Camelia

TY WALTZ FOR MY LIFE I OWE YOU ART AND MY SOUL

Artist notes: 

-Please don't draw her without her wings

-Please draw in whichever outfit is linked

Fun facts:

-Sleeps a lot

-Vain bc she knows she's pretty

-Powerful mage

-Avid candle collector 

A young woman born to a human mother and a draconic father in a time of high tension between the races. She was still only an infant when tension reached it's height and her father was killed by humans, leaving her mother to raise her alone. In fear she took Camelia and hid as humans were punished for this misdeeds and confined to live on an island in isolation. 

She was forced to live in hiding until she was old and skilled enough at magic to disguise herself as a human woman. Due to her longevity they couldn't live in one place for too long before people started to realize she wasn't aging, so they moved every 6 years to stay safe. Camelia and her mother watched as the paranoia around magic grew as the Church came into power, condemning anyone who was even accused of using magic. Her mother became paranoid and started keeping Camelia locked up in the house as much as she could, much to her daughter's annoyance. This eventually led to her sneaking out at night and exploring. Eventually as her mother kept growing older Camelia had to pick up more and more to keep them going, until her mother was almost entirely in her care.

In one of the larger villages she had lived in, she'd gotten herself a fairly pushy suitor who couldn't seem to take the hint. When they finally moved away she was glad she'd never have to see his face again, and that she didn't for a solid 38 years.... She was out gathering herbs for her mother when someone called out to her by name. Thinking nothing of it, she turned around and saw the very same man, though much older and donned in robes of the Church. She dropped the basket and ran as soon as she realized he recognized her. She managed to lose him in the woods before returning home and telling her mother what had happened. They spent the night packing, determined to be gone at first light. She didn't get a wink of sleep that night, and she was glad she didn't... Before the sun had risen the townsfolk showed up with torches, banging on the door and demanding they come out. 

Her mother- now an old woman- helped her barricade the door, but there'd be no way they'd make it out with anything they'd packed, and with her mother's weakened state there'd be caught in almost no time. Camelia tried to convince her mother there was a way they'd both be able to escape unhurt, but her mother insisted she sneak out alone and eventually managed to convince her to escape on her own. They said their heartbroken goodbyes before Camelia sneaked out through an old wine cellar. One of the angry mob members saw, and several of them gave chase, pursuing her through the woods until they cornered her at the edge of a rocky cliff bordering the ocean. As she gazed out at the Ocean she realized her time in the human lands was over, and it was time to move on. Much to the shock of her pursuers she readily approached the edge as though she might jump. For the first time she let her human disguise fall, two large wings spreading from her back. She glanced back one last time to see the shock on their faces before she threw herself over the edge, taking flight and leaving her old home behind for good.

Camelia often feels at war with herself. She regrets never being able to meet her father and learn more about that part of herself, and has always held a grudge against humans for taking that away from her. And yet, she cannot bring herself to hate them fully. After all, her mother was a human, as was everyone she ever knew. She constantly feels torn, and cannot put her feelings on this matter into words.