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Oct. 26th, 2017 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clodofearthParentage:
Regev had the misfortune to be born a child of Lillith, known collectively as the lilim or lilin. When his mother chose to rebel against God, she accepted that He would murder one hundred of her children per day. The lilim themselves are a mixed bag of halfbreeds - some are the result of Lillith's union with the fallen Archangel Samael, while others are the offspring of human parents, lesser demons or waylaid angels. Folklore has it that they assist their mother in causing stillbirths and sudden death. A few specialize in disfiguring fetii should a husband fantasize about anyone other than his wife during intercourse. But the truth of the matter is that there are too many lilim to apply to just these iffy tasks, and the human-born ones have little to do with the infernal or the divine.
The lilim are unusual among the hosts of Heaven and Hell in possessing Free Will. Lillith was created a human woman, mate to Adam, and as such was given the same gift of choice. She blew off her allotted role, but it was 100% her decision to do so. Free Will breeds true, so that even the lilim who go around murdering infants can opt not to. This doesn't make them many friends among the fullbloods on either side, who resent the privilege and consider it wasted on the short-lived lilim.
None of the lilim are sure how God brings about the daily death quota (Will He strike them down? Will they be hit by a meteor or eat some bad sushi? Drop of a sudden heart attack? What?). They can't even be certain how He reckons a 'day'. He was said to have created the world in seven days, so it's suspected that His perception of time can be a little screwy. No one can keep track of how many kids Lillith has popped out and, as a general rule, the lilim have little to do with one another. There's no feasible way to keep track of who's dead and who's making themselves difficult to find. Regardless of uncertainty or semantics, each of the lilim lives with the knowledge that any day might be their last.
History:
Regev's first memory is of coming to live with his father. He was about four years old at the time, accompanied by his mother. It's possible that this was the only time Lillith had anything to do with him outside of giving birth; he doesn't know and doesn't care. He remembers standing on the stoop while she spoke to an unfamiliar man. He can't recall what she said or how she said it but, as he grew up, he was told that he was the product of a 'youthful indiscretion'.
He always found that kind of funny - Reg has never not known what he is. His identity and the burden of his mother's curse has been a part of him since conception. While he's pretty sure his father knows the truth, they've never talked about it. They've never talked, period. In the four years between Regev's birth and his appearance on that doorstep, Elias Guimares married and started a family with legitimate human children. It's no surprise that both he and his wife treated the result of a college one-nighter as an unwanted afterthought.
Awkward family situation aside, Reg had a pretty normal childhood. The Guimares family made their home in Asheville, NC, a smallish city in the Appalachian mountain famous for three things: its autumn foliage, its proximity to the Biltmore Estate and its overabundance of hippie artists. Regev attended public school, got mediocre grades, had the snot knocked out of him by bigger kids and watched obnoxious afternoon cartoons. It wasn't until highschool when he discovered shop class and a talent for working with his hands. For the first time ever, he was good at something. He managed to get a job assisting a sculptor at one of the many local artists' collectives. Suddenly the kid who'd never had much reason to be proud began to develop some self esteem.
And then the Angels showed up.
Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof never really got over how handily Lillith snubbed them by the sea. They take their duties as defenders of innocent newborns very seriously and regard the lilim with undisguised hatred. Regev's not sure if they're just waiting for him to turn into a baby-eating monster or if they give all his half siblings the same shit, but they seem to consider it their duty to keep him in his place. Whenever his life goes well, they systematically ruin it. Sansenoy has trashed every garage, shop or site he's ever worked. Semangelof has beaten him half to death a dozen times. Senoy has never been anything but unfailingly polite and apologetic…which only makes Regev paranoid. Since graduating high school, Reg has held and lost more jobs than he can count. Nobody keeps him on long, what with the twitchiness, the constant black eyes and the 'bad luck' that follows him. He crossed the country in fits and starts until he deadended on the west coast.
He's currently employed as a groundskeeper in a small state park. The pay's shit, but he spends long stretches maintaining trails, brushing back undergrowth, clearing treefalls and treating invasive weeds. It's quiet work, and he doesn't much mind the thought of keeling over in all that greenery one day. Reg's off-hours go towards his unflagging interest in working with clay; he throws pots, sculpts pieces inspired by his day job, and runs a small kiln out the back of the groundkeeper's cabin. In some small way he'd never admit to himself, he finds comfort in creating tangible things.
Personality:
Regev is a born cynic with a Saharan sense of humor. Since earliest childhood, he's lived his life under the constant threat of sudden death. That sort of worldview will Do Things to a person; without it, he probably would have been an intense, quiet guy with a preference for solitary work. Instead, he's a surly hermit with a wary eye on the rest of the world. A pessimist at heart, he's always planning for the worst case scenario and never enters a room without first mapping all the exits.
Regev is a coward by choice rather than nature. If it's at all possible to avoid the curse of the lilim by being cautious, avoiding dangerous situations and backing out of fights then, so help him, that's what he'll do do. His learned instinct is to keep his head down and run away from loud noises and startled screams. Dependable he ain't, and that's cost him more potential friendships than he can count.
To say that Reg is not a people person would be an understatement. His coworkers view him as competent but standoffish, his neighbors wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a serial killer and the local barista hasn't managed to get a “Good morning” out of him yet. It isn't that he dislikes people (not entirely) or has some kind of demonic urge to strangle old people going 35 on the highway (anymore than the rest of us), it's just that he doesn't know where/when/how the curse will take him, and he doesn't want anybody to be standing next to him when he goes. He figures he's shutting people out for their own good and, so far, nobody's been persistent enough to crack him.
He hasn't spoken to his father or stepmother since he graduated and Lillith has always been blissfully absent from his life. The only person Reg is even remotely fond of is his half sister Frances, a junior back in Asheville. Out of some misguided sense of childhood hero worship, she continues to email him, call him on his birthday and nag him mercilessly about getting a Facebook page. He returns the favor by hunting down parts for her hand-me-down Cavalier and occasionally threatening the Boyfriend Du'Jour. Affection (and, indeed, most warm fuzzy feelings) makes him come over all bluff and awkward, and is usually chased with some a wry remark.
All the same, there's something to be said for the way he wakes up every morning, acknowledges his continued existence, and goes about his day. Suicide rates are quite high among the lilim, but Regev is taking what he can from the time he's allowed.
Physical Appearance:
Intensive physical work has given Reg a decent build, but a love of hearty food keeps him from ever being cut. Though slightly taller than average at 5'10", he gives the impression of being shorter due to wide shoulders and a habitual slouch. He moves like that dorky kid in High School - always ducking from one spot to another with a quick glance over his shoulder.
The jury's still out on whether or not Regev is an attractive guy. His face is a collection of overly strong features that seem to compete with one another, from aggressive chin to heavy brows to distinctive nose. He's drop dead from some angles, striking from others and downright funny looking from the rest.
Reg doesn't do himself any favors: he wears his park uniform shirts at work and anonymous no-color tees otherwise, often neglects to shave and only cuts his hair when it starts to get into his face. His hands are heavily calloused and permanently begrimed from roofing tar, wood stains and various other work related substances. Why spend good money to leave a spiffy corpse behind?
Strengths:
-Perhaps because of his partially divine descent, Regev has an intuitive grasp of the inherent nature of people and objects. This makes him a pretty good judge of character and really, really skilled with his hands. Without knowing how he knows, he understands what raw materials secretly yearn to be and how best to utilize them. He's particularly drawn to clay as a medium, but this also gives him an edge on determining exactly how to fell a tree, or how to put up a sturdy fenceline.
-Traditionally speaking, lilim come and go with the winds. Regev, being born of a human father rather than a demonic or angelic one, can't quite manage this trick...but he can call up blasts and gusts of wind when sufficiently frightened. On one memorable occasion, he stirred up a gale that knocked the trees around the school courtyard flat.
-He might live alone, but he's a damn good cook. As antisocial as he is, he's got this thing about feeding people, possibly because angels and demons take the rules of hospitality very seriously (see: Sodom and Gomorrah).
-Although not particularly strong or fast, he's resilient to physical damage. Punches don't shake him as easily as they might an average man, while his skin resists bruising and splitting. He's never been sick a day in his life and can go without food or sleep for days at a time.
-His bodily fluids are mildly corrosive to non-demons and many organic materials. Internal fluids (ie: blood) are more highly acidic and can cause burns and boils, while contact with excreted fluids (ie: sweat) may merely lead to itching and rashes. He'd destroy a lot of shirts if he didn't have such an inborn tolerance for heat. In Regev's case, spitting in someone's face is more than just insulting - it could lead to blindness or disfigurement.
Weaknesses:
-His bodily fluids are mildly corrosive to non-demons and many organic materials. His hot water bill is practically nonexistent and relationships have never been in the cards.
-Any thing or person deemed 'divine' can hurt him pretty easily. While he can enter a church, he can't help but feel itchy and uncomfortable in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
-Use of his full name can cause him pain or even kill him (which is probably how God does the trick, come to think of it). He's careful to go by Reggie or Reg.
-Reg always takes the path of least resistance. If he can avoid an unpleasant or demanding situation, he will. He's not above lying, cheating or shirking to get out of unwanted responsibilities, and he'll never stand and fight when escape is an option. He's not, it must be said, a very good friend to have on your side, because he probably won't be there long.
Errata:
-Speaks with a very slight southern Appalachian accent. He likes to hope it doesn't come across hickish.
*Note:
The Author is aware that Lillith is rooted in Sumerian and Mesopotamian cultures, where she's not always as a negative figure. Her role as rebellious wife/baby killer is likely a case of a new religion trying to usurp and invalidate the powerful symbols of an established one. The lilim themselves are probably a take off the Akkadian 'lil', a kind of air spirit. That said, it's just not feasible to reflect eons of cultural backbiting from a role play point of view, so I'm going with the Talmudic/Kabalistic version for Regev's backstory.
…I'm also aware that the Alphabet of Ben Sira is largely viewed as satirical, but so much of what exists about Lillith is midrachim that I'm okay with that.
This journal is for entertainment purposes only and is in no way affiliated with Gael Garcia Bernal etc etc so on and so forth.
Regev had the misfortune to be born a child of Lillith, known collectively as the lilim or lilin. When his mother chose to rebel against God, she accepted that He would murder one hundred of her children per day. The lilim themselves are a mixed bag of halfbreeds - some are the result of Lillith's union with the fallen Archangel Samael, while others are the offspring of human parents, lesser demons or waylaid angels. Folklore has it that they assist their mother in causing stillbirths and sudden death. A few specialize in disfiguring fetii should a husband fantasize about anyone other than his wife during intercourse. But the truth of the matter is that there are too many lilim to apply to just these iffy tasks, and the human-born ones have little to do with the infernal or the divine.
The lilim are unusual among the hosts of Heaven and Hell in possessing Free Will. Lillith was created a human woman, mate to Adam, and as such was given the same gift of choice. She blew off her allotted role, but it was 100% her decision to do so. Free Will breeds true, so that even the lilim who go around murdering infants can opt not to. This doesn't make them many friends among the fullbloods on either side, who resent the privilege and consider it wasted on the short-lived lilim.
None of the lilim are sure how God brings about the daily death quota (Will He strike them down? Will they be hit by a meteor or eat some bad sushi? Drop of a sudden heart attack? What?). They can't even be certain how He reckons a 'day'. He was said to have created the world in seven days, so it's suspected that His perception of time can be a little screwy. No one can keep track of how many kids Lillith has popped out and, as a general rule, the lilim have little to do with one another. There's no feasible way to keep track of who's dead and who's making themselves difficult to find. Regardless of uncertainty or semantics, each of the lilim lives with the knowledge that any day might be their last.
History:
Regev's first memory is of coming to live with his father. He was about four years old at the time, accompanied by his mother. It's possible that this was the only time Lillith had anything to do with him outside of giving birth; he doesn't know and doesn't care. He remembers standing on the stoop while she spoke to an unfamiliar man. He can't recall what she said or how she said it but, as he grew up, he was told that he was the product of a 'youthful indiscretion'.
He always found that kind of funny - Reg has never not known what he is. His identity and the burden of his mother's curse has been a part of him since conception. While he's pretty sure his father knows the truth, they've never talked about it. They've never talked, period. In the four years between Regev's birth and his appearance on that doorstep, Elias Guimares married and started a family with legitimate human children. It's no surprise that both he and his wife treated the result of a college one-nighter as an unwanted afterthought.
Awkward family situation aside, Reg had a pretty normal childhood. The Guimares family made their home in Asheville, NC, a smallish city in the Appalachian mountain famous for three things: its autumn foliage, its proximity to the Biltmore Estate and its overabundance of hippie artists. Regev attended public school, got mediocre grades, had the snot knocked out of him by bigger kids and watched obnoxious afternoon cartoons. It wasn't until highschool when he discovered shop class and a talent for working with his hands. For the first time ever, he was good at something. He managed to get a job assisting a sculptor at one of the many local artists' collectives. Suddenly the kid who'd never had much reason to be proud began to develop some self esteem.
And then the Angels showed up.
Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof never really got over how handily Lillith snubbed them by the sea. They take their duties as defenders of innocent newborns very seriously and regard the lilim with undisguised hatred. Regev's not sure if they're just waiting for him to turn into a baby-eating monster or if they give all his half siblings the same shit, but they seem to consider it their duty to keep him in his place. Whenever his life goes well, they systematically ruin it. Sansenoy has trashed every garage, shop or site he's ever worked. Semangelof has beaten him half to death a dozen times. Senoy has never been anything but unfailingly polite and apologetic…which only makes Regev paranoid. Since graduating high school, Reg has held and lost more jobs than he can count. Nobody keeps him on long, what with the twitchiness, the constant black eyes and the 'bad luck' that follows him. He crossed the country in fits and starts until he deadended on the west coast.
He's currently employed as a groundskeeper in a small state park. The pay's shit, but he spends long stretches maintaining trails, brushing back undergrowth, clearing treefalls and treating invasive weeds. It's quiet work, and he doesn't much mind the thought of keeling over in all that greenery one day. Reg's off-hours go towards his unflagging interest in working with clay; he throws pots, sculpts pieces inspired by his day job, and runs a small kiln out the back of the groundkeeper's cabin. In some small way he'd never admit to himself, he finds comfort in creating tangible things.
Personality:
Regev is a born cynic with a Saharan sense of humor. Since earliest childhood, he's lived his life under the constant threat of sudden death. That sort of worldview will Do Things to a person; without it, he probably would have been an intense, quiet guy with a preference for solitary work. Instead, he's a surly hermit with a wary eye on the rest of the world. A pessimist at heart, he's always planning for the worst case scenario and never enters a room without first mapping all the exits.
Regev is a coward by choice rather than nature. If it's at all possible to avoid the curse of the lilim by being cautious, avoiding dangerous situations and backing out of fights then, so help him, that's what he'll do do. His learned instinct is to keep his head down and run away from loud noises and startled screams. Dependable he ain't, and that's cost him more potential friendships than he can count.
To say that Reg is not a people person would be an understatement. His coworkers view him as competent but standoffish, his neighbors wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a serial killer and the local barista hasn't managed to get a “Good morning” out of him yet. It isn't that he dislikes people (not entirely) or has some kind of demonic urge to strangle old people going 35 on the highway (anymore than the rest of us), it's just that he doesn't know where/when/how the curse will take him, and he doesn't want anybody to be standing next to him when he goes. He figures he's shutting people out for their own good and, so far, nobody's been persistent enough to crack him.
He hasn't spoken to his father or stepmother since he graduated and Lillith has always been blissfully absent from his life. The only person Reg is even remotely fond of is his half sister Frances, a junior back in Asheville. Out of some misguided sense of childhood hero worship, she continues to email him, call him on his birthday and nag him mercilessly about getting a Facebook page. He returns the favor by hunting down parts for her hand-me-down Cavalier and occasionally threatening the Boyfriend Du'Jour. Affection (and, indeed, most warm fuzzy feelings) makes him come over all bluff and awkward, and is usually chased with some a wry remark.
All the same, there's something to be said for the way he wakes up every morning, acknowledges his continued existence, and goes about his day. Suicide rates are quite high among the lilim, but Regev is taking what he can from the time he's allowed.
Physical Appearance:
Intensive physical work has given Reg a decent build, but a love of hearty food keeps him from ever being cut. Though slightly taller than average at 5'10", he gives the impression of being shorter due to wide shoulders and a habitual slouch. He moves like that dorky kid in High School - always ducking from one spot to another with a quick glance over his shoulder.
The jury's still out on whether or not Regev is an attractive guy. His face is a collection of overly strong features that seem to compete with one another, from aggressive chin to heavy brows to distinctive nose. He's drop dead from some angles, striking from others and downright funny looking from the rest.
Reg doesn't do himself any favors: he wears his park uniform shirts at work and anonymous no-color tees otherwise, often neglects to shave and only cuts his hair when it starts to get into his face. His hands are heavily calloused and permanently begrimed from roofing tar, wood stains and various other work related substances. Why spend good money to leave a spiffy corpse behind?
Strengths:
-Perhaps because of his partially divine descent, Regev has an intuitive grasp of the inherent nature of people and objects. This makes him a pretty good judge of character and really, really skilled with his hands. Without knowing how he knows, he understands what raw materials secretly yearn to be and how best to utilize them. He's particularly drawn to clay as a medium, but this also gives him an edge on determining exactly how to fell a tree, or how to put up a sturdy fenceline.
-Traditionally speaking, lilim come and go with the winds. Regev, being born of a human father rather than a demonic or angelic one, can't quite manage this trick...but he can call up blasts and gusts of wind when sufficiently frightened. On one memorable occasion, he stirred up a gale that knocked the trees around the school courtyard flat.
-He might live alone, but he's a damn good cook. As antisocial as he is, he's got this thing about feeding people, possibly because angels and demons take the rules of hospitality very seriously (see: Sodom and Gomorrah).
-Although not particularly strong or fast, he's resilient to physical damage. Punches don't shake him as easily as they might an average man, while his skin resists bruising and splitting. He's never been sick a day in his life and can go without food or sleep for days at a time.
-His bodily fluids are mildly corrosive to non-demons and many organic materials. Internal fluids (ie: blood) are more highly acidic and can cause burns and boils, while contact with excreted fluids (ie: sweat) may merely lead to itching and rashes. He'd destroy a lot of shirts if he didn't have such an inborn tolerance for heat. In Regev's case, spitting in someone's face is more than just insulting - it could lead to blindness or disfigurement.
Weaknesses:
-His bodily fluids are mildly corrosive to non-demons and many organic materials. His hot water bill is practically nonexistent and relationships have never been in the cards.
-Any thing or person deemed 'divine' can hurt him pretty easily. While he can enter a church, he can't help but feel itchy and uncomfortable in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
-Use of his full name can cause him pain or even kill him (which is probably how God does the trick, come to think of it). He's careful to go by Reggie or Reg.
-Reg always takes the path of least resistance. If he can avoid an unpleasant or demanding situation, he will. He's not above lying, cheating or shirking to get out of unwanted responsibilities, and he'll never stand and fight when escape is an option. He's not, it must be said, a very good friend to have on your side, because he probably won't be there long.
Errata:
-Speaks with a very slight southern Appalachian accent. He likes to hope it doesn't come across hickish.
*Note:
The Author is aware that Lillith is rooted in Sumerian and Mesopotamian cultures, where she's not always as a negative figure. Her role as rebellious wife/baby killer is likely a case of a new religion trying to usurp and invalidate the powerful symbols of an established one. The lilim themselves are probably a take off the Akkadian 'lil', a kind of air spirit. That said, it's just not feasible to reflect eons of cultural backbiting from a role play point of view, so I'm going with the Talmudic/Kabalistic version for Regev's backstory.
…I'm also aware that the Alphabet of Ben Sira is largely viewed as satirical, but so much of what exists about Lillith is midrachim that I'm okay with that.
This journal is for entertainment purposes only and is in no way affiliated with Gael Garcia Bernal etc etc so on and so forth.
