| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Candlewood is a SandWing scientist and a member of GASPWhy shouldn't it be a cake? Do you have a legitimate reason for saying that? Does cake traumatize you in some way so that we can't make even a bioweapon into it?
*pause*
I thought not.— During one of her frequent arguments with Pathology
Appearance[]
Candlewood has abnormally pale scales, even for a SandWing; they are a very light golden tan color, only aThat's just Candlewood. Don't mind her. She's one of the best toxicologists we have, but she's… uh… well, she's not quite right in the head. Don't say that to her face, though. She's one of those dragons who reads the Encyclopedia Pyrrhia for fun and is perfectly capable of using it to beat your head in.
— [REDACTED], a SandWing soldier, while taking Queen Thorn on a tour of Candlewood's lab
By Tundraw
Her eyes, though black like a normal SandWing's, have a ring of bright yellow around their pupils, giving her gaze an eerie quality even without her glasses.
She has recently become the head of the Toxicology department, one of the youngest dragons to ever do so, and wears a small star-shaped patch next to the green Biology plant insignia to show this. At the insistence of the safety protocols she grudgingly wears polished white metal bracers while working with poisons, but she's perfectly fine with working with her vipers bare-clawed.
Personality[]
So, who wants to talk about vipers?
— A common way of breaking the ice
This dragon's gentle name and pretty face hide the brilliant and somewhat crazy mind that lies within.
To start, she is overly paranoid and somewhat twitchy. This wouldn't be too far out of place in GASP, where many of the scientists are oddballs, but these traits have been coupled with a certain ruthlessness and knowledge of mechanics she posesses to create a rather trigger-happy dragoness that enjoys building traps and defenses for pretty much anything possible, from new ways to guard her lab to sophisticated mechanical traps for catching angry venomous animals.
Don't let her paranoia fool you -- she is one of the most brilliant toxicologists of the era. At the age of seven, while still at the University of Pyrrhia, she developed her own, extremely potent neurotoxin that was more dangerous and killed faster than almost any others at the time. It ended up being one of the subjects of her graduate thesis and is still used today in her lab defenses, mostly as a gas that she pumps into rooms. However, this brilliance comes with yet more odd qualities.
Since most of her work involves being around highly dangerous poisons, she has built up a resistance to many that are commonly used in assassination. Candlewood still believes that someone might try to sneak a new poison into her food, and is very suspicious about food that she hasn't caught or cooked herself. Most of her meals go through a rigorous inspection process before being eaten, although she does have a liking for cake. The examination standards on cake -- especially chocolate cake -- aren't as high, and she can often be found snacking on it while working with a new toxin.
Will you get that crazy dragoness to stop talking to her snakes and come out here? I need to have a serious talk with her about how lightly she's been taking safety since the last incident. We don't want the SandWings suspecting that one of their top scientists is affiliated with the Alliance.
— [REDACTED], head of GASP security
A few years ago, she began studying the natural venoms and poisons of some of the most dangerous creatures in Pyrrhia in response to an increased number of dragon deaths tracked back to said creatures. Most of these animals, like the dragonbite viper, are extremely agressive and wouldn't hesitate to attack or even kill a dragon. Candlewood, however, after spending a while working with these creatures, decided that they're just misunderstood, and began to feel bad for the ones she had to dissect. She eventually named all of them, and the first subject she usually embarks on is her menagerie of deadly animals. Most aren't convinced, and think that she's crazy for empathizing with creatures that are proven dragon killers.
She has a dark sense of humor and is known for her sharp tongue and wit.
Candlewood suffers from mild to moderate agoraphobia, the fear of public and crowded spaces. Although this isn't severe enough to badly affect her day-to-day proceedings, she prefers to be away from crowds if she can help it. Despite all this she's incredibly enthusiastic and energetic about her work.
Do not underestimate her, by the way. Although she spends most of her time reading or conducting experiments, she still has a number of weapons including but not limited to her tail barb, her fire, and an arsenal of deadly poisons, animals and traps.
Unlike most GASP members she doesn't believe that Thorn should be terminated and replaced. She thinks that the new SandWing queen is a reasonable dragon and that if GASP makes a good enough case they might be able to win her over
Work[]
Toxins and Poisons
Oh, deadly neurotoxin? I created it, you know. It's called that because it's deadly and a neurotoxin -- I can't tell you its official name, that's classified. Would you like some?
— Candlewood
Candlewood has discovered and created a variety of these, including:
- The neurotoxin she discovered while at the University of Pyrrhia, which she usually simply refers to as "neurotoxin". It has an official name, but this is classified.
- A modified version of this toxin that can be put in liquid form and placed in vats as part of traps. It also burns the skin on contact.
- Various poisons usable against non-draconic foes, such as scavengers. Currently collaborating with the Medicine department to create an anti-scavenger bioweapon, which Candlewood believes should be disguised as a cake.
- -ERROR- You do not have the required security clearance to proceed.
Venomous Animals[]
And this is Aaron. Say hello. He's got the best venom out of all of my snakes, and so they want me to test him most of the time. I'll never dissect him, though. Never! *pause* I always feel so bad about cutting them open, you know? They have such cute fangs.
— Candlewood
Candlewood keeps a menagerie of some of the most deadly creatures on the continent for scientific study and analysis. She has named all of them and treats them almost like dragonets, to the point of hand-feeding them, talking to them and apologizing to the ones she has to kill and dissect.
- Kit: One of her favorites. A dragonbite viper she hatched from an egg found outside her lab, he is slightly less aggressive than your typical viper. Has not bitten anyone. Yet.
- Jason: Another viper, who she tracked down outside the Scorpion Den after he attacked two young dragonets.
- Lionel: Candlewood's third viper, probably the most agressive and dangerous of all of them. Has killed multiple dragons and tried to bite her on numerous occasions. Despite this, she still treats him like her own child.
- Aaron: Probably her favorite test subject; she believes that his combination of a relatively young age and high agression level makes his venom of the highest quality. He is also larger than most other members of his species, which makes him useful for testing her idea that size doesn't have an effect the amount of venom produced.
- Other vipers that she doesn't use as much include Hannah, Rose, Alberto and Ben.
- A garden of various poisonous plants
- Many other venomous animals such as [DATA EXPUNGED] [DATA EXPUNGED] [DATA EXPUNGED]
- -ERROR- You do not have the required security clearance to proceed. A clearance level of B or higher is required to view these files. Thank you.
Inspiration drawn from[]
GlaDOS from Portal and Hange Zoe from Attack on Titan
