Morull the Penitent, once a monk, now tea-boy and janitor at the Hornpile. Also, adopted 'son' of the Signless.
stratosChatter is the Chumhandle of Morull Vantas (hatched Morull Falyor). Morull is an adult male Troll who was once a penitent Monk in the Cult of the Signless and gave up his lineage-name and sign to become closer to his Lord, even sawing off his own horns as a gesture of self-denial. For most of his life he believed himself to be a member of the Olive caste but recent discoveries have revealed that he is in fact a mutant throwback to the "extinct" Lime caste. Since the destruction of his native universe, Morull moved to the Hornpile permanently to serve the Vantas lineage... speficically Karkat/CopperSteampunk. These acts have been supplanted by his being adopted by the Signless (sufferingwithoutaSign) himself. While he now no longer truly considers himself their servant he still tends to defer to the opinions of "true" members of the bloodline. After long and extensive contact with Humanity he has started to mix Human and Alternian traditions and values freely, calling the Signless "Dad", Karkat "little brother" or just "bro" and the dead incarnation of Calcus Mirada (algerbraicallyClueless) "sis". He has a ridiculously fast metabolism and is often snacking, but always has room for a good meal on top of it all.
Morull grew up on one of the Doomed incarnations of Alternia, possibly one where Sollux never compiled the Sgrub code, and in a particularly violent lawnring. His childhood friends were unusually fractious and led him down a dangerous path even for Alternian youth which culminated in his having to emigrate after an "incident"... this period of wandering led him to an even less stable ring where he fell in with a group that foolishly tried to emulate the Summoner's revolt, with predictable results. Having had enough of such strife but picking up a true connection with the cause of Caste Equality, he wandered further until a chance encounter with a mysterious female led him to what might have been the last bastion of the monastic order dedicated to the Sufferer. It was there that his rough and angry personality was tempered and disciplined into what he later became; a compassionate but stern young man who took the sins of his entire species upon his own shoulders (although that was far from the last drastic change in his character).
His typing quirk is to replace double-o's with the cancer symbol. It might also be considered a quirk of sorts that he makes all efforts to type correctly with regards to spelling, capitalisation, grammar and punctuation and corrects any mistakes when spotted.
Morull started out as almost a butler at the Hornpile but over time he has relaxed, learned, grown and joined the group at large while winning a respectable circle of friends and workmates (at the Genelab, Biolab and Ectobiology Suite, notably Kannus Vertex/fearlessExtant and Feferi Piexes/corpseCommunion) and entrenching himself squarely in the thick of the asteroid's social network. He has formed a strong Matespritship with cluelesslyAlgebraic (Calcus Mirada) which has been cemented with a human-style marriage and made all-but-unshakeable by their successful efforts to conceive a child together (don't ask how they did it, you really don't want to know. Let's just say it involved a lot of biological research in the Hornpile's labs and extensive consultation with Kanaya Maryam). The appearance of an alternate-timeline 'dead' Calcus once caused him much emotional discomfort and self-criticism (where was her Morull when she needed him? Is he somehow to blame for her death?), but he has since resolved these issues by entering into a tentative Moiraillegiance with her. It remains to be seen how this will work out. He has also discovered deep Hatred for the first time in 6 sweeps in the person of Braire Lepori/cottontailCureall, the only troll ever to make him resort to caste-based insults and prejudices... flaws he hates himself for almost as much as he does her for bringing them out.
Physically strong, tough, fit, resistant to pain and more than capable with a staff or his own bare hands thanks to his training and sweeps spent in penitent self-harm, he has also displayed another talent; he's a minor Psionic with the innate ability to hear the dead. Out on the Hornpile among the dreambubbles and after the extensive training that let him quiet his own mind, information 'comes to him' as needed, the dead whispering the secrets of reality into his metaphorical ear whenever his mental state calls on them. Overusing this power weighs on his mind and animates his thoughts and hands with energy and motion not his own, leading him to epiphanies and techniques he previously had no concept of as if he was being piloted from inside his own head or he were a marionette whose string were being pulled by an expert puppeteer. He has used these skills to great effect in renovating, repairing and maintaining the Hornpile and he has undertaken several major overhauls of Asteroid-wide systems, as well as leading extensive research on genetic therapy and retroviral treatment to counteract the worst excesses of the mutant blood of the Vantas lineage in an effort to save the life of his adoptive brother, Karkat/copperSteampunk. It seems the more Morull listens to the dead the louder, more frequently and more clearly they speak to him. Since he first realised the full extent of this talent (during a harrowing event where the ghosts got into his mind almost completely) he suffers frequent headaches and some severe migraines. Oddly, the dead shut right the hell up as soon as he spots Braire, something Morull isn't sure if he finds reassuring or not.
His distinguishing features are his horn-caps, made of Chromium. Due to some shenanigans involving the Sgrub powers of a Witch of Life his horns have grown back inside the caps, splitting them down the back. He also wears a massive greatcoat, banded in all the colours of the Haemospectrum, a black button-up shirt with the Cancer/Vantas symbol stencilled onto it in olive green by his own hands, a simple gold wedding ring and carries a specially designed Signless-cult bladed Monk's staff which can separate into two axe-like hand weapons. The Relic Modus which he accesses through his coat is extensive and versatile, allowing him to carry an obscene amount of objects on his person at any one time (probably including at least one fully-stocked refrigerator and a large battery or Skaianet hub). He used to wear a large iron Sufferer pendant, but considers it redundant now and rarely bothers.
Initially having a deep, intense dislike of Highbloods in general and Makaras specifically (since they are agents of Lord English and historical enemies of the Signless) Morull developed a friendship with motherfuckingHonkalicious/Gamzee, who first alerted him to cluelesslyAlgebraic/Calcus' attraction to him and who he misses keenly. In memory of his lost friend Morull is now willing to give Highbloods rather more leeway than previously, something which has stood him in good stead socially speaking since there are now several Highblood residents in the Hornpile. Despite his adoption into the Vantas lineage, copperSteampunk/Karkat is still his chosen Lord and charge. If push came to shove, Morull would obey Signless over Karkat but it would be the source of much soul searching later.
If the Alternian astrological calender were translated into the Human zodiac, Morull would be a Saggitarius.
| Age - | 12 sweeps (26 yrs) |
| Strife Specibus - | Staffkind/Fistkind(martial arts, actually) |
| Sylladex - | Relic Modus (Coat) |
| Blood color - | Olive |
| Sign - | Skype-looking thing (Renounced) Cancer/Vantas (current) |
| Lusus - | Giant Cobra (presumed dead) |
| Matesprit - | Calcus Mirada (cluelesslyAlgebraic) |
| Moirail - | Calcus Mirada (Dead but still here, algebraicallyClueless) |
| Kismesis - | Braire Lepori (cottontailCureall) |
| Auspistice - | None |