Datura Oleander's page

Datura is of typical build for an elf, and actually rather pale for someone that spends so much of their time outdoors. He is dressed in simple leathers and hides, and his brown hair is a tangled matted mess, within which various twigs appear to be woven albeit maybe not intentionally. He has deep green eyes, and what looks to be homemade inks adorn any exposed skin in nonsensible patterns. He is in decent shape, at least as can be expected for one that relies on themselves to live off the land.

Datura is quiet, not having much to say to others, though he speaks often and readily to any plants or animals he interacts with. It is clear that he gets along with them more than people in general, and can even be seen in high spirits when doing so, like they are old friends. He looks like he eyes everyone with scrutiny, but whether he learns anything from this, it doesn't show.

Growing up in the southeastern fringes of the Meirani forest, one thing Datura was taught early on is that their non-elven neighbors were not ones to be trusted. He was told to not speak to them, not to interact with them, and all around just avoid them. So it is how he lived. It was fine by him, as he found solace in the flora and fauna of his homeland, until his inquisitive nature about the neighboring wildlife drew him ever slowly further and further out of his forest home.

On one such excursion, he stumbled upon a group of mixed travelers, mostly human peppered with a dwarf or two, they looked to be merchants hawking wares. He was able to watch them from a safe distance, before he decided he should tell someone. When he shared what he saw, the locals put together a group to meet with them, and he led them to where he had seen them. The elves had sent a small group to speak with them, while most of the others set up an ambush. He was told it was a security measure, nothing more. When the liaison spoke with what must have been the caravan leader, they began to argue. The elves demanding the caravan drastically change course or turn around. When the travelers refused, they were fired upon until they lost enough men and conceded to leave before any more of them died.

That was when Datura realized that even his own kind were just as untrustworthy. He found that it wasn't humans or dwarves that couldn't be trusted, but people of any race, when they are determined to get what they want. He decided then that he couldn't call himself a part of any community that would treat strangers so harshly, and from what he's found, it has been the nature of almost every one he had come across. Everyone begins with smiles and handshakes, but as soon as they don't get what they want from you they turn to sneers and lies. The only thing he could rely on acting exactly like itself, no matter what it wanted, were the plants and animals of the world. He knew what drove them to act the way they do, and there was no duplicity in it.

He settled for keeping to himself in the foothills of the the Calphiak Mountains, between his elven homeland, and the next large human settlement of Riddleport. To further his disassociative behavior, he would only move about at night, to be less likely to stumble upon travelers. It was then that he discovered a whole different world of wildlife, to include a few species of night-blooming plants. One such variety he had only stumbled on during a solar eclipse. It was a rare bloom that needed to seed during the eclipse to grow. Amazed by the odd tenacity of such an unusual specimen, he took great care to tend to it. He learned that it was similiar to the flytrap, in that it fed off creatures drawn to a sweet smelling oily substance coating it's leaves, that shone when reflecting the moonlight. Before long, this plant had become his one true friend and even seemed to regard him when he spoke to it.

As of late, a strange smudge or blot, had appeared in the sky in the vicinity overhead the human city of Riddleport. Normally he would not concern himself, except that the thing was disruptive to the natural order. It would create shadows during the day preventing some of the plants from getting sunlight, and even worse depending on the lunar cycle, it would block the moon's light completely. Datura felt its presence had something to do with the people of the human city, so he got up the gumption to try and learn who or what was responsible for this blemish in the sky, and if possible convince them to stop it before it disrupted more than just small patches of wildlife.