Merle Highchurch

Merle Hightower Highchurch is a player character controlled by Clint McElroy. He is a hill dwarf cleric and former mercenary soldier with a neutral good alignment. He was formerly associated with Marthammor Duin, the dwarf god of wanderers, travelers, and outcasts; and a Disciple of Life. He switched his allegiance to the nature god Pan at the conclusion of the Moonlighting story arc. He is from a big family of the Rockseeker clan with many cousins.

Merle has 1,999 party points. His interests include Kenny Chesney and the hit Faerun TV show "The Bigg Bang Theory." His basketball number is 29. His favorite candy is marzipan.

Merle has died fifty-seven times without crossing to the astral plane, according to Kravitz. He is the richest bounty Kravitz has ever hunted.

Powers and Abilities

 * Channel Divinity: Nature (used mostly to hit on plants)
 * Turn Undead
 * Animal Handling Proficiency

Spells

 * Augury
 * Light
 * Prayer of Healing
 * Shield of Faith (+2 AC buff)
 * Thaumaturgy (minor fire damage)
 * Zone of Truth
 * Zone of Truth
 * Zone of Truth

Current items

 * Extreme Teen Bible
 * Warhammer (Smoosher)
 * Adamant Spanner (functions as a Mace +1)
 * Stone of Farspeech
 * Nitpicker
 * Adventurer's Kit (minus crowbar)
 * Cockroach Mandible
 * Flip-flops (slippies?) of Haste
 * Phone-a-Friend Scrybones
 * The True Heart Clasp (+2 and advantage to insight checks)

Former Items

 * Emmanuel the Crowbar (From the Adventurer's Kit - lost to the vines during Ep. 19)
 * Scuttle buddy (destroyed in the train crash)
 * Rusted Can of Cheerwine (consumed)
 * Can of Cheerwine he had in the Battle Wagon (ripped off with the door)
 * Jade frog statuette (sold)

Early Life
Merle comes from a religious family of beach dwarves. Merle's father, who was also a Panite, had forced him to many religious functions, every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, Summer Pan Camp etc. which Merle did not enjoy, but dealt with it so he wouldn't disappoint his father or get grounded. His religion is something he's inherited and therefore has mixed feelings on Pan.

Merle was in an arranged, loveless marriage with his wife, Hekuba, to keep the dwaven bloodline pure. Merle left her after years of being together, saying he was going to the Dwarf Store to get smokes and never came back. He is still legally married to her and is a "dwarf on the run".

When going through his past memories with June, he encounters a lot of static in his memories. Merle has stated he's been on other adventures before joining up with Taako and Magnus, although the details of which are unknown.

Here There Be Gerblins
Merle introduced the party to his cousin Gundren Rockseeker, who offered them the job that began the quest.

"I cast... Zone of Truth!"
Merle's favorite spell is Zone of Truth, and he casts it often. Some examples:
 * Ep. 45: Merle casts Zone of Truth on Cassidy to get her to tell them the truth about the Quarry.