(no subject)

[tragicscapegoat]

> Personality/Traits

• He has deeply tanned, almost black skin, eyes that look like sea glass, and hair so black it looks like a starless night. He prefers deep colors, especially purple, red, and golds. He also favors very exposing clothing, like skirts and short tops or drapes.
  
  
• Morgan is not English; he's descended from those of Babylon, thus his high aptitude with magic and his strange appearance (dark skin, clothing not of English culture). This makes the other Englishmen uneasy about him, since while nonwhite Englishmen are a fairly simple thing -- Lancelot is half-French, half-Arabian, Arthur's parentage was also not of England though not known -- those two confirm to English culture and religion. Morgan does not, and refuses to; only Merlin's request can make him "cover up", as it were.
  
  
• Morgan, to most people, comes off as creepy and weird. He sometimes cultivates this, acting in strange or intimidating ways, as he knows they'll look on him unfavorably anyway. But that's simply all it is -- an act. While some things he thinks or does may seem creepy, Morgan is a perfectly pleasant person, kind when he wants to be and hardly one to harm others unless needed. Because of his treatment, he does have a negative view of the populace of England and won't go out of his way to help unless there's something in it for him or someone he cares about asks him to. He can, however, have moments of selflessness, especially if those who are at risk of suffering or dying are innocents such as children or poor civilians -- or anyone who responded to him even politely.
  
  
• He approaches people with a very flirty nature, and doesn't mind them taking or touching his hair. It's an act mostly -- he'd never let anyone get intimate with him without Merlin's permission -- but he genuinely does like flirting for flirting's sake. As well, it also unnerves bigoted people and insecure people, which he finds hilarious.
  
  
• When he gets upset, he can come off as cold, especially to Merlin as he might walk right past the man to go lay on the couch. His attitude is anything but cold, though: when in a state like that, Morgan wants to curl up tightly with the one person who doesn't judge him, and stopping to hug on the way to somewhere he can snuggle up is just a pain to him. It's not a lack of affection that has him walk straight to the nearest big sitting spot, but more a sign that he wants and needs a lot of it.
  
  
• He enjoys reading, and often hungrily snaps up any books he can afford or trade his skills for. He also enjoys and is good at gardening, having used it to keep his own garden of various plants and ingredients -- and of course, he's very good at alchemy, using those very plants he grew in his garden or somewhere in the forest. Surprisingly, he also enjoys knitting and yarn in general, no matter the color.
  
  
• While he usually responds to most people sarcastically, mockingly, or with an intentionally infuriating level of crypticness, Morgan can and will engage people normally if he likes them or they've treated him well. For the Knights, he gives most a more... cool and distant treatment than the full mocking, but there are a handful he'll speak with frankly and openly (like Percival, though knowing the boy finds him beautiful, Morgan enjoys teasing him).
  
  
• He calls Merlin zallag, a word in his language meaning "starlight".
  
  
• His favorite fruit -- and favorite food in general -- is melons, as it was a staple fruit in Babylon. He'll do nearly anything for melons, and perks up immensely when they're involved.
  
  
• He has a high respect for food, and finds making bad or bland food insulting. This is because he feels the people who provide it (whether it's meat from hunting, crops from farming, or even harvesting and grinding spices) deserve to be honored for committing to such a harsh and yet necessary job, and anything less than doing your best to make the tastiest food you can is an insult to them. The key word is "your best" -- if someone is learning to cook and tried their best but still maimed it, he thinks it's a shame and a waste, but the person did nothing dishonorable. They truly put their heart into it, they just need more education.
  
  
• Because of this respect, he hates waste; even after he gave up on England, he often took any leftover food the castle had and discreetly passed it out to the hungry in the city.
  

> Magic/Abilities

• Morgan is half-divine, making a mirror for Merlin's half-demonic state. While Merlin's father was an incubus, Morgan's was Ishtar herself. Their relationship development is unknown, but what is known is that he loathes Ishtar immensely and speaks openly ill of her.
  
  
• He can shapeshift into nearly any living form he chooses.
  
  
• His divine blood allows him visions, but unlike Merlin, they are neither controllable nor anywhere near as useful, showing only deaths. He gets a very bad feeling when death of someone important or close to him comes, and may see a vision of that death -- but only may. It's up to the whims of fate.
  
  
• He can, however, induce visions of the "past" if he wants and has the energy. They also sometimes come unbidden. Being of the past, though, it's rarely so useful.
  
  
• Morgan can sing, and quite beautifully. "Songbird" is usually an accurate nickname for him, but since he only ever sings for Merlin (or if Merlin asks), very few know this well enough to mention that.
  
  
• He can also dance extremely skillfully, though most of them are "scandalous"-looking dances. He knows how to do typical English dancing, but not well.
  
  

> Historical Notes

Morgan fled his homeland after insulting his mother (Ishtar) and not wanting to stay around to endure her wrath.

He came to England when he heard of Merlin. Though the place was too cold for him, he assumed he would live there a while, and initially was very open and friendly with the people. He fully expected culture shock, and he fully expected to have to concede some of his usual habits to account for it -- when he heard of how people dressed, he tried to dress more modestly for a while (especially since it helped keep him warm).

However, no matter what he tried, he was always viewed as an outsider at best and a foreigner at worst -- sometimes even a heretic. Though Morgan tried his best to let it roll off him, his kind nature deep down made it hurt immensely. This eventually came to a head with two events which broke Morgan completely and left him utterly distrustful of everyone not from Babylon, and what drove him to become snarky, rude, uncaring of other's cultures/beliefs and the type to push on buttons that bother people.

The first was Sir Caradoc openly insulting him and showing the outright hatred everyone else at least tried to hide, driving him into a breakdown once he had hidden himself in Merlin's cabin.

The second was when he was tricked by townsfolk he had thought he befriended into a small shed that was set alight to burn him alive, as a way for the clergy to rid the "stain" of his presence. Though he escaped alive, his body was badly burnt, for even a Goddess' blood couldn't save him from an debris-filled inferno. He sequestered himself in Merlin's house for weeks, hidden under a blanket and refusing to speak or accept any contact from anyone, even for food. Merlin was eventually able to treat the wounds -- the worst of which was on his right shoulder where part of the flaming roof had collapsed -- and get Morgan to eat again, but his complete hatred of England, its people, and its religion had already taken root and festered. The worst of it was a hatred for priests and clergy, who Morgan viewed as true demons from hell, no matter who or what they worshiped.

Morgan was not responsible for Arthur's death, nor is he Mordred's "mother". The one who birthed Mordred, raised him, and instilled hatred in him was Arthur's own half-sister, Morgause. Using an anti-demon weapon given to her by Ishtar as a threat against Merlin if he didn't obey, Morgause forced Morgan to shift her into a man (partly) so that she could seduce Arthur and bed him, impregnating herself. She also used that to bind Morgan's tongue about the spell and her plan, forcing him to stay silent and prevent him from speaking out about it at all. Morgan couldn't disobey, though he did his absolute best to drop hints to Merlin about what was to come -- with no luck at all. Merlin only understood once it was too late and he spotted Mordred hiding in the allied army on the battlefield, but the sword was through Arthur's chest before he could even cry out a warning.

Morgause had impersonated Morgan during the raising of her son, neglecting him, abusing him, and filling him with hatred towards his father. As such, when Mordred was captured, it was Morgan's name he cried, and Morgause quickly leapt onto that to blame the foreign magician. While Morgan's spells kept the majority out of his woods, Lancelot's rage allowed him to bypass them and find Morgan's home. On their meeting, the magician refused to speak in his defense -- believing that, with Morgause's reputation higher than his and Lancelot's rage blinding him, he wouldn't be believed -- and simply told Lancelot to do what he felt was justice. He only gave one thing: a warning that whatever he did, he would carry it with him for the rest of his life.

Lancelot, backed by the "evidence" of Morgause, slew Morgan on the spot as the spellcaster refused to defend himself. He was only barely clinging to life when Merlin came to him, expressing his love and telling what fraction he could of the truth before dying; he did, however, refuse to reveal his killer, not wishing Merlin to join the cycle when it was truly not their fault. Merlin managed to seal his body with magic to prevent him from fully disappearing, but it trapped Morgan in a dream that could never be broken, lest his death come.

Eventually, Merlin took him to the Lady of the Lake, casting them into the water to be sealed alongside Excalibur in a lucid, eternal dream. The others of Camelot would follow alongside them once the Lady spoke to Lancelot about Merlin, eventually ending in Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, Morgan, and any of the knights that remained loyal through their lives being taken by the water to Merlin's lucid dream, now formed into an eternal Camelot. This afterlife acted as somewhat of its own "kingdom" in that their spirits could venture to others and visit with the loved ones that didn't join them, but the Dream of Camelot itself would be to where they always returned.

Their resting place is both physical and not; if one could "see" it for what it is, they would be granted the vision of Camelot's residents sleeping alongside each other in an unbroken circle dressed in their finest armor or clothing, with Excalibur resting in the center of the circle on top of all the other knights' weapons. There is a legend, spoken by the lake itself according to those who claim to see this vision, that the knights will awaken one day. What this will bring, or if it is even true, is impossible to know.