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Sketch by Andy Lanning
Mero
The Mechanic
Mero the Mecahnic by @pipesburrow (Twitter)
Very curious, since a young age, Mero would collect books, scrolls, and devices from all over Vol'dun, sometimes from travelers, sometimes from abandoned ruins. An insatiable thirst for knowledge, he loved to learn and to figure out how things worked. Breaking down others' creations and building them himself. In time, he became adept at designing devices on his own, in building inventions out of whatever scrap he could get his paws on. As vulpera value such resourcefulness, he became affectionately known in his caravan as Mero the Mechanic.
Among the inventions he managed to create through reverse engineering and his own innate mechanical instincts were a long-range teleporter and a shapechanging device. The arrival of the Horde and the Alliance in Zandalar sparked a desire to learn more about them, their war, and the greater current threats to Azeroth. To this end, he made several secret trips abroad. Sometimes simply hiding, sometimes disguising himself as a Bilge Rat pirate, other times even using his shapechanging device. He saw places and things he'd only read about. He got the opportunity to visit the Lazy Turnip Inn in Halfhill, the origin of a news report series he had often listened to on one of his devices in Vol'dun. He also saw that Azeroth was a world of many perils.
Though passionate and even quixotic in his thirst for knowledge and new experiences, Mero was also - much like many Vulpera - practical and pragmatic. He thought this war between the Horde and Alliance was foolish when a combined force was necessary to confront greater threats. Nevertheless, he wanted to help contribute to combatting these threats. To do so, in open war, without siding with a faction, would be impractical and dangerous. To serve the greater good, his kind would need to side with a faction first. So it would be, his people would eventually ally with the Horde. Mero agreed with the decision. While openly warring with the Alliance was not in his own personal interest, he also could not see himself trusting those who had attempted to burn and enslave the caravans.
Mero looked forward, to gaining new knowledge, to seeing new things... but his engineering spirit gave him another ambition. It was in his nature to want to fix things. And Azeroth was undoubtedly broken. Perhaps he could not repair it completely but, maybe, in a small way - like so many of the heroes from stories he'd read - he could try his very best to make the world a little less broken.
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A further small story for Mero, of some books and a hero.
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To Be Continued? (Mero is on the Wyrmrest Accord-NA server in a guild of my creation called the Raccoons). As mentioned above, a letter I submitted as "Mero" was read by host Toshmifune on episode 49 of the Halfhill Report (and Mero is referenced again in 55, 56, 72, 88 & 110). The Halfhill Report is a great, fun in-character news-style podcast I highly recommend if you've ever played WoW. Seriously, go listen to 'em all, you'll thank me. Thanks, again, for the opportunity, Tosh!) - Check below for a couple pictures
Other Pics
Mero the Mechanic as drawn by @Emospec (of Twitter)
Before Vulpera were on Public Test Realms, the only way I had to try out outfits on them was through Wowhead's Dressing Room tool. And it is something I did many, many times. This one, in particular, is special to me. After the BlizzCon 2019 WoW costume was announced, I watched - like a hawk - for it to show up in the Wowhead Dressing Room files. As soon as it did, I took an obligatory screenshot of Mero in full "wooly" glory. Some days later - incidentally mere hours before Vulpera were officially announced/added to PTR - I was shocked (in the best possible way) to see my Mero costume screenshot used for a thumbnail in a video from WoW icons Taliesin & Evitel. Granted, I was never specifically credited, but it was an honor, all the same. Possibly my biggest claim to fame in my 14.5 years of playing WoW? I think so!