A male wolf, almost 40 years old. Stands 6'2", weighs #250. He has thick but well-groomed grey hair that varies from very light on his chin, belly, and hands to very dark on the top of his head, his back, the back of his arms, and his hips.

He goes by Maris which is the common, familiar form of Medamar (just as 'Rory' is of 'Roderic', and so on). Some people call him Lord Saliere, and this doesn't bother him. His wife and daughter call him Tarquin, or sometimes just Quin.

His Story

Maris' father-- Cyrus Al'besh-- is a well to do gem merchant in Jacinth, and Maris had every intention of following him into the trade. When Maris was 16, his father arranged a marriage for him with Adara Lilia Il'not Saliere. She was the third daughter of Lady Augusta Saliere, a prominent noble whose family had ties to Corundum society.

It was a marriage of convenience, but the two actually fell in love. Since Lilia is a bear, they could only have children by a surrogate. Maris' father paid the great expense for a dam to bear their first-born. Before the child was born, the action surrounding a stolen, magical jewel embroiled Maris in a misadventure fleeing from the henchmen of crimelords and unscrupulous nobles. Maris survived the incident, wanting only to live to see his child born.

Maris and Lilia's first child was a boy they named Medamar II. Life went on, with Maris falling into other dangerous situations that he dismissed as bad luck. Two years later, Lilia bore their daughter Olivia.

As things developed, Maris could not deny that he was élané. This was a horrible embarrassment to his father, an uncouth unmentionable to his in-laws, and-- worst of all-- a danger to Lily and the children. After his 21st birthday, Maris let himself be convinced that he should enlist in the Jewel Cities' Foreign Legion.

In the years that followed, Maris remained faithful to Lilia, and she to him, but he was able to return to Jacinth less than he liked.

Despite his lack of experience, his family's influence bought him a commission in the Corps. He was assigned to a small garrison near the border with Bhargive. There was little happening on the border in those years, and the nearby village had little to interest soldiers. There was an ancient library there, however, and Maris became friends with the caretaker. He'd never been much of a reader, but there were books about fascinating stuff like mythology and magic-- nothing like the dry city history, genealogy, and accounting that his tutors had made him study. Maris became especially interested in the lore of rune swords.

Mustering out afer a five year tour, Maris travelled as something of a soldier of fortune. He served as an agent of the Crown during some of this time, as a guard or escort for travelling parties. After ten years, he grew tired of the travelling soldier's life and returned to Jacinth.

Augusta had been crowned Countess Saliere and was living in Corundum. Lilia had moved there with the children. She made clear that none of them could do with having their élané husband/father with them at court. Similarly, Maris' father was unwilling to involve an élané in his business.

So Maris spent several months at loose ends in Jacinth. He decided to try his hand at being a writer-- a career more compatible with adventure. He began two books. One was a pot-boiler novel about a fictional, racoon knight errant named Sir Arkwright. The other was a scholarly work on sword lore. He paid to publish the novel himself and sold copies around Jacinth and Corundum. It was successful enough that a publisher purchased rights for a larger run. He has written half-a-dozen more Arkwright adventures, and they have sold well both in the Cities and abroad. His manuscript on sword lore has circulated among scholarly correspondents, but remains unfinished.

Now

Maris lives in a working class boarding house in a simple and perhaps slightly shady neighborhood. The neighborhood houses a great number of refugees from the war. He is a regular at the Oiled Ocelot, and has recently developed a taste for the strange, new music that is played there. In addition to the simplistic Arkwright stories, he is working on a novel drawn from this ex-pat jazz scene.

Maris tries to visit Corundum at least once a month, but he rarely stays with Lilia more than overnight. There relationship is strained. He is constantly aware that his son and the Countess don't want him at court, and they have more time with her than he does. Word he collects is that she hasn't taken lovers in all the years he's been away, but he hasn't made a thorough enquiry-- he's ashamed that he asked at all.

Young Medamar (age 22) won't suffer the familiar form Maris; it's too low-class, he says. The young lord follows in the wake of Countess Augusta at court. Maris fears that his son has become a shallow toadie concerned only with status and meaningless intrigues. The son thinks his father is an an uncouth bumpkin and an embarrassment. Maris thinks this is funny, since the boy is from Jacinth and a relative new-comer to high society himself. Nevertheless, he realizes that his son is old enough to remember his father leaving and suspects that this is a hidden but festering hurt.

Olivia (age 20) really only has memories of her father as a friendly, funny sometimes-visitor she was taught to respect. She is more independent-minded than her brother. Having completed finishing school, she has aspirations of being a diplomat. She is the warmest of the three to Maris, and doesn't mind that he still calls her Notty (a familiar form of her middle name Il'notkin). She has kept them a secret from everyone else, but told her father about the adventures at finishing school that suggest that she, too, is élané. She is often busy with studies and duties, but both have great fun when they can spend time together.

pdm:gaming stuff:maris