Celene | Parents
@arcana-echoes
A list of headcanons for my apprentice Celene about her family (one member in particular) growing up pre-canon
Celene’s parents lived in Firent, and were both loyal to their nation and devout worshipers of their deity. They were so devout, in fact, that they offered their firstborn as tribute to the temple.
As it was, Celene never knew her birth parents. She was dedicated to the temple when she was a baby, and was never given the chance to meet her family as she grew older.
As a child, she used to be very curious and would ask anyone and everyone she could for information about her parents. Unfortunately for her, the only people in the temple who knew her parents weren’t willing to talk about them, at least not with her.
By the time Celene reached young adulthood, she resented her birth family for abandoning her. Even if she accepted her place in the temple, she always would wonder what her life would be like had her family not given her away as an offering.
Since she was raised from infancy within the temple, Celene did develop paternal/child relationships with some of the older clergy.
Children that were dedicated to the temple were raised together communally. All of the priests, bishops, clergy, etc. helped lend a hand in tending to and caring for children that were left in the care of the temple.
Not many infants arrived at the temple, so the few that were dedicated as babies left the clergy in somewhat of a panic as they tried to find nursemaids or priests who could put aside their duties for a year or two to devote their time and energy to raising the child. But even these babies spent as much time with the other children in the temple as possible.
Celene never felt particularly close with any of the nursemaids or priests who spent their time in the nursery. The closest she ever felt to someone was an elderly bishop named Mother Agnes. Celene thought of her as more of a mother than she did her nursemaid or her own birth mother, and she definitely slipped and called Mother Agnes “mom” more than once growing up.
In turn, Agnes saw that Celene needed a mother figure in her life, and she took the little girl under her wing. Temple Mothers aren’t supposed to have favorites, but...Celene was special. She could make an exception for her.
Mother Agnes didn’t join the temple until her middle age. She developed powers as a magician in her early adult years, but didn’t even know she had manifested magic until years later.
When Ages discovered that not only she had a knack for magic, but healing magic, she knew she had to somehow use her magic to serve others. She had lived a very humble life and had seen too much suffering to not use her newfound talents to serve the sick and weary.
Agnes joined the temple as a healer. She never intended to gain any kind of status or recognition for her efforts, but she was so well-loved for her kindness and generosity that she was given rank and authority within her chapter.
Agnes would occasionally travel to different towns, settlements, temples, even other countries to share her talents and heal those who needed it. But as she got older, traveling was a lot harder on her body, so she limited herself to a small area where she stayed at the main temple in Firent, but would make regular visits to anyone in the area who needed her healing.
Celene got to know Agnes from making frequent trips to the infirmary.
Celene got into a lot of trouble growing up, and often times injured herself in the process. Thankfully, Agnes was immensely patient with her, and the older woman saw something in Celene that made her stand out to her.
Celene would have done anything for Agnes. She loved her more than anything in the world, and Agnes felt the same for Celene. Agnes didn’t have any family of her own, either. But she always felt a motherly love for Celene and saw her more of a daughter than as a pupil or student.
When Mother Agnes died in her old age, Celene was devastated. She had been the only person Celene had truly cared about, and her death pushed Celene into a downward spiral that ultimately left her unable to care for others anymore.
