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→ PLAYER INFORMATION;
Name: angel
Contact: pm.
Timezone: pst, pacific.
Current Characters: selfantagonized, faultlesscon, softwaring
→ CHARACTER INFORMATION;
Character Name: Merlin
Character Journal: notatthetavern
Character Age: early 20s.
Appearance/PB: Colin Morgan
Canon: BBC Merlin (TV series), based on Arthurian legends
Canon Point: season 4, episode 2 (a servant of two masters)
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: | the very beginning of the episode, leading up to where they get ambushed.
Canon Building: --
History:
Character Wiki Page
Born with magic, Merlin grew up not knowing about his father and was raised solely by his mother in Ealdor, a small village in Albion, mainly the Kingdom of Lot. Despite being blessed with this skill, he had few to share it with, asides from his best friend Will.
The real journey for Merlin begins around the age of eighteen. Not quite a man yet, he wis sent on his mother's advice to Camelot, where he could seek help for controlling his magic with a man named Gaius. Merlin stays with Gaius under his tutelage despite the discovery that magic has long since been banned from Camelot, due to the rule of its king, Uther Pendragon. He resolves to wait it out at the idea that one day, magic will return to the kingdom due to his belief that magic does not have to be a bad thing.
Under a twist of strange and odd events that involve insulting the crown prince of Camelot ("royal prat") and talking to a Dragon trapped underneath the kingdom ("it is your destiny"), Merlin saves the life of Prince Arthur from an assassination attempt. How this leads to him ending up as the manservant to said prince, he'll never quite understand.
Regardless, his life has never been the same since then.
It consists of having to save Arthur, keep his magic a secret, and occasional making and breaking relationships with others around the castle, mainly that of Guinevere "Gwen" and Morgana, in which his friendship with Gwen goes from strong to shaky at points and where he loses Morgana completely, once she swears to have revenge against Arthur and claim the throne for herself (did we mention the part where he loses Will too?). Through every relationship that has been made and ruined or lost (Freya), Merlin's loyalty and confidence in Arthur has never wavered. Even though the two started off on a spectrum, they have grown close to each other, faithful in their friendship despite the relationship of servant and prince (now king).
Imported Character History: --
Personality:
Merlin's development from a boy to a man is blatantly obvious with how his perspective on things changes.
In his youth, he thought little on the consequences of using magic. Because of this, he wound up endangering the lives of those he cared about unintentionally. As he grew and developed his powers further, he began to realize the full extent of what using magic did not only for himself, but for others, friend and foe alike. A terrible privilege, but one he still saw as a blessing, no matter what came his way. Nowadays, Merlin has learned multiple ways of keeping his magic secret. His spells are subtle; he keeps his actions low-profile when it comes to using magic nowadays, at least when he knows he needs to. His secret is something he doesn’t trust with those especially close to him: only a handful of people have known about his secret, and three of them have died. Merlin hardly has someone else his age with who he can share his secret: he knows that it's lonely. Regardless, he does not waver in his responsibilities just because of it. He can have his time to suffer later.
In short he's learned to cope, most days than not.
Merlin's loyalty to Arthur is above all - he would do nearly anything for the young Pendragon and he actually has. From poisoning a close friend to offering his own life in order to save Arthur's, what he has done to keep Arthur safe are things he would not have even fathomed as a young boy. He is protective as a result of this, and constantly does his best to keep him safe even if it means committing acts that push him to his limits both mentally and physically, or hurting others for the king's sake. Anything to keep Arthur’s being well, even when they butt heads at times.
He's also a good actor: it's how he's kept his magic a secret from Arthur and others in the kingdom. By feigning innocence under the guise of someone who hardly knows better at times (or a fool, in the words of others), Merlin can lie to keep his secret safe without even trying. This doesn't mean that he's openly deceitful however: he prefers being honest with others, as hinted by his actions with others. This honesty can come off as sarcastic at times however, depending on whom he speaks to.
Patience and bravery are two other important traits he possesses. He is a hard-worker regardless of what he decides to work at, whether it’s performing chores under Arthur’s word, studying spells to improve his magic, or just being out on his own time. If he doesn’t get it the first time, it won’t throw him off the horse, and Merlin works to get things done. He’s also a brave soul, not caring much for that of social status: the rank is not what makes the person. Anyone who believes otherwise and takes advantage of their status, or anyone in general who tries to get what they want through power or greed immediately becomes someone with whom he’ll butt heads from the start. This however, does not mean that they will constantly be an antagonist to Merlin. If he sees said person has worked hard and changed to be someone actually worthy and fitting of their title, he can gain a newfound respect for them. See also: his first interaction with Arthur, and current relationship.
Merlin can prove to be a good friend and person as well, all things aside. If you are in need and he can help in some way, he'll do his darned best to help. He won’t leave someone in need if he can help it. His friends are important to them, and he holds them close - he's gone to the ends of the earth for them, and they bring him great joy. The only time he draws the line is when someone else's life is threatened, and making a choice is difficult. If Arthur is involved, he is the first choice in Merlin's eyes (see: Morgana's situation), as his destiny is supposed to be entwined with the king's.
Still, his loyalties are apparent: stay friendly to him, do him no wrong, and he will keep you close. Happy-go-lucky when he can afford to be, serious when the situation calls for it, wise beyond his years, and with a sense of humour to boot, Merlin is certainly a young man and wizard to look out for.
Powers/Abilities:
For more on the spells / abilities that Merlin is currently capable of, please refer to MAGIC.
Asides from that, according to Arthur, Merlin isn't the best servant to have around, but he does get the job done when it comes to polishing armor, writing speeches, laundry, preparing outfits, motivational speeches at times, and other tasks that came with being the personal lackey to Arthur Pendragon.
Weaknesses: see personality section.
→ SAMPLES;
First Person Sample:
- Thread
Third Person Sample:
but mooooommmm
Has he ever thought about it?
Of course he has, but that’s a selfish thought. To want someone else who has magic and for them to stay, while they know him and *exist* in Camelot? Ridiculous, too much to ask for, and it won’t ever happen. Still, it doesn’t mean that he can’t think about it. And when he does, it stings.
Will knew, and he was killed protecting Arthur, died keeping his secret safe. Freya died after only a few days and he couldn’t stop either of those things from happening. Even Arthur’s died at least once on him, and that doesn’t count the times he’s come close, either.
Life happens. (Aithusa being born, a flower blooming from nothing after a long winter’s wait.)
Death is never too far behind (Gwen’s father, Will, Freya, Uther Pendragon. Balinor- Dad.)
But Magic all had a part in it if he thinks about it too hard. Even if he didn’t think about it, Merlin knew it would’ve led back to that conclusion: one way or another he had been there and in being present, he’d caused something to happen. Maybe he was just overthinking it, on another hand. There was always that. Still, it didn’t help the fact that the thoughts still did happen. If he’d never had magic, never been born with it, and had never left that small village, would things have been different? After all, that meant that Merlin would never have gone to Camelot.
He wouldn’t have gotten into a fight, made a new friend, found a mentor, and become a servant to a the king’s son. He would have never gotten anyone killed.
Then again, maybe all of that still would have happened, and he was there only to lessen the blow. It was his destiny one way or another, right? Protect Arthur, make sure he became a king that was worthy of leading Camelot, something like that. Sometimes he felt less of a defender however, and more of a whipping boy.
Some days more than others, he knew that wasn’t the truth. Not when he knew he was a confidant for the king, more than others. Magic was what led him to Camelot, it was what gave him a chance against whatever threatened the kingdom, it was what had him here.
So yes, he has thought on it. He doesn’t regret any of it.