ode to the grave — here beneath the frozen earth, lies every little piece of my soul i've carved out and turned into something more beautiful than it was before. i am a gallery of every one and everything i've ever loved, and for as long as there is breath in my lungs their songs will be sung.
written by RIPLEY (he/they, 21+)
DOCTOR MALTHAEL MORTEM
Doctor Malthael Mortem, born in Romania but fled after the plague had wiped out his family, following the pursuit of medicine and a cure, he wound up in London just as the plague was ravaging the city. Now he aims to find a cure there working under a mysterious employer.
the plague is spreading fast and it isn't just the rats that ails the people of london, but a man of naught but pestilence and insatiable appetite.
being the only doctor in a dying town is no easy task, and malthael must endure long working hours where he cannot find rest, even at the end of his workday. the screaming of mourning widows, coupled with the trance a certain count places over the women in the night keeps him wide awake with trauma of his own family's death. he could try to shut out the wailing but instead his heart ache wins over and he find himself comforted by the despair on the wind, as it reminds him of his twin sisters wailing long into the night when they fell ill to the plague he is now working tirelessly to cure.the death of his sisters does weigh heavily on him, hence why he is more protective of them, in his own backwards way. it develops a complex in him that if he can just formulate a cure it will somehow redeem his failure as an older brother, and though he knows it won't being them back, perhaps it will being him some level of closure.during his time treating patients, and conducting his own researching into both the cure and the vaccine for the current plague that is ravaging through london, malthael takes on a ward, a ten year old boy named william.william works as the ward of doctor mortem as his medical aide, taking notes and being a bit of a sounding board for the doctor to gather his thoughts. at first, william was mistreated by the doctor, not really appreciated or cared for. and the doctor even demanded the boy move further from the hospital ward to avoid infection, without considering the financial or housing situation of the child.gradually, though, malthael warmed up to the boy and took him a little more under his wing, so to speak. offering him a share of coin given to him by his employer, as well as feeding him during working hours.the doctor has stern morals about testing any potential treatments on children, though he is not above verbally lashing a child. however, his verbal lashings do shift from a place of malice to a place of genuine care over time.malthael finds out about the boy's unnamed sisters on a walk home where he escorts the boy personally to the orphanage, holding his hand the entire way. william finds a strange comfort in the doctor, and they both seem to be warming up to one another.william has told the mother of the orphanage, miss alfie, all about the doctor and she notices that william is looking a bit healthier, a bit more filled out and even that he has started to save some coin up for a potential place of his own.malthael knows that it is only a matter of time before he too falls victim to the plague and by the time he finally develops the cure? he finds himself lethargic, and he realizes that time has officially run out, and he has but precious seconds left in the hourglass to pass the information on tohis employer... can he redeem himself as a failed son and brother and develop the cure before he himself succumbs to the plague that took his beloved sisters from him? perhaps he shall find love along the way, or perhaps a family that he may finally call his own... eternally.
NAME malthael mortem NICKNAME/ALIAS the bird of death AGE early 30's DATE & PLACE OF BIRTH 19th century romania LANGUAGES & ACCENT heavy romanian accent, speaks common english & romanian fluently GENDER & PRONOUNS he/they ORIENTATION bisexual POSITIVE TRAITS
- loyal to his employers, and those he grows to care for
- hyper intelligent in all things medical
- won't allow children to be used as test subjects until he's certain of the risks
- wants to provide the world with medical advancement NEUTRAL TRAITS
- stubborn, but not to a fault
- a bit stand-offish, cold
- odd, comforted by death NEGATIVE TRAITS
- has been know to be abusive or easily irritable, quick to snap at someone
- insensitive, jaded, even calloused, and has been described as rude on more than one occasion
- not a great sense of moral compass, has committed several crimes when it comes to the proper usage and disposal of corpses
- the occasional lack of empathy to those around him (until he learns how to read them, or bonds with them) MENTAL HEALTH
- insomnia
- survivors guilt
- hallucinations HEIGHT 6’2" HAIR shoulder length, medium brown with streaks of silvers, moderately wavy bordering curly. EYES fog grey, described more like the eyes of a dead man, or a corpse, with how pale they are MARKS & SCARS needle marks on his inner arms and biceps from testing on himself, and from occasional drug usage PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION a he is tall and lanky, though porportional from top to bottom. he's well kept, a very clean man with good hygiene. there are dark circles beneath his eyes due to insomnia and they appear plum in color which contrasts starkly against his skin. he is almost always seen in his hospital garb, or his walking suits, and never without his beaked mask. a cane is used on the left side and his hands are always adorned in black leather gloves to avoid any and all contact with contamination. to see his face is exceedingly rare. FACE CLAIM cillian murphy PARENTS vladislaus mortem & lady erzebet mortem (both deceased from the plague). malthael felt little to nothing upon witnessing their deaths as they were far to wrapped up in being political socialites to ever care for their children, so the neglect and abuse he and his sisters faced was paid for by their dying breaths. SIBLINGS cecelia mortem & lydia mortem (twin girls, both deceased from the plague). most of his trauma derives from their deaths specifically as they died at less than a year old. he wished to save them but could do nothing as he was just a boy himself. this sparked his journey into becoming a plague doctor and is his primary motivation in trying to develop a cure. SIGNIFICANT OTHER
- he'll say he has no time, nor interest, for a wife or husband but he dies have eyes for... someone. OTHERS
- malthael takes a ward as an assistant, a young boy named william
- william has two twin sisters as well, though they are unnamed as their mother died in delivering them and the father had succumbed to the plague, leaving william to be orphaned and the primary care giver of his infant sisters PETS a mummified rat from his child hood home, his only friend OCCUPATION plague doctor written by RIPLEY
the keeper
NAME roy mcgowan NICKNAME/ALIAS the keeper AGE late 40's DATE & PLACE OF BIRTH scotland LANGUAGES & ACCENT gaelic, common english, heavy scottish accent GENDER & PRONOUNS he/him ORIENTATION gay POSITIVE TRAITS
-kind to animals and uses every part of the animals he has to hunt for food
-enjoys a good book or record
-good with his hands, likes hobbies that involve craftsmanship NEUTRAL TRAITS
-doesn't speak very much, if at all
NEGATIVE TRAITS
-can be cold or short with his words if he does speak, very anti-social MENTAL HEALTH
-depressed, isolated, survivors guilt HEIGHT 6'0" HAIR salt and pepper grey with dirty blonde strands EYES hazel MARKS & SCARS a 'p' on his wrist, branded into his skin, as well as some tattoos along his back, chest, and biceps PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FACE CLAIM mads mikkelsen PARENTS he was orphaned and found on the beach, swaddled in kelp and never knew his parents, but it is suspected that he was born from seafoam like his sister, she at high high tide under the moon, and he after a torrential storm SIBLINGS a sister, a merfolk that he only vaguely remembers until she reveals herself to him, it's been about thirty years since he's seen her SIGNIFICANT OTHER liam halloran (face claimed by hugh dancy) was his lover when he was younger, but unfortunately that lover was taken by the sea and lies with a shipwreck beneath the waves, he has since not taken another OTHERS in his days of piracy he stole a ship that he lovingly named the lady of the lake PETS a sheepdog pup named morgan that wandered away from home and found it's way to the beach, roy tried to shoo the dog away time and time again, but the pup kept coming back OCCUPATION lighthouse keeper, in his younger years he engaged in piracy
written by RIPLEY with inspiration from RICHIE
The Keeper is a lonesome man, one of no family or friends. he is the sole operator of the oldest standing lighthouse known to man and has been tasked day in and day out to a life of maintaining it. bound to land, he is the only thing that stands between sailors and their watery graves among the jagged rocks at the cliff's base and accompanying reef.he maintains himself with what he has, fishing down by the shore and hunting the odd albatross. very rarely does he venture into the withering town, and if he does, he's treated like a specter visiting his old haunts. he is not a man of many words, if any at all, and doesn't make an effort to engage in small talk. his somber expression, hardened and gritty from years work, speaks for itself.catching a glimpse of the keeper when he comes to town is almost treated as if he were just a ghost story, one of grief and tragedy, mourning. some, those with respect for the lighthouse- that has stood for over two centuries, leave offerings of bread and the odd coin, maybe even a bottle of ale down by the front stoop of the lighthouse.down by the shore is a rickety pier, accompanied by a weather beaten boat for fishing. the keeper may be bound to a life on land but it does not dissuade him from the call of the abyss, at least when it comes to sustaining himself. the horizon beckons him, though, a song from his youth only whispered from a warped and scratched record, words skipping and lost to time.from the vessels made only of brambles and seaweed, to those of timbers and sails, and perhaps, in the future, behemoths of the ocean made of steel will be guided by the light that pierces through the fog. the tower that stands tall above all others, the beacon that shines blindingly so on an endless rotation, the illumination that warms and guides.the keeper tends to the light, and the light keeps him alive. alive in someone's memory, alive enough to mourn what he could have had, and who he'll never be again. the sea and his long lost lover, liam halloran, are one and the same. close enough to touch but never to embrace again... or so he thought. perhaps the day his mighty vessel, the lady of the lake, was dragged down into the murky depths, the ocean took too much from the keeper. along with his ship, the ocean took his lover as well.in his youth, the keeper was known as roy mcgowan. he was a pirate by trade, sailing across the world to find wealth and adventure. by his side was liam halloran, an irish lad he affectionately called his pearl. the pair were inseparable from the second they ran away together and considered married by their crew. they fought side by side, sailed under the vast expanse of stars, and fell more in love with each passing day.the pair's adventure came to an abrupt halt however, when a storm of the century though would take down the lady of the lake and liam along with it leaving roy the sole survivor of the shipwreck. roy lives with a deep sense of survivors guilt each and every day as he feels it should have been him that went down with his ship.roy mcgowan's name faded to time as the fearsome pirate was thought to have gone down with his ship and has since been known simply as the keeper.the keeper's life is a quiet one, filled with a constant sense of mourning and loss, isolation and guilt. that is until one day, he is visisted by what he can only assume is a spectre made of seafoam and salt mist, taking the shape of liam halloran sent to haunt him. the keeper saw the boy, he saw the tarnished locket around his neck that matched his own, thought that insanity had finally come for him.the boy would leave offerings of pretty shells in a handmade basket upon the lighthouse stoop and the keeper would take them and make chimes from them to hang in his bedroom windows. if he were truly being haunted, he supposed, he would make the most of it and allow there to be some strange comfort in the visage of his lover visiting him, no matter how heart breaking it was to see his face.days turned to weeks and eventually the keeper, while out fishing on his boat, could feel the approaching storm in his bones. and up until this point he'd not said a word to the supposed spirit of his lost lover, but when he docked his small boat, he simply said a few words to the spectre, a warning. "storm's comin'." but the boy didn't leave, no matter the warning, and the keeper would eventually invite the boy inside of his home as the storm would make landfall.it was heart breaking, gut wrenching, to stand before someone that had the face of the man he loved. but still, he comforted the boy, held him close when he trembled in the night from the raging tempest just outside the walls of the keeper's home.the keeper didn't say much, but he did indeed speak though his actions when it came to caring for the boy. the pair grew closer over time until eventually, the keeper sat on the end of his pier one evening. the locket he wore around his neck, opened, and within it sat a lock of brown hair, a soft curl along side a photo of liam- the only piece of him he had left, he thought.beneath the gentle waves that lapped at the pier, a figure appeared slowly, one he'd seen for months prior in brief glimpses in the rough surf. upon first glance, he was panicked at the appearance of something or someone rising up from beneath the dark water. but a sense of familiarity washed over him. the visage of a woman appeared and she hoisted herself up on the low pier to join him.roy hadn't seen her in some time, but he knew her, even thirty years later. his sister. though she was not human like he, of perhaps he was not a merfolk like her. but the family resemblance was undeniable, right down to the oddly sharp canines roy had. silence befell them for a time, but eventually roy admitted to his sister that he had gone mad, and that liam had come back from the dead to haunt him.his sister laughed, but reassured him that he had not lost his mind, but rather that the ocean had taken something from him that it shouldn't have. it had taken the ship, but it shouldn't have taken liam, and for that the ocean eventually spat him back out. roy's sister also gave him the tattered colors of his ship, a flag weather worn and beaten, but had flown high above his ship.liam's memories did not come back all at once, in fact it took months until he realized that roy was the man he once loved. at that time he asked roy "when will you call me your pearl again?" hoping that would spark the keeper to show him affection.roy, though convinced that this was his long lost sweetheart, simply responded, "when you remember what you called me."eventually, liam would surprise the keeper in a tone that, to others, would seem malicious or condescending, perhaps insulting, but to roy was laced with love. "you've always been quite the handsome thief."
liam halloran
NAME liam halloran NICKNAME/ALIAS pearl, jewel, boy AGE early 20's DATE & PLACE OF BIRTH ireland LANGUAGES & ACCENT common english, irish accent GENDER & PRONOUNS he/him ORIENTATION gay POSITIVE TRAITS NEUTRAL TRAITS NEGATIVE TRAITS MENTAL HEALTH
-terrified of the ocean and storms
-moderate to mild amnesia HEIGHT 5'7 HAIR curly brown, but shorter than shoulder length EYES oceanic blue MARKS & SCARS PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FACE CLAIM hugh dancy PARENTS a wealthy family in ireland, royalty SIBLINGS none SIGNIFICANT OTHER roy mcgowan, known as the keeper (face claimed by mads mikkelsen) OTHERS PETS OCCUPATION engaged in piracy
written by RIPLEY with inspiration from RICHIE
Liam Halloran , the only son of a royal family in ireland, grew up with little to no adventure or stimulation other than from his teachers and handmaidens. his parents were far too busy to pay him any real attention after a certain point in his childhood, and left him to his own devices often. he was an avid reader of literature that spoke of pirates and their daring tales of thievery and fortune. liam would often find himself longing to be swept up in the night by one of the very men he would find himself day dreaming about from the weathered and worn books at his disposal. little did he know that those day dreams of romance and adventure would come true in a spectacular way.when liam found himself sneaking out of his room one night via the balcony, and venturing into the darkest, shadiest parts of the slums, he found himself in a pub where he would meet the man who could, and would, provide all the grand adventure he could ever want. and then some.liam encountered roy mcgowan at the bar and almost immediately did a connection form between them, resulting in some scandalous activities, resulting in any and all fineries worn by liam being stolen before roy vanished into the night with a pocket full of gold, particularly a fine gold chain that he had swiped right off the neck of the pretty young irish lad.however, this was not the last time the pair would interact with one another, and throughout roy's stay in town, the pair would bump into one another more and more, until roy could stand it no more and followed the boy home on the last night he was to stay in that irish town.liam laid in bed as the intruder entered through his open balcony window, having left it open for roy in hopes that he would come visit him one last time. roy indeed did visit, and made a show of trashing liam's room before finally turning to him and giving him the attention he craved. the pair once more found themselves tangled up with one another for another night of passion.before the sun rose that night, the pair stood on the balcony in a gentle embrace, one that could be seen as a goodbye before they parted ways, before roy would leave liam on that balcony like a mourning widow. instead though, roy would convince liam to come with him out onto the wide open sea, as kings of the ocean, a thief and his prized jewel.and so they left, though not without liam's maid catching them, but offering nothing but a wink, a nod, and a few words. "there be a good wind tonight." roy would gath the familiar p branded into her wrist as well and knew that she too had been just like him.into the night the pair went, and indeed there was a fine wind that caught roy's sails, uncatchable his ship was, cutting through waves like a hot knife through butter. the pair would become renowned thieves, with liam to distract with his flowery words spoke with a pretty accent, charm, and good looks, and roy to swipe with his agile dexterity, and strength.beloved by their crew, the pair of pirates truly had it all and love had blossomed so heavily between them that they were indeed soulmates.however one night the ocean raged, and the storms too in their devastating dance...the prized ship, the lady of the lake, and roy's pearl, were dragged to the depths when his ship could not break through the waves and was capsized. liam, the crew, and the ship all went down, leaving roy the sole survivor as he was thrown into the waves and found only drift wood to hang onto. attempts were made in vain as he tried to save liam, to save any one.roy was tossed ashore, exhausted and on death's door himself, and before him stood an old gnarled lighthouse that was falling to disrepair. to roy, it was an abandoned place to lay down his head, but what it would become, as more than he could have ever expected.time passed for the young roy mcgowan, now known as the keeper, about thirty odd years. solitude had allowed him to grieve his lost love as he restored the lighthouse, but he felt empty without liam's light.that was until one late afternoon, when the sky had gone dark grey with the coming storm...roy looked as if he'd seen a ghost when he laid eyes on a young lad in his early twenties that looked exactly like his pearl, his liam, wandering the beach aimlessly. days, perhaps a week of seeing the boy he thought was either a spectre passed, and roy had simply accepted that liam had come back to haunt him.however the approaching storm was due to be a violent one indeed, and so... he advised the boy go home, but when the boy didn't go?"I said... storm's comin'." and with a nod, roy had invited liam into his home, where, overtime, liam would come to remember everything.on the day laim's passing, the ocean had taken something from roy. sure, she took a ship and a crew, but it was more than that. she took something that did not, and could not ever belong to her.the sea observed as roy mourned, aged, and yearned for liam. she'd taken too much from the man that she called one of her children. and so... she gave liam back, cradled in sea foam he was rocked onto the shore with nothing but a tarnished locket on a gold chain around his neck and just a hand full of scattered memories.and so, the keeper and the boy were reunited. destined to fall in love all over again, to relive what they should have had.but there was an air of mystery to it all, as liam hadn't aged a day, ad roy aged slowly, more gracefully than a man like him, it was strange how wading out into the ocean's embrace to fish could rejuvenate him. and perhaps it did more than take away his aches from a hard day's work. as sometimes, when he waded out for a swim, his silver hairs looked a little more... golden.
