Here it is. Please let me know if this needs any changing at all.
Appearance:
Full Name: Eikki Dreadlight, formerly Eikki Greenfin, of the Greenfin clan of Wondervine.
Transformed appearance: When in his merfolk form, Eikki exhibits a skin with a mix of green, dark green and dark blue hues. His eyes are pitch black, his fluffly beard is morphed into several tentacles with softly shining tips, the same happens to his hair. His lips conceal the maw of a predator: under the well shaped mouth he hides the mouth of a lamprey, filled with teeth all the way to his throat. From its depths, sprouts a long tongue with a bladed tip. When in merfolk form, he is proeminently carnivore just as his fellow kin, yet his lamprey-like nature has him sucking the lifeblood of his victims in a slow, steady pace. His 5 "normal" fingers show membranes between them, but that's the only thing one could call abnormal about them. From the waist down, Eikki's body becomes a slithering tail, with no fins on it. The last fourth of his tail is made of algae. Across his skin, he show several scars he can't quite remember where he got. The skin of his left arm is non-existant, and the muscles and bones were transformed into coral, giving this arm a bony, rocky appearance. If Eikki is holding his lantern when he morphs, the object, also made of coral and stone, will meld with his arm, replacing his hand.
Age: He would say it if he could, but quite frankly, he does not know. All he knows is that he would already be considered an adult by other of his race.
Gender: Male
Species: The Merfolk: Mermaids, Mermen, Leviathans and other fabled watery creatures.
Azure is the realm of wonder, no doubts about it. It's fabled soil is fertile, it's waters are clear and home to many wonders. A couple clicks away from it's main city, Elmis, under the shadow of a mountain chain, rests a valley, known to the inhabitants of the city as The Valley of Tides. However, to the mythical creatures residing under it's waters, the valley is known as Dreamcoral Valley, or simply Dreamcoral. In it, there exists hundreds of lagoons, some so large that the fast winds that blow through the valley and the rivers connecting these lagoons cause small waves, resembling the waves of a small beach, the waters constantly rising and then backing away, forming beaches along the shores of the lagoons, hence the name the elmisians gave it. A network of underwater tunnels connects the rivers, lagoons and sinkholes, under which there lives an immortal, curious and fascinating people: The Merfolk.
Merfolk folklore speaks highly of the birth of these mysterious and wondrous magi, traders, warriors and assassins. It is said that Ea, the godess of water, was in love with Gaeos, the deity of earth. One day, Gaeos invited Ea to a walk through the valley, to explore its forests, lakes and rivers. At that time, it is said, there was no life there, except the flora that sprouted lushly throughout that land. In a clearing, Gaeos stole a kiss from Ea, and, one thing leading to another, they made love. Not long after that, Ea found out she was pregnant, but the same day brought a bitter discovery: her lover had betrayed her with the lustful deity of fire, whose name the Merfolk dare not speak. Filled with pain, both emotional and physical, the water godess made her way to the biggest lagoon there, naming it Wanderdream, and in its waters giving birth to her offspring. Her children were called Merfolk, wondrous creatures with half-human, half-fish appearance , with special powers and immortality running through their veins. Merfolk say that the godess womb was so fertile, it gave birth to a very diverse assortment of creatures, although all of them belong to the same species. Her body fluids nurtured the waters and spread throughout the valley, sprouting corals, algae, watershrooms and all sort of water flora under the now rich waters of that place.
The merfolk are very curious beings. Their species consists of various subspecies, most appearing half human, half fish, sometimes exhibiting exacerbated fish traits like big fins along the arms, with various collors, pronouced gills, etc. All merfolk have specific powers and abilities, amongst the most common are: creation and manipulation of water flora, dominion over water creatures, water manipulation, etc, though each merfolk can be, and many times is, of a different kind, their physiology granting them additional skills or weaknesses. Some have circular mouths filled with teeth, and tongues made for piercing flesh, almost always concealed under beautiful lips and pleasant expressions; these are mostly used as low-profile assassins, as are the ones sometimes referred to as "Eamaw". These have light lures atop their heads, and their well-shaped lips hide sharp, long teeth, along with alluring voices and a tendency for flesh-eating. Both these kinds of merfolk can be very elusive, making them ideal from the grim job of reducing overpopulations.
Other sub-species may include, but are not limited to: mermaids, with their beautiful upper bodies and luscious appetite, all of them female, things of fairy-tales, dragging uncautious adventures to the waters, seducing them and guaranteeing the continuation of their ever-changing kind, while also bringing home a snack, though not always their appetite is for flesh more than it is for simple intercourse; leviathans, huge, monstrous creatures that are not birthed, but bred in special chambers, utilizing the powerful magic gave to the merfolk by the godess Ea. These act as the muscle of their army, sometimes taking the form of dragon-serpents, others the form of enormous octopus, and others a blend of the two. They are usualy found in the sinkholes deep under the waters and, unlike city-people belief, they are rather intelligent: most of them speak, some of them even take to other jobs other than muscle (although it is exceedingly rare to see a leviathan leave the water kingdom, for they do not have the prowess in magic that the other merfolk possess) and even though they are bred like animals, merfolk society thinks highly of these heavy-hitters.
While it is very rare, some merfolk have the ability to terraform small patches of land, creating new bodies of water and underwater flora and, sometimes, even fauna. These are called Waterspeakers, and are the highest caste of this society. Merfolk can't be taught this ability; they are born with it. At first, there's no caste disctinction between a good-looking lion-fish mermen and a lamprey-mouth; they can both ascend or descend through merfolk hierarchy. But when the lamprey starts weaving its hands and making fish appear from thin water, there's no prejudice as to which sub-species it belongs.This lucky member of the whole is taken to the underwater temple-city of Wondervine, and immediately blessed by the godess as one of her Waterspeakers.
Wondervine rests deep within the turmoiled waters of Wanderdream Lagoon. An enormous city with buildings made of coral, stone and huge watershrooms, it is home to many clans of merfolk. Though there are, sometimes, some ferocious rivalry between the clans, in Wondervine it is forbidden to shed blood. The Waterspeakers make sure that anyone who disobeys this rule meet their maker. However, some assassins are clever and ingenious, killing members of opposite clans without shedding a single drop of their green life-fluid, utilizing algae to choke their victims, or arcane magic to stop their hearts or destroy their consciousness.
Even though merfolk assassins are some of the most crafty members of society, trading is where most of the sucess of this race rests. The shores of the waterbodies in Dreamcoral Valley, every autumn, get filled with tents made of algae and stores with stone-made counters, selling the most varied artifacts, food, clothing and weaponry, all made by merfolk. People from various cities in Azure, including Elmis itself, come once a year to the Valley of Tides to appreciate the fine craftsmanship of the fish-people, as the merfolk are referred to when there are no gills around the others. The contact with the other races of Azure has led the merfolk to develop a secondary, very useful skill: shapeshifting. Though it is merely a superficial trait, they can control this ability at will, switching between (mostly) human and merfolk forms at will. This way, they can communicate better with the other races and ensure the genetic variety of their kind through interspecies breeding. Throughout the ages, the blending of human and merfolk race has made these curious creatures impervious to diseases like cancer, and they have a high resistance to viruses and bacteria. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see a being that resembles a lion-fish leaning on the rivershore, having a smoke, though it is frowned upon.
This is a very hierarchic society, The higher caste, Waterspeakers, are also their rulers, almost always wise and just. Some are also generals, commanding warriors and leviathans. Others are engineers, manipulating the earth to create new cities under the waters, or tending to their evergrowing assortment of leviathans, ensuring they are healthy and powerful enough to join the Merfolk Armada. Others are governors and rulers. As any good king, the High Waterspeaker, commanding member of this organization, knows the value of a skilled assassin to deal with threats or nuisances and, therefore, merfolk assassins are highly praised. Merfolk mages are well versed in the arts of water manipulation and the arcane, giving all members of this caste the ability to control and even create, to a certain degree, wild water life. Due to their aluring nature, merfolk traders are very sucessful in their deeds, filling the coffers of their banks with golden coins by selling coral and algae-made goods, along with exquisite foods and drinks hailing from their underwater empire.
Though a not very technonogicaly-advanced (at least not in the kind of technology city-folk use), the merfolk are extremely intelligent. Their magi constantly study ancient tablets of stone and coral, and the constant flux of scrolls brought in by the merchants and traders. Working in unison with the waterspeakers, they develop new spells that are taught in their magic schools. Despite this trait, a merfolk warrior is not something to be taken lightly. Extremely fast and elusive, skillful with blades, tridents and warglaives, this caste is the backbone of any army, the first to charge and last to fall. Their fish-like traits allow them to move freely about the water and slither like a snake while on land, making them deadly in both environments. Though it is not common, some merfolk can have the physiology to acommodate poision glands in their bodies, making these the rarest, and sometimes deadliest type of warrior or assassin.
Details on physiology: As explained before, the merfolk is a varied race, although some traits are common to them all. Independant of sub-species, their lower bodies are shaped like enormous tails, allowing the merfolk to sometimes exceed 20 feet in length while swimming. Their hands show five digits with membranes between the fingers; some can have suction cups, others thorns as sharp as needles, other can be simple palms, this trait depends on the sub-species. Their genetics are extremely maleable, allowing for easy interspecies breeding. It is not known, however, how the sub-species is decided: only a couple genes differ from sub-species to sub-species, and a lamprey-mouth or eamaw can have a mermaid mother with lion-fish traits and a mermen father with very humanised appearance. It is, apparently, random. Along the length of their necks or on the sides of their heads, gills sprout, allowing them to breathe underwater. The overall appearance and location of these can vary, but the function is always the same, and all merfolk have them. Eyes are mostly black or dark-blue, sometimes dark-green, though it is very rare, yet not unheard of, to see merfolk with light-blue or light-green colored eyes. Their lips are almost aways shaped as a human's, sometimes hiding terrifying features. Mermaids are always beautiful, have big breasts and slender bodies, while males can be more muscular in nature, yet almost always as beautiful. Their human form retains that beauty, yet all the fish-like traits disappear or are hidden: sometimes the gills fall back to the backside of their ears, sometimes their sharp teeth are completely concealed behind another line of human-like teeth, it can vary from individual to individual, and depends also on the level of mastery of their shapeshifting skill.
Being immortal, merfolk can only die from wounds or powerful diseases. Their fish like nature give them increased regeneration and stamina, though a well-placed strike can spell doom to the unwary. Some have the ability to blend in with corals, algae and stones, making them masters of camouflage; due to this trait, their skins almost aways have stones or corals attached to them. Elder merfolks can choose to study the art of euthanasic magic: when a merfolk gets too old, and simply decides to rest, his companions can put an end to his life with dignity and without shedding blood or betaking on the methods of assassins. The euthanized individual is moved to a peaceful location of their choosing, and is, as the merfolk put it, "united with Mother and Father once more", being assimilated by the environment, their bodies desintegrating and joining the local biodiversity, mutating wildy and chaoticaly depending on the type of being they come in contact with.
Most Used Attraction Power: His deep, soothing voice and overall calm demeanor. Yet when hunting, he lures in his prey with his outlandish appearance and good looks, and his special lantern, with an organic lure light that emmits a hypnotic, almost unresistable glow. To bedazzle his crowd, Eikki uses his control over water flora and fauna, being able, like all of his kin, to create and control waterlife. He can materialize a jellyfish, then a lionfish, then a shark, and sorround them all with algae and corals. This is his main role in the carnival, and the ability he uses the most, by far, to lure the attention of his crowd.(This ability will be referred to here, for simplicity, as biomancy, though it only applies to flora and fauna that are present in rivers and oceans)
Significant/special belongings (if any): His trustworthy latern, without which he would have to betake less sophisticated methods to gather souls; a pair of coral daggers, blue and green in color, which he coats into poisons of his own brewing; his pack of cigarettes, always with him; a zippo lighter, bought in Elmis.
Fighting skills/techniques: One of the last memories Eikki has is of being embraced by his godess, Ea, and blessed by her, becoming a Waterspeaker, due to his power to terraform his sorroudings into any watery ecosystem. Although not a proper fighting technique, he can terraform small chunks of earth into water or coral, and is able to manipulate both with ease, being able to drown his opponents in bubbles of water or piercing them with coral spikes. Before becoming a waterspeaker, he was a skilled mage in the arcane and water schools. His physiology allows him to conduct unstable arcane energies throughout his body, making him a formidable mid-to-long range fighter. In close range, Eikki relies on his slender body and slithering, tricky movement to fool his opponent and strike only once, always aiming for the vital organs. He is amazingly skilled with his pair of daggers. He can also, in a desperate state, turn to his lantern in the middle of a fight, attempting to hypnotize his opponents; though the adrenaline pumping through their veins make them much less susceptible to hypnosis.
Weapon of choice: His daggers, coral spikes made by his terraforming skills, arcane and water magic, his lantern when desperate. Eikki does not use his biomancy skills for combat.
Job Title & Description: Magician and Aquarium Keeper.
After joining the circle, Eikki accepted the fate he had brought upon himself with ease, and spend very little time into choosing his role in the carnival. He is a magician, using the chaotic arcane energies to put on quite the magic show. Where the most skeptical think he relies on tricks, he actualy relies on more than that: his mastery of the arcane allows him to hide large objects and props in plain sight. However, his main speciatly is his aquarium, generously given to him by his employer, Mr. Seil. When given to him, it was nothing but a huge, glass-made cylinder almost 20 feet tall, 7 inches thick. But as soon as Eikki applies his biomancy skills to fill it with life, it becomes a wondrous pannel showing almost alien-looking creatures. Shinning jellyfishes, terrfying lanternfishes, huge squids that change color like a chamaleon. Yet he does not limit himself to keeping his marine life inside their glass box: if one would enter his tent, humbly named "The Infinite Depths", in the middle of his show, one would see multicolored fishes flying around his crowd as if they were butterflies; corals sprouting from the ground, gifting his crowd with beautiful, harmless color-changing anemones. Before his show, he casts an arcane rune on the wall behind him, to keep the more impressionable amongst his crowd from asking too many questions and to hide all the props he uses in his magic show. To carry all this paraphernalia, Eikki has two oxes to carry his abnormaly large cart. He did not name the animals yet, but his affection for them grows as time passes.
Number of Souls You Have to Collect: 1,500,000. Apparently, his wish was much more valuable than he thought.
Number of Years You Have to Collect Souls:300 years. Yet he is elaborating on the idea of convincing Mr. Seil in adding more years, instead of more souls, should Eikki do something his employer would considerate inapropriate. He needs more time.
What Was Your Wish? Eikki's wish was simple. Extremely simple. To remember. To remember why his arm, while in merfolk form, is made of corals, why his people were slaughtered, why was he holding that strange weapon when he woke up, why did he have that lantern with him...all he knew is that, literaly, decades had passed in the blink of an eye.
How Many Souls Have You Collected? 265,732, to be exact.
How Long Have You Been at the Carnival? 85 years. To him, it wasn't much, since one of the things he can remember is that he is immortal, and still, he is running out of time fast.
How the Collection of Souls has Affected Your Character? Eikki never had much liking for the assassins among his people; of that much, he can remember. However, it troubles him deeply that he must, more times than he would have liked, to fill this exact role in order to pay his debt. However, since there is a huge gap in his memory, his personality apparently didn't change much: stoic, wise, neutral when it suits him, evil when he needs to be. The way he kills, slowly and most of the time with minimal bloodshed, keeps him from turning into a mindless killing machine. However, the more souls he reap, the darker, more twisted his mentality becomes. He has the impression that his employer takes great pride in the fact of succeeding in corrupting Eikki's soul. Eikki himself has stopped feeling sorry for those he kills a long time ago, treating them as food and coin, nothing more, nothing less.
Personality:Here is the little that Eikki remembers about his early years: his name was Eikki Greenfin, and he was born in the merfolk capital of Wondervine. His parents were Draegho Greenfin and Aisha Greenfin, the high-mage and grand assassins, respectively, of the Greenfin clan. They were highly praised as one of the best in their jobs by most of his people. During his life, Eikki went with his parents in most of their endeavours, losting the count of how many times he saw his mother mercilessly and silently cutting the throats and biting, with her poison fangs, the necks of rebels, insurgents and enemies of the Waterspeakers in general. He hated his mothers job, yet loved the woman holding the daggers. His father spent most of his time within the Waterspeakers Library, studying scrolls and developing new spells. It goes without saying that Eikki found that sort of job much lest disgusting than his mother's. The Greenfins were one of the three clans that resided in the temple city of Wondervine with the Waterspeakers, and so, the elder terraformers held them im great account. At a tender age, Eikki's terraforming ability awakened, and he was handed over to the elders for training and, one day, he could become Grand Waterspeaker, ruling over all of his people. Even though he was not of royal lineage, he could aspire to that because of sheer skill and force of will.
Those were the first 250, or so, years of his life. He remembers falling in love, he remembers target practicing his terraforming skills, his water mastery, his arcane manipulation. He remembers hating seeing his mother's pair of coral daggers leaving a trail of blood in the water everytime she came home. And then, one day, when he had been in the grand library studying for tests, all the lights went out. The glowing orbs had gone dark, and he could hear whispers and a dark, deep rumbling. Then, the entire world faded, and Eikki slipped into oblivion.
When he woke up, he was at the shores of Wanderdream Lagoon. Around him, he saw nothing but destruction: merchant tents and stores burned to the ground, their goods scattered for miles around him. He did not even dare guess the number of dead merfolk around him, though two particular individuals, laying right in front of him, were impossibly familiar. His caring father, his beloved mother, laid dead at his feet, their mangled bodies shocking the very soul of their son. It took a very long while for Eikki to notice his body was changed: The coral arm, the lantern by his side, all the scars across his chest and back. The child, once lively and cheerful, had now become a bitter adult, with no memory. The merfolk was completely covered in blood, and held a strange spear in his hand, made of what seemed to be metal.
After picking up his mother's daggers, and the lantern, that somehow felt indispensable to him, and throwing away that fiendish spear, Eikki began his bitter journey through oblivion. He made his way to the other lagoons around, to find that they were all empty. With no other choice but to search for answers elsewhere, leaving the once crowded lagoons of the Dreamcoral behind, he left his home forever.
The weeks passed as Eikki made his journey across Dreamcoral Valley, to the city of Elmis. It hadn't ocurred to him to check the bottom of Wanderdream, to go back to Wondervine. Somehow he knew they were all dead. His clan finished, his family murdered, his teachers, the Waterspeakers, gone. He felt it deep into his soul, something told him that with absolute certainty. Also, the nearby lagoons were all empty, which meant that his people had either left him or were all dead. He could not believe that had been the end of his entire race, in what aparently had been one fell swoop from an unknown enemy. To search the deep, everspreading seas to which the rivers of the valley would take would consume much of his life, time he did not want to waste, time he would use to find out what had happened to him elsewhere. After all, he was an outcast, the only one left alive in a field of dead merfolk, and, for all he knew, he could be the responsible, he couldn't tell. But he knew that, if he had something to do with that, he had not been alone. There was more behind it all, some unknown enemy with an army mightier than the Merfolks. He was determined to finding out, to seek answers.
Once in the town of Elmis, he bought what he needed from all the gold he managed to salvage from the corpses of his slaughtered kin. For that night, a warm bed, a cold drink and an even colder plate of raw meat would suffice. The next nights were not so humble. He took to smoking and drinking in excess, and every night he went to bed with a different whore. All to numb his thoughts, to make him forget that he had forgotten. Yet not many days had passed before The Man In Black, who later introduced himself as Mr. Seil, came to him, offering a contract he simply could not refuse. He chose to trade his freedom for his memories, but first, he had a job to do: collect souls for that strange, unusual creature. Anything about Mr. Seil made him uneasy, but all the weeks he had to think about his situation, about that turn in his life, made him do his best to act a professionaly as possible. He took the job, gave his freedom away and joined the De'Seil Carnival, in search of answers, and, having discovered the unnatural properties of the lantern he held, adopted the nickname of "Dreadlight", leaving his old surname behind.
In the present day, Eikki is a stoic, quiet kind of guy. Corteous and friendly when he feels its fit, quiet and collected most of the time, evil, cruel and calculist when he needs to be. He has no trouble communicating with others, yet he refrains from making his friendships too personal. He spends most of his time in his tent, training his biomantic and arcane skills, or reading the books he every once in a while buys whenever his employer allows him to head to the nearest city, to collect souls. He has no masterplan, no intention of overthrowing his master: all he wants is his past, and who knows what fate will bring next.
Eikki Dreadlight's Relationship Chart
♥ = romantic || ☺= friends || ☠ = enemies || ◑ = neutral
Mr. Reficul Seil ~ ◑ ~
"My employer, Mr. Seil...the reason why i keep fighting. I know exactly what this man is: powerful and dangerous. Apart from sneaking out a couple times to see the stars, i would not be crazy enough to anger him...i hope. Speaking of which, i should probably go talk to him about my soul quota...who knows, maybe he added a few more thousando into the already enormous quantity of souls i need to collect...this place sometimes is just too crowded..."
Rosaline Bell Seil ~ ◑~
"Boss's wife. Not much to say here, except she is of amazing beauty. I would not turn down such a woman in a million years..."
Andracos Soleviel ~◑~
"Ah,Andracos...this one amuses me greatly. If i were his friend, i would probably be the one laughing at his side while he mocks Mr. Seil, which would probably be unwise, but still funny. Still, i'd rather keep my distance...when the master's temper explodes, i sure don't wanna get caught in the cross-fire."
Pachid Coyotas ~ ◑ ~
"Owner of undescribable lure, this one. I envy him a bit, having such a skill would make my life much easier. Still, i have to settle with what Ea gave me...although i know i would hate myself if i were loyal to someone like Andracos. Nothing against him, it's just...the man is asking to be turned into a freak...and so is anyone who actualy take sides with him..."
Ty ~ ☺ ~
"If i were to pick someone as a friend, this girl would be it. One of a kind, she is. I bet i look just like my crowd everytime i see her perform. Quiet, collected, still showing kindness to those who deserve, she is my kind of person."
Crow ~ ◑ ~
"Hmm...quite the enigma this one. Her powers get me bedazzled, and everytime i see her turn into that monstrosity, a shiver goes down my spine. Not much more to say...85 years isn't enough to get to really know somebody, let alone 6. Must investigate further."
Celleci ~ ◑ ~
"An angel of hope, her light truly gets me whenever she is nearby. Still, there is some sort of deep sadness within her that i dare not try to elaborate upon..."
Calista Luinaree ~ ◑ ~
"Ah, the witch. Not much to say here as well...my solitude never allowed me to dwelve deep into anybodie's personality. Still, it would be entertaining to get to know someone so fond of deceiving others..."
Ari Glitterskip/Red ~ ☺~
"The adorable Ari...reminds of home and family, her childish looks give me nostalgia. Still, something about the way she behaves tell me she would be a rather interesting companion to talk to. Perhaps i should finaly leave my isolation, and this would be a good place to start."
Vol ~ ◑ ~
"Vol...the wolverine guy. His show amuses me, but thats all i can say about him that's truly good. I see his ego as a big shield around him, just like my solitude, Still, his voice makes people melt, so i give him some credit for it."
Eikki Dreadlight ~☠~
"Who the hell am i? what have i done? why is everyone dead? Ea, help me! Please, help me!!!. Guide Mr. Seil's power to uncover my truth!"
"Sugary poison, dear... some think life is sweet, but in my case, i fear death would be sweeter."
Appearance:
Full Name: Eikki Dreadlight, formerly Eikki Greenfin, of the Greenfin clan of Wondervine.
Transformed appearance: When in his merfolk form, Eikki exhibits a skin with a mix of green, dark green and dark blue hues. His eyes are pitch black, his fluffly beard is morphed into several tentacles with softly shining tips, the same happens to his hair. His lips conceal the maw of a predator: under the well shaped mouth he hides the mouth of a lamprey, filled with teeth all the way to his throat. From its depths, sprouts a long tongue with a bladed tip. When in merfolk form, he is proeminently carnivore just as his fellow kin, yet his lamprey-like nature has him sucking the lifeblood of his victims in a slow, steady pace. His 5 "normal" fingers show membranes between them, but that's the only thing one could call abnormal about them. From the waist down, Eikki's body becomes a slithering tail, with no fins on it. The last fourth of his tail is made of algae. Across his skin, he show several scars he can't quite remember where he got. The skin of his left arm is non-existant, and the muscles and bones were transformed into coral, giving this arm a bony, rocky appearance. If Eikki is holding his lantern when he morphs, the object, also made of coral and stone, will meld with his arm, replacing his hand.
Age: He would say it if he could, but quite frankly, he does not know. All he knows is that he would already be considered an adult by other of his race.
Gender: Male
Species: The Merfolk: Mermaids, Mermen, Leviathans and other fabled watery creatures.
Azure is the realm of wonder, no doubts about it. It's fabled soil is fertile, it's waters are clear and home to many wonders. A couple clicks away from it's main city, Elmis, under the shadow of a mountain chain, rests a valley, known to the inhabitants of the city as The Valley of Tides. However, to the mythical creatures residing under it's waters, the valley is known as Dreamcoral Valley, or simply Dreamcoral. In it, there exists hundreds of lagoons, some so large that the fast winds that blow through the valley and the rivers connecting these lagoons cause small waves, resembling the waves of a small beach, the waters constantly rising and then backing away, forming beaches along the shores of the lagoons, hence the name the elmisians gave it. A network of underwater tunnels connects the rivers, lagoons and sinkholes, under which there lives an immortal, curious and fascinating people: The Merfolk.
Merfolk folklore speaks highly of the birth of these mysterious and wondrous magi, traders, warriors and assassins. It is said that Ea, the godess of water, was in love with Gaeos, the deity of earth. One day, Gaeos invited Ea to a walk through the valley, to explore its forests, lakes and rivers. At that time, it is said, there was no life there, except the flora that sprouted lushly throughout that land. In a clearing, Gaeos stole a kiss from Ea, and, one thing leading to another, they made love. Not long after that, Ea found out she was pregnant, but the same day brought a bitter discovery: her lover had betrayed her with the lustful deity of fire, whose name the Merfolk dare not speak. Filled with pain, both emotional and physical, the water godess made her way to the biggest lagoon there, naming it Wanderdream, and in its waters giving birth to her offspring. Her children were called Merfolk, wondrous creatures with half-human, half-fish appearance , with special powers and immortality running through their veins. Merfolk say that the godess womb was so fertile, it gave birth to a very diverse assortment of creatures, although all of them belong to the same species. Her body fluids nurtured the waters and spread throughout the valley, sprouting corals, algae, watershrooms and all sort of water flora under the now rich waters of that place.
The merfolk are very curious beings. Their species consists of various subspecies, most appearing half human, half fish, sometimes exhibiting exacerbated fish traits like big fins along the arms, with various collors, pronouced gills, etc. All merfolk have specific powers and abilities, amongst the most common are: creation and manipulation of water flora, dominion over water creatures, water manipulation, etc, though each merfolk can be, and many times is, of a different kind, their physiology granting them additional skills or weaknesses. Some have circular mouths filled with teeth, and tongues made for piercing flesh, almost always concealed under beautiful lips and pleasant expressions; these are mostly used as low-profile assassins, as are the ones sometimes referred to as "Eamaw". These have light lures atop their heads, and their well-shaped lips hide sharp, long teeth, along with alluring voices and a tendency for flesh-eating. Both these kinds of merfolk can be very elusive, making them ideal from the grim job of reducing overpopulations.
Other sub-species may include, but are not limited to: mermaids, with their beautiful upper bodies and luscious appetite, all of them female, things of fairy-tales, dragging uncautious adventures to the waters, seducing them and guaranteeing the continuation of their ever-changing kind, while also bringing home a snack, though not always their appetite is for flesh more than it is for simple intercourse; leviathans, huge, monstrous creatures that are not birthed, but bred in special chambers, utilizing the powerful magic gave to the merfolk by the godess Ea. These act as the muscle of their army, sometimes taking the form of dragon-serpents, others the form of enormous octopus, and others a blend of the two. They are usualy found in the sinkholes deep under the waters and, unlike city-people belief, they are rather intelligent: most of them speak, some of them even take to other jobs other than muscle (although it is exceedingly rare to see a leviathan leave the water kingdom, for they do not have the prowess in magic that the other merfolk possess) and even though they are bred like animals, merfolk society thinks highly of these heavy-hitters.
While it is very rare, some merfolk have the ability to terraform small patches of land, creating new bodies of water and underwater flora and, sometimes, even fauna. These are called Waterspeakers, and are the highest caste of this society. Merfolk can't be taught this ability; they are born with it. At first, there's no caste disctinction between a good-looking lion-fish mermen and a lamprey-mouth; they can both ascend or descend through merfolk hierarchy. But when the lamprey starts weaving its hands and making fish appear from thin water, there's no prejudice as to which sub-species it belongs.This lucky member of the whole is taken to the underwater temple-city of Wondervine, and immediately blessed by the godess as one of her Waterspeakers.
Wondervine rests deep within the turmoiled waters of Wanderdream Lagoon. An enormous city with buildings made of coral, stone and huge watershrooms, it is home to many clans of merfolk. Though there are, sometimes, some ferocious rivalry between the clans, in Wondervine it is forbidden to shed blood. The Waterspeakers make sure that anyone who disobeys this rule meet their maker. However, some assassins are clever and ingenious, killing members of opposite clans without shedding a single drop of their green life-fluid, utilizing algae to choke their victims, or arcane magic to stop their hearts or destroy their consciousness.
Even though merfolk assassins are some of the most crafty members of society, trading is where most of the sucess of this race rests. The shores of the waterbodies in Dreamcoral Valley, every autumn, get filled with tents made of algae and stores with stone-made counters, selling the most varied artifacts, food, clothing and weaponry, all made by merfolk. People from various cities in Azure, including Elmis itself, come once a year to the Valley of Tides to appreciate the fine craftsmanship of the fish-people, as the merfolk are referred to when there are no gills around the others. The contact with the other races of Azure has led the merfolk to develop a secondary, very useful skill: shapeshifting. Though it is merely a superficial trait, they can control this ability at will, switching between (mostly) human and merfolk forms at will. This way, they can communicate better with the other races and ensure the genetic variety of their kind through interspecies breeding. Throughout the ages, the blending of human and merfolk race has made these curious creatures impervious to diseases like cancer, and they have a high resistance to viruses and bacteria. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see a being that resembles a lion-fish leaning on the rivershore, having a smoke, though it is frowned upon.
This is a very hierarchic society, The higher caste, Waterspeakers, are also their rulers, almost always wise and just. Some are also generals, commanding warriors and leviathans. Others are engineers, manipulating the earth to create new cities under the waters, or tending to their evergrowing assortment of leviathans, ensuring they are healthy and powerful enough to join the Merfolk Armada. Others are governors and rulers. As any good king, the High Waterspeaker, commanding member of this organization, knows the value of a skilled assassin to deal with threats or nuisances and, therefore, merfolk assassins are highly praised. Merfolk mages are well versed in the arts of water manipulation and the arcane, giving all members of this caste the ability to control and even create, to a certain degree, wild water life. Due to their aluring nature, merfolk traders are very sucessful in their deeds, filling the coffers of their banks with golden coins by selling coral and algae-made goods, along with exquisite foods and drinks hailing from their underwater empire.
Though a not very technonogicaly-advanced (at least not in the kind of technology city-folk use), the merfolk are extremely intelligent. Their magi constantly study ancient tablets of stone and coral, and the constant flux of scrolls brought in by the merchants and traders. Working in unison with the waterspeakers, they develop new spells that are taught in their magic schools. Despite this trait, a merfolk warrior is not something to be taken lightly. Extremely fast and elusive, skillful with blades, tridents and warglaives, this caste is the backbone of any army, the first to charge and last to fall. Their fish-like traits allow them to move freely about the water and slither like a snake while on land, making them deadly in both environments. Though it is not common, some merfolk can have the physiology to acommodate poision glands in their bodies, making these the rarest, and sometimes deadliest type of warrior or assassin.
Details on physiology: As explained before, the merfolk is a varied race, although some traits are common to them all. Independant of sub-species, their lower bodies are shaped like enormous tails, allowing the merfolk to sometimes exceed 20 feet in length while swimming. Their hands show five digits with membranes between the fingers; some can have suction cups, others thorns as sharp as needles, other can be simple palms, this trait depends on the sub-species. Their genetics are extremely maleable, allowing for easy interspecies breeding. It is not known, however, how the sub-species is decided: only a couple genes differ from sub-species to sub-species, and a lamprey-mouth or eamaw can have a mermaid mother with lion-fish traits and a mermen father with very humanised appearance. It is, apparently, random. Along the length of their necks or on the sides of their heads, gills sprout, allowing them to breathe underwater. The overall appearance and location of these can vary, but the function is always the same, and all merfolk have them. Eyes are mostly black or dark-blue, sometimes dark-green, though it is very rare, yet not unheard of, to see merfolk with light-blue or light-green colored eyes. Their lips are almost aways shaped as a human's, sometimes hiding terrifying features. Mermaids are always beautiful, have big breasts and slender bodies, while males can be more muscular in nature, yet almost always as beautiful. Their human form retains that beauty, yet all the fish-like traits disappear or are hidden: sometimes the gills fall back to the backside of their ears, sometimes their sharp teeth are completely concealed behind another line of human-like teeth, it can vary from individual to individual, and depends also on the level of mastery of their shapeshifting skill.
Being immortal, merfolk can only die from wounds or powerful diseases. Their fish like nature give them increased regeneration and stamina, though a well-placed strike can spell doom to the unwary. Some have the ability to blend in with corals, algae and stones, making them masters of camouflage; due to this trait, their skins almost aways have stones or corals attached to them. Elder merfolks can choose to study the art of euthanasic magic: when a merfolk gets too old, and simply decides to rest, his companions can put an end to his life with dignity and without shedding blood or betaking on the methods of assassins. The euthanized individual is moved to a peaceful location of their choosing, and is, as the merfolk put it, "united with Mother and Father once more", being assimilated by the environment, their bodies desintegrating and joining the local biodiversity, mutating wildy and chaoticaly depending on the type of being they come in contact with.
Most Used Attraction Power: His deep, soothing voice and overall calm demeanor. Yet when hunting, he lures in his prey with his outlandish appearance and good looks, and his special lantern, with an organic lure light that emmits a hypnotic, almost unresistable glow. To bedazzle his crowd, Eikki uses his control over water flora and fauna, being able, like all of his kin, to create and control waterlife. He can materialize a jellyfish, then a lionfish, then a shark, and sorround them all with algae and corals. This is his main role in the carnival, and the ability he uses the most, by far, to lure the attention of his crowd.(This ability will be referred to here, for simplicity, as biomancy, though it only applies to flora and fauna that are present in rivers and oceans)
Significant/special belongings (if any): His trustworthy latern, without which he would have to betake less sophisticated methods to gather souls; a pair of coral daggers, blue and green in color, which he coats into poisons of his own brewing; his pack of cigarettes, always with him; a zippo lighter, bought in Elmis.
Fighting skills/techniques: One of the last memories Eikki has is of being embraced by his godess, Ea, and blessed by her, becoming a Waterspeaker, due to his power to terraform his sorroudings into any watery ecosystem. Although not a proper fighting technique, he can terraform small chunks of earth into water or coral, and is able to manipulate both with ease, being able to drown his opponents in bubbles of water or piercing them with coral spikes. Before becoming a waterspeaker, he was a skilled mage in the arcane and water schools. His physiology allows him to conduct unstable arcane energies throughout his body, making him a formidable mid-to-long range fighter. In close range, Eikki relies on his slender body and slithering, tricky movement to fool his opponent and strike only once, always aiming for the vital organs. He is amazingly skilled with his pair of daggers. He can also, in a desperate state, turn to his lantern in the middle of a fight, attempting to hypnotize his opponents; though the adrenaline pumping through their veins make them much less susceptible to hypnosis.
Weapon of choice: His daggers, coral spikes made by his terraforming skills, arcane and water magic, his lantern when desperate. Eikki does not use his biomancy skills for combat.
Job Title & Description: Magician and Aquarium Keeper.
After joining the circle, Eikki accepted the fate he had brought upon himself with ease, and spend very little time into choosing his role in the carnival. He is a magician, using the chaotic arcane energies to put on quite the magic show. Where the most skeptical think he relies on tricks, he actualy relies on more than that: his mastery of the arcane allows him to hide large objects and props in plain sight. However, his main speciatly is his aquarium, generously given to him by his employer, Mr. Seil. When given to him, it was nothing but a huge, glass-made cylinder almost 20 feet tall, 7 inches thick. But as soon as Eikki applies his biomancy skills to fill it with life, it becomes a wondrous pannel showing almost alien-looking creatures. Shinning jellyfishes, terrfying lanternfishes, huge squids that change color like a chamaleon. Yet he does not limit himself to keeping his marine life inside their glass box: if one would enter his tent, humbly named "The Infinite Depths", in the middle of his show, one would see multicolored fishes flying around his crowd as if they were butterflies; corals sprouting from the ground, gifting his crowd with beautiful, harmless color-changing anemones. Before his show, he casts an arcane rune on the wall behind him, to keep the more impressionable amongst his crowd from asking too many questions and to hide all the props he uses in his magic show. To carry all this paraphernalia, Eikki has two oxes to carry his abnormaly large cart. He did not name the animals yet, but his affection for them grows as time passes.
Number of Souls You Have to Collect: 1,500,000. Apparently, his wish was much more valuable than he thought.
Number of Years You Have to Collect Souls:300 years. Yet he is elaborating on the idea of convincing Mr. Seil in adding more years, instead of more souls, should Eikki do something his employer would considerate inapropriate. He needs more time.
What Was Your Wish? Eikki's wish was simple. Extremely simple. To remember. To remember why his arm, while in merfolk form, is made of corals, why his people were slaughtered, why was he holding that strange weapon when he woke up, why did he have that lantern with him...all he knew is that, literaly, decades had passed in the blink of an eye.
How Many Souls Have You Collected? 265,732, to be exact.
How Long Have You Been at the Carnival? 85 years. To him, it wasn't much, since one of the things he can remember is that he is immortal, and still, he is running out of time fast.
How the Collection of Souls has Affected Your Character? Eikki never had much liking for the assassins among his people; of that much, he can remember. However, it troubles him deeply that he must, more times than he would have liked, to fill this exact role in order to pay his debt. However, since there is a huge gap in his memory, his personality apparently didn't change much: stoic, wise, neutral when it suits him, evil when he needs to be. The way he kills, slowly and most of the time with minimal bloodshed, keeps him from turning into a mindless killing machine. However, the more souls he reap, the darker, more twisted his mentality becomes. He has the impression that his employer takes great pride in the fact of succeeding in corrupting Eikki's soul. Eikki himself has stopped feeling sorry for those he kills a long time ago, treating them as food and coin, nothing more, nothing less.
Personality:Here is the little that Eikki remembers about his early years: his name was Eikki Greenfin, and he was born in the merfolk capital of Wondervine. His parents were Draegho Greenfin and Aisha Greenfin, the high-mage and grand assassins, respectively, of the Greenfin clan. They were highly praised as one of the best in their jobs by most of his people. During his life, Eikki went with his parents in most of their endeavours, losting the count of how many times he saw his mother mercilessly and silently cutting the throats and biting, with her poison fangs, the necks of rebels, insurgents and enemies of the Waterspeakers in general. He hated his mothers job, yet loved the woman holding the daggers. His father spent most of his time within the Waterspeakers Library, studying scrolls and developing new spells. It goes without saying that Eikki found that sort of job much lest disgusting than his mother's. The Greenfins were one of the three clans that resided in the temple city of Wondervine with the Waterspeakers, and so, the elder terraformers held them im great account. At a tender age, Eikki's terraforming ability awakened, and he was handed over to the elders for training and, one day, he could become Grand Waterspeaker, ruling over all of his people. Even though he was not of royal lineage, he could aspire to that because of sheer skill and force of will.
Those were the first 250, or so, years of his life. He remembers falling in love, he remembers target practicing his terraforming skills, his water mastery, his arcane manipulation. He remembers hating seeing his mother's pair of coral daggers leaving a trail of blood in the water everytime she came home. And then, one day, when he had been in the grand library studying for tests, all the lights went out. The glowing orbs had gone dark, and he could hear whispers and a dark, deep rumbling. Then, the entire world faded, and Eikki slipped into oblivion.
When he woke up, he was at the shores of Wanderdream Lagoon. Around him, he saw nothing but destruction: merchant tents and stores burned to the ground, their goods scattered for miles around him. He did not even dare guess the number of dead merfolk around him, though two particular individuals, laying right in front of him, were impossibly familiar. His caring father, his beloved mother, laid dead at his feet, their mangled bodies shocking the very soul of their son. It took a very long while for Eikki to notice his body was changed: The coral arm, the lantern by his side, all the scars across his chest and back. The child, once lively and cheerful, had now become a bitter adult, with no memory. The merfolk was completely covered in blood, and held a strange spear in his hand, made of what seemed to be metal.
After picking up his mother's daggers, and the lantern, that somehow felt indispensable to him, and throwing away that fiendish spear, Eikki began his bitter journey through oblivion. He made his way to the other lagoons around, to find that they were all empty. With no other choice but to search for answers elsewhere, leaving the once crowded lagoons of the Dreamcoral behind, he left his home forever.
The weeks passed as Eikki made his journey across Dreamcoral Valley, to the city of Elmis. It hadn't ocurred to him to check the bottom of Wanderdream, to go back to Wondervine. Somehow he knew they were all dead. His clan finished, his family murdered, his teachers, the Waterspeakers, gone. He felt it deep into his soul, something told him that with absolute certainty. Also, the nearby lagoons were all empty, which meant that his people had either left him or were all dead. He could not believe that had been the end of his entire race, in what aparently had been one fell swoop from an unknown enemy. To search the deep, everspreading seas to which the rivers of the valley would take would consume much of his life, time he did not want to waste, time he would use to find out what had happened to him elsewhere. After all, he was an outcast, the only one left alive in a field of dead merfolk, and, for all he knew, he could be the responsible, he couldn't tell. But he knew that, if he had something to do with that, he had not been alone. There was more behind it all, some unknown enemy with an army mightier than the Merfolks. He was determined to finding out, to seek answers.
Once in the town of Elmis, he bought what he needed from all the gold he managed to salvage from the corpses of his slaughtered kin. For that night, a warm bed, a cold drink and an even colder plate of raw meat would suffice. The next nights were not so humble. He took to smoking and drinking in excess, and every night he went to bed with a different whore. All to numb his thoughts, to make him forget that he had forgotten. Yet not many days had passed before The Man In Black, who later introduced himself as Mr. Seil, came to him, offering a contract he simply could not refuse. He chose to trade his freedom for his memories, but first, he had a job to do: collect souls for that strange, unusual creature. Anything about Mr. Seil made him uneasy, but all the weeks he had to think about his situation, about that turn in his life, made him do his best to act a professionaly as possible. He took the job, gave his freedom away and joined the De'Seil Carnival, in search of answers, and, having discovered the unnatural properties of the lantern he held, adopted the nickname of "Dreadlight", leaving his old surname behind.
In the present day, Eikki is a stoic, quiet kind of guy. Corteous and friendly when he feels its fit, quiet and collected most of the time, evil, cruel and calculist when he needs to be. He has no trouble communicating with others, yet he refrains from making his friendships too personal. He spends most of his time in his tent, training his biomantic and arcane skills, or reading the books he every once in a while buys whenever his employer allows him to head to the nearest city, to collect souls. He has no masterplan, no intention of overthrowing his master: all he wants is his past, and who knows what fate will bring next.
Eikki Dreadlight's Relationship Chart
♥ = romantic || ☺= friends || ☠ = enemies || ◑ = neutral
Mr. Reficul Seil ~ ◑ ~
"My employer, Mr. Seil...the reason why i keep fighting. I know exactly what this man is: powerful and dangerous. Apart from sneaking out a couple times to see the stars, i would not be crazy enough to anger him...i hope. Speaking of which, i should probably go talk to him about my soul quota...who knows, maybe he added a few more thousando into the already enormous quantity of souls i need to collect...this place sometimes is just too crowded..."
Rosaline Bell Seil ~ ◑~
"Boss's wife. Not much to say here, except she is of amazing beauty. I would not turn down such a woman in a million years..."
Andracos Soleviel ~◑~
"Ah,Andracos...this one amuses me greatly. If i were his friend, i would probably be the one laughing at his side while he mocks Mr. Seil, which would probably be unwise, but still funny. Still, i'd rather keep my distance...when the master's temper explodes, i sure don't wanna get caught in the cross-fire."
Pachid Coyotas ~ ◑ ~
"Owner of undescribable lure, this one. I envy him a bit, having such a skill would make my life much easier. Still, i have to settle with what Ea gave me...although i know i would hate myself if i were loyal to someone like Andracos. Nothing against him, it's just...the man is asking to be turned into a freak...and so is anyone who actualy take sides with him..."
Ty ~ ☺ ~
"If i were to pick someone as a friend, this girl would be it. One of a kind, she is. I bet i look just like my crowd everytime i see her perform. Quiet, collected, still showing kindness to those who deserve, she is my kind of person."
Crow ~ ◑ ~
"Hmm...quite the enigma this one. Her powers get me bedazzled, and everytime i see her turn into that monstrosity, a shiver goes down my spine. Not much more to say...85 years isn't enough to get to really know somebody, let alone 6. Must investigate further."
Celleci ~ ◑ ~
"An angel of hope, her light truly gets me whenever she is nearby. Still, there is some sort of deep sadness within her that i dare not try to elaborate upon..."
Calista Luinaree ~ ◑ ~
"Ah, the witch. Not much to say here as well...my solitude never allowed me to dwelve deep into anybodie's personality. Still, it would be entertaining to get to know someone so fond of deceiving others..."
Ari Glitterskip/Red ~ ☺~
"The adorable Ari...reminds of home and family, her childish looks give me nostalgia. Still, something about the way she behaves tell me she would be a rather interesting companion to talk to. Perhaps i should finaly leave my isolation, and this would be a good place to start."
Vol ~ ◑ ~
"Vol...the wolverine guy. His show amuses me, but thats all i can say about him that's truly good. I see his ego as a big shield around him, just like my solitude, Still, his voice makes people melt, so i give him some credit for it."
Eikki Dreadlight ~☠~
"Who the hell am i? what have i done? why is everyone dead? Ea, help me! Please, help me!!!. Guide Mr. Seil's power to uncover my truth!"
"Sugary poison, dear... some think life is sweet, but in my case, i fear death would be sweeter."
