MERYT-ISIS

Physical Appearance: Meryt is an animated statue made of
gold in the shape of a female gargoyle. She is in her mid-twenties
(at least as far as appearance), quite attractive, and has a
distinctive browridge that looks like a crescent on its side (with
the `horns' pointing upwards). She likes to wear a white linen
shift in the design ancient Egyptian women wore, but is willing to
adapt to the times and conditions when need be (she still prefers
white when it won't get her noticed).

Personality: In her breathing days, Meryt was a warrior,
and this still shows to a large degree. She is quick, competent,
and does not really care for fools of any kind. She is also loyal
to her friends and honorable, even to her enemies; she also likes
truth in people's actions and words (heaven knows she's seen enough
lies and falsehoods in her `life'). And her temper, while slow to
erupt, can be fearsome.

There is also a more subtle side to her personality;
being one of the retainers of a sorceress-queen helped her in this
respect. Meryt is capable of playing the games of intrigue when
necessary; she doesn't like them at all, but she's had enough
practice over the years to become what most people would consider an
expert. A somewhat passionate person, she also was never squeamish
about her physical form, or about courting members of the opposite
gender (though getting into a serious relationship is a different
matter).

However, the years and her condition have taken their
toll. She is ashamed of what she is – a freakish creation of magic –
and thus has become `reclusive' in the extreme. She is also
suffering from ennui – boredom with life and the world in general –
and by the mid 22nd century with a certain amount of fatalism as
well. Though she may not show it, she desperately wants it all to
end, one way or another, and it wouldn't take all that much to drive
her completely over the brink.

One final thing to mention is her relationship with
Brooklyn and Harthoth. Though she loved him, by the 20th century
Meryt has become resigned that the Timedancer will never be hers,
and so has modified her feelings for him to those of a friend
(unfortunately, this also helps her down the path of madness, as
it's one less thing for her to hold onto). Harthoth is far more
complicated – though he is an enemy and the one who cursed her with
this existence, he is also the only one who is a contemporary and
can truly understand her. At times they fight viciously, at others
they could almost be cordial acquaintances.

Abilities: Meryt's `condition' gives her several
advantages over normal gargoyles – she doesn't need to eat, sleep,
or even breathe, and she never gets physically tired. She is also
far more resilient to damage, as she is made of metal. However,
this also means she is utterly incapable of gliding due to her
massive weight.

She also has some knowledge of magic (though nothing
more than a few spells), and has become a combat expert; her favored
weapons are a pair of maces she has (small ones with stone heads).
She is also expert at staying hidden when she wants to (though this
is more in the passive sense of concealment, rather than the active
stealth Isfet brings to bear).

History: Thousands of years ago, Meryt-Isis was simply
one of many gargoyles serving what the later Egyptians would think
of as gods, in this case the goddess Isis. At the time she had no
name (gargoyles needed to earn a name in that land) and was a member
of the fey sorceress' entourage, with the duties of serving and
guarding her mistress. Beyond the occasional battle or intrigue
that got out of hand, the gargoyle had what one might even consider
a normal life – that is, until the Timedancer appeared.

With Brooklyn's arrival, Meryt became embroiled in a
plot to release the great and terrible Dragon King named Apep;
together with the gargoyle Harthoth, the Timedancer, and some other
allies, she managed to help stop the dragon's release and capture
one of his most important minions, the half-dragon Isfet. In the
process, she won the name of `Meryt-Isis' for herself, and also
found the possibility of love in the newcomer Brooklyn. Over the
course of the next two years or so, the bond between herself,
Harthoth and Brooklyn became stronger, as did her love for the
Timedancer, a love that reciprocated. Unfortunately, he knew that
he would have to leave Egypt, and though he tried to get her to
consider coming with him her fear of leaving her homeland kept her
from agreeing. It was a course of action she would deeply come to
regret.

Meryt's own mistress craved power and leadership of
Kemet, enough so that she engaged in another intrigue, one that ran
away from her when Isfet was freed and the wizard Uraeus gained
control of the powerful artifact known as the Aten disk. The
resultant disaster led (indirectly) to the death of Kemet's leader,
the halfling Ra, and the release of Apep (though he was soon slain
by Uraeus himself). Though Harthoth, Brooklyn, Meryt and their
allies managed to defeat the wizard, Meryt herself was mortally
wounded. In a desperate attempt at saving her, Harthoth made a pact
with Apep in exchange for Meryt's existence; though the bargain was
kept, Meryt had her spirit bound into a statue, rather than having
her health restored. She also had the added pain of seeing her
love, Brooklyn, taken from her by the Phoenix Gate.

These losses, and her newfound condition, nearly drove
her mad; she quickly disappeared into the lands to the west of the
Nile, both to hide herself and to simply be alone. It took many
years for her to piece herself back together, many more before she
would dare to come back to Egypt. What she found there though –
Harthoth `corrupted' by Apep, and Kemet in ruins – made her want to
simply go back into isolation, but she decided instead to try and
help rescue her land from chaos and keep Apep sealed in the astral
realm.

It was most definitely not easy – there were times when
Meryt despaired and went into isolation, or contemplated some form
of suicide – but over the course of millennia, she has found one way
or another to thwart the schemes of Isfet and Harthoth. In the
meantime, she has also tried to help her land – her soul seems to be
tied to it to a great degree – though by the middle of the second
millennium AD she had more or less resigned herself to being an
anachronism and her people and culture dead. She retreated into
isolation for a few centuries after that, in another of
her `wearied' periods.

She arose again in the later 19th century, when the
Europeans were tearing Egypt apart for its relics and `mysteries'.
She met Brooklyn again, and though her heart ached for what might
have been, she ultimately came to terms with what had happened; when
next they met in the mid 20th century, she was resigned to the fact
that he had found another (and was actually happy for him). Meryt
revived her role as a hidden protector of her land and helped where
she could in halting Harthoth's schemes, all the way into the mid
22nd century. However, she realized that she was very much
outclassed by now – Harthoth and Isfet had spent the time vastly
increasing their temporal weight – and when Apep was released, she
began to wonder what she had been fighting for anyway…

Goals: For the longest time, Meryt only had the goal of
stopping Harthoth and his master to keep her sane through the
centuries. Outside of that, she could only think of the release
that true death might bring; even if it turned out to be oblivion,
it would be better than the state she now exists in. Apep's being
freed, while it does make irrelevant her struggles, also helps make
her fear the end is within sight. As such, she begins to feel
convinced that the only thing that has meaning anymore is her death;
while she doesn't want to turn on the good guys, she begins to have
suicidal motivations, as she `just wants to end it all'. I see her
as ultimately sacrificing herself, though in a fatalistic `I just
want to die' sort of way.