the Dead
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🕱 🕱 The Whole Story 🕱 🕱
Oleander was once an innocent soul, his only crime at the time of his death was being lonely. The year was 1859 in Chicago, Illinois and he was just another steel worker. A young man in the prime of his early twenties, shy and sweet and just putting in his dues with his community. Unfortunately, he lost his parents to measles, and he had no siblings. They had come to the US from Ireland, and there was no other family there with him in the states. A single man with no family, and no substantial ties was the perfect target.
His world very quickly became something reduced to darkness, pain, and magic. A man he only ever knew as Madoc turned him into one of several experiments. Madoc was, simply put, and evil genius. He had a scientific mind, but was born a necromancer with massive amounts of talent. Through his years of honing his abilities and sharpening his mind, he turned to human experiments and alchemy.
Madoc could raise the dead, control the animated of all kinds, even powerful vampires. He dabbled in hoodoo, and traveled the world to gain knowledge, expand his power, and gain a formal education as well. The man never shared all of his plans with Oleander, though he'd cried for answers, he only really knew that Madoc wanted to spit in the face of death.
Years he spent hearing his own screams, as well as the screams of others. There were animals, humans, vampires, and more that ended up sharing the depths of Madoc's depravity with him. Some experiments were more successful than others, some were ultimately destroyed. Oleander has no idea when it was he actually died, no idea how many times he had succumbed to the cold, welcoming grip of death only to be yanked back to the earth's horrible surface.
There came a time where Madoc released him from his chains, but only to attach him to those made from his control. He did the man's bidding in all manners. Oleander would fetch items, or fresh victims for him. He would get food for the most recent captives, and pick up the dry cleaning. Never could he say no, never could he do anything to put a foot out of line from what his master wished of him, and there was no hope of escape.
During the experiments that Oleander had been a part of, Madoc had been bringing in elements of herbology into his alchemy. Oleander doesn't know just what the man did, but different plant matters were used in the spells that reanimated him. Part of the reanimation had included chopping Oleander up into a number of pieces, and sewing him back together with flora and thread. Calculated amounts of specific plants had been crafted into the seams as Madoc put his doll back together before he woke him up. Going forward in his unlife, Oleander continued to refresh the plants in his stitching. Without it, he had to rely more heavily on ingesting flesh and would more quickly begin to deteriorate. Though he did still have to take in blood, he didn't have to eat flesh so long as he changed out the plants at the incisions sites. Madoc didn't stick with herbology, as it was not his primary interest, making Oleander one of a kind.
The best night of his unlife was the night that one of Madoc's captive vampires snapped and managed to break free long enough... just long enough. With tears of joy in his eyes, he watched as the vampire ripped into his master. Nothing more beautiful had ever been painted than that of this man's tainted blood splattering across the walls. Oleander fell upon him, and helped to sap the life out of his master as he screamed for the mercy that he never showed any of his victims.
As wonderful as the experience was, the moment Madoc died, the magic that fueled Oleander also died. Most of his creations dropped the moment his heart stopped, but Oleander and some of the animated beings like himself had a little time. None of them were the same, though, and they scattered to the wind to try and survive as best they could. He could only assume that they all eventually perished, as it was only by a small stroke of luck that Oleander did not eventually do the same.
As time went on, he found himself quickly wasting away. As much as he hated it, he tried eating flesh, both already dead and... freshly killed. He became desperate, wild and unhinged in his hunger and need for something to sustain him. It was while he was on the brink of becoming something out of a horror flick when he tried something different. While he was fighting with himself not to tear a family to shreds, he started to tear apart their greenhouse instead. It was an act of desperation, really... but it worked. Replacing rotting muscle with rosemary, juniper and whatever he could get his hands on, he felt better almost immediately.
Continuing to experiment on himself, and continuing to decay without his master living, he ended up shoving more and more plants into the parts of his body that were wasting away. Eventually he found a unique bit of herbology that seemed to keep him alive, or at least undead. More or less... he wasted away to little more than skin, bone, vasculature and a little connective tissue. The rest of him needed to be stuffed full with plant matter. An undead doll that needed its herbal stuffing replaced regularly, lest he rot any further.
In a sickening turn of events, he found himself emulating his former master by hitting the books, academically and magically. A self-taught chemist, botanist and herbologist that didn't have to eat brains. Years and years of trial and error, as well as trying his best to lead a life of some kind, and by now he has it all figured out. Different combinations accomplish different results, and he has to adjust his mixtures with the seasons, as well as rotate them through to avoid unwanted reactions. A good number of plants will do in a pinch, but the most effective are carefully grown at home, bundled up in a particular way, or ground down together, and likewise stuffed in to be sewn into place. The same home brewed science helps him to pass for human with a paste he smears over his stitching. It works a little like a magical tattoo-coverage foundation, and an important part of his morning routine.
Today, Oleander owns a massive, successful nursery that provides everything from house plants, flowers, trees, seeds, starters, herbs and more to individuals and restaurants alike. All organic, all grown with love, and a little magic in the earth. While he wouldn't call it his passion, it has become the center of his world for his own use, a means of making a living, and a means of having a life. Besides, being surrounded by vibrant, colorful life is hardly something to complain about. It helps with the smell.
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Enchanted Forest:
Some would call it a side hustle, but not all of the things that Oleander grows are sold openly to the public. Much of his business supplies restaurants as well as individuals, both bulk wholesale or smaller purchases for any regular person, and everything in between. However, not everything he grows can be found at The Clay Pot. Some of his items are sold only to a handful of people.
He doesn't grow anything as pedestrian as marijuana, though. The nefarious items that he grows are specifically grown for more specific purposes. Primarily, there are two types of people seek out these items from Oleander. The first... witches. He's an excellent source of rare organisms. Second? Drug dealers. There's a massive market for drugs that will impact supernatural beings with more potency than your run of the mill cocaine. So many beings out there, like himself, just don't benefit from certain substances, at least not for more than a few minutes. A good number of the things he grows are very difficult to find naturally on this plane of existence, coming from places like fae gardens and other fascinating locations. That's not to say he's the only person on earth who grows and supplies them, but one of the best. All organic, after all. He grows them and sells both in their natural state, and makes the drugs themselves with different mixtures, some needing to be cooked or reduced in a specific way.
Behind his house, personal green houses and gardens, there's a large wooded area. After about an acre in, the 'enchanted forest' begins, marked by earthly plants giving way to those that glow, twist and thrive only because of Oleander's skill and attention. The forest tends to attract other supernatural beings as well, usually they're harmless... usually. Below are a few images of the unique items grown here for special distribution, some of this world, and some not. -
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