Merrik and his little brother Gareth were born and raised in Alvis, a little town in southeastern Andoran. Their father was a retired adventurer and a bit of a local hero, defending the town with two other members of the community against a troll, while their mother was a local herbalist.
The two boys had a little sister as well and lived a happy and comfortable life until one fateful night:
At age 13, when the father was out of town, a group of men from a local cult entered their home, woke the children and herded them together to watch them slay their mother. Even worse, one of the men was a necromancer, who let the woman rise as an undead again, commanding her to devour the children as well.
The brothers tried to protect their little sister, when some divine might touched the boys, but leaving the girl be. The magic made it impossible for the undead mother to harm the brothers. This led to the cultists kidnapping the little girl, ordering the undead to keep the boys at bay.
When finally the towns guards arrived, all they could to was slay the monster turned mother, the cultists with Merriks little sister long gone.
Two days later the father returned back home and was heartbroken, grabing his old gear and tried to get revenge and bring justice to the cult. When the evil cult was finally wiped out, no trace of the little girl was to be found.
Merriks father forced himself into working more, doing everything for the town of Alvis, only to not be reminded of the fate that had fallen on his family.
Since that time, Merrik and Gareth have a really close relationship, still seperating at times, but always awaiting the moment of meeting again.
The longest time the two were appart was when Merrik was at a temple of Pharasma, gaining access to the Lady of Graves blessings.
It was not Merriks first choice of religion, he first sought salvation in the faith of Shelyn, changed to Sarenrae and back some times. Only later he accepted the way life treated him and his family, bringing him to devote his life to Pharasma.
Living by the motto that "Life is bad and sometimes you can't do a thing about it" he grew to be a pragmatist. Even though he jokes at times, but his smile doesn't reach his eyes.
After finishing his time at the temple of Pharasma, he came back to join Gareth on his journey, wherever it may lead them. At that time his younger brother had already rescued a professor Lorrimor and was thus in his companion and employment. Merrik and the professor came to respect each other on their travels.
