Taimi

Taimi had begun as less than a nymph: a dryad, but without the ability to separate from the tree she belonged to. A spirit, really. She prayed to the Gladekeeper on a daily basis, pleading with the deity to allow her to break free from her roots. Were she able to, Taimi would have cried every night she remained bound to the tree.

As she grew, Taimi became both more desperate and more somber about her fate. Was she truly bound to the heart of this tree for decades on end, forced to reach toward the sun she could never bask in? To gaze upon the same, slowly changing environment every day of her immobile life? As she grew more frantic, with the Gladekeeper never answering her prayers, Taimi started pleading to the Arcanist; the strongest magic-wielder she knew of. After a mere few weeks of this, he answered her somewhat wearily.

"What do you want, sapling?"

She explained her plight, nonexistent voice cracking and wavering as leaves fell from her branches. The Arcanist considered her request, silent for a moment.

"And why should I grant this wish?"

"I have a name," she begged, "And no one has ever said it to me. I don't even know where it came from— but I don't want it to go to waste. I don't want to be alone forever and I want to be able to explore beyond this forest. Please— I will do anything."

He laughed, the sound echoing in her mind and shaking her trunk. "Very well! You shall become a dragon under my service, with wings of leaves and a body of wood, enchanted by arcane magic to live free of roots. Are you ready?"

"Please!"