Swan

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Swan is a young MudWing who lives in Possibility and works in the archives of the city's library.
== Appearance ==
* Smaller than average; scrawny for a MudWing, with a long, graceful neck and tail
* Tends to slouch when standing
* Unusually pale brown scales with off-white underbelly and wing membranes
* Appears fatigued and unhealthily thin
* Has pale pink eyes with deep bags under them
* Is nearsighted and sometimes wears circular golden glasses
* Wears jewelry only for special occasions; typically just gold studs or flower crowns
== Personality ==
* Extremely shy; prefers to keep to herself
* Intelligent and well-read; likes logic games and riddles
* Aside from her job, she rarely speaks to anyone apart from her sibs and Holly
* Hates confrontation and doesn't trust herself to speak her mind; lacks self-confidence and worries about hurting others
* Tends to handle her anger by bottling it up—she fears that if she doesn't keep her emotions tightly reined in, she'll have another magical outburst
* Gets overwhelmed easily by large crowds or sudden noises; occasionally goes nonverbal
* A gentle and deeply empathetic person, especially towards animals
* Experiences a large amount of guilt about her powers; refuses to use them unless absolutely necessary
* Cares deeply about her sibs
* Appreciates her family's concern about her health but is secretly annoyed by their constant fussing
* Hates when people assume that she's incapable of taking care of herself
* Loves giving gifts to people and doing small favors
== Abilities ==
* Swan is an extremely powerful animus, as evidenced by the sheer scale of the first spell she cast
* However, her powers have left her body extremely weak, and she is prone to frequent bouts of fatigue and sickness
* Has a large amount of knowledge about ancient languages
== History ==
* Stag and Swan were hatched in Toadstool, a village located on the outskirts of the Mud Queendom
* Toadstool served as a sanctuary for a small number of animus dragons, who were often driven away or ostracized by other communities. Their mother was an animus who had escaped to Toadstool with their eggs after the rest of her clutch had been destroyed by her previous village
* When Stag and Swan were about nine years old, the Mambas—a notorious criminal organization—arrived at Toadstool
* They demanded that the villagers turn over any animus dragons living among them, intending to force them to join the Mambas and use their magic for their own purposes
* The villagers obviously refused to allow their friends and family to be taken away, and so Toadstool was invaded
* In a panic, Swan unleashed her animus powers at full force in an attempt to drive away the attackers
* She had never used her magic before and was extremely inexperienced—before this, she'd had no idea that she was an animus and never received any sort of training
* The resulting spell was far more powerful than she'd intended. Swan had enchanted a nearby piece of firewood to ignite and form a barricade around the attackers to trap them, but she instead caused an enormous fire that ravaged Toadstool, killing villagers and Mambas alike
* Because of the length and sheer scale of the spell, Swan was left in critical condition
* Stag survived the fire thanks to his fire-resistant scales, but was left with permanent scars that he still carries to this day
* Now wounded and in need of medical assistance, the siblings wandered throughout the surrounding territory in search of help
* Several days later, they were discovered by two MudWing sisters, Rowan and Kobicha
* The sisters took them to their home and nursed them back to health
* Rowan and Kobicha had recently lost sibs of their own in a violent battle with a neighboring lady's troops, and they developed a close bond with Swan and Stag, eventually adopting them as part of their sib group
* Although Stag had recovered physically from the fire, Swan was still suffering both physically and emotionally
* The spell had left her a rather sickly dragon with little energy to engage with the activities she was normally interested in
* In addition to this, she suffered from frequent nightmares about Toadstool, as well as bouts of insomnia
* A few months later, they made the decision to move to Possibility to escape the constant skirmishes between the ladies of the Mud Queendom—they feared that Swan and Stag might be swept up into one of these battles and suffer the same fate as their sibs
* Swan was slightly nervous, as she'd never traveled outside of the Mud Queendom, but was also excited by the prospect of a new start
* In Possibility, Stag and Swan were enrolled at a local school, while Rowan and Kobicha started their own business at a small tavern
* Swan and Stag met Holly and the three became fast friends
* Time passed, and the three eventually graduated from school and began seeking other jobs and prospects
* During a city-wide festival celebrating the anniversary of Possibility's independence, Swan was kidnapped by an agent of the Mambas
* It turned out that they had been keeping tabs on her ever since the attack on Toadstool
* Zia and Theda planned to use her magic as part of their scheme to instigate a coup and place Theda on the MudWing throne
* Although fearful, Swan still refused to use her magic to escape, believing that she would cause another catastrophe like the one at Toadstool
* She had no intention of ever using her powers again after Toadstool, but Zia and Theda managed to coerce her into enchanting a mirror that allowed them to spy on Queen Wormwood's palace
* Zia and Theda never physically mistreated her—she was far too valuable to them for that—but she knew there was always the threat of them harming her family if she ever disobeyed them
* While she was imprisoned in the Scorpion Den, she met Black Rain, a contract killer working for the Mambas
* She bonded with the SkyWing over their shared experiences regarding their powers and eventually began to regard her as a sort of friend
* However, their relationship soured once Black Rain realized that Zia and Theda were spending more time with Swan and were no longer giving her the attention she once had
== Relationships ==
=== Black Rain ===
Although Swan was initially terrified of the SkyWing, she and Black Rain have bonded over their powers and shared experiences. She genuinely believes that Black Rain isn't evil or beyond redemption—just a deeply traumatized person without a proper support system. Swan hopes that eventually she'll be able to get through to her and convince her to rebel against the Mambas.
=== Holly ===
While Swan isn't as close with Holly as her sibling is, she still considers her a good friend. Holly often asks her to taste-test her new recipes, and she's more than happy to oblige.
=== Stag ===
The two siblings are very close, and she appreciates Stag's attempts to look out for her and care for her. She still feels deeply guilty about being responsible for sols scars, but sol's assured her that it wasn't her fault.
=== Zia ===
She hates him, but fears him more than anything else. She's still unsure of what his plans are regarding her, but doesn't take kindly to being treated as a pawn.
== Trivia ==
* Swan's theme song is “MAGICIAN” by Lexie Liu.
* She was named for her unusually pale coloration.
* Her name was originally Egret.
* Her favorite dish is beef noodle soup.
* Her favorite flowers are lilies.
* She is terrified of fire due to the incident at Toadstool.
== Gallery==
Swan Reference.png|Base by Constelli
Swan Human.png|Human Swan (source)
=== Old Design ===
EgretReference.png|Base by Constelli
Egret Bird-Blood.jpg|Bird-Blood
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:MudWings
Category:Animus
Category:Occupation (Archivist)
Category:LGBT+
Category:Disabled
Category:Status (Commoner)
Category:Content (TheSeafoam)