Starwind

Battle of the Bay 2016
AvW

Starwind

It had not dawned on her that traits so often venerated in most Arcane clans – a thirst for knowledge and the pursuit of adventure despite the dangers that lingered around their capricious environments – were more akin to a yoke, shackling her to a fate synonymous with pain and abandonment rather than greatness. The repercussions of her reckless impetuosity still hung over her like thick fog, obscuring her prospects for a brighter future. This was no more evident than being literally stuck in a crystalline prison, as if the world wanted to mock her and capture her foolishness by freezing her mistakes in time. Even remnants of her crystallised oppressor were embedded in her flesh – a constant reminder of how severely her life had gone awry.

This was, perhaps, one of the first times in her life that she’d taken the moment – albeit forcibly – to reflect on her actions. Her eagerness had clouded her judgement, making her ill-fitted for the wider world ahead of her clan to such an extent that when she was condemned and ostracised, she knew no useful skills to keep herself alive. Had she been able to laugh at herself and her foolishness, she would. To be forsaken by both her clan members and the deities that lived in the vast firmament above, she knew that there was nothing left for her other than to resign herself to the possibility of spending her days trapped in perpetuum.

It was only right, she thought: she had brought only suffering and misfortune to those around her, and danger in her wake. This was her punishment, and she was ready to accept it; to familiarise her with a darkness she would come to know very well.

Fortunately, her deliverance was soon to come, for a saviour in the midst of enemies will show her a sliver of sympathy, and an unspoken forgiveness that will pave the way for a new chapter in this young dragon’s life.



Lore blurb by Rochambeau

Born into a clan living within the mysterious Starwood Strand, Starwind was brought up to be fearful of magic, for the energy imbued in the Strand was capricious and fatal. Her clan was a serious one - abnormal for an Arcane clan, but rightfully so, for the environment they lived in was their greatest predator. Thus, from the moment she was born, Starwind was told that she would never leave. She would grow up like any other dragon in the clan, helping it protect itself against the Strand's queer entities and studying the strange magic that resided there. Unfortunately for her clan, Starwind was anything but the stereotypical solemn scholar that the clan was used to producing. She was bright and happy as her element, eager to explore, restless for adventure, and always on to something. In her first month, she'd engineered the spectacular slime incident (still spoken in hushed whispers) which took out about a quarter mile of the supposedly indestructible Strand. Then there was that one time with that phoenix. Starwind swears that she made friends with it, but that kind of bond is slightly hard to prove when your home is burning down around you. And then there was the entire thing with the chaos monster - anyone with brains can tell you that bringing a chaos monster back home is a very bad idea - sadly, that was exactly what Starwind did. Unsurprisingly, by the time Starwind had grown old enough to start bringing back more dangerous creatures, her clan decided that it'd had enough of her antics. They would not stand to witness the destruction of their community. The leaders gathered, and their word was heavy and final - Starwind would no longer be a member of their clan. They drove her out into exile, and cursed her so that she would never return. Shocked, surprised, and hurt, Starwind fled, her own clan on her heels. It was then that the Starwood Strand, which she had always regarded as her source of fun, turned against her. Mysterious entities that had hidden themselves for years attacked her. Creatures swarmed her. With no home to go back to, no destination, Starwind ran desperately for someplace - any place - that would still have her. As she struggled to continue her futile escape from her clan and the monsters of the Strand, Starwind thought she could see a bright pink glow in the hazy murk of the woods. As her enemies lunged at her from all sides, she took the last chance she had - she dove towards the pink glow. A bright light enveloped her world. Then darkness consumed her.

It was a portal that Starwind had saw, and it was the portal that saved her. When Starwind woke, her first impression was of sunlight glancing off the beautiful crystals around her. She had landed in the Crystal Pools, a place that was the bright contrast of the dark Starwood Strand. Magic flowed into her; an energy lighter than that of the Strand strengthened her, and, understanding that there was no going back "home", Starwind stood to take stock of her new situation. She did not know where she was. Her clan had never taught her more than the limits of the Strand. But there was something that the Pools had stirred within her - something that made her indescribably happy. She decided, then and there, that this was where she would belong, and this was where she was fated to stay. Her happiness was destined to be short-lived. The Crystal Pools did not take to her. For one, Starwind had never learned how to provide for herself. She'd been too busy with blowing up her clan to wonder where the food was coming from. For another, she was naive, the result of not paying attention during her magic lessons. She made mistakes while trying to find a way to survive, and those mistakes would be the first and last she made in the Crystal Pools. There are three things they say one should never do in the Crystal Pools. First of all, the pools were literal portals to the dream realm, so taking a dip would be the definition of a very bad idea. Secondly, the crystals were imbued with dream magic, so trying to draw magic from them would probably put you in a comatose state forever. Last and most importantly, the crystals were not edible. You would think the last notice is rather obvious, but apparently someone needed to teach Starwind the concept of food, because the first thing she did was to eat a crystal. The change was immediate and painful. Like the Starwood Strand, the Crystal Pools turned against her. Paralysing magic filled her body, and Starwind cried out in pain. But nothing she did worked; she could not save herself. Before her body turned into crystal, the last memory Starwind had was of screaming - a shriek of a prayer to the heavens, a plea to those above to save her. No god heard her. None came to aid her. And thus, Starwind was crystallised.

Left to time, it would've been centuries, perhaps, before Starwind was freed from her crystalline prison. Thankfully, the Crystal Pools had long since been frequented by a particular mage, a small Fae responsible for the very portal that had brought Starwind here - a mage who one day began wondering why in the world there was a new crystal decorating her research lab. She was quick to do research, and her conclusion was that some featherbrain idiot had decided to eat one of the nearby crystals. For a while she pondered whether to leave Starwind in the block of crystal as a punishment, but sympathy took over, and with a spell, she freed Starwind. Starwind, as one can imagine, was rather sheepish when she came out of confinement. Though her time as a crystal was short, it had been enough for her to reflect on her actions. She realised that she had been too short-sighted, and that if she wanted to avoid meeting a horrible demise, she needed to start thinking about what she was doing. She decided that she wanted to learn more about the world, and so she pledged to be the mage's apprentice. The Fae was glad, for she needed extra hands in her lab - even clumsy ones. She taught Starwind of the outside world, of clans and flights and diverse magic. She taught Starwind things the Skydancer had never even thought of - entertainment that did not included excessive damage and explosions, magic that did not follow you around trying to kill your face, and best of all - foods that did not turn you into crystal! Starwind was delighted by this new revelation, and she took to learning wholeheartedly. It was there in the crystal research lab that she learned of dancing and arts, and from the moment she raised her wings to mimic the movements of the wind, Starwind knew she'd found her talent - dance. Once their research was finished, Starwind and the Fae parted ways tearfully (the sobbing was entirely on Starwind's side, but she likes telling the story this way). The Fae went back to the Observatory, and Starwind began her career as a dancer. She started off as a solitary artist, providing dragons with music and dance on random spots in the streets. Despite her rather startling attempts to incorporate explosions and fairly dangerous sharp objects into her performance, there was magic in the way she moved, and her fame began to grow. Via invitation, Starwind traversed the territories of all eleven flights, fans in her wake, though her heart always tugged her back to Arcane. She was happy this way, even though she had no home. As long as she could continue indulging in explosions and dance, she did not need a place to stay. Then came the Battle of the Bay.

The body of water trapped between Arcane and Wind territory had long since been a cause of friction between the two flights, and unluckily, Starwind was caught in one of their conflicts - the second Battle of the Bay. While traveling to her next destination in the Crystalspine Reaches, she suddenly found herself swarmed by dragons who took one look at her and decided Yup, she's the enemy. Never having trained in combat, Starwind was defeated easily, though she fought valiantly against her enemies. Her definition of "fight" may have included exaggerated chicken wing gestures meant to ward off evil, and her idea of "valiant" may have referred to running away screaming in terror, but still, it was a valiant fight, and though Starwind was defeated, she has no qualms about telling of her experience to her saviours. Nobody believes her. Why does she even try? Starwind's saviours consisted of Arcanites from a nearby clan, led by an Imperial named Avarice. Avarice was kind enough to bring her back to the lair for healing, and the other dragons were content to listen Starwind chatter deliriously about her breathtaking (and exaggerated) exploits against the Wind Flight. For many days Starwind stayed in their lair, and soon, the days aged into weeks. When she showed no sign of wanting to leave, she was approached by Gable. "Is there a clan we can escort you back to?" the nocturne asked. "Where do you live?" Starwind smiled playfully. "I have no home. I simply wander." "Then why do you stay here?" Starwind could not answer this question. There was something about the clan that she liked, something that reminded her of her own, but more relenting. She liked this place. She wanted to stay. But could she? Was it within her right? It seemed that whenever she decided to stay, Fate would drive her out - the place would turn against her, just as the Starwood Strand and Crystal Pools had. She did not know if she could stay, but if she could, she wanted to. Perhaps understanding her silence, Gable left her, and Starwind continued to dance for the clan as payment for their medicine. The days passed, and no one asked her to leave. Soon, the topic of her leaving wasn't brought up anymore, and Starwind no longer thought of departure: she became a member of the clan.

SStarwind's role in the clan is diverse. She can be seen helping out in the kitchen (do not eat her food; Thyone's tired of having to treat mutation), running errands for Arthgallo or Avarice, or simply dancing to raise morale. Inspired by Peisinoe and Penumbra, she also took up combat, and while she never participated in battles themselves, she has become one of the main trainers for recruits in the clan. Starwind's motivation to become a trainer came from, as most things did, the lack of things to do. She was not an alchemist, or a leader, or a guard, so there was very little for her to participate in, and her daily routine mostly consisted of bringing her friends Peisinoe and Penumbra drinks and cool towels. One day, however, she decided to stay and watch Penumbra's training, and was awed by the entire process. She started thinking: everyone's so busy with these sea monsters and trying to train new recruits... I could train some new recruits... Penumbra was skeptical when Starwind first offered her assistance, but after watching the Skydancer dance in front of the recruits, she realised that Skydancer had a way of making combat more fun that it previously had been. Starwind had the uncanny ability to entertain and teach at the same time, mixing dance with martial arts, and so it was with a glad heart that Penumbra allowed Starwind to work alongside her and Peisinoe. When not training recruits, Starwind can be seen raising morale with her dances and performances. She is a fairly active member of the clan, and due to her experience in traveling the world, the clan often turns to her when they encounter out-of-flight questions. Starwind is also eager to offer help wherever it may be given, from alchemy to the kitchen. Her clanmates should be aware, though - sometimes, no help is better than clumsy help, and they should really keep Starwind out of the field of alchemy, lest she melts down the lair. Moral of the story: Old habits die hard. Really hard.

Art:


by fenmori (click for fullsize!)


by aurax