Marina Fishhock

Marina is the definition of "small but mighty." This tiny seal packs a huge, deadly punch with the help of her trusty sea glass sword Shimmer and her powerful paladin magic! Aided by her mount and companion, Aegaeon the land-shark, she's off on a quest to find treasures untold to bring back home as tribute to the God of the Sea, the Glimmerdeep!

Personality-wise, Marina is an optimistic, energetic, and enthusiastic seal. Naturally inquisitive and extremely outgoing, she has no trouble walking up to perfect strangers and asking them incredibly personal questions (to varying results). She is fascinated and frequently puzzled by the behavior of humans (her name for any non-seal) and frequently tries to (good-naturedly) push her seal customs on others.

On the flip side, she takes her job extremely seriously and will get very irritated when things get in the way of her completing her goals. She is also a very devout worshipper of the Glimmerdeep and holds a deep, borderline nationalistic love for her kingdom. 

✦ Appearance

The first thing you notice about the seal girl is not her physical appearance, but her immense suit of armor. Luminous in shades of white, gold, and silver, it clearly bears the trappings of a suit of Paladin armor, though with a few nautical touches: the pauldrons have large, golden seashells on them, and the breastplate is stamped with a symbol that bears resemblance to a sand dollar. This armor appears so bulky and heavy that you wonder how the little thing, who looks to be no more than a teenager, manages to even stand. She clocks in at about 4'8" from head to toe.

If all that were not enough, the girl has strapped to her back a large gold and white shield (which, if she were to turn around, you would note has that same sand-dollar insignia emblazoned upon it). In one of her armored hands she holds the hilt of a large sword that appears to reflect the light in a cacophony of blues and greens — it looks to be made entirely from sea glass shards that have been, somehow, welded or molded together into the form of a blade. At her hip, along with the blade’s sheath, is a jar that holds within it the translucent form of a single jellyfish.

The girl is looking up at you with icy blue eyes, grinning childishly with a mouth full of tiny white fangs and a snout covered in black speckles and whiskers. Her face is a medley of slick, silver fur, varying from dark to nearly white in hue. Black freckle-like spots cover her face and the other fur visible to you, which is only her tail: a plump, floppy seal tail that drags along limply behind her, nigh useless outside of the water. On the top of her head is a mop of unruly white hair that partially covers her face. She has attempted to tame it (somewhat successfully) by tying it up in a side-ponytail with a golden barrette.

On the isle of Shinyshore sits the Kingdom of Pinipedia, a kingdom of seals.  For centuries, the seals have been keeping their island safe from natural disasters by worshipping a great sea deity, The Glimmerdeep. The Glimmerdeep is an enormous, monstrous being made up of sand and rock and lots and lots of shinies, its favorite food and the only thing that works in keeping it calm. Most have never seen this beast (some very old seals claim to have seen it long ago), though nearly all the seals on the isle worship it and devote their lives to providing offerings to it, in return for calm skies and bountiful fish.

On this isle, a little harbor seal named Marina was born. Since Marina was a little girl she knew wanted to serve her kingdom and the Glimmerdeep in the best way possible: by becoming a member of the King's Guard. The Guard was a special force of powerful and talented seals who served a number of tasks, from protecting the King to sailing out in search of more shinies to give to their God as offering.

Marina's parents were fishmongers, and as much as it scared them to see their only daughter want to run off and pursue a dangerous profession, they were supportive every step of the way. Marina's father, well known in the community, called in a favor and Marina began an apprenticeship under one of the kingdom's most renowned paladins: Tidal Ripcurrent. Tidal was apprehensive about his wildly enthusiastic ward, but soon grew to respect her and even care for her. She was extremely determined, and with patience and a lot of hard work, her prowess in swordsmanship and divine magic grew and grew.

One day, as Marina neared the end of her apprenticeship, Tidal came to her with some urgency. He gave to her a beautiful longsword made of sea glass -- an heirloom, he said. A sword with great and mystical powers. Then he told Marina that this would be their last meeting, and to be a good and a loyal child of God in his absence, and that he hoped they would someday meet again. Marina begged him to stay but he departed, and that was the last he was ever seen in the kingdom. Despite asking many times, none of the other seals would say a word about his disappearance.

Marina kept her chin up and did as her mentor had told her. She passed her trials and was accepted into the King's Guard, to everyone's great surprise. Her mastery of her craft made her a valuable member of the Guard, but her boisterous personality made her more suited for solo work, so she was sent off on orders from the King as a privateer, searching for treasure to give to the Glimmerdeep as tribute. Unfortunately, her ship and small crew was sunken by a storm a few months into her task. Now she seeks a new vessel to continue her journey.