Mollymauk Tealeaf

Mollymauk Tealeaf was a tiefling blood hunter. He was created by Taliesin Jaffe as a Player Character. The body that Molly inhabited is currently played by Matthew Mercer as an NPC.

Appearance
Molly was a genderfluid lavender tiefling with red eyes. His curled horns were pierced and extremely ostentatious, with little gems and baubles and his flamboyant appearance was often commented upon. He wore a bright and colorful robe covered with different religious symbols. Molly was introduced with two swords and a pouch that dangled from his hips. He also had many straight, overlapping scars on his neck, upper chest, and arms, presumably from drawing his own blood to activate his swords. Molly had a light Irish accent while apparently in his previous incarnation of Lucien it was much more prominent.

Tattoos
Molly first awoke with a red eye tattoo on the right side of his neck, on his right shoulder, two on his upper back, and on the back and palm of his right hand. Integrating and concealing these eyes, he had a serpent tattoo that curls all along the length of his right hand and up his arm, that winds into a floral piece on his shoulder, and then into a peacock with tail feathers that run up the side of his face. Although he had tried to tattoo over the eyes, they would not take ink. It was confirmed by Yasha that Molly had nine 'eye tattoos' on his body.

Between his shoulder blades rising towards the hairline, he had tattoos of an eye within a pyramid, illuminated by another eye above it. Flanking and connecting through it like a mantle, he has a moon and sun tattoo.

Personality
Molly had been described as a "literal and figurative peacock". He frequently told extravagant lies with little mind for whether or not his audience believed them. He was not visibly affected by insults, as shown by his lack of reaction when the old man in the Old Mud Hole called him a devil and told him to leave town.

Molly was very confident about his appearance and often mentioned nudity, both his own and others.

He found everything delightful and was on board for any thrill or high. Though he didn't seem to mind rough living, he’d also been interested in extravagant — borderline hedonistic— pursuits, including being hand-fed fruit, illegal recreational drug use, and getting full release massages from both male and female escorts.

Lucien
At some point in or before 833 P.D., a purple tiefling going by Lucien (and later "Nonagon") led a group of people who broke away from an established order of some sort to form their own faction, called the Tombtakers. In 833 P.D. Lucien had acquired a tome with the ritual spell required to reach a mysterious city, a place where they could learn of a great many powers and secrets. They believed him, since as the tabaxi Cree said, "He was very charismatic in his cruelty at times." A female spellcaster "from the capital" (presumably Rexxentrum) came to oversee and perform the ritual for him. Gathering in the forest, theTombtakers had a feast at which Lucien gave a speech. The spellcaster told the Tombtakers that it would be hard to tell immediately whether or not the ritual had succeeded.

The ritual was performed, and when the Tombtakers checked, Lucien was not breathing. They waited until dawn, and believed the ritual had failed and Lucien was dead. Lucien had told them that if anything were to go wrong, they had to get rid of any sign, any trace. So, not far from their hideout, they buried him and went their separate ways. The mage woman took the tome as part of the arrangement Lucien had with her.

Mollymauk
Mollymauk thought of himself as having come into existence two years before he met the Mighty Nein, when he woke up buried in the ground with no memories. He shortly thereafter joined The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities. According to Toya, Molly wasn't talking when he first joined the carnival. This wasn't entirely true, as, at the time of joining the carnival, he would only say the word "empty." Gustav Fletching heard this as "M.T." and would eventually forge papers for him under the name "Mollymauk Tealeaf" in the hopes that these initials were either somehow significant to Molly or his original name. Molly has no desire to remember the life of the person who ended up buried where he woke up, though he has expressed some regret at not experiencing a childhood. Molly claimed in introductions to have been in the carnival for as "long as [he] can reasonably remember".

Molly was introduced as a promoter for the carnival and as a "fortune-teller" within it. His fortune-telling "abilities" came from card-reading techniques and sleight of hand, not actual magic. He never developed an act for the show itself. His stage name with the Carnival of Curiosities was "The Ice Spinner", likely due to his ability to summon ice with his blood.

Pre-Stream
Before the campaign started, Mollymauk and Yasha traveled Wildemount with The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities.

Chapter 9
 Mollymauk invited Caleb, Nott, Beau, Jester, and Fjord to go watch the evening circus performance. During the show, an old man was transformed into a zombie and a fight between them ensued.

 While staying at the inn, Molly was asked about the nature of Kylre. He replied by saying that an incident like this had never happened before.



 After the fight with Kylre, Molly picked up Toya and walked slowly back to the boat, comforting her through this tough realization.

 Molly caught Nott sneaking into Molly and Fjord's room heading for Fjord's pack. He held up a piece of paper and asked if she was looking for it. Nott asked Molly to give her the piece of paper, but he refused unless they made a trade. Nott gave him a vial of acid and opened the piece of paper, finding it was blank. When Fjord came back in, Molly told him what had happened, and Fjord shooed her out of the room.

 Fjord and Molly set a trap in their room for Nott, using Minor Illusion to create a pile of buttons topped with a jeweled flask. She saw the pile along with Fjord's belongings to one side and snuck in. Fjord and Molly slammed the door on her, trapping her, and Molly cast Devil's Tongue, charming her. She admitted that she was looking for Fjord's letter to the Soltryce Academy to give to Caleb.

Chapter 10
 Upon meeting Cree in the Evening Nip and being addressed as Lucien, Mollymauk panicked and insisted that the Mighty Nein play along. He tried to pass himself off as having the same personality as Lucien to Cree, possibly succeeding. Later, under a Zone of Truth, Molly revealed his amnesia and desire to live as a new person separate from whoever Lucien may have been.

Chapter 11
 While on watch with Beau, Molly revealed that the best lie he ever told was when, as part of a scam and initiation test for The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities, he spent three weeks pretending to be a reincarnated royal from overseas. Beau told Molly she once found out a politician and his wife were both cheating on each other then used that information to ruin their relationship and their lives. Molly was impressed and was sure the politician and his wife had it coming.

Having tracked and set an ambush on the Glory Run Road ahead of the Iron Shepherds and their slave wagon convoy, Keg and the remaining members of the Mighty Nein quickly faced losing odds as they attempted to do battle and recover their abducted members. Although the party had managed to down the half-orc druid Dwelma, they were outnumbered and outskilled. Gravely injured and facing off against Lorenzo with Beau, Molly attempted to use his Blood Maledict ability to hinder Lorenzo's attacks. However, he was already injured enough that this effort knocked him unconscious. Lorenzo planted his glaive into Mollymauk's chest. Mollymauk, knowing this was his end, spat blood into the face of Lorenzo. Noting his respect for Molly fighting until his end, Lorenzo twisted his glaive and left Molly to expire with his eyes open to the falling snow of the northern Marrow Valley.

 After Beau looted Molly's body for his Periapt of Wound Closure, tarot deck, Summer's Dance, and his gold (intended to help pay for his eventual resurrection), the party buried Molly along the side of the road. Beau poured out a drink for Molly, and the party toasted: "Long may he reign."

 When visiting the grave of Mollymauk, the group found that his coat was still there. Jester, Fjord and Yasha said their goodbyes. Jester left the Moon card at his grave in a memorial of him. Caduceus Clay used his cantrip, Decompose, to make sure that the earth remembered Molly. The cantrip triggers one minute of rapid decomposition by fungus and, potentially, flowers. (Requirements for resurrection remain unaffected.)

Chapter 18
The group returned to the gravesite alongside Glory Run Road intending to cast Speak with Dead to ask Molly, or Lucien, about the "eyes of nine", but found the grave empty. Jester then used his blood (obtained from the Gentleman) to cast Scry on him. She saw a familiar purple tiefling, bundled up against a blizzard, walking with confidence towards an unknown destination. His coat had been left behind, found twenty feet from the gravemarker and left to the elements until it was retrieved by Veth and taken into her possession.

According to Henry Crabgrass, Mollymauk's body had been exhumed and ritually resurrected around 50 days earlier (around 11 Thunsheer 836 PD), about six-and-a-half months after his death.

Jester scried on him a second time to find him huddled in front of a fire, eating rations with a pensive and reserved atittude to him. The third time Jester succeeded in Scrying on Molly's body, she saw him searching through a room. The eye in his tattooed peacock flared and he looked directly at the scrying orb and addressed it, telling her that without the previous scry, he would not have been able to locate "her". He finds a book while Jester watches, and goes out the window with it, saying, "To Alpha and Alpha, we trek till homeward bound we be. Maybe we'll see you there," then terminates her scry with a snap of his fingers.

Jester Lavorre
Molly read Jester's fortune for two copper pieces, using a small set of cards. He predicted that there was something bright and adventurous in her future. That night at the Traveling Carnival of Curiosities, he showed her the moon and shadow cards together and asked if she understood what they meant, possibly in reference to The Moonweaver.

Jester and Molly got along well during his time with the Mighty Nein. When dramatizing her Hellish Rebuke in Infernal, Jester chose phrases to make Molly laugh; without Molly there, she generally just screams.

In, Jester found research that led her to believe that Moonweaver-specific tarot decks were meant to be "deceptive" and "relative" to those who the deck was being read to, as are the tenets of The Moonweaver. This research allowed her to realize that Molly's tarot deck was not only self-created and incomplete but also did not correspond to more traditional tarot decks found within Exandria.

Caleb
When Caleb was dissociating after killing the gnoll priest with his Fire Bolt, Mollymauk called him from his withdrawn state. Mollymauk also confronted Caleb about what he viewed as him keeping loot and not sharing it with the other members of the group, pinning him against a wall and telling him it was fine to skim something off the top but to distribute 60 or 70 percent of it.

Caleb included a stained glass window in the library of his nine-sided tower that was reminiscent of Mollymauk's signature coat.

Fjord
During their adventures together, Fjord was often Mollymauk's roommate when they were sleeping in an inn. This led them to become close friends with each other, along with being impressed by each other's swordsmanship. Molly was also the first person that Fjord confided in about his past experiences out at sea, and his concern over the eye residing in his falchion. After Molly's death, Fjord felt guilty that he wasn't there to save his life. He attuned to Molly's sword, the Summer's Dance, as a way of remembering him and keeping his legacy alive.

Beauregard
Molly was initially annoyed by Beau's abrasiveness. When describing her to fellow carnival members, Molly said, "She’s helping, she’s awful, you have a lot in common." Beau, in return, was put off by Molly's lying and teasing. He supported her efforts to change, and they went on to develop a close, sibling-like relationship.

Molly thought that his death enabling Beau's survival was worth it, and Taliesin joked that Molly would forever have a "one-up" on her.

Beau has taken Molly's lessons to heart and is trying to take baby steps towards leaving towns better than she finds them.

Beau asked Orly Skiffback to give her a magical tattoo of the All-Seeing Eye, like the one on the back of Molly's neck, using the design from the matching card in his tarot deck.

Yasha
Molly and Yasha were well acquainted from working with the Carnival of Curiosities. Molly met Yasha when she joined the Carnival a few months before episode 1. When asked whether or not Yasha would be coming along with the party, Molly immediately accepted, referring to her as "the Charm." Yasha knows as much as Molly did about Molly's history.

Molly gifted Yasha with a book on manners and a four-leaf clover. She continues to add flowers to the book and treasures it to this day.

Due to a Sleep spell cast upon her manacles, Yasha awoke later than Jester and Fjord following their rescue. Upon seeing Mollymauk's gravesite, she let out a tortured scream and left the party, quietly assuring them that when she was ready, she would find them again.

After receiving Vokodo's dying vision, Yasha wondered if there was a connection between the nine eye tattoos Molly bore and the floating city seen in the Astral Sea, but neither religion nor the arcane could provide any link. Fjord suggested, "only half-joking", that they go get Molly after TravelerCon.

Notable Items

 * Pair of decorated scimitars (constructed of carnival glass)
 * Marked "fortune-telling" deck (Taken by Beau after Molly's death)
 * "The Silver Dragon"
 * "The Anvil"
 * "The Serpent"
 * "The Eye"
 * "The Moon" (returned to grave marker by Jester)
 * "The Shadow"
 * "The Chariot"
 * Disguise Kit
 * Pouch, bedazzled with gems, containing incense
 * Periapt of Wound Closure (taken by Beau)
 * Old, rusted, iron helmet that is at least two hundred years old (obtained from a cemetery)
 * A "deeply gaudy" tapestry with a symbol of the Platinum Dragon embroidered into it.
 * A brooch of the Platinum Dragon..
 * Summer's Dance Scimitar (a +1 scimitar that can cast Misty Step) (looted by Beau after Molly's death, became a part of Fjord's falchion)

Feats

 * Tough

Variant Tiefling Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Devil's Tongue
 * Vicious Mockery cantrip
 * Charm Person spell (as a 2nd-level spell)
 * Enthrall spell
 * Hellish Resistance

Blood Hunter Abilities
Though concealed on his body, regardless of where he cut himself to use his rite powers, a single red eye on his body bled in response. Different abilities cause this reaction for different eyes. .


 * Blood Curses (2)
 * Blood Curse of the Eyeless
 * Blood Curse of Purgation
 * Blood Hunter Order: Order of the Ghostslayer
 * Esoteric Rite: Rite of the Dawn
 * Blood Maledict (1 use)
 * Crimson Rite (1d6)
 * Primal Rite: Rite of the Frozen
 * Extra Attack
 * Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting
 * Hunter's Bane

Quotations
Beauregard: "Are you patronizing me, Mollymauk?" Mollymauk: "No, I'm hoping that you’re going to patronize us." Jester: "That-thats an after thought" Molly: "Usually is" Keg: "You just gave me twenty gold." Molly: "Yes, that's how I know you can afford us." Taliesin: (spits with blood.) Matt: "As it slams into his face-" Matt, as Lorenzo: "Respect," Matt: "-and then twists the blade. The life leaves Molly." Taliesin: "Eyes never shut."
 * Mollymauk: "Can you hand me your staff so I can watch this? I want to see this limp of yours. Purely for my own entertainment."
 * "We're carnival people: we all have our issues. You don't wind up here if you don't have some kind of issues."
 * ‪"Mother always told me to never give away a story for free.‬"
 * "They say solitaire is a game for the death obsessed, there's an inevitability to every hand, most of them are doomed from the start no matter what you do".
 * "When in doubt, if something goes wrong, just... nudity. It usually works."
 * "BECAUSE I'M WEIRD!" (when asked why he joined the circus)
 * Molly: "What about Yogur"
 * "I'm always ready to make a damn fool of myself."
 * “Be the chaos you want to see in the world.”
 * "I don’t want to remember anything, I don’t want anybody else’s baggage in my head, I don’t want anybody else’s problems, thoughts, ideas… I like this person, right now, is a good person, is a fine person, is a happy person."
 * "I spent two years before I met you all cajoling people, occasionally ripping them off, occasionally doing a good turn here or there. Never trust the truth. The truth is vicious, the truth thinks that you owe it something… None of that. I like my bullshit. It’s good, it’s happy, it makes other people happy."
 * "Let me make this abundantly clear: My name is Molly. That person is dead, and not me. It's just a person who had this body. They abandoned it. It's mine now."
 * "I am your god! Long may I reign!"
 * "There's nothing better than waking up with no pants and flowers in your hair."
 * "I'm always interested in people who are excited to experiment."
 * Molly: (suggesting Keg hire the Mighty Nein) "Twenty gold."
 * "I don't care where anyone's from. It's nice. I certainly don't care where I'm from."
 * Matt: "Molly, you have a brief moment. As the consciousness and life leaves you, what are your last words?"
 * "Well fuck you too!" (Molly's parting thoughts)
 * "To alpha and alpha, we trek 'til homeward bound we be." OR "To alpha and alpha we trek, 'til homeward bound we be."

Trivia

 * Molly implied himself to be a worshiper of The Platinum Dragon in public.. While under the influence of Jester's Zone of Truth, Molly revealed that he actually worshiped the Moonweaver (an unapproved deity in the Dwendalian Empire). However, he explicitly stated that his swords were entirely nonmagical and his "worship" over them was a show.
 * The fact that Molly worshipped The Moonweaver (who is the goddess of the Moon and Autumn) is an opposite of Percival de Rolo, who leads his home-city of Whitestone. There, a majority of residents worship Pelor, the god of the Sun and agriculture.
 * Taliesin Jaffe confirmed that "Mollymauk" is named after Alan "Mollymauk" Musgrave in the 1966 teen comedy film "Lord Love a Duck", which had been directed by Taliesin's grandfather, George Axelrod.
 * Molly's initials are MT, a homophone for the first thing he initially said ("empty"). Taliesin confirmed this as intentional.
 * Taliesin originally intended for Mollymauk's last name to be "Trickfoot," but Matt didn't want such an explicit reference to the first campaign so early on.
 * "Mollymauk" is a modification of "Mollymawk", the name of a species of albatross in the genus Thalassarche that originates from the Dutch "mallemok" (mal - foolish, and mok - gull).
 * The word "albatross" is sometimes used metaphorically to mean a psychological burden that feels like a curse.
 * In maritime superstition, to be followed by an albatross was considered a sign of good luck for a ship; killing the bird, such as in Samuel Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is said to bring a curse onto the killer and their ship.
 * "Molly" is a slang term for the psycoactive drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, known for inducing feelings of euphoria, increased self-confidence, increased empathy and closeness with others and oneself, relaxation and reduced anxiety, a sense of inner peace, mild hallucinogenic effects, altered sense of time, and enhanced sensation, perception, or sexuality.
 * "Tealeaf" is a suggested surname for Halflings in several editions of the Player's Handbook.
 * "Tea leaf" is also Cockney rhyming slang for "thief".
 * Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a method of divination or fortune-telling that interprets tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
 * Lucien originates from the Latin name Lucius, itself from the word lux (meaning "light", "shining", or "resplendent").
 * Nonagon is the name of a nine-sided polygon (also called an enneagon), from the Latin nonus ("nine") + gōnía ("corner").
 * The band They Might Be Giants have a song entitled "Nonagon" on their children's album Here Come the 123s. It refers to both an attendee at a party at which "everybody in the party is a many-sided polygon" and a dance they perform at this party
 * Taliesin has quoted lines from TMBG's song "Don't Let's Start".
 * Temples of the Baha'i Faith (a religion teaching the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people) are required to be nonagonal, an essential architectural character stipulated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a head of the Baha'i Faith. In the Baha'i Faith, the number nine represents completeness.
 * The number 9 has significance in several cultures, including the nine planets of Hinduism, an association with the Chinese dragon (a symbol of power, magic, and good luck), the Ennead (nine deities worshiped at the major city of Heliopolis) of Egypt, the Nine Worthies that personified the ideals of chivalry of the Middle Ages, the nine worlds of Norse mythology, and the nine muses of Greek mythology. There are also nine circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno, and nine rings of power in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth.
 * The Nine Days of Av are a religious observance in Judaism that takes place during the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av. It is a period of semi-mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of Av on which both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. Jaffe's grandfather George Axelrod was born to a Russian Jewish father.
 * This is also a nod, coincidental or not, to the group's name The Mighty Nein.
 * The nines of the Minor Arcana in a classic tarot deck are generally read as completion and fulilment of the suit's meaning.
 * "Nine-sided" is also part of many insults, mostly British, as in a nine-sided bastard, meaning someone devious or deceptive.
 * Molly was the first player character of the second campaign's party to be knocked unconscious in combat.
 * Taliesin has compared Molly's personality to that of Hunter S. Thompson.
 * Taliesin had hoped that Molly could continue coming up with new lies about his backstory for a long time, but was forced to come clean during the events of.
 * Molly appeared to be bisexual, or at least have little preference for who he slept with, as seen when he bought the services of two courtesans and when asked about his preference of gender, he specified he only cared about the one with the best hands and best conversation.
 * Matt said that Mollymauk was openly bisexual and genderfluid during an interview on the DnD Beyond twitch channel.
 * Molly has been described as having a "difficult to make out gender" appearance-wise
 * Taliesin considers Molly functionally illiterate due to his lack of interest in reading.
 * At episode 27, Molly had the most kills (21) and HDYWTDT (7) of the Mighty Nein.
 * Mollymauk was the first player character to die in Campaign 2. A resurrection has been discussed but not yet attempted at this time. If he is not resurrected, he would be the third player character across both campaigns to die permanently (after Tiberius Stormwind and Vax'ildan).
 * In Caduceus used Decompose to make sure that "the earth remembers" Molly. Resurrection remains a possibility due to the nature of the cantrip.
 * The party later discovered Molly's grave empty and his body apparently alive and well.