Cassandra

CASSANDRA "Firstborn" of a breeding that was nothing about love and everything about power. That was the defining feature of Cassandra's existence; her parents didn't love each other and they certainly didn't love her. She was sent out into the world the instant she grew old enough to fend for herself. If her powers from the bloodlines combined were worthwhile, she would survive. Despite her cold upbringing, or perhaps because of it, Cassandra longed for love and companionship. She wandered the world, seeking a clan that would take her in - but misfortune trailed after her, drawn to the Shade that was the source of her power, bringing destruction to the kind dragons who offered her shelter and friendship. Her birthright from her parents, more curse than gift. She tried harnessing her enhanced strength and magic for good, only for her attempts to inevitably turn wrong. Yet ignoring her magic wasn't an option, for it built within her, escaping at inopportune times if she tried not to use it. Determined to find her happiness without hurting anyone, Cassandra adopted a nomadic lifestyle, traveling between clans seeking knowledge on how to rid herself of the Shade, never settling in one place for very long, taking periodic trips to deserted wilderness to unleash her dark magic without harm. Finally, her travels brought her to a town near the Observatory, where the locals told her of an old, powerful clan nearby with many skilled mages and a wealth of knowledge. Most interestingly, this clan harbored others of her bloodline, and if rumor was to be believed, could only be found by dragons 'pure of heart', whatever that meant. Cassandra knew she wasn't pure of heart. Her Shade-fueled magic made sure of that. But if this clan might have the knowledge to help her, she had to try finding it. She set out in the direction the other dragons pointed her towards. If she wasn't worthy, they told her, she'd spend days searching and never find it. But if the clan's magic approved of her, she would find them within a day.

Tri-Color Scatterscroll Specialty Items An item that completely randomizes the colors of a dragon's primary, secondary, and tertiary genes. It can only be used once and will disappear on use. 0 Scatter log Started: Tan/Sable/Stone Scatter 1: Swamp/Beige/Orange - Really coherent, but really not my aesthetic Scatter 2: Robin/Orange/Grey - She's determined to be orange, isn't she. This combo is nice and has a surprising number of eligible bachelors on the AH that match, but it doesn't quite do it for me. Scatter 3: Soil/Lavender/Cottoncandy - Turns out skink soil's contrast color matches cottoncandy perfectly. I think I have to keep this for a bit. Re-gened with Skink/Constellation/Runes and bred with this combo. Scatter 4: Aqua/Thistle/Blackberry Scatter 5: Smoke/Cream/Tomato - wow that tert just no Scatter 6: Lavender/Plum/Sanguine - ooooh

As she made her way towards the clan, the strangest sensation came over her. Her body prickled lightly all over, just under her skin. That in itself wasn't unusual - Cassandra recognized it from her studies and wanderings as a strong warding spell. A subtle one, in this case, quite possibly undetectable to any dragons less magically attuned than her.

But this spell - the prickling grew stronger and more annoying as she advanced, like a phantom itch with no right place to scratch. At the same time, it felt as if something under her skin was peeling off. Reluctantly, almost painfully, but accompanied by a strange relief. Almost like a phantom scab, to go with the phantom itch. The further she went, the harder the peeling sensation, until it grew painful - not unlike ripping her scales off before they were due for molt.

Cassandra grit her teeth, and kept going. As long as the ward didn't reject her outright, she wasn't giving up.

There was one final, hard yank. Cassandra gasped, seeing sparks as, in one searing flash of pain, something ripped free from her very soul. For one glorious moment, she felt light as a feather, as if an unknown burden she'd been carrying had been taken from her.

Then the pain returned, slamming into her all over like a thousand hot knives. Cassandra fell over, curling in on herself, and gave in to the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

*

"This is the one," Cassandra heard, as she blinked back into awareness. She was in a warm cave, near a well-tended fire, lying on something wonderfully soft. She shifted experimentally, carefully moving her limbs. She was sore all over, as if she'd flown and run across all eleven domains in one go, but the sharp pain of earlier was thankfully gone.

"Oh, good, she's awake," a different voice said. Cassandra moved, trying to sit up properly, to see who was with her. A coatl came into her periphery then, pushing her back down while making highly disgruntled noises.

"Don't move too much yet," the coatl instructed sternly. "You need more rest."

Cassandra settled back down meekly. "Where am I?" she asked.

Another dragon - a spiral, this time - slithered into view. Cassandra gaped - to her magical senses, this dragon radiated power, to such a degree that the only dragon she'd encountered with more was her mother.

"You're in Clan Star Kestrel's territory," the spiral told her. Her tone was gentle, but her gaze was wary and seemed to stare right through Cassandra. "Tell me - what made you so desperate to come here, to break through our ward like that?"

Cassandra stared. "I didn't think I was breaking through. The dragons in the town told me I wouldn't be able to find the clan at all, if I wasn't worthy." The spiral continued staring at her, and Cassandra looked away, suddenly ashamed, though she wasn't sure why. "The ward didn't exactly stop me, so I kept going. I heard your clan had powerful mages and a wealth of knowledge. I'd hoped, if I could find the place, you could help me get rid of the Shade within me."

To her surprise, the spiral laughed. At Cassandra's bewildered glance, her eyes softened. "Look within yourself, my child."

Cassandra frowned, unsure of what the spiral meant, but did as instructed, falling into the well of her magic, the source of both her power and her misfortune. There it was, the familiar hum of raw, reality-warping power inherited from her mother, and...

...Cassandra's frown deepened. Where there used to be the angry, twisted pulsing of shade-fueled magic, inextricably laced with the rest of her being, there was now nothing. No slippery, malevolent power that struggled against her will as she tried to channel it. Just her own magic, free and clear of shade.

"How did you do this?" Cassandra whispered, hardly able to believe what she felt.

The spiral shook her head. "You did this," she said. "The barrier spell judges who can pass through mostly by their intent, but it will not allow purely malevolent forces such as the Shade through under any circumstance."

"So when I tried to pass through..." Cassandra said, trailing off as she realized what that meant.

"Exactly," the spiral replied, nodding, even though Cassandra hadn't finished her sentence. "It ripped the Shade from your soul."

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Firstborn imp daughter of Willow and Marduk
Bought at auction for 300kg 1/12/19

Pings:
Nalabyte, Antiferret, Jaychirps, Furiku, WolfandCrow, Colorpointed, nearku, FadingLogic, Without, Syceris, Solcie, Starphire

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Naomis in this lair just absolutely bling themselves out with stars and such, in skins and clothes if they don't suddenly gain stars on their scales. Turns out it's nice to find a place where they aren't filled with angst or beset by shade, so this is their way of thanking spacedad for providing them with a peaceful place to live.

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Cassandra - a cursed prophet, but also a name meaning to excel or to shine.

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Art by bioluminosity!