Naia [Ready]

[Elderflower]

Name: Naia
 

Gender: Female

 

Age: Mare

 

Species: Sea pony

 

Eye colour: Intense cerise pink. Because Naia comes from the dark depths of the ocean her eyes are without pupils and rather spooky!

 

Character colour: A very dark green-blue, with glowing cerise spots running in two lines which outline her “under”side from the bottom of her chin down to the very tip of her tail.  These glowing spots also dot the edges of her fins. On her neck, chest, belly, and fins there are dark washes of pink as well.

Mane/Tail/Other: Naia’s long mane starts the same deep green-blue of her body at the roots then fades into the same wash of dark pink that colours her stomach and fins. She never styles it, simply lets it undulate freely in the ocean currents. Her tail holds many similarities to that of a betta fish - it is long, flowy, and quite ornamental.

Physique: Naia possesses the sleek, toned figure one would expect of a creature who has spent  her entire life swimming. She is almost constantly in motion, whether swimming through still water, drifting with the flow, or fighting against the undersea currents.

 

 

Residence: The deep oceans east of the Gallopocus Islands, in a drifting bloom of comb jellies. Recently, however, she is something of a wanderer closer to the surface.

 

Occupation: Naia is a keeper of ctenophora (comb jellies). Though the bizarre, delicate creatures may seem mindless and meaningless they are strongly connected to the magic of harmony found within the ocean. Caring for these creatures that she so admires also presents Naia the opportunity to study and understand the role they play in the big picture of harmony and the flow of aetheric energy.

 

Cutie Mark: The ghostly image of a beroida comb jelly.

Naia was born and raised in the dark, silent expanse of the deep ocean. She was raised there by her parents: her mother who lived to study the fascinating world of anglerfish and her father who was a thrill-seeker and giant squid tamer. Naia was their only foal, and as such they doted on her quite a bit. Well, as much as any seapony living in the deeper reaches of the ocean can; their sort have a much colder demeanour than their lively kin who live closer to the surface, if only for the fact that they spend so much time on their own. Her father was always the exception to the rule of deep sea seaponies, however - he was loud, warm, and friendly. Always bragging about how his daughter was the cutest daughter in the whole history of daughters!

So while her mother busied herself chasing angler fish and studying them, Naia’s father took it upon himself to teach his daughter the fine art of giant squid wrangling and taming. Well, “teaching” might be a more apt way of putting it. He would swim out to local squid haunts, pick out a little baby one to take back with him, and then just throw Naia at it to have her “tame” it. The baby squid were so harmless, though! There was no taming a “ferocious baby squid.” They always just wanted to wrap their tentacles around her and hug her and blow bubbles at her! It was all terribly boring. And then their mothers would always come ‘round for them and chase Naia’s father so far away it’d be a day before he made it home again!

It was during one of her father’s longer stints away from home after being chased off by an angry mama squid that Naia felt her first urges to drift away from the little stretch of water she called home. Her father  always returned with stories of fascinating things he saw while he was away, so this time when he came home she wanted to surprise him with a story. So away she swam, without informing her mother, into the vast, mysterious world of the deep ocean.

At first it was incredibly boring, full of a whole lot of nothing aside from little buggy sea critters she saw all the time back home. Further and further she went into the darkness, until a glow began to appear in the distance. Curious, Naia sped towards it, eager to find what fascinating stories awaited her there.

She was not prepared for the beauty she would find. A huge field of glowing and undulating jelly bodies spread out before her, the bloom so large that she could hardly see where it ended. She had seen ctenophora, before, but never like that. There was something magical about them and the strange, soft vibration of aetheric energies in this huge bloom of jellies.

Naia was utterly and irrevocably enchanted. She drifted into the bloom, swimming and whirling about with the jellies, laughing and singing as she never had before. As she swam her way through the bloom, eventually she ran into none other than her father! He laughed too and wrapped his tail around her lovingly, saying that he heard her voice on his way back. And then, best of all, he pointed out the ghostly image of a comb jelly that had appeared on her side! Her cutie mark had appeared, and it was one she was terribly proud of.

Unique Traits: Like all seaponies, Naia is empathetic towards and can communicate with most sea creatures. She has a strong affinity towards comb jellies and jellyfish, however, and though those creatures have no language of their own she can command them with her singing voice. The jellies have a resonance with the magic that flows beneath the ocean, and using her singing voice she can connect to that resonance and with the creatures. It is a useful skill for a keeper of comb jellies to have, as it can help her herd them. It is also useful if she should ever come under attack, as. Comb jellies are more or less harmless, but with a large, stinging jellyfish at her side, most foes would think twice before rushing at her!

 

History: Naia’s life after earning her cutie mark was altered significantly. The moment her parents felt comfortable she could fend for herself she was allowed to pursue her dreams. For the young mermare, that meant finding the jellyfish bloom that she had come across as a filly. It had drifted away from her home years ago, but the situation was not hopeless. After all, any seapony worth her salt water could get into the headspace of sea creatures, read the ocean currents, and make a good estimation of where they might travel.

Her mission wasn’t an effortless one, however. A good estimation was never a solid lead, and so it took a whole year of travel and asking other ponies or creatures where her bloom had gone. When she finally found her jellies, she was happy as a clam! She stayed with them, cared for them, protected them, and studied them for some time before things began to change within the bloom. Jellies began to grow restless and agitated more easily, sometimes swarming her and pushing on her aggressively. Others would jitter and grow scared, and more yet would wander away from the safety of their swarm. It was frustrating, and Naia couldn’t make sense of what was happening. These were different creatures from the peaceful drifters she had met in her youth.

After just one year with her ctenophora, Naia left once more. It was difficult for her to leave behind the little gels she loved so dearly, but she had to do something to help them. The agitation was growing worse and it didn’t make sense. What was happening to her lovely little jellies? It had to have something to do with harmony, with the flow of magic. The jellies seemed so connected with it that perhaps if she knew what was happening in the rest of the world, she would know how to help her friends.

So now Naia has moved closer to the surface, where seaponeis live in boisterous communities and the ships of their surface kin break through the water above. It’s a strange, loud, warm place to be...and the ships! How strange! This is a world Naia has no familiarity with at all!

 

Character Personality: Naia has a naturally cold and standoffish demeanour. Coming from the deep sea, where other ponies are rare to come across, she’s not really equipped with a great deal of social skills. The art of communicating with other seaponies is totally beyond her. Instead she’s blunt, to the point, and rarely mindful of whether or not something she says could be hurtful.

She also possesses much less patience for other ponies than she does for her jellies. Her family is the only exception to that rule, and all other ponies she finds to be incredibly trying. Still, that’s not to say she doesn’t care for others - she just has no real way of showing it, beyond saying bluntly and flatly “I care about you.”

That said, she still possesses the highly curious nature that all seaponies possess, and it helps draw her to a crowd even when her instincts tell her to go lurk in a dark corner somewhere. With little room for fear with all her fascination of the world, Naia will calmly swim into any situation to check it out. She’s also not afraid to ask whatever questions come to her mind, nor is she aware of the more sensitive nature of some questions. And even if she’s told that a certain topic is sensitive, well, she won’t even care! She’s more concerned about getting answers.

 

Character Summary: Naia may not show it, but she’s a very passionate individual...about jellies at least. When it comes to other seaponies, she’s a little bit more cool-headed. Even with her empathetic nature, her lack of experience around other water-dwelling ponies (aside from her parents), just makes social sensitivity a little more difficult for her to grasp. That said, she is a stalwart friend to those who earn her companionship.

She’s an excellent swimmer, has great endurance, and while she can sometimes be a little woozy when it comes to adjusting to life close to the surface (the pressure change can be quite the taxing experience!), she is a very impressive athlete. Because of her cold demeanour and dark appearance, she possesses an air of mystery as well. Combined with her sleek body, it makes her quite the attractive mermare!

The most outstanding quality Naia possesses currently, however, is a fascination with the surface. She is always prying and asking questions when she meets somepony new, and seems almost desperate to learn more. She has even been trying to catch the attention of passing ships by sitting atop rocks and islands above water and calling to them with her singing voice. Sometimes that seems to freak the surface ponies out, but most slow down and have a chat with her, answering all of her questions about current events out of water!

[Lux]

Very interesting, and i love the picture of your sea pony. 

[SteelEagle]