深海

A mermaid who was once human, Sen has always had an affinity for the ocean ever since she was a child.

Grandmother was an ama, and she wanted to follow in her footsteps, but life got in the way– She had to marry and move away from her calling.

Became a mermaid by swallowing a pearl after having been dragged under water by a riptide. Now she keeps pearls wrapped in strings around her body, and these have the power to grant wishes.

Has been through quite a lot since then, including captivity on land, kept around because it was thought that consuming the flesh of a mermaid granted immortality.

…. It doesn’t.

Eventually managed to escape with the help of a human man, but he was killed for it.

i commissioned the lovely salem (sundenas on twitter) for a full body portrait of sen! it turned out so lovely and i am simply over the moon for it!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

the days she had spent on this island had passed rather languidly. for the entirety, sen had mostly managed to avoid other people— if they were even on this island with her, though truth be told she had been spending most of her time in the water. but sometimes a return to land was called for, and so she brought her catch ashore. the fish lay bundled in cloth in the sand, taken from the assortment of fabrics from her own clothing, and she was just settling the loose, light kimono over her shoulders as she spotted a figure emerging from the trees.

well, her solitude had been unlikely to last forever. regardless, sen pulls back her hair and wrings it out before bending to pick up the fish.

“if you have the means, these waters are home to enough fish to last a lifetime,” she comments, throwing her voice across the beach so as to acknowledge the presence of this stranger, “though if not, i fear catching them may involve a great deal of swimming.”

leaning over the rotting railing, sen is quick to spot a mop of black hair, closing in on the ship intently. seeking shelter from the impending storm, perhaps? the weather was like as not to throw another tantrum, and she couldn’t blame him for his choice— this ship was one of the more sturdier-looking of the bunch which were scattered around the small island.

“a fine ship, is she not?” sen called, voice carrying over the wind. their first meeting had been less than cordial, but it is apparent that she is in higher spirits this time around. “though a fair bit less than seaworthy. here, a rope— climb aboard, before the tempest claims you!”

it was almost certainly an exaggeration, but after a moment, sen tosses down a rope all the same. whether or not he would actually take the invitation…. well. the water and wet sand flooding the lowest decks would not be very accommodating, would they?

With a light, ironic smile, he dips his head. Shrugs as if humbly submitting to the truth the woman speaks of.

Yes. It truly is unfortunate, Emet-Selch thinks to himself, that he is unable to retreat to these ocean depths, for it is precisely as she says-that reality, as things stand currently, is indeed quite horrid.  Of course a delusional side of himself pined for the impossible to greet him if ever he were to explore the full measure of that dark abyss. Well he knows this. But even so, the reality would still be cathartic, if nothing else. Distancing onseself from that damnable City-that farce designed to give a disarray of prisoners some deranged semblance of a home.

With a hiss, the rain pours down; saturating the sand in mere seconds and dippling the sea’s surface. All at once it is frustratingly difficult to see. Marvelous.

Emet-Selch has no choice but to shield his eyes in order to effectively watch as this reckless stranger ventures to create more distance ‘twixt herself and the shoreline. “Would that you could, and yet still you take the pains to not have me feel left out. My my, your display of manners is most flattering.  Far more than what can be said for our testy weather.” He says, throwing his voice to carry across the rain and wind. The woman is but a few strides away from the waves consuming her-waves which grow taller by the second. Lightening, meanwhile, does not withhold the urge to strike the water not even a half a malm away.

There is no show of concern for her safety from the Ascian, however. He does naught more than raise his brows. If she wishes to put herself in harms way of the storm, so be it. Who is he to judge when he is determined to do precisely the same? Thus he continues wryly “On that note I suppose I can deign to grace you with a name in return for your consideration. Therefore, without further ado, you…” Though the rain beats down at him, flattening his hair and adding weight to his coat, with an dramatic upwards flip of his wrist, he bows. “…may refer to me as Emet-Selch.”  Then, annoyed from all the shouting he is forced to do, he wastes no time in dragging his feet forward, against sand and water, so that he himself is ankle deep, the fur trimmings of his coat’s skirt submerged. Might as well, for he is already drenched from head to toe. 

“And before you get swallowed whole by the tide, might I receive yours? If for nothing else then to provide to, whomever may concern, a name for the crazed soul carried out to sea? Someone is bound to pester me for such details.”

Inspite of his words, Emet-Selch is confident that such a fate is not like to befall her. Keenly does she resonate with the ocean, even dangerous as it is. How her smile tells all. How she caresses it’s surface so. And, on the offchance his judgement proves wrong (which is doubtful, naturally), then he would be most disappointed, for what an anticlimactic end would that be for one that is shaping up to be a potentially entertaining stranger. 

all at once the storm is upon them. what few dry spots on her body are near-instantly soaking wet, her clothing heavier on her shoulders than it was before. in vain the woman pushes away the hair which clings to her face, only for the strands to drift back downwards in the cascade. if she is having trouble seeing she makes no matter of it. a pleased smile has twisted her lips, catching the given name despite the downpour. 

“emet-selch,” she repeats, thoughtfully, as if it were a thing to be tried on; a name unlike one she had ever heard, befitting a person unlike anyone she had ever met. they are both raising their voices above the growing cacophony of the storm, unwilling to break away from this dance of intrigue. it would seem she wasn’t the only one determined to see who might last the longest in the face of this downpour.

the waves break upon her body. this ocean, though preferable to the city, was unfamiliar, and batters her in its hollowness. she is as much a stranger to it as it is to her, the lightning strike serving as a reminder. the thought of a potential someone to worry after her manages to pull a laugh from her throat, amused. no, that was not likely. but he has indulged her thus far, and so she will return the favor, moving with the water to close a bit of the distance between them and perhaps lessen the strain upon their voices.

“i fear you assume too much. should this ‘crazed soul’ be lost to the sea, there is not one person on this island who would come looking.” its punctuated with another sigh, but lacking in any true conviction, as if that were the way she preferred it. as she draws closer, lightning briefly illuminates the sky, and sen pauses while the thunder rolls and echoes. “... but you may call me sen, regardless, and if only for the fact you so graciously gave me yours.”

she regards him, as the rain grows thicker and the wind carves swaths of it across the surface of the water. surely they would both soon be miserable, or struck by the lightning which they had thus far managed to avoid? he showed no signs of disturbance by the thought, having moved further in to the water than out. perhaps he did wish to see that which lay below the waves. she had no gift to give him, locked away as her powers were, although....

━  FEAR.

in longing, you feel FEAR. you're uncertain and wary of what your feelings may betray you to. you don't enjoy the feeling of not being in control of your own self, you ask, "WHY CAN’T I JUST STOP?" 

there's a cold feeling in your chest, your hands become clammy, you know you behold this desire too strongly, but the feeling goes nowhere. rationally you think, "THIS DESIRE IS FOOLISH AND I DON’T NEED IT," but that doesn't work for long. secretly you yearn for that you seek, trying to hide it even from your own self, FEARING that if you even let yourself know what you crave, nothing will be the same. 

DEATHLESS SENTENCE MEME. / ACCEPTING.

@yajmae​​​ said:  What happens to anything beautiful?

“time,” she replies. a simple answer. cotes ward was bursting at the seams with life, and sen drifts away from the man to caress a blooming flower, glowing softly in pink and white. something beautiful. attached to the branch, in its prime, worthy of poems and paintings and odes to its effervescent nature. the mermaid gestures for azrael to come closer, her fingers tracing the delicate petals.

“this flower... it is beautiful, would you not agree?” sen looks to him, but when he does not answer, expression speaking of more disinterest than any words could say, she continues, “with time, that changes. pluck it from its place and it will wither, even when given water. leave it, and it will fall on its own. perhaps it will be eaten, or trampled, or swept up to use as a decoration.” as if to punctuate the sentence she plucks said flower from the branch. it rests in her palm as she faces the fallen angel, holding it between them in an outstretched hand.

“give it long enough and man will covet that which does not belong to him. in time he will come to possess a beautiful thing, and it will ruin under his touch.” a tinge of bitterness hints at a story she is not going to tell. slender fingers close over the blossom, crushing it in her grip. her hand trembles from the pressure, nails digging harshly into skin, before loosing it. ripped, wrinkled, once-delicate petals and plant material flutter unceremoniously to their feet. she watches.

DEATHLESS SENTENCE MEME. / ACCEPTING.

@quiet-or-die​​ said:  “You will live as you live in any world…with difficulty, and grief.”

sharp, unsympathetic. his words cut deeper than he might have realized. sen’s eyes narrowed at the young man, who appeared to show no signs of having meant it in such a harsh way, though it was difficult to make what exactly he thought by the rather stoic expression on his face. true, she had taken rather poorly to life in this world, and she had a myriad of complaints about it... but who was he, to speak in so familiar a way? to spout off at the mouth with hard truths that sen herself had yet to admit, much less come to accept. the mermaid’s back straightened, eyes flashing with irritation, and in vain she attempted to stare holes into his skull before finally looking away.

“have i not had enough of either of those things already?” she loathed to admit it aloud, tone awash in bitterness, snapping in response as if spitting out unappetizing food. she wanted to poison her very words, that he might not be so keen on continuing. “that is all a life is. a series of difficulties, which more often than not, end in grief.”

she still does not look at him, focus seeming far away for a few moments which pass in silence. clearly, sen is deciding how best to end the conversation. eventually, though, she turns back to him, intense and accusatory.

as promised, here’s an EVENT STARTER CALL for sen! like i mentioned before, she will most likely be found on NOMMIN or VOLAAT. 

NOMMIN: on nommin, she is more than likely going to be exploring and generally having a good time. she’s going to very likely be found in aquatic form here, and is just going to have to deal with being Perceived while in it since there’s not exactly anywhere to go. (character development, anyone?) she can help your muse catch fish and will generally be here to have a good time.

VOLAAT: volaat will probably be similar, and if there’s any submerged ships you know she’s going to be exploring those. she’ll be pretty fond of this island and feel very much at home both in the water and aboard the shipwrecks. bonus points for weathering storms in the safety of their hulls together. again, she’s not here to engage in conflict, but can help find food if needed, especially food in hard to reach spots in the water.

threads on both islands are likely to be relatively laid back, with island shenanigans and general bonding in store! if you’re looking at this because i liked your starter call, consider this permission to have threads set in the water.

she’s MUCH less likely to be found on the other islands (definitely not of her own free will) but if your muse is more likely to be found on them, i’d be willing to plot something via dm. as far as abilities and weapons go, she only has her reduced regeneration and wooden sword. the likely order of islands is nommin = volaat > foss > haugst.

i'm queueing up a starter call for tomorrow when i’m more in the right mindset (its late rn and im so tired from work), but i do know that sen will most likely be found at NOMMIN and VOLAAT. threads at the others are a possibility but i’d really like her to do more mermaid-y things for this event for a change (and maybe kickstart a bit of character development in the process), so... yeha