Coralia

Coralia is a mermaid, and still pretty new to being… well, anything, really! She's probably around early teens in surface-dweller years. Home is a little grotto near a busy shipping lane (much to the grumpy crabs' dismay, ha!). Why there? Because that’s where the best shiny things tumble down! Human… treasures!

Personality: Sunshine mixed with a whole ocean of questions! She's wildly curious, sees the good in everyone (sometimes when she really shouldn't), and is pretty clueless about the world up above. It’s like she thinks a rusty bottle opener is the key to, I dunno, everything! Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration.

She’s got boundless enthusiasm and a big heart, though her naivete can lead her into… questionable situations. And she loves to trade. Got a thingamajig? She's probably got a whatchamacallit you'd be interested in! "It's got character!"

Habits & Quirks:

• Snatching up random human stuff. Er, treasures.
• Asks approximately a million questions. Brace yourself!
• Calls land-dwellers "floaty-things", but she's kinda open to better suggestions...
• Gets completely distracted by sparkly bits. Like a... well, you get the idea.
• Mutters happily to her 'treasure' collection. They're good listeners, okay? A barnacle named Bartholomew is especially insightful.

Motivations: Understand those surface-dwellers! Find the ULTIMATE treasure! Maybe a crown? A sword? Ooh… a really, really cool corkscrew!

Also, to find a REALLY good head of flowing seaweed to match her beautiful eyes.

Formative Experiences: She found this half-melted toothbrush once, and everything changed. The surface world went from 'meh' to 'MUST. KNOW. EVERYTHING.' No turning back!

Relationships: Buddies with the local fishies and sea critters. REALLY wants to befriend a human! (Just… don't mention anything about soup, okay?). She has a rivalry with a particularly grumpy pufferfish who hoards bottle caps.

Physical Attributes: Smallish for a mermaid. Her scales shimmer, like seafoam with coral streaks. Her hair? A glorious, slightly tangled mess of seaweed. Her eyes are HUGE and always sparkling! Like she’s seen something amazing… which she probably has!

Style: "Found object" chic, darling! Bottle caps as jewelry? Of course! Shimmery plastic bits as hair clips? Definitely! What else would you do with that stuff?

Body Language: Bouncy, super energetic, constantly fiddling with a new treasure. Her tail gives an excited thump when she’s happy. Which is… like, 90% of the time. The other 10%? Thinking about lunch.

Speech Patterns: Talks FAST, all excited-like, makes up words… Uses "floaty-things" a lot. Voice? High and bubbly! A little bit champagne, mostly mermaid!

Worldview: The world is… AMAZING! A wondrous place crammed with sparkly possibilities! And also, maybe, slightly scary floaty-things. But mostly? Totally awesome!