Vincense, the Maddened Wood

Full Name: Vincense
Alias: Vinny, Vince, Vin
Age: ? ? ?
Birthday: Autumn
Race: Deku Scrub
Occupation: Arsonist, Eccentric Artist.
Pronouns: He/They/It
School of Magic: Din
Beast Form: Plant-like Gorilla

Vincense is a small, stocky Deku Scrub standing at his max height of only 3 feet tall, although his "hair" goes up another half foot which resembles wild curly branches and many leaves. All of his leaves resemble autumn colors, with bright and dark reds, yellows, and oranges all mixed together. It's not uncommon to see him pruning his own leaves, never satisfied with what style he grows with.

Blessed with arms and legs as only some of his kind truly is, his body is covered in bark resembling that of an Incense Cedar. It occasionally peels, revealing his soft, aromatic wooden body beneath before regrowing all over again. He does, however, have a very visible scar along one of his eyes from a very old wound.

Dressed in clothes made from grasses and other plant life, they are almost always singed or burned in one way or another. He always attempts to add colorful additions to his outfits, from colorful flowers, dyed fabrics, or even a few rupees now and then. His outfit rarely remains the same for long, tending to accidentally burn his self-made clothes all the time.

Vincense sprouted quite normally at first, a Deku Scrub that loved to make art by grinding together different herbs, berries, and stones to make colorful pigments for various artwork. His passion for pretty colors and the lovely scents of his work knew no bounds. However, one day some changes began to show. He slowly became more grumpy and moody as he began to resemble more commonly the aggressive Mad Scrubs that dot Hyrule's landscape.

However, whether by luck or perhaps just simply will, Vincense hasn't devolved so far that he is not beyond reason. He still loves art, although he is far more possessive over his belongings now. He struggles to share what he has made. It's his, after all. Why should anyone else have it? Overly possessive, he struggles to share even when he wants to. He has certainly begun on his descent to madness, talking nonsense occasionally, perceiving threats that don't exist, and not always wrapping his head around foreign ideas and concepts.

And yet, despite all his flaws he is quite aware of his decaying mind. Vincense will often apologize when he finally understands how he hurt someone in a way he did not intend and is quite remorseful in his own way. He cares intensely about any friends he does somehow make despite his mind and that very possessive personality makes him super protective of them. And yet, he often swears the flames that flicker inside his soul need to be set free often lest he go truly insane. Vincense tends to set fires when he thinks none shall be harmed by it, although he's pretty bad at gauging that.

Vincense started his life as a simple Deku Scrub who lived near the edge of the Gerudo Desert atop a forested hill in a very small settlement of Deku called Drought's End. Many of them were travelers, business scrubs, or musicians who flew out and about all the time. But Vincense had no desire to see the world, not to the same grand extent his tribe did. His job was to make the place pretty, covered in art and colors, and he enjoyed it.

He would go out into the woods, or sometimes the desert given his remarkable resistance to the heat, and come back with all kinds of things. He had an eye for finding the right materials for certain pigments, and a very strong eye for the right shades of color. The whole settlement had grown colorful, from every treehome to every rock, wall, and door was given fun and unique art. It wasn't masterpieces that one might sell for cash, although a few rarely did, but mostly fun colors that made the place a nice home

Everything was quite normal and he was content in his life. Simple, but it was his. It was just one day out of nowhere when he began to deteriorate. Vincense began to grow grumpy and irritable at first. Everything seemed to annoy him, and eventually he could no longer simply believe it was just a bad mood. It never went away. The uneasy thoughts began to worm in and he grew frustrated more and more day by day.

It wasn't until he began refusing even the simplest of paint requests that some of his fellow Deku realized something was off. They were concerned, noticing that his leaves were slowly shifting to an autumn tone. They wanted to help, but how could they? What even could be done? The bravest of the tribe confronted him, only to be struck with fairly alarming news.

He was leaving. He couldn't stand it anymore. The persistent annoyances, the voice in his head no longer sounded like his own. And, in a moment of clarity, admitted he was afraid. He had already burned one of his brushes in a rage, which immediately shocked him to his senses. He wasn't healthy. He needed to leave, to find himself, to not allow his mind to ruin his art for those who still loved it.

But most of all, that he might never spit a deku seed at a friend. Or, something far, far worse. He could already burn with a touch... He dreaded the thought.

He set out on his own to find his peace, hoping that one day he might stumble upon an answer. Over the years as his mind grew worse, he has somehow found a few ways to cope. He's not a fan of violence, but sometimes his soul only feels at rest once he's let out all of his aggression in the form of hot, burning flames.

One day, he'll find himself again. But until then, he still has a lot to learn about the world before he can learn about himself. He has long since forgotten how long ago he left, and has no concept of how much time has passed, and likely will never truly remember.