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Human · Theramore · Monk · Darkbinder

Ryuu

Character Sheet

Identity

• Full Name: Rylan Mercer
• Known As: The Darkbinder
• Nicknames: Ryuu

Appearance

• Gender: Male
• Apparent Age: Adult
• Height: Average
• Build: Lean
• Hair: Black
• Eyes: Brown
• Skin: Fair
• Facial Hair: Beard

Overview

Rylan Mercer, known as Ryuu, is a Theramore-born monk and the pioneer of Darkbinding, a controversial discipline that binds and weaponizes Sha power. Born poor, he entered Theramore’s criminal world through necessity, found himself in over his head, and fled rather than face the consequences of a life for which he had little affinity.

Road to Pandaria

For years Rylan survived through odd jobs aboard ships, with merchants, and in trade caravans. A chance encounter with a pandaren teacher gave him his first basic instruction in Pandaren martial arts and left him eager to learn more. When Pandaria’s mists parted, he traveled with a crew to the newly accessible continent, explored the Jade Forest, and sought the Temple of the Jade Serpent. Pandaren found “Ryuu” easier to say than “Rylan,” and the nickname stayed with him.

The Jade Serpent

Ryuu was caught in the Sha eruption following the destruction of the Jade Serpent statue. Corruption overwhelmed him until the monastery’s monks saved him. He remained to study under Pandaren masters, taking their discipline, emotional control, and mastery of the self seriously. Yet the Sha’s later assault on the monastery convinced him that self-mastery, while essential, did not by itself answer how to master manifested darkness.

Darkbinding

Darkbinding begins with ordinary monastic self-command, then deliberately binds, contains, redirects, and weaponizes Sha power against the Sha. Ryuu consulted warlocks and Shadow priests about containment, warding, controlled exposure, and retaining identity while handling corruptive forces, but adapted those principles through chi, breath, emotion, physical discipline, and martial practice rather than adopting either tradition’s spellcraft. The Sha remain enemies; Darkbinding is an attempt to master their power without accepting them as benign or surrendering to them.

Relationships

• Temple of the Jade Serpent - place of Ryuu’s Sha corruption, rescue, and serious monastic study.
• Sha - hostile power Ryuu seeks to bind and weaponize without trusting or accepting it.

Affiliations

• Alliance - current
• Theramore - birthplace and early home.
• Temple of the Jade Serpent - student and later controversial disciple.
• Darkbinding - pioneer and first true Darkbinder.

Timeline

• Born in Theramore to poor commoners.
• Entered Theramore’s criminal world through economic necessity, then fled after becoming entangled beyond his depth.
• Survived years of travel through shipboard, merchant, and caravan work; received basic Pandaren martial instruction from a traveling teacher.
• Traveled to Pandaria after its mists parted and sought instruction at the Temple of the Jade Serpent.
• Became known as Ryuu among the Pandaren, who found the name easier to say than Rylan.
• Was overwhelmed by Sha corruption during the eruption following the destruction of the Jade Serpent statue; monks of the temple saved him.
• Remained at the monastery for serious martial study.
• Began developing Darkbinding after the monastery’s near-fall to the Sha.

Hooks

• Define the criminal ties Ryuu escaped in Theramore and the consequences that still follow him.
• Establish how the temple’s monks, wider Pandaren monastic traditions, and the Shado-Pan respond to Darkbinding.
• Define Darkbinding’s practical limits, costs, and safeguards without weakening the Sha’s inherent danger.
• Determine which warlocks and Shadow priests informed Ryuu’s research, if any become established figures.

Writings