Marco the Manticore

guard dog of the circus, Malin's servant, aerial performance artist.

Beast of Thar

male?

32

486 kg

height, ground to shoulderblade: 3,13 m
length, head to tail tip: 14.43 m

Blackish mane with grey fur all over his body

long and full, if his face wasn't so scary one would call it fluffy as well.

sickly green like peas plucked to early

Manticore

A giant beast with the body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, the head of a man, and a tail that ends in a mass of deadly spikes. his mouth is full of rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth, similar to a great white shark.

Unlike other Manticores who's colour scheme mainly consists of golden-yellow and brownish-red, Marco's wings are black with bright green spots that match the colour of his main and his black tail is decorated with greenish spikes as well. The dark colours are exclusive to the manticores of his home area and have caused many explorers to classify them as a subspecies.
The sickly green spots are exclusive to him and on top of that, he's larger than the average manticore as well.

very healthy and strong

He doesn't seem to be interested in socializing and spends most of his time sleeping in his (unlocked) cage or on top of one of the many wagons. He only takes orders from Malin du Val. Next to her, he's only respectful and mindful of his words and actions around Naxaschirqal, Rostal and for some unknown reason to most the cat named Void. Anyone else he ignores or looks down upon wholeheartedly.

His narcissistic tendencies cause him to dislike the interaction with "lesser" beings he doesn't see as prey, keeping them short and straight to the point.
He holds on to this attitude unless someone undeniably proves to be superior to him upon which his interactions with them become more respectful even though he still keeps his interactions as straight to the point as possible.

Although Malin doesn't seem all that unforgiving, Marco takes extreme care not to anger her out of fear of his life and a deep sense of respect.
On top of that, he rather likes that he has a constant flow of good food, although it's mostly livestock kept by humans over which he still prefers humanoids, while he still gets to experience the thrill of hunting and causing terror as the designated guard dog of the circus.

It's extremely hard for him to keep himself from killing and devouring his prey as well as focussing on his performance during the show when he's surrounded by all these delicious looking humans.
Especially in the beginning Malin, Nax and Rostal had to restrain him more than once.

He believes himself to be one of the strongest (semi-mortal) beings in Fearûn next to those who lead the circus and ancient dragons.

being a manticore he has a sharp aim when using his tail spikes and an affinity for aerial combat.
He also has good senses regarding the motives and intentions of others.

hunting humans and chasing intruders around in a way that maximizes their fear.

Marco is both Narcissistic and sadistic, believing himself to be better than most and enjoying to torture others and watch them despair.
When someone proves to be stronger his instinctive reaction is to steer clear of them as it challenges his ideas which he dislikes. in these cases he's willing to take a more submissive attitude as a way of self-preservation.

guard dog of the circus, Malin's servant, aerial performance artist.

human flesh

He can shoot the spikes on his tail with great accuracy over a distance of over 60 meters. these spikes regrow swiftly over the course of a day. These spikes are poisonous as well making them extremely effective even if the target gets away.

The main part of Marco's history consists of ambushing and terrorizing unfortunate travellers passing through his home area during which he did not yet have the human-like name he wears today. He killed many humanoids and rivalling monster species with his younger siblings and gained the title of Beast of Thar.
Even though nearby villages offered high rewards to adventurers to kill him none ever succeeded and the manticore devoured most of them gladly.

However, three years ago he was visited by a demon in the shape of a black cat who told him that the day after tomorrow his human master and her snake-man companion would pass through the marshlands over which the manticore reigned. If he wished to live he should remain out of their sight or subjugate himself to the human's service.
The manticore laughed at this notion for at that point he still believed himself to be invincible.

Two days later the human, a blond woman in dark purple dress wearing a tophat ( Malin du Val), and the man who was half snake ( Naxaschirqal) did indeed arrive at the manticore's home. He disregarded the demon cat's warning and attacked.
However, as soon as the woman noticed him she spoke a single word that made his ears ring and caused him to plunge out of the air upon which the man swiftly made sure that he would not be able to move or attack by binding him with iron chains.
The two dragged him back to a strange camp with colourful tents and wagons and many creatures, both humanoids and others, who were laughing loudly and seemed unphased by his presence.
That same evening he was visited by the demon-cat once again who informed him the human's name was Malin and that she was currently discussing with her confidant's whether they should kill the manticore or bring him into service but that the final decision would ultimately fall to the manticore himself. If he wished to live and serve the human, however, he could never reveal the cat's true nature and role to anyone, not even the master.
When the blonde human finally faced him again, he had decided that he would enter her services in whatever role she wished. After all, someone who was in the company of demons and monsters had to be powerful and share his desire for blood and destruction.

Malin gave him the name Marco and comes up with the ideas and choreography for his acts.
She has also forbidden him from killing or lethally wounding anyone without her explicit permission as it would be bad business for the circus.

By now Marco has also concluded that Malin isn't so much as evil but more of an extremely chaotic person with no real ties to the world beyond the circus.
The demon-cat has spoken to him only once since his recruitment into the circus, which was to tell him that his top priority should always be the woman's wellbeing.