Zarptica

Plague-eyed, Fire-feathered, and leading an Earth clan - Zarptica is a study in contradictions. She came to Clan Rockspeaker at the clan’s bequest for a hefty dowry of treasure, sought out after a Water-sage’s visions. They needed a strong leader, and she agreed to fill the role.

She is implacable and inscrutable. She prioritizes the strength, survival, and viability of the clan and every dragon within it over any higher ideal, and yet she keeps the founding vision of diplomacy and unity in mind. While she seems passionless and cold at times, she is nonetheless competent, and seems to have the best interest of the clan in her heart and her intentions. The clan trusts her.

There are few who see her soften or react from an emotional place. Her mate and seneschal, Ohnivak, is witness to it from time to time, in the privacy of their cliffside den. Qukumatz, her apprentice of sorts who she is grooming for clan leadership, is allowed to see the tensions and the struggles within her, the deep care and heart beneath the pragmatic Plagueborn exterior. Yet on the subject of her past and the shadows of her spirit, she remains close-beaked to all within the clan.

She's grooming Quetzalcohuatl as her replacement, understanding that her own Plague-trained ruthlessness worked while the clan was in crisis but cannot sustain the clan's purpose of diplomacy. It's a long process. Quetzal is untempered, exuberant, and thinks too kindly of every dragon she meets for Zarptica's liking. Still, she is a charismatic young coatl, kind and confident, and Qukumatz should balance her well enough.

She is a dominant creature and knows that this leaves little room for others to learn leadership, so she is learning to provide more space for the new clan leaders to prove themselves and take charge. Her quiet, more submissive mate Ohnivak helps with this, welcoming her need for control, inviting her to enact it upon him when she restrains herself with others. The imperial sages, Feng and Huang, are the only other dragons in the lair that she relaxes around; they were here before her, they are solid rocks on which to rest, and they do not judge her or recoil from her sharpness.

• Dragonhome Desert Glass: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Red and Green
• Sunsinger

The firebird, žar-ptica, mated to Ohnivak. They have dalliances with the imperial phoenixes Feng and Huang.