You know Caduceus has no idea how pet names and romantic talk works but he’s definitely gonna try anyway for Caleb. He hears people call their special someone a flower or a jewel, so he thinks long and hard about it and decides that Caleb is like a beautiful mushroom. His eyes are blue like an indigo milk cap, and he’s as fascinating as the hallucinations from eating a fly agaric. He’s as precious as the rarest truffle. I love you Caleb, my sweet puffball.
Or, y’know, keeping himself in a state of suspended animation with creepy lichen magic.
Here’s what we know:
He’s a grave domain cleric— specializes in life and death. All of his spells focus on healing people, controlling life force, etc. He turns dead bodies into moss & mushrooms and uses lichen to heal wounds.
He hasn’t seen anyone in years. Probably two years?
He lives alone in a tiny garden in the middle of a cursed forest and doesn’t seem to grow anything other than dead people flowers for tea.
His skin is a sickly gray color, and he’s concerningly thin.
His hair is pink. Specifically, it’s the same shade of pink as the lichen, which is also creeping on his boots & armor. Taliesin was cagey about that, so it’s gotta be important.
Let’s take the pink lichen hair. Either his hair is just full of healing lichen, or it’s been dyed by constant exposure. But he hasn’t seen anyone in years. So the only person he could be using his magic on is himself, and he must be doing it constantly to get his hair like that.
Why would he need to heal himself all the time? And why are his grave cleric powers good for that?
Because he’s dying. Slash already dead and reanimated by lichen.
He doesn’t need food, so he doesn’t grow any. He only drinks dead people tea because that’s all he needs to keep the lichen growing inside him. He looks kind of sick because he’s not really alive. His hair is pink because he’s basically merged himself with the lichen. He might even have gotten his cleric powers as a way to stave off death in the first place.
And honestly, the only piece of evidence I really need for this? Just think about it: a zombie death cleric. That’s the gothest goddamn thing.
He’s trying to find a cure for the blight on the Savalierwood, which is encroaching on the Blooming Grove.
The rest of his family has already departed on the same quest. All of them. So far, none have found a cure.
Caduceus is the only person protecting the Blooming Grove, and has been for nearly five years.
Cad likely thinks the rest of his family is searching for a cure for the blight, and trusts that the Wildmother has kept them safe. But that doesn’t add up if he’s supposed to go out on the very same quest, which would leave the Blooming Grove unguarded. And Cad’s the baby of the family. No matter how capable he is, none of his family would want him to leave. The Wildmother, however… well, nature does what must be done. So far, the others she’s sent haven’t managed to end the blight, and it’s been a hundred years.
If Caduceus, the last protector of the Blooming Grove, is being sent away from it, then he must be the only one who can save it.
Which is to say: the rest of his family is probably dead.
cursed addition to this because my brain hates me:
His family has been one by one searching for a cure, only to realize that a life is needed to do the job, and one by one its just not enough, and his family has just been slowing the curse down long enough for Caduceus to be ready to leave and do the same.
Imagine hating trans men so much that you read the history of someone who presented as a man for so long that most people only discovered he was ~biologically female~ after his fucking autopsy and be like “well clearly he was just gender fluid” I’m fucking
he specifically asked to be buried in the clothes he died in!!!!! we only know he was trans bc someone disrespected his direct wishes after his death!!!!!!
