Hero

The Festival of Destiny

Lia Avonmore

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Name

Lia Avonmore
_{→ Princess Cordelia Merise Thalassa VII}

Age

21

Species

Thalassan Mermaid

Gender

Female

Sexual Orientation

Heterosexual

Job

Royal Princess of the Thalassa Kingdom

Appearance

Normally clad in aquatic armor, Lia sports a violet tail with orange fins on her head and hips. Her bright, aqua colored hair matches her eyes. Her mark takes the shape of a stylized crescent moon and is located on her upper right arm, accompanied by her summoning markings located on her upper arm. While on the surface, she wears a magically enhanced necklace to help her keep her legs.

Likes

• Meeting new people
• Swimming for obvious reasons
• Fizzy beverages
• Music is always fun, watching or playing
• Love and romance!

Dislikes

• The dry feeling of air
• Cold temperatures
• Disrespect, especially if she's touched without permission
• Violence
• People who abuse their power

Personality

Cordelia is a bubbly, charismatic young woman. She's very open and welcoming, able to communicate with nearly anyone while keeping a bright smile on her face. She's curious about others, always wanting to delve into her thoughts, though she is quick to put up her own walls when inquired about. Despite her sunny appearance, she tends to get lost in thought a lot, and is on the forgetful side of things. She seeks to avoid fighting and arguments, though understands they're inevitable. Often, she prefers to keep her insecurities and fears to herself, though once in a while she'll let her true feelings slip.

The princess carries the grace and poise of royalty, as expected--or at least, she does underwater. Above ground she is still naturally graceful, though a lot clumsier considering that she is not entirely used to being on land, and for so long. She is still somewhat naive, believing that most people have good intentions even when its clear they don't. Her first reaction when running into trouble is usually to cry, feeling at a loss whenever she isn't sure what to do. She desperately feels that finding her other half will make her happy, and the thought of ending up alone terrifies her.

Biggest Fear

The thought of being thrown away terrifies Lia to no end.

Greatest Dream

Becoming a blushing bride is her number one priority, of course!

Background

The Kingdom of Thalassa

One of the kingdoms of the seven seas, Thalassa is known for having one of the longest lineages that date back several millennia, priding itself as a historical landmark with the Library of the Ancients housed on a small island above the kingdom. Its creator and founder was said to have the ability to command the very seas themselves, blessed with a trident created by the gods themselves. Said trident is passed down from generation to generation, the ability to wield it proof of their lineage.

As the second child, it took Lia some time to realize that her life was meaningless. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father stricken with disease when she turned seventeen. Her older brother, Aedre, is the heir apparent to the throne. After the tragic passing of her father, his position was all but guaranteed. The responsibility was great, and despite the burden of royalty he swore he would do everything it took to uphold their father's legacy. He promised his younger sister an easy life, telling her she was free to do as she wished.

Except, Lia didn't know what to do with her life.

She dabbled in a few hobbies here and there, even tried her hand in politics once or twice, and despite having no real troubles to speak of she found things needlessly dull. It wasn't until a nobleman had offered her his hand in marriage that she started thinking about that sort of thing. Her brother told her stories of her long-deceased mother and father, of a romance that bloomed between them. Lia found herself illuminated, an idea hitting her: all she had to do was find her other half. She was Marked just like her parents, so that meant that if she wanted to have meaning in her life again, then she needed to follow in their footsteps!

And so began her search, visiting different kingdoms and going through every eligible bachelor she could get her hands on. Granted, she actually didn't realize how the Mark worked and after some gentle coaxing from Aedre, she put her energy into properly understanding what she needed to do. The stars seemed to align, with the Festival of Destiny right around the corner. All that was left to do was to brush up on some mermaid magic and practice using her legs!

Personality Questions

1. What is their worst specific memory from childhood?
- Overhearing that she was just a spare to the throne affected her a lot more than she would have liked to admit.
2. What do they think of being Marked? Do they believe in it? Have they come to the festival in search of love, or for some other reason?
- Being Marked means she is destined for happiness, so of course she believes in it. The festival is not only where she will find love, but her future as well.
3. Spirit animal?
- A soft and fluffy sheep! _{You thought it was going to be some kind of aquatic animal, didn't you?}
4. Thing they’re most proud of?
- Her persistence. Many of her kind have noted just how her spirit never gives up! _{Though she isn't sure if that's positive or not...}
5. Thing they’re most ashamed of?
- Her desperation to find her other half is glaringly obvious. She wishes it were less so.
6. What motivates them?
- The prospect of finding true love! She knows that this festival is her chance and has put all her energy into finding her 'One and only'.
7. What would they change about themselves if they could?
- Maybe her impulsiveness could use some work? And she would have liked to have known her beloved was on land, she would have had much more practice with legs had she known!
8. What’s most important in a romantic partner?
- The most important thing is feeling happy just to be together.

Extra

Trivia

Mermaids going to the surface isn't uncommon. Most that live close to the coast transition seamlessly and have almost no limits to how long they can stay with legs. However, those that don't transition often tend to have a more definite limit.
Lia is currently planning to attend the festival incognito, not wanting to intimidate her future husband with her royal position.

Color Code: 94fcfc | Light Blue
Theme song: Something beautiful and romantic!

Of Blood and Magic

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After staring at the plants for a moment, Lilie crossed her arms as she thought to herself. Two plants, something safe at night, and blooming. The direction was obvious, so this must have been part of the extra credit. She frowned, mumbling the phrase as she tried to think. Nighttime was always associated with darkness and fear, so there really wasn't anything that kept them 'safe'. Unless it was a vampire. But 'vampire's bane' was the sun. Or something? She would have to really think about it, but she did feel that the bloom part definitely referred to a flower--she just needed to decide which flower to take.

The vials had to do something, right? She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought that standing around waiting for something to happen wasn't really productive. Her eyes flickered to the vials and back down at the plants. Well, if they were supposed to 'see something bloom' then maybe the vials were magic! Yeah, that sounded right to her, at least. Or maybe it was just a step in the right direction--not that every single doubt was buzzing in her head considering she had been wrong.

Lilie nodded to herself, deciding to throw caution to the wind. Carefully taking one of the vials, she knelt down and gingerly poured the substance over one bulb from each bush. Okay, if it really was magic, then this would probably help them 'bloom' or whatever, right?

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Staying close to @Bert Macklin.

[c a n c e l e d]

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"Yes, Mom...No, Mom." Juliette had repeated the same four words for what felt like all morning, phone to her ear as she unwillingly listened to her mother's rambling. It was a lot of 'be careful' and 'behave' and a few other jabs here and there (including one on how her last picture made her face look fat so now she would obsess over that for the next fifty-two hours) but otherwise, she was used to it by now. In a way, it did help her nerves, at least, so instead of freaking out about how she wanted to make a good impression on the senior class and make some new friends, now she was just freaking out about her classmates probably noticed her fat face. Fun!

Spotting what she assumed was a welcome board, she silently thanked God for the out of the phonecall. "Okay, Mom, I have to go," Juliette said as she tried to peek over the slowly forming crowd. The board of pictures and labels came off as weird, and it took her longer than it should have to notice that it wasn't a welcome board--or at least not one that she had seen. Was it some kind of practical joke? She thought of ignoring it, but as soon as she spotted a flash of red, she did a double take. What the--that was her! And they totally stole that picture from her Instagram! Ugh, she loved that picture, she managed to get her hair absolutely perfect despite the constant wind. Her only real regret was not taking a picture of the rest of her outfit, but she had been feeling kinda blegh because of all the--

Wait, wait, wait, no, no, now was not the time to start reminiscing! More importantly, she needed to know what the heck was under her picture. 'The Bird'. Like, what? Did they find out about her secret shower karaoke sessions? She knew she shouldn't have sung so loud, but once she was in the mood, there really was no stopping her. Except, she didn't know anyone that would know about that. She was new here, how could anyone know anything about her? She let out a small whimper, whatever previous calm she had shooting away as she nervously chewed on her lower lip. She messed up already without even knowing it! How could she be considered anything on her first day?!

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅 & 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉

Of Blood and Magic

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At least they both thought Ryner just did this to mess with the vampires. Eris sighed, the confirmation dragging his mood down rather than lifting it. He did manage to hold in a yelp as he was suddenly pulled forward, though his expression made absolutely no effort in hiding his unamused expression. He hated getting pulled without warning, would it kill the kid to give him a heads up?! Then again, he was probably enjoying this, no amount of goodwill or trust would ever erase the mini power trip that probably came with the practical.

That said, at least he made good on actually informing Eris of what the next challenge was. The first thing he thought was that he took solace in silence, but he was pretty sure that might have been overthinking things. They probably needed to take the blocks, but if they had runes, then he wasn't sure what they meant. If there were multiples, it did mean that they were probably meant for a limited amount of students, or so he assumed.

"One block for you, one block for me, could be used for a future puzzle," Eris guessed, scratching his chin as he walked forward and right into the table, letting out a slight gasp of surprise. Maybe now was the time to kick the habit of walking while talking. "The 'solace' part is what I don't get. What, are we supposed to comfort the blocks? Cradle them as we go along?" He felt the table, hand brushing against one block as he picked it up. Carefully running his fingertips over it, he felt the indents, recognizing the pattern as stars.

"Can't be harmful to take them along, if there aren't that many then it's first come first serve," He noted, covering the block with both hands just to see if it did anything. "And even if we get it wrong, it blocks someone else from doing well and that's always fun." And that much did make him feel a little better. Who didn't like a little sabotage?

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Using his last two brain cells to help @Scribe of Thoth.

Of Blood and Magic

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The trek was mostly silent with Lilie focusing on her magic. When she first cast the spell, she saw things crystal clear, but if her affinity lessons taught her anything, it was that she had a tendency to push too much magic into everything. The last thing she wanted was to fail because she ran out of magic, so she was trying to limit the spell as best she could. That and she felt like she should've seen something by now, right? Did she do something wrong?

She bit her lip worriedly, though she took in a deep breath to calm herself. She was getting nervous, the weird feeling of holding a vampire growing more and more to her. They weren't warm at all, making her feel like she was holding a mannequin's hand or something, but honestly, she felt like she was getting all nervous and more attentive to that because she was convinced she messed up somehow. The one thing she wanted to do well, and she probably messed up. She didn't think she could hate things any more than right now.

Unfortunately, Ben didn't like her response. Of course he wanted to talk, why wasn't she surprised? But she really, really didn't want to, she wanted to get to the next place already. She sighed, trying to think of something. "Well, like I said, you didn't really do anything wrong," She admitted, and that much really was true. "Arcane magic doesn't come as easy to me as my affinity, it's actually really hard for me and I have to practice a lot just to be on the same level as my classmates. So...just let me focus. Please."

Lilie stopped for a second as she spotted another plaque. Finally! She released Ben's hand as she approached the sign, squinting at it. If she read the sign out loud, that would make it seem like she was including him. She decided to read the clue out loud, that way if he wanted to offer whatever advice he wanted he could, and she would avoid any more uncomfortable talking.

"A little lost is not all bad but it's time to find your way," She read out loud, the realization hitting her after it was said. Lost? But she went east! Unless she wasn't supposed to? Great, the sign ratted her out. She should've just kept it to herself, now he knew she messed up, too. Clearing her throat, she kept reading. "Now that sight is lost, what keeps you safe in these early nights? See it bloom and take it South."

She eyed the vials warily, then looked at the bushes. Approaching one, she knelt down and gently ran her thumb over the bulb. The picture of a trumpet-shaped flower made her think it could have been a honeysuckle, but she didn't know for sure. As for the other one, it reminded her of a rose bush. Would the vials make them blossom, maybe?

Looking back at Ben, she sighed again. Maybe she should clue him in. "There's a bunch of vials hanging from the treetops, and there's two bushes with signs. One has a trumpet shaped flower with stars and the other one has a spiral flower pattern," She told him as she stood up straight.

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Staying close to @Bert Macklin.

Of Blood and Magic

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Gee, that was such an informative response. Although no, not everyone had a family, but Eris assumed that was all he was going to get. Eh, he wasn't that fond about talking about his family, either, so he could let that one slide. Now that he thought about it, though, he was floundering, the urge to groan growing. If he could get a fake princess illusion to reluctantly agree with his services, he could get the kid to not throw him into a lake. Something impersonal, but could qualify as small talk. But small talk was so boring, what was the point of talking if you weren't either trying to get information out of them or trying to see if they were down to get dirty?

Wait a minute, what if the kid thought the same thing? Except for the latter, he was pretty sure Wells would rather sit on a cactus. But more importantly, here Eris was, trying to do something that was so obviously pointless with someone who literally couldn't care less. He was trying way too hard, the kid was probably just trying to rile him up.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Wells suddenly asked a question that was actually relevant. Fuck, was he wrong? The mental gymnastics involved in this conversation was starting to stress him out. This is what happens when Eris felt vulnerable, it was the worst feeling in the world, and he thought he couldn't feel any lower after finding out the polls said he was 'just as' hot as Julius Monraine. He was way hotter and a good fifty years younger! What was wrong with people?! What was wrong with him?! He was never going to do anything that would leave him in such a vulnerable position ever again!

That said, the tiny pause before his response didn't stretch for too long despite practically drowning himself in his own thoughts. He did, however, perk up slightly at the mention of a familiar name. "He's a former costar of mine, these days he sticks to action films, though," Eris replied with a small shrug. "We both grew up under Professor Diana Ilma's tutelage." Ah, the good old days of learning how to use intimate gossip to frame stupid Umberto Klein of hating Patricia Montgomery despite the two being the best of friends. Good times, good times.

His smile faded after a minute, and he decided to make another attempt at saving himself from getting caked in lake water. Or at least he would have, if it wasn't for the root he nearly tripped over. "Whoever thought of making this practical an outdoor activity should get staked," He muttered. "If they really wanted to test magic, they could've done this at the arena for the same amount of time and I wouldn't need to rummage through last year's athletic wear for these sneakers."

Alright, more small talk. "Speaking of magic, are you planning to go after all the other extra credit?" It was pretty relevant all things considered, but he kinda wanted to know if Wells was going to do the bare minimum or go all out.

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Offering a flammable olive branch to @Scribe of Thoth.

Of Blood and Magic

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Oh wow, the kid was actually open to this. Well, not as open as most normal people, but this was still pretty big all things considered. But now Eris had put himself in the precarious position of actually having to followup with what he said, and that wasn't good, either. So much for making a token effort and immediately withdrawing due to rejection. Stupid voice. He should've just kept quiet or continuously complain to annoy the kid out of spite. But no, he could hear that voice telling him to talk, and the more it did, the more it felt like Ismene nagging at him. So stupid.

Now that he had little choice but to actually follow through, though, he had to think of something. The temptation to talk just to hear himself was strong, but flailing in a lake blind was clearly the worse idea here, so he may as well take the chance.

"I'm basically responsible for your well being for the next sixty-something years before you die from a massive stroke due to the pent up rage you refuse to simmer down. Pretty sure at one point or another that rage will be pointed to me, and I'd like to reduce those chances," Eris sighed, shaking his head as his mind wandered back to the Revel. "And you having zero trust in me is all hilarious and whatever, but--If something else happens, I think...what I mean is that..." For a second, Eris actually didn't know what the hell he was actually trying to say.

After a few seconds of trying to articulate himself, Eris threw one arm up in exasperation. "Okay, so, basically it's painfully obvious to anyone that interacts with us for maybe two seconds that we don't get along. And believe it or not, that's embarrassing," And absolutely terrible for his image, but he wasn't going to say that.

Wait a minute, what the hell was he saying? Great Anastasia, this was painful, he was just making a fool of himself. Yeah, no, he couldn't do this. He sounded and felt awkward as all fuck, and despite already hearing Ismene's nagging, he just couldn't do it. "You know what? Forget it. I'm just bored," He changed his tune, shaking his head. "Small talk, small talk...you have any family?"

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Offering a flammable olive branch to @Scribe of Thoth.

Of Blood and Magic

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There was a direction given, too? Eris rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed huff. How the hell was he supposed to know that? Eris was blind, if he wasn't given all the details, he was going to be useless! Part of him felt like he was given incomplete information on purpose just so Alderman had an excuse to belittle him. Well the joke was on the kid, Eris had plenty of experience dealing with a manipulative assholes who could find holes to poke through an airtight seal, he was not going to let him get under his skin.

Eris had crossed his arms in indigence, clearly unhappy at being called useless, although he did give out a yelp of surprise as Max tugged on the vambrace. Great, he was going to have to deal with a pissy Alderman, and the night was young. This was going to be oodles and oodles of fun, if only the sun would rise so he could walk into its warmth and have just as much fun burning to death. So fun.

Still, he didn't really know how to keep quiet, deciding to at least speak his mind. "Next time give me all the clues, would you? You didn't say anything about any directions. I can't see," Eris huffed, stomping after the direction that he assumed the kid was going--no need for sight, all he needed to do was follow the sound of pure spite emanating from him.

But as much as Eris would be happy staying quiet and pouting the entire time, there was this tiny, annoying voice in his head that kept pushing him to try to talk to the kid. "This ridiculous exercise is supposed to be building trust, are you really going to half-ass that part? So long as he put it out there now, he would at least get the voice to shut up and then could justifiably just seethe in silence for the next six hours.

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Offering a flammable olive branch to @Scribe of Thoth.

Of Blood and Magic

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Lilie looked back over her shoulder at Ben, suppressing a sigh. They were literally just getting started, did he really think so little of her? This was her test, she had to figure things out on her own. She didn't really know how to respond to his offer to help, but she guessed maybe two heads would be better than one. Princess Ryner did say it was a trust exercise, but Lilie felt it was more for vampires to trust their mages rather than vice versa.

As if he read her thoughts, Ben suddenly brought up that he felt like they were distant. She didn't really know how to respond to that, either. But even if she did, this wasn't exactly the time or place to do it. Then again, he was right, and she wasn't entirely sure he was going to drop it. He had this thing where anytime he thought there was a problem or some kind of issue, he wanted to fully talk things out. At first that seemed reasonable and she was happy she never had to worry about actual punishment or other correctional techniques, but after receiving a lecture on the importance of silverware that lasted an hour because she complained that having more than one fork was pretentious, she wondered if it was too callous to wish he would just lock her in her room or something instead.

So yeah, talking right now didn't really seem like a good idea.

"Um, no, you haven't done anything," Lilie told him, deciding that he probably wouldn't press further if she just said that much first. "But, um...I have to concentrate right now. So..." She looked up at the canopy, hoping that he wouldn't ask her anything else.

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Staying close to @Bert Macklin.