__________________QUICK STATS
Name Ariadne of Fell
Age Unknown
Gender Masculine
Species Poliaranea
Ethnicity N/A
Height6'0"
Occupation N/A
Residence Wanderer

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF

Physical Description Ariadne, in its truest form, is little more than a melon-sized,  ball of black, slimy flesh, with bright, almost glowing blue rings patterned upon it's black skin, a sharp-toothed mouth at its center, and many tentacles it's body. How many? There's no actual solid number; It appears to lose limbs and regrow them quite frequently, given the treacherous landscapes it frequents. Ariadne has a lengthy, prehensile tongue that it's capable of using to manipulate objects as well, but beyond that, inside its mouth is an enigma. Literally. It can eat, eat more, and eat even more beyond that, but doesn't seem to have a 'bottom' to it's stomach... Or whatever serves as its digestive tract. Despite it's uniquely 'eye-less' basic form, Ariadne appears capable of getting around just fine, begging the question of how it's even possible for it to 'see' or 'hear', given that it has neither eyes, nor ears.

That, mind you, is its truest form—  Free of any bodily 'variations'. More commonly, especially when interacting with other sentient beings, Ariadne is seen in a much more 'human' form—  Or at least, one that resembles a human. Approximately six feet tall, with chocolate brown skin and a slender, practically feminine body, Ariadne looks very much human at a glance. A very, very fast, passing glance. Further examination reveals more concerning features, such as the fact that it still very much retains its fang-like teeth and long, prehensile tongue in human form. It's eyes are also very much not human—  black sclera, with blue, almost glowing irises. It appears to have a nice, lush head of thick, black hair, but upon closer examination, said 'hair' is actually a mass of lengthy tentacles, much like those of his true form—  Black, somewhat slimy, and patterned with blue, somewhat translucent rings that match his eyes. He sports similar 'rings' on the palms of his hands, and soles of his feet. More alarmingly, in its 'human' form, Ariadne has a 'tail'; A large, prehensile tentacle very much like those of its basic form, but much, much longer, and much, much gurthier. The tail can grow to at least three times the length of Ariadne's human body, but often doesn't—  either due to predation by other creatures, or Ariadne being forced to sever the tail for other reasons.





Personality

"Curious" best describes Ariadne, who, despite being an abomination of nature (not its own words, but still), loves to learn. Not about history, necessarily, but about other lifeforms. Yes, Ariadne is what you might call a 'people watcher' (even in forms that don't have eyes); Quietly studying humans and other sentient life forms from afar, and occasionally mingling and interacting with them directly, if it doesn't sense any danger to itself in doing so. Its interests border on obsessive, and has been observed to, in some cases, capture sentient life in order to study it. Why? No one knows—  not even the creature itself. Perhaps, due to its own sentience, Ariadne subconsciously desires companionship and believes that by learning to, for lack of a better word, 'be human', it can obtain that. Perhaps it is instinctually driven to make itself more and more 'perfect' by taking in as much 'data' from other advanced species as possible. Whatever the case may be, this fascination drives much of Ariadne's actions and goals—  Good or bad.

Ariadne may look human enough, but it's important to keep in mind that it very much is NOT human. Though it has seen, studied and practiced emulating many human, or otherwise sentient lifeform concepts, it lacks an actual sense or morality, empathy, and cultural awareness. It doesn't see an issue with killing if it's life is in danger, but equally doesn't see an issue with killing if it's predatory instincts are triggered. As mentioned above, it has no problem capturing or kidnapping others to study them—  especially if it doesn't meant them any direct harm. That said, fortunately, it does understand these concepts—  The fact that hurting people is likely to result in people attempting to hurt it, for example—  and attempts to respect the ideals and cultural values of others as best it can.

Beyond it's more dire shortcomings, there are also much more simple concepts Ariadne hasn't fully grasped yet—  such as the idea of human ownership, comedy, or tragedy. It's still learning, after all, and given that such ideas are much more integral to intra-social relationships, as well as its... 'difficulties' with integrating itself into human societies for extended periods of time, Ariadne simply hasn't learned to fully comprehend these ideas, and many others like it, yet. As a result, in public, the creature often acts less like a monster, and more like a bundle of cultural ignorance, filled to the brim with childlike wonder and curiosity.

All this said, Ariadne isn't inherently malevolent, or 'evil' by any means. It can be quite pleasant to chat with, and has only ever killed a handful of people, almost always due to being provoked or attacked first. It is simply a 'young' and curious creature—  one who's fascination with the greater inhabitants of the world tends to result in sometimes amusing, other times dangerous situations.

Magic/Abilities

Poliaranea - Ariadne's tentacles, feet, and palms are coated in a light, sheeny slime. The blue circle-patterns on its body may seem like just patterns, but they are actually slime-producing organs which Ariadne uses to capture prey. This 'true' slime, unlike the light coating on it's tentacles, palms and feet, acts very much like a spider's silk—  extremely viscous to the point of actually maintaining a shape if pulled and/or stretched to a certain extent, making for a very fine 'webbing' if needed, or even a trap on the floor. Ariadne produces a solvent in its mouth that's capable of coating a surface in a slime solution, as well as preventing a surface from being stuck to the slime—  such as it's own skin. Feel free to let your imagination drive the question of how it coats its entire body in said substance.

Consumption-Adaptive Evolution - One of Ariadne's most unique (and concerning) traits is its ability to take on extremely-expedited evolutionary transformations based on what it consumes. Mind you, it doesn't just turn into whatever it eats—  rather, if it has consumed something which possesses traits which Ariadne instinctively deems necessary for survival, it can incubate itself for a period of a few days, literally hibernating while it undergoes a dramatic metamorphosis to acquire the adaptive traits it requires for whatever purposes it sees necessary. Ariadne can 'shed' these traits in the same fashion. During this period of incubation, the creature is extremely vulnerable, and unable to defend itself as it is essentially asleep.

Autonomy - Ariadne possesses many tentacles—  each of which is capable of autonomous movement in service of whatever Ariadne desires, consciously or subconsciously. Interestingly, Ariadne has the ability to sever these tentacles if necessary—  Often times done when faced with a dangerous predator, but other times done for less life-threatening, more 'sake of convenience' concerns. Like any autonomous limb, the tentacles, even when severed, will continue to act in accordance with Ariadne's last conscious or subconscious intent, up until it 'dies' of a lack of, well, life.

Cycle of Rebirth - Every few hundred winters, or whenever the creature otherwise deems it necessary, Ariadne 'dies'. This 'death' is triggered, much like it's adaptive evolution, by instinctual need—  severe injury, a change in its ecosystem that threatens its continued existence, or similar such crisis. Whenever this occurs, Ariadne undergoes a final transformation—  its tentacles shrivel, its slime-covered body dries up, and it finds a quiet, secure place capable of weathering it for years on end if necessary... and then it passes away. However, within its body, an egg is grown, and after death, the dead, withered body of the former Ariadne serves as a husk to 'winter' the egg and keep it safe from relative harm while it incubates. Eventually, from the husk, and the egg, hatches a 'new' Ariadne—  One which has lost its prior adaptive traits, as well as its non-instinctive memories, free to roam the lands once more.



Relationships

History

No one is particularly sure where Ariadne was born, or how old it is. Given its unique cycle of rebirth, there is a question of if Ariadne was ever even 'born', or if it was simply always a part of Le'Raana, hidden away. Some theorize that Ariadne was created by ancient mages of Fell, prior to the fall of the land, and said theories became the basis for it's 'title' among historians as the earliest known sighting of the creature (or perhaps a creature quite similar to it?) was deep within the heart of Fell itself.  The truth? Even Ariadne doesn't know, as it loses most of its memories with each incarnation. It has been 'born' in many places—  From the Draconi Forests to the Western Highlands of Serendipity. The only things that are consistent in each of these origins is that upon birth, Ariadne wriggled its way out of its shell... and then ate the shell. And then ate some dirt and rocks surrounding the shell, which it didn't very much enjoy, but managed to stomach all the same. And thus did the creature set off into the wilderness of its surrounding lands.

Ariadne's most recent incarnation isn't too old, in fact—  It awoke within the Niahi forest, after a passerby rodent happened upon its egg, and attempted to crack it open and feast on the insides. Poor thing. After having discovered its rather pleasant first meal, the poliaranea immediately began instinctively building a nest for itself amidst the dense foliage of the forest, creating thick webs of viscous slime across at least an acre of land. Niahi was full of wildlife—  Ariadne ate well, and often. Yet it couldn't help but feel a sense of longing, despite fulfilling many of its baser instincts. Wolves hunted in packs, rabbits were caught by the school in its webs... but there was only one Poliaranea. And, unlike the other wildlife of the forest, Ariadne was very much aware of this.

Eventually, as Ariadne stalked the forest, it came upon something most intriguing—  A new animal. A human. She had dark skin, long, flowing black hair, and beautiful blue eyes. She came across Ariadne's webs, but was careful not to disturb them—  even taking small samples to examine later, it assumed. She was fascinating, something the creature hadn't experienced up to that point in its current life. As she began to leave the area, Ariadne exposed itself by ambushing her from above, and ensnaring her in its slime. Not to kill, though she did suffer an injury as a result. No, Ariadne just wanted to watch her. To learn more about her. She was the first interesting thing it had seen in the forest, and it worried that if she left, it'd never see such again.

The woman attempted communicating with Ariadne, and though it couldn't make sense of her words, it could comprehend that she sought communication and understanding—  much like it did. If only it could comprehend... and that was when the creature had an idea. The woman had bled from the injury she sustained in their earlier entanglement—  Ariadne consumed the spilled blood, even lapping at what still dripped from her skin, with the outlandish idea that if only it were more 'like' her, it could possibly understand her. The woman, meanwhile, had every right to fear for her life from this encounter with what could only be described as a monstrosity, but couldn't help but be curious and fascinated with Ariadne in kind. It clearly didn't mean her harm, or else it would've killed her by now. Captive as she was, she could only play along with whatever the creature had in mind.

A few days passed. Ariadne had vanished from the woman's sight some nights ago, and hadn't been back since. She was still bound, but thankfully carried rations with her on this expedition into the forest, and thus was able to survive. The wildlife seemed to instinctively know to avoid the slime-webbed areas of the forest—  those that didn't, lured by the woman, were trapped in Ariadne's slime, much like herself. She was 'safe', at least for a while. Yet as she began to settle into the idea that she might have been abandoned here and left to die, the woman was shocked by a much, much less realistic reality—  she hadn't been abandoned. Instead, Ariadne had returned to her—  no longer a ball of wriggling tentacles, but now very much moreso a... well... 'human'. At least, far more human that it had been some days ago. It had taken on a human shape, with arms, legs, a head and torso—  and in fact, physically speaking, looked strikingly similar to herself, though as the mimic-creature was naked, she could tell that it lacked any form of genitalia, or mammalian organs. Its tentacles had migrated to its head... and it now had one large tentacle as a tail. Despite this, for the most part, it could quite easily pass as a human, with some effort. Perhaps the woman should have been horrified or disgusted by this transformation... but they say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and the woman couldn't help but feel very much flattered by this development.

Ariadne continued to observe the woman, and in turn, over time, she began to realize her role in this captive situation—  She was to teach it. Every day, Ariadne would watch the woman, and mimic her movements, sounds, and reactions. Every so often, something would get caught in its web, and Ariadne would go off to kill it, then bring its corpse back to the woman, to see how she would react. Eventually, she ran out of rations, and was forced to show the creature that much like it, she, too had to feed on living things in order to survive. This only interested the creature more, and so it would go out of its way to find something daily in order for them to both eat. Over time, the creature learned words, and how to communicate what it wanted—  even if only barely. It was definitely a far quicker learner than any mere animal should have been, and while the woman was quite convinced that whatever Ariadne was, it was an intelligent creature, it was only when it began to communicate with her more and more of its own initiative that she fully understood that the creature was, in fact, self-aware. It wasn't just mimicking her—  it was developing its intelligence through her. Sharpening its mind. Growing.

Eventually, a search party was sent after the woman, and they found her being held hostage by the creature. They reacted as one might imagine a search party would reach upon finding a woman held captive by a half-man, half monster, but before any irreversible bloodshed could be caused, the explorer managed to defuse the situation, and convince the search party not to attack Ariadne. Meanwhile, the woman also managed to convince Ariadne, who had no sense of comprehension of what a 'lie' was, that she had to return to her home with the search party, and that she would come back to visit it once everything was taken care of. The creature agreed, and released the woman from her slime trappings, and together, the group left the Niahi forest. Ariadne awaited her return... But as you might imagine, she never showed up again.

This was rather confusing for a creature who only knew a bare minimum about humans as a whole, so Ariadne, unbearably curious about when the woman would return, also decided to exit the forest, and begin wandering the lands looking for her—  or any other humans. They were such interesting creatures—  it couldn't help but want to have another one all to itself.



__________________THREAD TRACKER
Current Threads

Complete Threads