Ashes
(#23577875)
Level 1 Pearlcatcher
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Energy: 50/50
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Personal Style
Apparel
Skin
Scene
Measurements
Length
4.13 m
Wingspan
5.58 m
Weight
672.8 kg
Genetics
White
Iridescent
Iridescent
Grey
Butterfly
Butterfly
Maroon
Thylacine
Thylacine
Hatchday
Breed
Eye Type
Level 1 Pearlcatcher
EXP: 0 / 245
STR
6
AGI
6
DEF
6
QCK
7
INT
7
VIT
6
MND
7
Biography
Full name: Ashes Goes by: Ashes, Ash Role: Gamemaster; former member of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum Friend(s): Genim, Hollis, Iason Romantic interest(s): N/A Relative(s) in the clan: Winternight (brother),Vellum (son), Cindermoon (nephew),Hazelmist (great-nephew)
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"There is no game I can't win." Ashes was born in the Foxfire Bramble where he was quick to master - and beat - the games the other dragons in his clan concocted. His prowess made him cocky and arrogant, and he considered other dragons dumb and boring, including his own siblings. His confidence was shaken, however, when he started having troubling dreams of a tall, tower-like castle that seemed to be made of shadows yet somehow glowed with light. His inability to solve or decipher his puzzling dream frustrated him, and he hated the idea of having to ask others for help. When members of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum came to his clan with tales of the same dark and twisted dreams, however, he decided he could swallow his pride and work with them to solve this puzzle, so he agreed to accompany them to gather the other dragons in the prophecy and to ultimately learn its meaning. After gathering one dragon from each of the flights, the eleven Quaesitors of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum came to Emrys and asked to make use of the library in search of information regarding an old prophecy:
In a time of dry rains and frozen flames, the eleven will gather, the dark castle will appear, and what was forgotten will rise.
Believing they were the dragons of the prophecy, Ashes and his fellow Quaesitors hoped to find any and all texts that would tell them more about the prophecy and the mysterious dark castle. To his great surprise, Ashes found something completely unexpected on the island of Prufrock - one of his siblings. He had never paid much attention to Winternight, as his quiet brother had always been tucked away in some corner or other sewing. He recalled noticing that his brother had been absent from the clan for a while when he himself had left to journey with the other members of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum, but he was appalled to learn of the atrocities Winternight had endured when captured by the pack of mirrors and felt a bit guilty that neither he nor anyone else in the clan had gone searching for him when they noticed he was missing. Ashes wasn't sure what to think of his brother's mate, the coatl Ez. He could't see why Winternight found the odd-colored coatl attractive and privately wondered if his brother might have chosen a more suitable mate if he wouldn't have had to have been rescued. Nonetheless, while he is unused to thinking about the happiness of others, he surprised himself by feeling glad that his brother was safe and content with his new life and thought perhaps that it might be time to start setting aside his competitive drive in favor of a bit of empathy. He took for a mate one of his fellow Quaesitors, and they were overjoyed to have their first hatchlings, though two of the three decided to leave the island, not thrilled that their parents devoted most of their attention to some strange prophecy. The one that remained, Vellum, was...a bit odd, in his father's eyes, since he always firmly insisted that he was meant to be a coatl despite both of his parents being pearlcatchers. Ashes felt somewhat guilty that he hadn't spent more time with his son (thinking perhaps that was why he felt so strongly about being something else) and made a belated effort to take time out from his research to teach his (now transformed) offspring how to play a variety of competitive games. Though several of the Quaesitors became momentarily distracted by romance and family, all of them continued to research the prophecy, and though at first the eleven dragons were hopeful, they ended up finding few textual clues in the library's vast hoard. It wasn't until spirits came in numbers to the island that the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. The denizens of the spirit realm divide themselves into four quarters – the spirits of the heavens, the spirits of the underworld, the spirits of the sea, and the spirits of the earth. Though each has their own hierarchies and classifications and governments, there was one spirit who reigned over them all, the monarch Imago, who ruled from his towering dark castle that moved constantly throughout the spirit realm. Neither castle nor monarch had been seen for many ages, however, though the spirits had a prophecy regarding the return of their leader and his domain:
Imago and the castle in the image in reverse –
Peach planted, grown, and eaten is the key. With key and guide the four quarters and dragons will traverse To fight and to retrieve our destiny. Unbeknownst to any spirit, as members of the four quarters were rarely in the same place at the same time, each division had their own piece of the solution entrusted to them by Cheshire, the servant of Imago, a mysterious spirit who travels through mirrors, images, and reflections:
When spirits from each of the four quarters converged on the island of Prufrock for negotiations, Ashes happened to notice the painting hanging in the guest residence of Mahdis and thought it might represent the "dry rains and frozen flames" mentioned in the prophecy. To explore this potential clue, the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum requested a meeting with representatives of the spirits, and both spirits and dragons were astonished to learn that each group had its own prophecy regarding the dark castle. Neither knew quite how the two prophecies fit together, though Lazarus suggested a solution to one line – the peach tree he had planted long ago on Lazarus Rock should surely have borne the fruit that would be the key, so the eleven dragons and four spirits flew out to Lazarus Rock. There they surprised the clan leader Eztli and his mate Winternight, who were on Lazarus Rock for a picnic and some time alone together. Ez had been so busy with his role of mediator between both the spirits and the island's dragons that he had begged a day off. Winternight was still a bit hungry after their picnic and in the mood for something sweet, so he plucked the single peach growing from the largest tree on the island and bit into it. Exclaiming over its exquisite taste, he coerced Ez into sharing it with him. By the time the Obsucurum Castrum Bellatorum and the spirits arrived on Lazarus Rock, the couple had eaten the entire peach. Winternight was horrified by what he had inadvertently done, and both he and Ez were extremely apologetic. Ashes was quite frustrated by his brother's "foolish" actions and berated him, though he was shushed by the order's other members who knew the pair had meant no harm. Ez asked them to explain exactly what it was they had done, and so the twin prophecies were related and the various pieces owned by the spirits brought forth and passed around. When Ez was holding the painting and Winternight was holding the mirror, they happened to align so that the painting was reflected in the mirror's surface, and those who were looking over Ez's shoulder started to see a dark castle in the painting's reversed image. Blinking in wonderment and rubbing their eyes, they also saw something moving toward them in the reflection. Winternight nearly dropped the mirror when a spirit in the form of a mirror dragon emerged from it. (It was especially frightening to Winternight, as he still harbored a terror of mirror dragons from being held captive by a pack of them.) The spirits recognized him, at least – Cheshire, the servant of Imago, a being skilled at traveling through mirrors and images. He told the assembly that at the request of his monarch he had hidden the dark castle in the reflection of an image for the protection of both the spirit realm and the entire world, for Imago was in the midst of a ferocious battle with an eldritch being from beyond the stars who had crept into a pocket dimension and was struggling to gain a foothold in Sornieth. The dragons all shuddered, for they had all grown up on tales of the Shade, though the spirits were unfamiliar with the stories and spent some time debating over whether or not their monarch's adversary was one and the same with the ancient enemy of the dragon deities. Cheshire finally silenced them, reminding them that it didn't matter one way or the other – they were all in grave danger regardless. Imago had hidden himself and the eldritch being and the castle that contained their battle away from the world, but in the event that he didn't triumph, he provided a safeguard to allow others to enter the dimension and defeat the enemy before it could encroach on the rest of Sornieth. When Ashes complained that they couldn't get in anyway because his brother and a coatl had eaten the key, Cheshire chuckled and said that consuming the key was necessary to activate it, though he hadn't anticipated the role being shared between two dragons. Because they had eaten the peach, Ez and Winternight were now a part of the prophecy and had to accompany the others as they entered the reflected dimension that contained the dark castle. Several of the spirits, in particular the bodyguards of Queen Mahdis, wanted to accompany their leaders, but Cheshire refused, stating that only those involved in the prophecy – the eleven members of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum, the keys Eztli and Winternight, and one spirit from each quarter (Queen Mahdis of the heavenly spirits, Lord Lazarus of the underworld spirits, Taozhi of the earth spirits, and Adrik of the sea spirits) – were permitted to travel the path to the castle. They flew back to the island of Prufrock, where Ez left instructions with Emrys on what should happen in the case he failed to return, then positioned the painting so it was fully reflected in the mirror and followed Cheshire into it, passing through the mirror's surface as if through mist into an oddly warped landscape where hail pelted down upon a land steaming with dry ice that seeped up through crevices, shrouding the land in a fog that twisted like flames. They proceeded cautiously across the hostile countryside, keeping close to their guide as Cheshire led them closer to the towering castle which rose like a dark shadow out of the pale, wispy tendrils surrounding it. None of those present could say afterward how long they traversed the plains at the foot of the castle, never seeming to get any closer to their destination, but suddenly it loomed over their heads and they found themselves facing a massive set of doors carved from peach wood. On Cheshire's instructions, Ez and Winternight set themselves on either side and pushed. At their touch, a fine crack appeared down the middle and the doors swung inward, admitting them to the dark castle. The inside was nothing like any castle they had ever seen. There was finery present, yes – silks and fine metals and precious jewels and beauteous art – but all was ripped and rent and torn, victims of a violent conflict that had raged throughout the confines of the castle. Though upon their entry the castle was deathly silent save for their hushed voices and muffled footsteps, as they proceeded further into the entryway they could hear sounds of a distant battle. Racing toward it, they finally found the object of their search – the monarch Imago, in the shape of an imperial dragon, battling a formless entity of absolute darkness. Without a word passing between them, the eleven dragons of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum moved as one, leaping into the fray and biting and clawing any bit of the eldritch being they could reach. The spirits also rushed to aid their monarch, positioning themselves in four corners around the opponents and attacking the darkness with magic. Ez likewise did what he could to aid the others with his magic – sometimes attacking, sometimes healing, leaning on Winternight for support as he tried to keep up with spirits and entities far more powerful than he was. With the aid of the others, Imago was finally able to subdue his enemy, though his castle was destroyed in the process, the walls crashing down as he performed the final blow. With a powerful slash, he split the eldritch being in two, then summoned darksteel rings to latch on each nebulous being's four corners, reciting a final spell to bind their power and restrict their form. The two halves were still for a moment before their shapes slithered and twisted in on themselves, rippling as they adjusted into the shape of a coatl, one male, one female. The two beings looked upon their new form in confusion and wonderment. It seemed the sealing spell had done its work too well. They had no memory of a long battle or from whence they came or even their own identity. With the destruction of the castle, the strange landscape around them melted away until the group found themselves standing on Lazarus Rock in the mortal realm. Though the spirits were quite pleased with the return of their missing monarch, the dragons of the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and foreboding. Did the wording of their prophecy refer to the rise of the spirits whose existence had been forgotten by dragons, or the rise of the Shade? The order remained on the island of Prufrock for a time, keeping watch over the eldritch beings to see if they were harmless innocents or if they were merely pretending, waiting to test their bonds and break free to wreak destruction on the world. Imago decided to reside on the island as well for much the same reason. It is unknown if his powerful presence is what tipped the scale or if there was another cause, but one day the veil suffered a significant tear, and hoards of malevolent spirits flooded through the barrier between the realms. To everyone's great surprise, the eldritch beings were among the island's staunchest defenders, fighting against the spirits who threatened what they now considered their home. After witnessing the benign actions of the eldritch beings, and having grown weary after so many battles, the Obscurum Castrum Bellatorum decided the prophecy was ended and elected to disband. Imago and his servant Cheshire departed to rebuild the dark castle and to once more travel the spirit realm, while all the Quaesitors save for Ashes, who was tied to the island by the bonds of family, left to wander the regions of Sornieth. Ashes has decided to continue watching over the eldritch beings, more out of budding friendship than concern. He has taken the position of gamemaster within the clan, organizing tournaments and importing and mastering new games before teaching them to interested clan members. Though few dragons in the clan come close to matching his gaming skills, the pearlcatcher Hollis, the coatl Iason, and the imperial Genim can at least provide a bit of a challenge, and his nephew Cindermoon, a fellow shadow dragon, isn't half bad, either. |
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Exalting Ashes to the service of the Arcanist will remove them from your lair forever. They will leave behind a small sum of riches that they have accumulated. This action is irreversible.
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