Marcel (Bloodborne OC)

General Information:

Marcel is a fervent and reckless hunter, known for his brash attitude and a baffling effectiveness in his duties. He has issues with authority and the Church, and a tendency to overindulge in anything that ignites his passion. 

In his hubris Marcel believes himself above the fear of the beasts. Not only that, he sees himself as their equal. In strength and in purpose. He is seduced by the blood. And somehow, in full embrace of the violence, and the beasthood and the blood raining from the skies from a horribly slain foe, Marcel finds his own humanity. Where most other hunters would get lost in the sweet song of the blood, Marcel remains conscious and focused. He throws himself into the fight, entering a trance state in which the thrill of the hunt is all that exists for him, sometimes only for a while, sometimes for days at a time - yet he always comes back from the edge. It is a dangerous balance to maintain. Most get put off by his approach, and understand him only as a potential threat. And despite Marcel's ability and confidence, every bit of doubt placed upon him is well founded

Lore:

Marcel's father was Cedric Farrow. He was a high-end criminal, well known and well respected on the streets of Yarnham. He was an outsider, who came to the city as a young lad in search of opportunity. His position and reputation had to be carved out in the bellies of thugs. He had Marcel with an unknown woman and raised the child alone. Though it wasn't meant for him to be a decent father. When Marcel was still young, Cedric disappeared and was presumed dead. Young boy had no other family to speak of and all of his father's former friends turned their backs on him and refused to take in "Cedric's bastard". And so Marcel became an orphan and started living on the same streets his father used to control. He wasn't alone for long though. He befriended another orphan, a younger girl named Julia. They quickly became a family for each other. Marcel found strength in having a little sister to protect. As children, they witnessed their first Night of the Hunt.

With no home to protect with incense, they quickly found themself in danger. A turned man found their hiding spot and started tearing it to pieces. He came close to reaching them, but they were miraculously saved by a church hunter dressed in black. He took the kids with him to a homeless shelter provided by the Healing Church and protected for the duration of the Hunt. Marcel was impressed by the strength of the hunter. He wanted to become like him, to be able to face a beast in an equal fight. Julia was also quite influenced by the events of that night, but in a different way than Marcel. She came to a conclusion, that the only way for them to leave their life behind and become upstanding citizens was to join the ranks of the Church. Marcel didn't enjoy that idea. He felt no sense of obligation to the Church and felt out of place among them. He couldn't follow Julia on the path she took. They didn't let that create a rift between them though. Julia left Marcel behind but they would meet on every given opportunity to keep their bond alive. But without Julia, Marcel found himself quite lost. He was once again alone, though now adolescent and becoming his own person. He started working towards making his name known among other orphans and thugs on the streets. He saw a potential future in following his father's footsteps, but instead he found a different opportunity. The workshop was periodically recruiting people to become Hunters, and Marcel's dormant dream, of becoming like that church hunter who saved them, came back with full force. At first he was denied entry, given his young age, but with his wit, skill and persistence, eventually he was allowed to join. Not as a full fledged recruit, at least not yet, but he was allowed to help around the workshop and learn from observation. He quickly became a favourite helper in the workshop and he easily befriended many of the hunters that went through. He was unofficially considered adopted by the Hunters. And overtime, as he grew up watching them prepare for their hunts, craft their gear, and train with their weapons, he picked up a lot of useful skills. Soon he was alowed to join them and pick up real Hunter's weapons. 

In that time, Marcel met Lucien, another apprentice who was training under Eileen. Right away, a strong rivalry formed between the two boys, each wanted prove themselves better, as they had very differing worldviews and characters. With Marcel's hothead and vulgar attitude and Lucien's measured and judgemental approach, they clashed often. It didn't help that the older Hunters would often egg them on for entertainment. The rivarly went beyond petty squabbles and developed into an actual bond into their adulthood, despite and through their conflict and bickering. In his hunter work, Marcel begun experimenting - putting aside any caution or reason, he'd test the limits of his body and possiblities of each tool he'd pick up, sometimes putting himself and others in danger. That irresponsibility put a strain on their relation, as Lucien found Marcel's approach to be too risky. A heated argument between them ended with a venomous promise. Lucien vowed to be the one to hunt Marcel down when he inevetably goes mad.

Very soon after Marcel came to his own as a Hunter, the Hunter's Workshop was permanently closed by the Church. Their contributions were swept aside, hidden and abandoned. All of the Hunters who remained, had little choice but to employ themselves with the Church. Instead of a unified group - now scattered, put beneath the feared and respected church doctors. Just butchers on the Church's payroll. Marcel's distrust of the Church turned into a spiteful hatred. They took away what was essentialy his family. He continued his work, but refused to affiliate himself with them or to accept their coin. With no ties or loyalties, frequent use of banned tools and his reputation from the way he conducted himself, few wanted to work with him. He became a wildcard. Perceived as a loner who could turn into a beast at any moment. In truth Marcel still longed for human connection, but prefered to keep intimate friendships, and help individuals on his way, rather than to pledge loyalty to any particular group. 

Because of that, he and Julia would rarely see each other. Not for a personal reason, but because of Marcel's transgressions for her organisation. But when she sent for him in a desperate message, he dropped everything to come see his friend. Julia was sick with the scourge, and she didn't expect to last long. She begged Marcel to put and end to her, before she turns and hurts anybody, trusting only in him to do this for her. With a heavy heart, he agreed but he would conduct the execution his own way. In his arms, he carried her weakned by sickness body out of the populated city, to a place they would often visit as children. Their little heaven on earth, a flower field under an open sky. They spent final moments together, before Julia turned, and Marcel killed her beastly form.

That event put Marcel over the edge. If someone so pure, kind and deserving like his dear friend, ended up as just another massacred body under his cleaver, then what hope does his wretched soul have? Julia was everything he was not. And she was now dead. Marcel started slipping. His change in behavior was immediate and apparent and it was quickly noticed by hunting Yharnamites he enountered. Knowing well Marcel's reputation, they did the only sensible thing to protect themself from a crazed hunter in absence of someone more qualified. They found an abandoned jail cell and threw him in there to wait out his transformation and kill him through the bars with pitchforks and torches. But Marcel didn't comply with their plan. He spent many hours in that cell, begging for mercy with a silver of consciousness just to slip back into a frenzy. Eventually, his executioners couldn't wait anymore. They dragged his body out of the cell and tied him with heavy chains to a crucifix. They would burn him at a stake and then it wouldn't matter if he'd turn or not. Flesh would be cleansed, and danger dealt with. Only when one of them approached the crucified hunter with the torch, he got blasted backwards with the sheer force of transformation. The crucifix broke and with a piece hanging off his elongated clawed arm, he murdered the entire towns square of people that were waiting for his death. He bit into many of their throats and drank from their bodies, in a complete monstrous fury. And when the square was empty and the city around fell silent again, the beast, curiously, instead of wandering off in search of new victims, sat in front of the pile where his execution was to be conducted and... waited. It didn't have to wait for long. The word spread, and Lucien was on his way. He was the only one remaining, whose execution Marcel would accept.  

And for the shame and hubris and love of the sweet blood - in death, he slipped into an everlasting nightmare...

Dialogue:

"What's wrong? Are you lost, friend? You'll soon find trouble going this way. Here, you might find use for this." (Gives Beastblood Pellets, Pungent Blood Cocktail) "I'm heading the opposite way, though Im hoping we might stumble upon each other in the future. Not a lot of friendly faces in this line of work"

Receiving the Blood Concoction item from him:
"Alright, alright, you only get this one, but this is sure to increase your chances. Just make sure you have a strong head for that kind of stuff before you take it, friend. (Chuckles)"

"Those fancy hunters with their tophats and canes, pretending to be better than everyone else, and yet they are always the first to go mad, I've seen it too many times (Laughs]."

"Some will try to convince you that the hunt is righteous, that there is some higher purpose to all that's happening in Yharnam. None of that is true. The hunt is pragmatic. We hunters are butchers, doing the neccesary evil. And who really gains from the massacre? The Church. It's always the Church. So while they line their pockets and fuel their operations, why us poors shouldn't have fun doing our butchering?"

Talking after death of Julia:
"What is it? Oh- its you. Sorry friend, I dont have anything I could share... Im not feeling too well, so... give me some time, will you?" 

Items:

Marcel's Blood Concoction
[a small unlabelled bottle filled with a cloudy dark red liquid, given by Marcel when talking to him]
"A vial received from Marcel, a lonely hunter.
Greatly increases strength and stamina recovery. 

The contents and origins of this elixir is unknown but the smell alone is intoxicating. 
This drink is made only for those who take hedonistic pleasure in taking blood."

Marcel's Hair Ornament
[two shiny coins, one silver and one golden with holes punched into them and a dark hair ribbon threaded through, dropped upon death in beastly form]
"A hair ribbon decorated with two old coins. 
A personal treasure with little value to anyone else, but many years ago, those two coins were an orphan's entire fortune.
It was a gift left behind by an old friend who took a different path in life, but ended up with the same fate."

Other Notes:

• As an NPC, Marcel would be found in random locations, chatting to the Good Hunter and giving them gifts for the road ahead. Eventually the Player can find him distressed and losing grip on himself, after presumed death of Julia, and then later imprisoned by Yharnamites. Upon returning to the area, the Player would find Marcel dead in his beast from and injured Lucien standing among the bodies. Marcel can be fought if Lucien is killed before the event triggers.
• Marcel's distrust of the Healing Church in his childhood came from his father, and noticing how the kids that were taken in by them, often wouldn't ever return or be heard from again. In time, avoiding the church officials became a game/survival tactic for the street kids of Yharnam.
• The scar in the shape of teeth on Marcel's right shoulder is what's left after an attack of a half-turned man who joined the hunt. It's a matching one to Julia's bite scar on her arm.
• He often uses beast blood pellets in hunts and drinks blood cocktails for pleasure, contrasting Lucien's affinity for alcohol.
• First sign of Marcel losing grip on his humanity was partial loss of memory when he would enter the trance state during the hunt. He would forget his actions and no longer act consciously.
• He will take blood from anyone, no matter 'corrupted' or officially  endorsed by the Church. He despises the idea of blood segregation or considering people as worthy more or less for their blood or affinity for beasthood. More disturbingly, Marcel often drinks from the beasts he slays. Decreasing his dependance on blood vials, but also exposing him to the scourge tenfold. 
• When asked about his attraction, Marcel has plainly stated that he "can only enjoy intimate company of monsters and men". He refused to elaborate.