#black-rose4

reunion for @ockissweek

HAAA I was JUST about to post my own little introduction when you sent this, perfect timing B)

This is my Rook, Ronnie Mercar (he/she/they), a dwarven rogue belonging to the Shadow Dragons faction.

I'm still hashing things out, but the idea so far is that they used to belong to one of the minor noble houses of Orzammar. In their youth they were heavily influenced by the political discourse surrounding the casteless*, as well as their anxieties surrounding what was expected of them by their family and Orzammar society, both of which fed into their more rebellious nature.

Long story short, years of animosity towards her family and Orzammar as whole made her leave the dwarven city behind, a final act of defiance of both. She did regret this decision about 5 minutes after going through with it, but the bridges had already been burned so she had no choice but to keep on going.

He spent the first couple of years just roaming about, surviving mostly of off the valuables he had brought with him from Orzammar and letting the wind take him where it might. This is where his personal and political journey truly began, discovering the world and just how sheltered he had been growing up. He became more and more involved with the "small folk" in his travels, both as a necessity and out of curiosity, which is how he eventually got tangled up in organizations like Red Jenny and later the Shadow Dragons.

It's this journey of someone who lived a very comfortable life, had an awakening that just shook their entire world view to their core, and slowly became more and more radicalized about it. Their activism was probably clunky as fuck to begin with, but after a few decades in the right company they figured their shit out, as you do.

The meta reason they're a rogue is bc I wanted to play one again. The in-universe reason is that they were primarily taught to fight from members of the various groups they ran into, most of which I imagine would be rogues playing fast and loose with the "rules" of combat. They have the body for it too, being very agile and strong in ways similar to a gymnast, with a good amount of upper body strength and a strong core.

Fun facts:

He absolutely cannot stand mushrooms. The texture, the flavor, the way they're in EVERYTHING down in Orzammar, it just all made him hate them with a fiery passion.

Despite being blind in one eye, they're a great shot. You only need one eye for aiming anyways.

She hates it when people shortens her name to Ron. It's either Ronnie, Fevronia, or Rook. Take your pick or fuck off.

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS | REIF MOONTREE