Burnet

THE DARKLY GLIB among us may proclaim that the only two constants in life are death and taxes -- or, as we call them around these parts, Burnet. A miserly, controlling, and exceedingly fastidious creature, Burnet was a shoe-in for the role of tax collector from the word go. He's got a good head for numbers and an unsettlingly good memory. This, combined with his unscrupulousness and greed, means Burnet's well-equipped to keep the Rifters' coffers lined with gold and jewels by any and all means necessary. And he takes his job extremely seriously. An acceptable job performance keeps him in good standing with the locals, which, in turn, means he gets to live in relative comfort and ease surrounded by dragons who don't care to question or correct his naturally terrible nature. That alone is worth more to him than gold, which is saying something. Burnet wears mistrust and disdain as easily as gold and silk. The ill-tempered old ridgeback has seen trouble in his day and he has the look of somebody who doesn't intend to see any more of it. Anybody with at least one functional eye could tell you as much: under all that expensive metal and fine imported textile is a whole mess of scars and pockmarks too chaotic to tell much of a story beyond steer clear.

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IMPRESSIONS Every wrinkle and scar on his hide is some measure or another of hard road. Gembond growths bulging under all that silk and shine: closer inspection reveals that they, too, have been dressed up in gold. His temper burns fever-hot; you can just about feel it coming off him in shimmering waves. Clean as he is, things he puts his claws on have a way of falling apart in too-advanced decay when he's in a mood. Something moves in that crown-of-thorns on his head: a hedgehog eyes you with unmistakable malice. What an incongruous picture that is.

RELATIONSHIPS HARLING has a way of insinuating herself into Burnet's business in such a way as to maximise both the information she gleans from the exchange and Burnet's level of irritation. Burnet detests Harling, though he's never said why. He just knows better than to outright antagonise her. PERDIX puts Burnet off but good, most probably due to Perdix's way of acting utterly besotted in Burnet's presence. It is entirely unclear to everyone in the vicinity what Perdix sees in this walking pile of rattlesnake fangs, but no one's bothered to ask just yet.

scatter journey:
start: brown/soil/gold
1. black/lemon/sanguine
2. stone/sanguine/tangerine
3. thicket/dirt/sanddollar
4. radioactive/mint/maroon
5. taupe/charcoal/copper - very cool but not the right vibe
6. peacock/honey/black
7. platinum/avocado/violet - 2013 realness
8. cobalt/stonewash/gold
9. peridot/wine/red - SO GOOD but not the right vibe
10. pthalo/clay/sky
11. sand/sky/blackberry
12. periwinkle/pink/chartreuse - extremely no
13. driftwood/aqua/shadow
14. buttercup/crimson/eldritch
15. shamrock/cottoncandy/brick
16. bronze/honey/ultramarine
17. shale/blush/hunter
18. tan/stonewash/tan
19. amber/shadow/brick
20. wine/cinnamon/peacock
21. maroon/lapis/sunset
22. rose/tan/rose
23. chartreuse/silver/cherry - 2013 realness but now the colourwheel expansion is here
24. mint/cornflower/berry
25. magenta/grapefruit/carmine
26. robin/clay/chartreuse
27. ultramarine/moon/metals
28. olive/blood/coral
29. moss/dirt/cinnamon
30. gloom/blue/dirt
31. ice/yellow/orange
32. iris/saffron/ice - GET OFF THE ICE
33. rust/shamrock/white - smh he's santa
34. beige/heather/purple
35. vermillion/rust/taupe
36. twilight/moon/carmine
37. grey/copper/peach
38. mauve/orca/spruce - i am being punished for my hubris
39. platinum/tomato/dust - ibid.
40. brown/jade/garnet
41. wine/algae/ultramarine
42. watermelon/wisteria/swamp
43. peacock/black/fire
44. orchid/hunter/mint - expires bc this is such a cool combo but doesn't fit him