#SD:task 001

[lifeilluminatd]

Alder Oculea shares our delusions. They are unknown, a Mothman and a resident. While they might be sanguine sometimes they get enigmatic. They are a sub in bed, and pansexual. They are into wax play and outdoor sex and want a dom partner. 

Headcanons

Alder has lived alone on the large estate that once belonged to their sponsor since her death. It’s outside the actual limits of town, a sprawling plantation style home that has been a part of the bayou landscape for several generations, and half reclaimed by the swamp. There is a distant feel of age to the place but warm and inviting; they couldn’t fathom living in town when it’s so peaceful and quiet out at the edge of the swamps.

Preferring warm colors, soft blankets and other such comforting ideas, their home reflects that desire for peace and tranquility. Always with an open door, welcoming to others, more than a few times Alder has allowed wayward rescues to stay with them until sponsors were found. Being a resident by granting of the council they have never had a rescue of their own, many think them not really suited for it with their tendency to daydream and get lost in distractions, but it can also be said that plenty of people have found refuge during their first uneasy days in that comforting place while they adjust to town.

Because they have so much access to old tomes and the like Alder has extensive knowledge in Arcane arts, even if they lack the ability to use that knowledge because of the limitations of their species. The shop they share with Felix Jepsen, an old friend from the years before either of them came to the town, is an all hours bookstore that focuses on magic and also a coffee shop. Much of the time Alder can be found there if not at home, they don’t sleep like most people so they’re usually there at any given time sorting through books and reading. They also are well-versed in translating a great many languages after decades of study in them.

A comfortably passive soul, Alder is very rare to cause trouble. They do wander a great deal but haven’t left the town in nearly ten years. It is home, they have no want to return to the outside world and know it’s likely they wouldn’t be allowed to anyway with how useful their abilities might be as the darkness grows closer.

Very often quiet, they do not fear speaking since it has been a long time since the last time they earned the punishment that came with breaking the rules of their power but it has become such a habit they don’t break it much. They enjoying listening to others so it doesn’t seem a need to speak endlessly when others have things that need to be said.

Overall Alder enjoys life, people, and strives to find the good in it all. They usually manage to, building good memories to replace the ones that are gone now, learning new faces to add to those they call friends; peace is about balance and Alder deeply believes it is only a matter of wanting to reach it. While they wish for the best for everyone they do mourn somewhat for those who carry sorrow, knowing that isn’t always a burden anyone can ease for someone else.

As for Alder’s own pains, they run deep. Loss is at the heart of it, of themselves, of people, of good things. Many speculate there is something deep and dark within them, can sense it, and this is very much the truth to the nature of creature that Alder is by design. But as with all things power is what one makes of it, and it can either lead a person to terrible actions or wisdom.

To look at them though it would be hard to guess there is pain there, Alder is optimistic and charming, gentle-natured; life is something to experience with joy, not to let the past take away the reason for living. They’re a bit comical at times, quirky, and it always seem that they know more than other people around them. But earnestly friendly, they strive to try to make things better for those around them.

History

Alder has forgotten the date of their birth beyond that it was in the latter eighteen hundreds, too many details lost to the wave of time and the demands of their abilities. There are vague recollections of decades that were written about in books but most dates before the past hundred or so have been handed away in trade for visions. Exactly when their existence began is questionable but what is not is that it did so as a human.

Contrary to what much of the world assumes, their race is not one born but rather passed on via mantle one to the next. A sort of Fae-connected creature, a harbinger of the future, Mothman are a nearly extinct creature that has lived in the shadow of Fate since the beginning of all races. Alder only had the misfortune to have stumbled across one during its’ transformation from one life to the next, a sort of stage similar to that of their real moth counterparts. A spirit that abandons a spent soul for the next, passing on the purpose with it.

Alder has lived as such a creature for centuries but using their power has taken their origin from them, taken many things, and while they have wandered both Europe and the then-budding United States, it has always been with the purpose of watching what will unfold in the world and offer warning to those who dwell in its’ path. Unfortunately it was in the States that Alder encountered something unexpected in the form of people who twisted that purpose, made it something dark, and what was one only an effort to safeguard became something terrible to fear. No longer only a messenger but looked at as a harbinger of doom, it was a crushing blow to the otherwise bright-souled being.

Still with a job to do, fearful of it being passed on if not, Alder continued onward as the world around them grew endlessly more cold. But what of it really when life was filled with such amazing things it was impossible to allow the sting to linger. Increasingly though the world pushed and finally, both curious and seeking rest, Alder arrived in the bayou. With that town came acceptance, happiness that slowly washed away the past few years of solitude, friendship that was invaluable. While it was true they caught the attention of many it was one who needed their presence that Alder choose as a sponsor. A broken, damaged soul in need of the calm just as much as they needed coaxing back into trusting others; the two of them became closer than even Alder expected. There was an incredible freedom in giving away their memories in the bond because in way they finally regained them. So many nights were spent sitting with her and listening while she recounted tales of a history they could not recall. It was more than they had ever hoped for, a real sort of peace.

But it didn’t last. They knew she would die, fearful to do so against her wishes they peered into the yet to be and saw her end. It was heartbreaking knowing that there was nothing to do to stop it, knowing it could only turn so much worse with the effort. She forbid them from telling her, required the hardest promise to keep. And when she was murdered, as they knew would come to pass, Alder grieved more deeply than they ever had before.

The pain did not pass with ease, several seasons came and went before they were willing to once again open their eyes to the world around them, a heavy sleep that nearly triggered transformation. But with the uneasy feeling of the darkness outside town growing, pressing inward on the home they do so love, Alder woke and returned to a sort of cautious vigil. To intervene would cost them greatly but the visions come more and more demanding, the darkness promising so much destruction; it may not be long before they have no other choice but to speak out.

Species Info

Alder’s race is a vastly misunderstood one. Seen in recent history as monsters who bring doom with them, the truth is they are simply vessels for the visions that hold such things. Time and again though, in an effort to stop an event before it happens, they have stepped in but the results have always made the disaster worse. Fate does not intend for them to change the course, simply to know of it, doing otherwise always amplified the end result. It is for that reason that the Mothman often recounted in recent tales have only arrived as a warning, a silent presence that has inspired feat in hope that the horror can avoided.

Being a race connected to the Fae, the Mothman are not of the human world, only serve as watchers of it. They spawn from a spirit that has an endless lifespan, living out time in a host body and becoming merged with them entirely until said host is no longer fitting. At that point the host goes through a metamorphosis of sorts, the body falling into deep slumber and gradually turning to dust from which the spirit will emerge in their moth form to travel to the next host and begin the process again. At one time they were a much more wide-spread race but most all of them now have buried themselves in forgotten places and refused to wake from that slumber.

Mothman are drawn to their flame; this is a single aspect that will continue to allow them to exist within their host for as long as the host still seeks that flame. It can be any number of things that inspire strong emotion; some flames are those of anger, other discovery or pain, hope, and most any other emotion than can be tied to the human condition. The spirit lacks these motivations themselves so they need the host to be one who strives for it, giving a reason to their existence. Any Mothman is not solely human nor inhuman but a combination of two beings that exist entirely as one. Alder no more thinks of their inhuman side as different than the rest of them than anyone else might think any aspect of personality is separate from the full sum of who they are. Each Mothman has always been different in that regard, and none openly speak of their flame even among each other; it is a deeply personal idea. And a dangerous one, as they can be manipulated by strong forces that control that aspect. In simple terms that flame is the one idea worth always chasing that acts as the will to live for the creature.

As a whole Mothman, in spite of the term being considered masculine, are nonbinary. Agendered, they exist outside the human concept of it, though having bodies that are human means they do have biological genders. Those bodies function the same as normal humans in most regards, with addition to magic unique to the species.

Magic

Visions:

The foundation of power for Mothman, visions are their purpose. They experience first a feeling, much like a tingling, in regards to an event, and can choose to look into the future of it to see how things will play out. They are only granted visions associated with great loss or terror and these do come at a price. The larger the disaster the higher the toil, the more demanded of them; and every vision requires a trade of memories in order to use the power. This trade means that the oldest memories one has, sometimes the dearest, are taken away from them, buried deep in their mind in a place they cannot reach. It is for this reason that many Mothman have lived centuries with very little recollection of their human life beyond the sense of knowing they were human in that past. Another aspect of the visions is that Mothman are not allowed to stop what is to come to pass. They can be present, they can observe, but they cannot step in to halt a disaster. Doing so holds a two-fold punishment; one being that the event’s tragedy is amplified and the second being a curse of words. The voice of a Mothman who has stepped outside the rules will bring terrible things to any who hear it for an unknown amount of time after; usually the larger the event the more time it takes for this punishment to stop. There is some truth to the possibility that any words spoken in anger or ill intention can actually cause disaster to strike as well.

Illuminating Sight:

All Mothman have the ability to see clearly in darkness, vision just as sharp then as though in daylight, and have a red cast to their eyes in the dark. It isn’t a result of any magic used, their eyes are just highly reflective of light and the red glow is that intensified. It is a very unsettling sight to witness, and one of the traits that has resulted in the race being seen as monsters. There is also a hypnotic quality to it, staring into those eyes can render a person motionless, unable to pull away from the gaze until it is broken by Alder. On the other side of the spectrum they are sensitive to very intense light; during daylight hours they have usually have time to adjust but if presented with something too sudden the result is being blinded for several moments. This sensitivity makes it difficult at night to be in brightly lit areas when their eyes are naturally more sensitive, and as such most of the time Alder’s home is only faintly lit with candles.

Illusions:

A power that varies in strength, and the reason people look at their race as monsters; Mothman have the ability to mask their true bodies with illusions of terrifying creatures. These illusions are carefully controlled, powerful, and even supernatural creatures, unless they are also of Fae origin, cannot see through it. They have to be careful not to be touched, however, as it won’t break the spell but obviously will confuse as there is no the physical form to match the visual.

Fear Casting

As a means of defense, all Mothman have an odd power of mind manipulation. In times of stress their skin develops a faint dust to it that, if touched or breathed in by others, will cause intense hallucinations. These are terrifying, every bit laced with the worst fears of the person suffering them. Like a drug, the length of time which they last depends greatly on how much a person comes into contact with the substance. This dust can be stored, it does not lose power after being separated from Alder’s skin, and in condensed enough concentration can cause permanent madness.

Immortality

So long as their flame does not dampen too much Alder will not age or die with time, only continue onward. It is true that their body is stronger than a human but still can suffer injury just the same as one, though also capable of natural healing over time where as humans would not be able to at the speed nor the level that they can. Grave injury that would likely kill a human though would put them into that slumber that leads to transformation and Alder would die in a way; body being abandoned and the spirit leaving it to find another host.