Mergoux

Sergeant Thalia Coldstone (a.k.a. Mergoux, The Butcher, The Horned Killer, Lady Longears, Thalia Coldheart.)

Mergoux is the only known living Half-Elf, and even then only to herself. The Butcher as she's known is a woman of action, a mistress of murder and a defender of the weak. Over her years she's become almost a folk-tale to some, stories telling of a warrior woman slaying monsters and bandits in the most brutal of fashions.
Her reign of violence is not restricted to those of the lowest kind of society however, as she targets anyone she sees as a threat to the common-folk, the innocent. More than one official has felt her blade or bolt.
Mergoux holds no oaths other than to defend the weak. She holds no quarter, has no mercy and will not stop to listen to your pleas should you wrong those she protects. Anger her, and your death will be long and full of suffering you didn't know could exist. She is Mergoux the Butcher, and she fights for those unable to do so themselves.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Mergoux was born under the name Thalia Coldstone, to Elaine and Jared Coldstone. An unusual child, born of an unusual couple, Mergoux's mother was a Meadow Elf, and her father a moderately successful Norsic Merchant.
Thalia and her mother were often on the receiving end of bias, dislike and even outright hatred by many of the townsfolk, as Elf-Kind were far from Allies of the Nords at the time, and many remembered or had fought in the most recent of Elf-Wars. It didn't matter that Elaine's people, the Meadow Elves, had not fought alongside any of their kin for many thousands of years, for she still was a 'Knife-ear' and unwelcome in their town.
Thalia herself was a bit of a trouble as well, for she was gifted both with her mother's Elven agility, and her father's Nordic strength. To this level she was only ever bullied or beaten by children much older than herself, for by the age of seven, no-one under the age of ten dared to pick on the fierce, little Half-Elf.
It was however, Thalia that broke the camel's back. A group of older children had decided it was time to teach the girl a lesson in the cruelest fashion. Capturing her and tying her down, one boy used an old Sabercat's tooth to carve a deep wound into the left side of Thalia's face. After she'd been released and run home, Jared decreed it was time to leave. Seeing his pretty daughter's face marred by such a jagged wound sent him on the warpath, and being a true Nord his anger was mighty.
By the time the family left town with one of Jared's caravans, the man who'd given the boy the Sabertooth was dead, and the boy a cripple for life. His crime completed and justice carried out, they began the long trek along the edge of The Barrier Mountains to Elaine's former home, where at least they wouldn't be so unwelcome.
They never arrived however, for in the night, halfway through their journey, their caravan was struck by The Bandit King, Tiaz the Tigerlord, a WereTiger who'd made his home in the mountains, controlling a virtual army of ruffians and bandits who struck dozens of caravans that traveled in Nordica each year. It was just bad luck that Tiaz himself had marched onto the battlefield this day. There was no stopping the gigantic beast as before Thalia's own eyes, he tore her father in half, raped her mother, and devoured both of their heads.
Tiaz was a twisted being, a Shaman of great power as well as a warrior, but seeing the young girl before him, scarred both physically and now mentally, he felt no pity, seeing only another slave to his will. Taking the little 8-year-old girl, he brought her and others to his fortress, hidden deep in the Barrier Mountains, almost on the border to Anacharia itself.
There Thalia was imprisoned, made a labor slave just like many others. The next 12 years were spent gathering wood for the endless fires that lit the Bandit King's halls, doing what meager farming could be done in the rocky soil and the bitter cold, digging ever deeper in mines made for gathering precious metals, gems and stone to expand the Bandit King's ever-growing castle, and cooking and serving meals to the Tigerlord.
It was this labor as she grew that hardened her muscles, and her resolve. The day her parents died she began an unrelenting hatred deep in her soul, a hatred that boiled up over the next decade of subservience. Feigning her spirit being crushed, while in secret doing everything she could to learn how to fight, build her strength and plan to kill her Lord and Master.
All this was realized in a way when Tiaz declared her, a few weeks after her 18th birthday, to be his new pleasure slave, a generous word for cocksleeve. Thalia, realizing what she would have to do, fought tooth and nail against him, but to no avail. In the end, her bound body was used as his pleasure-receptacle while she wept at her failure and shame.
Another three years were spent like this, often nightly torments from Tiaz or his generals, but still she did not break. Even as she wept, her tears were of hate and anger rather and weakness or sorrow. 'The time would come' she told herself, and finally it did. After a long night, Tiaz was passed out beside her, and foolishly had taken her into his own bed that night instead of her assigned quarters. It was easy work for the woman to slip out of his drunken grasp, and cut her bonds with a knife.
Poised over the bed, she prepared to plunge the knife into his body, when she felt that would be too quick, no, he deserved much worse. From the trunk at the foot of the Tiger's bed, she brought forth an ornate mace, and with that in hand began her beating of the King. It lasted only seconds, but those seconds would ruin Tiaz for life, for she brought down the mace on the weapon he'd used to torture her those past 3 years. Tiaz awoke, howling in pain as Mergoux lifted the mace again to silence his cries. She was too slow however, for the Tiger's reflexes triggered his transformation, and with one mighty backhand he sent the Slave through a window, shards of glass tumbling after her into the snow. The damage was done however, the Tiger's pelvis was shattered, and his pride annihilated. He would never be able to torture another maiden like he had Thalia, nor even walk again.
Thalia herself was flung into the night, clad only in rags and the curtains she'd dragged down with her. Her body sliced from shards of glass, she stumbled through the night, and all through the next day, barefoot in the snow until she collapsed, glad just to die away from her tormentor.
And die she would have, had a group of Mercenaries, roaming the mountain paths hunting bandits, found her lying in the snow. The Rangers were one of dozens of scouting expeditions sent out constantly in an attempt to find The Bandit King's lair, so that the raids might finally be put to an end, but finding the near-death girl in the snow, they could not continue their mission that season.
Thalia was taken by the Mercenaries and nursed back to health, brought to the local Jarl, and questioned. Half-Elf or no, her usefulness was seen by all, as she was the only known escapee from the fortress. In exchange for her information however, the hardened woman requested to join the Jarl's military, so that she might fight alongside those who would destroy the fort.
Her wish was granted, and so the Half-Elf became a soldier in the Jarl's army, quickly showing an aptitude for swords and combat. Her natural affinity for blades was only encouraged, and within two years, she was one of the best bladesmen in the Jarl's army, indeed one of the best fighters in general, though her demeanor offered her nearly no friends among her bunkmates.
The woman was often referred to as 'Coldheart' instead of her proper surname, indeed it was not untrue, for her life in the past 15 years had been naught but hate and misery. She could barely remember what it was like to be happy, and so forwent such things to further seek her goal, to kill Tiaz and all his bandits.
But the Jarl had ceased all plans to do just that, for after Thalia's escape, and crippling of the Bandit King, his forces seemingly melted away, their limping lord no longer the invincible spectacle he'd pretended. His men abandoned him to form their own gangs, and without his direction, were quickly rounded up and killed off by the Jarl's men, herself included, but that was not good enough. Thalia wanted more, she wanted to feel Tiaz's life evaporate under her hands as she slit his throat, strangled him, bashed his skull in, she wanted her revenge and she was going to have it.
By this time, she'd been promoted several times, despite many of her superior's dislike, there was no doubting she was one of the best soldiers in the local military, certainly the best warrior, and so she was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and a troop of twenty men placed under her.
Over the next few years, her climb up the ladder stalemated, as her increasingly volatile nature shone through, crafted through abuse and hatred, Thalia Coldstone faded, and Mergoux slowly took control. More Bandit battles, in which she led from the front. Thalia's troop was the only one to never return with any prisoners, and rumor spread that the Stones as they were nicknamed, were committing acts of horrific violence upon the Bandits they fought, acts that no court in the land would condone.
Eventually this culminated in Thalia's dismissal from the Army, after she took the blame for an act of 'barbaric savagery' that had befallen a small encampment of bandits that turned out to be larger than anticipated. Thaliahad assaulted the camp with her men instead of waiting another ten hours for a second troop to arrive as requested. In the end her troop was victorious, but with only her and six others left alive. Her reckless loss of her men haunted her, and was only part of the reason for the dismissal, the other being that when the second troop arrived, they were witness to a bloodied and enraged Thalia, brutally torturing the last few bandits to death, while her men huddled around a fire, trying to block out the screams.
In the end, Thalia, aged 30 was unceremoniously kicked out of the Nordic army, told never to return, nor would she try, knowing her place was no longer among the ranks of the orderly and at least partially honorable. No, her path was a much darker one, one without such niceties as honor.
The next few years were spent squandering her pay on alcohol, while preforming random Mercenary jobs for whoever would hire her. All this culminated one night when, after leaving the local village, having been involved in a tavern brawl and not wanting to face charges, she was ambushed by a gang of highwaymen.
Thalia was injured, but emerged from the ambush victorious. She'd never had an encounter quite like that, having always had a fellow soldier to restrain her slightly, but that night she took out her rage and hate upon the poor men, leaving behind five mutilated corpses. The sense of satisfaction she derived from it didn't even frighten her, it thrilled her, made her blood run hot. That night she learned her next calling, purging scum like that from the lands, and doing it in a most brutal fashion.
Over the next five decades that was exactly what she did. Over the years she acquired a small treasure trove of magickal items, gold and other trophies, but still her greatest prize eluded her, for she'd promised herself to find the Weretiger who'd turned her into this monster she was now, she vowed to find him, and before she died she would wear his pelt as a cloak. She had escaped Tiaz the Twisted Shaman, but he would not escape Mergoux the Butcher.

Gender Identity

Female

Sexuality

Highly Asexual. Mergoux, due to her past finds most sexual acts repulsive. While she understands that some might enjoy it, she is psychologically incapable of arousal and finds the thought of intercourse personally abhorrent.

Education

Mergoux was taught to read by her parents, taught to cook by her fellow slaves, but most importantly she was taught to fight when she joined the Nordic army.
Mergoux proved to be a natural swordswoman, adept with similar weapons of all sizes, and so that was what she was trained in, ignoring the finer arts of axe-lore or use of blunt weapons. Even spears, the simplest weapons, were ignored by her in favor of her blades training. She rapidly proved herself to be the best bladesmaster in the local area, her natural aggressiveness and Elven deftness playing no small part in that. Even more, she was taught the art of the crossbow, learning well enough how to use it beyond a normal person's skill, but not coming to master it by any means.
Finally survival training was instilled in her by a number of tutors, including several Mercenaries she'd worked with, as well as a number of books she'd read.

Mental Trauma

Her abuse at the hands of Tiaz left her severely traumatized and psychologically scarred. His beating and raping her lead to development of several serious issues, including PTSD and an extreme aversion to anything sexual. At the same time it awakened darker aspects of herself and brought the character Mergoux fully into the light, while doing away with her old self as Thalia Coldstone.
She was given a deep-seated hatred of nearly all around her, an intense anger problem, and a psychopathic urge to kill and avenge herself upon anyone who she deemed Evil. Her other issues eventually faded to be replaced by this desperate urge to kill, and to hurt. Much like what Tiaz did to her, now she is responsible for doing to others. The only things capable of bringing any warmth back into her heart are seeing an Evil man or woman howl with agony inflicted by her.
Her mental trauma changed her irrevocably into a cruel monster with little to no heart when it came to those around her. No longer kind, her scarring both psychological and emotional left her a virtual demon on the earth.

Intellectual Characteristics

Mergoux is cunning, intelligent, crafty and sometimes even wise. She's cunning in planning traps, estimating how a panicked mind might react to something, as well as tactful in her approach. She's no great mind, but she's a decent tactician when planning her solo operations and often manages to plan ahead for most circumstances.
Her wisdom comes from age, as does most wisdom. She has seen many things in her time, and though her anger-filled heart is biased towards the pessimistic side of things, she can give wise-words when she needs to. Advice from her is not something to be casually ignored.
Finally she is knowledgeable of the world around her. In pursuit of her endless crusade, she has accumulated more knowledge than any normal man might in his lifetime. She could explain the workings of a catapult, while at the same time demonstrating some basic blacksmithing. While she does lack in intellectual knowledge, that being of things such as history or poetry, she makes up for it with practical knowledge of the world around her. While she can't quote hundreds of verses of scripture, she has the know-how to survive alone in the wilds with nothing more than her wits.

Morality & Philosophy

Mergoux lives less off a code and more of a creed, a creed she devised for herself in her years in the army. Slay those who would do harm, make them suffer as they have made others suffer, end them and protect the innocent. She lives her life by this creed, making a point to make each death or injury she inflicts as painful as possible and going out of her way to make sure no innocent life is touched, even at the cost of severe personal injury or possible death.

Taboos

Never harm a innocent, especially a child.

Species

Half-Elf

Age

87 (Equivalent to late 20s in human years)

Pronouns

She/Her

Eyes

Hazel, cold as ice and piercing.

Hair

A little longer than shoulder length, braided and jet black.

Height

6'0"

Weight

150 lbs

Known Languages

Norsican, Elvish, Francian, Teuton, some Xholtic, Danusian.