Nico Kelaen

* Appearance
* Ingame

**Nico Kelaen** is an independent Squil Piscan living on Preservation.

## Personality and physical details

Nico has a kind and friendly temperament, being unwillingly to start conflicts, and rarely engaging in existing disagreements. He is unlikely to make enemies unless pushed to do so. However, he tends to be wary of those associated with BaiKal due to his history.

Nico is primarily Piscan in origin, which is apparent in his appearance. He has dark red skin, with fin-like ears and suckers and spines (which can be moved/wiggled at will) on his inner arms and the back of his legs. His eyes are bright blue and luminescent, and significantly larger than other humanoids. Nico's hair is about shoulder-length and dark brown-black.

Due to Nico being a cephalopod-like Piscan, his anatomy is different to most humanoids. He lacks a ribcage, and his body is soft, much like a Terran octopus with bones. His bones are chitinous, however, so they are not as strong as true-vertebrate bones.

His favourite foods are crabs and kelp.

## History

At least one of Nico's parents were employees of BaiKal, resulting in them being present on previous settlements. During the [TBA i am reworking this], Nico's parents were killed, and he was taken in by the BaiKal Public Resources Development.

Nico was not well taken care of by BaiKal's PRD. He was given insufficient space to live in, as well as being used for any underwater task BaiKal did not want to expend trained personnel and expensive marine gear for. It was during one of these 'expeditions' that Nico left BaiKal, taking with him only a radio.

## Relationships

### Aeron Molave

Aeron was the first person Nico trusted on Preservation, primarly due to them also being Piscan. At first, Nico was unaware that Aeron worked for BaiKal, which led to distress when he did eventually find out. However, he trusts Aeron and doesn't believe they would have anything to do with his history.

### Zirul Raenne

Zirul and Nico became friends after Zirul learnt Piscan from Aeron - Nico decided that if Zirul put in enough effort to learn his language, he could be trusted, and as far as he is concerned, Zirul is *not* affiliated with BaiKal.

After a while, Zirul confessed romantic feelings for Nico. Initially, he wasn't sure what to make of them (due to being totally inexperienced with this and not really sure what it meant), but soon came to the decision that he did indeed reciprocate these. Following a meeting on the beach, the two have a deeper sort of relationship.

### Maniac

Maniac and Nico have a very tentative relationship, as they were at odds much initially since Maniac threatened to eat Nico many times. However, since Maniac built a translator and started communicating in Piscan with Nico and the others, Nico has grown to trust him more (and maybe like him a little). It's still tentative, though, and they're not quite friends yet.

### Swift

Nico first heard of Swift through Aeron, so there was no surprise about their employment. Unfortunately, Swift brought the subject up while the two were talking and Nico had a bit of a breakdown over it. However, this hasn't affected Nico's perception of Swift and he still trusts them (mostly by virtue of their relationship to Aeron).

## Notes and trivia

* Nico's native language is Piscan, and he prefers to speak it when he can. He speaks Piscan when talking to Aeron and Zirul.
* Nico avoids eating any cephalopods as he feels it is weird due to his species being similar.
* Due to his eyes being adapted to the deep sea, Nico is effectively blind on land.
* His fin ears wiggle when he is excited/happy.
* Nico's spines and gills are sensitive, so he avoids wearing clothing that cover these. Generally, he wears a sleeveless wetsuit with holes in the sides to accommodate his gills.
* His blood is a translucent blue like an octopus' as it is haemocyanin-based (copper).
* Nico's eyes and fingertips secrete a glowing blue slimy substance.
* His hands are webbed until the last joint (from which they have membranous skin, which contains the luminescent slime).
* Nico's name is derived from *Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni*, the scientific name for the colossal squid. His surname is derived from the extinct suborder of Vampyromorphida (vampire squids) *Kelaenina*.

## Gallery

Nico fishing ingame (outside of the JMSRP)