As per that handwriting style thing, I quickly looked through and found some for the D&D kids
(Source) Merit doesn’t write often, so his penmanship isn’t as Graceful as he might otherwise like it to be, but it does get the job done. A little scribbly, but legible and cute.
(Source) it took Dion a long time to properly learn to write at all throughout and after a rough childhood... also legit I have no surname for Dion nor does he remember what his was, so “the thief” to make a longer example. ALL CAPS kinda writing is all he really learned.
(Source) Kat writes fast and has heavy influence of dwarvish nature in her writing, so quick and angular and SHOUTY bc everything is important to her... also Dwarvish might not even have a lower case alphabet, and this passes through to when she writes Common.
(Source) Ah, Lyndon, the only one with actual penmanship, a skill drilled into her by her priest parent and years of writing for for the temple and in her own journal.
Answers for other characters to those two D&D questions, featuring backup gals and the grumpy golden boy:
Katiah’s a wizard because Magic and Study are major interests of hers--she didn’t have natural inclination to magic like a sorcerer, but she didn’t need that. She’a an Adventurer in part for money but mostly to discover ruins of old and places of magical significance, and get Famous from these discoveries
Lyndon’s a cleric because it is a long-standing tradition in her family to worship The Raven Queen, and serve her as some divine class or another. Lyndon goes adventuring not for any coin or fame at all, but because she goes on a Pilgrimage of a sort (Details of pilgrimage and why haven’t been planned bc hopefully they won’t need to be sorted soon)
Dion is a rogue as he grew up poor among scoundrels and was ordered to pickpocket or otherwise sneak about where ever they couldn’t, and as he grew up and escaped them, he had nothing left but their lessons of thievery and lying. He became an adventurer for the money exclusively bc he doesn’t want to be Known, and also because he doesn’t have much stopping his self-destruction, so death during a journey was just as welcome.
“Katiah!” The dwarven woman chastised. All ginger hair and golden jewelry gleams in the low, low light of the Thorin home. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“Freja.” Katiah, the only slightly taller drow, pleaded back. Stubborn as always standing there in her teal robes. Both Katiah’s lilac eyes and Freja’s golden ones reflected and glowed in the light of the lone fire lit in its place in the vast library branch. “He’s been gone for ages, and he was one of the last ancient runesmiths, if our researchers are right. We can’t be afraid of him suddenly coming back after all this time.”
“It ain’t gonna be good to go through a dragon’s possessions, Kats.” Freja said with exasperation. “We don’t even know for sure that he ain’t still in there, or if he’s just taken over by that illness spreadin’ round. The guild’s spread thin enough.”
Katiah frowned deeply, looking down at the ground and fidgeting with her bracelets. Freja’s shoulders slumped slightly, the burning resolve in her eyes softening to a caring sobriety. She stood from her place sitted behind her desk and went round it to take Katiah’s fidgeting hands and hold them between her own scarred ones. “I am sorry, but I ain’t sending you or anyone to get killed so far from home. It’ll be more trouble than it’s worth unless we know what’s in there.”
A long silence stretched between them, broken only by fire crackling and then, in a small and thin tone, Katiah spoke, “I know, mama.”
alrighty Who is Katiah, and what are at least 3 facts about em?
!!! Katiah is a drow wizard (or Eldritch Knight fighter, I go back and forth on if she should be beefy or not) and my backup character to play if I don’t/can’t play Merit in my usual D&D campaign!
Three things abt her include
She is a researcher of runic magic, historian and treasure hunter
She reads voraciously, not just the usual history nerd stuff either, she reads cheesy romances etc too, but isn’t proud of that fact
She’s fairly awkward, but when she likes someone or s/t, she’ll make them gifts-- she has a lot of skill in blacksmithing and jewelry-making, and is a fine perfectionist in her crafts.
pronouns: he/him & they/their (she/her doesn’t really bother him either, but rarely are they used)
O T H E R S
family: Aleron Brightwood (father), his dryad mother who I will not name yet bc spoilers… but for different spoilers, I will also list his two dryad aunts, an adoptive satyr uncle, and technically whoever remains in the Brightwood family beyond Aleron.
birthplace: the Rosewood Thickets, in the Northeastern corner of Tan’um.
job: Guild member of the Horned Hail (Stag’s Eye branch), Warlock-Apprentice of Archfae Lord Kilan & Agent of the Summer Court
guilty pleasures: …Problem: Merit was raised a hedonist and thus finds no guilt in things he takes pleasure in. Like, there’s one not actually that bad kink that could count, but it gets Merit emotionally not just physically and he doesn’t like admitting to it.
introvert/extrovert: Introvert, actually! Not heavily so, but he does need alone time to recharge.
organized/disorganized: Disorganized, but he’s not really had enough items for it to be a bother... mostly.
close minded/open-minded: Open-minded, but it greatly depends on the subject.
calm/anxious: Calm by default, but anxiety happens frequently.
disagreeable/agreeable: Once again, it depends. Generally agreeable to plans and etc though.
cautious/reckless: Cautious, though I think that’s because sometimes I influence Merit’s choices in-game, and I am a Real Cautious person.
patient/impatient: Depends, but mostly impatient.
outspoken/reserved: Meant to be outspoken, but again, sometimes some of my influence works through and Merit has become a bit more reserved.
leader/follower: Follower, though he does take the initiative at times.
empathetic/unemphatic: Empathetic, which has cost him a lot of grief among his fae upbringing.
optimistic/pessimistic: Optimistic… with a tinge of anxious pessimism. “It could be worse, for example–” kinda. It also changes depending on season, pessimism comes more naturally to Merit in winter.
traditional/modern: Technically traditional, but… fae traditional, which has its own customs that are not the usual.
hard-working/lazy: Honestly? Kinda lazy tbh.
R E L A T I O N S H I P S
otp: Merit/Noah, Merit/affection, honestly I’d give Merit/anyone you can think of an honest thought… and. i mean... i guess… Merit/Kilan also, but that’s a potential minefield and I love it but don’t wanna see it come to fruition
ot3: Merit/a lake nymph from his past/said nymph’s mortal lover, Merit/Affection/Freedom
brotp: MERIT+REVERENCE I LOV THE TEAM VIRTUE, Merit+Pen, Literally just like Merit+the Party, Merit+Geo (…I wouldn’t be afraid of listing that as OTP either but they never flirted, hm)
notp: There’s at least one I could list here, but it involves an NPC we haven’t seen yet, So.
KATIAH
B A S I C S
full name: Katiah Emri Thorin
gender: Femme
sexuality: Questioningly asexual
pronouns: She/her & they/them
O T H E R S
family: Freja Thorin (adoptive mother) and Halvor Thorin (adoptive father)
birthplace: Somewhere in the Underdark.
job: Researcher and arcane specialist for a currently unnamed guild, part time jeweler and blacksmith.
phobias: the ocean, failure, being forgotten, too-wide open places, deserts
guilty pleasures: Bad and cheesy romance novels, really sweet sweets, making jewelry esp as gifts for people she likes
#I could run all my kids through this not just these two from TA but I'd be here spammin' y'all all day
[does the literally quizzes for some of my D&D kids anyways]
✧ Homeric Epithet
You are swift-footed Merit. This is the same epithet Homer used to describe Achilles roughly eight thousand times over the course of The Iliad and even a few times in The Odyssey. (You’ll remember “swift-footed” Achilles as that guy who took an arrow to the ankle during the Trojan War and died. Good luck with that.)
(wheezes laughing)
You are Katiah, great teller of tales. The Greek hero Odysseus had many epithets ascribed to him (others included “much-enduring,” “cunning,” and “man of twists and turns”), and this was one of them, so you’re in good company.
You are bright-eyed Lyndon. Homer also used this epithet to describe Athena, the goddess of things like wisdom, diplomacy, war, and arts and crafts. Athena was the patron of Odysseus and helped him out of some tough spots, except for those times she just didn’t feel like it for some reason or another.
Dion also got swift-footed. Huh.
✧ Fatal Flaw
Merit's Fatal flaw: You’re an idealist in a cruel, callous world.
You want the world to be good. Here’s the problem: it’s usually not. At best it’s subpar. At worst it’s a nightmare void, and your naiveté is simply a plot device used to emphasize this point. Your inability to accept the world’s present darkness will lead to your untimely downfall, but not before your dewy-eyed idealism and rosy visions of utopia erode away. You will become a shell of your former self. Sorry about that. Yikes.
Katiah's Fatal flaw: You’re too clever by half.
Your intelligence is unmatched, but your smart mouth is going to get you into trouble one of these days. Everyone says so. Odds are you’ll make one witty remark too many and meet a tragic, easily preventable end that surprises no one in the least. You’ll be mourned, of course, but we all saw it coming, and you kind of deserved it.
Lyndon also got Idealist.
Dion's Fatal flaw: Your brutal honesty.
You’re blunt. You’re outspoken. Frankly, you’re kind of a jerk. But you get away with it because you’re usually right and also because you’re indispensable to the major plot. But honestly? It’s going to come back to haunt you. One of these days, you’re going to be TOO honest. You’re going to refuse to lie at a critical juncture, upholding your honorable caustic truthfulness, and you’re going to pay the ultimate price for it.
✧ Death in Greek Mythology
Merit got murdered by accident, in Achilles’ armor:
One day, during the Trojan War, Achilles decides to just up and quit. He’s the greatest warrior apparently ever, so this is something of an issue. You can’t bear to watch men die in battle for Achilles’ pride, so you don his armor yourself and lead his men into battle. Everyone thinks you are Achilles, and morale is high. You die, however, because somewhere in there you remember that you’re actually terrible at fighting. Silver lining: Achilles avenges your death something FIERCE. So that's something.
Katiah got killed by a wild boar that was sent by one of the gods:
See, here’s the thing—someone sent that wild boar. It might have been Artemis, because she was jealous of your skill with a bow and arrow; it might have been Ares, who hated you; or it might have been Apollo, because your girlfriend blinded his son. There’s really no telling. You made enemies. This is just what happens when you’re too beautiful to even exist. Either way, you got mauled by a pig and are now dead, but you died in Aphrodite’s arms as she wept, so at least you've got that going for you.
Lyndon also got murdered by accident. Interesting that she and Merit are getting similar ones here and there.
Dion died wearing a wedding dress that is on fire:
You might be wondering why you would do such a foolish thing, and the answer is you're going to get on the bad side of Medea. Why would you ever get on the bad side of Medea? She doesn’t care about anything, least of all you. It all starts when Medea’s dude-lover, Jason, abandons her to be with you. So instead of having anything even resembling a calm, reasonable reaction, Medea responds by giving you a cursed wedding dress that catches fire as soon as you put it on. Some sources say the dress was actually coated in poison. Either way, I think you’ll agree, it’s not good.
✧ Library Setting
Merit got Hogwarts!
We all wish we were Hogwarts students, but you seriously belong there. You’re a quirky, creative, and magical person, and you were born to wander Hogwarts’ expansive grounds, use its secret passageways to sneak into Honeydukes, and take whimsical Hippogriff rides into the sunset. Just imagine walking past the Room of Requirement with Sunday brunch on your mind (brunch food + Hogwarts magic=RIDICULOUS foodstagrams). You'll need to look out for trolls, giant spiders, basilisks, cursed necklaces, evil students, booger-flavored beans, etc, but in the words of the late, great Sirius Black, what's life without a little risk?
Katiah got “On the road!”
Like so many literary characters (Huck Finn, Odysseus, Gulliver, etc.), you’re an adventurer and explorer at heart, and the literary setting that most closely matches your personality is, quite frankly…all the settings! You’re not meant to settle down in one spot—you’re the kind of person who hits up multiple parties in one night, and your insta is probably filled with pics of all the cool places you’ve travelled to. So embrace it! Take to the open road with your friends, run through a field of wildflowers in the middle of nowhere, and please get a pic next to the world’s largest Ketchup bottle.
Lyndon got Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s stunning country estate!
This elegant mansion is replete with classy chaise lounges, tasteful decoration, natural beauty, and large marble statues of wealthy, gorgeous Brits. Totally ideal for a charming, Lizzy Bennet-type like yourself! The secluded woody hills are perfect for taking dates on long, romantic (un-chaperoned) strolls, and the house itself is so Instagram-worthy that even Taylor Swift (house-party hostess extraordinaire) will be jealous of you and your squad’s bash-throwing capabilities!
