(UPDATED 11/18/12)
Vital Statistics
Name: Thalassa Macupin Meria (Denoting Thalassa, of the tribe of the Spotted Fins, from the sea Merin (known as the Sargasso Sea to humans) )
Age: 124
Occupation: Bard in training
Thalassa’s Childhood
Thalassa was born in 1888 to Nerissa Macupin Meria and Belor Macupin Meria. Her mother was a teacher and her father a retired open-sea scout. She was the eldest of her family, however the Macupins raise their families as a pod. Her cousins were as close as siblings to her. In this way, Thalassa had over 27 pod-mates growing up.
She always loved to play with the squirts and guppies (infants, toddlers and kids), singing songs and telling them stories. She grew up as a sort of squirt-sitter, and this contributed to her kind and compassionate nature. She led a relatively sheltered life in this way.
Training
Thalassa transitioned to Merling after her first century. Once her tail developed the spots that indicated her full maturity, she was asked to choose a profession and start her training. After a period of indecision over whether she should pick a guppy-related profession, Thalassa followed her love of music and decided to become a Bard.
Thalassa would leave each morning for a period of training with her mentor, Mapelos. She began to practice vocal techniques, starting with tune. Eventually, they would work their way to increasing her vocal range and then its volume, and finally she would learn to layer her vocal emanations with harmonic patterns that could affect mood. As the saying goes, “A good song can bring peace.” It was told that a Master Bard could earn a place at any ruler’s right hand, using their song to both entertain and keep the Court a happy and peaceful place.
Thalassa also began to learn the art of storytelling, although this did not go as well as her vocal studies. Merstories are complex, and their method of oral storytelling relies on vocal patterns, gestures and words to convey the tale. These stories were told strictly according to tradition, and not a word was to be out of place. Many times, Thalassa’s imagination would take hold and she would lose the current of the tale, allowing her words and gestures to veer into unprecedented territory. Mapelos was patient with her errors and worked with her to improve her abilities.
Mapelos disappeared thirteen years later, leaving Thalassa without a mentor. He had become sort of a second father to her, and she sank into a dark mood. For a time, she stopped singing altogether. It held no joy for her without her mentor to hear. The only thing that helped was playing with the guppies. Eventually she began to sing again--lullabies and funny songs to entertain the small mers.
The Search
For a time, Thalassa thought to search for Mapelos. She thought he had gone on dry land. Mapelos had always had a fondness for the music he heard coming from the great ships that swam on the surface of the sea. He spoke often of instruments that could only be played in the open air, and of the different sound the voice had on land. Walking on land was frowned upon by merculture, but mers did occasionally disappear and reappear with tales of having been stuck on land.
Thalassa began to search for a way to find Mapelos and bring him home. She met Ame and her pod, a group of disreputable merlings who claimed to have been to the surface several times. Through them, she found ancient texts describing the method of removing one’s tail and walking on land for a time. The mer’s tail must be removed for no longer than 24 hours, the text warned, or the unhappy merperson would be stuck on land forever.
One day, Ame came to her with both exciting and baleful news. Her pod had been exiled for departing from tradition and studying “forbidden arts.” Thalassa was not suspected, and as she had never actually removed her tail she would not be punished. Thalassa was relieved, but then Ame produced a small scale from her waist pouch. As she flourished it, Thalassa saw that the colors and shape matched Mapelos’ scales. Ame insisted that she knew what had happened to Mapelos, that all would be forgiven for her pod if they found him and brought him back safely. She invited Thalassa to join her pod on a journey to bring him home.
Thalassa was torn, but her love and worry for her dear mentor spurred her on. She accepted Ame’s offer. Leaving a note for her pod, she swam away with Ame. She had no idea that she would not be back for a long while, if ever.
Thalassa swam a long way with Ame. They would often approach a beach and remove their tails to play in the sand, but Thalassa always hung back. Removing one’s tail was an unpleasant feeling, and she loved the feel of the sea on her skin. The surface was much too dry and sterile. The others in Ame’s pod often made fun of her for refusing to join them. Thalassa would often sing to the pod at night, lulling them to sleep comfortably and lighten their mood. They demanded she sing their favorite songs several times, often past the point where she was hoarse. Ame’s pod also seemed to love violence, picking fights with other pods along the way. Often, they would hunt fish past their needs and simply leave the wasted dead to rot in the tide. They had no care for the strong emotional bond that Thalassa had to the sea. In fact, it seemed to annoy them.
These things shocked Thalassa, but she consoled herself with daydreams of finding Mapelos. Perhaps he was trapped, but they would find and restore him. Perhaps he was ill and only she could comfort him with her voice. Maybe a human had captured him and was even now holding him for some sort of ransom from the sea. Thalassa pictured Mapelos’ face as he was rescued, and it sustained her through the hard times. She swam with Ame around the tip of South America, all the way to the western side of Mexico.
Returning from a private hunt (her “timid” hunting manner having caused her “podmates” much amusement), Thalassa overheard Ame talking to her pod. She knew Thalassa was an annoyance, but they needed a bard if they were to get what they wanted from the humans. Humans had no resistance to the harmonics in mersong, and with Thalassa’s abilities they could get whatever they needed. Food, clothing, money...it could all be theirs. They simply had to be patient and eventually Thalassa would join them on land. Ame also spoke of Mapelos, indicating that he was dead and that the scale had been taken from a dead body.
Hearing this, Thalassa’s gentle nature disappeared under a wave of hurt and betrayal. She attacked Ame, and was seriously injured by Ame’s podmates. In a final traitorous act, Ame and her podmates abandoned Thalassa floating in the tide. She would never see them again.
Thalassa healed, but her injuries would always cause her to swim a bit more slowly. She became cautious and rather timid, guarding her trust and her heart as the most valuable treasure. She tried to find her way back to Merin, but became lost and confused. She ended up off the coast of California. The mers there were generally a suspcious people and they refused to help her.
One day, Thalassa was hunting when she felt a tug on her fluke. Assuming it was a piece of kelp that had caught, she reached back without looking to release herself. The “kelp” was rough and unlike any plant Thalassa had felt before. She looked back. Her fluke and lower tail were caught in a mass of ropes tied together. What was it that humans called it...a “net?” Whatever it was, she had to get it off! The other side of the “net” was trailing up into the surface, and from the way it was moving it seemed there was someone at the other end. Trying to free herself, Thalassa only got more tangled. The net dragged her slowly towards the surface, and as her head broke into the air she heard excited shouts.
Panicking, she took a deep breath and screamed with all the anger, pain and fear she had felt over the last seven years. Instinctively she had overlaid her scream with a multitude of harmonics, and the sailors had to let go of the net and hold their ears in self-defense.
Thalassa swam as quickly as she could, but she could not seem to get into the deep water without causing much pain in her broken tail. Sobbing, she floundered near the surface. She was too afraid to find help, but she couldn’t heal without resting first. But she couldn’t rest in case more humans came by...
Thalassa’s fears were realized as she saw a human figure on the shore. It was looking right at her! Thalassa dove quickly, but she was forced to surface again as the pain in her tail became too great. When she surfaced, the human seemed to it saying he wanted to help. Too clouded with fear and exhaustion to care anymore, Thalassa swam towards the shore. Later, she could not remember everything that happened, but the human was true to his word and helped her. Thalassa remembers her outer wounds healing and giving the human a few strands of hair, to call upon her should he ever require her to repay the favor.
Thalassa’s outer wounds had healed, but her tail had been broken internally and required more healing. During this time Thalassa stayed in the shallows. She was careful to keep out of sight of the humans, but she often observed them. Her father had taught her that you must know the habits of the predators. That way you could avoid danger. Thalassa often saw little humans playing in the sand. They reminded her of the guppies back home, and watching them lifted her heart. She grew to recognize the regular little visitors. She named them in her head, and often imagined what would happen if she revealed herself to them. Of course, she never actually did. Thalassa grew attached to the beach, and came to think of it as a second home. She looked forward to the familiar visitors each day.
There was another regular visitor to the beach: the human who had helped Thalassa. Each time he came she wondered if he was going to call her. Her heart thumped with fear and heavy duty each time she pictured coming to his aid. One night, as she watched, he waded out into the shallows. As she wondered what he was about, a wave came and knocked him into the sea. She watched for him to resurface, but it didn’t seem he was going to. Guilt and fear warred within her as Thalassa realized the human had been watching for her, and if she didn’t do something his death would be her fault.
She swam towards where she had seen the human, but he didn’t seem to be there. Sick with guilt, she searched. He was gone. No human could stay under for so long, and she didn’t think he could have surfaced without her seeing. Thalassa felt terrible, but she finally decided she could at least honor him with a song. Until now, she didn’t realize that this grown human was a part of the familiar sights she had grown fond of.
As she sang, Thalassa felt someone watching her. She saw a human on the rocks. Thalassa stopped her song and dove, but someone about the way the human sat was familiar. Swimming closer, she gasped in surprise and relief. It was the kind human! He had lived! She had not even considered that he had climbed out of the water. He was sort of hunched over, his face buried in his hands. What if he was hurt? He must have heard her singing, but she had to make sure he was all right. Embarrassed that he had hear her singing his death song, she decided to pretend she was simply fulfilling her obligation.
Touching his ankle, she quailed a bit at the surprise on his face. Maybe it would have been better to stay away. “Are you all right? You called me...and...I came.” Thalassa didn’t know if there was a protocol for the Calling, but was doing the best she could. The human assured her he was all right, he was simply sad that he had lost his pouch with her hair. Thalassa was flattered, but worried that this human seemed to be forming an attachment to her. Yes, watching him was all right, but actually spending time with him was another matter. From what she knew, grown humans were grim and often horrible with each other. Still, he had been kind...
Satisfied that he was all right, Thalassa dove back into the waves. It was too dry up in the air. She returned with another strand of her hair. “This is usually only done if you’ve saved my life...but you didn’t really need me, and it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give you another chance.” Swimming away, Thalassa realized she didn’t dread his Call quite so much.
Over the next year, the human Called Thalassa often. Sometimes he would stand on the beach and they would talk. Other times he would be on a ship, and she would sing to him. His name was Gawain, and she learned that he had been mistreated by humans just as she. He spoke with passion of noble goals, and Thalassa agreed whole-heartedly. In time, she grew to trust Gawain.
On Dry Land
On the anniversary of their meeting, Thalassa came to a decision: she had no real friends in the sea, and her desire to meet her “little humans” was great. She knew Gawain would take care of her if she needed him. She would remove her tail.
Though it had been a long time since learning the “forbidden art” of removing her tail, watching Ame’s pod had engrained the method in her memory. It was very unpleasant shucking off the tail that was a part of her and feeling it replaced by two foreign appendages with far too many moving parts. Thalassa hid her tail, wrapping herself in an old sail that she had found long ago. She wasn’t sure of how to move these two “tails,” and she didn’t want to try and look foolish. So she waited for Gawain.
He arrived, and she could tell he was shocked by her lack of tail. Thalassa tried to stand, but a heaviness that she had not felt in the sea came over her. She sat back down with a thump. Kindly, Gawain carried her to a structure on the land. He brought her beautiful things, and served delicious food that Thalassa had never tasted before. She thanked him over and over, and then they practiced “walking.” Thalassa was still awkward but able to get around when they headed to the beach.
At the beach, Thalassa was able to meet her little humans for the first time. She was still a bit shy, but she loved laughing and playing with them. Thalassa hadn’t had so much fun in ages! She told the children she would return the next day. At the end of the day, Thalassa bid farewell to Gawain and returned to the sea.
Gawain and Thalassa fell into a sort of routine. She would surface and remove her tail, he would carry her to his home and they would practice human customs and movement. In the afternoon Thalassa would play with the “children,” as she learned the little humans were called. She still stayed away from big humans. Apart from Gawain, she trusted very few of them, and she was still afraid.
One day, she decided to let the children see her tail. Asking them to return alone, she slipped her tail on and waited for them. What followed was a joyful experience. Some of the children would touch her tail in awe, and she laughed at the amazement on their faces. Others would tickle her fluke, or lift it to try and find her “feet.” Thalassa thoroughly enjoyed herself, and she sought to make children happy wherever she went from that moment on.
Now, Thalassa travels. She will someday return to her home and family, but right now she feels the need to bring joy to the children of the surface.
