1st DnD Character Backstory
I’m Phoenixen Fahlite, Xennie for short
and I’m a sorcerer by birth, a cipher
for my deceased twin sister’s healing quest
my parents are two angels, Enix and Phia
who assisted in trying to solve all living beings’
demands, dilemmas, and wishes
they were doing pretty well
helping to bring Ranunculus Village out of a 504-year-long drought
and restore the natural landscapes,
until they couldn’t help one being even a little bit—a demonic spirit named Olaph
Olaph possesses abilities to enter all realms
within known worlds
and cause interdimensional natural disasters,
including ancestral hurricanes and destructive droughts
when Olaph received intel that Enix and Phia blocked
their most destructive attack on Ranunculus yet,
Olaph captured Enix and took Phia into an inaccessible realm of icy darkness
on a cliff overlooking a glittery gray sea of mysterious liquid
Phia was 9 months pregnant with twins at the time and had to give birth by herself
Olaph put a hex on Phia’s body before placing her there
causing one twin to live and one twin to die
while one spirit joined the other
when the living twin was born
Phia managed to raise her until she was four
Olaph returned to take her away into a spooky realm
a world that became all she knew
the twin is holding the spirit of the other twin
as the “living” twin, I
followed footsteps of angelic ancestors becoming a healer,
constantly confused as to whose ethics I’m following—mine or hers
I would like to figure out a spell or two
to release my sister from my body
so she can be free and / or break the curse Olaph put on all of us
I also want to find my parents and reunite us all,
even if only for a moment in time
**
@round the world in a daz-e
after Prince
i begin singing through my laughter
bending my back flipping out
over equal lines underwater
wading thru nine dandelion roots
still remaining tangled & caressing earth’s core
time zones mapped out in corduroy,
velvet & paisley prints
returning messages to the surface
playing the game telephone
my mom said we would pick them from the backyard
this summer to make dandelion wine
like her mother used to
a ritual tends to tend
more than memories only flicker
sometimes only whine
eye blink one two three times
future me sips then chugs
sweetness i can only imagine
i stay in school
eye avoid the garbage passersby throw at me
i jump on a trampoline so high
eye reach the other side
of an ocean catching
two tamborines mid-air & still
eye paint my footsteps with rose & gold & raspberry lime
i refuse, eye refuse once more
eye rinse what’s mine
i pay the price walking in thru the outdoor
**
laughingstock
hey babe, do you want to join me
in being a laughingstock for the ages?
look, babe, we already are
look, babe, we already are
are they talking behind our backs
are they pointing & laughing are they
at what they virtually see
it’s a gift
being a chameleon of faux pas
for others to bond over
how fun it is to be behind the laughter
being all the rage & bounties dressing up
fitting in a fantasy
being tripped in the hallway
being kicked behind the knees
look, babe, it’s an all-time job for the taking
& with no closure in sight
& with no closure in sight
how dare we speak in emotion
how dare we speak
about the years that bullied us
not just having our fears
but having to walk outside with them
once more,
we, the laughingstock can bet on
being talked about &
gossiped about &
ridiculed in space
how dare they help create the shame
they demand us to get over
look now,
I’m covered in blood and feathers
look now,
I can walk outside alone again but only with a rescued puppy
who joined our laughingstock crew
the days fold & unfold with you & yet
there are bigger issues in the world we should handle
but be still no matter
how much time has passed
no closure in sight, but maybe it’s heard here
listen, with a spectrum of confidence
only cycles of memories they let die or add more wood to
how strange it is for us to choose to laugh with them
& how you’d laugh at me today
even at my dewy face
the streams of release remind me of Dublin rain showers
& how the greens pop into your trains of thought
listen, let’s meet up & have a laugh at them
to guzzle them all down
for the questions they chose not to ask
while they laugh at our limbos & slips
I’ll laugh at myself until
you’re telling me again
I’m the funniest person in fact
that you ever met
yes babe & listen haven’t I proven it
listen, I got some returns left to give
so many people I smiled at
who didn’t smile back
how funny can we get
without trying to start a bit
we can learn a lot from a couch outside in the sun
laying down in front of a laughing crowd
have you ever died before?
have you rolled on the floor laughing?
have you laughed your ass off?
what is a laughingstock to you anyway?
fun or fund you say
**
DANA VENERABLE is an educator, occasional tap dancer, and writer. She is an English PhD candidate at SUNY University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY and working at Kean University in Union, NJ. Dana has written for Peach Mag, P-Queue, Rigorous, Snail Trail Press, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, VIDA Review, What Happens and elsewhere. Currently, she’s returning to one of her childhood hobbies of songwriting.
