He was born in the Jade Federation, a commercial federation where the rich live lavishly and the poor are like dust.
People there regard money as blood, with social class almost engraved into their bones.
Merian's brother was sold to pay off the family's debts, becoming a chanting puppet, a slave transformed by alchemy, stripped of will.
That scene cast a lifelong shadow over him.
He was different from his brother, showcasing an astonishing memory from a young age.
The Green Tide Guild discovered him, took him away, praising his extraordinary talent.
In his youth, the Green Tide Guild selected him to take away, and since then, he has been confined to a laboratory among reagents.
Decades have passed, and now he is nearing sixty, nominally a Great Alchemist of the Jade Federation, with considerable academic prestige.
But before the guild, he remains just a researcher who obeys orders.
Merian is timid, never debates, and doesn't dare to resist.
