Them Bones (Cain)

The Literal Voice Inside Cain's Head Spirit Familiar, Brains

Speech: Underlined #51d40f

MUTATION: Very Small

Cain's head has been far too empty for far too long. Or at least that's this familiar Familiar's opinion. Back before Cain vanished and took her favorite nest away, this furry little thief was quite at home in the living skeleton's skull, which served as both her sleeping quarters and her treasure room. What kind of treasure did she collect? Oh, anything that was shiny, from coins to buttons to bits of shell and gemstones. It was quite an eclectic collection, to say the least, and she wasn't above not quite asking permission to abscond with her prizes when she found them. Not that she was wicked or anything, by any stretch. In truth, she's quite a sweetheart. It's mostly that, well, the object of her active affections was shiny, and she wanted it, and that's that.

Now that's she's back in residence, Cain can look forward to her resuming her collecting duties once more, peeking out his eye sockets to get a look around and occasionally even helping her home/Bonded out by exploring some tight spaces that he couldn't otherwise check out.

Incidentally, this also turned her into something of a security system for Cain, as occasionally necromancers or other grave robbers might think to make a target of him (not to mention those who might want to do away with the servant of Death, permanently). Anyone who gets too close, especially to his skull or tries to touch it, will quickly find a chittering and very angry creature biting at their fingers. She can't do much damage, of course, but the surprise will be deterrent enough (seriously, she has a set of teeth for all that they're so tiny!).


Oh, and Brains isn't such a silent partner anymore. Cain'll have to get used to that, as now she'll add an emphatic 'Mine Mine Mine!' to any trespassers. Sign of affection? Yeah, let's just take it as that. Hopefully her rapid manner of speech won't get on Cain's nerves too much.

While most spirit familiars are around two feet long (in the case of a body structure like Brains') she is actually much smaller, barely reaching a foot nose to tail. This is probably for the best, as otherwise she wouldn't fit in Cain's skull very well. She's mostly brown all over in color, a nice woody shade, and her markings are in various shades of brown as well, rather monochromatic for a Spirit. But it's in the patterns themselves that her spirit nature shines through: whorls of dark chocolate, streaks of pale tan, spots of cinnamon and a dusting of almost-gold pattern through her fur. Like all Spirit Familiars, her eyes are a brilliant amethyst purple, constantly shimmering with vibrance and enthusiasm for the next adventure and the treasure that's sure to fall right into her paws!

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E n v y i s t h e D o m a i n o f t h e D e a d F e m a l e F i e n d , S a d a k e s h

Final Form: Hooded Cobra

Speech: Bold#262863



The living like to think they invented envy. And sure, fine, they stew in it day in and day out, wanting this and coveting that, but they don’t really understand a damn thing until the day they die, do they, Cain Skelington?



Your Sadakesh understands you. She’s a fundamental part of your soul. Maybe a part that isn’t pretty, but she’s a vital part of you all the same. The part that’s a little bitter, the part that aches and chafes and wants what it knows it will never have again. Sadakesh knows better than anyone else that envy and greed have no relation to one another. Particularly not where you’re concerned. You’re not greedy. You’ve never really been greedy. Material wealth isn’t much your particular vice and it wasn’t when you had a pulse. But ah, there’s the rub, the bind, the chafe that the people who mistake envy for greed just fundamentally misunderstand. They don’t understand what you’d give to have a pulse again. You’ve been dead for over eight hundred years and still, still, any time a dream lets you appear how you want instead of how you are, you show up wearing skin. Envy isn’t greed. Envy is grief . Envy is the realization of permanent loss or inescapable unachievability. But you don’t have to mourn your own death alone, Cain. You can ache for the life you had knowing that Sadakesh aches with you, for you, because she is you, too. Perhaps her world outlook is dark and bitter, her running commentary somewhat snide on occasion, but she exists in totality for you, Cain. There’s no better conversation partner when you need to commiserate after a rough day. Nobody’s going to understand your rough days quite like Sadakesh, and that’s exactly the way she likes it.



Sadakesh didn’t even have to challenge you to know you in the Liminal Passages. She was allowed one question, but she never even needed to ask it. She told you your envy was written, literally, as plainly as the nose on your face, because in that instant it was. She also called you a flawed, broken, perfect thing, unique and precious. While that may sound contradictory, the truth of the matter is that true perfection is made of flaws. A lack of blemishes is a lack of character, and without the blemish of Envy, well, you really wouldn’t need Sadakesh, would you? But you are her heart, and she is your soul, and no being short of your Impressed dragons loves you more completely or more purely for who and what you are, and that is why you will always be, “Beloved,” to Sadakesh, for she can call you nothing else and still speak truly.



The truest form Sadakesh only shows to you, Cain Skelington, the eight-dimensional wavelength of energy that is what a Familiar is, is that cracked and rusty insatiable ache inside that you’ve had since the day you became a skeleton, the empty naked yearning of old bones that long for the press of flesh and sensation and life that simply no longer exists. She is everything in you that covets everything you’ve ever lost and everything you will never have, but she is also everything in you that realizes what you have that is worth envying -- your confidence, your sureness in your skills, your experience. Your eternity of new experiences yet to be had.



To the world, Sadakesh appears as a Hooded Cobra . And she is mostly true to that image, in the form of a long, slender rope of snake with rich black scales and a patterning of deep purples where natural cobras would have maybe a more buttery color against the black. When she flares her hood, however, it becomes apparent that the edge scales are barbed and jagged and sharper than any saw, and along both of her sides lie rows of crimson thorns. Rather like rose or blackberry thorns, they can be safely touched petting along the grain, down Sadakesh’s body, but trying to stroke her in the opposite direction will result in some nasty injuries...for everyone but Cain. Having no flesh has to pay off eventually, right? Sadakesh’s forked tongue is a dark shade of cobalt blue. Her eyes are the signature scarlet of the Fiend Familiar.



No Familiar is ever just a basic animal, and Cain was probably aware of that long before he ever united with Sadakesh, but what will become increasingly obvious over time with Sadakesh is that she’s no basic Familiar either. First of all, the blasted creature has the habit of simply being, or not being, in an instant. Blink-and-you-miss-it teleportation, an ability shared by all of the denizens of the Fade, and probably going to be irksome if Cain ever finds himself suddenly talking TO himself because Sadakesh has suddenly disappeared. Alternatively, she may randomly blink in and startle the bejesus out of him. Also common to spirits of the Fade, Sadakesh is an empath capable of discerning the emotions around her and skimming surface thoughts that aren’t well guarded, although as a spirit of Envy, this clearly works best when the thoughts and emotions she is receiving or is trying to read are, somehow, envious . Likewise, she also possesses the power of suggestion, and can plant the seeds of envy in almost any mind. She cannot, however, force anyone to act on those seeds. Just make it really, really tempting. As a denizen of the Liminal Passages, Sadakesh is a professional dreamwalker, and can both navigate and shape dream realities at will. That being said, should Cain ever find himself in any other lucid dreams, Sadakesh will always be able to find him and guide him through the dream, for she is a spirit of the Fade...the world of dreams.

I'll Take Lead! Brown Mottle Firelizard: Heart

What makes a good leader? They gotta be fearless, ready to charge in and deal with their problems! Most importantly, they gotta be ready to protect the other members of their party! That's what this little one believes, at least. And by George, he was gonna be a leader or his color wasn't brown! This flighy Brown wants to be leader, no matter what it is. Going to the kitchen for a snack? Let this guy show you the way! Don't know where you put your keys? He'll lead the search party to find them! Doesn't matter what it is. If he can form a team behind it, he'll lead it!

Cain chose to go in first, he was the first to try and sneak past. And when the Red Dragon rose, he placed himself between his team and the beast. If that ain't a fearless leader, Then this Brown doesn't know what is! Obviously he should take a few notes. Maybe he could even teach Cain a trick or two!

This brown feathers are light brown, which is a stark comparison to his darker, more tan body. He kept his feathers in pristine condition! Of course! His troops would need some sort of rallying sign to go behind, what better than a pair of glorious wings! Though his scales suffer a little... Just a little. Shhh.

Ribs
Dying for a Laugh Male Sylvan Illaro
Speech: Color #535353
[color=#535353]Color #535353[/color]

This sylvan is a wealth of knowledge about many things, especially in matters of the occult and funerary rites from various cultures. But he isn’t free about sharing this info for nothing, oh no! If you want to ask him a question, you have to pay the price first. And what is this price?

Make him laugh!

Perhaps because of his rather grim interests, he values laughter highly and only after someone makes him laugh loudly will he agree to help them. What makes him laugh seems to vary instance by instance, from jokes to slap-stick comedy to character and deadpan, to even improve and prop humor.

When he isn’t studying up on his hobby, he’s undergoing some rather… odd self-experiments. For example, one day you might find him buried up to his neck in salt. Why, you ask? Well, to find out just how long it takes for someone buried in such a way to begin to suffer the effects of dehydration! He’ll stop if you ask, or if you have other need of his assistance, but later on when you happen to need this information (IF, naturally!) remember just whom to ask!

Oddly, though he can seem enigmatic to many and somewhat aloof, in their acquaintanceship he seems rather deeply fond of TWD, to the point of being willing to kill someone if they threaten his life or happiness (such as that is).

His fur is a soft, almost powder gray color, making his pure white mane stand out quite clearly even if it were not as long as it was. It is as if it grows twice as fast as the rest of his fur, never falls out, and he never gets it trimmed. It even has grown up over his head and hangs down over his eyes and his rank-marking green runes, though this never seems to impede his vision. His eyes, when they are glimpsed, are bright yellow and he always has a very wide (almost unnaturally so) grin on his face, and when he talks if he is not standing he tends to move his front paws about in gestures, the runes there leaving trails in their wake.

Non Sunt Supra Legem Male Roc Day (None Are Above the Law)

Speech: Bold #a8a2ab

All are beholden unto the Law. That is the belief of this Roc - one of the more militaristic of the species - who sees much of the world in the stark contrasts of black and white. From the most powerful, to the least, all of it means nothing if law is tossed aside and this is the ethos he works hard to embody: Law. Within his mind are the mandates of many cultures, cities, and weyrs, perfectly memorized and easily recalled at a moment’s notice. He is a near-perfect arbitrator, both barrister and judge when conflicts arise, unburdened by the balances of ‘good,’ ‘evil,’ or other biased opinions. All that matters is what says the law of the place he is in at the time. But, though he is oft serious-minded, he is not without mercy or compassion within lawful bounds.If a precedent is established for allowing leniency and such is warranted he might give way. If he feels a law is imperfect, he will look for legal means to have it altered to a more pure form. If he is for you, you can have no better ally. If now… well, you might be in trouble.

A large Roc standing around twenty-five feet nose to tail, he resembles in coloration and plumage a Greater Bird of Paradise, with a brown body, pale yellow head feathers, green face feathers and blue bill, as well as the rather appropriate white and yellow tail plumage that if one is feeling a little creative could represent a sunrise. Certainly it seems as if the sunrise is in his eyes, for his gaze is amber and seems to radiate light, reflecting the glow that surrounds him at all times, a mark of his Day status. Like Day rocs, he can manipulate light and ‘sidestep’ from one brilliant patch of light into another at will.

You Pitch the Tent, I'll Unpack the Marshmallows Male Gemstone Sumine Smokey

(Rainforest Jasper Jaguar)

Going camping is one of the best ways to get into harmony with nature. Surrounded on all sides by the wilderness it can be easy to forget your troubles and feel the primal forces that it displays for all to see who seek it out. Stories are shared, memories made, and much fun had.

Though the admittedly lesser intellect of the Sumines might make some think they wouldn't really care one way or another about camping there is one at least who is an expert at it. He clearly has an understanding of the activity, showing excitement of summoned and a tent or other camping gear is within view and more than willing to carry what he can and hunt for your dinner if asked. He's incredibly happy out in the wild and moves through it with undeniable grace, a part of it like the trees and birds and flowers target than a clumsy intruder or worse, one trying to bend nature to his will. He'll happily sprawl beside you beneath the stars with tail tapping the ground, listening to the crickets chirp and conversation flow until the time comes for him to return to his statuette form again. His one request is that you summon him again soon see he can get as much out of the trip as he can and in the process help you find the same balance in nature that he enjoys.

When active it's little wonder why he is one with the wild works around him. Taking the form of a jaguar he can move silently even through thick underbrush like a ghost. With his long tail for balance and his claws to grip he's found as much in the trees as on the ground and even will fish for dinner with mighty slaps into the water. His active form's fur is a beautiful tan with a white throat and belly and accenting his muzzle. What would be black normally show his Sumine heritage: they are a shining mix of green, gold, and black of the rainforest jaspar that forms his figurine form of a sitting up jungle cat.

Rainforest Jasper connects you to Planet Earth, the joy of being alive, the energy of growth, and the desire to be in balance with nature.