Doctor Camellia Honeysuckle

Context

This character is an original creation. We often call these “homemades” or “homebrewed” – think home cooking or craft beer.

Many of these characters were created to take part in tabletop role-playing game sessions. Others were invented as a creative writing exercise, often as part of a community event.

This specific character was part of our 2014 Halloween themed character creation contest.

Background

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Powers & Abilities

Doctor Honeysuckle has the ability to control plants. She’s able to make them:

• Whip out a vine or other appendage against an opponent.
• Wrap around an opponent to restrain them.
• Or simply move as if walking from one place to another.

She accomplishes this through a mixture of scientific processes and magic spells. She learned the magical formula for controlling plants. From there she used cyber-gloves with electronic sensors and printed circuits in the shapes of magical formula, is able to manipulate the plants as though they were her puppets, and she the puppet master.

Doctor Honeysuckle has also learned how to make her mind appear blank to any attempts at reading her thoughts. It’s as if her long association to her plants (her “children” as she calls them) has made them one. She this is able to mask her complex thoughts as the simple nerve impulses that plants have to external stimuli.

History

From the time Camellia Honeysuckle could walk, she had a love and fondness for plants and flowers. Her father, a florist, owned a shop in Los Angeles that did not do well. As Camellia grew older, however, her help and care of the plants in his shop helped keep the shop in business.

By the time she was ready to graduate High School, her ability with plants helped not only to save her father’s ailing business. It allowed him to save enough money to send her to college.

In college, Camellia studied horticulture and genetics. Her teachers recognized her genius and encouraged her to take part in corporate sponsored experiments with gene-splicing plants and fish. She excelled and became one of the pre-dominate scientists in helping create some of the first GMO foods.

What her teachers and corporate sponsors didn’t know was that she hadn’t used science to accomplish all of her successes.

She had met her first love, a practicing Wiccan. She taught Camellia some simple spells, and the two soon found that not only was Camellia’s intellect keen, but her affinity for magic was just as potent.

Realizing the potential of blending the two worlds of science and magic and creating a better world for it, Camellia began to use magic to augment her scientific achievements.

Flower powers

After years of success, some of Camellia’s professional rivals began to challenge her methods. Unable to duplicate her achievements themselves, they finally convinced the corporation to force her to reveal her methods. Revealing her use of the occult to her peers, they became frightened, labeled her a mad scientist. She was discredited her as a loon and a fraud.

Honeysuckle left the university and went back to her (deceased) father’s flower shop. Where she re-opened and began to sell flowers, and secretly continued her research.

Soon, she attracted the attention of Nettle Kennedy, a young amateur florist. Nettle had answered an ad for an assistant to run Camellia’s shop, and soon fell in love with the older Camellia.

Camellia found herself to be fond of the young Nettle, in a motherly fashion. So she began to share her secrets of blending magic and science with the young man. They created flora that was nearly animal like in behavior and intelligence.

When word that Camellia had opened a flower shop got around to her former peers, some of her former rivals showed up in her shop to gloat at her fall from grace. Camellia, with help of her “little Nettle” and some of her plants, visited those who wronged her and fed them to her “children”.

Now, when those in the neighborhood who are in need; abused spouses, children and others, Camellia and Nettle bring them a flower in remembrance of what happens to those Honeysuckle and Kennedy have brought to justice.

Feed me Seymour

Honeysuckle and Kennedy use a variety of means to dispose of their enemies. Animating varieties of plants, they have grown Venus Flytraps, pumpkins with Jack-O’-lanterns carved into them, and even Scarecrows, into human-sized creatures capable of pursuing a victim and grappling them in order to bring them back to the Flower Shop’s mulch pit.

Clothing and other items are sold at the local Salvation Army store or pawn shop.

For now, Camellia and Nettle are too well liked for anyone to reveal to the police or other investigators who are looking into the disappearances.

Description

Camellia Honeysuckle is an average height and weight woman for her age, with silver hair and brown eyes. She wears a sun hat, a blouse and painters shorts with penny loafers (typical gardener’s attire). She appears as an unassuming woman in her 50’s.

Nettle Kennedy is a short young man (late 20’s) with black unkempt hair, freckles, and a disheveled appearance. Sometimes Nettle stutters and has difficulty speaking to new people he meets. He almost never makes eye-contact.

Personality

Camellia is cheerful and bright, even on a cloudy, rainy day. She is always even tempered. She gleefully murders the wicked as easily as one prunes a bad leaf or branch off a sick plant, in order to save the whole.

Nettle is quiet and unsure of himself. Nervous. At heart, he has been bullied and sought out someone who would protect him (which he found in Camellia). Now that he feels safe, he has become the bully, and murders with ease.

DC Universe History

Clearly Camellia could be a contemporary or mentor to Poison Ivy.

By Joseph McKeon.

Source of Character: Peter S Piispanen’s Random Magical Character Creation system; Dr Iris Hineman (Movie: Minority Report), Seymour Kelborn (Movie: Little Shop of Horrors).

Writeup completed on the 23^rd of October, 2014.