The Blightbound
Update: Heya folks. I'm not currently "working on" any more to do with the Blightbound for the time being, including updating the registry. Once I'm in a better mental space, I'll see about doing more. Feel free, of course, to keep breeding and selling your Blightbound, and if you're interested in a hatchling from one of my pairs go ahead and message me. - Reythaak (April 17, 2021)
The blightbound are less a cohesive subspecies of dragons, and more dragons bound together by the misfortune (or perhaps greed) of their ancestors in the past. Every blightbound dragon possesses some remnants of what they refer to as “Tomb Blight” in their veins, though for most it will never become an issue until the very end of their days. For others, it affects their lives every single day.Update: Heya folks. I'm not currently "working on" any more to do with the Blightbound for the time being, including updating the registry. Once I'm in a better mental space, I'll see about doing more. Feel free, of course, to keep breeding and selling your Blightbound, and if you're interested in a hatchling from one of my pairs go ahead and message me. - Reythaak (April 17, 2021)
There’s little that ties them together beyond their affliction, though they tend to be extremely superstitious.
Species Requirements
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Breed: Any Modern Element: Any Primary: Taupe - Hickory Jaguar, Speckle, or Leopard Secondary: Berry - Brick Noxtide (Strawberry Noxtide is a special variant, the Plague Summoned) Tertiary: Maize - White Ghost |
History
The Blightbound all can trace their ancestry back to Dragonhome and an Earth clan called Aeonian Breach. The clan was decently respected among the Earth clans, as they had a talent for digging within Cairnstone Rest without disturbing the skeletal wyrms deep within. They supplied a great many precious gemstones to other Earth clans, as well as more far-reaching places (rumors state that the gems made their way all the way to the Ashfall Wastes, though most only made it as far as the Starfall Isles, making for great magic foci for the Arcane dragons.)It would, of course, not be a story worth telling if something hadn’t gone wrong. Another rival clan seeking to disrupt the clan and take over their mines for themselves planted one of their own dragons within Aeonian Breach and proceeded to subtly disturb the skeletal wyrm’s resting places as often as they could, slowly ramping up the desecration of the wyrm’s resting places. The collapsing of a mine shaft resulted in the destruction of several tombs that were only a short distance above the shaft.
The ancient skeletal guardian who had taken the tombs as their charge proceeded to curse every dragon of Aeonian Breach lineage in their rage, and the entire clan was afflicted with a Blight. One that would be passed on from generation to generation. From hatchlings still forming in the egg, to the old and infirm dragons who had mined the Rest for years, careful never to disturb the resting places of their ancestors.
A great many of the clan perished, and the survivors fled the guardian’s wrath. Soon, the survivors and the clans that offered to aid them learned that even interacting with those Blighted could cause the blight to spread, and soon the survivors were forced to leave Dragonhome entirely, moving south into the Scarred Wasteland where things might be… safer.
The Scarred Wasteland was just as harsh, if not more so, to the still faltering Blighted. A shaman of the ragged clan had been seeking answers in the bones, and finally received a message that gave a small glimmer of hope to the Blighted.
The path to Life was through the Plague.
The dragons made their way deeper into the Scarred Wasteland, braving the worst of the Plaguebringer’s lands to reach the edge of the Wyrmwound itself. There, they prostrated themselves, and begged the Plaguemother for her help.
The blight was something the dragons couldn’t survive on their own. The only hope for them was her intervention.
Initially, she ignored them and their requests. Triumph through survival of the fittest, she believed. And those that do not triumph over their diseases should be allowed to perish.
The hatchlings are what won her over, however. The hatchlings born with the Blight in their systems were dying quickly, and had no chance to grow strong enough to survive it. They were dying from the blight their parents, their ancestors, had brought upon themselves.
That wasn’t quite her way.
And so, the Plaguebringer told them that she would give them all a chance to overcome the blight the guardian had infected them all with. The blight would be… modified. Given a longer incubation time, so that most hatchlings would not immediately be forced to contend with a magical blight crafted by an old Guardian. Instead, they would live their lives unaffected by blight and disease, until eventually the blight’s incubation period was over, and they would inevitably face the Tomb Blight they had been incubating all of their lives up to that point.
The older, stronger dragons who already fought the blight and were succumbing to it? That was their own failing. They would still have to deal with the full brunt of the blight, but they wouldn’t be able to pass the active strain on to their children.
It was the best the blighted dragons could hope for, and they had no desire to overstay their welcome and risk the Plaguemother’s wrath. They left the Wyrmwound and carved out a new home for themselves within the Scarred Wasteland.
The hatchlings would grow, and eventually succumb to the blight themselves. The ages at which it occurred seemed to vary, and the hatchlings never seemed to get sick (even within the Scarred Wasteland!) until the blight took their lives. The blight was horrible in its effects and ravaged the dragon’s body. They died within hours, and the effects seemed to vary.
Until an older dragon returned. Originally a hatchling born in the Scarred Wasteland, the dragon had wandered far afield at a young age, and only returned once the Blight began affecting them. It progressed much slower than the Blight that the hatchlings raised within the Scarred Wasteland faced.
The shamans consulted the bones, and the healers observed the blight’s progression.
It seemed those with the blight still in it's incubation phase never became ill. Instead, the blight seemed to devour each disease or infection or illness the dragon would face in their lives, and mutate based on this. Those who lived in the Scarred Wasteland, of course, faced the harsh diseases and illnesses that the Plaguelands brought.
Those who wandered far afield suffered lesser effects. They lived much longer, even with the blight.
The solution was simple. To leave the Scarred Wasteland, and live in other places across Sorneith.
The Tomb Blight
Prior to the Plaguebringer’s influence, the blight caused rapid necrosis of the dragon’s body, starting generally at the extremities (particularly visible at the edges of wings, hands, feet, and tail), and loss of scales and/or feathers. Death comes quickly for those afflicted.
After begging for the Plaguebringer’s help, the blight was heavily modified from its original incarnation.
The incubation period of the infection was lengthened, and now seems to be tied to the skeletal markings across the bodies of the blightbound. Most hatchlings, and dragons with a long time left before the blight affects them, will have a more-or-less complete, solid markings. As they age, the markings will seem to fracture and will resemble little more than shards of bone strewn across their bodies, and around this point they will experience the full effects of the Tomb Blight.
While the blight is in its incubation period, the blightbound is immune to nearly all diseases and infections, though are still susceptible to toxins, poisons, and venoms. However, exposure to diseases seems to shorten the blight’s incubation period and cause the infection to mutate meaning that no two Blightbound experience the exact same symptoms of Tomb Blight anymore.
Active strains of Tomb Blight seem to most often retain the original’s necrotic properties, and cause discoloration of the extremities and loss of scales and/or feathers. Besides that, the blight is as unique as the dragon that possesses it.
However. Active strains of Tomb Blight cannot be spread to other dragons. Each dragon is cursed to their own strain. The exception to this being that a hatchling born of two dragons with active infections will lack the Plaguebringer’s protection, and possess and active strain from the time they hatch from their eggs. Due to this, it’s incredibly rare for Blightbound to procreate after their infection becomes active.
Society
The Blightbound don’t have much of a cohesive society. For the most part, they integrate almost completely into whatever clan or society they’ve joined up with, with only a couple exceptions regarding some of their superstitions, detailed below and in the Special Variant “Plague Summoned.”
The Bones
- Every blightbound shaman will possess a set of bone runes. These runes are made of carved bone, and traditionally come from an old ancestor of the blightbound shaman, or even the bones of the skeletal wyrms in Dragonhome, or bones found in the Abiding Boneyard.Older bones, and the more generations they have been in the shaman’s line, are said to be more powerful and accurate than younger bones, or bones from “weaker” sources.
- Less… trustworthy shamans may take steps to make their bones appear older, or more worn and it isn’t uncommon for the tales of their bones to be somewhat fabricated.
- Blightbound tend to be possessive of their Bones, and it’s almost unheard of for a shaman to allow someone else to use their runes to tell someone else’s fortune.
- There are 24 runes. They are as follows: Life, Truth, Venom, Plague, Arcane, Nature, Earth, Mind, Blood, Water, Fire, Time, Wind, Clan, Spirit, Metal, Lightning, Cloud, Shadow, Spiral, Light, Ice, Chaos, and Pillar.
- When listing the runes, a Blightbound will start with whatever runes are most relevant to them first. So one with the Plague Birth Bone, Spirit Secondary, and Truth tertiary might list the runes as Plague, Spirit, Truth... and continue from there.
- The mate of a Blightbound shaman, in some cases, is trusted with helping to ensure the shaman’s bones are not wrong. They will subtly act to ensure the advice or knowledge given by the bones is accurate.
- A pair discovered to be falsifying their bones will have their bones taken and ground to dust. Further punishments depend on the blightbound who discover the treachery, though killing the false shaman and his mate isn’t out of the question, sometimes they are branded liars.
Choosing Their Bones
A custom that occurs shortly after a hatchling emerges from their egg.
"Your life will be steady
You will find your stability, a place grounded and home.
Your life will be full of deceit.
Keep your eyes open, keep yourself safe.
Your life will be long and winding.
You will go many places, and see many things.
Your path will be... interesting
So say your Bones."
-Akamas, Blightbound Shaman of Creakwood, reading Accidia’s Bones.
"Your life will be steady
You will find your stability, a place grounded and home.
Your life will be full of deceit.
Keep your eyes open, keep yourself safe.
Your life will be long and winding.
You will go many places, and see many things.
Your path will be... interesting
So say your Bones."
-Akamas, Blightbound Shaman of Creakwood, reading Accidia’s Bones.
The Blightbound believe that a great deal can be learned by spreading the runes out before a newly hatched dragon, and predicting their future based upon the first three runes they touch. This is known as a hatchling Choosing Their Bones, or letting them Choose Their Bones.
The first rune is considered their Birth Rune, and the most important to their lives and development. Most Blightbound will eventually end up carrying a talisman with them that depicts their Birth Rune.
The second and third runes are less important, and often completely ignored in favor of simplification, but seem to expand upon the information given by the Birth Rune. They are, aptly called, the Secondary and Tertiary runes.
The runes are used as a mix of fortune telling and the Zodiac concepts present in the real world.
A blightbound shaman may offer to allow a friend to Choose Their Bones, though it’s considered less accurate than if it had been done as a hatchling.
Apparel and Items
Woodland Wanderer sets, Wraps, bird skull sets, Skeletal Chimes, Shielding Scale Tassets, Wingplates, and Tail Tatters, Flower Wing Garlands
- Shaman tend to wear their bones on strands on their wings, or keep them in pouches on their persons. (Skeletal Chimes, Birdskull Wingpieces)
- Shaman also tend to wear masks with feathers or leaves adorning them (Woodmask layered under Windbound Mask or Birdskull Headdresses)
- Most Blightbound wear a necklace or bracelet with their Birth Bone carved into it. (Simple or Ornate copper/gold/darksteel/iron/pearly sets)
- A lot of variation in attire, based on where they live.
Trivia/FAQ
- Blightbound names tend to be Ancient Latin, Roman, or Greek in nature.
Special Interactions
A Greater Effluvial Crow's strain causes the Blight to immediately finish it's incubation period, resulting in an extremely virulent, but very short-lived strain of the Blight.
The virulent, supercharged Blight tends to result in a swift death for the Blightbound, and thus most Blightbound will completely avoid Effluvial Crows (and Crows of other varieties, including Jackdaws that more closely resemble Effluvials), not wanting to risk death.
10% of Blightbound actually survive this intense form of Tomb Blight. Those that do are completely cured of the Tomb Blight, and no longer possess the Plaguebringer’s Blessing that keeps the Blight (and other diseases) at bay. They may still have scars and the like from this intense blight, however.
Some Blightbound will purposefully go out of their way to provoke Crows to chance death to completely remove their blight.
This phenomenon has not been observed to occur with any Crows besides Greater Effluvial Crows. (So. No Lesser Effluvials, Lesser or Greater Eboncrows, Lesser or Greater Albinos, or Jackdaws.)
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