Appearance

Though mostly dog, as is most obvious in his generally uniform pelt, Melrose has warm markings and a sharp appearance that make his coyote lineage apparent. He looks average in size, but sometimes appears smaller than he is due to long limbs and somewhat short fur. Nevertheless, he is very fit, agile, and considerably stronger than he looks, a testament to a life mostly of hunting and other physical feats of strength.

Melrose will use Secui form to travel between places, but is otherwise almost always in Optime form. Like Finn, he typically wears tool belt with a variety of tools and weapons. Sometimes, he also has an additional satchels, bags, or canteens, as he typically hunts by devising and constructing traps for large game.

Personality

Dutiful and steady, tends towards taking his time to make decisions and judgments. Doesn't like to be rushed or hurried. Not very wordy and sometimes comes off a little dull, but he's quite smart, perceptive, and a shrewd judge of character. He's very loyal and takes providing for his pack, family, and crew very seriously. In fact, he's very serious about most things.

Mannerisms

Soft-spoken and exceedingly polite with strangers, Melrose often doesn't have much to say to start with, but if the other party seems receptive, can ask quite a lot of questions, often with an earnest curiosity. He's happy to exchange basic information, but will divert questions he feels are probing or suspicious with "I'm not sure I'm authorised to answer that."

Faced with antagonism, Melrose will try to leave the situation as soon as possible and does not find it shameful to flee from a fight, lead any pursuer on a long chase away from his crew, and hide.

Melrose has a slight southern drawl, but it's most noticeable when he's excited, and he's not excited that often.

Skills

Hunting

Melrose is a celebrated hunter who uses a variety of traps to capture and kill large or dangerous game. He prefers to work alone and is constantly experimenting with and tweaking his traps, some of his own invention and some which have been passed down through his family.

While often assumed that he isn't able to take down prey the old-fashioned way, Melrose is perfectly adept at this as well, but prefers to stick to smaller game in that case, since he still doesn't like working with others.

Food Preservation

Melrose is extremely knowledgeable about how best to preserve food and prevent spoilage, especially in the utilisation of salting, drying, and smoking.

Sleight of Hand, Misdirection

What was originally a passing interest as a child grew into a considerable skill, though not many know about it. He used to amuse his siblings with card tricks, then figured out he could also annoy them by randomly stealing things off their person or even out of their hands without their noticing. Melrose's generally unassuming demeanor makes him a master of misdirection, enabling him to pocket trinkets or artifacts that interest him, especially from establishments such as bars or taverns.

In general, Melrose only keeps items he knows the owners won't miss and will often return the items as secretly as he pilfered them after examining them to his satisfaction. Still, if ordered to, he'd have no qualms about stealing the crown off a king.

History

Melrose is the firstborn son of L'Toya Ogeechee, Wassaw's leader-to-be, and grandson of its current matriach, L'Rhonda Ogeechee. He was raised on duty and expectation and takes both very seriously.