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CdR App: Cassia Beldwyn

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:iconblacksparklesplz: :iconcirque-des-reves: :iconblacksparklesplz:
Edited for grammar because I initially wrote this when I was half asleep. I swear English is my first language.
I'm so glad for spell-check in browsers. Curse you dyslexia!

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:N A M E : Cassia Livne Beldwyn [Cah-see-ah Leev-nay Bed-WIN! lolol//shot]

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:A G E : 20 years old (in a human sense)

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:B I R T H D A Y : August 28th

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:S P E C I E S : Dryad (Dryads come from Greek Mythology and are female spirits of nature, which preside over the forests.)

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:F A C T I O N : White Faction

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:J O B : Acrobat specializing in aerial silk

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:S E X U A L I T Y : Cassia is indifferent towards gender preferences.

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:P O W E R S / S P E C I E S L I M I T A T I O N S : A dryad is bound to the parent tree they are joined to. The relationship is rather symbiotic in nature; the dryad and her parent tree are representations of one another. As the tree ages, the stronger and older the dryad becomes. As the dryad grows in strength, they gain more abilities in the human world. A parent tree in the sapling stage of life will are strictly bind the dryad as an intangible spirit, capable of only seeing the world from the perspective of their tree. Eventually, they can move as a spirit within a certain area around their parent tree and cause small changes in the nearby environment. You may liken it to a ghost, if that helps for clarification. Anybody with magic coursing through their veins may see her while in her ghost/ethereal form. When the tree reaches maturity, a dryad may move about in a corporeal form. At any point, they may return their whole self or parts of themselves into the spirit-like form. However, they are always bound to their tree and may only move so far away from it. Cassia has the ability to go across the entirety of the land occupied by Cirque des Reves, plus a bit into the outcropping woodlands. If her parent tree dies, so does the dryad. A dryad may not move her parent tree, whether or not it is potted. They may not alter its life directly, and must rely on nature or aid from others. This includes watering or increasing the nutrient content of the soil. While the parent tree is the permanent physical representation of the dryad, the mood of the dryad affects the tree in response. Powerful emotions such as fear or sadness are represented in the motions of the tree.

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:P E R S O N A L I T Y:
:bulletorange: //Aloof & Socially Awkward// Cassia is not a human. This is an obvious statement, but a relevant one. The ways of man sometimes confuse her. Their constant need to interact and touch each other, is strange to Cassia. The dryad species as a whole is not known for being social. They tend to stay to themselves, and seek out the knowledge, wisdom, experience or other intelligence when necessary. Cassia, while more outspoken than the average dryad, does not stray exceptionally far from this stereotype. This might because of her exposure to so many different ways of life, societies, and cultures, Cassia is never quite sure how to work with a room full of people. In such an environment, she will act as a wallflower. This is because it is difficult for her to focus on more than one or two people at a time and thus Cassia prefers small groups of people or to talk simply one on one.

:bulletyellow://Observant & A Bit of a Stalker// The dryad is fascinated with the movements and interactions of people. She enjoys getting to know people on a deeper level, and often feels that this is impossible to accomplish with the confines of designated socializing. In her mind, it is the small, tiny quirks that make a person unique. Therefore, when she becomes interested in somebody, she stalks them (to put it bluntly).

:bulletorange://Compassionate & Intuitive// Cassia always considers her door open for anybody that needs somebody to talk to. She is an excellent listener, and will do her best to give advice. Due to her observations, Cassia has gotten surprisingly good at giving advice for every situation. She’ll spin a tale of somebody she stalked, explaining what worked for them and then changing the advice to suit the person. To go along with this set of attributes, Cassia is surprisingly intuitive and can usually take a guess at the root of somebody’s problems based on their life and personality.

:bulletyellow://Naïve & Forgiving// The concept of revenge, justice, DIKE, or whatever you prefer to call it is lost on Cassia. Very little phases her, and she prefers to take things in stride. The only thing that bothers her is deforestation or anybody that intentionally/knowingly threatens somebody’s safety. Because of this, Cassia tends to forgive fairly easily. The woman avoids anything “fiery” in nature, and that includes tempers and other violent emotions. (Her moments of such passion are rare, albeit they do exist.) This also makes her uncomfortable around people with incredibly flamboyant personalities. On a related note, Cassia is incredibly naïve. She doesn’t understand perverse humor, and often will take these kinds of jokes seriously. She can be fairly gullible, and often is taken advantage of.

:bulletorange://Hardworking & Indebted// Cassia remembers every single favor somebody has done for her. She believes in repayment and therefore insists of returning goodwill towards people. It is this aspect of her that inspired her to live out Alexandria’s wish for Cassia to be a star; to make her proud. It is also the reason she trains so hard for performances. The Directors were so kind to accept her into the cirque, and allow her to learn from the great aerial silk acrobats before her, that she refuses to allow them to regret this decision.

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:H I S T O R Y : ((WARNING: Ridiculously long, but it explains everything. There is a short version for the lazy-bum at the bottom.))

A squirrel poked and prodded the small walnut seed that rested on the forest floor deep within the woodlands of England on the edge of a glade. The sharp crack of a twig behind scared it into bolting for safety. Its feet pushed the walnut, a seed, into the earth. Years passed, until one August 28th, a sprout sprang out of the ground. Seasons passed, rains pelted the woodlands of Great Britain, snow covered the earth, and nutrients replenished the vitality of the sprout. As the sapling grew, so did the dryad/wood nymph Cassia. As the walnut tree grew in strength, so did Cassia. At first, she was bound strictly to her parent tree. Her vision was limited to the expanse visible from the sapling walnut tree. It's a helpless situation, without any means of defense or persuasion. Nature and humanity had full control over her life and death. Sadly, the latter became the enemy of this dryad.

As the age of man expands, so does their desire for space. A town began to spring up nearby, small and built into a meadow a mile away. Cassia could observe their growth, watching the houses being built into the distance. The din was frequently overwhelming, and broke the peaceful silence the dryad was accustomed to. It was bearable, on the false pretense that the humans would leave her undisturbed. But this is man we are talking about. When will they ever leave nature at peace? The townspeople desired for expansion, and quickly began to tread upon the forest. Tree after tree was cut down. Cassia listened in horror the cries of the few other dryads that resided nearby. Their shrieks and screeches echoed as each chop of an ax brought them closer to their death. The humans couldn't hear their terrible pleads for help, but Cassia could. However, there was nothing she could do. The dryad listened to her sistren give up their desire to continue their eternal life and release into their inevitable death. She watched as they welcomed death, if it meant the end to their suffering. Their willingness to die infuriated the young dryad. Perhaps it was the drive of youth, or the inexorable nature of Cassia. Mustering up the meager amount of power she possessed, her parent tree began to shake and the leaves howled as if there were a strong breeze. The human settlers, deterred by the odd occurrence, retreated in fear of witchery. To continue this life-saving effect, anytime man approached her, the branches would sway and shake. Humans feared the power coursing through small, thin trunk. The tree was hardly intimidating, but their fear of the unknown overruled all reason. The town, ultimately, was expanded around her. Houses surrounded her on all sides as she grew. The glade remained intact, with her parent tree as the sole surviving large plant life.

She lived comfortably like this, tended to by the god-fearing humans. But how many generations would it last? The dryad knew there would eventually come a day when they would no longer cringe in fear of the rattling walnut tree. When the irbelief in magic, witches, and demons faded the tree would fall as would Cassia. The thought terrified her, but the dryad pushed the thought away. It wouldn’t occur for a long time, and would give her ample time to live. Perhaps even find a new solution.

On one particularly dreary day, a sorceress swept into town. Before Cassia was able to lay eyes upon the powerful being, the dryad felt the crushing aura of spiritual prowess that pervaded the air around her. Cassia was drawn to this power, and thirsted for the possibilities the woman could provide. The dryad moved about the town in her spiritual form, observing the sorceress. She fascinated Cassia. The way the magic moved about her, effortless, and sometimes invisible. She wanted to know everything about the woman.

Her name was Alexandria Nikolae Ashdown, the daughter of an Irish whore and a wealthy English merchant. Their coming together was brief and filled with false passion, but it created a bastard child nonetheless. She was raised into prostitution as a means of survival, but desired a better life. Unbeknownst to either her mother or herself, Alexandria possessed magic down from her grandfather on her father’s side. This untamed power made it easy to persuade her mother into revealing her father’s identity. The necessary knowledge in hand, she hunted down the elder Ashdown. Needless to say, magic + blackmail = turning of the once bastard-whore into an apprentice of her patriarch and his father. As for her appearance (which was less interesting to Cassia, but noteworthy enough to mention), Alexandria had her mother’s brilliant auburn hair, but her father’s cold, calculating black eyes and their mutual paleness.

One day while Cassia was observing the sorceress/travelling merchant sip warm gray Earl tea beside a blazing fire within her room at the local inn, those sharp black eyes slid over to peer at the dryad. Alexandra craned her head to stare at the ethereal dryad head-on.

“You do realize, dearie, that I know you’re watching me?”

It wasn’t a surprise to Cassia. Rather, she paused to remember her voice. Studying Englishman had taught her their tongue, but forming their words on her tongue felt strange and foreign.

“Well…yes. I figured if it bothered you, you would’ve done something about it earlier. Am I nuisance?”

Soft red curls shook back and forth, “Not at all. So, what brings a dryad like yourself to my presence?”

It took minimal time to gain the friendship of the sorceress. Both gained from their time together. Cassia had a companion that knew of her very existence, who cared and knew her as the (mostly) gentle spirit she was. Alexandria had a guide who knew the local lands and customs well, despite an understanding of whysaid customs existed in the first place. It was a strange matter to learn of human patterns from the dryad, without explanation. They were little more than another observation the eternal being made. To clear up the reasoning for human behaviours, Alexandria provided the history learned from her reading to the uneducated spirit, as well as her own theories on the matter.

But within a year’s time, it became eminent that Alexandria had to leave the nestled town. Business could only last so long in one place, and a merchant had to make a living despite her magic. On their supposed last day together, Cassia appeared before the fire one more time, watching in silence as the woman sipped her classic gray Earl tea. The silence of mouths was deafening over the roar of the flames and the clack of porcelain.

“Say something, for the love of the gods above!!” Cassia screamed at Alexandria. It was an unexpected, but oddly comforting response from the aloof dryad. She was infuriated. Infuriated by the peculiar feelings bubbling within her very soul. The pressure of approaching loneliness; the pain of goodbyes. The sudden burst of emotion created a peculiar response within the sorceress: she smiled. A smile developed into a chortle until it was gut-bursting giggling that could only be hidden by raising a gloved hand to hide her mouth.

“Finally, you ninny!”

Apparently, the display was enough to restore the sorceress’s belief of the humanity within dryad. It was in that moment the sorceress saw a fire (ironically enough) within Cassia. Pure, burning desire. Alexandria proposed a new fate for Cassia. A path never thought to be possible. The idea was a win situation. If successful, it would allow Cassia to continue to be her lover in spirit. It would provide a safe means of life for the dryad, expanding her lifetime and ensuring her safety. Alexandria offered a simple idea: change the parent tree.

It seemed impossible. It should've been impossible. Perhaps the gods had blessed her, or Fate smiled fondly, or just maybe Cassia was incredibly lucky. Or maybe she tried something nobody had the bloody sense to try before.

The move was painful. It felt as if her very flesh was being ripped from her body. Her very essence screamed in agonizing pain. She wanted to stop the move, to stop the pain, to be completely numbed of the excruciating agony. It was Alexandria’s voice that pushed her to continue. Coos of a better life, a life of freedom, a life of travel. The idea was tantalizingly beautiful. What was the rest of the world like? What about Britain for a much smaller scale?

It was over. It was done.

Cassia touched her face, her hair, and her horns. It all felt the same. Nothing seemed out of place. Same color of dark green hair, and still that dark wood skin present in walnut trees. According to Alexandria, everything about her looked the same. But her parent tree was different. It was light green in color, and based around a hollow shoot. The wood inside was pale, and extremely pliable. It became known that the plant was a bamboo tree, small, and easily moved due to its potted nature. Their problems were solved.

Cassia lived with Alexandria for the remainder of the human-bound limit of life for the sorceress. They were best friends, but Cassia served as a lover for the woman when she reached maturity. It was awkward, and foreign to the dryad. But being in the presence of a woman was comforting, and with some patience it managed to work. To be honest, she cared deeply for Alexandria, and nobody could ever deny this bond. But it never should have existed as a partnership. The sorceress deserved so much better than her, but choose the dryad. She served her purpose, and tried to pleasure the woman as much as possible. Her life was so short, and she had done Cassia the greatest service of love she could’ve ever made. Alexandria allowed Cassia the freedom to observe society at its best, worst, strangest and most magnificent. The travelling was magnificent in a world bursting with culture.

As a final gift to protect her dryad lover, Alexandria pleaded with the Directors of Cirque des Reves to accept the dryad into their midst. It would allow Cassia the freedom to walk amongst the living in a corporeal form. With no real job set to think of, the dryad started off as a popcorn vendor, located in the stand by the Main Tent and the White Tent. Cassia was drawn to their energy put into every performance. It was the colorful lights, the upbeat music, and true mastery of their craft. She was fascinated with the sheer beauty of their complex routines. She wanted to learn so desperately. The dryad wanted to be amongst the ragtag team of the marvelous stage performers. The art of the aerial silk or aerial contortion fascinated her. It appealed to the sets of attributes gained from her original parent tree, the walnut, and her current parent tree, a bamboo. The perfect combination of enduring strength and determination, mixed with flexibility and airy freedom. Cassia trained incessantly for years from the masters. Pages scattered the floors of her small trailer room, notes on the tips and tricks of the trade. Failure was not an option. Her desire stemmed from the whispered words of the dying sorceress: “make me proud.”

((Short version: Started off as walnut tree. Humans expanded their town into her forest/area. Other dryad parent trees killed, the young Cassia wanted to live and mustered up her power to make the tree shake. Fearing witchery, the humans left her alone and made a small park around her tree. A travelling merchant sorceress comes into town named Alexandria. They become friends, but Alexandria has to leave. They don’t want to part ways after their blissful year of friendship. The sorceress decides to attempt to try to change Cassia’s parent tree, a thought that had never occurred to try amongst the dryad race. It was painful, but successful and Cassia changed her parent tree from the walnut to a potted bamboo tree that is convenient for travel. For the remainder of her life, Cassia travelled with Alexandria who tended to her parent tree. They were occasional lovers; although Cassia was rather awkward and did it more to please and offer something in return for all that Alexandria had done for her. Before Alexandria met her death via old age, she begged the Directors of Cirque des Reves to take Cassia into their midst. Cassia worked as a popcorn vendor by the White Tent. She was inspired by their beauty, technique, and amazing abilities. For years, the dryad trained with the masters to learn the skills of an acrobat, particularly aerial silk. When she adequately learned the skill, she was promoted to an official performer.))

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:L I K E S :

:bulletorange:The feeling of rain and its smell
:bulletyellow:Training and developing her skill sets
:bulletorange:Stalking people
:bulletyellow:Pointing out constellation patterns
:bulletorange:Travelling
:bulletyellow:Simple, but beautiful things
:bulletorange:Anything having to do with water
:bulletyellow:Tea (although she doesn’t really need to eat/drink)
:bulletorange:Eating exotic foods
:bulletyellow:Wind/Wind chimes
:bulletorange:Seeing the innocence in people
:bulletyellow:Chess/Other mental stimulation
:bulletorange:Deep conversation
:bulletyellow:Philosophy
:bulletorange:Reading/Taking notes (she does realize the hypocrisy of this)
:bulletyellow:Musty/Musky smells

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:D I S L I K E S :

:bulletorange:Whenever she accidentally cuts the silk with her horns
:bulletyellow:Falling as a general whole
:bulletorange: Smoking/Drinking/Drugs of any kind
:bulletyellow:Deforestation and people who disrespect the environment
:bulletorange:Conceit or rudeness
:bulletyellow:Sweets
:bulletorange:Failure/Displeasing others
:bulletyellow:Dogs that pee on trees
:bulletorange:Loud noises
:bulletyellow:Forgetting how to speak/Remembering to speak in English
:bulletorange:She has a weird phobia of a bird defecating on her head
:bulletyellow:Lightning storms

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:F A M I L Y : None to speak of

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:R E L A T I O N S H I P S : To be updated later

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:V O I C E : Rather melodic, although a bit choppy at times. She’s somewhere in the alto voice range. She speaks rather formally/politely, and her words tend to blend into one another. Many people liken it to sound of leaves (not surprisingly, really).

:bulletblack::bulletwhite:M I S C E L L A N E O U S :

:bulletorange:Cassia has to be extremely careful about cutting her aerial silk with the stupid horns
:bulletyellow:She prefers grey Earl Tea, but enjoys all types
:bulletorange:Cassia gets antsy anytime people besides the designated care giver are near her parent tree
:bulletyellow:The bamboo was enchanted by Alexandria to expel anything/anyone that had ill intentions away from it. It would take somebody with a well-trained sense of sorcery to remove the complicated enchantment.
:bulletorange:Cassia is mostly self taught (with the exception of aerial silk performance), and occasionally will give false information due to this
:bulletyellow:She knows both English and choice French words in addition to the language of the dryads
:bulletorange:Cassia will sometimes stare into space and crane her head as if she’s listening to something
:bulletyellow:Possesses the strong, stubborn and unyieldy nature of a walnut tree, but also the flexibility and balance of a bamboo
:bulletorange:Occasionally she laughs when things aren’t funny/are supposed to be humorous, but she mistakenly believes it is

:bulletwhite::bulletblack:R O L E P L A Y M E T H O D S : Notes, chats, forums on deviantArt as well as Skype IM
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