulvrak, lying that his hands were too broken to cook. The sorcerer had to use magic to pin the blame of an escape attempt on Prisoner 76, but save for that close call, they integrated flawlessly. Elle was able to pass as a fantastic chef on Merc's behalf, ingratiating them to staff and inmates and opening up social avenues. They managed a perfect plan, contacting Prisoner 13 with the intent to break her out. However, the dwarf wanted to remain in the prison, but was willing to trade the key's location for the Bleak End Records of Imprisonment.

With magic and guile, Poons and Nessa stole the ledgers in the surveillance tower, as well as gold and a Wand of Binding belonging to Warden Ramos Stormforged. They learned the dwarf was also named "Voice", taken in due to their association with the Fold, as well as some dirt indicating the Hollyhock was an informant on the Glitterati. After intentional poisoning themselves with medicine in their food, they were able to get to the hospital bay and trade the records to Prisoner 13. The Dwarf-Door Tattoo Key was located on her body, which Elle was able to trace with her forging skills.

Their plan failed right at the end when Nessa, who had set the surveillance tower to become a beacon, had no legitimate way to rejoin the rest of the Crew in the prison's hospital. She descended the tower, panicked, and ultimately had to dash for the doors. Though she was able to lock out those chasing her and Mercy was able to light a beacon to signal to their ship, the Sorcerer nearly killed himself with a wild magic surge. Warden Ramos put Bleak End on lockdown, allowing archers to magically see through their Dust of Disappearance, and they had to endure a near-deadly storm of arrows as they slowly drifted away in a rowboat.

Through illusions, healing, and Mercy's Wind Fan, they were able to board the Jolly Dodger just barely alive. With no other ships on Aone Island to chase them, the Crew managed to sail off, once again as successful thieves. They made their way back to Farrozandmar, where Mercy told Hollyhock of their knowledge of her status as an informant, but promised to keep her secret. The Crew also made friends with Sassafras Flashlashes, who accompanied them back to the Pixis Palace. There, they were strongarmed into assisting the Glitterati in their campaign into the Undermire, and Don Coriander assembled his entire gang to travel to the Faeriefort.

Alongside Sassafras, Merben, and Snapdragon, the Whistledrop Crew fought off Lizardfolk hunters in the Murkmire Marshlands, with Mercy accidentally going into a Wild Magic overdrive and summoning the Unicorn Hallannaë temporarily amongst myriad other effects. Eventually, they made it to the Faeriefort, where they convinced Laceleaf Flashlashes to let them pass through Sprite's Hollow and into the Deepways. Down there, Punmiri and Elle found symbols relating to their previous experiences with the Fold, while Mercy used his Infernal ability to read a prophetic poem; he also encountered many symbols of Virathul, seemingly resonating with Wild Magic.

They reached the Undermire Dwarf-Door, but an ambush was waiting: Prisoner 13 had contacted Vex and Volition, who had set up an ambush. A battle turned into a massacre, and the hundred-strong Glitterati were reduced to a mere handful. Though Mercy killed Fold scouts with electric blasts, Volition invoked a symbol of Wild Magic that knocked him out. When consciousness finally returned, the wild magic sorcerer found himself restrained to prevent spellcasting, his fingers clamped down while electricity coursed painfully through his body; he had become a new project of the Fold.

Break-In At Bleak End

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