Ariel Del Bosque

Important Info for Commissions

HEIGHT: 5'11" BUILD: Slender ETHNICITY: Spanish APPARENT AGE: 20 HAIR: White with Black showing through. Shoulder Length, loose curls. EYES: Pure Black, White-Rimmed  SCARS/MARKINGS: Black hands, neck, and feet. Hands have mushroomlike texture MAIN OUTFIT: Trench Coat. Plain shirt and slacks. OTHER IMPORTANT TRAITS: None. PERSONALITY: Stoic, Somewhat Vain, Private, Observer.

Appearance Description: 

A bit taller than average, 5'11", Ariel looks like a normal human from a distance. Up close, his naturally black hair is dusted with a white powdery substance, and his olive skin shades to black at his hands, feet, and neck. Ariel cannot cry, instead his pure black eyes are rimmed with mold. Their hands and feet have a mushroomlike texture and can extend into hyphae up to double his height in length.

Ariel takes care with his appearance, wearing good quality clothes, and always trying to be as neat and put together as possible. His style is understated classic clothes and he usually wears a trenchcoat. They can come off as distant, holding themself apart from people, with a neutral expression and a tendency to stare. Though they are soft spoken, Ariel talks with his hands and makes a lot of gestures to punctuate his speech. He has a light Spanish accent.

Personality Description:

Merging with the nymph has left Ariel changed, traces of her personality lingering, though not enough to be separate from his. They have been left with a persistent sense of unreality/dissociation from themself. Sometimes other people seem alien and places/people he's known his whole life are unfamiliar. Ariel has always had a hard time making friends, his family being the only people other than the nymph he ever felt close to. The new distance between them hurts, though he hides it.

Stoic. Ariel will suffer in silence as well as preferring to enjoy things privately. In public they do not like to show who they are, and are also a bit vain, concerned with appearances. He does not like to be a burden or for people to pay much attention to him. Though they also like being admired for their looks. They are not particularly social, but they enjoy people-watching or one-on-one interactions. They also like seeing people enjoy themselves with something they had a hand in creating. Willing to lend a hand, Ariel won't ask for help himself, and is slow to accept if it is offered.

Patient when learning, but easily frustrated trying to explain himself or teach. When they are deciding whether to do something they are more likely to go with what feels right, even when they take time to consider. Ariel looks before he leaps then leaps anyway.

Active Abilities:

Druidic Divination - Has a talent for divination using three methods - Botanomancy (burning herbs, particularly sage, and watching the smoke); Comnyomany (growing onions; and Augury (birdwatching). Can use these methods to answer a simple yes/no question, determine a favorable course, predict the weather. Less reliable farther into the future or vaguer the question. Anything further than a week is no more reliable than a guess.

Druidic Rituals - Used to be able to perform more powerful ritual magic, but illness has limited him to simple quality of life incantations, such as removing dirt from clothes or heating a cup of tea. Can only affect inanimate objects.

Hyphae - Allows him to "smell" people like an extra long nose. Can also be used to get nutrients from organic material, only as harmful as licking would be. This is similar to taking a multivitamin and not a replacement food source.

Psychotropic Tears - Eyes produce a small amount of mold that causes mild euphoria and visual hallucinations when ingested. Would have to lick his face to get any real effect, and the effects only last a few minutes.

Passive Abilities:

Nymph Allure - Within 5' Ariel exudes an air of exotic mystery that draws people's attention and invites curiousity. Does not otherwise make them seem attractive or get people to like them.

Fungal Immunity - Immune to fungus-based toxins/illness.

Weaknesses:

Sensitivity to Touch - Low pain tolerance. Quick to feel pain from high Heat/Cold, holding an ice cube or hot cup of coffee would feel like being stabbed. They are easily overwhelmed by things like hugs or woolly sweaters.

Light Sensitivity - Bright light hurts his eyes. Sunburns easily.

Vinegar is Poison - It burns like hydrochloric acid.

Sickly - Physically weak, tired, anemic.

Biography:

Born in Spain to a member of the Del Bosque family, Ariel was a younger middle child. He was always a quiet child and he kind of got left to his own devices because his other siblings were more rambunctious. Being partially deaf from birth delayed his speech a bit and he was more interested in watching things and exploring outside.

At a young age, Ariel befriended a fungus nymph living on his parents' land. He became enchanted by her, spending most of his time with her, learning more about magic and nature. This caused him to distance himself more from most people other than family. And attending private school didn't do much to increase his socialization, although he did fine educationally.

Other than the magic, which was kept to family, Ariel had a fairly normal life. Once done with his primary education, he went to a university, close enough to home that he could make frequent visits, and interned at a Del Bosque owned winery, with plans to become a winemaker himself.

His nymph friend becomes sick of unknown causes while he is away at university. When he returned to his only friend dying, it was easy for her to persuade him to perform a ritual together to stabilize her by forming a bond so she could draw on his physical nature, being mostly magic and spirit herself. The bonding itself works too well and they completely merge.

Unfortunately, though the ritual mitigates the effects and slows the illness somewhat, it doesn't completely stop it, leaving Ariel weakened and sickly, also making it difficult to pass for human up close.

Since he had relatives already on Manta Carlos, Ariel decided to go to there to see if the more magical environment would help while they search for a more permanent solution. They also hope being in a new place will lessen the jarring unfamiliarity. He plans to continue his education, as well as internship in the family business in this new location.

Resources: Has enough money for a small bachelor apartment. Making money from internship and some freelance divination. Spends carefully.