Backstory & Personality

[dothefwippything]

Backstory

Have-Mercy's parents, Reverence and Bryseis, were a pair of tieflings in search of a place to call home. They wandered hither and yon, having a child along the way, before they settled in the tiny town of Soothing Falls. For a time, everything was good, with the people of Soothing Falls opening their arms to these poor maligned wanderers. But then a bad harvest came in, and disease swept through their livestock, and the good people of Soothing Falls realized that they had welcomed a pair of snakes into their homes. They ran the pair of tieflings out of town, only to find that the callous pair had cruelly abandoned their young daughter to the mob. Unwilling to kill a defenseless child (even infernal tiefling spawn), they gave her a new name and found her a new home, hoping that she would grow into a virtuous person.

At least, that's the story that Have-Mercy's always been told by her adoptive family. Her memories of those early years are vague, but enough remains to seed some doubt in her mind. Were her parents responsible or was it just bad luck? Did they really abandon her to die or were they driven away from her by an angry mob? It seems to depend on who you ask. Even the people of Soothing Falls don't recall, though they're more than happy to cast Reverence and Bryseis (and Have-Mercy is reasonably certain those are actually her parents' names) in the light of cackling homewreckers.

And as for her adoption--well. Either she was forced upon a innocent gods-fearing family or generously taken in despite her inherent evil, depending on who you ask. Have-Mercy tried very hard to fit the Carrs' idea of a good child, but when another bad harvest hit a few years later... Well, apparently some things are in the blood. So Have-Mercy was hastily sent off to some distant cousins of the Carrs who were living in Neverwinter and desired a child.

Her new family wasn't exactly happy to find out that she was a tiefling, a fact that they had never been told (apparently the letter had gotten lost. The Carrs would never lie to family.). The city Carrs were not happy and did not particularly want Have-Mercy around, but once more she put all her efforts into being a good child, dreaming and hoping for the day when her efforts and optimism would pay off and she would finally have a true form. Her attempts to be a helpful contributor to the family finances led her to find work as an exterminator, hunting down dire rats and other things beneath the city, fumbling her way through battle after battle and becoming well acquainted with Neverwinter's literal (and, at times, figurative) underground.

At the age of seventeen, the age of majority, Have-Mercy was unceremoniously kicked out. With little more than the clothes on her back and a handful of coins she'd been saving up for a new sword, she didn't know what to do. The idea of slinking away to continue scrabbling in Neverwinter was...unbearable. And then she found a bounty poster for a tiefling who had a unique set of horns, a shape and texture that she was almost certain that she remembered being almost the same as one of parents'. If she couldn't bear to stay in Neverwinter, then perhaps it was time to leave, and chasing a pair of long-gone parents was as good an excuse as any.

Flaws & Traits

Traits: I hide scraps of food and trinkets away in my pockets.

Ideals:
- Aspirations: Find parents!
- Actually: Get away from the city, get out out out.

Bonds:
- I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me.
- Actually: Philo is my only true friend. '-' Don't touch my rat or I'll cut you.

Flaws
- I will never fully trust anyone other than myself.
- Always~ look on~ the bright~ side~ of life~

Personality

Have-Mercy is a startlingly cheerful and optimistic person, but her cheerful demeanor is something she stubbornly invests much time in, as much as a way to try to be "un-tiefling-like" as because it's simply the only way she's developed to cope with her life. She tries very hard to look on the bright side rather than dwell on misfortunes since so much boils down to what she can't change (like being a tiefling). She would rather be deliberately naive than face the harsher reality--which doesn't mean that she's unaware of it. At times a certain cynicism and jadedness will shine through despite her best efforts to keep it all hidden. It's just that Have-Mercy would just rather ignore the unpleasant bits of her reality, and keep hoping for a better tomorrow, where all her efforts to be "good" and "nice" will pay off, and she'll finally have a place to belong.

Developments/additions during the campaign thus far:

• Somewhat unfortunately, Have-Mercy's persistent cheerfulness has the tendency of making her seem more off-putting than anything, as most expect either dour repentance or menace from tieflings. No one, including any other tieflings she's ever encountered, quite know what to make of a tiefling who is apparently always smiling without any ulterior motive at all.


• Prior to joining the party, she had killed many creatures in the sewers, and had occasionally gotten into serious fights with other exterminators or underground denizens, but had never killed another person. Certainly she had never intentionally gone after another person with the intent to kill. The lifestyle shift in this regard that is demanded by adventuring is affecting her a lot more than she is willing to acknowledge or show.


• The last bit of the previous point is partly driven by Have-Mercy's desire to be a good rogue, a good rogue like the party wanted. "I never had a group of friends before, I promise that I'll make y'all proud." By stabbing.


• The above also makes her take risks she wouldn't ordinarily take. It's helped develop her acrobatic skills tremendously, but it's also frequently put her in great danger. She's not as hardy as she thinks she is.

Other Tidbits

• The name "Have-Mercy" was an attempt by the folks in Soothing Falls to give her a better, but still properly tiefling name. It didn't quite work which is why she has a weird name for a tiefling and also a surname. She doesn't recall the name her parents gave her. It is not actually short for anything.


• Has many pockets, several hidden, and often stuffed with portable foodstuffs and various trinkets of varying worth. (See Inventory.)


• If asked, she would say that she most wants to find her parents, if they're still alive, or failing that, some vestige of her family. But mostly, she just wants to get out and away from Neverwinter. And for that, she needs skills and funds.


• She had a mentor in the extermination business but, while if asked she would occasionally talk up the relationship, in truth it was a pretty businesslike affair. The gruff older woman stuck with Have-Mercy long enough to ensure that she knew how the trade worked and probably wouldn't die, as a favor to a friend. And then she abruptly parted ways, glad to be rid of the burden of an apprentice, leaving Have-Mercy to fumble her way on alone.