Hevveka

Hevveka, to many, seems terribly out of place among the roguish dragons of the Black Bog clan. Graceful, honest and possessing the quintessential air of valour and noblesse shared by most Guardians, she is a veritable oasis of morality, but, like many of her clanmates, she is a creature painted in many shades of grey.

Hailing from a small, coastal clan in the Southern Icefield, high atop the glacial shelf, Hevveka and her kin toiled away in the bitter cold, but were happy. She was convinced that she would never leave her beloved village, with its harsh beauty. She was content to stay by her father's side and help the elders care for the other wyrmlings.

Soon, however, The Search, a siren song that eventually summons every Guardian, was tugging at her heart and pulling at her wings. It was time for her to part and become her own dragon.

Without so much as a coin to her name, but keen to make an adventure of it, Hevveka travelled all over the continent, raising money whenever she could and making do whenever she couldn't. She would take odd jobs here and there, unafraid to try anything new, though she quickly learned that she had little taste for physical (especially martial) work. Over and over again, she found herself drawn to the youngest denizens of the world. She simply loved children, playing with them, teaching them, raising them. Shaping their little lives, however briefly, filled her with pride and accomplishment beyond words.

Eventually, her travels brought her to the edge of Shadowflight's domain. After several years on the road, getting both into and out of all manner of trouble, this drakka was certainly more shrewd than when she left home. A fact that the dragons of the trading post certainly did not count on.

It didn't take long for Hevveka to enter into an altercation with a certain vendor over some questionable merchandise being pawned off on some guiless hatchlings.

Eventually, she was brought before the clan's matriarch, Rhizanthel, a fearsome obsidian Guardian nearly twice her size. However, Hevveka would not back down, not even so much as flinching at the older female.

There was a long pause after Hevveka's tirade and the matriarch laughed, agreeing that children were probably not very appropriate marks, even for her own ilk. Impressed by the ice dragon's virtue, but especially by her financial sense, the old drakka smiled a toothy grin and offered the young dragon some work, assuring her it was nothing illegal.

Back then, the Black Bog clan was new and small, barely the size of Hevveka's village, and were in the midst of establishing themselves. Part of that was creating a secure nesting site, as dashing a clan's eggs was the swiftest way to weaken them.

This was a job practically tailor-made for Hevveka, she relished in the work and Rhizanthel felt assured the integrity of this younger female would guarantee no corners were cut. After many months of toil, it was complete. Safe and hidden, a perfect place for little ones to start their lives and their mothers to live in comfort while they were brooding.

Looking out over her work, Hevveka was suddenly overtaken by a sense of protectiveness and belonging and she could not bring herself to leave it.

Returning to face Rhizanthel, Hevveka near demanded to be allowed to join her clan and watch over her nests. Rhizanthel merely handed over several genetic scrolls, grinned her wolfish grin and assured Hevveka that all the arrangements were already made. She could stay, as long as she adopted the role of Broodmother, a lofty position of power within the clan, responsible for the safekeeping of the young and strengthening the bloodlines of her clanmates.

It was not a position Hevveka had ever considered, but it allowed her to protect her newfound Charge and to hold her clanmates to a certain degree of propriety. She accepted and has since served her station with a level of dedication that moved even the most cynical of the Black Bog dragons.