Florian

Beside the Sanctuary of Stone are two gardens: The swath of natural wildflowers and herbs tended to by Mila, and a large greenhouse brimming with vibrant blossoms from all over Sornieth, overseen by the fastidious Florian. From umbra parthenium to rare starfall blossoms, Florian takes care of them all, seeing to each species' own nutritional and environmental needs to the best of his ability given the greenhouse's location in Dragonhome. When needed, especially in winter, he can use his native fire magic to keep his greenhouse nicely balmy for the plants from warmer climes.

Florian keeps his blooms arranged so that most of them can be admired from outside of the greenhouse. He prefers not to have other dragons tramping around his garden and possibly damaging his plants, if he can avoid it, especially as it's a rather crowded space and not exactly scaled for most larger breeds. There's also the bees to worry about; Florian keeps a hive inside the greenhouse to pollinate the flowers (except for a few particular varieties he's trying to hybridize by hand), and produce honey and wax for a variety of purposes. He can calm them by producing his own smoke easily enough, but smaller visitors may end up stung, or simply kill some of the bees by accident if they're too large. He's happy to sell others seeds or cuttings of particular plants, along with a lengthy, detailed set of instructions for how to properly care for them.

To call Florian fastidious or meticulous is an understatement. He is extremely protective of his plants and greenhouse, to the point that even he's bothered by it. Yes, he wants to keep the rare blossoms safe and healthy, and yes, he wants to keep pranksters or klutzes away from them, but he knows, rationally, that doesn't require inspecting all of the windows for breaks multiple times per morning, or double- and triple-checking that he has, in fact, locked the door behind him when he leaves at night. But he can't seem to help himself. There's a part of his mind brimming with “what ifs” and thinking itself in circles that refuses to be slightly silenced unless Florian gives into the compulsion to double check and make absolutely certain. On a good day, he's fussy, a bit high-strung, and slightly stressed. On a bad day, these nearly-ritualistic behaviors can take up an hour or more of his time. Vesuvia is slowly helping him find ways to circumvent his compulsions without flat-out ignoring them (which has only ever made them worse).

But most of his insistence on propriety and doing things properly just comes from his personality, and not on his worries. It's a distinct, if not entirely discrete, part of who he is. Another, far less-well known part of his personality, which most would not expect of such a stuffy dragon (though they might, considering he's a florist), is that he's a bit of a hopeless romantic, and adores poetry and the language of flowers.