Hellbender

Quick Notes:

• Unaligned - no Flight or deity allegiance/support
• Cannot be affected be Elemental magic, but cannot use it either
• Compensates for lack of magic with physical strength
• Coli build has only Neutral stones, including Eliminate
• Has nictitating membranes on the eyes, and the vomeronasal organ that allows him to "smell" things with his tongue
• Can technically fly, but tattered wings coupled with his bulk make it a challenge; has no agility in the air whatsoever, but his stamina makes him a decent glider and long distance flyer as long as high maneuverability is not needed
• Enjoys swimming, moves far more fluidly through the water than in the air
• Abrasive personality, but is actually quite protective of weaker dragons
• D&D Alignment test revealed Chaotic Evil (certainly chaotic, but perhaps not quite as evil...)
• Likes to be mean, but is more a troll than truly hateful towards others, only looking to get a reaction; backs off if someone becomes visibly upset
• Never mocks gender identity/orientation, but pretty much anything else is fair game as far as he's concerned (i.e. won't make fun of a gay couple for being gay, but will absolutely make fun of them for things like holding hands/demonstrating affection/basically having emotions in general/etc)
• Possibly pansexual? Won't usually initiate or admit interest, but appreciates attention from males and females equally
• Headcanon for voice idea - Michael Keaton's Betelgeuse, Alice Cooper, Hellbent from Dolan

Big ol' bad boy and something of a jerk, mean and wicked and likes to fight and argue for no reason other than to generate chaos and disorder among the ranks. Frequently seen in the company of Cupcake, who is actually a very close friend to him and puts up with a lot of his behaviors. When he actually buckles down and helps out, he's a very diligent worker and gets along well with his clanmates. But don't expect that unless the chips are down and the situation is dire. He has become very close to his adoptive family, and even though he antagonizes everyone as often as possible he will leap to their defense at the slightest provocation.

Hellbender's favorite thing to do when he's not on the battlefield or out to sea is to sun himself on rocks near busy paths so he can harass any passersby. Cupcake will often go with him to chase butterflies and pick flowers, and to intercede when he snarks at folks to soften the blow. Although he is quite antagonistic, he's not as harsh as he seems to be; if he sees someone become genuinely upset, he will work to make restitution. When hatchlings come up to him he tries to go easier on them; oftentimes many of them will stick around and play with Cupcake or climb around him and even curl up with him for a nap. Though he pretends to be annoyed, he actually doesn't mind at all and is incredibly gentle with them. And if a dragon happens to flirt with him, he of courses brushes it off and pretends not to care, but he actually quite likes knowing that others think he's attractive.

---

Hellbender was hatched from a strange egg found in a chest on a ship. It was an egg unlike anyone in the crew had ever seen...in fact, at first they weren't even sure that it WAS an egg. It was a sphere of obsidian, flecked with red and gold. The pirates thought it must be a very valuable stone, and so they kept it with them as they sailed. Imagine their surprise when one day their stone cracked and a small Bogsneak fell out of it. The ship's surgeon examined the hatchling, and was shocked by what he found; the baby had no elemental alignment! An egg is supposed to be imbued with the magic of whatever Deity it is nearest to, but to have no Alignment...did this mean that Hellbender came from a place even beyond the reaches of the gods?

At first, the doctor had assumed this must be an Ice dragon, for its eyes were as white as could be, but there was no spark of magic within its soul. As he grew, Hellbender tried as hard as he could to learn the elemental spells dragons used in combat, to no avail; nothing called to him, he had no connection to it. For this reason, Hellbender is somewhat atheistic. He acknowledges that the Deities might exist, but he feel no allegiance to any of them. Some scholars have speculated that it could be this lack of alignment that causes Hellbender to be so distant from others; he does not have the same connection to others that they have within and between Flights. It is the Gods' magic within their souls that connects dragons, and without it, Hellbender is forever cursed to be an outsider in many ways.

Refusing to be discouraged, Hellbender instead devoted himself to becoming as physically strong as he could. He learned that there was an advantage to being Unaligned; he might not have been able to use any magic of his own, but conversely elemental magic had no effect on him whatsoever. He quickly became a favorite warrior of Deathstryke's, as she was eager to use this to their advantage on the battlefield. He has proven himself to be a spectacular battering ram, plowing through enemies like they are nothing...which, to him, they might as well be. He also developed a rather unique skill; he could "smell" the magic within other dragons, a trick he is certain is because of his own lack of magic acting as interference. According to him, each Flight's magic has its own distinct scent and taste, and he can easily tell them apart using his refined tongue. Not only that, but he can also tell how much power an individual has, if they are not doing anything to keep it under control; the stronger the scent, the stronger the power, but if a dragon is skilled enough to contain their aura more closely, he will not be able to sense anything being out of the ordinary with their magic levels. But it's a very handy skill, especially when it comes to detecting dragons with multiple Alignments. There have even been some other Unaligned dragons that he has met, and the only reason he knows this is because of the lack of any magical scent around them; if he does not see them, he won't be able to track or sense them by their magical signature, as they won't have one and he won't realize what he's smelling is a Flightless dragon.

When he sails with the crew who raised him he works primarily as their smith, forging and repairing tools and weapons, but he also serves as provost, doling out punishments when the crew becomes...unruly.

---

[WIP]

Hellbender never planned to raise any children of his own, nor thought he would have any interest in being a father. But all that changed on the day Fetisha gave him his daughter...

Hellbender was a dragon that had made a bit of a name for himself by being a bully towards anyone that ever crossed his path, whether provoked or not. His reputation garnered the interest of a creature by the name of Fetisha, a hellhound given the form of a beautiful dragoness. Fetisha had long been a connoisseur of pain, divining pleasure from it bordering on the perverse. When she heard about this beast that so freely dealt out abuse to anyone who came by...well, she just had to see this for herself. It would be like a dream come true if she could find him. And so she set out in search of this infamous 'Hellbender'. When at last she found him, she was shocked by just how stunningly handsome he was, and how cutting his words were. The satisfaction she felt at his cruelty was immense, and she knew she would be back for more someday. And she did return, many times, becoming a favorite of Hell's. His eyes would sparkle and his pulse would race whenever he saw her approach, not merely because of her incredible beauty but because he knew that she enjoyed these verbal castigations that he laid upon her. Somehow, knowing that she liked this pain, made it all the more enjoyable for him too; he especially liked it whenever she flirted with him, oftentimes secretly wishing that something more would come of it. And one day, he was to receive his wish...but in a very unexpected way.

She came to him that day, covered in blood, the scent delicious and appealing. They engaged in their usual banter, both greatly enjoying dealing out and taking their abuses. And that's when she asked him if he would take one of her children for her. This was not something he could ever have imagined; dragons did not just give their hatchlings away, and more importantly, even if they did, he certainly wouldn't want to ever take one! Children were messy, annoying responsibilities, things he didn't want to deal with at all if he could help it. He tolerated other's hatchlings well enough, because he knew that he could always return them to their parents and then leave if they became too much to handle, but a child of his own was something else entirely! So to his own immense surprise (and the shock of his companions) he found himself accepting Fetisha's offer. He couldn't explain why, but something about her was just so hypnotizing that he knew he wanted a part of her in his life always. Someday, he knew that he might never see her again, and the thought of that was just unbearable, but to have a living memory of the dragoness he was rapidly falling for would be a way to keep her with him no matter how far apart they became. And so he accepted.

The day of adoption arrived, Fetisha bringing over her tiniest and weakest child to him. She dropped it in his waiting arms and turned away with nothing more than a smirk and a flick of her beautiful tail in his face. At first, Hell tossed a few comments her way about how she should stay for some special insults he had cooked up just for her. But in the moment when Helbender looked down into Dante's eyes, the rest of the world fell away and he could only think of the baby he now held. She was such a small, fragile creature, a thing of glass and paper held together with feathers and blood. And as he stared into this baby's luminous red eyes, so trusting, so innocent, and so pure, Hellbender felt himself become a parent right then and there. Every fiber in his body suddenly turned to the protection and dedication to this child, this baby, HIS baby, the only thing in the entire world that could matter to him anymore. This baby was HIS now, and would need him to take care of it and raise it and love it...and he knew he would. He wanted to do it, knew in his heart that this was truly his daughter and that everything he had been before was now gone, replaced with a paternal drive he had never felt before. The only thing he would do would be to protect this baby, more fiercely than a Pearlcatcher protects its pearl, or a Guardian its charge.

Somehow, Hellbender knew that here was something finally worth living for. All his life he had seen himself as expendable, his body a disposable thing; he never cared about himself or his own well-being, because he simply couldn't care, didn't see the point. He never aspired to anything except satisfying his bloodlust on the battlefield. But as he looked down at the child, crazy with love for her, he knew that now he had a reason to be here, something to fight for. Everything about him would now all belong to his beloved daughter.

---

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