Jon Merrick

Jon Merrick was born into a large, impoverished family in the slums of Baldur's Gate near the docks. Seeking to alleviate the number of mouths to feed, he found himself pushed out onto the street to find his way. For a brief time during his adolescence, Jon found himself enlisted in the Flaming Fist. Though this put food in his belly and a roof over his head, he was disturbed by the violent rhetoric of the mercenary company.
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He made his way to the wharfs, where he began enquiring after work on the sea, being attracted to the fellowship shared among crews in the merchant and fishery services. A whaler blazoned with the name "Devil Dam" took him on, and Jon henceforth said goodbye to dry land. His size and aptitude with tools saw him tried in every position among the whaling vessel, from poop to foredeck, in the hunting boats and in the workshop. It was in the latter that he found his muse: carpentry and doctoring.
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Through the years, Merrick developed a journeyman's skill in bone-setting and stave-wrighting, fixing men and boats alike, along with making chests, furniture, cookware and any other oddment comprised of wood or sea ivory. Often did the Devil Dam set into the northern waters by the spine of the world, and it is from the Ten Towns he discovered a new passion: scrimshandery.
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As time went by, Jon was recognized by the church of Valkur, an Exarch of Tempus. It was by Jon's merit, skill and prodigious size, coupled with his faith in and embodiment of Valkur's tenets that he was encouraged to join the church as an acolyte. He accepted readily, and the next time the Devil Dam set out from port between fishing seasons, her crew was among an anointed of the god of sailors.
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Many voyages saw Jon encouraging the shifting crew among the whaling vessel to work in hearty brotherhood not only aboard the ship but also in port, and with other fishing vessels encountered on the line. When any man or woman aboard had a troubled heart, or broken and sprained limb, they came to Jon amidst the sawdust and tallow of his workshop beneath the aftcastle. They always left in better spirits and on the mend. Such devout service also happened to include leading the crew in merrymaking, drinking and good sport being among the large man's specialities.
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The sea and cold climes have taken a toll on Jon, now an ordained cleric of Valkur after rising through the ecclesiastic ranks. To his sorrow, he has been sent North to the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, to disembark there and bid the Devil Dam and her crew adieu. His mission is to learn of the unnatural night that has befallen the land, and bring the hearty warmth of the naval brotherhood to its frozen shores.