Image Credits Doll Divine / Ysa Dandy (Flashpoint Used); Arkane

Name: Morgan Valena (Prime Version)

Gender/Preference: Male, straight, with slight exceptions here and there

Age/DOB: 33 in 1852; born 16th day, Month of Hearths, 1819

Faction: Marked, Artisans

Family: Deceased, unknown names of both mother and father, twin brother Overseer Rolph

Height/Build: 6'4, 220, strong

Appearance: very dark brown skin with many small scars scattered everywhere, from a nearly-invisible pair of slashes on his right jaw and side of neck; numerous small but deep animal claw marks across mid-back; large abrasion/burn with animal claw over shoulder; splash-burn on left ribcage/side; many pitted burns around fingers and knuckles; large ‘cat claw' knife cut and acid splash on right forearm; above left knee a small but deep animal claw mark, collected burns, and gunpowder marks; left knee burns and gunpowder marks; around back and inner side of right calf small but deep animal claw and fish bites; calloused and burned heels and soles of feet; and notably under the Outsider's mark there is a silver scar with embedded metal that creates a beautiful but eerie backdrop for the mark; black hair, to mid-back, in stylish dreadlocks usually pulled back into a tail but often draped in front of his shoulders, has neatly trimmed facial hair in a short chin-only beard; clear brown eyes that are reasonably large and rounded, has heavy, expressive eyebrows; facial features include a low, wide nose with a narrow bridge, and thick, ‘remarkably soft and kiss-able' lips (that's according to anyone who has kissed him, of course), his head shape is oval with a reasonably pointed chin and a clear jaw line; prefers yellow and black clothing, and is often seen in his shop wearing heavy leather boots, smock, and gloves while working with molten metals, but also has fingerless gloves and a set of fine lenses for detail work.

Voice : deep and quiet, with a large vocabulary and only a faint accent local to the area. He speaks bluntly when needed, rarely laughs out loud, and hardly swears (given that he grew up on the streets, that's a bit of a feat).

"He yearns for a new world, and in many ways, he's brought one about."

How do they usually dress? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear jewelry ? Dresses well, he can afford good clothing and must rely on a private tailor due to the Mark. Enjoys black and yellow or gold clothing; has numerous heavy duty work clothes, including heavy gloves and boots, but also armor or protective gear for hot forge work; sleeps usually in the nude or with a simple garment; tends to use fingerless gloves for everyday work or going out; has a glove that has been made specifically in his exact skin color to go over his left hand and cover the Mark if he needs to be seen without work gear. Doesn't tend to wear jewelry but has what equates to heavy silver ‘knuckles' that he can transform into gloves for fighting.

Is there anything about their appearance they wish they could change ? No, he would prefer it if people wouldn't freak out if they saw the Mark, but he would never deny its presence.

How would they look as the opposite sex ? Absolutely goddamn stunning.

What do they smell like? Why (do they wear the scent or does it occur naturally )? He has the scent of metal on him, and when working usually a mixture of leather, sweat, and heated silver. None of these are unpleasant, according to anyone who watches closely enough to smell him. He doesn't wear cologne, but does clean himself properly with lightly scented soaps and mineral bath.

Do they have an accurate mental picture of their appearance (how they see themselves versus how the world sees them)? He hardly thinks on himself that way, but is keenly aware that others see him as an imposing, dangerous looking man, so he makes effort to be calming and relaxed to keep people from just fearing him outright. However when he needs to look intimidating he has absolutely no problem doing so.

Skills and Occupation: Morgan is obviously adept (to say the least) with the tools of the silver trade, though less so in terms of the mining equipment or heavy tools used in actually digging it up from the ground. However, he is also very artistic, which is seen not only in his silver work, but in the Runes and Bonecharms that he has made. He is surprisingly well read, if not outright well-educated. He has always held the belief that everyone should benefit from an education, instilled in him from his mother. While he would like to actually teach or take on an apprentice in his shop, he worries that they would learn too much about his magical influences.

Otherwise he spent a good amount of time in the Royal Conservatory in his teen years, soaking up as much as he possibly could, from their extensive library, and seeks to pass that knowledge along. Even though some of the books are surely gone or damaged beyond repair from the presence of the Witches, most seemed to have survived. He still enjoys reading through the oldest of his ‘found' collection, those books and notes that he found washed up on shore from wrecks beyond the Bay. He considers those to be his true treasures.

He can use many smashing and swinging weapons, preferring those he's made, but can also pick up and use virtually any hefty stick or pole to the same end. He is proficient at the surprising (and perhaps unique) ‘chain-sticks' he created, able to swing them not only without hitting himself, but when the need arises, to strike bullets or bolts out of the air. He can also simply hold the pair of them as a wider ‘club', and has sparred with off-duty members of the Guard to test how well it works against swords. For more conventional sparring, he uses a solid silver staff. Oddly for both of those items, even when striking another metal object they make no sound.

In order to keep himself safe for many years as a child he ran silently and hid among the shadows both in underground passages as well as rooftops. Though he's much bigger than many men as an adult, he is still easily able to fade into the darkness of an alley, or leap from one rooftop to the next fearlessly.

Morgan is a fastidious groomer and enjoys having properly tailored clothing, perhaps because while growing up on the streets he hardly had either luxury. However he researched a good number of tailors in Karnaca before settling on one of them. Paranoid due to the dangers of being reported as a heretic to the Abbey, should someone really look at the ‘scars' on his hand, he made extra sure that his secret would be kept. That tailor is now rather old, but Morgan believes his daughter Patrice will be able to pick up where he leaves off. Perhaps more. He's seen how she steals glances into the fitting room when he's there.

Residence: has several locations in Serkonos / Karnaca, also described in specific locations in History below

The first is set in a hidden, highly dangerous part of town, the abandoned Clemente Landing district. It is simply covered in dunes of cast-off dust from the silver mines to the north, and infested with Bloodflies as well as other predatory animals now that most humans have left it. It is safer there for him with all his collected heretical stuff, no one from the Abbey is going to look there for anything. It is an old shop with a home above, like his actual Shop in another district. But his Clemente home is considerably older, rickety, sun-bleached. He does attempt to keep parts of it free from the Dust, but leaves the exterior looking as abandoned as it can so that it doesn't attract attention from the outside. Since he can actually teleport, he has hardly ever used the front door. The storefront is boarded up, though he's cleaned away any of the broken glass that had been there when he first arrived as a child. It is filled with old books, Bonecharms and Runes, drawings and salvage from years and years of collecting nearby shipwrecks, and from around the world on his occasional travels. It only contains a smallish cot and a run-down chair, a fireplace (that he rarely uses) and some amount of shelf space.

His Batista District shop and home on the other hand are extremely well-kept, lit with electric lighting and even has a nice sign (later in the timeline anyway). It is in the style of the local area shop fronts, which is to say local red wood and glass with inlay and etching. Since he bought the store it had already been well suited to being a workshop and display area, with a small forge, kiln, and tool racks in the rear, and a display storefront as well as shelving and counter space all in the same red and blonde wood. He keeps the trinkets and tourist trap stuff on hand, but not on display - his shop is for actual art patrons, not tourists. Above is his more conventional home, which also is done in the typical Karnaca style of white-painted slat cabinet doors, a nice fireplace with mantel, and shuttered windows leading to a small balcony. He has a full bedroom with a very nice wide, low futon style bed, and a closet bearing his impressively nice clothing. The kitchen is small, but the bathroom is large, with a full bath and not just a shower. He's had the bathroom updated with a proper flush toilet, since the district has plumbing properly - his Clemente home lacks this and instead only has a chamber-pot based toilet. There is a rooftop landing as well, which has an odd arrangement of silken ‘sails' that collect the silver dust from nearby Sirhrocco Pass. He's made sure that these do not interfere with anyone else's overlook of the Bay, but he can enjoy his own superb view of the city from the rooftop as well as his balcony. He has bookshelves containing mostly art and design, metallurgy studies, and the like. He has no heretical items anywhere in the shop or the home above.

In either of these cases, invasions of different sorts have occurred on a semi-regular basis. In Clemente, there are Bloodflies and Rats, both of which have to be regularly removed - but they always come back, they're vermin like anything else. He keeps traps on hand, and always has a good supply of flammable booze to toss and burn the Bloodfly nests.

Notable Possessions: as above

He's been very careful to hide the Mark on his hand, though if people can still see its edges he always explains that it's a scar from his early years of working with the molten substance. It's not particularly a lie, obviously, so they don't tend to ask or pry. He has watched the shine of it for hours on end, noting that even though it is a magical inscription and the glow only occurs with magic use, he can see a faint reflection on the still-embedded silver on his dark skin. He has yet to find anyone to trust well enough to ask whether they see it too.

As with others that have received the Mark, one of the first things that Morgan learned to use it for, was how to relocate himself. Blink, Far Reach, Translocation, it's gone by numerous names and different styles. His, Morgan calls ‘ Quicksilver ' (knowing full well that Mercury is not Silver...), and allows him to relocate via any nearby metal, so long as it isn't merely leaf over another substance. To anyone able to observe this, he appears to become a silvery liquid or even a scattering of silver dust, which congeals onto another metal, and then pours back out into the form of a man elsewhere. This is a near-instant ability though, so only the keenest of eyes might ever spot it happening. He has made a point of keeping his own forged pure silver in the form of railings or vertical poles, or even door handles, so he can use them to appear in specific places. Unlike the shorter distance Blink powers, he has mastered the ability to home in on a location and head directly to it regardless of the distance. He has discovered that the farthest he can reach is nearly the distance across Karnaca Bay. He also uses the metals under the sea to ‘dive' though he must prepare himself properly before doing that.

He has a Dark Vision variant that works more specifically to tell different metals apart, with which he can judge the purity of the silver or other substances he uses. Though he cannot use it to detect living creatures, he can see at short distances their metal equipment: belt buckles, weaponry, helmets and armor, or other such items. The limit to this is perhaps ten meters at most. Also of considerable use, he can Sense Machines within that distance and can analyze their functionality, even of highly complex devices. Though he's not a clockwork expert, he has made studies of Jindosh's work, though he prefers to study machines that aren't actively out to kill someone... In addition to this vision, he can also Detect Runes or Bonecharms in close proximity, within 20 meters, generally by a sort of vibration of the Mark on his hand and less with his eyes.

Because he was young and impressionable when he was first given the Mark, Morgan has always felt a fondness for the Void that seems to amuse the Outsider. Where other children might visit their neighborhood friends, or relatives across town, Morgan has developed a power with which he can ‘ Knock ' and if the Outsider is in the mood for it, allows him access to the Void without having to be brought there via a dream or vision, or even at a shrine. Since childhood, Morgan had Dreams of the Void . Though he wouldn't remember most of their content, when he did, he heeded any warnings or suggestions that the Void saw fit to imbue in his mind.

Otherwise, Morgan's magical prowess has always been somewhat single-minded and focused. He has used the Runes he's located to enhance his metalworking, to the point that he can sense and even manipulate ores , though not while they're still held within rock. The endless breeze of fine silver dust coming from the mines nearby provide him with a massive amount of raw materials. He also has constructed a series of netting that captures the blown dust, though truth be told it doesn't contain nearly enough to make the amount that any person might see in his shop. They don't realize that, of course. With his power to Winnow it out of those silken traps, he literally pulls the dust down to himself, while in his true home across the district, and places it carefully into pots which are then carried with some difficulty to his shop. He does not overtly use magic while in the shop. He knows that its proximity to the Overseers in the Dust District would be risking everything. So he tends to purify and refine the ores at home, before taking the powder to work and melting it down into forms there. He can cause a whirlwind of particles, of use as a distraction in bad situations; he carries around a small vial of fine silver dust for such occasions. But he tries not to be too cavalier with its use because for one thing, Silver is valuable and he doesn't want to waste it, and another, he's seen the damage it can do to the miners and doesn't wish that pain on anyone, even enemies.

When Morgan is working on something for himself, he usually designs and begins it in his Clemente home, and if it will be something decorative, likely finish it at the shop. If it's to be a weapon, something more personal for his home, he will continue working in the shuttered shop below his Clemente home and use magic to do so. However, over the years, Morgan has breathed in and even swallowed enough silver dust that he can in fact shape himself . Silver - and apparently Void energy - erupts from his skin painlessly and shifts around until there is a fine sheen of metal coating his very skin . It can be controlled, and even ‘worn' under normal clothing, though he has also practiced with a more sizeable amount of the metal for heavier armor . Using that same ability with existing metal, he can, with great difficulty, ‘throw' spikes of metal at opponents or items. Since he generally concentrates on both melee and strength rather than range and accuracy in terms of combat, he has never really used this much. He has practiced on rats and, to less success, fish and Bloodflies. Morgan prefers to get right up close and give a good whack, rather than impale things. It's much easier to use the dust than full heavy pieces of metal to throw around.

Before being able to do this, he developed a number of weapons and armor for himself, and found that it would be too risky to walk around with it visible so it's never seen use. If things had gone poorly when Luca Abele was the Duke and the Empire hadn't been recovered for the Kaldwin name, he might have needed them. Originally, using a set of thick silver rings on both hands, as well as arm bands which would rest near his elbows, Morgan could shape these into both armor and weapons for close quarters fighting. They would be among the few sharpened weapons that he practiced with, the rings forming spikes and the arm bands growing downward to cover his arms and hands. He would have made a formidable opponent, due to his size and strength, but lucky for everyone he did not need to go down that path. He still keeps the rings and bands, though anyone who might see them would imagine they are merely decorations. (“A bit plain, nothing ornate like a proper nobleman might wear,” is what he imagines any of that high class bent would say about them. Complete with snooty sneer.)

Though other means exist to find Runes and create Bonecharms - waiting for whaling ships to come to the port, or finding bits on the beach - Morgan has used magic and his own cleverness to give himself a very strong swimming ability, diving deeply and for long periods without breath. He descends to the bottom of Karnaca Bay , where many old whale skeletons lie, and collects relevant pieces on long silver rods. Back in his home, he crafts Runes and Bonecharms using inspiration found in old books, heretical discourses, and art, in equal amounts. If he has a dream showing him a new symbol, that is the first thing he begins working on, so there are always several of each type in progress. Though the collection of older Runes clearly have more rustic metal pieces holding them together, and the Bonecharms often use twine or sinew to keep them bound, Morgan's work is very clearly his own style - using silver hinges, bolts, finely crafted local wood end-caps, and thin wire instead of iron or hide. In this manner they are uniquely his own, and would work best for him rather than anyone else. He longs for a day when he might share these to be of use to others, and might craft them specific to each user.

Since he is already tall, broadly built, and quite strong, and thus has little need to expand those aspects of his physical form, Morgan has used enhancements to his vision, dexterity, and pain threshold, which are much more subtle than overt. He would hardly be faulted in his use of detail, he is certainly not the first craftsman to inscribe such filigree or create tiny gears, though by looking at him anyone would normally assume he's merely ‘the artist's hired bodyguard'. He relishes the expressions on potential customers who ‘demand to see the silversmith', as he reveals that he himself is that artist... Usually right before informing those arrogant nobles that he won't be working with them after all.

Personality: focused, canny, detail-oriented and highly perceptive. A bit stand-offish, usually quiet, but equally manipulative if needed after assessing his companions. Confident in his own abilities. Secretive and calm, rarely panics even in dire situations, very quick witted. A touch on the lonely side, with few close friends but a wide network of allies and associates he relies on for business. Seen as quite the catch for any girl interested in finding a husband, but since he has his reasons to be unwilling to relax too much, he has only had a series of short - if energetic - relationships. Not particularly generous, but prefers fair trade and will not skimp on deals he makes.

Morgan is intellectual to a degree that impresses people, and he plays on this quite frequently to his advantage. When people think he's just a hired hand or bodyguard, grunt worker, or the like, he enjoys their confusion and reactions when he turns out to be considerably smarter than they are. He is a bit vain, and does like to keep himself ‘pretty' for public appearances, but he knows that his work in the forge in back means he will always have scars. He is occasionally desperately paranoid that people will discover his Mark, but since he does have a level head he doesn't let that turn into panic. He considers the fact that the Outsider marked him in the first place to put him on another level than most people. But he wouldn't lord over them with it - he has seen directly the results of that happening with the Witches taking over Dunwall and would avoid that at any cost. He doesn't have too many close or even distant friends, because of this Mark, he isn't willing to just open up to anyone until he knows they would handle it, and even then sometimes they don't handle very well at all. As a fiercely strong man, he has used this to leverage gangs or even the Guard, to keep away from him and his shop. They know better than to think that a couple guys with pistols, or nail-studded planks, will intimidate him.

What are some of your character's hobbies? What do they do with their time ? Morgan draws and doodles, loves to read and examine old books. Obviously his time is largely spent working, and he'd prefer to be busy over having too much free time, as that would mean less money for his shop.

Favorite color ? Probably yellow, though he loves looking at the faint Void-induced glow of deep blue and shimmery silver around his Mark too

Favorite music artists? Movies or TV shows? Books or authors? Actors ? Morgan doesn't care much for the actors or singers of his era, because they tend toward the over-dramatic and self-inflated. Also he prefers histories and documentation over fiction.

Political stance? Are they active in politics or do they not care ? Morgan only participates in politics once Corvo has been established as the Duke of Serkonos, and at that point he does actively seek out positions on business councils. He would love to begin legislation to ‘legalize' magic, but he knows that is just not going to happen.

What are some of their pet peeves ? Arrogance and snooty behavior from those who judge him by his looks - yes, he knows he's a tall-dark-handsome brute of a man... but he is an artist, and a very keen businessman, and if you act on first impressions like “run and fetch the real artist, boy” he will literally throw you out of his shop.

What sort of gifts do they like ? Books! Always!

What is their favorite time of day? Favorite weather? Season ? He enjoys sunset, watching them over Karnaca bay in particular. And he prefers humid weather, because it allows the air to settle from the dust coming off of the silver mines. Any time it's rainy is a good ‘season'.

Where do they like to spend their time ? At home or in the shop. However, a nice trip to the Royal Conservatory is always enjoyable (at least, pre-Witches, and post-fixing)

Favorite food? Favorite drink ? Hot drinks, soft drinks, or alcohol? Even though he's caught his own most of his life, he still loves a well-prepared fish. He prefers clean water over any other drink. But he really does like that Padilla Pear Soda... Enjoys a dark heavy ale.

Favorite animal ? Whales, of course.

What relaxes them ? The sea, the Void, whale songs.

Do they have any bad habits ? Being too paranoid to make friends.

What is one thing they feel strongly about? That whales should be cherished and kept from dying out! They are intelligent, beautiful people in their own right, and shouldn't be hunted for their oil or meat.

One trait they admire ? Loyalty and trust, as always, are things that he keeps close at heart.

What disturbs them? Casual abuse, kicking people when they're down, mindless violence.

Relationships : Morgan's family, obviously, was shattered completely when the Abbey chose to interfere. Because he is Marked, Morgan is hesitant at best to get close to anyone for any length of time, for fear that they may turn him in, or worse, feel that he is unworthy of their companionship. Even those who have gotten close enough to enjoy a few weeks of pleasure with the man have rarely remained anything but ‘friends with benefits'.

He has had an on-again-off-again fling with one of the Serkonan Royal Guard for many years. A strong willed woman with red hair as bold as her personality, Monika Garzala is among the very few people that Morgan has trusted with the knowledge that he bears the Outsider's Mark. While at first she was frightened and put off by it, his consistent behavior, and extremely respectful acknowledgement of her need to be apart from him for a bit, gives her reason to return at least for conversations over ale or on the roof to watch the sunsets. Whenever he needs to do anything official outside Karnaca, he informs her first, to make sure that his shop is well guarded.

His tailor, Hugo Aguilar, runs a cramped but functional shop on Artemasa Boulevard , with an equally cramped home above the shop. He lives there with his daughter Patrice, who tends the shop and works late into the night. They have had financial troubles on occasion, and Morgan has made absolutely sure that strong-arms from Michaels Bank know that it is under his protection. Hugo is, in the words of almost anyone who knows him, positively ancient. But even with his stooped back and seemingly feeble frame, his eyes are still sharp, and his fingers deft. Patrice is exceptionally demure, some might say soft. Though Hugo has certainly seen the Mark on Morgan's hand, he has never commented on it save to ask whether Morgan wants to cover it with yellow material, or black. But it is Patrice that helps Morgan cover it up more thoroughly and cleverly, when she finally learns about it. She creates a mesh material for him that matches his skin tone quite well, so Morgan can wear lighter-weight outfits without bulky gloves or obvious bandages. Morgan is absolutely interested in keeping Patrice out of harm's way, and has had to chase off at least one extremely aggressive ‘suitor'. Again though, Morgan does not necessarily pursue a relationship with Patrice unless she wills it.

As the events past Delilah's coup and subsequent installment of Corvo as Duke of Serkonos, Morgan has rather boldly met up with the Marked Duke, though obviously would never betray his magical association. With a strong desire to stimulate trade once more, Morgan participates in many local council meetings and certainly has the ear of the Duke.

As things get rolling after upheavals and renewals, Morgan takes on an apprentice, a young man named Timothy Barnabas. Another of the very few that Morgan trusts with the knowledge that he has a Mark, Timothy has proven to be... challenging to keep safe. With gang members from his early life still occasionally dropping by, to debt collectors demanding repayment, Morgan wonders just how long the apprentice will be able to manage without his help. Turns out, long enough to confess that he is head over heels in love with the silver-shaper, and Morgan still hasn't really decided what to think about this. On one hand, Timothy is tall and handsome and rather good at learning the silver trade. On the other, Morgan hasn't really considered his feelings toward another man, and wonders what his own lady-friends would think about it all?

Canon : Low-Chaos Corvo/Daud/Corvo, Aramis Stilton lost**, Paolo/Byrne sent to mines, Abbey scattered, Delilah vanquished, Duke Attano, Living Outsider (eventually)
Brief Overview: Silversmith, not a miner. Owns the ‘last shop before the Dust district' on the eastern edge of the Sirhrocco Pass , close to the shore. Marked by the Outsider, and uses his abilities to craft incredibly beautiful silver metal items, including weapons, armor, statuettes, and trinkets. Has a twin brother, Rolph, who is an Overseer.

* Note that history has not been updated to reflect any information found in the Death of the Outsider DLC **Stilton may not be lost in every version of Morgan's world...

History: Born to a former whaler and a tutor to upper class children. Retired from the seas, Morgan's father helped design some of the industrial machinery that is in use in Serkonos, adapting parts from whaling ships to use for cutting trees and moving heavy items safely. While installing a piece of equipment in a nobleman's home in Karnaca, he met Morgan's mother, who had been instructing the children in the house. They soon married and moved into the hills, content with a moderate income from both sides, to support a family. Twins were born, and as they grew up were educated by their mother from a massive volume of collected knowledge. They were also being watched by the Abbey of the Everyman, though with some difficulty because of the remote terrain of their homestead.

On the 3 rd day of the Month of Nets, 1825, the Abbey's Overseers made the decision to act on their observation, and several of them converged on the Valena homestead in the dead of night. Morgan and Rolph were taken from their home and parents, to begin the Trials of Aptitude for the Abbey. Rolph was enamored of the uniforms and masks, weaponry, and dazzled by the words of the Overseers. Morgan on the other hand was terrified of what he'd heard around their camp fires - and ran away in an attempt to come home to his parents, easily eluding the men. However on reaching their home, he found both his mother and father brutally murdered, and spent some time in shock before he stoically buried them near their home. The place had been trashed, upended, and strewn about, so all he could do was dig through the rubble, and attempt to block the windows and doors to keep any thieves out. It was while doing this that he cut his jaw and neck on exposed broken wood and nails, badly enough that the scars have remained, but it did not become infected.

Though it is clear that the Overseers went back to look for him, Morgan had already left the homestead, and they left with only Rolph. At that time the family had lived on the northern hills of Karnaca, on the Leyenda Steppes, surrounded by deep forest and massive trees. As his brother was taken northward to Gristol to become an Overseer, Morgan made his way south into the city of Karnaca proper. They had been in the city before, to shop, visit the Conservatory, and play with the children of his mother's employer and their staff. But at his young age Morgan didn't realize he could have gone to those people for help. Instead, rather lost, he made his way through the twisting streets and staggered rooftops, with his eye on the sea below. His father's whaler background perhaps drew him to it, though he knew he would not want a life on the smelly, dangerous boats.

Hunger and exhaustion could have claimed him, but he grabbed what little food and scraps of cloth he could find from trash bins, made his way through the docks, and had to cross the Leyenda River to get farther east. The child ran from the men and women who would try to abduct him on the docks, and carefully avoided the Abbey soldiers who patrolled there, going eastward along the shore and hiding beneath piers at night. While it was entirely possible that Morgan might have asked for further help from tourists or even city officials, his mostly-forgotten dreams seemed to have guided him to this abandoned area of Clemente. He had never been to this part of town, before that point, but it all felt familiar and ‘safe' to him once he'd reached it. He found a shuttered building on the south side of Point Batista, in the Clemente Landing district, where the Bloodflies were already becoming a problem. There, Morgan lived in hiding for at least two years before he was bold and strong enough to explore, only coming out when the docks were heavy with people - it was safer with tourists, and the fishers and whalers had better things to do than run after a small boy.

He would find food and goods, sometimes buying them with coin he'd earned, more often catching rats, lizards, and even fish with his bare hands. However, rummaging around in bins, and often from crates washed up on the shore itself from boating accidents or shipwrecks, he found quite a few interesting items. He learned to dive and hold his breath, finding even more loot and treasure on Karnaca Bay 's floor. By nine years old, he was more confident and known as a reliable street kid, and could spend hours enjoying the beaches and city almost as much as the tourists that he could guide through the place. It was at this time he discovered a strange whalebone half-buried in the sand on the beach.

A Rune, carved with arcane lettering and symbols, which, strangely, he could almost ‘read'. As his mother had taught the twins practically since they could see, how to read letters and do calculations, Morgan was gifted with insight: this was an ancient item, this was from the Outsider; it had a voice that whispered to him but he couldn't understand the words. His father had told stories from his own youth on the seas, faintly remembered by Morgan, that whales were sacred to the Outsider's followers. Whether that was true, he didn't really know, but Morgan kept this Rune with him and studied it while not out scrounging, fishing, guiding tourists, or begging. He also found several more over the course of a year, perhaps washed up from another wreck, as they all seemed to be created in the same metals, from what he could piece together as one whale, and with a similar ‘hand' in the carving itself. Those items intrigued him the most, but others were part of his collection and dearly guarded: he had found books, journals, even scrolled maps, all of which he studied as though his mother still guided him. His intellect was as voracious as his stomach.

By the time he was ten, Morgan's personality could be summed up as ‘guarded'. To anyone observing him, he seemed both intensely charming and highly secretive, but a steadfast and determined child. Obviously intelligent, and using all of the available information he could gather, Morgan managed to avoid being taken into the mines, by virtue of paranoia. He'd seen other street children taken away, he'd also seen and heard the stories from the old miners who wandered the streets. But while he didn't have any desire to work in the mines themselves, Morgan's talents rose in the form of fiddling with tools. The shop he'd holed up in had many metalworking devices. From tiny carving implements to hammers and vice grips, sanders, even a kiln, and all of these became Morgan's focus. He'd been too small to truly appreciate the workmanship that would be needed for the piece that sat unfinished in the shop, but as he grew he decided he would finish it. Morgan didn't know who had commissioned the piece, but there were still dusty and half-burnt sketches of what it ought to be like. He'd have to get more raw silver, to do this work.

He bartered well, this very young street boy, and managed to actually work for a living rather than merely steal for his own use. As the Bloodfly infestations began to claim more apartments and structures in Clemente Landing, he braved the buildings with a bottle of booze and a match to burn the nests out. He would find abandoned locations and clear them of disused equipment, goods, and information, selling to the logical ‘right people'. While he pitied the old miners and homeless around Clemente Landing, he rarely offered anything to them without at least an attempt to trade something else of use. Thus he created a network of other children, street bums, dock workers, and even black market folk that he knew how to get the most from. The goods that he himself wanted were mainly food, clothing, and silver. Raw silver - often smuggled out of the mines, he would trade for similar goods or coin.

Also he never revealed any secrets he wasn't meant to: if a man escaped from the mines held by the less reputable Bayles company, he would take what information or goods he could from them, and point them in the right direction to avoid any patrols. He still knew the streets well from his time guiding tourists, and on occasion would pick up the odd coin taking new arrivals to the Conservatory or Palace District. He rarely went farther west than that, the Grand Serkonan Canal was about as far as he would go. Morgan, even by the time he was only eleven, was known as a solid, trustworthy person, not stealing from people even if they were easy marks, as he'd seen others doing.

Of course, there were times when he had to fight. Running away from most battles or Bloodfly nests was one thing, but if cornered, Morgan knew he had to be able to defend himself. There would always be people that didn't respond to wit or conversational distraction, weren't smart enough to be swayed by sweet words, and certainly groups that could surround him. Since he had access to a good amount of metal, he knew that he'd be best making his own weaponry, but unlike many in the area he preferred to use a good swinging pole or hand staff over any slicing or stabbing weaponry. Perhaps because of the wounds incurred by the Abbey to his parents, he avoided bloody messes from knives or guns. The Howlers would frequently try stealing from his contacts, or shaking down travelers, and that just wasn't going to sit well with the boy. He put together simple but effective hand staves that he welded chains to, and taught himself the art of swinging them without actually hitting himself in the process. Even though they're made of metal, they hardly made a sound, he never let them clang loudly or attract too much attention with noise. These weapons have been his favored type, ever since.

But weaponry was only one of his interests, for the metal working he wished to do. Once he had the confidence to visit “that gigantic museum” faintly recalled from his earliest years, he visited the Royal Conservatory. He had heard tourists and scholars marvel about its contents, though he'd never considered entering it after escorting them to it from the docks. He finally cleaned himself up, put on what decent clothing he had, and visited the place properly as a ‘student'. Unlike the boy himself, the Conservatory had changed little in the seven years since his last visit; though many of the employees there had left or been replaced, and didn't recognize him - particularly not without his twin brother, or his mother holding their hands.

Morgan returned on numerous occasions, marveling at the paintings and taxidermy, but looking specifically for books on metal-smithy. He wrote notes and copied images (near-flawlessly, as far as the Conservatory librarians could tell as they peered over his shoulder) on how best to work with the raw ores. Morgan put those notes into use, his Clemente home's walls plastered with them for reference. His talent for the work was always impressive, but he was still young and untrained, not apprenticed to anyone, and knew that would hinder him unless he could truly master the art. But already there were people among the nobility and artistic communities who were taking notice of the young prodigy, and wondered whether he would aspire to be more than a ‘mere' craftsman. Morgan finished the piece that had been commissioned, a forearm-long fish leaping out of stylized waves, a mixture of several metals in thin foil pressed onto the surface to make up its dazzling coloration. Since he didn't know the name of the person who had asked for it, nor even whether they'd paid for it up front as the records of the shop had been thoroughly ruined by the nesting Bloodflies, Morgan decided to bring it to the Conservatory - where they all but fell over themselves in the attempt to put it somewhere prominent.

In late 1831, when he was twelve, while working one day, he managed to pour molten silver all over his hand, passing out from the pain. But while reeling from the shock of that moment, he found himself at peace... In the Void. To him, it felt more like floating in the sea than anything he'd overheard from the Abbey men or on the streets - no whirlwinds of discordant spirits or bizarre animals snapping at his face. (Well, there was that gigantic whale that drifted lazily by, but he didn't think it too odd at the time, since he'd seen them in the ocean already.) After all, he had Runes and some Bonecharms arranged in his private bedroom loft, and had dreamed of the place for many years, though most of those dreams had been forgotten with the morning sun. Although still quite young, it seemed he'd attracted the attention of the Outsider himself. And rather than react with fear or anger, worry or dismay at the sudden appearance of the pale, black-eyed man in this weird fractured landscape, Morgan realized the opportunity he was being given. He accepted the Mark - on the same hand that still throbbed with the burning metal - and the pain went away, replaced with a strange tingling that he relished.

Unlike many others who had a glimpse of the Void, Morgan was more curious than afraid. In the World, he would spend long hours gazing at the sea, hearing the distant calls of whales somehow, though many denied those songs even existed. The sounds in the Void gave him a similar feeling, and he told the Outsider that. Perhaps because Morgan was still rather young, or indeed perhaps because there was a reason that the Outsider came to him in the first place, he entertained questions and commentary from the dark-skinned boy, and on any subsequent visits to the Void (and there have been many) his observations have remained a source of entertainment to the black-eyed god. Morgan often remains far more chatty toward the Outsider than he is to people in his shop. As far as the Outsider seems concerned, Morgan's discussions are often somewhat one-sided, as the boy would use the moments to analyze and answer many of his own questions while waiting for the Outsider to reply. Though he was quite thankful for the gift he'd been given, Morgan knew full well that the Outsider didn't actually want to be worshipped as such, so his thanks were simple and frequent. He spent little time wondering why he'd been chosen to bear the Mark. Morgan always knew, however, that to display it in public or to even hint that he had connections to the Void, would be deadly. So he kept that all to himself, using his much-enforced paranoia to avoid discussions of it. Morgan had a finely-honed ability to dodge questions already, this only added to it.

Though he could use magic to aid his profession, he preferred to continue to work with his hands and tools. His skills improved greatly in his teenage years, not only because he'd had quite a bit of experience by that time, but with his muscular growth and eventual towering build allowing him to lift heavier weights and use bigger tools outright. While he continued to avoid entering the mines for anything more than a brief tour, he began doing business with Aramis Stilton, and provided a few of the ‘high class' pieces found in the Stilton manor. He also made trinkets - Karnaca-styled tourist trap goods such as keychains and plaques with etched images of the city - that he hawked near the docks. Because of the quality of his work, and the canniness of his business dealings, Morgan rapidly saved up enough coin to settle himself into a much higher class neighborhood. However, that was never his intention.

While some he knew from his early life still wandered the streets with nothing to their name, Morgan was quite happy to have two homes: his childhood location in the Old Quarter, and his new Shop. He bought the empty storefront location at the age of 18 in 1837, with cold hard cash, though that did raise a few eyebrows. Where would this street kid have gotten that much money!? Morgan was a stunningly good liar, when he needed to be, but preferred to avoid untruths because he didn't care for the web they start making. To those who were bold enough to ask: he earned it. Plus, there were no outstanding thefts of such an amount even within the last few years, let alone months. No one at Dolores Michaels Deposit and Loan questioned it, he didn't really need to explain much about the transaction - having an active shop in the area would be a benefit to everyone, so his purchase was in the clear. No one knew who had owned the shop front before then anyway, it was going to waste. He paid taxes and ‘other' taxes as needed, on time, without complaint. He was able to convince any given gang member or Guard trying to collect extra above and beyond those normal fees that it would be in their best interest to just let him be. He was very persuasive. Particularly to the ladies of the Guard, and perhaps to those bank tellers...

The shop itself was technically within the Batista district, though on its western edge. Situated on east Moa Avenue , on the north side of the street, within view of Theodanis Abele Plaza , and with a spectacular rooftop vantage of Karnaca Bay . The netting and materials hoisted above the building served as a distinctive landmark for prospective customers as well as the collection point for silver dust. He would lead tours of his ‘refining' sheets, and kept up every bit of the appearance needed of a non-competitor for other silver-mine businesses. Because of its proximity to the mines, as well as the more ‘reputable' areas of the city, Morgan's shop did fairly decently. He was picky as to who he sold to or dealt with, and had a bit of a reputation as a finicky type because of that. However, for anyone with ‘discerning tastes' he was the right man for the job. The silver that he worked with was far purer than most, and should anyone with a deeper background in the field actually examine the rods or chain, frames or timepieces he's built, they will find virtually no impurities at all. Of course, if any Overseers examined them, they might feel an air of the Void on the metals, themselves. Morgan researched the people he did business with, keeping them talking about themselves and listening for details. It was easy to discern who was safe versus who might risk being investigated by the Abbey.

Morgan had been very careful to hide any of the Runes or even the Bonecharms that he'd located over the years. He kept his home in Clemente Landing secret, and traveled back and forth weekly to the shop, which also had living quarters. His regular absences were not of note to anyone in the industry or area - after all he had to procure the silver somehow, and since his workmanship was quite good, a weekly outing was par for the course. Because he lived on the streets for many years he knew the hidden pathways and rooftop catwalks that kept his home safe. Those alleys began filling with more and more dust as time went on, but then his ‘collection' nets also filled. A few people tried to copy the idea, to less success - and he obviously wouldn't share trade secrets like that to people who might then be in competition. He had to fend off spies and thieves, but did that with ease. It didn't hurt that no one would be able to have the same success as he from that filter process.

There was worry when he opened the shop, that with the assassination of the Empress and all the chaos to the north in Dunwall which ensued, he might not be able to continue working, as conscription was hinted at by many on the streets. But the fact remained that farther way from the center of the Empire, things continued reasonably well. The only notable bump in Morgan's road, had been that the Royal Conservatory was suddenly being led by a strange woman that was a bit less open to discussions or changes, than he liked.

With the risks associated with the Abbey's presence in the area, Morgan was always apt to deny their requests to work with him, stating that they ‘should have their own people do the work' as they knew best what the Overseers needed in terms of quality or items. Easily convinced (due in part to what Morgan called their ‘overwhelming arrogance'), they left it at that, for the most part. If anyone else were to watch his interactions with those Abbey men, they would see the cold professional mask that Morgan adopted show up, but at any given moment a sneer would cross the man's thick lips. He never trusted nor liked the Abbey, obviously, but still had to maintain a business relationship with anyone who had the coin. However as time went on, the Abbey seemed increasingly aggressive in their tactics and searches. Ripples from the Empress' assassination and upheaval in Dunwall were still being felt.

In the middle of the Month of Nets in 1843, when one particular group of Overseers conducted raids in the area, they had their sights set on his shop. Of course he allowed them to enter the shop provided they didn't break anything, look over his apartment above, and question him. He didn't bother observing them - he knew that he didn't have anything heretical in the shop. He kept working, purposefully heading toward the hot kiln and requiring him to wear thick gloves. But one of them remained even after the rest determined nothing was amiss, and that one asserted that he swore he knew there was an otherworldly taint about Morgan. When Morgan pressed this Overseer as to why... It was because Rolph was the man under the mask. While shocked to see his brother after so many years, Morgan still had his wits about him - casually denying any further accusations, and the other Overseers declined to return to harass the silversmith again. He hoped that would be the last of it, but also a gnawing fear remained. He hated that his brother had to be an Overseer, and knew that they would never, ever, see eye to eye.

Morgan realized that his brother was watching him from afar, and took great care not to return to his Clemente home save for in the dead of night, after he knew Rolph was elsewhere. Eventually the two met again in a neutral location, a cafe that had several private tables. There, Morgan expressed his concerns that Rolph was a bit more zealous than he needed to be. And in a final challenging accusation, Rolph all but tore Morgan's gloves off to see whether he bore the Mark of the Outsider as he suspected. Privately, Morgan realized that the Abbey had watched them both for a reason, but he knew better than to try and sway Rolph to understand the massive hypocrisy that the Abbey maintained. Rolph understood it at a base level, unconsciously: they were twins, a coin with two sides, and what one knew, the other would always suspect. They both had a connection to the Void, as all in the Abbey did, though those men refused to acknowledge it. Morgan knew he couldn't just tell his brother the truth, though it deeply pained him to keep it secret. He knew perfectly well that family members turned in their own children or relatives on suspicions, which the Abbey gleefully supported.

To distract Rolph, counter this accusation and prevent it from happening again, Morgan explained what had happened when he escaped the Abbey's men when they were children - telling him the details that he himself had suppressed for decades. Of their mother's grievous head wounds, and their father's gruesome disembowelment, the state of their home ransacked looking for any heretical items and ruining their mother's own life's works and books in the process. Rolph at first denied that such a thing was possible, but Morgan recommended that he return to their childhood home - where Morgan had left things as they had been, only being able to take with him some few clothes and a bit of food as he ran to the city. Morgan had never returned, told his brother so, and not to expect it to be pristine either from nature, or thieves. Morgan offered details that only he might know: how he'd placed specific items with their parents' bodies. He hoped, as Rolph stormed out of the cafe, that those would seed the idea to go and find out for himself.

Apparently Rolph did look into this, if only to prove his brother wrong. Rolph did not return to Morgan's shop. When Morgan asked the Vice Overseer to look into it, carefully explaining that he knew that his brother was no longer considered ‘his' family, but instead a brother to all the Abbey, he learned that Rolph had been relocated to Poolwick in Gristol, and would not be reassigned to Serkonos. The Vice Overseer himself expressed worry about the man's level of aggression. He wouldn't go into any further details with Morgan, and that was enough. Morgan felt both safer and sadder, at all of that.

Because he had finally earned enough coin as well as clout, in 1844 Morgan treats himself to a “world tour”, his first such jaunt around the Isles, but not the last. While on that trip he traveled the coasts of all four Isles, keeping careful account of what ports had a bigger Abbey presence than others, and intending to avoid those in the future. But others, he dove in - both literally and financially - some ports had shops and trade outposts he needed to ally with, others had rocky shorelines simply filled with Bonecharms or Runes scattered from those Abbey raids in years prior. With his passage paid for and guaranteed, all he needed to do was make sure that the captain and none of the crew interrupted him when he went diving into foreign waters for those goods. Gifts for friends back home, as well as trinkets and coin for those on the ship, weighed his travel trunks on the way home. With all these new items, he could research new methods of silver work, as well as different - heretical - accounts of magic or the Outsider, whales, art, and whatever else he brought up from the depths.

He had taken two further trips before fully establishing himself as a proper contact around the Isles. He carefully cultivates those allies and business partnerships, as well as currying favor with the local Bank to keep their eyes on security for his investments. And though he certainly does not trust Michaels herself, the bank and its extremely good security is ‘good enough for him'. Though he knows that someone with his gifts and magical talents would easily be able to break through the hefty Jindosh security systems, any regular thief would never stand a chance. He kept some of his prized works, as well as plans for newer items, in the Bank's high-security Vault.

For years, Morgan had overtly been a model citizen with some interesting quirks. He was not too pleased when Luca Abele became the new Duke of Serkonos in 1847. For inheriting that prestigious title shortly led to the disaster that became the Batista Mining district. But Morgan's shop still did enough business to survive. However, at the risk of being outright murdered, Morgan managed to avoid being commissioned by Luca to do anything artistic for the new Palace. Like many citizens in Karnaca, Morgan had wonderful memories of looking at the old Palace from the rooftops, and fonder memories of the old Duke Theodanis. He knew full well that if he turned down the new Duke to his face, or let slip what he actually thought of the man, it would be the end for him. So Morgan managed to ‘close up shop' just in time for the Duke or his men to wander by looking for a frame or serving tray. Some of his prior works did make it into the new Palace, but only by virtue of being gifts from existing nobility or rescued from the old Palace. The ability to collect silver from his netting actually benefited from the mining being so over-done, once Aramis Stilton vanished. But it was a bittersweet realization, Morgan didn't much feel like exploiting the dust. That dust crept its way around every building, nook and corner, into every nose and eye in the area. The Clemente Landing district was overwhelmed by Bloodfly infestations, so his private and secluded homestead was even more isolated - and slightly more dangerous to reach. But he kept the Bloodflies and rats at bay there, along with any stray thieves or squatters, with springrazor traps and judicious application of explosive bolts.

Even though some of his Tyvian and Gristol contacts were eager to see their dark southern business partner again, by 1850 it was apparent that leaving Karnaca for any length of time would be ill advised. With gang operations at a dangerous level, corruption among the Duke's Guard fueling fights in the streets, and the Overseers growing more and more bold once more, Morgan decided that he needed to stay put in order to make sure nothing happened to his home or shop.

His work, research, and studies in the Conservatory were affected by the strange women brought in by Brianna Ashworth right around that time as well. Soon enough the Conservatory abruptly closed, and rumors began circulating that the women were witches. One glance through the Void confirmed it, there was much magic being thrown around in that beautiful establishment, and Morgan nearly wept for what was being lost.

Something had also changed about the interactions he had with the Outsider over time, but Morgan wasn't brave enough to ask about it. Because even if the Outsider was a god, he was one in the shape of a man; Morgan knew mannerisms and body language well enough to drop it. Plus, Morgan realized that if he noticed something was off, the Outsider already knew . He didn't want to risk angering a god, let alone one that he honestly considered a friend. But after the incidents causing the Duke's death and subsequent upheavals around the Empire, the Void had become more or less its old peaceful self again.

The Present :

He has thought seriously about aiding the miners in cleaning the place up, after the new -new Duke Attano returned the mines to their prior more careful schedule. One of the first things Corvo did was make sure that Bayles didn't run more than his share of the mines, but that left the old Stilton mines as more or less ‘union owned'. Morgan has seriously considered attempting to buy them, or invest in them; as many of the miners know him already.

It was a poorly kept secret that Corvo was also Marked, once everyone knew he had somehow defeated an entire coven of Witches in the name of his daughter. Wouldn't such a man feel it better to accept than deny magic's worth? For all intents and purposes, Morgan feels that a new age is upon them. With his brother Rolph sent up north, no further suspicions can be cast on him; notably because the Abbey is still reeling from their devastating losses during Delilah Copperspoon's brief reign as Empress - he doesn't know whether Rolph was among those lost in the assault on Dunwall Tower . The Vice Overseer in Karnaca, Byrne, seemed to have vanished and left the local Abbey representatives in disarray; further, the Oracular Order there was thrown into absolute chaos with the Witches gaining control over their minds.

Morgan wonders whether that new age will mistrust magic too much; after all the Witches that Delilah commanded did a truly horrific job at running things and an even worse job of disguising their use of their powers. But Morgan wants to express that magic, when used properly and sensibly, can be of great benefit to everyone. Superstitious folk will still shy away from it, or curse their use, or even attempt to rally in the vein of the Abbey. But Morgan has pondered (on occasion directly to the Outsider) that without the use of clever magic items or enchantments, ships might be lost at sea, ground might swallow people whole, or other dangers would be endured. Morgan runs a narrow but steady line between enjoying magical works, and using technology and skills - and sees nothing at all wrong with others doing the same. He is ‘this close' to deciding to openly sell his Bonecharms to people for that protection. *Note that with the events of Death of the Outsider, these things may very well be needed in the general population, to keep wilder magic at bay.