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Species: elf (field)
Gender: male
Age: 36 (about 18-19 physically)
DOB: 7th Aul ("ool")
Birthplace: the Green Circle Protectorate
Praetor:
Occupation: thief, bard
Languages: Low Elven,

Personality
Untrusting and jealous, Marlu is a person ruled by his emotions. His parents' apathy has made it hard for him to form meaningful relationships with others -- he had no good example for it in his childhood. He despises nobles and refinement, preferring the rougher, grittier side of life. A career thief, he is bereft of those morals which would interfere with his work: respect for property and beliefs. He is not a killer and has no wish to physically harm, but he does not tolerate things and people getting in his way and will not hesitate to push them aside.

Marlu has very little emotional control. Whether he's happy, sad, angry, or excited, he shows it. He only wins at poker when he cheats, and he's always willing to cheat if it gives him an advantage. Most of his life he's played second fiddle, and he resents it, so he'll do whatever it takes to make sure he comes out on top. He's ruled by his passions and rarely thinks of the future, preferring to live in the moment. He has quite the wild personality and is always up for a drink or a party, or both, especially when combined with pretty women.

At the same time, because he has so little control, he cannot help but to love his friends, however few their number. Though he always thinks of himself first by instinct and habit, give him a moment and he'll remember his friends as well, usually a moment too late. His lack of reliability weighs heavily on his heart. He has a hard time forgiving himself for all the times he has betrayed his friends, inadvertently and on purpose, and is always humbled by how easily his friends forgive him.

His one redeeming quality, if it can be called that, is his love for music. He plays the guitar and flute beautifully and has an interesting singing voice, somewhat gravelly, but good at conveying emotion. He can completely immerse himself into a piece of music and forget the world around him, but his finest performances are the ones he intends for others. It is in his music that he best conveys his capability to love.

Marlu is also working hard to change. Having been given his second chance, he's trying to reform himself, to control his jealousy and be less selfish. He wants to be able to stay with the woman he loves and there may not be any third chances. It's a difficult thing for him, but with the love and support of his friends, this time he just might make it.

Physical Characteristics
Height: 5' 6"
Weight/Build: thin; the last of his baby fat is finally disappearing from his face
Hair: wispy pale blonde, long (halfway down back), usually kept in a low ponytail or braided
Eyes: left eye teal blue-green, right eye brown -- he fell from the roof of his parents house as a child and blood vessels burst in the eyes, turning it brown
Skin: pale, lightly freckled on the cheeks; freckles show more after he's been in the sun
Face: round/oval face, medium-long nose and narrow eyes
Attire: Clothing Lineup When younger, he wore green, like everyone else from the Green Circle, but since the destruction of his homeland, he hates the color, preferring gold and orange. Wears tunics and other fantasy garb. He wears the Green Circle talisman around his neck: it is a large green gem ringed with gold and hanging on a short golden chain.

Collective History: the Green Circle
Nestled in the fertile lands is the haven known as the Green Circle. Home to a small number of humans and elves, it is an area of peace and prosperity, green and vibrant, and proof of the idea that humans and elves can live peacefully together after the Great Wars. Ruled by a collective of elves and Elders, its most honored family is the noble Orvinque, holders of the Green Circle talisman after which the land was named.

Things were peaceful for hundreds of years until the younger son of the Orvinque family, Albemarle Grunsparwa Orvinque, stole the Green Circle and ran off with it into the woods. He was pursued by the elder son, Aronnax Grunhafoc Orvinque, and Cecil Lavanchy, a mage from the human town. When Albemarle activated the Circle to defend himself from monsters, he became the Circle's Bearer, and all the evils of the land descended upon him, hungry for the Circle's powers. Albemarle fled, but was eventually caught by Aronnax and Cecil who, unabel to remove the Circle from Albemarle, were forced to join him. They journeyed up into the snowy peaks of the Great North Mountains, where they encountered the barbarian Baramis Arzen-Gafoul, who was on a holy quest for the Goddess in the hopes of being named her paladin-champion.

On top of Snowy Peak, they fought the Lord of Blackdragon and defeated him. But Blackdragon's minions were not so easily dissuaded, and the intrepid heroes sought refuge in the Great North Temple's sanctuary. There they were visited by the Goddess, who named Baramis her paladin-champion, and Cecil her mage-champion. Empowered by the Goddess, the heroes charged out and threw back the attackers, driving them away from the Temple.

But it was too late for the land of the Green Circle. Without its protective talisman, it had been overrun by orcs and all the fertile greenery destroyed. Aronnax, rightly blaming Albemarle, pronounced his brother was dead to him. He set out to gather up warriors to take back the Circle. Cecil and Baramis, the Goddess' champions, set out to do the Goddess' bidding and fight for her glory. Albemarle was invited into the Goddess' home..

Individual History
Marlu was born into the shadow of his older brother Aronnax, the most perfect son any noble family could hope for. Aronnax was strong and agile, reserved and discerning, educated and handsome. Like any younger brother, Marlu idolized his elder sibling, but also yearned for his brother's demise. Aronnax was the favored son and commanded all of their parents' attention. It was impossible for Marlu, undersized and uncontrolled, to ever measure up to the example set by his brother.

So he turned to troublemaking, moving from tantrums and messes to small crimes at a young age. He was desperate for his parents' attention, even negative attention, and willing to do anything to get it. He stole anything he could get his hands on, especially from other noble families in the area, and from the humans in the nearby town. The older he got, the more valuable items he stole. If his parents were angry with him, it at least meant they were noticing his existence.

It was in the course of stealing from the humans he met Cecil Lavanchy. Marlu was twenty-three and Cecil sixteen, but for an elf, twenty-three is very young, whereas for humans, sixteen is the cusp of adulthood. Cecil was a student of the local mage and caught Marlu stealing from his master's house. He gave Marlu a sound thrashing, the first the elf had ever received in his whole life. Marlu escaped, but the attention was what he was looking for, so he began stealing where Cecil would see him and catch him. They became rivals, Marlu always trying to evade Cecil and Cecil always trying to catch him.

But the publicity of Marlu's antics brought even more shame to his family and finally his parents decided to disown him and kick him out on stormy night. Marlu went the only other place he knew: Cecil's house, but Cecil, of course, closed the door in his face. Marlu ended up sobbing on the streets and curled up in an alleyway in a trash pile to sleep.

The next day, his criminal career began in earnest. He was woken up by a housewife who shooed him out of the trash pile with her broom. Hungry, he stole bread from the baker, who pelted him with eggs. He went to the town square and dirtied up the fountain to wash out the eggs until the guard came and chased him away. He tried to steal people's purses and their food and everything else he could think of, anything to survive. He tried to steal from a thug and was beaten up. When eventually Cecil caught up with him, he found the young elf beaten and bloody and dirty and sick with fever and cold. As much trouble as Marlu had caused him, he took pity on the elf boy and took him home and cleaned him up and fed him and kept him warm.

Cecil tried to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep at his desk, and so when Marlu awoke, he took advantage of the mage's sleep and stole everything of value in the house before running off.

Marlu decided he had quit enough of his homeland and he would go out and seek an adventure. First, he had one last stop. He snuck into his parents' house and stole the family heirloom: the Green Circle, a legendary necklace after which the lands of the Green Circle were named.

He had no idea this heirloom was in fact a great magical object. He simply wanted to hurt his parents as much as possible. So he ran off with it, and Cecil's things, and headed out for adventure. Little did he know that his family would send his older brother Aronnax out after the Circle, or that Cecil would chase after him, too. He simply ran off without any though of what might be behind him. He ran into several monsters, but with his agility and limited magic, defeated or escaped them. It was in the process of defending himself that he discovered the Green Circle had magic powers, and activating it made him the new Bearer of the Green Circle. It also sent the minions of evil searching after him, hungry for the Circle's power now that it was out of the Green Circle lands.

He was lucky that Aronnax and Cecil caught up to him when they did, for he was embattled against a terrible blackcreature, and would surely have perished without their intervention. Cecil and Aron quickly discovered that the Green Circle protected its bearer and could not be removed by force. Cecil decided to help Marlu, and Aronnax begrudgingly complied as well, because the only way to get the Green Circle back to his parents' home was to take Marlu there voluntarily.

Marlu did not want to go back, and instead heeded the call of the Circle, which led them to the Great North Mountains and the peaks of snow. There, they met the barbarian, Baramis Arzen-Gafoul, on a quest chosen by the Goddess. It was clearly fate that they met Baramis, for it was there on the snowy peaks that they encountered Lord Blackdragon and were able to defeat him, but were chased by his minions into the Great North Temple and there met the Goddess.

Marlu was completely awed by the Goddess, never expecting in his life to see such a visage. When she looked at him, he felt something move in his spirit. After she had given them all her blessing and named Cecil and Baramis her new champions, they were able to drive back Blackdragon's minions. Afterwards they returned to the Temple and the Goddess told them how the lands of Green Circle had been overrun. Marlu and Cecil were crushed, and Aronnax immediately blamed Marlu for their homeland's destruction, pronouncing his brother dead to him and setting out to free the Green Circle from the orcs. Cecil also blamed Marlu, but at the same time, the weeks of fighting together and the years of their history had created a strong bond between the two, and he was not so quick to abandon Marlu. But Cecil was now the Goddess' Mage-Champion, and he and Baramis were tasked to go out and glorify their patron. Which left Marlu alone with the Goddess, and she invited him to join her.

Post-Extraction
This was how Marlu made the acquaintance of Emi, and also came to live at her house in Virginia with all of its many wonders. He and Emi were an instant fit. They lived and laughed together, never quite sure of their relationship, but always certain that they belonged with one another in as many ways as possible. He continued to be good friends with Cecil, and made a new friend in the form of Miguel Laroux. Miguel treated Marlu as Aronnax had, with general contempt, but it was a relationship Marlu craved in his life.

But Marlu was also insanely jealous of other men in Emi's life: her father, her brother, her "sons," her uncles, her friends -- basically everyone in the household. He wanted her to love only him and no one else, which was, of course, impossible for an active praetorix. He started to act out, saying hurtful things to other household members and Emi, and then chasing after any attractive young lady he could find in an attempt to make Emi jealous. Emi was patient, believing that in time Marlu would learn to accept the rest of the family the way he accepted her.

Her patience was not rewarded. Eventually, a fed up Marlu decided to leave the Household in favor of other dimensions with more pretty girls and plenty of drinking and carousing. Both Emi and Cecil were sad to see him leave, but it was his life and his choice. So Marlu spent a good two years drinking and carousing and generally getting into any sort of trouble he could find. He periodically returned to the house to brag about how great his life was, though in truth he missed and longed for the companionship of loved ones and friends. He was simply too proud to admit it. Every time he returned to the house, he found Emi had amassed more and more family members and loved ones in her capacity as a praetorix. Though she insisted she still loved him just as much, he could not see it. Several months after the Fleet was formed he decided to strike back at Emi in the worst way possible: he went over to the enemy. To show his resolve, he removed the talisman of the Green Circle and left it where Cecil would find it.

He was not alone, Miguel Laroux went with him, partly to try and prevent Marlu from making such a giant mistake, but mostly because Marlu was his friend. And in a sad twist of fate, for the second time in Marlu's life, his brother Aronnax pursued him, determined to stop his sibling from destroying yet another land the way he had caused the destruction of the Green Circle.

The enemy was eager to capture Marlu, knowing his importance to Emi. They dispatched Aronnax and then Miguel and pulled Marlu into their fold. They subjected him to endless interrogation that lasted years and corrupted his mind, brainwashing him into their service. The whole time, Emi kept up hope that she would find him, and several years later, she finally did, but he was changed. The enemy had filled him with hatred and given him a gun. He was bait and intended assassin.

But Emi had not come alone, and unbeknownst to either Marlu or the enemy, the man who traveled with her, Kazu Yamida, was a grey templar who was able to bend the force of time and save Emi's life from the intended kill. The blow was turned back on Marlu and he was mortally wounded. He died in Emi's arms, though she tried her best to save him.

Then came the Conference, and after an indeterminable length of time spent drifting in the void of death, Marlu found himself settling back into existence. Against all odds, Emi had brought him back. It was a relief, and it was a crushing realization. Now that he was alive again, he would have to face what he had done, and the hundreds of people whose trust he had betrayed. He was terrified, but he went back with Emi to the Conference table. He wanted to run away. He nearly did. When the business of the Conference was concluded, he was approached by his old friend Cecil, and was on the verge of fleeing but despite everything, Cecil forgive him, and was simply glad Marlu was alive. He opened his home to Marlu for the second time, and this time Marlu did not steal and run away. For the first time, Marlu had a home. Cecil also returned the Green Circle to Marlu, which he had been keeping safe.

The first few months back were a confusing period for Marlu. He was unsure who he could trust and whether or not he could even consider returning to Emi after what he had done to her. He stayed with Cecil and barely left the house. Gradually, he learned that he had been forgiven, even by people he did not think were capable of it -- including his friend Miguel, whose death he had caused. He decided to try and make it work with Emi again and began courting Sunny, the version of Emi closest to the one he had first loved. He continued living with Cecil, but stopped borrowing Cecil's clothing and began to live his own life again.

He ended up in a platonic friendship with Sunny, not a romance, but for once this was fine with him. He learned how to love her without needing to possess her, and when Sunny became romantically involved with Randall "Rammy" Ramsay, Marlu dealt with it and got over it.

Then things began to fall apart -- not for Marlu, but for Sunny, who became pregnant by Rammy with a daughter. This was expressly forbidden and Sunny was sentenced to death. Marlu was understandably depressed by this, but Cecil and Miguel helped him through it and he decided to stick by Sunny to the end. Shortly after she gave birth, she was ritually killed, and Marlu participated in the ceremony. With her death, he became in some way complete. He finally loved her completely and totally enough to let her go.

Now Marlu stands at a crossroad in his life. He has yet to decide what to do with himself, whether he'll try to pursue a relationship with another version of Emi, or where he should make his permanent residence. He's in no hurry to figure it out, willing to let things unfold as they will.

Cecil Lavanchy - Marlu's best friend, they fight like cats but they always look out for one another. Marlu is technically older than Cecil, but since humans age faster, Cecil is the larger and more mature of the two.

Aronnax Grunhafoc Orvinque - Marlu's older brother, they don't speak.

Miguel Laroux - Marlu's second-best friend, Miguel is a very dark person, and understands Marlu better than anyone else.