CHARACTER AGE: 26

DESCRIPTION: Fiery-haired Rua is a pixie-like character with her short stature and bubbly personality. She can often be seen milling about her apothecary, hair wild and filled with flora (and sometimes fauna) from foraging in the early hours of the morning. Slightly eccentric, Rua dresses in bright and often-mismatched patterns, often mistook for a vagabond to those unfamiliar to the land and with her work.

SKILLS: Botany, apothecary medicine, foraging, tracking

POWERS: Healing magic, divination (although these abilities are kept quiet)

FACTION:  Good

CHARACTER'S BRIEF BACKGROUND: Called Rua from an early age due to her flaming red hair; no one, even Rua herself, knows the woman’s true given name. Rua was found in the forest as a toddler by an elderly Camelot apothecary, Giles. The sight of young Rua was something out of a fairytale: a small child frolicking through the lush woods, surrounded by creatures of every kind, seemingly at peace amongst her animal friends. Giles searched for the odd toddler’s parents, asking nearby villagers and looking for traveling caravans who may have lost a child. No one claimed the girl, and charmed by her whimsical nature, the elderly apothecary took Rua in as his own.

As Rua grew, her skills in healing and apothecary medicine were apparent. An intuition Giles had never seen in his lifetime, and he’d had many apprentices, but none were as adept as Rua. She’d seemingly know what the person needed far before knowing exactly what was wrong with them and as soon as she’d touch them, a wave of peace seemed to fill the room. To Rua however, her knowing was premonition and her healing abilities miraculous. As a young girl, these abilities frightened her. Trying to tell her adoptive father, young Rua could never seem to find the right words and Giles would just shrug it off as some child’s fantasy. In these moments of frustration, Rua would find comfort in the very forest which Giles had found her.

However, in her sixteenth year, Rua’s “childish musings” changed in the old apothecary’s eyes as one morning the fire-haired teen begged Giles to advise the knights to not go hunting that day. Rua rambled on about how someone would be severely injured during the hunt. Having noticed his daughter had been up all night, plagued by nightmares, Giles thought nothing of it until later that day the apothecary doors burst open, a knight morbidly impaled by a stag. Rua and Giles got to work quickly. She’d spent the day preparing for this moment, yet she could feel the stares of her sceptical father. Looking into Giles’ eyes as they patched up the man, she could not only see his disbelief change to belief but also fear. Not fear of the severity of the situation, but of her.

Spirit wounded, Rua rushed to the forest which had comforted her all these years. After making sure the knight was stable and asleep, Giles looked for his bright and curious daughter in the grove which had become her second home. Like he was seeing her for the first time, as he had when she was a little girl, among the flora and fauna of the woods, she was so happy and at peace with who she was. In the distance however was another figure, watching Rua in the same way Giles watched her, with amusement and wonder only a parent could have. A Druid. Was this man her father, her real father? Rua unaware of the two men, a shared moment between an old apothecary and a Druid man fell hushed into the ether of the forest, only spoken between looks. And in that moment the two men’s eyes met, Giles felt a wave of fear. Not of the Druid man, or of who his daughter truly was, but a fear born of imminent loss. In desperation, Giles called Rua’s name. He could see her hesitation but with his arms outstretched, she ran and embraced her elderly father. The old man wanted to look to the Druid in jealous triumph. “See she has chosen me,” he wanted to say to him. But the mysterious man had already vanished into the wood.

Giles grew to cope with his daughter’s abilities and helped her hide them from others, afraid people might seek to abuse her powers or worse, abuse her for having them. Rua became less afraid of her own powers with the reassurance of her father, feeling less alone with his acceptance. Yet the time came when she couldn’t heal the person she loved the most. Old and frail, the apothecary told Rua everything he’d hidden from her for so long. In between apologies, forgiveness, and tears, the old man consoled his daughter. “Death comes for us all. But how we choose to live those moments until we breathe our last is of the utmost importance.”

So, in the past five years since Giles death, Rua has resolved herself to be the best apothecary Camelot has seen. Continuing Giles’ work, she is known within the court and the nearby villages for her quirky personality but impeccable skills. Although not being of noble birth, she is well-liked by members of the court due to her sense of humor and good-hearted nature, not to mention she’s patched up quite a few knights between fight practice and just fights. Despite having many friends, Rua experiences bouts of loneliness, having no one who knows her true nature and heritage. But she often prays for a friend who will truly understand her.