๐๐ป ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐น ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐
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๐น๐ต๐ฎ๐ช๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ
๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐1
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โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
1โ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐...๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. โ
โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, also known as ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, or ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. Alternatively, she is ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ or ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐; the ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ and the ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, respectively. In English-speaking countries, she is sometimes referred to as ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ or ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ (this is a very flattering title, since Verdรญnqa only has domain over the Amazon Rainforest. But still). She was ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ to the Incans. Goes by ๐ฝ๐๐๐, nowadays.
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โโAs old as the ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ itself-which would be around 50 ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. Verdรญnqa only clearly remembers ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, though, starting from when the ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ began developing in the region.
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โโ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ of any kind (though she is especially partial to those species native to the ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐), the Amazon Rainforest, guavas, coconuts, pineapple, tropical fruit in general, the ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐, flower crowns, lace (especially of the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Spanish variety), long, flowing dresses and skirts, cotton sundresses and gauzy wraps, rural areas with picturesque farms and gently rolling hills, the ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, the emerging ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ in certain ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (though she fears that it is too little, too late), sunny meadows, snowy mountaintops, windswept plains, dry savannas, arid deserts, dense forests, environmental documentaries, books that raise awareness about the environment, rain, hail, sunshine, fog, thunderstorms, blizzards, calm spring days with not a cloud in sight, sunrises and sunsets, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐/๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, rainbows, stiff white blouses, the phenomenon of life, the bits of ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐'๐ work that she's familiar with, folk music (of any sort)
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โโ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ /๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, the conquistadors of Spain's colonial period, ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, pollutants of any sort that cannot be naturally filtered out of the Earth's living systems at a reasonable rate, seeing all the areas of the world that humans have already destroyed, being reminded of how she allowed humans to exploit the Amazon Rainforest's resources, bullshit like sharkfin soup and industrial meat packaging plants, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ that show no respect for the environment or their workers, sweatshops that are harmful to both humans and the environment, large-scale mining projects, CFCs, DDT and other harmful pesticides, climate-change deniers, people who show ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, Witches who compel her to go against her morals for their own gain, trashy rap music
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โโFC/model is ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ ๐๐๐๐; faction in the universe is ๐ญ๐๐. -
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โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
1โ ๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐; ๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. โ
โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโVerdรญnqa draws strength from plants. This is both a strength and a weakness, in the sense that before nations began industrializing, the ecosystem was (relatively) healthy, so Verdรญnqa was more easily able to feed off of the plants' energy. Nowadays, though, it's hard to find plants that haven't been touched by pollutants added to the environment by humans.โโVerdรญnqa is more resilient than one might think. The Earth will endure-it has endured-and so will she.
โโShe can cause plants to grow at greatly increased speeds; is capable of transforming mere saplings into towering trees within seconds, for example. She can also "manipulate" plants in the sense that she can communicate with them, more so through feelings and instincts than coherent thoughts.
โโShe can transform her hair into vine-like tendrils at will. These vines are surprisingly nimble and dexterous, acting as a cross between a lasso or a whip and an extra set of hands or arms.
โโShe is fluent in English (as a necessity), Spanish (again, as a necessity), and various indigenous languages that have been all but lost to time (Quechua, the language of the Incan Empire, among them). Knows a smattering of various European and Asian languages as well, mostly from observing immigrants to the nations of South America.
โโPretty good with floral arrangements and gardening, as well. Has a soft spot for botany.
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โโExposure to iron and silver leaves her dizzy and fatigued. In addition, direct contact with either substance burns her.โโAnything that has a detrimental effect on plants will affect Verdรญnqa as well. Even indirect factors take their toll; greenhouse gases that cause the warming of the Earth's climate don't directly harm plant life, but the changes brought about by this phenomenon have already greatly decreased biodiversity and the overall well-being of many ecosystems, which has weakened Verdรญnqa.
โโComes off as a bit batty, and unknowingly switches languages quite often. These traits, as you can imagine, are not exactly great for making first impressions.
โโShe can transform her hair into vine-like tendrils at will. These vines are surprisingly nimble and dexterous, acting as a cross between a lasso or a whip and an extra set of hands or arms.
โโVerdรญnqa's aversion to violence makes her quite passive and indecisive. It also makes her more likely to run away from a fight than to face it head-on, though if she gets angry enough...well. Let's just leave it at that.
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โโPositive: kind, gentle, peaceful, caring, diplomatic, calm, nurturing, slow to anger, empatheticโโNeutral: non-confrontational, emotional, whimsical, dreamy, sees all humans as inherently good, wistful, melancholy
โโNegative: vicious and vengeful when provoked, passive, eccentric, slightly (okay, maybe more than slightly off her rocker, absentminded, reclusive
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โโVerdรญnqa comes off as a quirky, whimsical woman who may be just slightly off her rocker. She is full of sweet smiles and melancholy eyes and flowing satin skirts, and she abhors violence and destruction. Verdรญnqa likes to wear flowers in her hair and dance to invisible music, and she flits about the world like a bird, full of dreamy nonsense and endearing eccentricities. Gentle and free-spirited, Verdรญnqa has a profound appreciation for the natural world (she is, after all, a being of the natural world) and all it has to offer. She is rather emotional, thinking with her heart more than with her head (so to speak), and can be prone to irrational flights of fancy as a result of her age and general personality. Verdรญnqa is, however, quite perceptive and keenly aware of other people's emotions, despite her tendency to stare off into space with a dreamy expression on her face.โโUnderneath her flower crowns and tangled hair, however, Verdรญnqa is distant and fragile. She misses her rainforest; she misses the cawing birds and swishing leaves and chirping insects. She misses the vibrant flowers and dark soil and towering trees. She misses the very air of her rainforest; the lush smell of life and the sweet smell of fruit and flowers. She misses the lazy sloths and bright frogs and mischievous monkeys; the tireless ants and proud parrots and graceful jaguars. She misses them all, and sometimes, all she can do is stare out at the twisting skyscrapers and grey streets of Morrow and wonder what the city would look like swallowed up by verdant greenery.
โโVerdรญnqa may be physically present in Morrow, but in her head, she is far, far away, thousands of years in the past, before the humans began poisoning her beloved rainforest. Verdรญnqa herself is very gentle and kind; she would never hurt a fly. But sometimes, she gets so angry at the way that humans have treated the Earth-and it's all she can do to keep herself from replacing the steel jungle that is her new home with vines and trees; from reaching deep down below the ground to every little root and every little sapling that has somehow survived in this world of car exhaust and industrial toxins, and telling them to grow. ๐๐ป๐ธ๐, she wants to say, and take back the land that is yours. ๐๐ป๐ธ๐, and reclaim the world as your own, she longs to tell them. You belong with the sun and sky and sea, she wants to say, not buried under asphalt roads and twisting metal. But Verdรญnqa is frightened-she does not want to take any human lives, for she knows that only a small percentage of humans are responsible for the blatant destruction and degradation of the Earth and the wonders that it has to offer. So she retreats within herself, and tries to remember a time when humans lived in harmony with the land.
โโIt gets harder and harder with each passing day.
โโVerdรญnqa, La que Pertenece a la Selva, La Madre de la Selva, was supposed to protect her rainforest. Was that not why she was created-to safeguard her home? But how can she do that if the humans fill her veins with lead and mercury from their paints and pipes, if they fill her lungs with carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide from their cars and coal? It's poison to her, just as it's poison to the air and water and trees. Verdรญnqa wants to be violent and destructive-she wants to burn their homes to the ground and let trees and flowers grow from the ruins; she wants to level cities and factories and highways and give her precious plants the clean air and fresh water they need to flourish. But how could she be so cruel? How could she be so cruel to those families who only cut down her trees so that they can have a fire to cook their food with? How could she be so heartless as to reduce their shacks and hovels to ash?
โโSo Verdรญnqa does nothing. She sits back and watches tides of destruction wash over the world in the form of slash-and-burn agriculture, in the form of bulldozing forests for farmland, in the form of blowing up mountains to mine coal that supply impoverished families with electricity. What can she do, without hurting the innocent? She does her best to protect her plants, but she is weak without her rainforest, surrounded by smoke and smog.
โโAll she wants is to go back to a time when humans and nature lived in harmony. Is that really so much to ask?
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โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
1โ ๐ญ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. โ
โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโIn a time before human beings-in a time before love and desire and wealth and sadness, in a time ruled by the basic, primal instinct to survive-Verdรญnqa was created.โโThe Eocene Epoch: the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. It began over fifty million years ago. It ended over thirty million years ago.
โโThat was when Verdรญnqa was created.
โโBorn, created, put on this earth, whatever you want to call it; as far as anybody knows, Verdรญnqa, La Madre Verde, La que Pertenece a la Selva, Mother Nature, Pachamama-she came to be millions and millions of years ago.
โโVerdรญnqa doesn't recall much from her early days. Sometimes, hazy, half-remembered memories float through her dreams; she sees rushing rivers and sun-speckled tree trunks and animals both strange and beautiful that went extinct thousands upon thousands of years ago. She sees chaos and harmony; turmoil and peace.
โโAccording to modern-day scientists, the Amazon Rainforest formed after tropical temperatures dropped when the Atlantic Ocean had expanded enough to bring a warm, moist climate to the Amazon basin. And with the extinction of animals that people now call the pterodactyl and the T-rex, Verdรญnqa's domain expanded even further. In the subsequent millennia, Verdรญnqa's home underwent innumerable changes, yet it was always hers. Verdรญnqa was one with the rainforest and the rainforest was one with her.
โโThen the humans came.
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โโHomo sapiens, as they are now known. They now dominate the Earth. They create and destroy; they build and burn. They love and cry and laugh and scream, and Verdรญnqa does not know if she will ever understand them. Even now, at over fifty million years old, she cannot decide what she truly thinks of humans.โโAt first, though, it was much simpler. The humans were only another animal living both with and against nature, just like the parrot or the boa constrictor or the poison-dart frog. If a snake killed mice and ate it, did that mean that the snake was evil? No; it was only trying to survive. So when the humans began developing weapons and taking Verdรญnqa's trees to cook their food, Verdรญnqa did nothing. All they were doing was surviving.
โโWhen they began killing other animals, Verdรญnqa did nothing, because such is the cycle of life. When they began killing each other, again, she did nothing. That was not Verdรญnqa's domain; her domain was the flowers and soil and water of the rainforest. Nothing more, nothing less.
โโThen the humans began to write. They began to speak, to communicate, to think. They began to see life as more than simply surviving. And Verdรญnqa did nothing, because in the end, they were animals, and all animals deserved her respect and protection. Animals and plants were two cogs of the same well-oiled machine. Animals could not survive without plants, and plants could not survive without animals. And humans, at their core, were still just animals.
โโThey call themselves mammals now, Verdรญnqa knows. Yet, they view themselves as somehow "above" other animals. It is pure hypocrisy, if you ask her. But nobody has ever bothered, so Verdรญnqa has never offered her opinion.
โโShe learned their languages, their arts, their way of life. Though some spread to parts of her rainforest, Verdรญnqa did nothing. The heart of her rainforest remained untouched, unsullied by the wholly human concept of "greed".
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โโFast forward a couple thousand years. It is sometime in the fifteenth-century; the Incan Empire, which has some territory within or on the edges of Verdรญnqa's domain, is at the height of its power. Meanwhile, the Icamiaba dominate the banks of the Amazon River. And then comes a plague that has spread from Hispaniola and modern-day Mexico to South America, decimating the Incan population. Dead bodies are strewn in the soil and rivers of the Andes, some with sores oozing pus and blood.โโAs if that wasn't enough, Francisco Pizarro lands on the coasts of what is now called Peru, and he wreaks havoc on Incan society. Verdรญnqa almost does do something, this time; she senses his greed and lust for power from hundreds of miles away.
โโBut she doesn't. Pizarro, too, is human, and therefore an animal, and therefore a being that deserved Verdรญnqa's respect and protection. Not long after PIzarro's arrival (a mere blink of an eye, to Verdรญnqa), Francisco de Orellana embarked on an expedition to explore the entire length of the Amazon River, cutting straight across the South American continent. And again, Verdรญnqa does nothing, even as smallpox follows in his footsteps, devastating the Icamiaba like it devastated the Incas.
โโThat was right around (or perhaps it was a little bit after? Verdรญnqa's memory gets a little fuzzy sometimes) when Verdรญnqa was summoned for the first time. Someone on de Orellana's expedition recognized her for what she was, apparently. A Spanish witch, his mind clouded by dreams of god and gold and glory, summons her. She appears to him in the form of a woman, with chocolate-colored hair and deep brown eyes. He dresses her in expensive silver shackles that burn like ice and fine lace that conceals her true identity and enlists her help in stealing the treasures of the Earth for the Spanish Crown. And Verdรญnqa has no choice but to obey.
โโPotosรญ, the silver capital of the colonial world. Huancavelica, where poisonous mercury was mined to refine the silver ore of Potosรญ. These are only two of the mines that Verdรญnqa has found. And these are only two of the mines where Verdรญnqa has seen indigenous laborers being driven to exhaustion, dying in droves from starvation, cave-ins, or both.
โโShe hated the Spanish. She hated the Spanish witch, the one who forced her to find these mines through her connection with plants, the one who only cared about his precious gold and his deluded glory and his pretender god. This time, Verdรญnqa only does nothing for a decade. And then she retaliates, choking the Spanish witch to death with her vine-like hair, plant roots and tree trunks exploding from the ground as Verdรญnqa is blinded by her white-hot rage.
โโShe keeps the lace he was so fond of, though. She doesn't know why-she doesn't know if it's a reminder of her guilt or of her power.
โโ๐ซ๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ฝ.
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โโThe next few centuries would have been nothing more than a blur, if not for the humans. Verdรญnqa watched as they built contraptions and machines powered by steam and coal; she watched as they cut down her trees and contaminated her river. She watched bloody revolutions bring more dead bodies to her soil, she watched rubber plantations and banana plantations and even acaรญ berry plantations begin to develop. She tried to stop it, sometimes, but the rubber plantations provided people with the money they needed to survive and the people were cutting down her trees for farmland so that they, too, could have a soft bed and a full belly. Who was she to deny that to them?โโSometimes, Verdรญnqa regrets her inaction. Because she was too gentle (or was she too cowardly?), the humans have now destroyed a considerable part of her home, wiping out dozens of critical species in a single blow. Because she was too indecisive, her river and her water and her soil has been poisoned with toxic industrial products that, by all rights, should never have existed. DDT is killing her birds. Excess phosphorus is killing her fish. And everything is killing her plants.
โโVerdรญnqa fled for Morrow, because the human poisons were causing her power to wane. She fled for Morrow to escape the wanton destruction of everything that she held dear. She thought that, maybe, in this magical crossroads, she would find an answer to her dilemma. None have presented themselves to her yet.
โโIn a time before human beings-in a time before love and desire and wealth and sadness, in a time ruled by the basic, primal instinct to survive-Verdรญnqa was created.
โโBut this is a vastly different time. This is the time of human beings, of love and desire and wealth and sadness, of greed and avarice and lust and gluttony.
โโIt will not always be the time of the man, though. Verdรญnqa has seen millions of species flourish. She has seen millions of species die. Perhaps the better question is-
โโ-how many innocents must die because of human greed?
โโWell. No more. ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ป ๐ฑ๐๐๐นรญ๐๐๐ถ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฝ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐พ๐.
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โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
1โ ๐ฐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. โ
โโโโโโโโโ โ โขโ โฐโโโโโโฑโ โขโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโVerdรญnqa isn't exactly sure how she would go about doing this, but she wants the Stone in order to somehow fix the mess that humans have made of the planet. And she would not be opposed to freeing herself of the Witches, too, as some of them have forced her to go against her beliefs and morals in the past.
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โโVerdรญnqa lives in a tiny shack near Morrow's outskirts. She has no electricity or running water, and the inside of her "home" is overgrown with vines and branches. She lives near the water, and she hates leaving the vicinity of it. She hates the steel jungle that humans call a "city".โโVerdรญnqa is not formally employed, but she frequently speaks with environmental science majors from the nearby university about her knowledge. She doesn't know if any of them take her seriously, but it's good to have someone who is at least pretending to listen to her. The Winter King, she finds, has no time for her eccentricities, and she avoids the Witches Proper like the plague.
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โโHer greatest wish is for humans to finally get their shit together and realize that they are destroying their planet. And alternatively, to return to her true home-the Amazon Rainforest. Her greatest fear is that it's too late to stop anthropogenic environmental changes from irreversibly altering the planet.
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โโA bouquet of flowers, of any variety naturally found in the Amazon Rainforest. Preferably the entire flower, roots and all, though picked flowers and flower petals can work as well. Varieties not found in the Amazon but found in other tropical rainforests can be used too, to a lesser extent.โโA handful of soil from the Amazon Rainforest (or, again, any other rainforest, to a lesser extent)-thin and poor in nutrients, yes, but this soil is Verdรญnqa's life blood.
โโFresh, uncontaminated water from any natural source, untouched by society and civilization and all the pollutants that come with it. Harder to find than you would think.
โโA fresh pineapple, the freshest that you can find. There's no profound reason for this, really. Verdรญnqa just happens to love pineapple.
โโA piece of fine Spanish lace, dating back to the colonial period. Alternatively, any sort of critter from the Amazon Rainforest that you can get your hands on, be it a sloth or a panther or a frog.
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