Rowan Olmstead (HADAL)

Real Name: Rowan Olmstead
Renegade Name: Hadal
Title: The Lurker of Lake Michigan / Son of the Uncrowned
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Race: Half-Human, Half-Eldritch-Monstrosity
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Yellow
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 100 lbs in Human form, weight varies otherwise
Blood type: A̴̧̢̡̭̺̥̤͍̜̳̲̳̺͒Á̴̤̝̫A̶̛̭̼͓̝̿̇͑͗̔̀͒̂̎̑͒̀͘A̸̹̰͎̹̾̋̈́͊̌̽̍̑̈́̇̎̐͑̕̕Ǎ̸̘̤̦́̒͗͑̈͂͊̀͂̓̈́̓͆̈














Rowan is a hot-headed boy from the South side of Chicago, whose pallid skin and sickly, weirdly glistening appearance earned him derision and even danger. In response he's developed a defensive and lonely streak, though this doesn't make him an introvert. No, he goes out of his way to try to make friends and even have a lovelife-- it's just that, one way or another, something about his 'specialness' has made his relationships short-lived.

For the small circle he can develop, though, that being whatever family he has (from his father's side, DEFINITELY not his mother's side) is guaranteed his loyalty. Due to the friendships that've passed him by, he's much less committal and-- unless someone can really prove they're in it for the long haul-- he has an unfortunate tendency to drop people and go his own path.

As an adult, Rowan does the best he can to hide his fishy traits in public, though it's getting more difficult as he ages-- especially with the esca on his head. This makes him even less likely to stay in one place or make close friendships. He passes his time often by sticking his nose into other 'special' peoples' business out of a genuine excitement for people who he'd usually have seen in comic books, and while he never goes out of the way to hurt people, his presence is as often a headache for the hero as it is a boon.


Rowan's father, the now-deceased Emil Olmstead, was an avid diver who frequented the West Pacific and Indian Oceans. Mister Olmstead was famous for his advancements in aquatic travel, having developed incredible JIM suit technology that was capable of bringing the human body into depths nobody ever imagined could be possible.

Mister Olmstead was known for being... enigmatic, though.  His whole life, his family noticed he had an acute fascination with mer-people and media surrounding the Cthulu mythos-- which, whatever, that's pretty cool. Things got weird, though, when he dumped his first girlfriend, stating that 'he was already married to a Real Queen.' Nobody knew what he meant, but he never had another partner after that-- at least, not a human one...

His life savings were poured into the making of the Ocean Locomotion Module, or the OLM suit. With this device that could peer right down into the Hadal, he was able to practice enough to go deep-- and so, on a trip to the open waters between Japan and the Philippines, Mister Olmstead fulfilled his life's purpose-- and he took the OLM suit into the deepest asscrack of the planet.

There, he met the woman he'd been waiting all his life to meet-- the Uncrowned Queen, a massive being residing near the Mariana Trench, uncontacted by humans before this point but so powerful as to shape the ocean floor around her into her kingdom. She welcomed him with open arms, and he-- not realizing that he was about to mate the way Angler Fish do-- accepted her.

He was never heard from again.

But his son was!

Nine months later, a baby boy was found washed up on the side of Lake Michigan with a note attached: "T̶̡̪͍̟̯͙̯̳̙͓̾̊͆͜K̷̺̦̥̯̠̔̄A̴̡͍̠̯͔̣͎̘͉̯̲̬̬͈̒͆̌E̶̠̔͐͒̑͆̈́͑̏̅ ̴̡̡̨̛͉̤̜͈͓͗̍̔̓̅̋͘̕c̸̟͎̅̈́̆̌̀̎̔̆̑̍͘̕͠R̷̛͚͇̮̹̅͑̽̈́͛͝ͅͅȆ̸̮̦̭͕̓̋̄̎̃̀̅͘Ḁ̸̮̤̈́E̸̛̛͙͚͙̠͖͐̈́̋͛̃̀̌͌̄̌́͠ ̵̩̹̯̘͍̲̓͆F̷͙̱̗͓̓̽̅́́̊̑̓̌̕͜͠O̷̡̡͈̲̙͔̰̹̻̖͐̀̄͌̍͊́̚͜ͅ ̵̡̡̰̤̤̳͈̭̥̖̈́͑̿͂̍̍̈́̾̏̇̽̚̕̕͜ͅṂ̸͇̄Ḛ̴̪͌͗̆ ̷͚̣̫͚̝̥͂͛̽̊̽̆̑̄̚͜P̷̧͉̘͉̫͈͉̙̮̠̻̔̍̀͒͑̈́̃͗̀̏̿̾͘͝Ļ̴̥̥̝̺͓̰̣̎̏̿̒̅̄͐S̸̻̞̱͕͍̼̣̞̮̪͇̱̈̀̏̉̋̅̊͆̆̇͝"  Authorities, unalarmed, did DNA tests and confirmed the baby was Olmstead's-- kinda weird, given he disappeared in the Pacific nine months ago.

Oh, weird. Nine months. He must've met a really nice lady over there... Either way, with no sign of Emil, his brother took the baby in and named him 'Emily.' This is because Rowan had not yet transitioned, but when he would, he would instead be named 'Rowan' because, to quote his uncle, 'We just found him Rowin' inta our lives HEEHEEEhAEWEE--'

Rowan grew as a normal human baby and toddler, but as he aged he developed both odd physical traits and odd behaviors. His skin was growing more pale and grey, and the top of his head had a... tumor? It looked like a tumor, growing into something weirdly long. As a child, he often told his adoptive parents that he would speak to his mother in his dreams, and for a while he wished to meet said mother with all his heart... Until...

Until one day, he went to play in Lake Michigan with the family. After a few moments of splashing in the water and having fun, Rowan went silent-- still-- and then dove into the water with the precision of an athlete. There was a panic, his uncle and aunt rushing to find him and drag him back out of the lake-- even calling 911-- but nobody would find any trace of him. After twelve hours of searching, Rowan was pronounced dead and the couple-- devastated-- had to go home to mourn and inform the rest of their family...

Only to find a goblin-sized fish monster covered in blood with half of a dead duck hanging out of its mouth had broken into their home to eat all their potato chips. The uncle was packing heat at the time and, screaming, he shot at it-- but missed as it scrambled behind the counter in a panic. They came over, terrified of being jumped...

And behind the counter, curled up in a ball, was Rowan, who was crying and still turning back into a human.

The boy, it turns out, was only partially human, and had a monstrous side that awoke whenever he was fully submerged in water. Turning fully into a fish-like humanoid entity that could barely speak any english, he was a person in the dry world-- but a monster in the wet one. The family, not wanting to get murdered by the CIA or SCP foundation or whatever government department handled shit like this, decided they would keep it a secret and help Rowan lead a normal life.

Unfortunately, as he ages, Rowan's traits only grow more apparent. He's developed gills, his 'tumor' has actually grown into an Angler Fish esca, and his teeth has sharpened to an almost shark-like degree. More sensitive to water than ever, even moderate rain is enough to trigger the neurons that send him into the painful process of morphing into the Lurker of Lake Michigan.

In his senior year of High School, despite his oddities, he managed to be invited to a party. Problem: The party was a party in a rich friend's private yacht. 'Okay,' he thought, 'I'll just stay on the yacht. It should be fine.' However, seeing he 'wasn't having fun' all dry on the yacht's deck, and with phones ready to snap photos, Rowan was pushed into the lake and-- for a second time-- promptly disappeared.

Alarmed, the teenagers dove in to search for him, one accidentally stepping on a sharp edge of the boat and slightly cutting their foot in the process. This bit of blood leaked into the water, and unfortunately, that was enough to turn the party into a retelling of Larry Fessenden's 'Beneath'-- or 'Jaws,' if that's your preference.

Rowan went home horrified of his monstrous potential and unable to forgive himself. As he devoured, she spoke to him again-- his mother-- and in a shocking twist, she seemed to support murdering other minors. Definitely not okay. After a graduation where all he did was thousand-yard-stare, he politely but promptly moved out of the house-- finding the cheapest apartment he could in one of the cheapest neighborhoods in Chicago.

Now, five years later, Rowan works as a part-time receptionist during the day and a part-time dock-thief during the night, utilizing his fishy self to creep into rich houses on the lake's edge and take valuables nobody will miss so that he can get by. He'd rather that involve nobody seeing him, but if they do see him, who the fuck is gonna try to stop a giant angler fish monster that just seems intent on snagging some jewelry?

Of course, Rowan has been seen, and has left quite a trail in Chicago. Known as the 'Lurker of Lake Michigan,' hazy black and white photographs of the monster have shown up all over, with the city's residents debating as to whether he's real or just a freak in a costume.

While he hides his identity, Rowan seeks to understand his own nature-- what kind of life he can expect for himself, what he can do with the powers 'gifted' to him, and how he can make it so that he never hurts another soul again.


FISH FREAK - When exposed to enough water (about enough to cover his skin), Rowan will transform into a fish-like monster with incredible strength and speed that only gets more daunting when in the water. On land, he's akin to an agile werewolf, capable of ripping open car doors and prying limbs off of normal humans while running up to 20 MPH and jumping a whole story into the air, but in the water, he darts through the waves at terrifying speeds, up to 70 MPH, can claw holes into steel boats, and has the blood sense of a shark.

ENTICING LANTERN (PLAYER PERMISSION-DEPENDENT) - Those who see the light of Rowan's 'lantern' can suffer from various effects. If he's able to control the power of his lantern, he can use it to borderline-hypnotize people and lure them closer, or even convince them to do simple things like 'open that door.' Right now, without being able to control it, it mostly has the effect of scrambling people's minds, filling it with obtrusive thoughts brought up from the depths of the worst part of their moral character.

DEPTH DETECTION - When his body is exposed to increasing pressure (this is mostly from ocean depth, though can be experienced via crushing or other stuff like that), Rowan's form grows larger, more alien, and more ravenous. Though he has never gone to the ocean himself out of Pants-Shitting Fear of what might happen, were he to travel to the bottom, he would become something barely recognizable as from this planet... Something that ought not exist.

REGENERATION - Rowan has slow-acting regeneration that makes him resistant to, y'know, dying and stuff. Like a starfish, he can regrow lost limbs and organs, though this usually takes a day of rest. Unless he's experiencing enough pressure to trigger DEPTH DETECTION well enough, his regeneration is not fast enough to be meaningful in a fight that might only last a few minutes.

Shit How Does This Work - Rowan doesn't have much control over his powers, if he even can control some of them at all. Someone can throw him into the water to make him a smooth-brained fish freak that would kill itself if exposed to an algebra problem, and if someone is able to pin him down or outlast him in a fight on land, there's a possibility he could become dry and go back to his human form-- which, while being decently strong and toned, isn't on any level that a normal human couldn't achieve. He doesn't know how to control his lantern much yet, either.

FAITH - Rowan is weirdly influenced by the thoughts and feelings that people have about him. Beyond the emotional level, of course. Those that believe him to be a fearsome monster actively have a metaphysical effect on his body and psyche that makes him more monstrous-- but on the same token, those that believe they can defeat him with a cross laden in salt will, oddly enough, find that their cross laden in salt actually really burns him for some weird reason. This has to be a whole-hearted faithful belief in who and what he is, and knowledge of this weakness's nature can actually hamper its effect.

DRY... While Rowan does not want to be wet 24/7, he really doesn't wanna be dry or exposed to an area with too much heat. Rowan's body will actively shrivel up and grow weak the dryer he becomes, necessitating that he take a good bath at least every day to ensure that he's healthy. If ever he was unable to get himself wet for a long time, or if he was exposed to enough heat, he would become a shriveled little bitch boy pretty quickly.

SENSITIVE While metaphysically vulnerable to people's thoughts and feelings about him, Rowan is also emotionally vulnerable to those as well. He will angry-cry if someone is rude enough to him, and he's extremely easy to manipulate if you know what buttons to push.  

SWORD - As a HEMA nerd, Rowan has his own jury-rigged suit of armor made from cosplay gear and stuff he found in a dumpster outside his work. More importantly, though, he bears a sword that he graciously acquired from a wealthy British Lord who was visiting Chicago at the time. He did not ask for permission to take the sword. It's a very well-balanced and sharp longsword, and he likes to use it in his more human activity.

FIFTY SIX.SEVENTY THREE - That is the value of his bank account as of 01/06/20XX.


CULT OF THE UNCROWNED - A cult exists in worship to Rowan's mother, a cult which knows that there is a '''''daughter''''' to the Uncrowned who sleeps beneath the sea. They seek out this daughter, unaware that he is not particularly a daughter and that he is not particularly keen on being found out. They worship the daughter as a christ-like figure, seeing as she is half-man and half-god, and believe she will usher the new awakening of the Uncrowned Queen and yada Yada. Rowan limits contact with them, but he has sent letters to them in the past as the Uncrowned Princess, and has manipulated them into doing stuff he really needs them to do if he can get away with it. There are a few wealthy and powerful members of the Cult of the Uncrowned, so as long as he's careful, he can try to get their help... You know, at a cost. All of the members of the Cult of the Uncrowned are normal humans, but when coming together, they are capable of doing intricate rituals to bring part of the Uncrowned's power into the world.

FISHY FRIENDS - Any animal which spends most of its life in the water becomes spontaneously sentient when within twenty feet of Rowan.  They stop being sentient when they leave that radius. During that time of sentience, though, they become very amicable to him and want to be his friend so badly they'll do anything to do it.

- Rowan avoids horror fiction due to, you know, life, but he loves other types of fantasy and science fiction, with his apartment being a giant nerd-cave full of comic book heroes, newspaper clippings of other heroes, and pictures of dragons in questionable poses.

- Rowan has a hundred-gallon tank of fiddler crabs as well as half a dozen other saltwater aquariums filled with clown fish, tangs, different species of shrimp, and yes, even an Angler Fish.

- Rowan runs a mildly successful Twitch Stream where he plays RPGs and talks about his opinion on different heroes and villains.

An easy night on the town, he thought he'd make of it. Slipping through the shimmering waves of Lake Michigan, the Lurker-- the one branded 'Hadal--' darted through the water towards Central Chicago, where the lights of opulent mansions filled the landscape. Little beeping lights filled the dark sky, drones armed with cameras eager to catch the 'Lurker' in action. He hesitated, floating in the water with just his eyes above as he watched... But the growl of his stomach broke any doubts he had. He needed this.

He broke the waves and darted across the dark beach, scaling a sheer wall and clambering onto it with skittering long claws. A sleek shape disappeared into a bush the moment a drone's camera caught a glimpse of it-- a treat for the hardcore cryptozoologists, nothing more. He made his way between two houses-- but stopped as he heard a little squeak behind him.

'Eehehhh!!! eeehhhh!!!!!!'

He looked back and saw, in one gaudy and overblown pool, there was a turtle scrambling at the wall. Knowing it was filled with chlorine and whatever other awful shit humans use to specifically kill any native species who like to take a dip in their shitty artificial ponds, he sighed and trudged back-- climbing over the barred gate and lowering his hands into the water.

His hands stung from the chemicals-- pollution was never fun to wade through, not even for a demi-god fish like him. It must've hurt worse for the turtle, though, and it was that thought that made him haul the foot-long boy out of the pool and into his arms.

The turtle, color of its eyes suddenly shifting as it looked up at him with an almost -soulful- glance, began to speak. "Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyy ggggggggggg--"

A shout from inside the house. Their back door was a screen door, god damn it. "OH SHIT!! MAH, THE LURKER! I FOUND THE FUCKIN' LURKER!"

"---gggggggooooossssssshhhhhhhhh, yyyyyyoooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu ssssss--"

"MAH GET THE CAMERA, MAH GET THE CAMERA SO WE CAN-- MAH, LOOK, iT'S RUNNIN' OFF! MAAAAAAHHHH--"

Rowan burst through the fence with the turtle in his arms and erupted back into the water without a second thought. Back through the turbid waters of the Michigan he went, and with a sigh, he listened to the turtle finally finish its sentence.

"ssssaaaaavvveeeeddddd meeeeeeeeeeeeee...."

Slowly, the two sank to the lakebed, and two bulbous bright eyes met the turtle's. "Uh, no-- no problem," He said with a sigh, as the pit in his stomach widened. "You wanna come home with me? I really want a pet turtle--"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS."

"Okay! OKay-- Okay stop, I'm going! I'm going now! Let's go!"

He would... just have ramen tonight. Or raw fish, or a duck. That would be good, too. He guessed.