Character 

Natalie rarely listens to her empathy, but her childhood following her father through the court has taught her the theatrics. At royal events, she's bashful with sweet smiles and comforting words. She's almost coddling when she embodies a parent listening to their child's silly story. Natalie doesn't recongnize her behavior as patronizing, as she's only mimicking her mother, who's built sky-high walls of social favors for her family, but never truly listens to her children.

Natalie is also quick-thinking and impatient because of her trust in her instincts- an advantage of her weak clairvoyance. On the other hand, she has an imposter syndrome in regards to her emotions. She believes that she's actually a fragile person, and none of her praised strengths are real. Away from the eyes of the court, Natalie seems cold and driven, but she's uncontrollably flustered when she's surprised.

All of her motivations are inherited from her father, but she pursues these wholehearted because she believes they must be valid. The mermaid holds strictly to her honor and the "end over journey" ideology. She often steels her heart so she can do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal.

Other than her father, the Rusulka leader is a rare authority figure that she follows without question. However, she doubts the majority of her other comrades. No matter what results she brings in, Nettie proves to be a trouble maker, but the leader always has the patience to remind her that his faith in others should be as strong as her faith in him. "Trust them because I trust them."

Story

Natalie Taeyong is the youngest daughter of the Imperial General nicknamed Leaping Carp after the Chinese proverb "鲤鱼跳龙门". He's the harsh leader of the kingdom's Eastern sect. The units under him share the responsibility of surface patrols, mainly retaliating against mermaiding ships. These groups have steadily grown in influence and popularity with the rising tension between humans and mermaids. Military patrol has become a competition between them. The most powerful groups have a say in politics. Due to her lineage, Nettie is the unofficial representative of Rusulka, a unit distinguished by their exciting but risky accomplishments.

Mermaids are split into four different ability categories. Clairvoyants, the rarest, can foretell disasters. These mermaids are often bought at young ages for personal use. Despite centuries of selective breeding, most of them only have clairvoyant intuition. Yfelberends can control waves. The strongest can summon storms to sink ships. Scryers can possess creatures, but the more conscious the species, the harder they are to control. Very few mermaids can control humanoids. Ofests are common and powerless, but often undergo extensive training to compensate. Nettie is a very weak clairvoyant with nothing more than instincts.

The human form is considerably weaker and draining, requiring tolerance training. This form is usually triggered by a "drying out" on land. All of Nettie's six siblings are natural and adept shifters. Four of them were recruited for the front lines. As a result, her overprotective mother keeps her far from shore.

Natalie rarely partipates in Rusulka duties because of her parents' wishes. She's an agile swimmer, but her inexperience is her greatest flaw. On one mishap mission, Nettie and her unit lead a human mermaiding ship into a cove surrounded by bluffs. While her comrades are overwhelmed, she's captured by nets. In a panic, she finds her tail replaced with clumsy legs and manages to clamber off the ship. These stories aren't uncommon on shipwrecking missions, but Nettie will never forget how the weakening of her other senses to a human level enhanced her clairvoyance. She's set on the path to an interspecific diplomat determined to end the war.

Trivia

• 媒 (mei): intermediary/matchmaker, same pinyin as 美 from 美人鱼 (mermaid)
• 太泳 (tai young): sun swim
• Rusulka is the name of Russian mermaids, and unit names will often be based off mermaids from folklores
• There's a dark saying that clairvoyant newborns never stop crying because they can foresee their fate as imprisoned oracles
• Nettie's nickname is a tease from when she declared as a child that she would never ever be caught by nets- whoops
• Mermaids from calm, human-less, coastal regions are sometimes called "sea otters" or "otties" because they enjoy basking on the water surface. Other regions look down on their idleness and joke that they hold hands to stay together
• Yfelberends are also called "enders," mostly by those who struggle to pronounce anglo-saxon words
• Calling a mermaid a "siren" is an instant sign of ignorance because sirens are half-bird half-human creatures (Greek mythology). Before the war, the mistake was an insult because sirens had a reputation for drowning innocent men.
• Scryers are often mistaked for being more powerful than most are. They're surrounded with myths, such as that they can possess whatever they touch

Relationships

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Character  [ relationship ]

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