Lady Rot - Guardian of the Rotten

ML pending!

Past

Back in the time of human philosopher's questioning the wonders of the world, a seeker and her bonded partner went out of the island to explore world beyond. They both have travelled through harsh seas and wild jungle of the outside world to learn new things. The seeker aimed to learn about other cultures, an anthropologist with the love of exploring new places. The guide loves the small critters that crawls and flies and are small just like she, an entomologist who wants to learn more about the critters she call friends.

The two are as close as one can be, as together in the world beyond, they are the oddities to the people they come to visit. It bothers them not, though the sudden change in sizes and having to accomodate with these changes were weird at first, but as long as they're together, it means nothing. Of course, being the odd ones in the world means that they are constantly followed by the curious, be them good or bad. For the couple's case, the gaze of the morbidly curious follows them. People could be so cruel, for the sake of their knowledge they kept a constant watch on the pair. One thing led to another, and the seeker lost her bondmate guide in the crowd of smaller people. She searched high and low, with her crew, with the help of the townspeople, but it was too late, for when she arrived to the scene, her bondmate is gone. She was left with the broken pieces of what was left of her and soon, she too begin to break.

As she held what was left of her bondmate, she began to turn forgotten. Her crew tried their best to send her home, but sailing back would take a year fastest. Still, they were determined to get her home, to help her recover. Yet in their voyage home, the seeker had lost her colour. Her red coloured stone began to whiten like sand, her bright cheerful eyes lost to the colours of void and pain, her clear blue interior turned dark like ooze. Just a few sails away rows away and the ship would reach the port, but the seeker was gone. She had turned forgotten, lost of life and colour, turned to a weak body of stone. The crew and those on board mourned for her and her bondmate that had long passed. They sent her back to the river of life, and let the waters swallow her whole.

It felt as though decades have as she was taken by the waters of the river. The seeker found herself on the shores of a realm unknown to her. Grand temples adorned the land there she stood on the gates of the island. 'A second chance,' a voice says to her. She has felt the pain of losing her dearest bondmate, she knows the feeling to rot, waiting for the sweet embrace of death. And she knows. Yes, the seeker knows of how from her spring life, a home for the fish in the river, sustanance for the critters that crawl. She took the offer of the dismebodied voice and she could feel herself turn to be the guardian, one who guards over those who have rotted away.

Present

Centuries have passed and new guardians have come to the island. Lady rot has found herself surrounded by many young guides and seekers, all those who have lost a loved one, all who were given a second chance. Her memories may have long gone, but the few that she does remember, she remembers it fondly. In fact, she cherishes it as much as she cherishes the new memories she makes as a guardian.

On the island of guardians, her days are spent napping and having tea time with her guardian pals. She sleeps in the carcasses and flowers that grows in the temple, face first to the lovely rotten mound she calls home. Asleep, the flowers on her back would bloom and call among swarms of butterflies and other crawling friends. When she wakes, she'd be greeted by her friends and they'd share a meal together to spend the day. Of course, she's not always on the island. A guardian has their duty to uphold and as the guardian of rot, she cares for the nature on the mainland and turn the rotting plants to nutrients for the living. When she is away, she takes the form of a cursed baraboa, as to not be bothered by on lookers while she does her job.

She slithers in the darkness, pushing, pulling, collecting the leaves into a spot to turn into compost. Those compost would then be given to the growing floras that grow around the area. The carcasses of the critters and other beings that have died on the island would be cleaned up by lady rot, who took in these rotten flesh and turn them into nurients for the bugs that grow. Often she wonders why she feels such a strong connection to these bugs, but one thing she knows is seeing them makes her unusually happy. Perhaps this feeling of hers came from when she was just an ordinary seeker.

Trivia

• Likes to visit mainland in splab form when off duty. She ends up being a slab superstision for the sign of impending doom. In truth, she just finds the creation of kingdoms/cities of slabs unique.
• Often asleep for 18-22 hours a day. Most of the time, she blends into her temple's surrounding so she often surprise passerby when she wakes up.
• Surprisingly cheery voice! Peppy cheerleader vibe + sweetheart grandma
• Call every guardian that came after her "kids". No matter how old they actually are.
• Her follower's chant is "Flesh and bones! Flesh and bones!"