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OOC

Handle: Chris
Contact: tricksterwind
Over 18? Yes.
Characters Played: Rocket | beatupgrass

THE CHARACTER

Character Name: Mollymauk Tealeaf
Series: Critical Role
Canon Point:
Character Age: Unknown, but he’s an adult.
Background:

Background information

Molly was introduced to the group that would eventually become the “Mighty Nein” as a promoter for the Fletching and Moondrop Carnival of Curiosities. When the group went to the carnival together, one of the acts was disturbed by a man and a woman turning into zombies. The group fought them off together, though both they and the carnival came under suspicion for the crimes. Working together to clear their names, Molly and the group discovered the cause of the zombies was the “devil-toad” Kylre, a member of the carnival, and they chased him to a small island where they killed him, bringing his head back as proof. Afterwards, the group agreed to continue traveling together.

In the town of Alfield, they stopped a gnoll attack (and Molly learned there was more to his powers than he thought when he summoned his Rite of the Dawn for the first time) and agreed to take a job of eliminating the gnoll threat and bringing back the people who had been kidnapped for a large sum of money. They descended into a mine where they eliminated the threat and returned as heroes.

The group eventually made their way to the sprawling city of Zadash where they got caught up in political intrigue and ended up in bed with the mob. It was here that Molly met Cree the Tabaxi who called him “Lucien” and referenced a series of things from his past. After successfully navigating the conversation with obfusciation, he revealed to the group that he has no memory of anything before two years prior to meeting them.

Personality: "Mollymauk Tealeaf" is a persona constructed over the course of two years in a circus by a lonely tiefling who crawled his way out of a grave with no memories of who he was or what happened to him. Rather than attempt to uncover his missing memories, Molly deigned to leave whoever he was before buried in the ground, and he has absolutely zero interest in ever digging "Lucien" (the name his "former life" went by, AMONG OTHERS) up to the point where the mere idea terrifies and repulses him. He's come by who he is honestly, and he likes who he is now. He doesn't want to find out that he's not the person he's decided he is and be forced to feel beholden to the cold reality he's forgotten.

As it stands right now, Molly is colorful, larger-than-life, and has the theatrical personality of a person who has been "raised," for a lack of a better term, around circus performers. He doesn't seem to believe in doing anything unless he can do it dramatically, often going all out when he sets his mind to a scheme. He has no sense of personal space and frequently touches, kisses, and generally gets in the faces of the people he's around. He likes making people uncomfortable and keeping them off-balance and is described by his player as "made of wank," because he's just a giant bullshitter who doesn't seem to have much interest in the truth (for good reason) and prefers spectacle and tall tales to reality. Life is short and most people only get one, so he wants to be happy and make other people happy in whatever way he can.


Despite being a liar and a con (though never maliciously), he is a good person with a very strict moral code- he only takes from people who could stand to have a little less, never takes more than what he feels he's earned, never steals from the people he's around (and expects his party members to do the same), and always follows through on a promise. He seems to see the best in people, to some extent, and encourages people, sometimes through mischief and violence, to do better. In fact, he even uses his skills at Tarot (though he lacks any actual magical divination talent) to set people on what he perceives to be the right path, and when someone points out that he can't possibly know what the right path for those people are, he indignantly protests that he left every town better than the way he came to it, and that he would never seek to send a person down a path they wouldn't choose, explaining that some people just need guidance and a direction. This is never more true than when he stops a fight with some bandits, gives them a stirring speech about getting their lives together or else, and then gives them all some gold, and sends them off.


Either as a hold-over from Lucien or because he's had to observe a lot of behavior to create this persona, Molly is extremely good at reading people. He's keenly observant, and tends to make very snap judgments on people, which seems to be because he doesn't care about anyone's past or reasoning for their behavior, but rather who they are in the moment. He doesn't care about his past and he doesn't let that define him, so he doesn't let it define other people. How you present yourself in the present is all that matters to him, which means that he's capable of forgiving or just actively not caring what a person has done in their past so long as they're not a royal shitheel in the present. This wisdom also helps him con and lie his way through awkward situations, because he can observe people's reactions and play to their expectations. It's less that he's a good liar and more that he's good at knowing what people want or expect to hear. The minute he starts to expand upon his lies, they risk falling apart, as he tends to go to extremely dramatic fabrications, rather than keeping it simple (as evidenced by his conversation with Cree the Tabaxi- he was fine allowing her to lead and just babble his way around things, but when he began to make up a story about a potential betrayal, she got suspicious). Truth be told, unless the situation is dangerous, he doesn't even care if he's caught in a lie. That story he told about how his family are worshipers of a demon that lives in a volcano? Of course it's a lie! But it's a good story, isn't it? The truth is overrated. People don't want to hear the truth. It only upsets people.


Because of living in the circus where all they had was each other, Molly is extremely loyal to the groups he travels with, even if he doesn't necessarily like all of them. He and Beauregard, for example, have a mutual dislike of one another, but on several occasions he's stopped her from getting hurt and the first thing he did after the fight with the Xhorhassian was make sure she got healed. He's a liar, in his own words, but not a betrayer, though this doesn't preclude him from shady or sometimes "tough love" tactics, like charming Nott into making her tell him why she wanted to steal from Fjord or slapping Caleb out of PTSD episode, but they're meant for the betterment of the group so it's justified in his mind. It should be noted that due to most circus performers not being hindered by social propriety, these were probably standard tactics in dealing with dishonesty and anxiety among the group, and he just honestly doesn't know any better, nor does he particularly care about learning otherwise. He's pretty set in his ways for someone with only two years of memories.


Despite being quick to make snap judgments, Molly doesn't seem to care that people make snap judgments on him. When asked why anyone should trust him since he lies and bullshits, his response is "Because I always lie and bullshit." He might make up stories, but he's honest about who he is as a person, because it separates him from Lucien. Due to being a tiefling, a lot of people are immediately distrusting or suspicious of him, but he can shrug it off like it's nothing. In fact, it takes a lot to get him legitimately angry. He can be stern and unwavering when he's made up his mind, but mostly he lets things breeze on by. Life's too short and full of new experiences to really bother with being unhappy about anything. The closest he ever comes to being genuinely upset is when faced with any aspect of his past before he lost his memories- that can drive him into an absolute fearful panic.


The one holdover from Lucien that he accepts are his Bloodhunter abilities, which seems to be an act of necessity, rather than something he enjoys- it allows him to protect himself and his people, after all. And even then, he tries to adapt the abilities with his own personal style- the three tattoos (which bleed when he activates certain powers) he had when he first came out of the ground couldn't be covered up, so, because they were so recognizable, he just inked around them until he had a more elaborate tattoo, distracting from them. Because he can turn anything sharp into a radiant or ice weapon with his blood, he wields two carnival glass scimitars, instead of a proper weapon. He's ostentatious to a fault, even when it comes to combat, and has been known to essentially shout gibberish in Infernal to terrify and intimidate opponents- unless there's a person who also speaks Infernal present, then he just shouts actually threatening, but cliche things. He is not a battle-hardened warrior except in instinct, and even then he hams up those instincts to ridiculous degrees.


Powers/Abilities:

Crimson Rite: By dealing damage to himself with it, Molly can imbue whatever weapon he wields with Rite of the Frozen or Rite of the Dawn. In addition to the normal damage, the weapons deal ice damage or radiant (holy) damage, respectively.

He wields two carnival glass scimitars with dextrous precision, relying on speed rather than strength. Though he can wield simple weapons, he can only wield them effectively if they’re light enough to be finesse weapons.

Blood Maledict: When an enemy makes an attack within 60 feet of him, Molly can choose to use blood maledict which blinds his enemy briefly, but also deals damage to himself.

Devil’s Tongue- Molly can cast “Charm Person” once per day to get people on his side and give him information.

Vicious Mockery- Molly shouts something insulting in Infernal that basically causes an opponent's’ blood to boil a little in frustration, and makes it harder for them to attack. (Deals very minor damage.)

Tiefling Traits: He is resistant to fire and has darkvision.

Power Nerfs (if applicable): A Level Four D&D character is pretty self-nerfing to be honest.

Inventory:

+ (2) carnival glass scimitars (the rules say one weapon, but they’re a set and they’re not special in any way without his powers activating them- I’m cool with just having one, but I wanted to be sure)

+ Clothing (extremely ostentatious cloak, breeches, knee-length boots, shirt, plus various costume jewelry, bedazzled pouch)

+ Tarot deck
+ Disguise Kit (cosmetics, hair dye, and small props)
+ 50 ft of hempen rope

Incentives: The one thing Molly would appreciate more than anything is a promise that, under no circumstances, will he ever have to face whoever Lucien was. That nothing will make him remember that.