Parthenia
female | limnad | demisexual
mid-life's form
In the beginning
In the beginning, a grand cave rose from where Lake Vouliagmeni rests today. during the middle ages, the great collapse occurred, causing the roof of the enchanted cavern to tumble downwards. this caused a large disruption in the cave system, creating an access for saltwater to flow into the pure freshwater lake. the fall allowed for evil ocean sirens to enter into the lake through the underwater tunnels, where they unlawfully bathed and rested after long days of luring young sailors into the deep ocean waters. the great greek gods and goddesses looking down upon the earth disliked this very much (as sirens were meant to stay in their homewaters: the vast ocean, which the gods had assigned them to), and so sent down their youngest limnad to cast the sirens away and protect the lake for all eternity.
the limnad
the limnad who was assigned to protect lake vouliagmeni was parthenia, who was created to be the embodiment of chastity, purity, and naivety. prior to being sent down to earth, she was a subordinate to the river gods. she tended to the needs of these gods until she was called on to act, on behalf of the sky realm, to protect the purity of a small lake on earth.
Once she got to earth
once she got to earth, she worked hard to dispel the sirens and revert lake vouliagmeni back to its natural freshwater. the sirens, although out numbering parthenia, fled as soon as they saw her. They knew that parthenia was a message from the gods, who were looking intently upon them. they escaped through the seawater tunnels. from then on, she worked night and day, singing hymns to the water to attempt to purify it, however the brackish water was already far too tainted. instead, she created something useful to the creatures of the land.
she "healed" the water
she "healed" the water by adding hydrogen sulphide to create a medicinal effect for all those who she graced to enter the waters of vouliagmeni. for a while, she was picky with who she allowed to enter the supernatural, medicinal waters, as she felt it was her duty to protect the lake from possibly polluted creatures. she was afraid, afraid that they would poison her waters. this fear was a representation of how people try to change and contaminate the minds of innocent people, similar to her. despite her anxieties, her kind and gentle side wouldn't allow such a restrictive access for long. soon, she allowed for all creatures to inhabit lake vouliagmeni. the lake became a popular location for creatures to come to relax and release any stress that was harbored throughout the day. this created peace in parthenia, who was certain that by opening the lake to every creature, it would cause mass destruction to the lake, since mortals often are insensitive towards the wonders of nature.
fears
fears. parthenia has many of them. similar to her fear of her lake's contamination, she is afraid of being poisioned by evil minds and being changed in the process. this fear stems from having been raised in a pure environment (the sky realm), where she was trained to be obedient, patient, kind-hearted, selfless, and Magnanimous. ultimately, she is afraid of her kindness and naïvety being abused. parthenia is frightened by the destruction mortals cause to the earth, which the gods put so much work into maintaining. she harbors jealousy towards the beings who roam earth, since they are favored by the gods... despite the destruction they create. she wishes she was loved by the gods as much as the mortal beings are and does her best to please them- but to no avail.
her tasks
her tasks have changed a lot over the years. she was initially tasked to rid the lake of the unwanted inhabitants (the ocean sirens) and purify the water. she succeeded in one of her jobs, however the other was unattainable. she tried for years to achieve the impossible, but failed. this discouraged her for many days and parthenia often wondered why she was the one chosen by the gods to purify the lake, when she didn't have the ability to do so. her self-esteem was at an all-time low, since she wanted badly to please the gods and do their tasks well. she pondered during this time about what she should do to at least help the lake be beneficial to its environment. finally, she came up with a plan which would benefit the earthlings, whom the gods adored. this is when she healed the lake. afterwards, when all seemed well, her life felt meaningless; she didn't have any more assigned tasks. she felt empty without having a job to do. during this time, she was on guard and protected her lake from anything that she didn't deem "pure", however this was a difficult task she placed on herself, since she wasn't from this world and wasn't able to identify things such as trash to be harmful-- since she often thought plastic bags and straws were pieces of artwork. from the discovery of earthly objects in her lake, she created a collection deep in one of lake vouliagmeni's caves. this collection contained just about anything the inhabitants of the earth would consider "common", such as spoons, bottle caps, pieces of fabric, plastic bags, straws, and the like. this collection keeps the bottom of her lake clean, while providing parthenia a hobby, instead of leaving her to constantly monitor the lake's surface. however, this doesn't mean that she doesn't serve when she is needed. she often helps divers who venture far too deep into her cave system navigate their way out and routinely monitors the lake's surface and caves to make sure that no creatures are in trouble. despite these tasks, she prefers to stick close to her underwater caves, since earthlings tend to freak out when encountering otherworldly creatures.
parthenia
parthenia doesn't often interact with others, however when she does, she is typically very quiet and has a motherly aura. she is confident, and is always wearing a compassionate smile. she has a natural magnetic charm because of her kindness and naivety. she is very cheerful and is often found giggling away at her silly mistakes.
credits
researching / writing: 25+ hours
money spent: $170
artwork: revioLATE
sources used: wikipedia, google images, athens guide, and other smaller websites mostly based around lake vouliagmeni, its strange cave system, and its sulphuric water.
last edited: july 7th 11:00:34 pm Central