Erasmus

Curious like the scholarly Amdir, but critical and cynical, Erasmus expresses an interest in technology and machinery, common among the Lightning flight dragons. He enjoys tinkering, taking things apart, and re-creating new items from the stray materials in the hoard, whether he's been given express permission or not. Yet, he also works diligently to find a place in the Clan, and older dragons in the clan have found the poof scribbling notes and sketches of future inventions and plans to carry out when he's more experienced in technical skills. When his mind is set on a problem or a decision, however, he will often stubbornly stick with it, and keeps burdens to himself, determined to see the end to them on his own, solved with his own skills.

He's quite close to the older Amdir, and it isn't uncommon to find the Ridgeback tinkering with some piece of machinery with the large Pearlcatcher curled up nearby, reading some ancient tome.

He isn't likely to share this with newer dragons off the bat, but Erasmus was once a Coatl dragon, who transformed under questionable circumstances. Circumstances he is rather unwilling to talk about with others.

~~~

(Bio prologue by ZenithNadir)

On the night that Erasmus hatched, there was a terrible storm.

The wind howled through the fissures in the cliffside where their family had built its nest, battering Alioth and Adhafera as they sheltered the one remaining egg, the youngest of the three siblings. Erasmus' older brother and sister had already been taken to safety by an elder of the clan. Only the egg and its parents remained.

Through a gap in the driving rain, Adhafera looked up and glimpsed the clouds, glowing blue-green with charged plasma, and blinked as a dazzling bolt of lightning rent the sky, leaving her temporarily blinded. The thunder followed on its heels, rolling out over the plain with a sound like deep, delighted laughter.

In the midst of the tempest, the small blue egg parted down the middle. Small, strong claws poked their way free of the shell, followed by a glossy black head and sleek feathered wings.

The hatchling looked up at his mother and father with eyes the same color of the charged stormclouds, and smiled.

"I have arrived."
~~~

The storm had nearly passed when the young Erasmus wandered from his nest, in the dead of night. His feathers were soaked as he was exposed to the storm that ravaged the otherwise arid Shifting Expanse, and the rapidly cooling night chilled him to the core. Yet, vibrant eyes followed the bursts of plasma and lightning, transfixed by the lights. So enraptured was he that he didn't notice how far he'd wandered, or how close he was to the edge until it was too late. With a startled cry, he was sent tumbling down the cliff, far away from his clan's lair, from home. The rumbling vibrations of thunder reached him, like a shout or scream as he shut his eyes in fear and seemed to plummet to his death. . .

"There's work to be done!"

Then, suddenly, he was aware that he was no longer falling. Erasmus cracked open his vibrant, teal eyes and noticed under a flash of lightning pale green, spindly arms and golden claws that held him tight and close, and the shiny green underbelly that shielded his head against the downpour. The thunder rumbled on once more, yet, he swore it sounded calmer as he was whisked away from the storm, westward bound. . .

~~~

It'd started with a question. Could he change the breed of a dragon from one to another, instantaneously, without magic? Beyond creating new breeds and species, he wanted to change one dragon type, to another, with one procedure. So it was that he began to work. He tried to make sense of the smallest of building blocks, of cells and DNA and atoms, bits that were magical and non-magical. He was determined to find the answer, to prove he could do it, somehow. . .

It caught Amdir's attention, at some point. The small Pearlcatcher would watch him as he worked, never quite stopping him, but merely suggesting at points to reconsider.

"What you're doing is dangerous. Please. . . Tread carefully, and think it over, my friend. . ."

But Amdir was logical, he strove to understand their world and past as much as he strove to achieve this one thing! Then, one day, he believed he'd found a workable theory.

Dragons were, by part, created by the magic of their deities, shaped in the image of the deity, and this, he could not prove false. The magic within each dragon developed with the hatchling, inside the egg, but it also seemed to work with the smallest of building blocks, it controlled what magic resonances were strongest and weakest within the dragon. That was controlled by the aura of a region.

What if he could use the strength of that aura to alter his form?

~~~

In hindsight, he could have carried out this plan a lot better, he considered hazily as he laid against the sand ground, his flesh burning and sight blurry. He'd, perhaps rather foolishly, took off from the clan's den and flew non-stop back, back to the sandy, dry Shifting Expanse, and didn't stop until he'd reached the Lightning Farm, without telling another soul. The region did not harbor Stormcatcher himself, but the surges of pure, electrical, Lightning-touched energy was bound to contain plenty of his aura to aid in the experiment. The energy, the lightning, it would be important.

There was no rain this time, during the lightning storm. The spires danced with plasma bolts, the heat and energy crackled in the air, powerful, strong, never-ending. He waited, timed each strike carefully. . . Then took off into the sky, right beneath one spire, and waited. . .

He'd ignored the logical side-effects of being struck by lightning, how it could stop the heart, burn the skin. It wouldn't matter if it did, because the aura would be strong, the damage extensive, and the cells would change, adapt. . .

It made so little sense now, as he laid there, his limbs twitching beyond his control, the smell of burnt feathers assaulting his nostrils, and the lack of coherent noise from the vibrations around him. Before his sight gave way, though, he thought he could make out a flash of black and gold. . .

~~~

He'd briefly woken up once or twice, to find himself in excruciating pain, before the world would float away once again. It was around the third or fourth time of attempting to wake, that he managed to keep his eyes open, the pain bearable. The world. . . Seemed a lot smaller, he realized slowly. He was tucked inside the medic's clove, but the ceiling seemed closer than it ever had before, and as he came more into consciousness, he was aware of peculiar. . . Sounds. They weren't vibrations anymore, but actual noises, loud and soft and varied. It made his head pound. He then noticed swathes of bandages along a body that was much larger, scalier than the one he'd had. A bluish glow danced underneath some of the bandaging.

So it'd worked, but not without consequence, it appeared.

He learned from Binder, later, the extent of the damage- his chest and stomach burned thoroughly, but he could offer little to no explanation for the glow, outside of an annoyed grumble over deity magic. His sudden change in forms had fractured a great many of his bones, and apparently, the new spikes had torn through his skin.

"Your lucky your foolishness didn't kill you, and that Amdir brought you here quickly!" The much smaller Spiral snapped at him. He didn't say anything in return, and instead laid on his side in stunned silence. He. . . He hadn't considered it.

~~~

Amdir showed up, later that day. When he saw he was awake, he'd been silent, uncertain, and hung by the entrance for a while.

". . .I'm sorry." It was all he could think to say.

But it was enough, it seemed, for Amdir. The Pearlcatcher came to his side, and gently brushed his head against one bandaged forearm.

"Don't be sorry, get better. . . Was it worth it?" Erasmus paused, uncertain, and thought over his choice of words carefully.
"Despite the pain, I am more comfortable in my skin than I'd ever been. So. . . Yes."

Amdir, for all his observance, didn't seem too surprised, and simply shook his head.

"So reckless, but I hope you have found peace in your decision. . ." The Pearlcatcher rested his head against him. "Please be careful, in the future. . ."

"I will," he mumbled, and he twisted his neck carefully to rest his elongated nose on the top of Amdir's head.