Dahlia

Hera, Zinnia, and Aja (Daughters)

Quinn (Brother)

## Application Sheet

Dahlia was a brown-furred she-wolf with orange eyes. She was born outside of the Domain, alongside brother Quinn, before she made her way to Havir. She and the High Priest, Silvanus, fell in love, and when Havir was destroyed, the pair moved with most of their packmates to Vale. They started a family, first adopting Evander in Havir before welcoming four Vale-born pups to the world: Ambrose, Hieronymus, Hera, and Zinnia. Unfortunately, Silvanus's split personality led to severe marital problems, and he eventually left her shattered. She chose to remain in Vale's old territory when the alpha Loki moved Vale out of the Domain, and she lived as a loner thenceforth. She was briefly reunited with Silvanus in his original personality, before fleeing and bearing a single pup, Aja. A few months after Aja's birth, Silvanus tracked his mate down and the pair fought. Silvanus's alternate personality killed Dahlia, but not before he was fatally wounded and reverted to his original personality, with the two dying side-by-side. Dahlia was created and RP'd by SilverPocky.

## Personality

* ***Gentle***. Dahlia is generally a very gentle wolf and not one to start a fight or be an aggressor. She is especially caring towards younger wolves and adores pups. Dahlia enjoys spending time with others and creating a peaceful and lighthearted atmosphere for those around her to relax and hopefully smile. When meeting pack mates or anyone new Dahlia does her best to appear well-mannered and kind, though this contrasts with the usual tough nature needed to survive in the domain. Though not gruff or unwelcoming Dahlia no longer goes out of her way to socialize and converse. If approached she will answer with her usual peaceful demeanor and does not allow others to see what she is truly feeling.
* ***Outgoing***. Dahlia is almost always in a cheerful mood and enjoys socializing with others. After being on her own for a while, she has become especially dependent on the closeness of the pack.
	+ UPDATE: Displaced by the loss of Havir Dahlia has a hard time always keeping up her cheerful attitude and at times lapses into a state of mourning or sadness though she is usually able to bring herself out of these periods. After her experience in Havir she is no longer as dependent on her pack to feel okay, though she still prefers to be around and interacting with others. Her once outgoing and sociable behavior has been snuffed by her experiences, leading the female to interact with family and close friends but little else unless she is approached. She is generally mistrustful of Vale as a whole but she will speak to keep up airs.
* ***Faithful and Loyal.*** If she has decided to dedicate herself to you, better believe you will have a follower for life. An extremely honor bound wolf, when she says something she means it, Dahlia is nearly incapable of lying and sees it as one of the lowest things one can do. Determined to live the rest of her life on the right path she guides herself strictly to the belief in the Havir gods. The rift in her family has brought her beliefs back stronger than they ever were before, she prays every morning, noon, and night.
* ***Quick-Tempered and Protective.*** Though she is generally a peaceful wolf Dahlia has a pretty short fuse when it comes to certain things involving her family, pack, or religion. She is extremely protective and if someone she cares for is threatened Dahlia will never hesitate to step forward and defend them, whether that means doing so with her strength or her wit. Likewise she can not stand for the abuse of others and will always come to the aid of those she believes are in need.
* ***Clingy***. After rejection from her father in her youth, and the leaving of her brother, Dahlia is unknowingly over-attached to those she cares for and is constantly worried about being left behind. If she thinks about it too much she is plagued by dreams of her sorrow and regret of feeling abandoned by her brother, and deciding not to follow him as a knight would have. Her time in Havir as well as her personal growth began to heal the damage done by her father and she no longer doubts her worth or feels that her family will abandon her
	+ UPDATE: Though her time in Havir had begun to mend the wounds of doubt and lacking self worth, they were ripped open by the pack’s destruction, the loss of her son Ambrose, and her husband Silvanus. She does not cling to her remaining children or family but it brings her peace knowing generally where they are.

## Pre-Group History

Dahlia meet her first challenge when she was born into a harsh pack residing in the mountains. The rough climate and cold weather plagued her first month of life with on and off sickness. She was not expected to survive long and her father had just about given up on her while her mother prayed for her health; luckily the young pup pulled through and  she healed enough that her life was no longer in peril, but her father saw the incident as a strike against her usefulness.

Throughout puphood and adolescence, Dahlia struggled for her father's approval and affection, but was deemed generally unimportant and focused on her brother's progress instead. Though she acknowledged this fact, Dahlia continued to work as best she could and even passed the pack's trial along with her brother Quinn. This inevitably caught her Father's attention but her peaceful and bright personality quickly determined she was not fit for his purposes and couldn’t serve the same purpose he had planned for her brother. Dismissing her rather forcefully for her kindness, Dahlia quickly ceased trying to approach her father. Instead she looked to her mother Veronica and a female beta to train and serve as a head guard for the pack, and while the females taught the juvenile well they made sure to teach her that her services where only to be given to those she had chosen, those who deserved it. Though in her puphood she was blinded by her need for her father's love, her age cleared her eyes and she recognized Anthony's evil long before Quinn, refusing to even consider pledging her loyalty to him. Instead she focused and gave everything she had on training and increasing her skill to eventually stand beside her mother and dethrone Anthony, though deep inside the thought terrified her.

On the planned day of the takeover Dahlia's fears were never faced as he was quickly slain by Quinn when he'd denounced his desire to serve their father. The event raked her young body with unexpected shock and grief, but the state her brother was in after killing Anthony pushed her to reconnect with and comfort him. As Quinn took over his father’s place, Dahlia decided to stand beside him and became the guard her father had wanted, protecting and fighting alongside him as their pack was plagued by avengers from Quinn's dark past. She could tell he felt guilt and tried to convince him that their struggles weren't his fault, but she was unsuccessful and watched regretfully as Quinn ran and banished himself. After his departure Dahlia felt she no longer had a purpose in her birth pack but couldn't get herself to leave until she received advice and encouragement from Veronica who pushed Dahlia to explore the world and find something worthy of her skill and loyalty.

## Group History

Dahlia's entrance to the Domain set her at odds with a lone she-wolf. She was near the borders of Havir, as a traveling loner, when a different lone female tried to enter the territory to hunt. Dahlia warned her that those were pack lands, and fought the loner when she disregarded the borders, while Saurugol watched. Impressed by her fighting skills and respect for Havir's land, he invited her to try making a place for herself in his pack. Dahlia agreed.

After her arrival, she loved working with the pack's youths, like Arthur and Neo. Dahlia fit quite comfortably in Havir, making friends and forming a positive relationship with her alpha, offering words of comfort upon the supposed death of his daughter Ira.

When some of the pack's she-wolves were kidnapped, Dahlia was confident that Havir would be able to overcome the kidnappers and rescue their packmates. She didn't trust the lone male who was betraying his kin (the kidnappers), and insisted that he be put on trial after the rescue was completed. Saurugol instructed her, Koudem, and Hroarr to defend the den-site while he and the rescue party were away, and Dahlia vowed to keep their home safe. The rescue was a success.

Sometime later, Silvanus found a young pup in the snow, and brought him to see Aphrodi. Dahlia, with a sprained leg, approached the healer's den and her heart melted at the sight of the little pup. Aphrodi suggested she could lay near the pup and warm him, and she agreed to do so, sharing a moment of tenderness with Silvanus, who'd already become very attached to the pup.

She spent time with the little pup, Evander, as he grew, and eventually became very close to him and his father. She sought them out when a meteor destroyed Havir, casting the land into smoke and flames. Dahlia offered what little comfort she could to a shattered Silvanus, and the trio followed Faust away - to Vale. On their long migration, Silvanus pulled her aside during the night and confessed that he loved her, and she admitted the same. The pair decided, moving forward, they would do so together, as mates.

Upon reaching Vale, Dahlia was stunned to see her brother Quinn. The two quickly raced to one another and began to play wrestle, playfully taunting one another about their respective skills and admitting how much they had missed each other.

Sometime later, when the winter swept over the Domain, Dahlia and Silvanus took the next step in creating their lives together - Dahlia was pregnant! They loved their adoptive son Evander, but they were thrilled at the prospect of bringing new life to the world.

Four pups were born: Ambrose, Hieronymus, Zinnia, and Hera - the latter named for Silvanus's deceased sister, the former High Priestess. Dahlia doted on her litter of children, teaching them different aspects of life. She helped little Zinnia to learn how to walk with her body slung low, to creep around large prey like bison.

All the while, though, there was strain forming between Dahlia and her beloved Silvanus. Silvanus was vanishing for extended periods of time, but because she loved him so much, and wanted to keep a stable home life for the sake of their children, she was silent. Emotionally, it tore her up inside, but she needed to remain strong - until the kids were old enough, until she could find the strength in herself to confront him. Eventually, she did encounter Silvanus with Hekate, the Vektren she-wolf who so enraptured the alternate Silvanus, but again, she kept it to herself, hurting *desperately* from it.

But when the kids were older, Ambrose vanished, after a confrontation with the alternate Silvanus. Dahlia and her children grieved, and Dahlia confronted Silvanus about his infidelity, and demanded to know whether Hekate was responsible for Ambrose's disappearance. Silvanus couldn't remember, because she had confronted him in his regular state. However, under the pressure of Dahlia's questioning, the alternate Silvanus took hold, and told Dahlia that *he* was responsible, and Ambrose was "wherever the river took him." And with that, Silvanus left Vale.

Dahlia was devastated, and fell into a quiet existence in Vale. She tried to be strong for her children, watching silently, somberly, as Hera confronted Astir Loki and the council to ask for wolves to search for Ambrose and Silvanus. Eventually, they had to give it up. They wouldn't risk going to Vale, wouldn't waste any more resources searching for a most-likely-dead Ambrose.

Shortly thereafter, after the death of Kotori and decreasing resources, Loki decided to move Vale out of the Domain, to new hunting grounds. Dahlia chose not to leave. Instead, she remained in the territory with Quinn (who had been severely injured by a venomous snake), Nyru, and Kyros. Her children took different paths, with Hera and Hieronymus heading to Aryn, and Zinnia traveling to Highvalley.

Dahlia remained with Quinn, Nyru, and Kyros, until Quinn decided to leave. It was a heartfelt goodbye, but Dahlia completely understood, and bid him fond farewell, fully intending to see him again someday. Eventually, she, too, separated from her little band, finding herself hovering in the vicinity of the Vektren border...wondering if she would ever see Silvanus - *her* Silvanus - again.

It was two years before she saw him again, but she found him, lost and confused, outside of Vektren. Dahlia went to him, explained the circumstances that had led to his state, and assured him that, despite *everything*, she still loved him. The two made their way a safe distance from Vektren, and enjoyed one another's company for a short while.

The peaceable reunion couldn't last. Silvanus felt something tugging at his mind - a sign that his alternate personality wasn't gone. Dahlia asked what she was to do if the alternate returned, and Silvanus told her to kill him. She didn't want to. The two held one another tearfully after this decision was made.

The next day, the alternate Silvanus returned. Dahlia chased him off, heartbroken and enraged, and he told her to meet him in the spring, in old Havir lands...if she dared. Dahlia set back to her life as a loner and realized, with a chill, that she was pregnant. She managed to find her loner daughter, Zinnia, who was then able to spread the news to her siblings in Aryn that their mother was expecting. Her siblings, Hieronymus and Hera, made the journey to see the birth of their little sister, and reunite with their mom.

Dahlia was *so* happy to see her family together again. They arrived too late, because the little pup had already been born, and was a few weeks old by this point. Still, they were delighted to see their younger sibling, and Dahlia loved having her children (as well as Zinnia's Havir-blooded companion, Silas) around her and her growing daughter.

It was winter when Silvanus found them. Only, it wasn't Silvanus. It was his alternate personality - the dark side. Dahlia and Aja were caught alone, and the alternate Silvanus threatened her, telling Dahlia to be grateful for letting her bond with their child before he came to end her life. Dahlia told her daughter to run, to find Silas or her siblings, and the bloody final battle began.

Silvanus managed to deliver a killing blow to Dahlia before his children arrived, and viciously, Hera attacked her father's alternate, and, with help from Zinnia, she fatally wounded him. As he died, the alternate Silvanus disappeared, unwilling to experience the pain of death, and Dahlia desperately asked her children to let her die, side-by-side, with her beloved Priest. Dahlia and Silvanus died together, finally reunited for forever, without the threat of the alternate hurting their family anymore.

## Trivia

* Originally conceived of as a light brown she-wolf, she was recently redesigned by SilverPocky to have a more saturated ginger-brown color to her coat!
* She loves to sing! It gives her a feeling of being closer to her mother.
* Though she is generally a kind soul the taste of blood has a tendency to make her more excited in a fight. She's aware of this and does her best to finish all of her fights quickly and without the use of her teeth.

## Quotes

* "I'm still here because I love you. I am *always* yours." (to Silvanus when they reunited after his time in Vektren, *I Am Always Yours*)
* *"I have often wondered what my life would be like...if I had chosen differently. Would I have been happier? But...when I look at you...I cannot feel regret."* (thinking about Aja and reflecting on her life, *Wake Up*)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* SilverPocky's deviantART Gallery