YueLao

Yue Lao's parents were the most devoted, loving, romantic couple in the clan, if not the entire region. While their displays of affection prompted eye-rolling from most dragons, Yue Lao was enchanted. Someday, they told him, you'll find the One, and it will be like this for you too.

Yue Lao didn't wanted to wait. He wanted to get hitched, even staging elaborate weddings between himself and other hatchlings. As he grew through adolescence and into young adulthood enthusiasm was replaced with anxiety. He was on the look out for love, but no one seemed to want him back.

Once he was (barely) old enough, Yue Lao headed to Emberglow Hearth for the mating season, determined to find the One. It was awful, seeing all those happy couples, while he was alone, but just when he was giving up hope...he bumped into the most colorful, charming, and perfect coatl he'd ever laid eyes on. It was love at first sight.

Sure, they moved fast, and the difference in age was substantial, but what did it matter? They had love. Now that Yue Lao was with the One, everything would be perfect.

But it wasn't perfect. The opposite, in fact. By the time Yue Lao had extracted himself from the situation, his attitude towards romance had changed.

Present

Yue Lao provides a matchmaking service for dragons looking for love, specializing in coatl couples. He takes his job extremely seriously. According to Yue Lao, Love, like any other force, is governed by natural laws, which he is determined to uncover. His matchmaking process involves charts, graphs, and unique mathematical formulas featuring heart symbols.

Despite (or because of) his unusual methods, Yue Lao is very successful. Most of the coatl he matches up get along. Rarely, a matched pair will loathe one another, or two incompatible dragons will get together. This drives Yue Lao to distraction. He'll spend days checking his charts and revising his formulas in an attempt to figure out what went wrong.

He's still on the look out for the One, and he checks his compatibility with each of his clients. Out of his long list of clients, he has yet to deem one of them an appropriate match. He goes to the Emberglow Hearth every year during mating season, mostly to observe and take notes. Every coatl that has approached him with romantic intentions there has been rejected.

Yue Lao's best friends are Zephyrus and Tonatiuh, the two other coatl in the clan. His familiar is a mottled buttersnake named Lovelace. He wears her draped around his neck like a fancy accessory.

Personality


Yue Lao is no longer an insecure hatchling desperate for love. Nowadays he's a confident, classy creature of comfort. He enjoys candies, wine, tea, jewelry, and silk. While he is dedicated to the study of love, he whines when he is forced to perform less interesting tasks, especially ones that are physically demanding.

While friendly, Yue Lao is capable of brutal honesty and cynicism, especially when it comes to relationships. He provides his clients with plenty of advice about the importance of confidence, shared values, compromise, and communication....but he also places a high value on things like plumage coloring, social status, wealth, and accomplishment. Setting a gray coatl up with a crystalline orange one would never occur to him. Surely the brightly colored one could do better?

He still loves Love. Nothing makes him happier than a satisfied pair of clients. He has a pile of romance novels stashed away that he is embarrassed about enjoying. According to his standards, they're totally unrealistic and fanciful...but...