⸺  Mythos

In a time before the world grew old, in a time when it yet struggled to find its shape; Elohim, The Paradisiacal Creator of all things living and dying within its blossoming firmament — felt that on a solitary blue dot an answer was needed: Guardians who would keep good company amidst it all.With tender hands he dipped his hand deep, so very far into the fabric of creation; and molded four Divine Beasts with purpose each unique to insure order against encroaching pandemonium.Born first was Leviathan, The Marine Avenger. He emerged from waters dark and deep as current pulled to tide. Ebb and flow, fashioned of sapphire and burning embers, he swam the currents directing tides to guarantee life abounded beneath the waves. Protector of waters, the sound of anger and peace alike.Then came Cetus, The Abyssal Scourge— A beast of boundlessness, ancient and feral that it could only have billowed forth from the deepest abyss where no shred of light had ever reached. As was her way, she started out as a force of cataclysm, eating away at that which sought to disturb the order. A cleanse, to rid of what had not been needed. Her maws had been vast —; her body overwhelming as the shadows of the deep. Devoured, and devoured all that came near ; an untamed bane, instrumental in Elohim's design by fulfilling a merciless mode of predation.Then, The Keeper of Earth... Behemoth. Carved of the earth's bones and fleshed from the breath of plains, a mountain to be feared; He stood as high as redwood timber with fur like amber coals set blazing, bellowing roars that could splinter mountains. It was his duty to tend the soil and protect its balance so that no interlopers caused even the world's foundations to shake.At last, it was Ziz, The Boundless Sky who ascended and took to the skies, her wings wide and imposing over all others below. She glittered like a star, and she moved the air with her vast wings. Once known as the Earthmother, protector of all that resided below in order to then stand as a solitary sentinel overlooking even greater threats from above; as infinite as the heavens itself.
She would enshroud herself in wings of beryl.Altogether, the Four Divine Beasts maintain only a delicate order in accordance with their natures woven by Elohim. Except Cetus, the Abyssal Scourge had been first to feel the ripple of disturbance. For millennia, she devoured what there was of matter and life — memories — old thoughts encrusted in the sediment of innumerable eon. Only consuming part of the essence, and slowly but surely those memories started to re-shape her being. Inside her, the tenobrosity began to recede and let lighter waters come through ; that relentless hunger she once held onto softened overtime.She bore the burden of eternity, the dreams and sorrows of ancient civilizations absorbed one memory at a time. She had started to want something else above and beyond her purpose as a devourer, wishing instead that she might shamelessly hoard the wisdoms and tales she discovered ; not destroy them all utterly.And so she mellowed and meditated, until one day her terrible countenance was less fearsome to behold; in time while still fierce of aspect, she attained a peculiar shape that did not seem so monstrous.But some saw this change in the empyrean as something awful and blasphemous. Her counterpart and once her closest kin, Leviathan, warned that her changing nature threatened to unbalance the fragile truce created by Elohim. For when the Scourge no longer feasted, shades, or what would have been purged would overflow and the world would descend into disarray.In reaction to the rising chaos, Elohim made three holy weapons and gave them to humanity, so they could stop the turmoil and bring back the proper order.The first weapon was The Starshard Harpoon , a diaphonous spear made from pieces of a shattered comet, capable of piercing through the darkest night. The second was The Earthsplitter Cleaver , shaped from the roots of the first mountain in creation, used to break the unbreakable and immovable. The last of them was The Bow of Windsong , made from the branches of a tree at the world’s edge, with arrows guided by the wind’s volition.With these relics, the selected humans sought the other nautical beast, who had gone to far away depths, holding the memories she gathered. They faced her, drawing the beast from the abyss, and although she pleaded that her new way would bring knowledge instead of destruction, her words were ignored. To the selected, she remained the Scourge, and her change was seen as just a harmful oddity.The conflict was grisly and troubling on its own. The Starshard Harpoon struck her first, going through her ribs and creating a bright flash that lit up the deep trenches. The Earthsplitter Cleaver fell ‘pon on her back, tearing the flesh apart, and finally the arrows from the Bow of Windsong fell on her like a bright storm. Injured and weak, Cetus' form was torn asunder, her blood coloring the ocean and staining it with an indigo as dark as the night. The instruments of empyrean make, having accomplished their task, had finally vanished and returning back into the earth, sky, and stars. Reclaimed by the forces from which they had been rightfully forged.Though Cetus in a critical condition, she survived by only a mere thread. She watched Leviathan’s rage sweep over the blood ocean, mourning the wrath that now consumed his very being. His anger and his hatred, she had felt the agony of both as her own. And yet even in her state of incapicitation, she could not allow him to carry out his vow of extinction. With what strength remained, she rose from the abyss and though her voice had trembled, she spoke to him, pleading for tranquility.He had been deaf to all but his condemnation of humanity.
Just like them.She had sworn to protect the world from his indefatigable fury, even if it meant standing against the wrath of her kin.And so, a rift formed between the two once-united siblings—Leviathan, who sought to cleanse the world with a violent deluge, and Cetus, the wounded who stood in defiance, determined to shield the land and preserve what remained of the world’s fragile balance.If it meant to die in the process, so be it.And thus.Her journey upon the above world begins.

Cetacean Trivia!

  STARS BENEATH THE OCEAN    : One of Miss Cetus' many abilities.
One of Miss Cetus’ many abilities. The sea remembers wholeness, from shallows to its deep. Like the night sky, does it shimmer. Warmth, life, stillness.
To those whom she shelters.
Suspended within the water are soft, glowing “stars” — drifting, pulsating light. Bioluminescent plankton within the purified liquid.
Like ancient constellations within mist, moonlight on the ocean’s glassy surface.
When exposed, wounds shut not with force, but with tender care. Though, as if something much larger cradles the body.
Blood calming, bones settling.
"𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞."
Drinking this water heals internal vitals ; Infection, fevers, curses, poisons/toxins..
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨?
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲."
Depending on how grave injuries are, the stars burn much brighter. Like constellations aligning in santified response.
Burning away corruption, and things that taint purity. Scorching white before dimming into soft hums.
No residue.
Only an odd sense of comfort, and a faint shimmer of starlight on skin.
"𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."
In the end, one becomes anew.
Such is the work of genesis.  DIGITIGRADE STRUCTURES.    : Cetus’ leg structure is meant for predatory momentum.
Her sprinting speed tops that of a human’s ; at max, 40 mph whereas a human is 28.
On all fours, it’s just about double that. While the posture is quite strange, it’s efficient. As for leaping, she too, can reach further and higher. A vertical jump she may top from 10-14 feet, but a long running jump can be 30-35.
This is due to tail control and leg design, comparible to predatory creatures such as large felids during a sprint jumps or raptors upward. On quadrupedal stance, she leaps much further.
Vaulting herself from sea to ship, rooftops, cliff to a ledge, etc.
The webbed back toes and bent joints give her similar to a spring-like takeoff each time.
On an anatomical sense, a lot adds up to her physical capacity as a beast.  CARNIVORE.    : To no surprise, Cetus is strictly carnivorous.
As it fits both, her cetacean design and primal nature. Cetus feeds as the sea demands, which may come as fish, squid, eels, and even larger aquatic creatures when necessary and to fit in her caloric intake.
Her hunting methods vary, from hunt quietly, sometimes in ambush, or other times in grandiose, sweeping motions that mirror feeding behaviors found in whales.
In no way does she romanticize the pursue and hunt, for it’s simply part of existence.
But her body as vast as it is, demands nutrition that only the sea can offer.
"To love the ocean is to accept its blood. I do not kill in cruelty. But I, too, must eat."
But to the unknowing, the grace and serenity that is most familiar shifts into something uncanny, something RAW in its form.
Eyes that sharpen, the unsettling stillness that feels like the calm before a tremor.
The jaws that UNHINGE and snap, or slicing through prey that can splinter the sides of ship hulls.
Normal individuals may turn away, some may watch. Those who understand her, may know better.
She is not evil, nor does she bring mindless violence.
As such is the sea’s breath.
And she, its MOUTH.
"You eat your bread and flesh, and lie about it. I eat what swims, and I remember and thank each life taken."  THE PELAGIC EYE.    : It is not a physical eye.
Vast, dark, deep.
But in fact, a vast perception no matter how far inland she may be.
The darkest depths as clear as the luminescent tidepools,
always aware.
Where currents, coordinates, and its creatures may thrive,
she knows where things are because it is not complex as it is.
The sea is her.
From sorrow, stillness, or when things die in the icy leagues underneath —; Right down to tectonic shifting and slumbering life.
The Pelagic Eye is an exclusive ability Leviathan (F) and Leviathan (M) share.  POWER IN HER DENIAL.    : Denying her existence as a whole is silly, yes.
There are many reasons why she reduced herself to an approachable and smaller shape, and one is also simply:
She is tired.
And the whale is the softest "skin" she can wear. A form that allows contact.For the first time, she can only live quietly in her corporeality.
After enduring centuries upon centuries of violence.
Reverence turned into fear.
etc.
She is aware of the myths, she is aware of monsters painted painted in nigh her likeliness and her sibling's, and the ruins deep and buried underwater that still mumble.
She lets those believe she is just a woman from the sea, and nothing else. Maybe versed in a few things here and there.
But because its easier.
It's kinder.
It's because she's exhausted.
But there again, is power in her denial.
She can walk into a world that does not recognize her, nor her shape.
This is the true good end for her,
and the beginning of her journey in the world above.  MISMATCHED SHADOW.    : Her shadow is.. Horribly wrong.
Despite choosing such a smaller, humanoid shape, her shadow does not follow it entirely.
One may catch flashes of something else ; a bulk of chimeric boundlessness of too many fins, or jaws.
As much as she downplays herself and denies her identity as something far worse, if one did deeper diving, one may find things they wish they hadn’t.
"That’s a little nonsensical.. Are you running a fever, dear? Here, let me fix you something to resolve it. Peppermint tea does wonders for the body."  WHALE SONGS.    : Located behind her sternum,
Is what makes her capable of singing such delightful songs is an organ similar to the melon in cetaceans. Ranging from layered, harmonic calls, to even multiple which registers simultaneously ; human, abyssal, echoing voices.
And yes, they can travel rather far.  GROSS FACTOR.    : It's rare that she sneezes,
due to her mucous membranes, but when she does, it's exactly that. A whale sneeze. A very small mist explosion that smells faintly of the ocean. Gross.
Literal nasty mist, but she'll sneeze into the crook of her elbow or a little cloth she has on hand at all times.  MINOR DISASTERS.    : She is not immune to mistakes,
Her reef-construction magic can .. sometimes make miniature ones indoors as accidents. Try not to run around indoors, you may just walk into some corals.
May at also at times misjudge her own size and mass, which can lead to her knocking things over with mostly her tail when it comes to entering rather small rooms. She's sorry she's flipped over small furniture.  OCCUPATION.    : A primordial guardian,
Tending to the oceans, rivers, and forgotten life that once ruled before the dawn of man. It is she who keeps the delicate balance between the living seas and lands, ensuring the world's ancient pacts are honored. As a result, holds command and authority over the tides, storms, and the things that sleep beneath. This is the task of a NAUTICAL WARDEN.  A QUIET LIFE.    : Her life on land canonically is quietly re-built,
Not by purchase or title, but rather of a subtle integration.
An abandoned coastal cottage, while decent, is enough for her.
Half forgotten by both time and sea spray.
Fishermen once resided there, but it is heavily debated if it was truly left behind or simply did not return.
Reclaimed by silence, seaweed, and driftwood.
But with her paws did she patch and replace things.
Replacing doors, repainting, ridding of debris, etc. in slow effortless reverence.
Folks that may be aware of her existence typically assume she is a widow who simply moved in. She does have a private quarters, you can find books of all kinds in there, but the more dangerous ones are locked away and not to be read or touched. Some, in languages that cannot be deciphered as they are the last remaining copies from a civilization long sunken beneath the waves.  SAFE AREA.    : A safe place to be whoever washes up on her coast,
Where she’ll patch you up in the guest room that’s almost like a medical bay as well.
Cabinet with gauze, bandages, poultices, salves, both combined with various ingredients with her healing waters that aid in quicker recovery.
Extra towels, all that stuff.
Pillows smell slightly of rosemary and sea salt ; relaxing, and clean.
Though, she will encourage you to eat as you stay. As much as you recover and rest, food is important.
A warm bowl of seaweed broth, rich of umami and brine. Very easy on the stomach and easy to swallow, there are no worries about rejecting. Floating in it are pieces of white soft-fleshed fish that is delicate in taste, and slices of root vegetables that had simmered until tender.
A cup of water, and a cup of kelp tea.
It is a light jade color that is lightly salted. Aids in not only a sore throat, but packed with many vitamins.
Sliced fruit, slivers and prepared with care. Sometimes, it’s coastal fruit like a prickly pear, or even ripe mango. It all depends on what she foraged or bartered that day.
But at times, she may have something sweeter;
a slice of moist seaberry cake. Harvested from a species of blueberries with salt-kissed foliage that grow alongside the shore. moistened by syrup and seafoam cream.
Adorned with a single sea buckthorn berry.
"You must eat. Not for me, but for yourself."