#menkar

Cetus, the Sea Monster (also called the Whale), is one of the original 48 constellation laid down by Greek astronomy Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

It shares its name with the sea monster from Greek mythology. In the most well-known story, Queen Cassiopeia boasted that she and her daughter, Andromeda, were more beautiful than the Nereids, invoking the wrath of Poseidon who sent Cetus to terrorize their lands of Ethiopia. In order to save their kingdom, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia were told to sacrifice their daughter to the monster, chaining her to a cliffside in full view of the monster.

Thankfully, Perseus happened to be flying by after having slain Medusa, and managed to slay Cetus as well.

The named stars, in order of brightness, are:

Diphda (β Ceti), the brightest star in Cetus and an orange giant star about 96 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase aḍ-ḍifdaʿ aṯ-ṯānī meaning "the second frog."

Menkar (α Ceti) is a red giant star about 249 light years from Earth. Its name comes from the Arabic word manħar meaning "nostril," marking its place in the body of Cetus.

Mira (ο Ceti) is a binary star system about 300 light years from Earth. It is a very well-known star system, and is the prototype of a class of variable stars. The system consists of a red giant and a white dwarf, where the white dwarf is accreting the upper layers of the red giant's atmosphere. Its name comes from the Latin word mira meaning "wonderful."

Kaffaljidhma (γ Ceti) is a triple star system about 80 light years away. The system consists of two blue-white giants and a red dwarf star. The name comes from the Arabic phrase al-kaf al-jaðmāʾ meaning "the cut-short hand."

Baten Kaitos (ζ Ceti) is a binary star system consisting of at least one orange giant star. The entire system lies about 253 light years away. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase batn qaytus meaning "belly of the sea monster."

Hydor (2 Ceti) is a solitary blue giant star about 272 light years away. Its name comes from the Greek word hydor meaning "water."

Axólotl (HD 224693) is a solitary Sun-like star about 308 light years away. It has a single confirmed planet orbiting it named Xólotl, slightly less massive than Jupiter. Both names were given by the people of Mexico: Axólotl meaning "water animal" in the native Nahuatl language, and Xólotl means "animal".

Felixvarela (BD-17 63) is a solitary red dwarf star about 112 light years away. It has a single confirmed planet orbiting it named Finlay, about 5 times more massive than Jupiter. Both names were given by the people of Cuba: Felixvarela is named after Cuban independence leader and priest Felix Varela (1788-1853), while Finlay is named after Cuban epidemiologist Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915) who pioneered research in yellow fever.

On the other hand, DaLin is more of a "manual" girlie. Grew up in a family of craftsmen, fabricating jewels and weapons alike (that's how she earned her rough hands, muscled arms and most of her scars btw). She herself is more specialized in stone and glass cutting (picture yourself obsidian knives, beaded necklaces, earrings and armbands of all shapes and colors, etc...). So, she still does it here too, loves to craft handmade jewelry and then giving it to the maids she like (thus including Carissa). She's still skilled in other manual jobs in general (unlike Menkar, who has soft, unskilled hands and is a dirty little slacker), but yeah, that's the one thing she does for fun.

She also has a deep, profound, unending special interest regarding reptiles (mostly toward snakes, but she likes lizards and turtles too-). Find them to be the most amazing and prettiest creatures for real (has to do with the way the scales shine in the Sun like jewels too). She has a lot of knowledge about their different species and can and will pick them up (knows how to handle even the venomous ones).

She likes music a lot too (sings to herself while working, but mostly when she's alone or only with Menkar, her voice sounds good but she's self counscious, it really sounds male-like (kinda like a real male singer)).

Though, if the two of them are together (and that's most of the time, ever since the slave-market they kind of actually developped separation-anxiety), their number one hobbies are trash-talking suitors / talking behind their back in their language, betting / gambling / competing on anything and everything, having mock-fights, singing together, and acting gay with each other (just for the fun of it).

2) I do have some other things planned about that, that would depend on the suitors, but roughly:

- My girls have chosen a nickname/title for each of them (most of them derogatory).

- In their opinion, most of them are annoying, a good chunk of them are dangerous, some are funny, some are actually lovable, and one of them deserves a brutal and painful death.

- Menkar is the one who interacts with them the most, due to her extensive knowledge of the greek language ( + she has a way with words in general, reason why she mostly manages to escape punishment even after all that ragebait/subtle mockery).

- DaLin acts like her shadow in this case, she has troubles speaking the language and is a shy mess overall (+ if she tried to talk, most of the suitors would make fun of her teeth or the way she sounds-).

3) Well, you know for some of them already:

- They love Carissa a lot.

DaLin might have had a fleeting crush on her, but in the end she respects her relationship with Haneul. DaLin is the one who notices small details and doesn't speak much, she really hopes Carissa would take better care of herself, and as you already know, she would put handmade gifts in her office / try to verify if she eats enough /try to ease her workload. Also, I imagine her witnessing her playing the lyra. Among the ❤️‍🩹sweet, sweetest sounds❤️‍🩹 she heard since she arrived here.

Menkar finds comfort in Carissa's presence. She finds herself in her office more often than she would like to admit, but she could swear just seeing her face already manages to ease her headaches (that's her main handicap, it's so very frequent and has gotten worse since she has started working here). Her main "love-language" would be to try and make her laugh with funny stories or corny puns, and telling her memories of her previous travels.

- They have their weird cult-like admiration for Xandria, this much is known already. Menkar respects her protective tendencies toward the maids and DaLin likes her voice, muscles and general aura/attitude. ✨️Greatest guard above Heavens✨️ better be prepared to have two small smiling beans following her around like ducklings (I'm only halfway joking).

- They don't know Petros much, but they don't dislike him necessarely. Not a lot of interactions, but there is mutual respect (also bonus point because he's a friend of Xandria and Nikandros).

- Oh boy do they like Nikandros... for sure they could be partners in chaos, typically the kind of humor they both like. (Although Menkar isn’t a workalcoholic, she's just a regular alcoholic with the nasty habit to steal your drink-).

Also, if she were to know that, I think DaLin would respect him even more, specifically regarding his blacksmith-skills (they could talk about weapons and blade-sharpening if he'd like).

Friendship accepted 👍.

- They find Haneul to be handsome and honorable. Menkar respects his skills as a healer and likes the fact he's not intimidating. Would joke with him too.

DaLin thinks he's a good man for Carissa.

- Malachi... that would depend, do we still consider him as the "Son" of Odysseus? Because, if he was, then Menkar would be wary and avoid him entirely. She already avoids Telemachus, and in comparaison this guy in a whole silent human brickwall with a sinister aura.

(Actually, she would avoid him too at first if he was just a guard, he intimidates her too much. But if he was also "Prince Malachi", then it would take even waaaayy longer for her to warm up to him).

DaLin observes from afar. She notices the way he makes the suitors uncomfy and sometimes helps the maids, so she'd like that. Wouldn't reach out to him though.

Eventually, the one thing they would truly like about him would be learning about his baby-girl Phoebe (that alone makes him immediatly more likeable, thus the "🐰Bnnuy Man🐰" title).

4) Well, about that...

Menkar would be dumbfounded at first. Doesn't really know how to react. Picture her alone in a hallway, with only the floofball blocking her path and staring at her. She might crouch down to her level, look at her from different angles and wonder if that creature may have some kind of superior intelligence (spoiler: she does). Menkar doesn't have any treats on her, so she'd just pet her (and marvel at the floofyness).

And actually... DaLin is forbidden from being alone with Phoebe 😓. Last time it happened, she was too focused, marvelling at a pretty snake that had managed to enter the room, that she didn't react nor realize that it was coming closer and actively trying to eat Phoebe. The floofy girl was only saved by the surprise arrival of other maids, and DaLin was heavily scolded after that (chances are, Phoebe doesn't like her either after that incident-).