Marrow

PERSONAL INFORMATION :

Full Name: Marrow

Name Origin: ‘a tissue found inside of most bones’

Nickname(s): "Sawbones," "Leech"

Pronouns: he/him, they/them

Age: 8 years (October/April 5th)

Gender: agender

Sex: amab

Orientation: demiromantic/asexual

Species: Pseudo-Harpy

Species Combination: White-Headed Vulture/Virginia Opossum - [Trigonoceps occipitalis/Didelphis virginiana]

Rank: Trade Manager

Occupation: Barber-Surgeon

Kingdom: Rainforest

APPEARANCE :

Marrow is a small gray-and-white-mottled avus covered in a coat of soft, medium-length fur. He has large, nearly wild eyes that flash their natural red when he is agitated. His dark ears and long prehensile tail are also very expressive, whipping this way and that with the tiny physician's moods. Usually dragging their tips on the ground, his wings are quite long for his size, letting him soar effortlessly even with a full bag of medical supplies.

Size Class: Small

Height: 0.38 m/1’3”

Wingspan: 1.80 m/5’11”

Weight Class: Standard

Purchased Traits: Scarring on paws, Piebaldism, Ability to write

PERSONALITY :Marrow is an avus who lives life at full speed. They often break off their own sentences with new thoughts, seeming to never pause for breath when talking. Despite this, they are very empathetic and always willing to help others in any way they can. Being high-strung and eager to please, he can also get incredibly nervous in new situations or around strangers. When not doing their job, the small avus can also be messy, leaving things out and then forgetting to put them back on their places.

He has many hobbies such as nature watching, gardening and investigating new methods of healing. He loves being social and learning new things, both traits coming in handy in his career and as a member of the HRA (Human Research Association).

Traits :

BACKSTORY :

Nestling :

Three eggs hatched in the swaying bows of a massive tree, swaddled in fabric softened with years of use. The sun was filtering through the small gaps in the roof where the spring winds had caught hold last night, dappling the room to match the youngest hatchling’s pelt. The three were named in their mother’s family tradition, as both a wish and a prophecy of their characters; Femur, to lift up their allies, Spine, to support their friends no matter what and finally, Marrow, to help heal and to nourish.

The family that the hatchlings soon grew to know was quite a large one. Their great grandmother visited them often in their nursery, as well as their cousins and older siblings. The family estate (which might be too generous of a term) consisted of three separate houses, all built against the bark of ancient trees, and quite a bit of marshland that they farmed for crabs, leeches, herbs and the like.

Fledgling :

When the three siblings got older, it started to become more apparent that Marrow was slightly different from the others, in more ways than his white spotting. Mud and Dust often took them along when they went digging in the marsh for critters, but Marrow often objected to them taking what they found home to show their parents. More than once the arguments escalated into a tussle with his older sister, who wanted them for her collections. They always made up afterwards, but eventually Marrow decided that the trips just weren’t for him.

The young roo had a lot of free time on his paws and eventually he was drawn to spending his days helping around his grandfather’s barber-surgeon shop. Scapula had only returned from the war a few months before Marrow’s clutch had hatched, having been sent home due to a terrible injury to his side. Still in recovery, the old avus appreciated the help of sweeping up clipped feathers and was very generous with both praise and sweets. Most of all Marrow enjoyed seeing his grandfather help avus in need, both with his medicines and grooming. When the subject of apprenticeships was raised, Marrow was the first among his siblings to decide on his field of study.

Sub-Adult :

Attending public schooling was an odd experience for Marrow, having grown up surrounded mostly by his own family up to then. The other children often pointed out his white patching and asked him questions about it or ran away screaming playfully when he tried to show them the invertebrates he pulled out from under the floorboards.

At home, Marrow started to get worried for his Grandfather, who was starting to show subtle signs of slowing down and favoring his right side in daily tasks. When he brought it up with him, Scapula tried to ease his worrying by explaining that it was simply the combination of aging and the fresh wound that were bothering him and it would fade in it’s own time. Nevertheless, Marrow couldn’t help thinking about all the other older avus who came to be treated at Scapula’s shop and also insisted nothing was wrong (his grandfather could be quite rude when he found out they were lying to him). When he officially started his apprenticeship he put his all into even the menial tasks given to him, wanting to both prove his dedication and to make sure Scapula could spend as much time as possible sitting in his wicker chair at the back of the shop dozing off. 

Adult :

When Marrow turned 3 years odd, Scapula began to push him to treat more of the patients they got on his own, with he himself taking more of an overseer role. His interjections became fewer and farther between as Marrow got more comfortable with trusting his instincts and memory with the treatments for various ailments. One day, when the two were preparing the operating space in the morning, Scapula told Marrow that it was time that he handled his first independant surgery. Wringing his paws nervously, Marrow asked if his grandfather would still be in the room with him, to which he received the comforting answer of “Of course.” With a devious smile on his beak, Scapula added; “It would be difficult to operate on me if I wasn’t.” Marrow’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat. He began protesting loudly while his tail lashed nervously all around him. Scapula let him go on for a while, before laying a calming paw on his shoulder.

“Son, listen to me. You’re more than ready to take this on. The truth is, my side has been absolutely killing me for the last couple of months. And all those quacks in Zuuren want to do is stuff me with herbs like the Winter Solstice turkey. I reckon I have a pretty good guess on what the problem is.” 

...

After giving Scapula the herb concoction to numb his skin and mind, Marrow was nervously taking a final tally of his tools. Shears, honey, knife, stitching ants, bandages… Hearing his grandfather's breathing evening out, he steadied himself and began. The easiest step came first and he had performed it countless times. Clipping pawfuls of his grandfather’s scruffy black feathers, he laid his eyes for the first time on the battle-scars he’d heard so many stories of as a fledgeling. The largest one, right where Scapula had said it would be, was longer than Marrow’s head and gnarly to say the least. There were definite signs of shoudy, quick work, most likely performed by an overworked field medic. Exhaling deeply, he brought the obsidian knife up to the old wound and trusted himself completely to his own ability.

…

Tying off the bandage under Scapula’s wing, Marrow breathed a deep sigh of relief. He backed off from the bench and took a pot of clean water to wash his paws. Pouring it into the wash-basin, the small metal object at the bottom gave a defiant little clink as it was doused. Oh yeah, I put this in here when I got it out… Marrow picked the object from the bowl and held it up to the light, where it glinted brightly. What a cruel piece of work, Marrow thought. A brief study proved his first thought right, it was indeed a Dromaeus spear-tip, cast with high-quality copper. He rinsed the metal clean of blood gently, and set it aside on a low shelf. His grandfather could decide what to do with it when he woke.

…

“You should keep it.” Marrow paused his changing of the bandages. He looked at Scapula, who, despite the pain of the fresh wound, seemed more alert and at ease than before the operation. Marrow gave an incredulous half-snort.

“It’s a weapon, Grandfather. Meant for killing.”

“It’s a tool. It is meant for what it is applied to.” Marrow saw the piece of metal in question clasped tight between his grandfather’s paws, wrapped in a fold of leather.“And” the old avus added, “copper has healing properties. Cuts made with copper heal faster and get infected less than any other kind.”

Marrow had to admit that he had heard of that too, and his grandfather was living proof, having carried one in his ribs for years. Reluctantly, he reached out and took the blade into his paws. He could feel the cold metal pressing it’s weight against his skin, looking for the slightest excuse to draw blood.

“I guess it’s all about learning to apply it.”

…

Having graduated from his apprenticeship and his confidence in his grandfather’s health restored, Marrow decided to leave the local cases mostly in his paws. He himself packed up a little case of supplies and began making calls further away, even going as far as the other kingdoms while the peace allowed him to do so. He still lived with his family and knew he could count on Scapula’s operating space always being open for his use.

Of course, Marrow hasn’t escaped completely without a few scars of his own. His copper blade has been responsible for a lot of healing, but also has cost him one of his toes and multiple scars on his paws. Treating patients multiple times your own weight isn’t without it’s dangers, after all.

Later Life Events:

January 2022 - Joined the HRA (Human Research Association)

February 2022 - Took part in repelling a Northern Kingdom skirmish

February 2022 - RK Civil War

February 2022 - We Didn’t Start the Fire

tba

End :

OTHER :

Purchased Possessions :

Medical Equipment:

• Small copper scalpel, bone handle (complex metal accessory)
• Obsidian knife, antler handle (complex natural accessory)
• Tempered bone spike (complex natural accessory)
• Gourd leech-pouch (complex natural accessory)
• Canvas roll-up pouch (complex natural accessory) 

Playlist: Spotify Link

Trivia: 

• Marrow’s feathers and fur smell metallic and a little bit chemical
• Has a very good sense of smell
• While most of the paw-scars are from surgery, some are War-related
• Size is based on northern virginia opossums, which can be up to 20x heavier than the southernmost specimens of the same species