info.

[floodless]

There are stories of artists falling love with their own work, wishing it would come to life. Others have wished that they could trade their imperfections with the immaculateness of a portrait, and those who felt that the code inside a computer could translate into real love. The man responsible for bringing Denys to life ... well. He, for the most part, meant business. A merchant of all sorts of trinkets and potions from the supernatural world, he claimed to have come upon a fluid that was the last remaining proof that the fountain of youth had really existed. Many sought to take it from him, and many more sought to take his life for it. The man asked for advice from a witch living on the outer edge of the empire, to which she said there was only one way to keep it safe and unattainable, yet forever his. Something no one could steal or kill. He'd been a patron to many artists. Finding an exceptional sculptor wasn't hard, and once the right stone was selected and carved into an idealised version of what he would have wanted a son to be, the statue was bathed in the fluid and brought to life. He was named Denys. Taken to the man's home and raised as his protégé, Denys' concept of who he was — what he was — was always warped. He was trained to defend himself, and told that one day he would have to leave the man behind and start his live over somewhere else, again and again and again ... Denys would get all the help he needed, though, as long as he promised to visit once every three years. On his last visit, Denys discovered that his creator had died over a year ago. Many years have passed since then. He tried to aspire for riches, to be memorable, to live as a failure, or to become promising — but in the end there are only so many things to do when you're human, and until now, progress has moved so slowly. Now that it's the easiest to gain access to so many things with so little effort is when Denys feels the most unremarkable he's ever been. He forgets many things, too, which is perhaps what makes him easier to forget in turn. The man he owes his 'life' to, for example ... he can no longer recall what his name was, let alone the house he grew up in. He's heard that even a mortal's past becomes a blur. None of them can remember being born. It's just as well; no one would be able to blame him for letting so many memories slip away. The man's main goal was achieved, though. Denys has, and still does, carry the essence of the alleged fountain of youth inside him. Any fluid that comes from his body — except for his blood — is capable of granting eternal life, under certain circumstances. This is not any man or woman's dream come true, though. Youth comes with a price in every story. Once properly consumed and the fluid has had its desired effects, the rest gets to work — pieces of what Denys came from, slowly turning the person into what he used to be: a statue. Trapped inside stone, forever they remain the true image of eternity. Needless to say Denys has tried his hand at 'sculpting', but he prefers to avoid any accidents anymore. He currently has an agreement with Louise Grimmshaw, a witch who specialises in wishgranting. He provides her with samples of his spit, which she brews into a potion that gets sold to her wealthiest customers. The fact that they come running to her when it's time to reverse the side/effects keeps her in business. Denys has no strong feelings about it. He doesn't have strong feelings about anything.