Mel

Birthday
The day your character became official
Name origin
Portuguese for honey
Sexuality
Straight
Gender
Hen
Sex
AFAB
Plot Death
Yes absolutely!
Alternate Death
Drowns

Purchased traits
N/A
Items
N/A
Weapons/Armour
N/A
Size class
Miniscule (1 ft at shoulder)
Weight class
Tank
Appearance
Mel is a small slinky Mycete with a thin but broad beak. She is very flexible and can stretch out to become more streamlined when running/swimming. Her beak pops compared to the rest of her body, it is a mix of bold orange/reds, creams, and dull purples. She sports a mullet which is slightly visible from the front view of her head and very prominent from her side angle. She has brightly colored paws and mushrooms a similar color to her beak. The jack-o’-lantern mushrooms on her back are thick and hardy and get darker as they age.

Nestling
0-6 months

Mel was born in Limestone into a well off family of well respected mycete. Her mother, Molly, was a very talented hyphae keeper, one of the best. When she was old enough to come along to the hyphae she would watch her mom intently as she worked, her mother would teach her small things that never seemed to stick with her. Her memory was rusty when she was young and has little to no memory of these months. One thing she does remember though, however faintly, was her mothers death. Perhaps it was because it was a quick and harsh time in her life but she’d never know. Her mother died of what she remembers being an Overlands plague. It was in just a week that she started showed symptoms and quickly declined in health. That is one of the only memories Mel retained from her childhood.

Pin
6 months - 1 year

Life without her mother was dull at first from what she remembered but her father kept things light and happier for her. He took on the burden of grief for himself as Mel couldn’t quite process what had happened at her age. She remembers the fishing trips, at first just on the shore with her dad helping her bring in what small minnows she caught. She stayed in the shallow pools formed beside the streams and occasionally paddled in, letting the smooth drift of water carry her. When her father was on larger day trip to a cave lake or a more rapid stream she would entertain herself at home. She was budding with small mushrooms at this time and used what small mushrooms were shed to add to soup- though quickly learned that no one but her could eat them. 

While her first foray into meal prep went poorly, it was something and it caught her interest. She began experimenting with other ingredients. Carrots and shiitake mushroom from the neighbors mashed and mixed with water made for a soup soothing on the throat. She’d make more than soup later on but that started causing a ruckus. Often times her father would come home to Mel in trouble with the neighboring mycete or frantically cleaning up a mess at home caused by her sudden urge to experiment with food. 

Her father decided then that it would be easier to take Mel on the day trips fishing to keep her out of trouble. She was older now and a skilled enough swimmer to come onto the boat with him. So for the first time she came on one of the trips. She clambered onto the boat and took a seat looking around the lake as Topaz, her father, rowed out. The boat was made of scavenged wood from the Overlands and had held up for a while, though it was starting to decline in quality. They got to the middle of the body of water and her dad let her look down into the water, surface illuminated by the glowing mushrooms crawling across the ceiling of the cavern.
   Her father went to sit with her, holding the anchor of the boat to let down off the side of the boat but tripped on a rope net layer across the floor. Losing his balance he fell to the bow of the boat. The decaying wood gave way and broke on impact, sending Topaz falling back first into the water. Anchor to his chest, he quickly fell to the bottom, the heavy stone sinking on top of him pushing him to the floor of the lake. Mel screamed frantically at all the sudden action and as the boat started sinking, dived into the water to save him. But she was too young and small and he sunk faster than she could swim after him.
   She scrambled to grab a piece of the boat that was buoyant enough not to sink and wept. She cried until a passerby noticed the small wreckage and stranded button in the lake and retrieved her. When questioned about what had happened she couldn't put together the words but what happened was soon pieced together. She does not remember most of this, only that she does not like boats or deep waters. No mycete aware of the events has told her what really happened, only that her father was gone. She was promptly rushed to collect her things and moved into an orphanage nearby.

Adolescent
1 - 2 years

At the orphanage she quickly made friends, though most left the orphanage before she could really form a bond with any of them. That was of course before Waybread came along. She was a few months younger that Mel but they quickly formed a sister-like bond. Way was Mel’s best friends and they were practically joined at the hip. They got into more mischief together than they should have, and couldn’t be without each others company most of the time. It was Mel, Way and Ways little root rabbit, Fruit, against the world. They were eventually all adopted- together of course for they could not bear to separate- by Kurna and Camphor, a lovely couple in search of orphaned mycete to adopt after not being able to bear their own.

Living with her new parents and sister was so much fun! She had little to no recollection of the past and no one brought it up to the small mycete so she never recalled the incident. She remembered yes, but the memory was blocked by the trauma and shock she had experienced during that time of her life. Perhaps the hyphae could help her touch into those memories but she wouldn’t know where to start.

She began to get the motivation to start food making again and as she learned she came up with marvelous dishes and delicious meals. She wowed her new parents with this skill and came up with some more wild recipes with the help of Way.

Adult
2+

As she got older and left school she began thinking about what she wanted to do. Way would be in school for a few more months so she had time. She planned to go with Way, wherever that might be. She couldn’t think of life without her and life in the orphanage was the clearest memory from her childhood. She took interest in tunnel running, she’d always been good at keeping secrets, and keeping up with the gossip so it seemed perfect. She also loved visiting new places, because as much as she loved home, she felt a tinge of pain from memories she could not quite recall in Limestone. 

When Way expressed her leaving for Tuff Mel was overjoyed. She’d join her, travel far to a whole new environment, and though part of her feared the unknown she had her sister with her the whole time. 

She took up an apprenticeship under an experienced tunnel runner named Patter who would come to teach her the trade. She came to love life in Tuff and would often come home and cook for Way after they both had a break from work. She’d fall asleep to Ways stories of the sky and stars and come to love and dream of them. She’d seen the Overlands and stars a few times before, mostly accompanied with Way, and Ways stories did not disappoint. 

As she grew she became known for her food as well as her natural talent as a very adaptable tunnel runner, through streams and sand, and the worst caves she’d travel as quick as possible, she was very reliable with her trade. Although not finished with her apprenticeship she was shown to be very talented and had a few mycete interested in her services already.

KIN:

OTHER:

Likes

• Social events
• The Overlands (though doesn't particularly enjoy the climate there)
• Fish, soup, mango(tried one with Way once), candy
• Paddling, Running, Cooking
• Cool but not cold temperatures

Dislikes

• Boats, bodies of water she can't see the bottom of
• Whole hard root veggetables, red meat
• Heat, bright light
• The dark, ironically (her mushrooms glow so she rarely has to deal with it)

Trivia

• Her thick, webbed feet make a very distinct slapping sound when she walks
• There is no fire in the Underlands. All her food consists of what she can do with grated, soaked or diced ingredients. She gets creative
• Can drink salt water, not that she's ever seen it
• Has a loose flap of skin across her chest she can use to store items under her armpits like pockets
  
• While she's immune to the toxins in her mushrooms, no one else is, no matter how hard she tries. You WILL experience nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, do NOT trust whatever way to 'prepare the toxins out of them' she's come up with this time
  

Songs