Manami

## Description

Long hair of pearly filaments hide a childish face with big, silvery eyes and a meek voice. Patches of bio-luminescense dot his skin, complementing beautiful iridescent colors swirling on his pale skin. He is small of upper body, even for his kind and age.

Manami’s lower body transitions into the bell of a jellyfish, as opalescent as the filmy,
kaleidoscopic colors of a bubble’s surface. Squishy, spotty, and soft, the bell is as
wide as a ballroom gown on him, with ruffled tentacles bunched up underneath.

Manami was always a frail little thing, too kind and soft for his own good. But fear of facing the open ocean alone has made him shrink into a nervous mess. He stutters and hesitates, but will 100% love his loved ones with all his big, squishy heart.

## History

*When humankind descended from the mountains and expanded their prospects to*
the abundant waters of the world, they discovered they weren’t alone. What had been

mere fables told by salty dogs at the bars, or mothers to their sleepy children, or

poets in their nautical inspirations, turned into a much grimmer reality. Merfolk were

real. Humans were afraid. And they hate what they fear. And destroy what they hate.

*It’s been decades since the forced assimilation of merfolk into human society. Following a long and bloody conquest of the closest seas, humans have degraded merfolk into second-class citizens. All those present within human society must be assigned to a human caretaker, brainwashed or even lobotomized into submission, and kept as fancy pets or slaves. Merfolk knowledge is on the brink of extinction as entire cultures have been wiped out, erased as communication is restricted to nothing. Those trapped have no escape. They can barely think enough to consider it.*

*But some have yet to be captured and defiled. The ocean is large, and many are still located so remotely that they are blissfully unaware of the danger spreading across the seas.*

Manami is a smol White-Spotted Jellyfish merchild, the golden son of the *Phyllorhiza* swarm. Manami had been blessed with large amounts of magic, rare even amongst the magic-filled jellyfolk, a fact which delighted his family. He was always surrounded by familial faces, and perhaps because of this, he grew quite a dependency on the attention of others. However it was during a yearly migration when he was 12 that it was all taken from him. He strayed too far into a kelp forest, chasing silverfish, never noticing the looming shadows of boats overhead.

After getting lost from his swarm, the sheer fear of being in the open ocean alone pushed Manami to find refuge in a cave system in the walls of an underwater trench. Jellyfolk are rarely seen there, so his presence sparks wariness and prompts Manami to hide himself a lot. Though he avoids others with great effort, sometimes even scaring some away with magic, folks have started to whisper tales of something strange in the trench. A sea witch lurks in the caves, they say, crooning at the moon, dancing among stars. He doesn’t mind very much, granting wishes to the best of his ability for the brave ones, as long as they leave quick

## Abilities

Manami’s childhood stories told tales of a Goddess in the form of a stupendous Moon Jelly, drifting in the sea of stars. She floats across the sky-sea above each night, cleansing the heavens. It is said that the Jellyfolk were created in Her image, blessing the most worthy with Her magic. This, supposedly, is the source of Manami’s power.

His magic waxes and wanes with the lunar cycle. Much of it is passive in the form of glowing motes of light that always float around him, affectionately referred to as “nightlights.” Invisibility is a more active magic, though it is more like simple translucency unless he is under moonlight. Manami can also minutely sense oceanic movements like currents and tides, helpful for traveling, though it is a common power for jelly-mers. Emitting passive “life energy” is another power, which causes his environment to flourish if he stays long enough. And finally, his most used ability is blowing up great water bubbles around him that “harden” and act as organic force fields. He’s fond of his bubbles and often sleeps in one for safety.

## Relationships

Yuko: A shy, guppy merboy who stumbled across Manami by mistake. Both were lost, alone, and starving for affection, so they became fast friends. They often sleep/cuddle together in Manami’s protective bubble, glowing motes of magic serving as nightlights.