Rank: Sister-Sergeant
Race: Human
Birthdate/Age: 900, 4E (27)
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Appearance: Mera is quite small, even for a woman, standing at only 5 feet and weighing 100 lbs. Despite this, she is very fit, more than many men. She takes pride in being a contortionist and is able to flex her body to extreme degrees, even with armor on. She keeps her hair short, but long enough that she can put it in a ponytail. She has a stern face that offsets her happy nature, but her brown eyes are always full of mirth. When she is not wearing her armor, Mera sports a tunic and breeches of plain colors, along with well-crafted boots and gloves. A flower can usually be found somewhere on her clothing when she has access to plants.
Personality: Mera is a happy-go-lucky type of person: no matter the situation, she will always be optimistic. She constantly tries to improve the morale of those around her if they are faltering, acting as an emotional bulwark for others. Refusing to let herself become depressed, she accomplishes his feat by drawing happiness out of the mood of others. In a way, her good-will is to help herself, making it so she does not become depressed. This personality carries outside of combat as well. While not much for jokes, she does not let uncomfortable feeling stop her from talking with others. In fact, talking with other people is one of the activities she finds most enjoyable.
Despite having joined the order, she is not one for following commands if she doesn't feel like it. While she supports the aims of the order for the most part, she does not approve of all the means to reach the end. This is part of the reason she has not advance past the rank of sergeant despite having served for a while in the Order. Often, she will deviate from what her superiors have told her because she finds the command inefficient or morally wrong. Sometimes her plans work, sometimes they don't, but she is not phased by this. To Mera, the freedom to act as one sees fit for the good of all is more important than rigid structure. Generally practical in nature, she has a penchant for flowers.
Skills/Abilities: Because of her small size, Mera is not able to compete with others in terms of strength. To compensate for this, she strives to master many skills that would make the strength of her enemies much less valuable. The one skill she spends the most time on is dueling. While this may seem less effective on the battlefield due to its hectic nature, Mera has found a way to make it work. Working this skill since the age of 14, she has become one of the best sword-fighters in Calaris. In addition to combat, she considers herself a fair contortionist and musician. She plays the lute exceptionally well, showing a natural talent for the instrument. The contortionism serves both to increase her flexibility and provide a means of escaping difficult situations.
While she sticks to fairly honorable means, she has learned how to lock-pick and pick-pocket so as to be able to enter areas and take items without being noticed.
History: Born to a poor family of 5 in the southern regions of Calaris, Mera lived the first few years of her life in destitution. A drought had devastated the area in which she lived several years before she was born and had yet to fully recover. Because of this, famine was a common experience. With her family, she wandered from village to village, begging for scraps, stealing when necessary. In spite of their poor lifestyle, she was always happy, treating life as a game. This was tempered when at the age of 7 her father was killed by bandits. Travelling through the forest, they were surrounded by five outlaws that preyed the forest for travelers such as them, people no one would miss because of their position. Pleading that they had no possessions of worth, they began to beat her father to the point of death, continuing with her older brother once he tried to stop the men.
He would have been killed had it not been for the chance passing of a knight driving off the bandits. Escorting them to the castle of his lord, the knight introduced himself as Ser William Selby. Thanking him profusely, Selby shrugged off the gratitude, instead saying that it was the duty of a knight to take care of those that he could. Seeing that both Mara's father and elder brother received attention from the local apothecary, he directed the rest of her family to a guest hall that travelers could stay for the night. Explaining that it would be some time before the men were in condition to travel, and therefore longer than the usual policy of staying no more than three nights at a guest house, Mera's mother would need to find work to make small payments towards the upkeep. Taking on a job as a laundress consumed most of Mera's mother's day left Mera herself free to wander around the castle, albeit with her younger brother to ensure he was safe. It was during this time that she became enamored with the idea of sword fighting. Much of the time she would be found observing the squires practicing at the pells or with the men-at-arms. When her mother found out, Mera was reprimanded but this simply served to interest her more.
When her father and brother were deemed fit to travel, they returned to the farm which they had occupied before the famine struck. Discovering everything destroyed or in need of repair, they journeyed into the nearby town of Lakesbridge. Because of the influx from the surrounding countryside, all jobs were occupied already by people of more skilled disposition. This did not mean that no work was done, however. The lord of the town set everyone to expanding the city wall and cathedral, an ambitious project by any standards. There Mera would remain until the age of 14, when a fire raged through the town, consuming thre-fourths of the buildings. Her father and younger brother died, leaving Mera, her mother, and older brother to travel the country alone. Once again returning to the castle occupied by Lord Selby, Mera's mother took up a permanent position as a cook while her brother, Harold, became a man-at-arms. Though against normal standards, Harold secretly taught Mera what he learned of sword-fighting, leading her to take an interest in the art.
Amassing her own personal collection of coin, she left the castle at 18. Promising to one day return, she traveled to the capital of Calaris. However, this coincided with the start of the civil war. She was virtually trapped inside the city at this time, so with nothing better to do, she kept training herself in the ways of sword-fighting. This brought scorn and eventually a challenge from a young knight infused with cheap wine. Agreeing on victory by first blood, Mera herself was surprised when she thoroughly beat the man withing thirty seconds of the start of the round. Enraged, he attempted to attack her. Still holding her dueling sword, she was attacked by him and his friends. Using all the skills she had available, she managed to fend them off. Three of the knights died while attacking her. Scheduled to be executed for murder, she was instead pardoned by none other than Ser Selby himself. Having recently joined the Order of the Watchers, he convinced her to join despite the status of the organization. Accepting the offer, she became a member for self-preservation and in hopes of one day seeing her mother again. It was while in the Order that she learned her mother had been a witch of some sorts, and the memories of "meaningless" chants came back to her, each filled with meaning and power. Though unsure of what to do with the paltry magical knowledge she has, it may prove useful to her.