Name origin: Myriam is inspired by "myriapod", the group of creatures to which centipedes belong. Heros comes from Scolopendra heros, the scientific name for the giant desert centipede which is the species Myriam is based on.
Gender: female
Species: human-centipede hybrid (more specifically the centipede species is the giant desert centipede)
Age: 27
Sexuality: bisexual
Nationality: American (from Texas specifically)
Occupation: judge (the interpretation of this profession may vary depending on how the universe in which the RP takes place works. If the monsters/nonhumans dwell and work in cities just as humans do, then she would be a judge in the same sense as in our world. If the monsters/nonhumans are forced to live out "in the wild" then she would likely hear disputes and such among those who dwell in her native desert, probably having been appointed to the position by whoever is in charge of the area or elected by is residents)
Family: 6 sisters and 19 brothers (they all went their separate ways at various points so Myriam doesn't really know what became of most of them; they were all from the same clutch so are all the same age, with all of them hatching within the span of a few days) Parents (Lew, father, and Sonora, mother) Myriam is an expectant mother herself; she has a clutch of 18 eggs, still a ways away from hatching (centipede eggs take about a month to hatch, while human babies take 9 months to develop, so I'm going to take the average and say that the eggs of Myriam's species take 5 months to hatch). Depending on what would work better for the RP, either the father was killed while out hunting for food, or he just up and left Myriam, shortly after she laid her eggs. They wanted children, but in the case of the latter storyline, the father decided he wasn't keen on such a commitment after all once the eggs were actually out and the full weight of it hit him like a ton of bricks.
Appearance: She has light reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. She is humanoid from the waist up, with the only abnormal features being her antennae, which are dark orange, and her forcipules (which look like claws and are used to inject venom) which are black and stick out below her face, curving towards her chin (it's a little hard to explain). From the waist down, she has the body of a centipede. The length of the body is black with a slight greenish tint visible if the light hits it right, while her legs are mango-orange (except the last pair which are black). See the picture below for an idea of what the centipede body looks like. Note that she is based on the Castaneiceps variant of S. heros.
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Photo credit: Terry McCormick on the Scolopendra Heros Project website https://scolopendraherosproject.wordpress.com/gallery/
Personality: Myriam is a no-nonsense kind of person. She'll be lighthearted when the occasion calls for it, but she is not afraid to put her foot down when necessary. She won't tolerate liars and manipulators and can generally see through them easily. She is not necessarily the warmest person-her species rarely are-but will warm up to you once she trusts you. Due to having recently laid her eggs, motherly instincts are starting to kick in. She is very protective of not just her eggs but anyone who is close to her, and will be very quick to react to anything (person, behaviour, remark, etc) that she perceives as a potential threat, even if she is in reality overreacting. She won't envenomate unless actually attacked, but she is not afraid to get up close and personal in order to get her message across.
Strengths/skills: has very potent venom (injected via her forcipules), very keen sense of smell via her antennae, good at hunting and surviving in the desert,
Backstory: Myriam was one of a brood of 26: 19 males and 7 females including herself. She hatched and was raised along with her siblings in a sand burrow in the Texan desert. She and her siblings were not all necessarily close with one another due to there being so many of them. Fights and competitions broke out frequently among them, as one might expect from so many young in one household, and especially when it comes to her species. Living out in the harsh desert conditions, they all learnt to hunt and fend for themselves very quickly, and they left home at a younger age then a human typically would. Aside from the skewed gender ratio, Myriam and her siblings were a varied bunch, and their lives took them all in various different directions, though Myriam does not know where each end every one of her siblings has ended up. She ventured outside the desert to find her calling, knowing there was more to life then just pure survival. The harsh and unforgiving nature of the law appealed to her due to the harsh, unforgiving nature of the desert in which she had been raised and the attitude to life that such a clime required of those who wished to survive there. She was quite successful in her studies and career (intelligence and cunning being a requirement of a successful desert hunter, especially when competing with her siblings) and eventually found herself appointed as a judge. At some point after leaving the desert, she met her eventual mate. The two had a relationship which lasted a number of years and eventually the two felt that they were ready to produce offspring. Shortly after Myriam laid their eggs however, the full weight of the commitment hit her mate and he realised that such a thing was not what he wanted after all. Myriam did not understand; how could he not have comprehended all that it would entail? Still, he left her. Even so, Myriam still intended to keep her clutch and raise her young; her kind are very independent in general, and she has both good survival and hunting skills and a good career. She can handle it. Doesn't mean she forgives her former mate though. She lives in a sort of desert den, located on the outskirts of the city. It has an entrance above ground but most of her house is below ground and, though perfectly structurally sound and in many ways like a typical house, recreates the conditions of the kind of burrow that she was raised in, complete with sandy floors and a deep underground chamber where she sleeps buried in sand (and keeps her eggs).
Notes and symbolism 1. Myriam's mother's name comes from the Sonoran Desert, which is where the giant desert centipede can be found (not located in Texas, I know. Perhaps that is where her mother came from). Her father Lew is named after C. S. Lewis, in relation to his book "The Screwtape Letters", in which the titular character Screwtape transforms into a centipede-like creature late in the book. (I was originally going to name him Francis after Franz Kafka in relation to his work "Metamorphosis", but one, I think more people are aware of Metamorphosis and symbolism relating to it is more common so it would be less original, and two, I haven't actually read Metamorphosis yet although I would like to, whereas I HAVE actually read The Screwtape Letters.) 2. Myriam was inspired by a variant of S. heros, S. heros castaneiceps. This variant is also known as the Texan redheaded centipede, hence why Myriam is from Texas. 3. Desert centipedes bury their eggs in the sand, so Myriam would usually leave them at home when she goes out (in the sand-filled chamber where she sleeps). When it comes close to hatching time she will stay at home with them though. If she does need to carry them with her she would carry them in her legs as mother centipedes do. 4. Disclaimer: I am not from America; I am from Australia. Some American stuff is a little confusing or unfamiliar to me. I'll try to be as accurate as I can.
