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</center>Name: Lumikuolema
Meaning of Name: Lumi = snow and Kuolema = death in Finnish
Nickname: Magpie
Reason: from her tendency to collect shiny items.
Re-woven history: Louhi, the mistress of Pohjola, is also known as the Snow Queen and the keeper of the dead. Existing for centuries with a heart and soul as cold and bitter as the snow and wind, she had reached a point of utter vileness. Her skin matched the white of the snow and her hair was red from the blood she washed it in. Using her beautiful daughters, she had amassed a collection of mystical devices which provides for her needs, wants, and desires. These relics were kept far away from the grasp of Spring's fingers in her ice castle to the far North, out of prying eyes and eager hands of mortals.
When she did wish to leave her kingdom of snow and ice, she would fashion a sleigh of ice, using it to travel between her realm and the mortal one. Six mighty reindeer pulled her sleigh over the snow at incredible speed. When she would have orders that needed to be acted upon, she used black swans to act as her own private messengers. Known to use her trickery and deceit to collect items of great worth, she had gone so far as to steal the golden moon and the silver sun, hiding them away in a cavern of ice for herself. Her desires for treasure had driven her to continuously want more, she was never satisfied with what she had.
Brave warriors who had come to court her daughters were often met by arduous tasks set forth by Louhi, such as to shoot the Swan of Tuonela or to find near-impossible items, adding to her collection. One particular task was set upon Wainamoinen, who was required to build a mill that would grind out grain, gold and salt. Accepting the task, Wainamoien journeyed across the lands, seeking a craftsman to build the wondrous device. Finding the smith, Ilmarinen, Wainamoinen asked for his assistance to construct a wondrous mill that would be know as the Sampo. Upon its completion, Wainamoinen returned to Louhi with the Sampo. Louhi, seeing this wondrous machine completed and before her, succumbed to her urges and claimed it for herself and imprisoning the bulky Sampo machine into the rock hills of Pohjola. The Witch secured the mill behind nine locks within the Mountain of Copper. There, the Sampo grew roots to secure itself in Mother Earth.
Not wanting Louhi to keep the device, Wainamoinen and Ilmarinen journeyed once again to the lands of the Pohjola to rescue the Sampo from her grasp. Using a magic harp that they had acquired, they put her and her people into a sleep to avoid them as they made their way to where Sampo was being imprisoned. Louhi awoke and soon raced after the heroes in the guise of a dark horned griffin. Her antlers reached like hands over the lands and her dark wings were as black as the night that flowed in her blood, her visage making even the most stalwart hero quail with fear. Upon finding them, she attacked them with spells, calling upon the aid of the ocean to swamp them in so she could freeze the waters in which they floated. However, Wainamoinen was not to be thwarted. Louhi, having crafted a vessel to traverse the sea, sailed after them. Wainamoinen cast a spell that created a reef in the waters around her ship, and as the sea grew angry, her boat was thrown upon them, splintering the wooden craft into pieces. This did not stop Louhi, who was determined to not let them steal back the Sampo. The Snow witch took the pieces from her destroyed boat and fashioned cruel talons for her hands before sweeping down upon the heroes like a great vulture. Before the heroes were able to stop her, Louhi descended from high and stole the Sampo from them, sailing up into the air and over the sea with it. Yet, because the Sampo was slippery from the raging waters, it slipped from her grasp and into the rolling ocean, lost forever in the foaming sea.
Gradually, each suitor succeeded in accomplishing Louhi's tasks and one by one, her daughters went to live with their new husbands, leaving Louhi to herself. The Snow Queen sat alone in her frozen abode to wait for the next diversion, having only her acquired treasures to keep her company through the long wintry days and nights. Each winter, Louhi would travel to the Finnish villages and peer in the windows, leaving frost patterns everywhere she looked upon the glass. One day, she met a young boy who had his heart pierced with a shard of glass emblazoned with hate and decided to take him with her to her lands. There, she kept him in her castle to look after her prized possessions, knowing he would never leave the castle. She would grant him his freedom, however, if he could solve the puzzle of eternity, which she had placed in her ice palace along with him. This puzzle was impossible to complete as long as the shard of glass still remained lodged within his heart. However, a young girl from his childhood aided the boy and melted the shard of glass, and thus, the hate that had resided in his soul.
Once the hatred was gone, he was able to look at the puzzle in a new light, finally able to complete it. Having doing so, he left the castle of ice, only leaving the word 'Eternity' on the icy floor. Seeing the word spread across the icy floor, the power of the spell that held Karl within the boundaries of the castle backlashed upon the Witch of Pohjola, causing her to feel a tearing in her body. Her body and heart, frozen with the centuries of evilness, melted, as did her powers. With her power destroyed, spring and summer were no longer barred from the frozen lands of Pohjola, and the warmth they brought destroyed her soul in the end.
Personality: Lumi is a stark contrast from Lohui. The ice around her heart has been melted giving her the warmth and friendliness that she did not possess before. The ice will always threaten to envelope her again and sometimes she has fits of moodiness or when she gets frustrated or angry her old traits will show through again. As a youngster Lumi is a quiet child who is more an observer than active yet, like the glaciers she has a lot of depth and will often make remarks that do not always match the situation as her mind has already moved to another subject. She will always choose to follow the lighter side of things and is somewhat a romantic. She doesn't quite understand yet why people act so selflessly but she knows it is a good thing and will try to act that way herself.
As an echo of her old personality, Lumi will gravitate to richer clothings, preferring the brighter reds and gold than more neutral blues or greens. She is also drawn to precious items and will collect shiny objects like a magpie, hence her nickname. Lumi will treat people kindly and, though she will still try and get the items she desires, she will do so quietly while giving others what they would like in order to gain their trust and friendship. While she gets older she will probably try to do a good turn a day as she learns who she used to be. She may have flashbacks or possibly just bouts of mean-spiritedness that could confuse her because it is a contrast from how she usually is.
She is very respectful of power and will not draw attention to herself through her actions or words. Rather she prefers to work behind the scenes to achieve the things she wishes. However, if angered, she has no problems taking care of herself and will attack vehemently to protect her pride or honor. This can be a drawback as this brings her a step closer to her old path and depending on how she reacts to her emotions will help dictate how she changes. Lumi will often feel remorse after a bout of temper and will give something away to atone for her outburst.
Not one for many friends, Lumi will probably find a few people and latch onto them for friendship. While she is not very suited for being in the center of attention Lumi is very good at one-on-one interaction and will freely give advice. At the outset she will be quiet and reserved as she works out the best approach to each different fa'e. For this reason she is an introvert until she has established boundaries with a person. When she has worked out these lines and established a rapport with another fa'e she will relax a little and be more like herself.
Lumi loves the arts, painting and embroidery the most. She will probably look for someone to teach her embroidery or learn painting techniques from me, starting with finger paints (Oh my walls >_< ) then onto acrylics and oils. I can also see her sewing and decorating her own clothes or possibly for her other passion, her doll collection. Cultural dolls will be her favorite choice and she is mostly drawn to her Finnish heritage as well as plushi reindeer and black swans. Lumi loves to hunt out new and interesting items and will have her own special place where she can store them. Her favorite season is the winter season as it gives her an excuse to increase her collection and buy pretty baubles and the snow is especially beautiful and peaceful to her.
Appearance: Lumi has reindeer antlers (stubs when baby and med sized by child/teen) from her affinity with her mounts and her status as a dark goddess and her arms are black swan's wings, (she still has use of three of her fingers and her thumb *almost like a bats bone structure*) from her ability to turn into a griffin. She also has red hair just like her predecessor who stained her's in blood.
Powers: She can make things grow cold and turn to ice when she is older. Basically when she is a child and frustrated it can get colder in the room slightly (bring your jumpers *grins*) Mostly this only works when she is under stress, as she would normally draw from her once icy heart. At present she tries not to use her powers, as she fears the ice will grow around her soul once more. She may possibly learn how to shape shift into a black griffin again if she does turn towards her old path.
How do the powers and your character relate back to your mythos? Like the story of the Snow Queen, Lumi gets her power from her homeland. She will probably wear (or find) something that links her to Lapland (possibly a scarf/shawl) Her horns are connected to the reindeer who drew her sleigh and as a reflection of how she died. Little Gerda had the aid of both the reindeer and the raven to find her friend Karl and it was her that caused the binding spell to be broken leading to Louhi's demise. These horns and wings are a testament to her new path in life, more following Gerda than Louhi. Her wings are also a shadow of her ability to morph into her monstrous forms. Her red hair come from Finnish heritage and because Louhi would wash her hair in blood.
Why do you want a Fa'e?: I have hovered around the thread since I came to Gaia (about when it started) and watched all the different Fa'e grow up. It was great to see them as children and read about their trials and tribulations. It is like watching a movie or reading a novel and then as the different characters grow together or apart from each other you feel for them and react to their emotions. The art is spectacular and enhances the story like illustrations do to a well-written fairytale. I have wanted to be a part of it but was contented to watch which is just as much fun. I had gone over quite a few ideas that would be interesting to play and grow with the other fa'e even when there were no openings. Now a chance has opened I am having a go ^-^~ I love my character idea and would have so much fun seeing her interact with the other Fa'e and finding out whether she will follow her own path or the path of her history. In the Snow Queen I always wondered what the Queen must have thought coming back to find the 'Eternity' puzzle completed and Karl gone. Would she have changed because of it, or still continued her path of not caring? It will be interesting to find out which way Lumi will choose, to stay kind and generous or become cynical and selfish once again.
Links: The Snow Queen, Louhi steals the Sun and Moon, The Sampo Stealers
Pics: Lohui Crone, Lohui Attacking, The Snow Queen, Andersen's Snow Queen
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A good one at that.