Post by Lumen on Apr 5, 2024 9:02:38 GMT -5
"Sank all the way to the bottom. Went too deep, part of me is still down there. The deep came back with me."
Name: Jordi Fontanarossa, later known as Lumen
Race: Merman, later Seaborn
Age: 21 upon death
Height: 177cm / 5'8
Occupation: Fishmonger, later
Country of Origin: Aquair Lake, Ianne
Country of Residence: Penang Port, Fijion
Background:
On the outside, this Fijion islander named Jordi Fontanarossa appears to be a regular everyman who occasionally tends the abandoned lighthouse, Corsica. However, unknown to Jordi himself, he is of noble origin. His parents were royals within the fresh water merfolk community of Aquair Lake.
Merpeople are characterized as creatures who live between two worlds; the sea and earth. Due to this, the elusive organs of merpeople were believed to promote youth. As a baby, a group of poachers had taken him, along with several other juvenile merfolk.
The underwater human city of Whirlpool, a nearby settlement in Aquair Lake, sent their best warriors to assist the merfolk during this attack. With the combined efforts of both races, they took down the majority of these poachers. However, one managed to escape, carrying the infant prince of the royal family.
He was taken all the way to the dank alleys and backways of Penang Port, to the slaughterhouse docks. They only managed to vertically slice open the baby's torso when they realized every organ is much too small to profit from. Since the infant is still miraculously breathing, the butchers unanimously decided to wait until the baby grew bigger. While sewing back the cut, they pondered whether the long-term investment to care for this merchild will be worth it...
Thus he was called Jordi. Fontanarossa being the name of the slaughterhouse.
In his youth, Jordi scraped by into blood and guts, in the slaughterhouse docks he was raised in where even the ocean tides couldn't wash away the blood slick that was continuously running down the wooden slip. All day, every day, monstrous creatures of the deep were hauled in for rendering in the butcheries that lined the waterfront.
Jordi became well acquainted with the trade, earnestly learning to gut, bone and fillet various aquatic creatures that look like him. His hands and arms are filled with cuts and disfigurement from occupational hazard; can't really expect a child to hold a knife well.
Every scar is a lesson mark, that's how the butchers taught him. To Jordi, the butchers are his reverend mentors, his caretakers. His fathers. He takes every fault to please them and would go above and beyond to make things easier for them. Jordi trusted them with his everything, not knowing any better.
The butchers kept a tight hold of his life with fear, filling his head with how terrifying the deep oceans are, making sure the child is easy to control. As the boy grew, whenever the butchers are in terrible need of money, they would cut something small of his to sell. An ear, a tongue, a pinky finger... Anything that wouldn't outright kill him. Jordi grew up severely beaten down (both mentally and physically) and was rendered mute, yet he keeps on working with undeterred focus.
In fact, he was such a hard worker, the butchers kept extending his deadline to live due to how much money he's making, almost rivaling the original amount of money they could make from his organs as a baby. It doesn't help that Jordi is malnourished and often had fainting spells from dehyration, so his bony scrawny figure repels the butchers' interest to harvest his organs for now.
Jordi himself is completely unaware of their plan to kill him eventually.
While everyone at the docks treated him poorly due to his non-human physical features, the lighthouse keeper --a greying old man by the name of Thiago-- was the only one who showed kindness. Jordi was sent by the butchers to deliver fishes to nearby shacks sometimes, and whenever he was sent to Thiago's shack, his face lights up.
The old man always offered him an extra seat to watch over the sea together, likely due to loneliness. Sometimes he would share stories of how he used to sail, of how big the world is when you're out at sea. It was strange to hear, Jordi's world is only within the Fontanarossa after all. He believes there is no other world that would take someone like him.
During his visits, sometimes Thiago would talk of the Seaborn; the hyper-adactive non-human aquatic lifeforms hailing from the abyss of the oceans. Unlike the merfolk of the sea, Seaborn possess a hive mind that they use to constantly absorb new information to further their evolutionary progress. To this day, they continue to threaten the sea, though fortunately never wander up the coasts of Fijion due to their fear of light, which the lighthouse provides. Thiago swears that one day, one of those things will step right into port. This fact further cements Jordi's fear of the ocean.
Jordi observed how Thiago worked in taking care of the lighthouse, how the old man always had a set of 4 keys on his person at all times. Within years of delivering fish to the old man, Thiago eventually grants him his keys to check in on the lighthouse, since he's too old to climb it anymore. Jordi continued to assist him throughout the years, until he comes in the shack one day and finds the old man dead in his sleep.
The lighthouse keeper's death severely affected Jordi's wellbeing, which in turn worsens his working capability, so much so that his sales dropped significantly. With Jordi not bringing in the money anymore, it was then that the butchers decided it was time to do the deed. They've waited 20 years, after all.
That night, they cornered the still grieving and distraught Jordi, then attempted to take his life. With blood dripping down his temple, Jordi tried to escape to the only sanctuary he knows of; the lighthouse. They cornered him all the way to the edge of the cliff, but Jordi's deep fear of the ocean froze him. He'd rather succumb to death in the butchers' hands than falling into the depths of the sea.
They broke his knees so he won't escape, and dragged him to their boat in the middle of the freezing night. They said a merman's blood could lure more like him, so they wanted to use him as live bait while he still has blood inside him. They would harvest his organs after his blood had run dry to maximize their profits.
Jordi remembered it was completely starless that night. In his grief, he had forgotten to lock the lighthouse's door. The keys are still in his pocket. It's the keeper's job to refuel the lamp, to replace the wick, to clean the gas jets, and more importantly--to light it at night. It was so terrifyingly dark, he wished the lighthouse was shining in the distance.
A strange feeling of hunger emerged within him while he's bleeding to death on the boat's deck. His scars were never lesson marks, his skills never got him anywhere, his entire life was for absolutely nothing. He could not even accomplish to light the lighthouse before his life's end.
They roped his broken ankles together and tied the cord to the boat's metallic stanchion. Mutely, he tried begging them, sobbing and weeping. The ocean is his greatest fear. They wordlessly threw him from the bow, headfirst into the depths of the frozen sea. His blood coalesced with the foams of the ocean. Blood and salt. He is a merman of freshwater descent, seawater does not mix well with his lungs. He couldn't breathe, yet in his sobbing fear, he convulsively gasped in his first watery breath, inviting the sea to his lungs.
His hunger grew. He was a sacrifice. That's all he ever was?
Something inside him kindled like never before, spreading the flame of hunger and vengeance and retribution.
He was a sacrifice, but not in a sense anybody would expect.
A deep vibration began to stir within the sea. Rolling bubbles broke the ocean's surface. All manner of terrifying Seaborn creatures emerged, ranging from stalkless flowers and mollusk-shaped terrors, to literal giant sea monsters. They began to push as one against the tethered ship's hull. The violent waves almost tip the boat, with Jordi still tied to it. Even in the darkness of the ocean, he could see the outlines of towering fangs surrounding him.
The Seaborn wanted him, not the boat.
At the sight of a gigantic fish-like creature opening its maw wide around Jordi, the butchers lost their nerve. They cut Jordi's lifeline. The last thing the doomed merman saw before the beast's jaws snapped shut around him was the look of horror on his 'fathers' faces, as they watched him being swallowed alive.
In the deepest fathoms of the unknowable ocean, crushed by the titanic pressure, and still firmly trapped within the Seaborn's mouth, Jordi opened his eyes once more, perhaps for the last time. There were glowing eyes everywhere, thousands of them, seemingly watching him. Tremulous echoes of something ancient and mysterious filled his brain, crushing his mind, and exploded his head.
The Seaborn's adaptive assimilation allows them to incorporate other creatures into their ranks the moment the Seaborn consume others or the other way around. Their assimilation may also be a slow one depending on what is being physically altered. Jordi's head is gone, so they took over his cells and alters the neck up. The Seaborn's ability to mutate their own somatic cells also fixed his broken legs, his scarred limbs, his missing finger, his malnourished form.
After 12 days, the Seaborn has completely altered Jordi Fontanarossa's body.
Freshly recruited and assimilated into the ranks of the Seaborn, the young man emerged from the seas appearing completely different than how he was. His body looks taller, feels stronger. He was clad in clothes that were formed from smaller live Seaborn, constantly hydrating and nourishing him.
Released back onto land with a completely new head and a newer tongue to boot, he could not help but remember Thiago's prediction coming true. A Seaborn has now stepped into port, just like he said.
Being a more human-like Seaborn with intelligence and consciousness, his mission is to spread new knowledge to his kin, and also to enthrall new recruits (or fodder) using his new dulcet voice right towards the gaping maw of the sea.
Pretending to be human yet not quite humane, he introduces himself as a wandering songster. Newspaper headlines began to refer to him as Lumen, due to the trademark lantern he always carries with him. His stage name from then on became Lumen. With his hypnotic voice, he slowly gains renown throughout the pubs of the port.
But not before whetting his appetite for vengeance and retribution.
Fontanarossa Slaughterhouse is closed now, abandoned. The men who worked there disappeared. A deaf fisherman last saw one of them slowly walking towards the edge of the docks, but the morning mists were so thick, he couldn't see him past a certain point. The locals assumed the rest of butchers had ran off somewhere by how they had left their slaughterhouse seemingly in a hurry...
Personality:
In life, Jordi was a very loyal and hard-working young man who was willing to do anything for others. After dying and resurrected as a Seaborn, Lumen became a ruthless and vindictive killer, determined to take revenge on those responsible for his life's pain and suffering. However, even in his thirst for revenge, he is almost disturbingly calm, especially notable when hypnotizing someone and drowning them, he sounds more like he's putting them to bed rather than condemning them to a watery grave.
"Shhh, no thrashing... Sleeeeeeep."
Since he used to be mute, Lumen normally does not talk much. When he does choose to speak, he tends to speak very little, in short broken sentences. His tone of voice is fainter than the average person, unused to hearing his own voice. He would also unconsciously animate his hands while he tries to speak, since this is what he was used to doing when he was alive.
Now being a part of the Seaborn ("We Many" in his perspective to refer to his now race as a whole), Lumen prioritizes the survival of his kin. It appears that ever since his death, the only beings he seems to genuinely sympathize with anymore are small animals who cannot speak for themselves, children included. Towards his race and in extension other animals, his core values of loyalty and perseverance retains.
Towards others, Lumen tends to take a rather nonchalant yet magnetic approach. He's only interested in specific broken individuals to be invited and consumed as his kin. Lumen still sees the importance of networking in his line of work as both a missionary and a singer, so he can be pleasant and polite, yet a sharp person can tell there's something not quite right about him...
While his stance in morals can be considered evil, as long as you're not in Lumen's list of "acceptable" candidates, or better yet, helping him lure somebody who is, then he isn't above cracking a grim joke, musing about the depths, or even take you to a nice swimming spot. He may be a vengeful revenant, but those who help him achieve his goals will be rewarded. They may even see shades of the kind and selfless Jordi somewhere in there.
Weapon:
Lumen holds a single lantern, undying.
Each time he sings, his lantern illuminates, as golden as his eyes.
As the first Seaborn unfazed by light, the lantern became an instrument of surmountable fear. It symbolizes the very first step a Seaborn has taken on land, soon to evolve and devour the whole world into their family.
A newspaper article had interviewed Lumen regarding his iconic lantern. He simply remarked that the lantern is only a prototype. His true goal lies with the abandoned lighthouse Corsica, to eventually turn it into his own lantern, undying.
Abilities:
Lumen's voice is his modus operandi. He has the power to hypnotize others via his singing. While his normal speaking voice does not have any semblence of mind manipulation, his singing voice will entrance listeners. However, those with strong will may break free of this trance. They are never his target, anyway.
He also has the ability to mimic the voice of another being with perfect accuracy, allowing him to imitate sounds of creatures such as animals, humans, and even sounds effects. As long as he had heard of the exact sound before.
Being a merman, Lumen supposedly has some degree of water abilities. Though since he is not even aware of his own heritage, plus his fear of the ocean when he was alive, he is currently clueless of his own powers. However, he has known for a while that he can understand aquatic creatures, and now that he's able to speak, he can communicate with them in return.
Strengths:
The mutation of Lumen's cells are primarily in his neck, which makes his voice his primary power. When physically threatened, Lumen's cells will alter his head and open up into its
Since in his waking life, he is almost always cutting into the guts of fishes, he is very competent with handling knives. Lumen doesn't appear to wield any though, nor does he plan to. Perhaps it is for the best. Wouldn't want him to get ideas and start slicing people.
Mentally, Lumen is very focused on his mission. He's not out here to make friends, he's here to learn of the world on land, to later inform his kin for their eventual domination. There's still a little bit of Jordi in him somewhere who will stand against an unjust act if he sees any, simply because he would have wanted that kind of justice when he was abused back then. He would never turn a blind eye to inequity.
Weaknesses:
Physically, Lumen is not much of a fighter. He's not physically equipped to handle things with pure brawn alone, nor does he has enough worldly knowledge to pull himself out of a situation with just his wits. He is very lacking in life experience due to how controlled his life was, and may not know what to do in most circumstances.
He does not do well in arguments, especially in highly stressful environments that reminds him of his home life in the slaughterhouse. A booming angry voice would startle him into panic attacks, where he will have difficulties in breathing and would sometimes hit his own head in a frantic desire to stop feeling so terrified. Fortunately, his Seaborn kin that are his clothes would make sure the harm he does to himself is minimal and cured quickly.
Mentally, Lumen is a broken soul. His life was horrible and his death was tragic, which makes sense that he holds so much fear and hatred in his soul. He looks nothing like Jordi now, but if someone were to remind him of his past life, he would project himself onto that person and would try to weakly take control of things in an attempt of saving his past self who had never once found a savior.
Appearance:
Lumen's facial appearance is of a gentle-looking young man with freckles dusting under his golden eyes. He has dark blue hair that always seems as if it gently ebbs with the waves, with lighter aqua strands on the underside. His ears are pointed like many other merfolk of his kind, and pierced with accessories. The earrings themselves are one of his Seaborn kins who communicate with him with whispers of reminders.
Lumen is dressed smartly in what seems to be normal clothes with flowy aquatic themes, when really they are his Seaborn kin disguising themselves as clothes to nourish and hydrate him, to make sure he's never alone. They try their best to shift themselves so Lumen would appear to be dressed appropriately for different occassions. They're learning as they go along with him.
When threatened, Lumen's head would open up into an eldritch abomination of a flower, white and blue. This is the original form of what his body actually looks like after Jordi Fontanarossa died and the Seaborn cells had modified his body. The composition of the cells of that... thing... on his head is unstable, as it would ooze like sticky liquid yet can also flutter like feathers. This form was meant to startle humans, and the frequency of his voice would be amplified.
"Blood and salt. The ocean seeks to take you. Drown with me."
