Dahlia

Dahlia

Name:	Dahlia
Location:	The House Boat
Rank:	Mistress

Noted Favors, Awards and Memberships

Personal Color: Purple

Biography

Born in Mohács, Hungary during the final years of the Great Turkish War, Zigana was the only child of Romani parents who traveled the lands, playing music and performing various other circus acts. Though their lives were humble, they were happy and content within their own family.

Unfortunately, after years of constant war, Zigana’s parents decided their native land was too dangerous for their two-year old daughter. The family fled, spending the next year wandering around Europe performing for anyone with money and fleeing when wars broke out.

Finally, Zigana and her parents ended up in Ireland, where they joined a band of Travellers. Fearing the stories of Romanichal executions from the recent past, Zigana’s parents insisted upon quickly learning the language and heritage of their Irish kinfolk and forsaking their own. To further hide their Romani heritage, Zigana’s name was changed to Dahlia -- the name of a beautiful flower, brought from the New World that her parents had seen while traveling through Spain as teenagers.

Most of Dahlia’s education came from the Lucht siúil, who taught her the music, stories and dance of Ireland, as well as how to hunt, cook, sew and pick a pocket without getting caught. For the next 6 years, the clan traveled through Ireland, creating the happiest memories of Dahlia’s childhood. At the age of 10, while Dahlia’s troupe was performing in Cork, an uprising over petty thefts blamed on the Travellers occurred. In the middle of night, townsfolk raided the Traveller camp and Dahlia’s parents were taken from their Vardos and executed in the town center, along with most of troupe. Dahlia was spared by the grace of God, and a Catholic priest, who happened to see her wandering the streets during the uprising, took her in and tended to her wounds

For two years, Dahlia lived with the priest in his modest church, a little more than servant, but less than kin. The priest insisted on her learning English and Latin, as well as daily memorizations of the Bible and repenting for her sin of being born a Heathen. On her 12th birthday, the priest raped, beat and bound her for three days in the church’s crypt, citing her for becoming an “unclean woman”. Sunday mass blaring above her, she managed to escape her captor and fled the city.

She wandered around Ireland, desperately searching for any remaining member of her former Lucht siúil, performing for money where she could, and stealing when she had to. After three years of running into dead ends – or worse, bodies – she finally gave up and resigned herself to a life of begging, no longer having the desire to perform to maintain a shred of dignity. At 15 years of age, a very drunk madam of a nearby brothel spotted a disheveled Dahlia begging in the streets of Sligo and lured her in with promise of food, drink and a warm bed every night, if she’d only gave herself to visiting merchants from time to time. Unfortunately, the cost of this madam’s food and bed was so high, “time to time” meant “again and again every night”. After a year, it became too much for Dahlia and she fell gravely ill. The madam ordered her to be banished from the house and she was thrown out on the streets. Feverish and too weak to walk, she lay in the wet mud for hours, until a charitable gentleman happened upon her and took her to a nearby doctor.

After being bedridden for a week, Dahlia grew conscious enough to become fearful of being alone in any man’s presence and fled through a window in the doctor’s home. She found herself walking along a pier and admiring the ships along the horizon at sunset. She continued to visit the pier every evening, dreaming of a ship that would one day carry her off on some great adventure. After a while, a lonely captain noticed and took pity on Dahlia. He refused to take her with him on his ship, because it was bad luck, but he gave her enough money to let a room for 6 months, with the promise that he’d send for her, if she’d become his wife.

Dahlia took the money, but never let a room. Instead, she bought a fancy dress and passage to the New World on a ship. She used her knowledge of foreign lands and disguised herself as an heiress from Vienna. No one on the ship was the wiser and she soon befriended the wealthy passengers. After months at sea, and transferring to several other merchant ships by way of money or…favors, Dahlia landed on the beaches of a tropical paradise and vowed that this was to be her new home. Her health and happiness somewhat restored, she began performing outside the pubs and inns again, and then eventually asking around for honest work. She maintained a job for a while, repairing sails at a nearby place called The Harbour. It was here that she met a handsome Scottish pirate, fell in love, and had a baby. The dashing pirate was called back to his duty at sea, but vowed to marry her when he returned with enough gold to take care of them.

Her required time finished with The Harbour, Dahlia looked elsewhere for work and found a place called The House. Madam Devyne offered her a luxurious place to stay and perform to make enough money for her and her baby.

There she stays, waiting for her pirate to return from the sea. Enjoying the friends she has made, and finally being able to call a place home, after so many years!