Goldenmoon

Life in the Ashfall Waste is tough, even in a Clan that supports its members. The land is wide and flat with rivers of lava and sheets of ash. It is a dangerous land, especially for the young. When Goldenmoon was a hatchling, he was adventurous. He was named Taug, and he was the biggest of his circle of friends, and as such, he was the most daring, always the first to lead the others into trouble. As youngsters will, one day he led them on an adventure outside of the Clan, to a place they had been warned against by their parents. But really, what hatchling listens to their parents? Taug and his friends traveled three hours to the Molten Scar, where the lava rivers are so dense, the land from above looks like an orange sea dotted with dark islands. It was here that young hearts would be tested in a trial of daring, just as previous generations of young dragons from Clans far and wide.

The rules were simple: start at the Bottom Rock and island hop until you reach the Top Rock, a good half mile upstream. This tested the hatchling’s flight strength, endurance, and strength of heart, for only the truly brave would persevere through the heat and fatigue all the way to the Top Rock. And the thing that made it even harder was that the islands were not grounded—they floated atop the superheated stream.

Taug was eager to show his fledgling prowess of flight, and he was the first dragon to make the attempt. He struggled his way to the first island from the shore. The first few islands were easy to hop to—it helped that he was in no way a small hatchling. He crossed the next few islands with little problem. But the next island was further away, he realized. There were no intermediate specks of land between; if he touched the shoreline, he was disqualified. The jeering of his friends rang in his ears, spurring his anger and a desire to make it to just the next island. But the heat was so intense, and his wings and legs were beginning to ache from the effort he had already exerted. His brain was sweating. His heart pounded now. He made the jump, was within a tail’s-length of the island, and then an explosion of lava erupted from beneath him, sending molten earth flying upward, spattering his underbody.

Taug opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. His scales were sizzling—the pain was enormous. Luckily, he landed on the island and not in the river. Immediately, his friends collected him from the island, using the combined power of their wings to return him to their home, a journey which took almost twice as long as the first. By the time they returned, the lava had cooled and hardened. Underneath the lumps of earth, Taug’s flesh was severely burned. Much of his body had been hit with the flying lava—in fact, only his wings, his face, and his back had been spared.

Had Taug been a dragon from a different Flight, he would have died, but Fire dragons have a genetic advantage—they are very resilient to heat. Nevertheless, it took several months for his wounds to heal, and even then he had expansive scars across his body. As Taug and his peers matured, those scars that told of courage and spirit began to disturb. His parents already could not look him in the eye—all they saw was disobedience and dumb youth. Heavily, the rejected Imperial made the decision to leave the Clan.

He left in search of somewhere to change his appearance. There were scrolls—magical scrolls—he had heard, that could restore him. These scrolls were understandably hard to come by. Many Clans he traveled through did not have the resources to obtain them, or else they chased him away. But finally, he came across a Clan that was willing to help him. That Clan was led by a Fae named Cecilia, located in the Starfall Isle. There, few dragons saw his scars as disturbing or evil. There, he was told he could find the release that he wished.

Within a few months, the Clan offered him a scroll. Anxious to finally be rid of his scars, Taug accepted the offering, and later that night, as the moon waxed into fullness, the Clan’s shaman bestowed the magic of the scroll unto the Imperial, and he changed. His wings gained a new luster, which reflected the moonlight with new vigor, and his body scales seemed to grow, into a hardier, crystalline guise. His underbelly was tinted with a dark gray hue now…the scroll hadn’t restored him, it had improved him. Proud of his new appearance, Taug renamed himself Goldenmoon.

So grateful, Goldenmoon decided to stay and work off his, now, debt to the Clan. He is the one who treasures it the most, through raids on other, distant Clans or through adventuring and exploring. In his occupation, he’s become quite a good fighter, and would happily step up in defense of the Clan if need be. Honestly, he thinks, it’s getting harder for him to imagine ever leaving the Clan.