Celandine

Celandine's life goal is to make sure the world is a kinder place- and she will do terrible things to make it so. She will be soft and gentle to those who deserve it, and even some who don't, but those who try to hurt those deserving people will be met with righteous fury.

She is more of a support figure than a leader. She isn't the smartest person in the world, but she is intuitive. She knows who to trust, and she will follow those who she knows have a noble mission. She is humble- she thinks taking the spotlight is doing a disservice to those who could shine in it.

Seeds

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Celandine grew up human, in a small farming town in the middle of a valley. She worked hard and always did her best to do right by her family. As a teenager, she fell in love with the girl down the street- a pale violet tiefling named Lilac with short, curly indigo hair and a dazzling smile. They snuck out often to the edge of the woods, stealing kisses and dreaming about the future.

Celandine knew her family couldn't afford a dowry, though, and neither did Lilac's. They would have nothing. So, Celandine, fueled by love and a lifelong wish to defend those who could not defend themselves, decided to become a soldier. The childhood romance didn't last, but they stayed friends. Celandine still wanted to be a soldier, though, and she left when she turned 18.

After 10 years, Celandine returned home, having saved enough money from being a soldier that she could afford a small home. She bought a little house with a small farm and a flower garden, and settled back into civilian life. Soon, she met Lilac again. She lived in a tiny house on her parents' land, raising her baby boy. Celandine went over to visit a few times, and slowly realized that she'd never really fallen out of love with her.

As they talked, she learned about Lilac's life while she was away. Lilac had married a man named Callan, but he'd divorced her and moved very far away only about a year ago- unknowingly doing it when she was pregnant. She didn't tell him. She wanted a baby more than she wanted a husband, and they'd been having issues for a while.

Celandine fell in love with both of them, and Lilac fell in love with her back. They got married a year later, and Lilac moved in with her. Celandine swore to protect them forever.

Lilac had always loved flowers. She helped Celandine with the farm fields, and then came home to do more gardening to decompress from that. They always had an an arrangment of blooms on the table. She called Celandine her Buttercup, and they called Arbor their little Sweet Pea. She insisted it was meant to be- their little family bouquet.

Withering

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They lived peacefully for years. Celandine was still a solider, and still had that obligation. She chose the winter months to serve. That way, she could help during harvest, then leave when money would be tighter anyways. Besides, she only had a few more required years left before she could retire permanently.

She sent nearly every penny she earned fighting back to her wife and son, and wrote letters constantly. It was hard, but she finally made it to her final year.

Unbeknownst to her, she had made enemies. During one of her missions, she had taken down a corrupt nobleman, and he was not the type to go quietly. He had men follow her, saw her delivering her letters home. They made it to her town a week before she did. When Celandine got back to her tiny valley, she was met with fire. Terrified, she ran, ran to try and find her family.

She did not find them living. She fell to her knees in the burnt shell of her home, holding their bodies. Someone had been waiting, and as she screamed out in grief and rage, they raised their sword above her.

Everything went dark, and then very, very bright. "You are a defender of those who cannot defend themselves," she heard someone say. A deep voice, cutting through her. "You have devoted your life to it. You will not fail at it again."

When she opened her eyes again, she was in her body again, but it was different now. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 was different now. She knew innately that she wasn't human anymore, that the god had brought her back.

She buried her family in the garden, under the archway with lilacs and buttercups and sweet peas, and took one last look, before she left at her home. Where she had worked and laughed and raised her child with her wife, before feathers crossed over her face, a small pair of wings hiding the world away.

She unfurled the wings on her back and took for the sky, tears streaming like liquid gold from her eyes. They had taken it all from her. Watching her wife garden. Her son's first steps. Lilac baking bread, smudging flour on her nose. Calling after Arbor to be safe as he scrambled up trees and through the creek.

She flew blind, almost not knowing where she was going- but when she landed in the mountain pass, facing a group of terrified guards and a man in rich clothing, she knew who they were.

They started to run, but it was no use. She could not see them with her eyes, but they could not hide from her, and she struck them down.

She finally caught the nobleman, pinning him down with her sword to his throat. "Please, I beg you. Spare me!" he pleaded, sobbing pathetically. She paused, and he took it to be hesitation. "What do you want? I will get you anything you desire!" She still said nothing, the wings completely hiding her face, and he took one last desperate chance. "Who are you?

She pulled the wings back from her eyes, and on her face was more rage and grief than he had ever seen. "I am everyone you have ever hurt," she whispered. "I am the face of all the pain you have caused. You can do nothing for me, because you have already taken it all from me."

He sobbed desperately, and she leaned in close. "Did they beg you, too?" she hissed. "When you killed them? I would show you the same mercy you showed them."

It has been 80 years since then. The wings remain over her eyes- she does not want to experience the fullness of a gentle life again. Losing it would be too much to bear. She pulls them back when she fights now, though.

Her enemies understand something deeply when they see her eyes- she is an instrument for all the pain they have caused. They see that she is merciful to them as they were to others, and they know that their deaths are only due to themselves.

Aesthetic

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