Firemoss Plant Shaper Player: Heidi Henderson Last Updated: November 18, 2004 Update CIS

Attributes

Current Name: Firemoss [1570-1773]
Previous Name: Treesong [1112-1570]
Cub Name: Woodberry [819-1112]
Preserver Name: Willowthin Highthing

Soul Name: Nia

Known By:
Bramblesong (mother, deceased)
Quickblade (father, deceased)
Ravenwing (lovemate, missing)
Woodshine (soul sister, deceased)
Nettle (Recognized mate, alive)
Duskwater (lifemate, alive)

Sex: Female
Age: 954
Hunt Blooded: No

Eyes:
Blue/green, slanted but slightly rounded.

Hair:
Strawberry blonde, straight with a slight wave and worn in different hairstyles depanding on the task at hand. While gathering or working on herbal brews, she plaits her hair in one long braid or ties her hair back with a kerchief to keep her hair out of her face and eyes. She's also still fond of wearing two thin braids to either side of her face with the rest down, as she likes the feel of the wind in her hair.

Facial Features:
Fine boned heart-shaped face with pronounced cheekbones and large eyes.

Height: 5'0" (152 cm)
Skin: Very pale.
Build: Willowy, not buxom.

Magic:
Sending (average)
Magic Feeling (above average)
Wolf Bonding (below average)
Plant Shaping (strong)

Clothes:
Fancy, flowing cloth clothing (especially shirts) is Firemoss' favourite, mainly because clothing of this type is light-weight and more conducive to the beading and embroidery she adores. On normal occasions, a short, side-split and close-fitting leather skirt, high leather-strap sandals and feathers and a kerchief to adorn her hair round out her outfit. She takes great care to keep her fancier clothing neat and if merely tying the material of her larger-sleeved blouses won't prevent them from getting snagged or stained, she'll choose form over fashion and wear a worn green, ankle-length, berry-stained tunic and supple brown leather boots instead.

Colours Worn: Brown, white and green, gold embroidery and a pale blue-green in her kerchief.
Jewellery: Gold necklace with green gems (that Ravenwing won in a game of dice with the trolls) and earrings.

Heritage Skills Acrobatics Climbing Direction Sense Diving Fishing: General Hiding Hunting: General Howling Gathering: Basic Lore: Fauna Lore: Flora Running Self-Defence Steath Swimming Throwing Ride: Wolf	Personal Skills Crafting: Herbalist ** Fishing: Spear ** Gathering: Herbs ** Cooking: General * Dancing * Fishing: Submerged Spear * Musician: Singing * Tracking * Gathering: Shellfish Storytelling Tree Sugaring	Weapon Skills Knife ** Spear *
** = Primary skill * = Secondary skill Submerged spear fishing partnter = Duskwater

Relationships

Family:
Bramblesong (mother, deceased)
Quickblade (father, deceased)
Clover (son, alive)

Mates:
Ravenwing (lovemate, missing) [1539-1693]
Nettle (Recognized mate, alive) [1754-1754]
Duskwater (lifemate, alive) [1754-1773]

Soul Sibling: Woodshine (deceased) [1240-1693]

Friends:
Birchbark, Duskwater, Dreamberry, Dreamshadow, Glow, Lark, Mystic, Wildstar, Wolfstrider, Woodsmoke.

Role Play

Personality:
Firemoss doesn't usually loose herself in the NOW of wolf thought. She has a good memory and occasionally takes on the role of storyteller.

It's not much of a secret that her first love, aside from that of friends and family, is that of plants. She spends countless hours out during daylight searching for useful medicinal/edible plants and is regarded as one of the most knowledgable herbalists in the holt. In the rare event that she should stumble upon a new plant or a different variety of an already familiar species, she greets the event with great excitement.

Firemoss uses her knowledge to concoct herbal brews to alleviate common maladies that occur in the tribe. Her tried-and-true remedies for pain relief, itch soothing and her brew to quelch a skunk's stink have become commonly-requested staples by many of her tribe mates. She'll also gladly rise to the challenge of finding a new recipe in the rare event she doesn't already know of the herbal cure for a particular malaise. She takes great pride in her skill and her concoctions and doesn't mind in the least when some of the more wolf-blooded turn their noses up at her cures. She knows well that even though the holt has a healer, it's always wise to not rely solely on magic. Besides, she's more than happy to help with the more mundane-seeming remedies so Purehaven can save his energies for wounds that plants can't cure.

Firemoss realizes that not everything she does is conventionally accepted, but this doesn't bother her. She's been walking her own path for years and no one has been able to make her see the need to change her ways. However, since not all elves enjoy wandering through the forest to collect herbs, she spends a fair amount of time gathering by herself with only her wolf bond Burrpelt as company. She values her time alone as a time to contemplate the finer aspects of life, or to just appreciate nature in general. She's not a loner, however, and does enjoy the comfort of others, especially her close friends and the other elders of the tribe. She'll gladly head to the Rushwater River to chat with others or to spearfish; she's quite proficient with her spear and has caught many a meal from the waters. She also enjoys being a participant in festivities and will gladly sing, dance, or tell stories at tribal events.

Firemoss is a motherly elf, too, and won't hesitate to take the time to listen to someone or offer a bit of wisdom or a shoulder for support if need be. She cares greatly for her family and her tribe mates and hates to see discord or unhappiness, even though she knows that those who live together sometimes have issues that need to be worked out. Many seasons have given her the clues on when she needs to say something, when someone might need a subtle prodding to get the point, or when it's best to let a matter settle itself. The only tricky area, she's found, is when it comes to her cub, Clover. She finds it harder to not want to hold him close during the aches and pains of his growing up, perhaps because she feels protective of the cubling she thought she would never have.

Firemoss is sweet, patient and caring, and it takes quite a bit to make this seasoned elder upset. However, High Ones help anyone who dares cause harm to those people and things she loves. When Firemoss does get angry, it's like a swift-striking storm: turbulent and sometimes frightening. The few who have happened to catch glimpse of the plant shaper's rare anger have expressed surprise that such an emotion could come from such a gentle soul.

Following the two turns in which both Duskwater left the holt and in which Burrpelt died, Firemoss has seemed slightly more introverted and thoughtful. She continues to readily give advice to those who need it, but is a lot more hesitant to connect with individuals on a deeper level. This is partially to do with how she is dealing with the events of the past two turns; slowly, she is figuring out what is right for her and how to be 'herself' again, even if those decsisions involve some major changes in the elder's life.

Treasures:
A doeskin bag in which she carries tools (a knife for cutting necessary plants and flint and steel in case she needs to start a fire) and many of her new plant finds. Her most prized possessions are the necklace Ravenwing gave her and the gold and jewel encrusted dagger Duskwater gave her.

History:
Woodberry was born after Quickblade and Bramblesong's Recognition. She was their only cub. Bramblesong was a talented plant shaper and helped in the construction of Rushwater Holt. It is due to her mother that Firemoss is more elf than wolf. Her father, Quickblade, was an expert tracker and would take her out on the hunt. Firemoss didn't quite take to the hunt, but she did enjoy the tracking part; which she still continues to do, infrequently with the rest of the Hunt and more for her individual searches for new plant varieties - hHer little obsession that puzzles some of the more wolfish members of her tribe whom spurn eating plants.

Quickblade died on a hunting trip for rockdeer during the wet season. It had been raining heavily prior to the hunt and he died in a mud slide on an unsteady slope. Bramblesong survived her mate until the season Rushwater Holt was overrun by snakes. She and several other members of the tribe were bitten and unfortunately died. Woodberry was especially hit hard by the loss of her mother, and she would find, later in life, that death and loss were two of the hardest things for her to bear. Various members of the tribe took in Woodberry until she found her soul name and named herself Treesong, in memory of her mother and her new-found plant shaping abilities.

Eventually she formed an attachment with one of the members of the Hunt - Ravenwing. They became lovemates, much to the surprise of many, as he seemed to be night to her day. Ravenwing was a very nocturnal elf who lived for the hunt and was related distantly to Halfkin. However, it was a very satisfying relationship with each partner bringing out a different side of the other - this was one of Firemoss' most colourful and energetic periods.

Firemoss experienced loss again following the untimely death of her soul sister, Woodshine. However, events that occurred after Woodshine's death were to be Firemoss' greatest trial.

It all began upon the disappearance of Soulseeker. Ravenwing was thoroughly distressed at the loss of his chief and mentor and could not let Soulseeker's disappearance go. When the tribe gave up searching for Soulseeker, Ravenwing felt betrayed. He refused to believe that Soulseeker could not be found.

Ravenwing came to Firemoss, telling her of his plan to find Soulseeker, and assumed, given how close Firemoss, Woodshine and Soulseeker had been, that his lovemate would accompany him. Firemoss refused, knowing that if Soulseeker didn't want to be found he wouldn't be; and that he would not be returning. She had decided to stay out of loyalty and her love of her soul sister Woodshine: she knew as a result of her own past, painful losses of her parents that this would be a difficult time for Wildstar and thus was determined to give the chieftess-to-be as much support as she possibly could.

Ravenwing left hurt and Firemoss remained as wounded as he was, hurt that he would leave her, to go. As you can guess, the parting was not amicable. Firemoss tried to keep in contact with him for as long as she could, but he refused her sendings.

Hurt even more by this, Firemoss retreated into herself, emerging only to support Wildstar as she'd promised herself she'd do. She wasn't one to lose herself in the NOW of wolf thought to forget, and in her reflections over the matter, it dawned on the the plant shaper that she didn't realize just how hard Ravenwing's departure would hit her; she had assumed that theirs had been an easy lovemating without the commitment of lifemating or Recognition. She had taken their relationship for granted.

When Ravenwing never returned, her pain was replaced by guilt. She thought that perhaps if she had gone with him, she could have somehow kept him safe or, perhaps, could have even persuaded him to return.

Although for many turns Firemoss refused to give up the notion that Ravenwing would return, she finally sought release and joined the Wolfsong to howl for him. Still, it was many, many years before she would let herself love another. It was Duskwater, a life-long friend, who finally won her heart.

However, her lifemating to Duskwater wasn't the end of trials and difficulties. Just as she and Duskwater had joined as lifemates, she Recognized Nettle. They tried to deny the Recognition, but the ensuing sickness and near death of Recognition denied caused their respective lovemates to intervene. In the end, Firemoss and Nettle decided that their place was with their respective lifemates, although Nettle would still be a part of his son's life. Firemoss is thrilled to finally have the cubling she had always wanted, after having given up all hope, and she is pleased to have Duskwater to raise the cub with, as well.

During her pregnancy, Firemoss experienced strange dreams involving cats that started as mere images but increased to the intensity of nightmares in her last few months with child. However, Nettle's birthing gift, a necklace with a cat pendant, assuaged her fears.

As Firemoss' relationship with Duskwater has grown, both have begun to teach each other nuances of their favourite pastimes. She and Duskwater now often take walks through the forest to the plant shaper's favourite haunts.

Firemoss has taken a keen notice of the changes that have happened in Rushwater Holt over the past few turns of the seasons. It still concerns her quite a bit that trolls seem to be encroaching in on elfin territory to find (and often destroy) plant life. Though she overcame her initial fears of coming across trolls while out foraging - fears that had kept her from venturing too far from the holt proper for a while - she still keeps caution when journeying toward the borders of the holt's territory. She still relies on foraging in the forest to get away and to deal with sometimes-stressful situations.

When her fears regarding the trolls were somewhat assuaged, Firemoss experienced a time of true peace and happiness. Wolfstrider, Duskwater's prodgical son, reconciled with hardships in his own life and opted to move into their tree den. Firemoss was overjoyed for her family and delighted at how a once-distant relationship between her lifemate and his son began to grow again. She was also pleased that Clover kindled a relationship with Wolfstrider, too, as that new friendship has given the cub new interests and things to do.

However, the day the chieftess announced her Recognition to Lonewolf heralded many stark changes to come. Firemoss herself was overjoyed with the news, and had hoped that the stir over Wildstar's Recognition would be like events surrounding Firemoss' own. She was certain that the lovemate who didn't Recognize would eventually accept what had happened and even call the child to be born his own, too. Instead, Rock left the holt and Duskwater, also seeing parallels with the past in this situation, left with Rock to try to talk some sense into the youth. Firemoss had thought they would be gone for a day; perhaps two hands of days at the most. She didn't know her lifemate would be away for the course of two full turns of the season.

When it became evident that the pair was not going to return soon, Firemoss was determined to be strong and be supportive of the others she knew were affected by the absences. True to her nature, she wanted to be the one her friends and tribe mates could lean on. However, in quiet moments she often found herself lonesome and depressed. Words cannot describe how much she missed her lifemate or how much she wished he were at her side; especially when the wolf death epidemic struck the tribe the first cold season that Rock and Duskwater were gone.

During the Bloom Rest epidemic, as Purehaven was quarantined away with the cubs and future of the tribe, Firemoss took it upon herself to treat the sick wolves and elves with her herbal remedies. While no elves died as a result of the sickness, the tribe's wolf pack was severely reduced. Her own wolf-friend, Burrpelt, fell severaly ill and while he eventually recovered, retained grievious injury.

Firemoss is determined that this hard time in her already long life will not weigh her down. She keeps herself busy to help take the weight off her mind and heart. She holds her loved ones closer, as they have become that much more dear to her. Furthermore, she is looking forward to Wildstar's new cubling's birth, and is determined to spoil it rotten - just as her soul sister Woodshine would have done.

Names: When Woodberry went out to search for her soul name and discovered her talent for plant shaping, she changed her name from Woodberry to Treesong. The name of Firemoss was given to her by Soulseeker: the name comes from phosphorescent moss that grows in and around Rushwater Holt. It is weakly phosphorescent but Firemoss is able to increase the phosphorescence and allow it to glow brighter, she uses this in her tree hole instead of candles. In celebration of Woodshine and Soulseeker's Recognition, she caused the moss in their little glade to glow like hundreds of little fireflies as a joining gift.

In 1770, during New Flood, and before Duskwater's return with Rock, Burrpelt died after succumbing to complications he received during the epidemic that wiped out a good number of the tribe's wolf population. Firemoss took the loss of her wolf-friend rather hard, given the time it took place.

Firemoss was pleased that Duskwater returned with Rock two turns following their disappearance, but found that her relationship with her lifemate can't just resume from where it left off in 1769. Firemoss is taking her time to figure out what path her life needs to take following the twists and turns of the past two turns.

Wolf-Friend

Not currently bonded.