MERIDA
COURT Seelie, neutral
INFLUENCE ★ ★ ★
TITLE Friend of the Dead, Hartslayer, Brave Heart, Lady Lioness of DunDealgan
OCCUPATION Lady of DunDealgan. archer, huntress, swordswoman
AGE 20
ABLE TO FAST-TRAVEL
- wings given to Angus via a boon in December 2,700
- as of September 2,701 will have a ring that can teleport her to places she's been before in Seelie territory
COMMUNICATION METHODS
- compass, given by Korra (
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) sangilak) and made by Hermione (brainiest) that will give network access and point to 'home' (place/person/etc)
- capable of sending correspondence via bird, mainly ravens
RESIDENCE IN 2,701 DunDealgan, south of Daonna
RESIDENCE IN 2,702 DunDealgan, south of Daonna
MAJOR EVENTS
BEAST MASTER
Due to being the only one able to get close to Cu Chulainn and calm him down while in werewolf form, locals around the area of DunDealgan start to regard Merida as a beast master of sorts. Considering how she feels about his warp spasms, she doesn't exactly like this apparent appointment but if it's to protect him from any sort of torches-and-pitchforks scenario, she'll take it on. [ ✖ ]
TRUST IN BLOOD
A search through Treun for the escaped convicts of Leathann turns into a dangerous situation. In a moment of desperation, Merida accidentally kills a convict who has the intent of doing something unsavory to her. Traumatized, it's Gilgamesh of all people who pulls her through and reassures her that she did nothing wrong. The golden king, unwittingly, earns himself her trust and loyalty.
[ ✖ ]
LADY LIONESS
The year had seen to a great deal of change in Merida. Not just in something deciding that her fate lay within the other court, but in herself and the actions that she took, in the thoughts that she processed. Some part of her became...less idealistic, as it were, more open to the idea that this was war. It had taken her just near a year in the Drabwurld to accept that as fact, that she'd only be seeing home in her dreams, and half a year later to find it in herself to move on. This land of the fae was her reality now. These were her people. And that was why she needed to protect them. [ ✖ ]
MAJOR CHANGES
SORCERESS
Merida has started to take her magical studies more seriously than before. By the end of the time skip, she should be appropriately trained in all the magics she has taken on, both fire and runic magic.
WARRIOR
Likewise, Merida has been honing her combat skills throughout the year. With a new sword from Diarmuid as of August and a new bow from Wan as of Yule, she'll feel as though she'll be better prepared for any of the future battles. Having killed her first human (accidentally), Merida starts accepting the idea that it's okay to kill people sometimes.
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PLANS
- co-parenting wolfhound pups with Lancer
- fire magic training
- shard training
- become known as some kind of beast master by the locals
- visit the new Barrel once a month
- bandit stomping along a trade route with Korra
- swan shooting competition with Gilgamesh in April
- Treun tourney
- Samhain
- White Hart Hunt II: the Hart's Revenge
SUMMARY OF KNOWN DETAILS
For the most of it, Merida will be working on training in both her fire magic and her shard, along with learning some runes from Lancer, when she's not taking part in any of the events happening. Gaining influence in the surrounding area. Strengthening and being able to control her magic will be one of her primary focuses. She'll also be helping out around DunDealgan since she'll feel partially responsible for everyone there, considering she's courting its Lord. Many of her efforts will be going towards building up better personal relations between DunDealgan and the natives surrounding the area.
Another thing that I have planned is for her to open up a combat school for women of either court and/or natives only, offering it as a place of refuge during times of battle, and once she's lost her idealism and become a little more war hardened, offer her students out as mercenaries. This will all take time, possibly over the course of two time skips, but ideally I'd like to start planning things out now.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
| SPRING IN 2,701 (Mar, Apr, May) |
- EARLY MARCH - waking up in Caer Glaem
- EARLY MARCH - chat with Saber
- EARLY MARCH - chat with Mako
- MARCH - making the fortress warm and toasty
- MARCH - helping Diarmuid control his fire
- MARCH - being defrosted by Gilgamesh, telling stories of the fae in exchange
- MARCH - holy Lugh it's a lion
- MARCH - bandit stomping with Korra
- LATE MARCH - chat with Ben
- LATE MARCH - the Barrel
- MARCH - monthly summary
- APRIL - things get frisky thanks to the harp (NSFW)
- APRIL - Diarmuid's birthday at the Barrel
- APRIL - breaking the harp
- MAY - swan hunting competition with Gilgamesh. interruption by bandersnatch
- MAY - running into Ben
- MAY - monthly summary
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| SUMMER IN 2,701 (Jun, Jul, Aug) |
- TREUN - spectating post tournament
- TREUN - exploring the markets and drinking
- TREUN - shopping and talking with Saber
- TREUN - chat with Hiro
- TREUN - dancing with Alyosha
- JUNE - monthly summary
- JULY - talking with Gilgamesh during beachdraidh
- JULY - bar fight
- JULY - helping Diarmuid with CSI: Daonna
- JULY - reassuring Lancer and going home
- AUGUST - training and talk with Diarmuid
- AUGUST - to the Sunsoak Markets. Diarmuid asks an important question
- AUGUST - monthly summary
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| FALL IN 2,701 (Sept, Oct, Nov) |
- SEPTEMBER - visiting Alice
- SAMHAIN - relaxing with the bae
- SAMHAIN - talking with the Shuck
- SAMHAIN - dancing and talks with Diarmuid
- SAMHAIN - relaxing and talking with Sam
- SAMHAIN - adventures in Scima with Gilgamesh
- SAMHAIN - what happens in Samhain stays at Samhain
- NOVEMBER - team up with Wan in Daonna
- NOVEMBER - archery lessons with Wan
- NOVEMBER - trouble in Treun (cw: sensitive topics)
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| WINTER IN 2,701/2,702 (Dec, Jan, Feb) |
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| SPRING IN 2,702 (Mar, Apr, May) |
- MARCH - QUEST: skeleton zombies
- MARCH - post quest wind down. serious talks with Sam (cw: sensitive topics)
- APRIL - Station date with Hiro
- LATE APRIL - lone fox
- LATE APRIL - furry time at the Barrel
- MAY - stopping Alice from doing something stupid ಠ_ಠ
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[No argument that she was 'just Merida' here, no noise about dropping the title. Being a princess or lady is meaningless here. Merida's shoulders relax from their pent up state, even as her stomach churns and she manages a grateful smile. It's funny; just last month she was running around half naked during Samhain without much of a care, chasing him up towers with nothing covering her breasts without any problem. Colour is beginning to return to her cheeks, gentle smile returning as she takes the cloth, then turns and steps into the basin.
With Gilgamesh nearby, she lets herself sink into the water, feeling it wash over her legs, then her torso and chest. Merida draws her knees up, though she doesn't neglect what she's actually there for. The cloth goes up, across her chest, along her neck and shoulder, washing away the lingering feeling of being touched. The blood is washed away, and she feels less sticky. Water is splashed on her face, hands drawing back to run along her neck, feeling. There's no marks, but it feels like they're everywhere.
She was lucky that Gilgamesh was in the area, she thinks, glancing over her shoulder at him as she ran the cloth along her arm. Merida inhales softly, exhaling in a small sigh as she let the water wash away everything.]
Tell me a story?
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The hands of a servant girl, bathing him in reverence. The laughter of his dearest friend, enjoying a rare moment of peace in a desert oasis. He shuts his eyes and feels them, hears them again. Even if he cannot call Merida his friend, she can be a source of a stability for him. They can be both be brave together, as fellow heroes and adventurers. That is enough, for now and forever.]
A story, huh...?
[Merida, curious little thing that she is, has no doubt been devouring tales of his Epic where she can find them. But there's yet more to be written. So he'll treat her to this world's first telling of some of the rest, leaning back and losing himself in the legend.]
Alright. Well, Merida, I bet you didn't know I had a suitor once. And she was a goddess.
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Was that going to be the same? Of course not, but it was something to keep in mind as she waited for his response to her request, resting her cheek on her knees. It was funny. Everything she'd heard about Gilgamesh seemed to point that this would usually be the opposite of what he'd do, though all their encounters seemed to be that. Sometimes she wondered, she thought to herself as she stared down at her wriggling toes.
His response makes her look over her shoulder, red curls draping along her back as she pushes them out of the way. She should probably wash her hair too, she thinks to herself, and before going to dip her head under the water, she speaks.]
You must've caught her eye if a goddess came for you.
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Even th' brightest star dims sometime, but that just means it's goin' to become more beautiful when it recovers its shine.
...and then he remembers Treun and softens all over again. It was too much. It was too meaningful. He can't just forget it. Drawing his arms around his legs as well, he appears more boyish than anything, eyes losing their sharper edge in exchange for a lighter nostalgia.]
Ah, she was a nasty thing, though. She turned one man impotent and another into a dwarf. She gazed with jealousy upon the women of Uruk, went through suitors like cheap underclothes. She came to me only after victory in battle, and scorned me when I refused her on those grounds.
[He glances over his shoulder at her, but only a little, only to grin.]
I taught her a very swift lesson. Or rather, my friend did.
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Starting to zone out again, Gilgamesh's words catch her attention, making her shake her head at herself. Snapping out of it and staying that way was going to be harder, it seemed, and she rose from the water in order to give herself something to do, reaching for a nearby towel, the sound of dripping water accompanying Gilgamesh's tale as she looked over her shoulder once again at him. Waver had told her this part, she remembered, but not in so much detail.]
Sounds like she needed one to be honest.
[Towel around her body, Merida stepped out of the basin, hair wet and clinging to her neck. On her way to him she stoops, picking up the cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders, feeling its safety, and took one step before sliding to the floor next to him, legs crossed.]
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And when he leans in, it is not for foul intent, but to whisper words that ring very much lik gossip.]
He threw the bull she sicked upon us back at her. At least part of it.
[And then he breaks into a grin that makes him thousands of years younger in a span of a breath, filled with childlike enthusiasm, a nostalgia that reached back longer than her kingdom ever even existed.
Or any kingdom, for that matter.]
It hit her in the face, and she ran and cried all the way home, the old sow! Hahahahaha...!
[Why is he laughing? What is there to laugh about? Only everything, some mad part of him figures.]
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For all her strength, she doesn't tense when he does. Instead, a giggle bursts from her at the mental image of part of a bull being thrown at a goddess of all beings. She should be chiding, for all that she's been taught to revere the gods and treat them with the respect they deserve, but the goddess he speaks of was not one of hers.
So she laughs, and it sounds far more cheerful than she feels she can manage to be right now. Merida's shoulders shake with her breath, wondering if she's going mad to be laughing like this.]
I wish I could've seen her face!
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For after Enkidu threw the leg of the bull, he was struck down by Ishtar's tantrum, stricken ill and claimed from him too soon. And so he wandered. And so he wept. And so he went mad and was never the same again. Funny how those who breathed accusations of tyrant never mentioned that part.
In truth, they're not Merida's gods and they're not much his, either.]
Oh, I think it was something like...
[Gilgamesh makes a face.]
...this. Roughly. Pretty pathetic, huh?
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A-aye. Perhaps a little pathetic.
[Her cheeks red from laughter, rosy and not pale, Merida manages to settle again, a giggle or two finding their way from her before she bit her bottom lip. It stopped them, and she cleared her throat, toes wriggling against the floor as she paused, looking at him with a grin across her face.]
Although she did make a right ass of herself so I suppose she deserved it.
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Gilgamesh reaches out to touch her face and addresses her with clear fondness in his voice.]
You are well, atmu? [This is the word in his tongue for hatchling, but he keeps that from her.] I am glad for it. We cannot go on adventures if you trail behind in such despair, and it is no adventure at all when you are alone. Who else would strike down a goddess for me?
[This is a man who is a tyrant and an animal who chased Saber to the ends of the world to see her ground into dirt. But some element of kindness yet remains. He has lost himself to the madness of sorrow but not to madness eternal. So he insists he's a good King, a right King, a just King.
And he will cling to that belief, because of people like Merida, who tell him so and bravely fight off wickedness despite their deepest, darkest fears within themselves.]
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Atmu. Any other time she would have thought it was a jibe, but it sounds like a strangely endearing term of affection. Which, coming from Gilgamesh, should be strange in and of itself. Her hand raises to cup around the back of his on her face, feeling the strength and warmth radiating from it. Almost like the sun, Merida thinks, and she looks at him, reverence clearly written in her eyes.]
I'm honoured you think so of me, ghrian. [Sun, in her people's language. Her fingers slide through his, like they had before when he was leading her here.] I would do more than strike down a goddess for you,
[Merida's loyalty wasn't so easily given. But him? He had earned it twice over.]
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So you will sleep for me, then?
[...Gilgamesh will more than take advantage of it. He knows now for certain: she is warm, she is well, she is herself. Shaken and bloodied, but never thrown off from her proper course. He suspects there will be words between her and Diarmuid soon, such as the man looks after her; he hopes he might soothe her in ways he cannot.
Together, their hands trace the contours of her cheek, her chin, the set of her jaw and the curve of her lips. It's intimate without ever really being so. It's generosity extended in the form of companionship. Even if she yet fears tonight, she does not fear alone. It is the worst thing to be alone. Even Gilgamesh cannot tolerate it.]
You will sleep and dream only of good things, because I will watch over you. [Proudly, puffing up:] It's the will of a King, so you can't deny it.
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You swear?
[Will of a king or not, her body still trembles, little shivers every now and then. Merida's free hand comes to grip at the cloak around her shoulders, eyes glancing down to her lap. Striking down a god or goddess was one thing. Sleep seemed far more intimidating. Blue flicks up to look at red again, searching.]
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I so swear. Upon the grace and glory of my crown, I, Gilgamesh, who so battled Sleep, will do so again to stem off every last nightmare that would haunt you.
[He does not tell her he battled Sleep and lost. He does not tell her even he fears what awaits in the night, that once it chased him as he in turn chased after the sun. He does not tell her many things. He's childish, too, in more ways than others will ever know of.
He rests his head on her shoulder and still holds tight to her hand.]
I will tend the fire until dawn rises. You have my solemn word.
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Burn th' dress, if you need kindlin'. [It's a soft murmur, one that comes across as tired. She gives a shiver, pulling back just slightly.] It's torn.
[She doesn't think she could wear it again, not after the matter at hand. Merida doesn't say as such, but she feels like she doesn't need to. She turns her body slightly so that she's on her side, resting her head against his shoulder, still keeping hold of his hand.]
Thank you, Gilgamesh. I'm in your debt.
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He will likely forget it tomorrow and tarnish that golden armor of his some other way, but tonight he'll remember as he keeps watch over the fire and the brave girl who burns so very much like it, even at rest.]
I will burn it anyway.
[All the better that she forgets, too. But he must tell her something else before she drifts off, remind her of something important.]
You did well, Merida. You acted in all due justice. Do not blame yourself, for there is none to bear, naught to bemoan save that man's own foolishness which led him astray. Should it happen again, act with no sorrow in the future; wield your sword with no delay, and strike down with no regret.
[You are brave, you are brave. He will chant it to her like a mantra until she falls asleep.]
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After a time, her hand slips from his to the bedding, sleep taking her as her body relaxes, the crackling of the fire filling her ears, just as warm as the body she'd leaned against. There's no nightmares, like he promised, just a dreamless sleep that takes her, soothes her. She hadn't done anything wrong, and that's the thought that's going to carry her on until she can believe it and it doesn't sit on her shoulders anymore.]