Mergar, the second son of once King Harpen II of the Kingdom of Marland, was born over 200 years ago. Bitter over his father's favoritism towards his elder brother, Mergar threw himself at the world with a vengeance in search of conquest, bastardizing his family’s sigil of the mailed fist and broken sword into a symbol of menace. He began to seek out legendary treasures from the farthest reaches of the world in a quest for immortality. This was at first just a figurative quest to become immortal, in the sense of a fame that would eclipse his father and brother’s and would live on after him, but after recovering a marvelous pearl sacred to the Queen of the Eastern Ocean, he was filled with a surging torrent of power that seemed to mark him
for a destiny of greatness. Much to his surprise, his aging slowed to a stop and his vigor increased, as did his craving for both ordinary plunder and for magnificent treasures the likes of which the world has rarely seen.
Captain Mergar is legendary among his awed crew for his skill with a blade and for his incredible nose for treasure. He can fast-talk his way through most situations with an offhand charm, though his crew knows that his casual smile hides a heart that still burns with hate. He has never forgiven his father or his father's other descendants for what he views as their disloyalty and disdain, and that bitterness impels him to ever more daring raids and quests to achieve ever-greater fame and legendary treasures. He is a hard man as a captain, relentless in his demands of his crew, and though he doesn't kill wantonly neither does he hesitate in order to gain any advantage.
Unlike many famous captains, Mergar does not
have a single ship that carries his flag. Because of his
seeming immortality, he has survived shipwrecks that
have killed everyone else aboard, yet ever he returns
to seek his path. He has used many ships over
the years, and often strikes bargains with
other captains
to commandeer
their vessels for a
short period on a
particular mission, 9 moving on to a new ship after his latest
prize is gained. His current obsession is
in the far northern seas, where he has been
seeking signs for the legendary icerigger called the
Ice Cat, a magical skate-skimmer designed to speed across the
endless ice sheets of the polar reaches. Crewed by a family of catfolk
with an intelligent ice golem helmsman, this magical ice vessel
streaks with uncanny speed across not only smooth ice
fields but even up and down icy slopes and vast snowy
landscapes. Their crew is generally more interested in
food and fellowship than pillage and plunder, willing to bargain with their targets and rarely leaving
anyone entirely destitute in their wake, but Mergar has plans of his own if he can seize this eldritch vessel
and take it for his own.
