Katheryn

Katheryn Reflected-Darkness is one of five talented and refined pearl dragons known to their clan as the Chorus of the Persisting Shadow. (The others are Sunbeam, Daaveth, Seyzha and Vielle). The chorus was selected as tiny hatchlings by Ri'il, the clan founder, for their exceptional beauty and cleverness, coupled with a harmony of form and hue meant to symbolize the triumph of Shadow over Light. The chorus is closely guarded, carefully attended and greatly appreciated by the rest of their clan. It is hoped that their whelps will bring fitting tribute, honor and delectation to the Shadowbinder, whether shared with other clans or through exaltation.

Katheryn is a quiet, clever dragon, a poet, dancer and musician who is often a favorite in the chorus' fondly anticipated entertainments. She is gentler than most of the Persisting Shadow, a subtle, soft-spoken nature dragon to the core. All manner of vegetation grows better in her presence and flourishes under her tending claws. The chorus' bower is surrounded by gardens of rare beauty, still jewels surrounded by deep shadow where many flowers grow that fail elsewhere in these forests, and native ferns grow frighteningly lush. Its patches of brightness are surrounded by deep shadow that sometimes conceals vegetation of darker kind. Katheryn's nature magic is strong and unmistakable, and most of her clan-mates find her gardens both beautiful and somewhat unnerving.

When she was a hatchling, Ri'il, the clan's founder, brought her a zeeba lamb gained as spoils from the coliseum. She named him Gethin, tamed him completely, and frequently weaves garlands of ferns and small flowers to wrap around his neck and horns. He even plays the part of prey or combatant in the chorus' reenactments of particularly good hunts and battles. Her fiercer, plague-hatched sisters are exquisitely careful never to trouble the beast, any more than they would carelessly tear her plants with their claws. Katheryn's introspective serenity is rarely troubled by anger, and absolutely everyone in the clan is extremely careful to keep it that way.

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Certainly nobody would have expected the graceful Katheryn to prove herself to be a warrior fond of intense hunts, but somewhere along the way, she developed a taste for the coliseum. At first shy about this, she quickly gained confidence and is now as unapologetic as her magic is potent. She, Ri'il and Kazaya have become Persisting Shadow's most formidable pack of hunters and fighters, with Katheryn replacing Ashton as their mage. The three have become closely bonded as a result.

When Katheryn was a young hatchling, newly brought to the clan, she found Ri'il as overwhelming and terrifying as the strange, dark forest which was to become her home. Now, grown and having come to know each other quite intimately in combat and otherwise, their relationship has become closer and considerably more complex. Their deep bond is often the subject of whispers and prurient speculation among their clan, even as it strengthens their collective social ties. While remaining deeply conscious of her status as an out-clan dragon and therefore vassal and captive of Shadow, Katheryn has become profoundly affectionate and devoted to the clan's dark and mercurial founder. Her wing bangles were gifts from Ri'il, given after a particularly spectacular bit of magecraft, pierced through by Ri'il's own fangs.