Fennel the RainWing

FENNEL! 	FENNEL!
 	
ARTIST 	Chipper the Crow
CREATOR 	Chipper the Crow
information 	information
MAIN TRAIT 	Supposed 'madness'
MAIN PHYSICAL TRAIT	The blood on her teeth, her claws that look like they'd be rather good at ripping you apart.
THEME COLOUR 	Yes
AGE 	Unknown, appears about 15 dragon years old
GENDER 	Female
ORIENTATION 	Unknown
OCCUPATION 	None
TRIBE 	RainWings?
RESIDENCE 	The east of the Rainforest Kingdom
FAMILY 	Unknown, other Maenads?
LIKES 	Parties, movement, dancing, meat, certain fruits, warmth
DISLIKES 	Having to stay in one place, staying in 'urban' areas for too long, those who refuse to join her at all, most fruit, the cold
POWERS/ABILITIES 	Appears to have stayed the same age for a while, unusually charming, excellent at hunting.
QUOTE 	"Look, I was there, when that poor Silk had his head torn off and tossed in the river by her. She just kept on dancing..." - anonymous, about Fennel's killing of a semi-famous SilkWing
Fennel is Chipper's OC. You may not use her. She is inspired by the Maenads of greek mythology.
== APPEARANCE ==
Fennel is a RainWing, we think. She has the traits of a RainWing, at least, and her body certainly is as serpentine as a RainWing's should be, shifting and slithering across the ground and through the trees. Her limbs are strong, and her wings commonly flap wildly as she dances. Fennel almost never really runs, or walks, or even flies. There's something about her that always seems to be dancing, whether or not she's meaning to dance.
Her scales seem to shimmer, shifting and swirling with every emotion possible. Usually, they're turquoise, or pink, or even indigo - but these are only the most common by a small amount. Sometimes, her colours are in a moving gradient. However, sometimes, she simply splatters them everywhere like paint. Stripes or spots, patches or dots, either way, Fennel is one colourful dragon.
If she doesn't want to have any unwanted attention, which is rare, or if she truly believes that she'd be better off seeming like any other RainWing, which is even rarer, Fennel will simply switch to having her scales in a gradient of her emotions, with golden or pale yellow overscales, and an underbelly that may be either pink, lilac, or teal. Her wings will be a shifting mass of pale blue, pale turquoise, and a mint colour, and she might try to keep herself this way.
Her eyes are one constant colour - usually, a bright minty colour. Sometimes, though, her eyes will shift to lime, or teal. When this is pointed out, it's one of the few times when she will actually apologise.
Other than Fennel's colours, and her constant 'dancing', there are a few other things that make dragons look twice at her.
First, her claws and teeth. Her horns are normal, though asymmetrical and twisting, but her claws and teeth have been called "unnerving" by the RainWings who have described her. Her claws are large, sharp, and strong, the sort of talons that could pull apart a creature. They also seem to have blood splattered on them. The cause of this is obvious once you get to know her.
Her teeth are similar - large, sharp, great for eating meat. And, indeed, Fennel, despite being a RainWing (?), eats meat.
In terms of accessories, Fennel seems to like wearing jewellery, but doesn't seek it out. Accessories made of creatures, however...
Once, there were tales of a RainWing with the skin of fawns, draped over her back. Now, though, Fennel seems to be actually adapting to the times. She does occasionally bring out the fawn skins, but she also has a large collection of clothing with fur. Especially capes, and especially clothing and capes that mimic animals. She even has a few IceWing-made fur capes, despite living in the hottest and most humid place in Pyrrhia. Some are given to her by those that don't wish to party, some she buys, but most she seems to have just... taken.
During 'special occasions', Fennel also wears either a wreath of leaves or a flower crown. She has also occasionally worn a snake around her neck. These snakes are usually tame ones that will mostly just enjoy the warmth of her scales - despite how little she cares about danger, Fennel herself has stated that she would never risk wearing a dragonbite viper.
Despite how often Fennel appears to be dancing, it isn't until she is in the middle of a 'party', or until it's the usual sun time, that she truly dances. Do not approach Fennel while she is dancing. It is obvious if she's dancing when you see it. She often dances almost madly, so energetically that some may wish to join her. If you can't be completely certain that you won't run out of energy too soon while dancing, do not join her. Fennel has a tendency to tear apart things in her way, and this will include a tired-out dragon. Do not try to call out to Fennel while she is dancing. She will not hear you.
Overall, when you see Fennel, you will know that it is her.
== PERSONALITY ==
Fennel is... Fennel. She is far more active than most RainWings, and, as has been said before, seems to dance whenever she moves. Even when she's not moving, she's tapping her talons to some unknown rhythm. In general, Fennel is an energetic dragon, and very outgoing - she'd love to be surrounded by dragons that share her enthusiasm, in the Rainforest. However, due to both her reputation and the RainWings' 'laziness', she's ended up fairly lonely. She's said previously that there used to be "more of her", but that she just simply can't 'create someone' with the same amount of enthusiasm.
Fennel seems to like parties, frequently trying to host them, and somehow invites written on extremely old paper just appear near those that she wishes to invites. However, due to her reptutation, people rarely appear. She often laments about how there are fewer of 'her kind' now - apparently, it was easier to have a party when a whole group of her were inviting others. Fennel also loves 'nature' in general, enough to seem stressed purely from how 'modern' most urban areas are. She says that, despite the 'passion' that others in city parties have, she feels less connected to her god there. (More on this will be said later.) This is most likely why she does not simply go to the frequent parties in certain mostly-RainWing cities.
Fennel is rather a charming, social dragon. However, if you cross her path in the Rainforest, you'd better hope you can dance, or at least visit her 'home'. She invites everyone she meets to dance with her - if she seems to be simply 'dancing' calmly like she usually does, you can accept her request. In her comparatively-calmer, 'normal' state, Fennel will be disappointed when you get tired, but seems to accept it, and leave. However, if you don't want to dance, she will most likely either ask you to at least come see her home with her or give her a gift, as an apology for 'outright refusing' to dance. She tends to accept anything as a gift, as long as it has some worth - even a flower crown made right there in front of her will be fine. (The braver RainWings that live near her have learnt to make flower crowns very quickly.)
It is highly recommended that you accept her offer of seeing her home, or having a meal with her, or whatever else she asks you to do. If you do not, she will most likely continue to offer you the choice, getting more and more agitated each time, moving more 'energetically'. Going from asking for an apology to outright demanding a gift, or claiming that you owe her a visit. Trying to pressure you into giving her a small dance. If you accept at this point, you'd better pray to a god or two that you can keep up. Giving her a gift, at this point, will frequently cause her to run away with the gift without a word of thanks.
If you annoy Fennel too much, then what happens next can be unpredictable. Or rather, if you know her, or have heard the rumours, too horribly predictable. She will grab you, and tell you to dance. And you should dance, and you should hope you can keep up, because when Fennel is too full of energy, she... dances. Quickly. And she seems stronger, when she's dancing. Too strong, too fast. While she's in this mood, she doesn't care how hard she pulls on your limbs, she just cares about the dance. Fennel doesn't always pull off limbs, or even injure dragons all that much, but, again, she doesn't seem to care when she does.
It is very easy to see where Fennel gets her horrible reputation from. A social dragon who can easily turn angry enough to almost kill you. A dragon who has easily outdanced, out-tired, and overwhelmed a small group of RainWings before. Thankfully, she doesn't usually want to go outside of her section of the Rainforest. For most of the more western RainWings, Fennel is simply a mythical figure, used to convince dragonets to do what their parents want. If you don't sleep, the Maenad will eat you, starting with your limbs.
This is actually what she does with any limbs she pulls off. She'll end up eating them, right there in front of you. At least she stops dancing to eat.
Fennel likes eating meat, more so than most RainWings. It is common for her to be seen, pulling off the limbs of some random animal and eating them. (Pulling off limbs seems to be her main form of injuring creatures.) However, she also likes eating certain fruits, particularly grapes. Grapes aren't usually found in her part of the Rainforest, so this is one of the rare occasions where she leaves to go to a town or city. (The common consensus is that she gets money for buying things from the corpses of dragons who died of the dance.)
Fennel is very religious - she is devoted to a god that she's never named, saying that the rest of her kind worshipped him, and that, though she has passed on her energy and some of her powers before, none of her dragonets have been devoted enough to truly dance. She claims that, whenever she dances especially 'energetically', the sort of dance that pulls off limbs and tramples tired dancers, it is a form of worship to her god. So is pulling off limbs, supposedly. Nobody is sure that there is a god that is known to exist that fits this description, but not many have tried to challenge her at all before.
There is one last thing that is very important to note - Fennel's sun time. Fennel does not really have a sun time like other RainWings. While they're asleep and gaining energy, she's at her most 'energetic'. Fennel dances. She dances as uncaringly as she does when she's angry - only, she's overwhelmingly 'happy'. Fennel has mentioned before that she's never been fully aware of what she does when she dances, only that she's more connected to her god when she does this.
Fennel tends not to dance in one place - rather, she almost rampages through the forest, tearing apart prey, grabbing hold of any dragon that isn't up in the trees already, and obviously... dancing. However, despite being 'happier' during this sun time dance, Fennel is more likely to tear dragons apart. If you hear a distant crashing, or hear an aimless draconic song, flying is a good idea. Fennel rarely flies.
All that matters to her is dancing.
It is very easy to see why her title, the Maenad, is literally derived from 'madness'. If you catch her on a 'good' day, she isn't the maddest dragon ever. But the eastern RainWings know that she deserves this title.
== Powers, Abilities, and WEAKNESSES ==
Fennel seems almost unstoppable, though certainly a thing of part-truth myths. She seems much stronger than the average dragon, and has far more energy. She always seems to just about outmatch any dragon, making her extremely dangerous.
However, not all's lost if you have an IceWing with you.
Fennel loves warmth and humidity - the Rainforest is the perfect place for her. The SandWing kingdom would be too dry, anywhere else simply too cold for her. This can start off as uncomfortableness, an inability to focus without the heat and the water in the air. Duller scales, a slower, more subdued version of the Maenad.
It is unknown what'd happen if she got too cold - nobody's tested it just yet. But there have been other RainWings, and other dragons, so connected to their home that they did indeed dry up, have their scales crack, have their limbs die, and then entirely die in temperatures that most dragons wouldn't perish from. There are some vague plans from RainWing settlements to hunt her down with hired IceWings, or perhaps IceWing-RainWing hybrids? The IceWings would be too uncomfortable in the heat, but there are hybrids with cold enough venom, and they may just be used enough to their RainWing parent's home...
Nobody's tried it just yet, and so far it's been simply an idea that may be used. Nobody's even sure if it could happen without heavy losses on the dragons' side, or what'll happen if she lives, but there is always that possibility.
== HISTORY ==
Fennel's history is mostly mysterious, as with most RainWings. However, what is known of her history suggests that she probably isn't fully dragon. A demigoddess, perhaps?
She has mentioned many times that there are more of her, and that 'Maenad' isn't another name for her at all as many assume, but what 'her kind' is called. Or was called. She seems to get upset when the topic is chased after, but the Maenads seem to have been driven out by something she calls 'the Opposite' - a group of dragons? A non-draconic entity? Given that she seems so linked to the Rainforest and considering her immense energy, maybe the Opposite is simply a lack of energy, perhaps coldness. The latter would make sense, considering her hatred of the cold.
Fennel has lived for a long time, and it was confirmed recently that there's only been one Maenad for a while. It has been said by her that she has many eggs, many dragonets, but that, while none of them were quite normal, none of them were considered by her to be 'true Maenads'. She then went on to rambling about how the state of being a Maenad is a blessing, and that, usually, Maenad eggs are blessed even before they hatch.
Overall, Fennel's history appears to be:
* Her egg was blessed.
* She hatched to a Maenad, within a group of Maenads.
* They presumably did usual Fennel things such as partying, before they were killed off, probably from the cold.
* (Why was there cold in the Rainforest? IceWings?)
* Fennel lived for years/decades/???s, doing the same things she did before, only she's much more lonely now.
* She wanted more Maenads, but her Deity never blessed them.
* Does this mean her Deity has abandoned her, and she will one day stop trying to 'worship' it through killing, and die a normal dragon death? Hopefully.
* More research required.
== TRIVIA ==
* The most famous story related to Fennel was when she encountered an extremely talented SilkWing musician who was immensely upset by his mate being killed by dragonbite vipers. A witness stated later that she grew annoyed at his grief, and tore his head off before tossing it into a river.
* This page is the result of numerous clusters of information merged into one, possibly with some anecdotes tossed in. Some 'facts' may be mixed up, conflict with others, or are simply plain wrong. If you have anymore information on the Maenad(s), please contact the IceWing named Lavender at the eighth home by the shore on the SkyWing side of Possibility. Thanks.
* Fennel cannot be proven to be real.
* Fennel is entirely real. Too real.
* The main methods of killing her are:
** The cold, hopefully.
** Enough fire and knives would probably do it. Surely she isn't immortal? Stab anything enough times and it should die at some point.
** Just get an animus to give her the curse of 'Fennel is completely dead now'.
* While there are many love stories that include Fennel or, at the least, a Maenad as the love interest, please remember that Fennel is 1) a real dragon and 2) she might love you back, but that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous to stay near her. Please do not attempt to romance the monster.
* Actually, Fennel is my partner and she's peaceful towards me and she is amazing and I love her and none of you understand.
* Please do not add to this scroll if you aren't going to contribute anything useful. As it seems I must repeat this many times: FENNEL IS REAL. FENNEL IS A MURDERER. FENNEL IS DANGEROUS. FENNEL IS THE MAENAD.
* She doesn't seem to kill dragons while in towns. Respects the rules when there are any, it seems.
* Entry to the Myth-Inspired Character Contest.
Category:RainWings
Category:Content (Chipper the Crow)
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:Status (Legend)