Callo Merlose
| Biological | |
| Full name: | Callo Merlose |
|---|---|
| Born: | April 27 |
| Birthplace: | Lesalia, Valendia |
| Sex: | Female |
| Race: | Human |
| Hair: | Black |
| Eyes: | Brown |
| Height: | 5'8" |
| Weight: | 122 lbs |
| Personal | |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Family/Relationships: | {{{family}}} |
| Religion: | Bastion Elementalism (Dark) |
| Title: | Spymaster of the Rota Fortunae |
| Nicknames: | Cal |
| Hobbies: | Reading, wine, cooking, history, sketching |
| Known skills: | Empathy, Bastion Elementalist Magic (Dark Specialization), Heartseeking |
| Favorite color: | Purple |
| Inspiration: | John Hardin |
| Motto: | "Logic is the most useful weapon in one's arsenal." |
Callo Merlose came from a humble background, the eldest daughter of eccentric Lesalian artisans famous for their various crafts--pottery and glass blowing among many others. The mousey, bookwormish girl never fit in with her free-spirited, rather bohemian family, though, and was the black sheep of a sort. She was painfully shy and didn't have any friends growing up, which suited her just fine as she generally preferred the company of her books to that of people.
Callo excelled in school, due to her genius level intellect and sharp observational skills. When she came of age, she was recruited by the Valendia Knights of the Peace and gained admission to their prestigious Academy in Valnain by earning an unheard-of perfect score on the extrance exam. Callo was consistently at the top of her class, and graduated with honors, earning doctorates in Criminal Psychology and Religious Psychology. She was the youngest PhD holder in the history of the Academy.
With her prestigious academic record, Callo had her pick of assignments within the VKP's Office of Inquisition, and she chose to join its Information Analysis Unit. Her major assignment was collecting information on the Mullenkamp cult. She grew fascinated--one might even say obsessed--with the group, and with its charismatic leader, Sydney Losstarot in particular.
It was this detailed knowledge of the group's history and inner workings that led Callo to be assigned as partner to VKP Riskbreaker Ashley Riot during the Graylands Incident, despite her rookie status and utter lack of field experience. Ashley chafed at being saddled with such an inexperienced Agent, and one he felt a glorified paper-pusher at that, but Callo remained determined to do her job, even after Ashley ran into the manor alone.
She and Ashley followed Sydney and the cultists to Lea Monde, but Callo was captured by Sydney shortly after their arrival in the city in an attempt to bait Ashley into following him. During her captivity, Callo actually saw very little of Sydney; she was guarded along with the Duke's young son Joshua by Sydney's right hand, cultist John Hardin. Despite the circumstances, Callo remained extremely cool under pressure, and continually grilled Hardin on the nature of Sydney's intentions in Lea Monde and his purpose in kidnapping Joshua. Her attempts to interrogate him were largely meant with contempt on Hardin's part, but a newfound ability aided her in her questioning. Like many of those who traversed the streets of the Dark City, Callo began to develop strange, supernatural abilities; in her case, she developed into an Empath, and gained the power to see into a person's heart and ascertain their true thoughts and feelings.
Through the use of this Heartseeking ability, Callo learned much about Hardin's past, and developed a great deal of sympathy for him. She was also very touched by the tenderness he showed Joshua. Much like Ashley grew to care for Sydney, Callo found herself dealing with growing romantic feelings for Hardin, particularly after he singlehandedly saved her and Joshua from a group of Crimson Blades. For his part, Hardin returned her affection, in spite of himself. Unfortunately, he was gravely wounded and the three were captured by Guildenstern's men. Hardin was deceived into giving up the secret to Sydney's power, but Callo didn't see what happened after that, as Sydney teleported the three out of the Great Cathedral before Guildenstern could harm them.
She led the strange trio to a safehouse, and tended to Hardin's wounds as best she could. A short time later, when Lea Monde began to collapse, they managed to escape back through the wine cellar but Hardin's wounds were too grave and he died. Heartbroken with grief, Callo escorted Joshua back to Valnain without further incident, and was working on her incident reports when word came that Duke Bardorba had been assassinated, ostensibly by Agent Riot. Stunned by this bizarre turn of events (she assumed Ashley perished in the Dark City's destruction), Callo requested to lead the investigation team. Although all signs seemed to point to Ashley as the culprit, several things nagged at Callo about the chain of events--in particular, the lack of any kind of motive, as well as several unanswered questions about Lea Monde and Sydney's unknown status. However, the VKP higher ups, particularly High Inquisitor Claudia Heldricht, stonewalled several attempts by Callo to probe deeper, and forced her to toe the VKP party line that Ashley was the assassin. She was extremely frustrated by the lack of cooperation, and after completing her exhaustive Greylands Incident Report, she took a leave of absence from the VKP to look further into the matter on her own.
Callo would not have very much time to perform her investigation, however, as she was called back to the VKP early to deal with a new threat, one she--and everyone else--were ultimately powerless to stop.
When Valendia was destroyed, Callo ended up in the Hallowed Bastion, pulled there like the others from her world through the Corridors. She was discovered wandering disoriented on the beach closest to the Palace of Radiant Gardens by Prince Ansem while he was on one of his sunrise constitutionals. Ansem immediately tended to her and whisked her back to the Palace, where he offered her shelter. As Callo regained her senses, she told Ansem about her world, and he brought her to another Valendian refugee he'd found mere days before. Callo was utterly shocked to see the Crimson Blade commander Samantha Harvey lying unconscious in the Palace's hospice ward.
Callo took comfort in the sight of her ostensible enemy, feeling that at least she was a familiar face, and not knowing what else to do, kept a bedside vigil. She comforted Samantha when she awakened, and the two became very close friends.
During an otherwise uneventful day at the marketplace, Callo ran into her old VKP comrade, Ashley Riot, whom she believed perished in Lea Monde's destruction. She was overjoyed at the sight of him and immediately brought him to Ansem. When he formed the Rota Fortunae, he asked Callo to join as his Spymaster; she eagerly accepted. Callo is still not a brilliant fighter, but she can hold her own now that she's had extensive training from Ashley and Samantha alike.
Prior to the Graylands Incident, Callo was much like most of her fellow VKP Inquisitors: a relentless, strictly by the book type with "pencil pushing" tendencies. She was extremely bright, with a natural gift for research and investigation, but very naive. Lea Monde opened her eyes, and Callo left it a changed woman. She still has the same drive and zeal for seeking the truth, but in the years following Duke Bardorba's assassination and the fall of Valendia, she has grown somewhat cynical. In particular, the loss of John Hardin has affected her far deeper than she would have believed, and she is terribly afraid of losing the people she loves.
