A NEW VARIANT HAS APPEARED
The Nightspark lurk into the daylight..
The Nightspark lurk into the daylight..
Behind the longest buried corridors of the Forgotten Cavern there laid a much more aggressive Lost. While the rest of Sornieth focused on the arrival of the new beast clans, flora, and fauna that rose from the depths, the Nightspark Lost sought new prey.
The Nightspark Lost wield their bioluminesence less as a defense and more as a weapon. Their light structures have coalesced solely onto their tails, leaving the rest of their bodies permanently enshrouded in the dark of their home caverns. While a Butte or Crystalline Lost would flare their lights at signs of trouble, the Nightspark are adept climbers, clinging to stalactites on cavern ceilings to hide but primarily to hang their vibrant tails, as if to mimic a glow worm. Needless to say, those looking for a snack typically become the snack themselves.
Nightspark Lost, as a general rule, tend to live in slightly smaller Keeps than the Butte and Crystalline Lost, usually consisting of just five or six individuals.
So due to a random scry in which I realized that facet eyes can be mistaken as gembond, here's a subspecies!
THE LOST SUBSPECIES
Origin:
The Lost are believed to have arisen from lost travelers, doomed to wander the caves for all eternity.. until some .. saw .. the light of day.
Many are found having crawled from the depths of the Forgotten Cave, but some seem to have traveled a great distance, and there are those that believe there are connected cavern structures across Sorneith that the Lost wander...
Biology and Behavior:
Having lived their entire life in expansive cavern systems, a Lost is (almost) entirely blind, and adapted to blend into their rocky, dim surroundings.
Their eyes have been entirely replaced with bioluminescent structures. They ward off large predators with an impressive display of light from these specialized nodes, which span across their hides. Shining intensely bright, they charge a target with a deafening roar- one much deeper than their appearance would assume, startling most to seek meeker prey. And, if necessary, their light can be quashed entirely to sneak out of sight.
Their luminescence comes in a variety of colors, mostly stark against the flank. The color of the dragon is unique, and is not tied to its elemental affinity; the affinity taken is that of the land that the dragon was born under.
Losts' typical voices are far quieter than that of a surface dragon, in order to avoid echoing throughout the often dangerous caverns. They tell tales of the larger beasts, unseen from the clans of the daylight, that stalk the corridors of their native lands..
Due to the primitive "sight" of The Lost- in which vague light and colors can be sensed via light-sensitive patches on the face- short flickers are often used to identify oneself to another Lost, alongside their impressive sense of smell and sound. It is also used to signal emotion in a variety of ways. Anger and aggression is often punctuated with the same bright flashes they flare at predators. A faint, low-level, sometimes flickering glow signifies contentedness, much like purring.
Due to the importance of their lights for identification, Lost often feel rather uncomfortable covering up large portions of their markings, and will nearly always leave large swaths unclothed. Some individuals have taken to preferring more translucent materials in their apparel. Similarly, dragons wearing glowing decorations makes a Lost feel uneasy, as it becomes harder to discern which color is that dragon's. This seems to apply even if the dragon in question isn't a Lost.
Culture:
Lost generally trust each other a great deal, and refer to one another as brothers, sisters, and children, regardless of parents. They seem to have a very blurry concept of direct lineage, despite their pride in their subspecies. They refer to the rest of their kin as their "family".
Small groups of a handful of Lost can be found huddled sleeping in small tangled piles in the darkest shadows of caverns. These smaller groups are called their "Keep", which they insist translates to "immediate family". Though these groups are close, larger Keeps frequently go through partitions, in which they can split into two or more smaller ones. These separate groups tend to spread out to hunt different, non-competing territories, but all Lost will greet each other like family- the splits seem to simply be a resource and stealth protection convenience.
Though not largely common to go solitary, those that do are typically a rare birth known as an Omen. Omen Lost are a dark shade of murky green or purple, and often possess odd markings across their flanks. Other Lost, though they treat Omens as family and care for them the same, seem to feel as if Omens are prone to instability in their magic and worthy of caution. It is due to this wariness from others that Omens will sometimes become solitary.
Surface Life:
Lost seem to have varied reasons for breaching onto the surface. Typically, it is due simply to curiosity, either of the surface or a clan that may have run across them. They typically leave with their current Keep.
Lost who have reached surface lands and joined other clans typically keep themselves lowly "lit", both in order to be recognized by others of their kind and as a distinguishing point of pride unique to their species. To surface dragons, they appear as if they have brightly colored gembond markings.
Due to interbreeding amongst surface-dwelling clans, many descendants of surface Lost tend to have more normal eyesight, although typically more blurry than most. Oddly enough, Lost born on the surface to those from the caverns are often born with better sight as well. Although, occasionally, some will be born blind.
OTHER SUBSPECIES APPEAR...
Recently, with the Gaolers revealing themselves to the world, previously blocked caverns of the Losts' underground network have been reopened. Behind them was a Lost kin so separated from their brethren that they were thought to be a myth.
The caves of these forgotten Lost also provided a connecting cavern system into the caves of yet another Lost kin, their appearance also altered by time.
THE WARDEN LOST
Adapted to the icy caverns of the Icewarden's territory, the Warden Lost took on a much different tint than their other Lost cousins. Separated from their Gaoler "surface" kin long ago, through reasons lost to time, they also follow the Icewarden's original order to protect Sorneith from the Shade. Their elemental affinities, regardless of coloration, are all tied to the Icewarden, whose land they were born to.
The original separated Gaolers hybridized with the Crystalline Lost that were isolated to their cave system, and these descendants became the Hunter Order. While the Gaoler clans of the surface remained unaware of the Shade remnants that had seeped into the land, the Hunter Order stalks the tunnels below, seeking to extricate them from their realm. The stories of the creatures of their Hunts sound a bit like the massive beasts that stalk the caverns of the Butte Lost..
Oddly enough, there have been no known Omen births among the Warden Lost. Perhaps the strong magics of the Icewarden stabilize the unstable magic that Omens are thought to possess.
THE CRYSTALLINE LOST
The vast time that the Butte Lost and Crystalline Lost have had away from one another has allowed for some differences in the appearance of their bioluminescent structures. Their vision is a bit clearer than that of their Butte cousins, though still poorer than the typical surface dragon, and their home environments are ever so slightly more well-lit.
Individuals carry a gem-encrusted appearance. The Lost with the largest crystal veins are thought to possess a stronger and more enduring magic, as their crystals appear to be bursting out from within them (Opal variants). They are generally a slightly rarer birth among most groups, and are thought of as the protectors of their kind.
The Crystalline Lost differ a bit in their behavior and culture as well, having been isolated from the Butte Lost. They believe their crystal structures to have been formed from the crystals around them, and individuals are thought to possess a special affinity with the gem that resembles them. Their light displays are also incorporated into their courting rituals, in which low flickering interspersed with bright flashes of light accompany their unique dance.
THE NIGHTSPARK LOST
Behind the longest buried corridors of the Forgotten Cavern there laid a much more aggressive Lost. While the rest of Sornieth focused on the arrival of the new beast clans, flora, and fauna that rose from the depths, the Nightspark Lost sought new prey.
The Nightspark Lost wield their bioluminesence less as a defense and more as a weapon. Their light structures have coalesced solely onto their tails, leaving the rest of their bodies permanently enshrouded in the dark of their home caverns. While a Butte or Crystalline Lost would flare their lights at signs of trouble, the Nightspark are adept climbers, clinging to stalactites on cavern ceilings and hanging their vibrant tails as if to mimic a glow worm. Needless to say, those looking for a snack typically become the snack themselves.
Nightspark Lost, as a general rule, tend to live in slightly smaller Keeps than the Butte and Crystalline Lost, usually consisting of just four to six individuals.
Ice
Shadow
Wind
Water
Nature
Light
