Duran de Merlon

Duran de Merlon is a magus of House Bonisagus and a spiritual alchemist. He inherited Casa sus Baux in Spring of 1230, coincidentally within a few months of passing his Wizards' Gauntlet.

Duran believes that alchemy is the noblest Art: its goal is the perfection of mankind and the elimination of suffering. Although he excels in Hermetic magic, he believes the Founders' theory of magic is only a stepping stone to greater enlightenment. Magic as the Order of Hermes knows it provides the tools by which true insight into the secrets of Creation may be obtained.

Appearance

Duran is a short, thin man with an aristocratic forehead, fine if somewhat weak features, and watery blue eyes. He looks younger than his years and wears a short beard to offset that, despite beards being out of fashion for nobles and scholars. Imagine the most scrawny and effeminate picture of Jesus you've ever seen, and give him a haircut.

Duran wears wizards' robes around the covenant, but when he goes abroad, he usually dresses in outdated and overlarge noble's clothes he inherited from his uncle.

Personality and Motivations

• Ambitious +1
• Curious +2
• Brave +1

What does he do?

Duran wants to discover the Philsopher's Stone, the secret to curing all diseases (and to eternal life). In the meantime, he makes potions and spells that transform people and materials beyond their normal limitations.

Why does he do it?

To help the sick and rid the world of physical suffering. To overcome his own limitations.

What made him do it?

He was a sickly and weak child. During apprenticeship, his master was able to permanently increase his Stamina, ridding him of the wheezing and fevers that used to take hold of him so easily.

What do people think of him?

That he's brilliant in the laboratory, but totally impractical. This is not entirely fair or accurate. People, especially uneducated ones, think he asks too many questions and has a Quixotic imagination.

What are his habits?

He spends a lot of time alone, reading, experimenting, or thinking. He likes to eavesdrop on covenfolk to see how they behave when there's no wizard around. He's austere in his personal life, maintaining a careful diet of health foods, sleeping on a stone bench like a monk, and taking cold baths every couple of days.

What are his Talents?

Duran is very good with Magic Theory due to his rigorous training during apprenticeship. His affinity for alchemy makes him excel at spells and enchantments that enhance a person's capabilities.

What does he like?

He likes to learn and understand things. He likes inventing things. He likes legends and, especially, troubadour songs.

What doesn't he like?

Duran's not much interested in material comforts, status, or the trappings of wealth. He dislikes people using religion as a pretext for their selfish agendas, which he believes is the essential cause of the Albigensian Crusade. Duran doesn't like being bullied or seeing others bullied.

Early Life

Duran de Merlon is the third son of a gentleman, Remi de Merlon and Marguerite de Merlon née Baux, who lived on an estate in the County of Toulouse. Duran remembers, when he was about five years old, a visit from a mysterious stranger whom he remembers his mother told him was a servant of his uncle, Maurice. His Gift made him an unpopular child, bullied by the other boys. By necessity, he learned to stand up for himself on occasion. He was raised mainly by his nurse and later, by the estate's old gardener, Feris, who entertained him for many hours with legends of Orlando and the knights of Charlemagne, as well as other romances and folk tales.

Duran's magical talent manifested as an early knack for herbalism. He invented a few weak magical potions of his own, and delighted old Feris by concocting an effective hair tonic. Most of the commoners in the area were sympathetic to the Cathars and muttered darkly about "doing something" about the "witch boy." A "friend of the family" arrived when Duran was about twelve years old and whisked him away. His parents said he was to be fostered by distant kin in a safe place far from the Crusade, and perhaps they even believed it.

In truth, the grogs who fetched Duran away to Ile de France delivered him to the small covenant of Etoile d'Argent, where studied the alchemist Enora of House Bonisagus. Enora used her magic to permanently remedy Duran's sickly nature. She, along with her familiar, gradually taught him the mysteries of alchemy.