Donnel

Donnel is an original member of the party. He was travelling on a train on Ring 2 headed for a hospital in District 6 to continue his quest as a travelling healer when the events of the Train Incident occurred. Seeing a chance to do good and a group in need, he decided that he would stick around for awhile before continuing his quest.

## Physical description

### Gender

Male

Donnel grew up in Fairwind, a small farm town in the outskirts of Ring 2. He is the son of David Ashren, the unofficial mayor of Fairwind, and Annette Ashren, David's loving wife and town healer. David was a very cheerful and loyal man and felt a duty to watch over the town as they had for him growing up. This led to many of David's harebrained schemes to improve the quality of life of the town and also quite a few arguments with the Watcher of District 2 over how much the government was taking from each harvest. Annette, on the other hand, was quiet and methodical. She tended to wounds and illnesses of those in town with remedies from wild plants that she grew in her garden. She was often the reason why any of David's schemes were successful whether it be through a kind word or two to the right people or in dire cases, the threat of a secret or two getting out.

> "Healers are often ignored when called in by higher-up officials. You'd be surprised what people say when they forget that you're tending to a wound." -a particularly threatening note from Annette Ashren
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Despite their constant struggle with the local government, David and Annette still managed to be wonderful parents to their two children, Donnel and Cynthia, and caretakes for Annette's mother, Petunia. David tried to build Donnel's leadership skills so that he could one day take over leadership of the city, but Donnel never considered himself a leader and never really wanted to be. Annette would often try to teach Cynthia her age old secrets of natural healing, but Cynthia was never meant for healing. She had her Father's heart through and through. Meanwhile, Donnel was fascinated by all of his mother's trade secrets, so eventually, David and Annette agreed to trade pupils.

## Education

Donnel's education focused on the basics of math, english, and history, but delved heavily into science. Annette made sure that he knew the reactions and processes behind every cure that she had so that he knew what plants would help together and which ones would harm together. Donnel trained under his mother this way from age 7 to age 12 when his true gifts first appeared.

## Magic Awakening

It was just like any other normal day in the village for Donnel. He tended to the plants with his father for most of the morning then spent the afternoon learning with his mother. As a task for his fifth year under her tutelage, Annette tasked Donnel with going out into the woods and finding the herbs to create a cure for his sister's ear infection. The task was simple, and within 10 minutes Donnel had scavenged most of the ingredients necessary except for a petal from a Yellow Aeson Wildflower. Donnel arrived at the patch of yellow wildflowers that he had seen just the day before only to find that they had all mysteriously disappeared. That is, except for one, on the very edge of the meadow. Donnel began to walk towards the lone blossom only to find that as the distance between he and his goal shortened, so did the flower. When the plant had fully returned to the ground, another one sprouted deeper into the woods. Donnel continued into the woods, determined to finish his task. As he meandered towards the new flower, it too began to vanish with another one replacing it even further into the woods. This process repeated itself over and over again until Donnel had gone well past the parts of the woods that he knew. After what seemed like hours, Donnel arrived at a clearing deep in the woods, illuminated only by fireflies and the faint glow of crystals protruding from the ground. In the center of the clearing was a massive oak tree with a single golden flower poking out just about the thick roots below. As he walked towards the flower, Donnel noticed that this one was not reacting to him at all. Donnel bent over and plucked the flower from the ground and started to turn around to go home, but something caught his eye. The hole in the soil that was left behind after the flower was uprooted was emitting a dark green light. As he watched to light, a wisp like object shining a similar light emerged from where the flower had once been. One by one, more of these lights started appearing throughout the clearing from crystals and trees and some straight from the ground. Donnel looked around at all of the lights that now surrounded him; there must have been thousands. Then, the orbs started floating towards Donnel, one by one at first, but shortly it escalated to dozens at a time. The orbs made their way to his hands where they were absorbed into his palms. He felt a surge of warm soothing energy rush through his arms and into his core. After all was said and done, Donnel fainted from the surge of energy he had never felt before. Hours later he awoke, he looked around and found himself back in the field, but this time surrounded by wildflowers. Dazed and confused, he returned home to begin making the ointment for his sister. The process itself took no time to mix, but a long time to wait, so the family sat down for dinner as the mixture settled. Cynthia began thanking Donnel for helping her, to which he simply leaned over and patted her head. As his hand touched the crown of her head, a deep, warm, green energy flowed out of his hand towards her ear and back. Bewildered, he and his family sat silently for five long minutes before Petunia proclaimed in a strained voice, "My grandboy! He has the gift like Aeson!"

## Teen Years

After discovering his newfound power, Donnel's family had vastly different views on what to do with it. Those views only strengthened when he awoke one day as a boar and had to figure out how to turn back. Annette insisted in hiding his powers, never using them as to not draw attention from the government, Petunia wanted him to practice at one of the schools in Ring 3 so that one day he could be just like Aeson, a legendary hero she heard of as a child, and David wanted him to use his powers immediately to start helping the town. None of these approaches would have ever worked. Suppressing magic is dangerous and would have resulted in catastrophe, and the prices of the schools in Ring 3 were far from attainable on the Ashren's budget. Donnel was in no shape to start immediately as he had no controls over his powers. Grabbing someone's shoulder could have a wide range of effects from healing their wounds to fixing their clothes or maybe giving them luck to shocking them with electricity. The family decided that Donnel would stay home and practice his powers in the same forest where he found them. This would keep him out of the eyes of the government and away from any civilians that could potentially be harmed. Donnel practiced in secret for years perfecting his techniques and mainly focusing on wind magic as it reminded him of the breezes that blow past his home on nice days. Controlling his powers took no time to learn and mastering them didn't take much longer. Soon, Donnel's training sessions turned into adventures of his own. By 13, he was flying all over District 2 returning mainly for meals and stories of Aeson told to him by his grandmother. By 14, he began going to different towns and sometimes even the capital to help those in need or to stop those causing harm in the most nonviolent way possible. Donnel had become somewhat of a myth in R2D2 as civilians would watch as a small sparrow would fly behind a building and from the other side a boy no one had seen before would emerge and begin to hand out berries that would satiate the hungriest of stomachs for a full day. The only noticeable feature of this strange boy was the pot on his head that Petunia would force him to wear for protection. He tried to buy a helmet instead but Petunia would always reply that no helmet ever made could be stronger than her grandma's cast iron pot. This legend arising definitely brought a lot of speculation, but no one was ever able to find out who Donnel was as he would leave just as soon as he came. Or at least, he only thought he remained unknown.

## Repercussions

Shortly after Donnel's 16th birthday, he returned from healing a group of children of whooping cough in an orphanage in the capital. Usually, his family would be waiting for him at the dinner table, but today, most of the house was dark. He called out for his family with no response. All he could find was a single letter on the kitchen table addressed to him. The letter was very short but it sent chills down his spine.

> "Here lies the hero of R2D2"
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Donnel hurried upstairs to find his family surrounding his parents bed. While he was away, David had opened the letter to see who was sending mail to his son. A flash of light went off and David fell to the ground. After dragging David up to his bed, Annette began to diagnose what had happened to him. She recognized it immediately from a case she had seen long ago with the assassination of the old Watcher of R2D2, the Vanisher's Plague. She only knew of it because she had been called in as one of the best healers in the District and was sworn to secrecy. Vanisher's Plague is a disease that is quick to act but is slow to finish. No one is quite sure how it is contracted, but everyone is certain that it is not natural, and it has only ever been used to send messages. It starts with all of the victim's energy being sapped from them as their body becomes colder and colder. Over the next week, their body is deprived of all fluids and nutrients as the stomach rejects everything. After the dreadful week is over, the infected simply disappears. Donnel was sure that he would be able to help his father since he had the gift of Aeson, something that the watcher his mother knew of didn't have. He moved closer to his father nudging Cynthia out of the way and grabbed his father's arm. A warm green aura pulsed outward from Donnel's hands into his father's arm, but as soon as the aura reached his chest, it became a sickly grey and returned back to Donnel. Donnel immediately retched and nearly vomited over the floor. The grey aura was one of hatred, famine, and death that spread through his body, twisted his stomach, and clawed at his nerves. Panicked, Donnel immediately tried again, this time fully vomiting. The following week was hell for Donnel; he spent every waking moment sending healing energy into his father's frail body. He barely ate or drank since he would just throw it up anyway and he only slept to regain his magic energy. No one ever entered the room while he was there. It's painful to watch your husband/son-in-law/father wither away into nothingness, but it's even worse to watch his son do the same in an attempt to save him. The final day arrived, and the whole family had gathered to say their final goodbyes to David. Petunia started, thanking him for the years he had loved her daughter and cared for her grandchildren. Annette held him for the last time and whispered a final "I love you." Cynthia tried to be brave for her dad, just like he had taught her, but after she said her goodbye she burst into tears and fled the room. Petunia and Annette looked at each other, then looked at Donnel. They silently left the room leaving Donnel alone with his father. Donnel immediately began sobbing.

> "I'm sorry Dad! It was supposed to be me! And I couldn't do anything to help you!"
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As he buried his face into his father's stomach, he felt a frail, shaky hand rest on the back of his head. In a meek, gravelly voice, David began to speak.

> "It's- It's not your f-fault. I'd rather it b-be me th-th-than you. Don't b-blame your s-self. G-Go and use your p-powers to help. You are ready."
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As David finished his last words, Donnel felt as his head sunk further and further down until he felt the familiar bounce of the mattress below. As he lifted his head, the sensation on the back of his head faded away until he felt alone in the room. David was gone. Donnel returned to the rest of his family as they mourned the loss of his father. After a few hours, Donnel excused himself.

## Call To Action

Donnel rose from his weeping family and stormed off into the woods. He didn't need flowers to show him the way anymore, he knew exactly where to go. As he arrived at the familiar grove, he curled up under the large oak and began to sob.

> "Why couldn't I heal him?! Why didn't you give me enough power to heal him?! What was that grey aura?? I don't understand"
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As Donnel continued crying, he slowly began to feel as if he wasn't alone. He looked up and saw an unfamiliar man holding a bird on his arm. The figures glowed in a golden light. After a brief moment, the figure spoke.

> "Hello Donnel, I've been observing you ever since the forest chose you. I am Aeson. You remind me of myself when I was your age, vastly overconfident with no understanding of your powers. You are nowhere near as powerful as you needed to be to prevent your father's death. You need to devote yourself more to training and to the forest that gave you your powers. Afterwards you need to go out into the world, help those in need, and spend time in other natural areas to bolster your connection. Then one day, when you have reached your true potential, you will be able to bring your father back. As for the grey aura, I am all too familiar with it. That magic belongs to a being that has overstayed his welcome in this plane as a spirit far longer than I have. He roamed the Earth far before its collapse with only two goals: power and blood. You will face him in due time, but for now hear my words. Fear his name, Mordecai"
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With that, Aeson vanished leaving Donnel alone again. After a few hours of silence, Donnel returned to his family, determined that this mourning would not be in vain. He promised himself that he would listen to his father's last words and share his talents throughout the Ring, but he knew he had to be cautious. Someone knew who he was and more importantly where he lived. It could easily be the government or perhaps just a very powerful individual from a higher ring. Either way, Donnel knew that he would have to hide for awhile before continuing his quest.

## Current

On the third anniversary of David Ashren's death, Donnel decided that it was time to go out into the world to reach his maximum potential and obey the dying words of his father. He had spent the past 3 years in secret, never leaving his house unless in bird form where he would fly to his clearing to train and grow stronger. Every day, he pushed himself as hard as he could. Each day he tasked himself with turning into a larger animal than the day prior or at the very least, one of the same size. He spent time learning ways to protect along with ways to heal. He would fly up into the air and come crashing down then task himself with repairing his injuries. He learned how to control the elements more than he ever had before creating gusts of wind that could fell trees or swarms of insects at his beck and call. but most importantly, he spent time communing with the forest. He was able to close his eyes yet see every tree, every creature, every rock. He knew this forest better than he knew the layout of his own home. He had massively improved over the years nearly tripling in power by the time he left. His mother had finally made peace with his departure. She knew that no matter what she said, he was going to do what he had set his heart on. He was his father's son after all. Donnel kissed his mother farewell and gave Cynthia a big hug as he made his way towards the door. As he grabbed the doorknob, he heard the familiar voice of Granny Petunia yelling at him for forgetting something. He turned around to see Petunia standing in the kitchen doorway with a tear in her eye holding out her grandmother's cast iron pot. They embraced for a moment while the rest of his family joined in. The atmosphere of love lingered for a moment before Donnel remembered the business at hand. With one last goodbye, Donnel opened the door leaving his house as a human for the first time in 3 years. As the farm faded into the distance, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his train ticket for his first destination, Ring 2 District 6. Attached was a note from his mother.

> Remember to keep in touch. Stay out of the limelight and lay low, especially in large cities. You have made your father and I extremely proud. Love, Mama
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Donnel reread the note over and over as he boarded the train noting how slim the crowd around him was. He looked around at the other passengers in the car with him. An odd assortment. Up front there was a girl dressed in all of the newest Ring 2 fashions some still with the price tags showing. Next to her was a scruffy man with an arm that was obviously a replacement due to the inner mechanisms showing. In the back there were two people sitting on opposites side of the car, one was a very silent guy tinkering with some sort of device and the other wasn't quite all there. He was shirtless and staring at a red scarf. Finally, there was the man right across from Donnel, and potentially the one that concerned him the most. Covered in grime and dirt this man was juggling clumps of explosives and having a merry time too. Donnel retreated back to the note reading the third sentence over and over. He was going to make his father proud. He was going to help.