Jonas Meriwether

Jonas Meriwether

Ship : Isabella

Title : Lead Scout

Age : 25

Homeworld : Hallow

Hometown : Melbourne, victoria, Australia

Date of Birth : March 30th, 1855

Biography
Jonas was born to a typical Australian family in the spring of 1855, in the city of Melbourne, in the State of Victoria. His father was a British prisoner who had won his freedom, and gone on to stake claim to free land. If you could defend it and keep it, and you laid claim. It was yours. That’s how things worked. Jonas grew up only a few miles away from town. Due to his father’s previous nature, Jonas grew up with a bit of distain for British officers. He worked for most of his young life doing odd jobs in the City, he was never properly educated, but picked up things as he did jobs for people around town, and also learned things in trade. Jonas’ Father was a hunter and would sell game to the local butcher, in which Jonas would negotiate and haggle prices and come home with a day’s pay. He’d then go to the library where in return for carting book shipments and organizing, the librarian taught him how to write and read. He also frequently made stops by the local clock shop to make deals or do a small favor or two, for which he asked for nothing in return except to just spend time there.

The reason for doing this was because of Sally Winsted, then clock maker’s young daughter. He would offer favors just to spend time and talk with her, she always had the best stories to tell, and they became good friends. As they grew up they became the best of friends, and then slowly started to fall in love. Jonas picked up trade as a chef in the local restaurant right next to the clock shop, so that during breaks he could sneak out and talk with her. The clock owner didn’t appreciate the former prisoners son making eyes at his daughter, so he forbid her to see Jonas, of course this just spurred on the girl who lived for fantastic stories, and she was even more compelled to be with him. When he was 16 Jonas saved up enough money to buy a ring that Sally said she had always wanted, he kept it and waited for the right moment to propose. Jonas came home after buying the ring to find both of his parents dead, he could tell there was a struggle, and an unknown man’s arm lay on the ground. He figured it was a hit of some sort, the Meriwether’s were never well liked, and it could have several people to have ordered it. Jonas found it unsafe to stay at home, he took his father’s knife that had removed the assassin’s arm and started squatting in the attic of the restaurant that he worked. That night he snuck over to see sally. She was an emotional mess, she had become pregnant by Jonas, and her father had found out, she feared that he had done something rash. Jonas made no reply; he knew who had ordered the hit on his family, and him. He told her everything would be alright, and then he stopped to look at her, noticing that she had been covering up bruises on her body. Jonas kept his rage bottled up, but stared formulating a scheme. A few days later however he asked Sally over to dine in his restaurant, he then proposed to her. She of course said yes. She then gifted him with a special ring she had made, one with a clock in it, it was all she could offer, and he gladly took it.

When sally discovered that Jonas’ parents had died, he lied to her and told her that it had been a hunting accident and that his father had brought home an animal that was not all dead, and it had gotten lose.

Over the next few months, Jonas started seeing a gentleman come in with a single arm, a trader who was known for shady dealings. Jonas kept an eye on him and followed his business at the docks. One night when the Trader was off on business, Jonas eliminated the trader’s goods and framed the clock maker for it. On the night of the Trader’s return, Jonas invited Sally over to his place in the attic for the night, like they had done many time before. However when she returned in the morning her father was dead. She collapsed on the floor and a doctor was brought in to examine her. The stress of her father dying and her having to take over his business hit her too hard, as well as her mediocre health she had had her whole life, and they were informed by the Doctor that they had lost the baby. A little baby girl they were to Call Josephine after Jonas’ mother. Jonas was in shock of what he had caused, he blamed himself for his wife’s health and the loss of his unborn daughter. Jonas however foolishly took his rage out on the Trader; he killed him with his father’s knife and disposed of the body. Jonas was in fear of committing murder, but due to the trader’s shady nature, no one came looking for his killer.

Jonas moved into Sally’s house, keeping the guilt with him of everything, nursing his wife back to health, working his job, and assisting her with the clocks. Out of his guilt however, he was able to nurse Sally back to health, and when Jonas turned 18, he was gifted with the news of her being pregnant once again. Nine months later the couple gave birth to a healthy baby boy they named Barnaby. Everything went well for the Meriwether’s after that for about a year. Then one day, Jonas was in his restaurant, and just blacked out.

Jonas awoke 3 years later. He was scared to see that when he started talking to his wife that she seemed distant and questioning, and to see her holding a new baby. He freaked out quite a bit, until him and his wife had a long talk and she started crying and exclaiming that he was finally back, that he was finally himself again. She had told him that for the past 3 years, he had acted completely different, as if he had known nothing, and had started over from scratch. At first they believed it to be a case of amnesia, but as he went on, it became apparent that the man inside his body was not Jonas. Sally explained that the whole time she tried to find ways to bring him back, and that while he was in this state he went all over reading and discovering as much as possible, learning and keeping record for no apparent reason. She also explained that the pregnancy was a result at one of her attempts to get him back. The girl had been run ragged by the need for her husband back, and now she finally did. He discovered that his new child’s name was Boomhower, Boom for short. Jonas found this all a bit to take in, but in time he slowly got used to it and resumed his normal life.

The owner of the restaurant was glad he was back to his normal self, because none of his previous chefs had worked out at all. He gave Jonas his job back and said that people had been asking for him. One Captain in particular kept offering him a job on his spice vessel and told him if he would join him, he’d gladly pay triple his current wages. Jonas was tempted by the offer the captain had made, but declined because of his family.

One night after being deep in sleep, Jonas had a nightmare of him being in an outlandish place, almost unreal, and keeping record for some reason, he looked down to find out his body was not his… it wasn’t even human. Jonas awoke from the dream screaming in terror, he quickly ran to check that he was all there, the dream had shook him, and he wondered of its meaning. He started having the dream more and more, each time it became more vivid, each time he seemed to progress, in it. In what seemed to be the final stages of the dream, while in this in-human body, after writing down knowledge in the books, he made a sketch of his family on a blank page, himself, his wife, and Barnaby. Soon the night terrors became too much. The local shrink believed them to be a manifestation of guilt. So Jonas went to his wife and confessed the secrets he had been hiding, of his parents having a hit put on by her father. The plot he organized to get her father killed, and his murder of the trader. Sally seemed rather upset, not by the fact that he could do those things, she knew he did them out of love for her, but the fact that he had never been honest with her, even when she had spend 3 years trying to get him back, even after sleeping with that thing that inhabited his body. Sally forgave him, but the nightmares did not stop. Sally recommended that he Take the captain’s offer to leave for awhile, maybe clear his head, or seek a doctor in India that could. He agreed with her, and the next day told the Spice captain that he would be on his next trip out. Jonas packed his things, including his father’s Knife, and Joined the ship “Lydia” and her crew. Aboard he met quite a few of interesting men. A very strait laced doctor from Great Britain, a fisherman from Barbados, the first mate from Greece, A British officer who had ran many different missions and a young lad from Australia who needed money to pay for his mother’s operation. Jonas didn’t spend much time with the rest of the crew, but always got to speak with the captain during meal time, this was good enough for him. A week after their voyage had started; a terrible storm destroyed the ship.

Jonas awoke to find that only he and five other men had survived. The Doctor, the Fisherman, the Greek, the Officer, and the lad. The captain had gone down with the ship, like all good captains do. They soon banded together and started to make a camp. The officer was convinced that the British Navy would find them as long as they kept a fire up. They all slept with no one on guard their first night of camp, tired from putting it together. This proved to be a terrible mistake. In the middle of the night the crew was awakened by screams. The doctor had been taken, by who or what they did not know. They started following the screams as they came upon a clearing in the woods. Savages had taken him, and he was being offered in some sacrifice to one of their gods. They were attempting a rescue when their god came to them, in a massive and horrible form, all 5 men only caught a glimpse of it and ran. When they made it back to their camp they also noticed that the officer was missing ad that they had lost him along the way.

The men continued to try and live hoping that the navy would come, or just that anyone would come. They only ran into the savages a few more times and fended them off. Jonas becomes familiar with the jungle that they are in, and spends his time gathering fruit, mushrooms, and killing small animals. They discover that the jungle is filled with all kinds of terrifying beasts that could easily kill a human. Jonas gains a knack for scouting the jungle and avoiding the beasts until he can bring back the others to help eliminate it. Jonas also took up looking after the lad, who was having a hard time adjusting to life on the island and would have constant breakdowns. After a few months the officer returned, but something was terribly wrong. He had lost his mind. He kept rambling on about something following him, and growing, and that they should leave, and something about a gate. They others tried to keep the officer in check, but he started to get violent and insist that they leave and that there was no hope. Once when Jonas and the Fisherman took him looking for food with them, he had one of his episodes, and when trying to calm him down, they accidentally killed him in self-defense. They decided to make it look like he had taken his own life and took him back and buried him. Jonas kept his uniform to carry on the officer’s memory. After a while the Greek digs up the officer’s body and discovers that it wasn’t much of an accident and approaches the fisherman about it, attempting to blackmail him. The fisherman discovers that much like him the Greek is also very elitist, and they come to the conclusion that Jonas and the lad are the weak links and must be eliminated.

They both decide to eliminate Jonas first. They spring several traps but Jonas manages to escape all of them. It doesn’t take him too long before he discovers what is going on. He plays dumb with them pretending he doesn’t know to their faces, and keeping the charade up for the lad. Jonas figured that the lad is always on edge, if the poor kid found out that his teammates were trying to kill one another, he’d go over the edge. Jonas decided to keep it between him and the two traitors. The Greek decided after their first three traps didn’t work, that he would try one on his own. Jonas once again played dumb and pretended to spring the trap. When the Greek though that Jonas was for sure dead, he walked full on into his own trap and was killed. Jonas returned to camp with the news that the Greek had gotten killed in an accident. The fisherman then knew that Jonas had them figured out, and rashly went to go spring his trap the night after, while Jonas comforted the lad on the loss of another team mate. After the lad was asleep Jonas went to find the fisherman setting up his trap and confronted him. They engaged in combat, their noises echoing through the jungle, calling the attention of some of the beasts. The beasts ran for them. Jonas managed to get away with a few scars, but the fisherman was devoured. Jonas sadly returned to camp, knowing that in the morning he would have to tell the lad that they once again lost another member, knowing that he would have to keep him calm, and not wanting to ruin the kid’s vision of the other two members decided to keep their betrayal a secret still.

More months pass. The lad seems to get a bit distant from Jonas, but also becomes more stable, Jonas figures it’s just him gaining the strength to stand on his own two feet. To Jonas’ surprise the lad catches him in a trap and Jonas is at his mercy. The lad reveals to Jonas that he thinks that Jonas has killed everyone in their group, including the doctor and the officer, and thinks that he’s next and he’s just getting to Jonas before Jonas gets to him. Jonas once again feels caught up in something that was his fault. He keeps trying to protect people by not keeping the truth from them, and it ends up coming full circle on him. Jonas lets the truth go on the lad, the lad becomes unstable because he wants to believe Jonas, but ends up killing himself out of sheer madness.

Alone and Weary, Jonas starts to wander all over the island in despair. His only company now dead. He fought all sorts of beasts and was inured many times, having to use up the rest of their supplies and his knowledge of nature to keep himself alive. Jonas wandered and wandered the island, until he stumbled upon what seemed like miles of ruins. Some kind of ancient civilization with strange buildings and markings. Something of his seemed eerily familiar to him. For some reason he could easily navigate this place, almost as if he knew it. There were none of the beasts here, it’s almost as if they knew something he didn’t, and they dare not travel to this place. Jonas decided to remain there for awhile gather food from the jungle and come back, but this only lasted for a few nights. Each night Jonas would find himself a little further into the ruins, until he came across a building that struck him with familiarity, as if it was his own home. He warily entered, and started to pace its halls, until he came to a basement, he slipped into the corridor, and fought to keep himself sane. It was the one from his dreams, the one where he had been inhuman, and the one that have given him so much grief. The place actually existed. This could not be. Jonas decided there was only one way to check. He started rummaging through the containments until he found it, a large book. He flipped through it, to his horror it was all in English, all in his handwriting. Jonas came to the last page, and then ran in terror. Fleeing from the ruins running into the jungle filled with beasts. It seemed like hours before he escaped into the jungle from that awful place. Jonas fled himself into madness, he was confused to what it all meant, and he relived each and every one of his sins. He tried to comprehend how this all could be. Then he discovered that he couldn’t deal with it. He couldn’t deal with any of it. It wasn’t worth it. If he was to get rid of one thing he was to get rid of all of it, a safety measure to make sure that it would never come back. So that’s what he did, he threw out his whole past. He locked it away in a place inside of his head he knew he could never find it, where it could never bother him. Who he had been before he was on this island didn’t matter, if that didn’t matter then those ruins couldn’t get to him, what was in that book could not affect him. All he knew that he should do now is stay far away from them.

Jonas spend the days after that, building a tree fort, in order to keep safe, and one with defenses so that he may fight the beasts that came, He built it far on the other side of the island from here the ruins were. Anything was better than that place. Those ghastly ruins. Everything seemed fine for awhile, until one morning while looking out over the horizon, and saw them. The ruins on the three edge where the sunrise was. To him that was impossible. How could ruins grow over an island? How could they come for him? Then he realized the madness that had befallen the officer. That’s where the officer had been, that’s why he was so determined to get them out of there, he knew! He had been down there; he had seen things that should not be. Jonas then knew what he had to do; he started re-constructing his tree house into a giant raft, one as big as he could make it. One so big that he could fit what he had left on it, and make sure never to return. After one week it was done, and he didn’t even have to look from a tree to see that the ruins were almost to him. Ruins as far as the eye could see. When the time came, Jonas shoved off from the shore with a handful of supplies with him. He made the mistake of looking back, only to see that the one beautiful island, was now nothing but those ruins. Those ruins that held terrible secrets, those ruins that held that book, the book in which the last page, still remained the sketch of his family.

Months passed on that Raft as Jonas’ body started to whittle away into nothing. He was living in madness. To get away from that place was his only goal. He barley had any life left in him. He would constantly hallucinate things from his past. His wife, his sons, his mother and father. Oddities from the ocean, gods coming up from the ground. Starts falling from the sky. Until one day one of those stars did fall from the sky, and then it just floated there. As his vision cleared, he found it wasn’t a star at all, but some kind of floating ship. Two people came down from the ship, one male, and one female. They mentioned something about him not being too safe in Louisiana waters, and they brought him on board. Those two happened to be Javert and Amarante, at that time two prospects for crew for the airship Isabella. As they brought him aboard the ship they found that he was quite disturbed, and there were many things wrong with him, he had seen a lot. After a few months, and many good meals, and a few not so good ones, Jonas started to recover. He still had violent nightmares, he still had trust issues with some of the members of the crew, but he was getting better. Jonsey offered to take care of him in his time on the ship, and took responsibility for him. The Captain soon recognized his skills as an outdoorsman, and he was taken on as Jonesy’s prospect, and took the job of being a scout. Jonas has grown a lot since then and been on many adventures with the Isabella, his rank is now that of lead scout, and he wears it with pride. He still has trouble remembering who he was, but he finds that who he is now, is much more important.

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© Airship Isabella 2012