art by plivye

Carion "Rook" Mercar

Tevinter's Bird of Prey

Pronouns	He/They
Age	32
Birthday	27 Cloudreach, 9:20 Dragon
Class	Rogue

art by Nev_ the _ artist

Clan Quilcrest

Some time before he was made head of the clan, Nehnis and his wife, Felivetanin, gave birth to a child: Revassan, meaning "arrow of freedom." Revassan was born early and much of the clan didn't think that she would live long. With steadfast prayers and all of his heart, Nehnis made sure that Revassan would live.
A year passed and as the clan was travelling towards the Andoral's Reach area, they stopped outside of Tallo, settling into a partially caved area. Unbeknownst to them, conflict was brewing between the Vint locals and Quanari. Nehnis made peace with the Quanari, promising to leave as soon as they were able while also agreeing to not stay more than two nights. Being the curious soul he was, Nehnis went into the Vint city against his wife's wishes.
While he was away, humans moved in on the Dalish camp. Quanari nearby didn't take kindly to the humans overstepping the unspoken boundaries and a fight broke out.
Nehnis made it back to the camp in time to help all who remained escape with what they could. They lost most of their halla and the supplies they had gathered while near the city. Parts of the cave came crashing down in the bloody chaos and in the panic, Revassan was left behind.
A small battalion of Tevinter’s army, came in to drive the Quanari away temporarily. Hours after the fight, Charon Mercar and his hound, Chuck, were sweeping the plains for the few fallen there were. In the silence, they heard distant crying and naturally, followed the sound to where Clan Irariel once was. In the camp, some elves weren’t lucky to escape including the Hearthmistress. Revassan was caught in a nook between the debris, saved by a halla miraculously. It was pure luck and a miracle that Revassan survived and even purer luck that they were found by Charon. Taking Revassan as his own, he gave them the name “Circe”.

The Mercar Family

Long before the Quilcrest incident, Charon already had a rebellious streak, but he was far too good a fighter to discharge. The Imperium, however, did not take kindly to Circe’s adoption, and Charon’s career was permanently stunted.
His wife, Rhiannon, a woman of class and an art lover, was overjoyed to have a child after years of praying for one. While she and Circe lived in Minrathous, Charon travelled frequently between the major Tevinter cities.
Throughout their childhood, Circe was kept separated from the public as mandated by the Tevinter military and magisters involved with Charon's condemnation. Very few knew of Circe's existence outside of the Mercars and the military. The household servants were bound to the house or sworn to secrecy about the household. Despite everything, Rhiannon raised Circe as her child and loved them to pieces. Charon never said so, but he loved Circe too….
In their childhood, Rhiannon didn't make a real effort to connect Circe with their Dalish heritage. Any effort was met with Circe being virtually uninterested unless the history they learned had to do with the Grey Wardens. Circe always had an interest in the Wardens, more specifically the Wardens' griffons and the Exalted Age. Circe didn't resent their parents for being raised without their heritage in mind and only really started to regret not being open to it when they were older. Similarly, they never really cared to learn about their birth parents or how they ended up with the Mercars.
As they grew up, Circe was lonely. It wasn’t obvious, but it was a given, given their environment. They were homeschooled and didn’t have any friends, despite how badly they wanted to make them and see beyond the house. Whenever Rhiannon would host gatherings, Circe would be confined to the upstairs, but they would perch on the ceiling rafters during these gatherings. During these parties, Circe learned how to perfect their balance quickly and would try to mirror the dance moves in the rafters. Charon pretended not to notice, even when Rhiannon would point them out. When they were a little bit older, Circe was able to attend but was forced to pose as a servant for the night. Still, it was the most fun they had.Whenever Charon came back home, he would take time to practice his archery in the evening. Circe was attached to him whenever he’d come home and often would watch him practice. At first, Charon would scold them and send them back into the house. Though as they kept following after him, he softened and started teaching Circe how to shoot a bow. It became a tradition for them to practice together, and it continued even after a rift grew between them.
The rift came not long after Circe became Carion.
Circe never acted traditionally masculine or feminine. They had interests that a girl might have, but they took more after their father in all other regards. They felt out of place and chose to start going by “Carion” when they were roughly 17. It wasn't until he joined up with the Shadow Dragons that he identified himself as male entirely.
Charon, being born and raised in Tevinter, was not fond of it and explicitly said so. His views didn't change until after the years of the Inquisition—long after Carion left the nest—when Magister Dorian Pavus was caught in a scandal about his personal relationship with the Inquisitor. Rhiannon, on the other hand, was as supportive as she could be. She didn't entirely understand it, but she didn't want Carion to feel trapped any more than she knew he was.

The Shadow Dragons

At 18, Carion grew more reckless and even more curious. Rhiannon tried to stop his curiosity but it wasn’t enough and on his own, Carion took to exploring the city. While wandering the city, he developed the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether it be random mercenaries or low ranking Venatori, he’d end up roughed up regardless and nearly taken when he runs into Venatori. However, by a stroke of pure luck, he was often saved by Raoul Kerimow, a human spellblade mage and Shadow Dragon leader.

Being stunned by Raoul’s display of power and protection, Carion wanted to do… whatever it was Raoul was doing. At first, he refused and disappeared. However, as they kept crossing paths, Raoul started to recognize the young elf without a second glance.
Finally, Carion managed to stand up for himself just as Raoul showed up to save him. With the bloodied ruffian at his feet, Raoul asked if it was Carion’s doing. He hesitantly said yes and in an instant, the mercenary was killed by the Shadow Dragon. He asked Carion another question: “Can you do that?”
Carion never gave a proper answer but Raoul liked him just enough to take him under his wing.
During their trainings, if one could call it that, and missions, Raoul pried at Carion to get him to open up but the elf never relented. Raoul built his part of the faction on trust and his own apprentice was betraying him. So, behind Carion’s back, he started to dig around for anything on him and even tracked him back to his home.
Carefully, Raoul snuck into the Mercar home despite everything telling him not to. He kept out of sight and saw Carion as, what he could only describe as, a performer: complacent and feigning happiness. It was a strange thing to see from someone he’s known to be bold. By pure coincidence, he met Charon the same night; a short meeting that ended with the esteemed Legatus threatening Raoul’s life. The mage saw himself out but not without promising a change in the city, citing Charon’s own desires. Raoul never spoke of the encounter or what he saw in the Mercar home.Carion’s reputation with the Shadows grew expeditiously with him being commended for his efficiency and discretion. He was given the nickname “Bird of Prey” by his fellow Shadows and local papers. The “Rook” moniker was given to him by Raoul, sticking better than his first title. Despite mainly dealing with Venatori hideouts in his part of the city, he was often asked to head to other Tevinter cities and help where he could. He preferred to stay in the city though since he didn’t want his mother to feel lonely…Over the years, he endured blood magic in small doses. It hadn’t taken a heavy toll on him but there were some physical affects, namely in his wrists. Faint scarring started to show and he opted to cover the scars so that his mother wouldn’t worry.

Nessus

Five years after the Inquisition was disbanded, when he was 27, Carion was asked to be in Nessus to help free a friend of the Viscount of Kirkwall from Venatori clutches. Raoul, among other Shadow Dragon leaders, suggested the elf on account of him being akin to a military scout.
Upon meeting, Carion didn’t speak much to Varric aside from polite small talk. However, as they prepared for the mission, the rogue tossed the proposed plan from his fellow Shadows aside.
The initial plan was to target only Varric’s friend but Carion believed entirely that he’d be able to crush the entire Nessus slavery ring. So, he set his own plan into motion.
While Varric and half of the Shadows would free the slaves, Carion would lead the distraction and pull the Venatori away from them. In practice, the plan worked perfectly with the Venatori chasing after Carion to either put him down or enslave him. Either way, no outcome would come to be as he dealt with them as quickly as Varric freed slaves.
Despite everything going as smooth as it could, Carion faced his toughest battle to date that would irrevocably change his perspective….
Carion was never really a fan of magic and the power it held in Tevinter. However, facing Venatori like this made his opinions on mages as a whole worse, believing them to all be power hungry and manipulative. His distraction was mostly successful until he was met with Roland Kerimow, a powerful blood mage and the leader of the Nessus operation. Carion threw himself at the mage without a thought but found himself contorted and broken beyond belief. Roland barely blinked as he used Carion’s open wounds against him, taking control of the rogue and urging his underlings to handle him. He was slashed across the face and beaten senseless, loosening his right canine tooth in the process. He’d have been killed had Varric not showed up and saved his life by killing Roland.After facing the strongest blood mage of Nessus, Carion was left with nasty, grotesque scars that were a near perfect reflection of his skeleton as well as a constant stream of pain in his body. Pure adrenaline kept him from collapsing immediately after being let go from Kerimow’s control. However, the moment he reached the Shadow’s safehouse, he collapsed.
The Shadow leaders agreed that it would be best for Carion to lay low after his stunt and thus, Raoul took him back to the Mercars.
When Carion was able to move again, he attempted to go back to the Shadows but was stopped by Charon. Carion and his father hadn’t spoken to each other, much less seen each other in nearly a year. In the years, Carion’s frustrations and regrets festered and upon seeing his father’s face, he snapped. They quickly fell into a nasty argument with Carion rightfully accusing his father of aiding the Venatori's rise to power by choosing to stay silent and only act for the Magisters' wishes. Charon ignored every word out of Carion's mouth, calling him nothing but ungrateful and foolish. He believed that if Carion was let free again, word about his home life would get out and he would be forced out of his position. Carion took a step towards Charon, snarling cruel truths, and without missing a beat, Charon struck him, knocking his tooth out in the process. Charon sent Carion away, locking himself in his study.
Carion, stunned and hurting from his father’s actions, chose to run away without looking back. He didn’t say goodbye to his mother or leave a note. He just… vanished, wandering Thedas aimlessly.

In Rialto & Hereafter

Over the years, Carion never stayed in one place for too long. That was until he came to Rialto. While passing through the city, he met Josifen Harkorna, an elven woman with a knack for expression. The pair met by chance and Josifen took an interest in him; both as a muse and canvas.
She asked about his scars and at first, he didn’t speak. Then, she offered to make them beautiful. Carefully, she tattooed over the scars on his chin and was shocked that he hardly flinched. She asked again and he only told her a few stories of his time with the Shadows but she loved each and every one of them. It was the same for him when she told the stories behind her own artworks and tattoos. Though they never considered themselves lovers, they were partners certainly. As time went on, Carion opened up to her more and in turn, showed his scars more. The first time she saw the blood magic scars, she hesitated to say anything. She never asked for the story and frankly, Carion wouldn’t have told her anyway. Still, she tattooed over them with the best of him in mind. Despite how kind Josifen was to him and how she carefully covered each tattoo, Carion’s own insecurities ate him up. He had no reason to really believe she was disgusted by them but still, her silent indifference was louder than ever. Halfway through the project and without a word or goodbye, Carion left Rialto and continued traveling.
At 31, he crossed paths with Harding and Varric in a small bar in Marothius. Varric was overjoyed to see the elf again. Carion trailed alongside them while they were in the city and had no plans to leave but Varric couldn’t help but propose the idea to him; The idea to join the Inquisitor’s merry band and stop the Dread Wolf.
Now, Carion was raised around the Andrastian faith but he never really followed it himself. His mother was about as devout as he remembers, even if her version of the faith was different than the rest of the city’s. However, when the Inquisition took Thedas by storm 10 years ago, stories of Inquisitor Souvelani Lavallen travelled up north. Lavellan was depicted as many things: a political assassin, a disciple of the Maker, and a second coming of Andraste. Despite Carion's mixed feelings about religion that grew worse when he was around other elves, he latched onto the concept of the Herald and the power he held. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that Carion idolized the Inquisitor. To work under his command would be an honor and he took Varric’s proposal with a wide smile. Little did he know that Souvelani would disapprove of Carion’s recruitment but the Inquisitor wouldn’t say so…

The Veilguard

Following the failure of Solas’s ritual, Varric’s untimely end, and the Dread Wolf moving in to Carion’s consciousness, Carion assumed the role as leader of the Veilguard. He hadn’t been in such a role in years but still, he stepped into it nonetheless.
With each unforeseen situation, he approached them quickly and firmly. He only faltered when both the cities of Minrathous and Treviso were under attack. Ultimately, he chose to aid Treviso and in turn, was completely pushed out of the Shadow Dragons for both allowing the Venatori to rise and blighting Magister Pavus. Though his hardened personality didn’t let it show through, Carion being without the Shadows tore him up inside and all he could see for his future was making up for the dragon attack in his own sacrifice....

art by gabibia