HOME | DD

Description
Territory Name: Okeanos (or the ocean in general, subject to change when more group information comes out, I guess C: )
Character Name: Rai
Character Species: Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Harlequin Mantis Shrimp, or Painted Mantis Shrimp [Odontodactylus scyllarus]
Rank: Omega
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Here's one of the WIPs before I added clothes: fav.me/d51eq7y

Powers/Abilities:
Abilities of a mantis shrimp of her type include the ability to see circular polarized light (basically, she’s got really good eyesight) and being able to break shells and stun fish with the powerful fore claws (being a peacock mantis shrimp, she has the fastest ‘punch’ of any living animal: over 50 mph).
[TED talk courtesy of hnkkorgris www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHTTIg… which can explain all the special stuff about mantis shrimp better than I can]

She hasn’t yet fully discovered this, but she has a dream-based ability. For now, her only hint at this power are her clearer-than-normal dreams. This ability will take her time and practice to perfect, but it may unfold into something very potent.

Personality:
Loves to have fun, happy most of the time, talkative (she does know how to listen, as well), loyal friend to a fault (has caused her some grief, but it’s only a matter of time…), adventurous and independent, very perceptive, slow to anger, can hold grudges for a long time, weary/skittish around humans, somewhat vain, and she is an artist (creates jewelry and clothing plus is learning how to sculpt).

History:
Rai was raised with her parents in the shallows off the coast of a small island. The island wasn’t home to many land or air taurs at all, but there was a reef nearby that was home to hundreds of sea taurs. The main reason surface taurs weren’t popular was that there were human villages on the island -none close enough to Rai’s home to worry about. However, there were outlying farm homes closer, but the families there were too occupied with tending the crops to walk to the ocean –about half a day’s walk to get there and back. One of the little girls who lived close to the shore constantly visited the ocean alone, but never ventured into the water because it was a rocky beach. She was about Rai’s age. They met by chance one day, when Rai had accidentally gotten herself stuck between some rocks on her back (they were both about 6-7 years old).

At first, the little girl, Mary, was scared of Rai and Rai was scared of Mary. Mary remembered being told that taurs were dangerous and needed to be avoided, but Mary thought that was silly because Rai looked like a beetle on its back. Rai knew she had to keep hidden from the humans, or else they would likely chase her family out of their home (if they could find it in the rocky outlying islands). Mary talked with Rai from a distance for a while, and eventually felt brave enough to tip Rai over on her legs.

After that, Rai and Mary became fast friends; keeping each other secret from their families. They continued meeting and playing with each other in secret for a long while before Mary’s dad decided he wanted to find out why his daughter was spending so much more time at the beach than usual. He found out about Rai, and came back another day with a net. He caught Rai and dragged her far away from the water. Mary’s father had intended to kill Rai, but he couldn’t kill a little taur girl his daughter’s age. He wasn’t that kind of man. Giving Rai a warning to never see Mary again, he left Rai beached and tangled in the net to be carried back by high tide later. Mary’s father never let Mary go back to the beach alone, but Rai had been traumatized by her experience enough to never return to the beach.

When she returned home to her parents, they worried about her. She didn’t leave home as much as she used to and didn’t see her friends as much (they visited every now and then, and Rai’s parents sometimes coaxed her into seeing them). Eventually, Rai told them about Mary and what had happened. They helped their little girl through her tough time. She gradually gained her love of exploring back.

Later, Rai decided she wanted to find her own place to live, far from her family and friends. She wanted a fresh start and a new environment. A few days into her journey, she heard of a possible place where human/taur relations were more akin to what she had grown up with (considering that her kind like shallow waters, this was important). Eventually, she found her way to the Valley, where she settled. Rai found a rocky beach and set up her home in a small part of an interesting group of sea caves. Rai mostly makes jewelry and clothing for herself, but sees their usefulness for bartering and friend-making in the future.

I've been working on her gradually between Idrisfall OCT pages (since I will go crazy unless I get a break from comic pages). She's been in progress since the auditions, actually. XD

I'm really happy with how she turned out. It was nice to try something out of my comfort zone -very bright and colorful.

Since I first posted this, I’ve added some information since I’d apparently left quite a bit of my thought process out of the history… hope it’s not too long. XDX

Referenced Wiki a lot, among other things:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_s… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_… www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lgNHd…

Description
Territory Name: Okeanos (or the ocean in general, subject to change when more group information comes out, I guess C: )
Character Name: Rai
Character Species: Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Harlequin Mantis Shrimp, or Painted Mantis Shrimp [Odontodactylus scyllarus]
Rank: Omega
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Here's one of the WIPs before I added clothes: fav.me/d51eq7y

Powers/Abilities:
Abilities of a mantis shrimp of her type include the ability to see circular polarized light (basically, she’s got really good eyesight) and being able to break shells and stun fish with the powerful fore claws (being a peacock mantis shrimp, she has the fastest ‘punch’ of any living animal: over 50 mph).
[TED talk courtesy of hnkkorgris www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHTTIg… which can explain all the special stuff about mantis shrimp better than I can]

She hasn’t yet fully discovered this, but she has a dream-based ability. For now, her only hint at this power are her clearer-than-normal dreams. This ability will take her time and practice to perfect, but it may unfold into something very potent.

Personality:
Loves to have fun, happy most of the time, talkative (she does know how to listen, as well), loyal friend to a fault (has caused her some grief, but it’s only a matter of time…), adventurous and independent, very perceptive, slow to anger, can hold grudges for a long time, weary/skittish around humans, somewhat vain, and she is an artist (creates jewelry and clothing plus is learning how to sculpt).

History:
Rai was raised with her parents in the shallows off the coast of a small island. The island wasn’t home to many land or air taurs at all, but there was a reef nearby that was home to hundreds of sea taurs. The main reason surface taurs weren’t popular was that there were human villages on the island -none close enough to Rai’s home to worry about. However, there were outlying farm homes closer, but the families there were too occupied with tending the crops to walk to the ocean –about half a day’s walk to get there and back. One of the little girls who lived close to the shore constantly visited the ocean alone, but never ventured into the water because it was a rocky beach. She was about Rai’s age. They met by chance one day, when Rai had accidentally gotten herself stuck between some rocks on her back (they were both about 6-7 years old).

At first, the little girl, Mary, was scared of Rai and Rai was scared of Mary. Mary remembered being told that taurs were dangerous and needed to be avoided, but Mary thought that was silly because Rai looked like a beetle on its back. Rai knew she had to keep hidden from the humans, or else they would likely chase her family out of their home (if they could find it in the rocky outlying islands). Mary talked with Rai from a distance for a while, and eventually felt brave enough to tip Rai over on her legs.

After that, Rai and Mary became fast friends; keeping each other secret from their families. They continued meeting and playing with each other in secret for a long while before Mary’s dad decided he wanted to find out why his daughter was spending so much more time at the beach than usual. He found out about Rai, and came back another day with a net. He caught Rai and dragged her far away from the water. Mary’s father had intended to kill Rai, but he couldn’t kill a little taur girl his daughter’s age. He wasn’t that kind of man. Giving Rai a warning to never see Mary again, he left Rai beached and tangled in the net to be carried back by high tide later. Mary’s father never let Mary go back to the beach alone, but Rai had been traumatized by her experience enough to never return to the beach.

When she returned home to her parents, they worried about her. She didn’t leave home as much as she used to and didn’t see her friends as much (they visited every now and then, and Rai’s parents sometimes coaxed her into seeing them). Eventually, Rai told them about Mary and what had happened. They helped their little girl through her tough time. She gradually gained her love of exploring back.

Later, Rai decided she wanted to find her own place to live, far from her family and friends. She wanted a fresh start and a new environment. A few days into her journey, she heard of a possible place where human/taur relations were more akin to what she had grown up with (considering that her kind like shallow waters, this was important). Eventually, she found her way to the Valley, where she settled. Rai found a rocky beach and set up her home in a small part of an interesting group of sea caves. Rai mostly makes jewelry and clothing for herself, but sees their usefulness for bartering and friend-making in the future.

I've been working on her gradually between Idrisfall OCT pages (since I will go crazy unless I get a break from comic pages). She's been in progress since the auditions, actually. XD

I'm really happy with how she turned out. It was nice to try something out of my comfort zone -very bright and colorful.

Since I first posted this, I’ve added some information since I’d apparently left quite a bit of my thought process out of the history… hope it’s not too long. XDX

Referenced Wiki a lot, among other things:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_s… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_… www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lgNHd…