Merrill Labelle

Caine

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Created
5 years, 11 months ago
Creator
Caine
Favorites
50

Profile


Merrill Labelle

a soldier whisked into the future

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Name
Merrill Labelle
Age
18
Height
150cm
Gender
??? (she/he/they)
Type
Human
Birthday
11.3 (Pisces)
Orientation
Panromantic asexual
Occupation
Royal guard
Alignment
Neutral good
Worldsetting
Hymnia
Theme
HTML

About

13735324_ChPVbCCMPJwUKXU.png "There is no change without action. I'd rather die than stagnate."

A youth born into a long line of soldiers, Merrill has been raised to continue the family tradition since their birth. However, their life would come to a sudden change when whisked over 100 years into the future, a result of accidentally using the demonic pocket watch of their late grandmother. Now waiting for a chance to return back to their own time once more, Merrill is currently working under the Lowell family as a guard and errand runner.

Merrill is immensely proud of his position as one of the royal guards and takes this position very seriously, rarely boasting or bragging with it and performing his duties with precision. Despite his size Merrill is known to be incredibly brave, not afraid to stand up and fight even the strongest and largest foes. However, Merrill also has a bit of a temper and can be impulsive at times, jumping into danger head first or starting a fight over a misunderstanding. He is also impatient and his feelings of anger and frustration can sometimes get the better of him when faced with injustice or cruelty, resulting in rash actions.

She’s affiliated with Nicholas and Henri, joining them on their adventures while waiting to return back to her own time. Just a little older than the other two, Merrill often finds herself in the position of a mentor especially when it comes to Nicholas.

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Character

ulPmX4j.png Merrill is a lively person to be around with, often making it impossible not to notice her: she is loud, cheerful and often getting tangled up in some sort of trouble, thus attracting the attention of many. She is also known for her seemingly fearless nature, albeit sometimes this otherwise virtuous trait of hers tends to manifest as recklessness and disregard for her own safety.

Staying true to his teaching as a soldier, Merrill is very considerate towards others and generally kind hearted: he wants nothing more than to serve and protect people, and would do anything to help those in need. He rarely if ever backs down from any situation, even if it would be disadvantageous for him, and will fiercely defend the honor of himself or others if they are being questioned. He generally sticks to rules and laws, but for what he thinks is the greater good Merrill is willing to bend and break said rules without hesitation: he thinks no law is absolute, and the wellbeing of others is more important than following man-made concepts.

With this strong sense of justice and need to act unfortunately also comes hastiness and impatience: Merrill is not known as the most patient person around, and has a hard time sitting still when they could be doing something or be out there to help others. Situations where they’re unable to do anything but to wait frustrate Merrill greatly, often leading them in hasty and unwise decisions. They can, at times, also be very forceful and aggressive especially with things that deal with injustice. While a useful trait when fighting and working as a soldier, in their civil life this usually puts them in petty fights and other troublesome situations someone else often has to fix for them.

Although stubborn and meddlesome more often than not, Merrill can also be very charming, regardless if it’s intended or comes naturally. He usually mingles well with people as long as not provoked, and his kindness and sincerity is quick to win others over. In theory Merrill also knows when to be polite and hold his feelings - it’s just often very difficult for him to hold himself back.

Design

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Height: 150cm
Hair: Honey ginger, poofy, somewhat curly & cut short to the neck.
Eyes: Amber, large, round & expressive
Eyelashes: Dark, only long from the outer sides
Nose: Small, slightly sloped with a round but narrow shape
Lips: Light and thin
Body type: Mesomorph, trapezoid shape & visibly androgynous
Demeanor: Attentive, energetic, serious
Other: Large freckles on face, neck, shoulders, knees and palms.

Merrill is a young adult of short stature and light build, making them look relatively fragile from the first glance. However, despite not having much visible muscle mass, Merrill’s lithe build gives them extremely fast and good reflexes: what they may lack in raw physical power, they make up with good stamina, fast movements and precision. Their upper body muscles can give them a somewhat stocky look.

They're usually seen wearing a uniform similar to French renaissance era musketeer clothing, the overall colour coordination being blue and yellow. Their clothes are always very loose, furthering their androgynous appearance. Merrill likewise has a voice that people usually read either as a high male voice or a low female voice, but most of the time can’t really make more than an educated guess if they’re going to gender Merrill.

Merrill is very expressive and tends to gesture a lot, sometimes to the point it looks silly or theatrical.

Skills & abilities

  • A skilled sword user, there is a reason Merrill has become part of the royal soldiers at such a young age. She is also capable with firearms, but lacks the patience to be a precise and effective shooter.

  • Good stamina and reflexes, making her quite deadly on the battlefield when combined with her precision at handling a sword.

  • Although it might be hard to see at the first glance, Merrill is quite capable at socializing with others and is charismatic in her own right. She is also capable of asserting her dominance over people, though more often than not this requires her to fight them first: her size and overall appearance are not particularly intimidating for most.

  • Terrible at singing unless they’re drinking songs or marching songs, and even then she isn’t particularly good. Regardless, she appreciates good music when she hears some.

  • Can drink large amounts of alcohol without getting visibly drunk, which honestly is nothing short of a miracle given Merrill’s light weight and small stature.

  • Merrill is currently in the possession of an old pocket watch that lets her travel through time. As she traveled roughly 150 years into the future, the cooldown of how long it takes until he can travel in time again is around a year and half. Inside the watch resides a sealed demon Merrill can understand the thoughts of to some degree, but not enough to fully communicate with. It has a weak core of its own that can be used to perform magic, but Merrill has no skill or interest in such things.

Story

Summary: Continuing the ages old tradition of their family, Merrill was trained to become a soldier from a young age. Their remarkable sword skills and good connections to the court got their skills acknowledged by the king, and Merrill became the youngest soldier so far to be accepted into the royal guards. However, a pocket watch they inherited not soon after getting accepted turned out to be a time traveling device, and after an incident with it Merrill was thrown over 100 years into the future. While waiting for the device’s cooldown to end to return back to their own time, Merrill works as the Lowell family’s guard and has become a great friend and guide to both Henri and Nicholas.

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Childhood

Born into a long line of soldiers, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say Merrill was born with a sword in hand: ever since his early childhood Merrill was trained to continue the family tradition, his teaching starting gently and slowly but growing more intense as he aged. His gender was kept a secret from others, not because it would limit his chances of becoming a soldier, but because the child himself wanted no attention to be brought to it - and his parents complied.

Growing up in an upper middle class family, Merrill generally had everything he needed. However, the child didn’t ask much in the first place, perfectly content playing outside and practicing with his sword. Despite coming across as a little intense and hot headed at times, Merrill never lacked friends and made many connections with noble children whose families had been served by the many Labelle soldiers throughout the history. While his family always wished for him to serve the King himself, Merrill’s good connections with the noble families secured him a place to work in if he couldn’t go under the King’s direct servitude.

In the end there was not much need for that: getting older, Merrill befriended the king’s youngest son and the two became very close with one another. This friendship gave Merrill a very favourable position, and although it didn't instantly make him part of the royal guards, the young prince’s influence most definitely helped to push him under the radar. Merrill was already a soldier at the young age of 15, although not particularly high ranked due to his age. However, upon turning 18 Merrill finally earned his place in the royal guards, now defending the castle and sorting out the most pressing concerns regarding the nation; its alliances and enemies alike.

Time traveling

Soon after being promoted her grandmother passed away. Merrill inherited her old pocket watch that turned out to have an old and powerful demon sealed within it, and with its power the user could travel back and forth in time. Merrill wasn’t very comfortable with the idea, however, fearing she’d probably mess something up if she were to do that, and the idea of a demon living inside the watch unsettled her. However, upon a curiosity awakened by a tipsy state, Merrill ended up showing off the clock to her fellow soldiers, accidentally sending herself through time and space.

Ending up a good over hundred years into the future, not everything had changed in the world around him, but many things still remained new and alien to him. His attire would attract the attention of other people and poor Merrill had a hard time figuring out what exactly had happened to him, and had to go into hiding until he would fully sober up. By accident he met a kind bar owner who agreed to help Mrrill out if he could drive away a particularly bothersome and violent customer. The youth obliged and succeeded in this mission, and was then given a place to stay for the night.

The next day Merrill was guided by the watch to Nicholas’ house, where the demonic book of magic resonated with another of its kind. Using the trap door magically created by Nicholas earlier on, Merrill was led inside the library where she found Henri and Nicholas conducting research. However, in her perspective only seeing a large wolf baring its fangs to a human, Merrill acted on impulse and launched herself between the two. After learning there was no danger involved in the situation, Merrill explained why she was here and was quickly able to establish a bond with the other two. She was then temporarily hired by Henri’s family in order to give Merrill a place to stay and some work to do to pay for the lodging.

Currently

Merrill spends his time mostly with Nicholas and Henri, getting involved with their misadventures as Nicholas navigates his way through the world of magic. He often acts as a guide to Nicholas when the youth is struggling with his gender, and often has a lot of good advice to give to his friends. Merrill is intentionally avoiding learning about the past and his own fate, and Nicholas and Henri respect this by likewise not digging up any information or letting out what they already know.

Trivia

  • When asked about his gender, Merrill simply states that he is a soldier and that’s all that matters. In his time and society he was able to live his life without much forced gendering, mainly because he himself never discussed his own and did his job well. There are no gendered pronouns in his setting, but he would be comfortable with he/she/they. I tend to use all three pretty liberally but it’s fine to stick to only one too - Merrill literally wouldn't care. 

  • His official title is Royal Guard, and his main tasks revolve around the matters of the crown as well as acting as a bodyguard to the royals. He’s exceptionally young compared to his peers, and is quite known for this honor of being the youngest member to ever get accepted. Though working directly for the King and the Queen, Merrill is particularly close with the Crown Prince Leontius and is often seen as his direct subordinate.

  • Merrill’s line of work has unfortunately led him to take lives as per orders. Though Merrill himself doesn’t enjoy killing, he’s much too loyal to the crown to go against these orders - but will try his hardest at persuading them to imprison instead of killing whenever presented with the chance. 

  • Because he’s from the past, the way he talks can often come across as slightly archaic to the people in future. 

  • Though the place he comes from is very different from the one he’s now in, Merrill has gotten adjusted to it surprisingly quickly. He’s very fascinated by the new technology and sometimes even laments the lack of them in his own time, but he doesn’t really go out of his way to investigate every new thing despite his curiosity - the less he knows the less he’ll miss when he returns back to his own time.

  • Absolutely refuses to be seen without his sword and uniform. It might be possible to get him to wear normal clothes once in a blue moon when outside, but the sword stays no matter what - and it often gets him into trouble.

  • Photography didn’t exist during the time Merrill was alive, so only paintings of him exist in the time he’s currently in. He doesn’t want to know his own fate though, so he purposely avoids finding out about his own life or the events of history. 

Relationships

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Nicholas Arayes

[friend]

Though Merrill doesn't always quite understand the way Nicholas' mind works, she's taken the youth under ger wing and recognizes them both as a friend and as something of a lord to serve. She simultaneously fears and admires their sharp mind and ever growing skills in magic.

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Henri Lowell

[friend & son of current employer]

A werewolf noble, after their initially disastrous meeting the two have become very good friends. Merrill currently works for Henri's family so they see each other daily and get along really well. They often bond over their mutual care and concern for Nicholas.