Elskar

Advisor/Tactician/Medic

Raised in reedcliff ascent, Elskar never knew his parents. Luckily for the young dragon wind dragons are all about community, and though he had no parents he never felt as though he was without a family. He was always inquisitive about the world, feeling even from his beginning as though something were missing, an integral part of his being. Elskar studied and pondered the great mysteries of the world as his family and friends flitted fancifully throughout the sloping ascent of his home domain's pilars. Elskar, once he was old enough went on an adventure across the world.

His first stop was the starfall isles, a place, he assumed of mysteries, and perhaps answers. He was partially right. While he learned much about magic from the dragons there, he was unable to find peace, and so, with a heavy heart he continued his journey. His next stop was the southern icefields. There he found great thinkers, like himself, but their cold dispassion at the world around them was unsettling to Elskar, so, after a quick look through their libraries, he bid that cold and unforgiving land farewell. Seeking somewhere more lively and full of passion (not to mention warmer), Elskar journeyed to the ashfall wastes. Great mountains of lava (as he would learn, they were called volcanoes) burst up from the molten ground, and the dragons here were as volatile as the land on which they lived. They would change their minds without a moment's notice, which was both intriguing and frightening to Elskar.

While Elskar didn't particularly dislike the Ashfall watses, he was forced to leave after a female fire dragon got overly angry at his denial of their mating. So it was that Elskar fled to the sea of a thousand currents. There, he came across a mysterious water dragon, cloaked entirely in some sort of waterproof cloak.The mysterious dragon offered Elskar a divining, if he would do a small favor for the dragon. Elskar, as always was intrigued by the possibility for further enlightenment and knowledge, so he agreed.

"Deep within the leviathan trench lies a great treasure, a pearl hidden within one of the legendary clams of knowledge. I am too weak to travel to such depths, but you appear young and quick-witted, perhaps you will succeed where I have failed." the mysterious dragon stated.

"How, oracle, will I know these clams when i see them? How too, shall I know their pearls from the pearls of a norml mollusk?" Elskar questioned.

"You shall know the clams by their sweet song, and, perhaps, if you are unlucky, by their guardian; the leviathan himself, the Tidelord's mightiest guardian. Though, the clams of knowledge are no different visibly from normal clams. The pearl of the clam of knowledge is a magnificent thing. Once you touch it it will expand to fill your claw, and, if you are worthy, it will hide you from the leviathan's gaze."

"Well, then. It wold appear that I should seek this pearl so that you might divine my future."

With that, Elskar dove deep into the tidelord's domain, deeper, even than most dragons of the water clan dared to venture. The only thing to guide him in the deepest darkest parts of the trench were the distant sounds of melodious music. For hours he dove and slowly made his way through the deep crevasses of the leviathan trench, until, finally, he found a massive bed of clams.

On this bed, however, slept a creature as massive a being as Elskar had ever seen, larger even than the volcanoes of the ashfall wastes or the pillars from his homelnd. Though, to his relief it was, indeed, in slumber. Elskar slowly crept his way over to the bed of clams, until he found the one whose song he had followed through the sea. Just as he was grasping at the shell, the other clams began to screech, and in an instant, the leviathan was awake. Elskar turned, his back to the clam and his face staring into the massive creature's ship-sized eyes.

"WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER? A THIEF? MY DIET CONSISTS PRIMARILY OF THAT ILK!" The Leviathan bellowed, its voice displacing rocks on the far side of the cavern.

"Nay, nay," Elskar proclaimed,"I am but a chronicler! And I have chronicles the wonders of the Ashfall waste's magnificent volcanoes and the libraries of the southern icefield. I have made notes of the ky cities of the windswept plateau and gazed at the stars at the arcane observatory itself! But When I heard that such a magnificent creature lived at the base of the leviathan trench, I ceased all of my other activities at once to see if the tales were true!"

Elskar hoped his grand gesture would draw the leviathan's attention away from the work his tail was doing in trying to pry open the clam hidden behind him.

"HA! A CHRONICLER, HE SAYS! WELL, TELL ME THEN," the leviathan roared, nearly forcing Elskar off of his feet, from the shock of it,"AM I AS GRAND AS THE TALES SAY?"

The leviathan deftly swirled up from the bed of clams and curled around in the water, filling Elskar's vision with rock-like scales and obelisk-like teeth.

"Some of your aspects are greater than mentioned in the tales..."

The leviathan began to laugh a deep laugh like the sound of a storm.

"... but others fall short of the accounts." Elskar finished.

"WHAT!?" The leviatham growled,"WHAT ABOUT ME COULD POSSIBLY FALL SHORT, OF ANYTHING!"

"Well, for one, it was said that your teeth were not only as large as ships, but were as sharp as swords, but they appear dull as a dinner knife." Elskar proclaimed, his tail just now managing to begin to crack the shell of the clam open.

The leviathan grinned, the grin of a shark, revealing rows and rows of teeth that could have been the conical houses of a small city,"NOT SHARP ENOUGH, YOU SAY?" the leviathan hissed, as he bit into the solid boulders he had previously dislodged, not cracking them, but shearing straight into them.

Elskar's fear nearly got the better of him then, but he responded,"I... I must have been mistaken, though I've heard it said that the leviathan could also roar so loud that all of the denizens of the sea could hear it, and so far, you've barely shown yourself to be louder than the currents and the singing clams... am I mistaken there as well?"

A look somewhere between amusement and contempt shone in the massive disc-like eyes of the leviathan as it drew in breath. Elskar braced all four of his legs firmly into the ground and filled both of his ears with his whiskers. Just in time, for even with his ears filled, the sound was deafening. Massive boulders fell beside him, many clams were uprooted by the simple sound of the voice's fury, and it was all Elskar could do to remain conscious through the fury of the voice. But, as it happened, this trick was a fortuitous one, as the sound of the bellowing tore open the clam's shell, and Elskar could feel the pearl within.

Once the leviathan was finished it grinned that shark-like grin once more,"SATISFIED, LITTLE DRAGON? MAY I FEAST ON CHRONICLER, NOW? IT IS A DISH, I IMAGINE TASTES VERY DIFFERENT FROM THIEF, AND I AM RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY."

The leviathan lunged forward, but Elskar yelled firmly,"Wait, there is one more misconception that I would like rectified before I join the ranks of the thieves that came before me!"

The leviathan stopped just as its tooth was about to crush down onto Elskar's flesh, a tiny rivulet of violet blood ran down Elskar's shoulder. A wave of relief rushed over the pearlcatcher as the Leviathan withdrew.

"WHAT IS THIS LAST FLASEHOOD YOU WISH RECTIFIED, MY LITTLE SNACK?" The leviathan seemed very irritated, but it also seemed as though Elskar's gambit on the level of its pride had paid off.

"Well, I've heard that, and I'm sure this isn't true, but I'd like to know for certain if you have the eyes on the back of your head that I've heard so much about." Elskar queried as stoically as he could manage.

"EYES? ON THE BACK OF MY HEAD? OF COURSE NOT! THAT'S FOOLISHNESS! NOW, YOUR QUESTION IS ANSWERED, SO I MUST FEAST!" the leviathan growled with satisfaction.

"Not... quite. You see, I'm dreadfully sorry, but I don't think I can die peacefully until I've seen for myself... and I'm sure I'll taste better if I'm satisfied.

The leviathan grumbled, like the sound of the earth shaking, but reluctantly turned around to reaveal that he did not, in fact have eyes on the back of his head. Elskar pushed the pearl into his back right claw, something inside of him clicking into place... part of that missing part of his being had been filled. He began swinning upwards as fast as he could. When the leviathan turned, it roared with fury, the force sending Elskar upwards even more rapidly. The leviathan thrashed about sending jets of water shooting through the ocean. A rift tore in the seabed itself, breaking open the molten flesh of Sornieth, the world itself. The hot water scalded Elskar's wings , but the heat jettisoned him upwards, and just as he was beginning to fade out, he bagan to see light. Other dragons came to his aid, pulling him upwards.

When he awoke he was on the shore, the dragon diviner watching over him.

"Ah, young one, you seem to have succeeded where no dragon before you since the dawn of your kind has before, congratulations, young pearlcatcher, shall I divine for you your fortune now?" The sagely dragon hummed, like the soft ripple of waves on the beach.

Elskar passed the diviner his pearl, feeling as though part of his soul were being wrenched away as he did so. A deal was a deal, however. The diviner grasped the orb in both taloned claws, peering into its depths, his eyes glowing a deep, deep blue, like the darkest heart of the ocean.

"You must travel, young dragon, through the shifting expanse to the Sunbeam ruins and then you must make your way to the other side of the Tangled wood, where many dragons enter, but few other than the shadows return. Then you must make your way to the shattered pillar where you must pay homage to the past, and finally to the scarred wasteland, where you will find your hame... and the ruth about your parents." The diviner hummed once more, the sound that a seashell makes when you put it up to your ear.

"I'm sorry, young pearlcatcher, but that is all I can tell you. It seems that this pearl has taken a likeing to you and will not impart to me all of it's knowledge. It seems that you were destined to have it. Far-be-it for me to get between a pearl of knowledge and it's chosen dragon." with that the diviner handed the pearl back to Elskar, who took it up graciously. He peered at it for a long moment, and then looked up to thank the diviner. But they were gone, though the sea itself seemed to feel as though it knew he were greatful.

Elskar wasted no time travelling to the East and into the riveted buildings of the thunder dragons. Once he got to the gates of the first city he could find in the highland scrub, he was nearly bowled over by a young snapper female who seemed lost in her own train of thought.

"Oh! Sorry mister, sory, I was just on an important errand was all, didn't mean to bump into you like. Apologies." The stocky young female seemed so flustered that Elskar had some difficulty holding back his laughter.

"No offense given miss... miss?" Elskar began, trying to eke out a name from the young woman.

"OH! Emberglow, sir, miss Emberglow at yer service. You're new here, eh? Let me show ya around, least I can do!" Emberglow insisted.

Elskar smiled and motioned for her to lead the way.

Emberglow fixed her red and white scarf, adjusted her bronze jacket and then said," this way, sir!"

The two dragons walked through the gate. An odd humming (that Elskar would soon realize wa electricity) permeated the air. mechanical things whirred about the city and drgons tinkered on this and that unaware of what was going on around them. Emberglow introduced Elskar to some of her friends on their way to her mysterious master's house. She explained that she has been an apprentice to a tinkerer for quite some time now, and that he had just given her her jacket to signify her new position that very morning.

She asked what his plan was while he was in town, and he said that he planned to stock up on provisions before travelling to the Sunbeam ruins. He was on a quest of sorts, he explained to her, and she listened with wide-eyed excitement.

They finally arrived at her master's tower and she said,"Well, when you come back here next, seek me out! I'll be happy to show you around more, friend."

"I look forward to it, madam." Elskar said grining, happy to have made a friend in his travels.

Emberglow turned away, and Elskar began to go. A moment later, Elskar heard a familiar voice behind him, yelling 'Wait!'

Elskar turned, just in time to avoid being bowled over by the overly-enthusiastic snapper. She skidded to a stop before him and held out her hand.

"Here, to remember me by." She said.

She dropped a handful of metal bangles into his hand.

"They're darksteel bangles, you put them on your wings. I've never done it, because, well, I can't fly, you see. you though, well you got a right beautiful pari of flying wings, and them bangles, well, they're a protection charm. Ain't nothing fancy, just a gift from a friend, like." emberglow stammered.

"I don't know what to say... uh, thanks, they're fantastic." Elskar said as he pulled his wing down to clip on his bangles.

"Just say that we'll see each other egain, eh? We'll become even better friends, right?" Emberglow grinned.

"Yes, we most certainly will." Elskar smiled back.

"Right-o, well gots to be getting back then or master'll have my stubby little wings for sure!" Emberglow chuckled as she began, haphazardly, galloping back to her master's tower.

Elskar gathered the provisions he sought and began his trek towards the sunbeam ruins.

He found himself, in a few weeks on the edge of the Mirrorlight promenade, and all sorts of dragons were bustling about. They were talking about all sorts of new philosophies and new discoveries. As a scholar, his soul was a-buzz. He listened in on many accounts and even got drawn into a hearty debate about the leviathan once one of the sumbeam scholars recognized his pearl. When they found out his next step was to go to the Tangled wood, one of the philosophers insisted that he get a blessing before embarking on such a trek.

The tower was a magnificent structure, even though the top of it had long since crumbled into the sea. The philosopher said he would not go in, because lightweaver would only allow those in dire need of a blessing to enter... or those touched by the gods directly.

Elskar entered, though that did little to make him feel better, coming to the realization that he must, indeed be in danger if a goddess thought he was in dire need of a blessing.

"Come, in interesting little one, you have ventured far. Tell me your tale and, perhaps I shall grant you a blessing." came a voice like a summer breeze

Elskar realized that what he had thought was the sun was in the completely wrong direction, and sitting before him was the goddess herself.

Elskar told his tale to the best of his ability, and at the end Lightweaver let out a soft laughter like wind chimes.

"So, the tidelord gave you a divination did he? that's rare, he must have seen something in you? A destiny perhaps? That would explain why you could enter the beacon. You were, indeed touched by one of the gods. Fascinating." Lightweaver lifted a brilliantly glowing claw to Elskar's chest and he felt his body fill with warmth. "You have the blessing of truth, you shall see through lies and deceit as though they were as clear as day. Now, go. You have a destiny to meet."

In a flash of light, Elskar found himself with his back to the sunbeam ruins and facing a knot of trees to dense that for a moment, he couldn't find a spot wide enough to fit into, but then, as though a fog had been lifted from his eyes, he saw a path leading into the darkness of the forest.
He walked forward and stepped in.

For his entire time in the forest, he could hear the voices of dragons telling him to go left or go right, that he was going the wrong way, or that he was going the right way, and he could tell each of their lies apart, somehow, when they told him to go left, he could feel he should go right, when he heard right, he knew, instinctively to go left. When they told him he was going the right way he retraced his steps and took a different route, and when they insisted he was on the wrong path his resolve only grew. Somehow, in his mind a map began to form of the woods, and within a short period of time, he was on the other side.

In the distance, across a vast plain of sand, canyons and mountains to dwarf the volcanoes of the ashfall wastes, stood the remains of what Elskar knew instinctively as the pillar of the world. That was where he needed to get to. He spread his wings and began to fly. He hadn't flown, he realized since landing at the Sea of a Thousand Tides, and it felt great to spred his wings once more. Soaring above the sea of sand, he was at the pillar in no time. He felt a power there. Greater even than he had felt in the presence of the Leviathan. This was where the first gods had come together to fend off the shade.

Elskar stood for a long moment, and he felt his pearl tugging at something deep within him. He lifted it up, and he was there, at the beginning, watching the first great battle against the shade The great dragon gods standing together against a common foe. Such raw power, and even so, only united were they barely able to drive their foe back to the darkness from which it came.

The vision ended, and a solid old snapper was sitting next to him.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" The snapper rumbled wistfully,"It's been a long time since anyone outside the earth flight has come to see this, though i may be mistaken in my old age."

"It is, it's a shame that the gods couldn't stay together forever." Elskar replied, somehow familiar with this venerably dragon.

"A shame indeed. Are you off to go somewhere else, or do you have the time to watch over an old man for the evening?" The ancient dragon said,"I'm old and can't get through a night of sleep without knowing that I have a friend beside me."

Elskar yearned to find the truth of his parents, but one look into the eyes of the dragon and he knew he had to stay,"I'll stay, my friend, get your rest."

The night was uneventful, Elskar stayed up throughout the night, and in the morning, when he went to wake up the old snapper, he found that the dragon that had been there the night before was nothing more than a stone statue. at it's base was a citrine pendant. Elskar took the pendant, more confused than he had been, the night before, but though the dragon was a statue now, he had been sure it was alive the night before, and as certain as he was ofthat, he had a sense that that dragon had wished him to have this pendant, for watching over him through the night.

So, after placing the necklace over his neck, he bagan the flight to the scarred wasteland, and the answers about his past. As he neared the border of the scarred wasteland, he bagan to feel very uneasy. He descended, thinking that flying over the lands of the most violent dragons might not be the best of ideas. Elskar landed inbetween two rock outcroppingd and warily walked, into the scarred wasteland. For a while all he saw were half-dead plants and blood-red sand. Then he heard a sound like a hissing screech, he moved in to investigate.

Two dragons were surrounding a newly hatched strangler. It's mother lie dead at the feet of the two dragons, they jumped to atack the baby, but Elskar had had enough and he shot out a breath of contusion. The first dragon went sprawling, and the second was so confused that it missed its intended prey by a hair's breadth. It turned, just a moment too late for a second blast to slam into its face.

Elskar moved in to examine the baby strangler. as he did, the two dragons began to stir. They were Mirror dragons, violent pack hunters. The larger one, a red and black mirror stood shakily on its four legs, growling at Elskar.

"Who are you... to attack a mirror... on the prowl?" It bared it's glistening teeth.

The second dragon got to its feet, still obviously dazed. Elskar spoke, in as fierce and stolid a voice as he could muster.

"I am the world traveller, I have braved the magma mountains of the ashfall wastes and survived the leviathan of the leviathan trench! I am god-touched and god-blessed! I am the pearlcatcher, I am Elskar!" He bared his fangs and summoned mgic to create a dazzling display.

The smaller dragon backed away, but the larger only grinned.

"Pearlcatcher, eh? been a long time sssince we ate pearlcatcher." The red and black dragon hissed.

"I am the pearlcatcher, there are no others. explain yourself!" Elskar demanded.

The Mirror looked honestly confused,"Pearlcatchersss, they are a dying breed. Ssstoriesss sssay that long ago, a lone dragon sssought knowledge, and he found the clamsss of knowledge, he took a pearl and hisss offssspring were all born with the sssame pearl. It wasss the focusss of their power, it made them sssmarter, but sssmart thingsss make more cunning prey. ssso plaguebringer sssendsss us all out to ssslay the pearlcatchersss. and just about the time a young dragon like you would be hatching... we hunted down the lassst two pearlcatchersss."

Elskar was stunned, he could sense the truth in this mirror's words," The last two... pearlcatchers? Where did you find them? where were they?"

"Oh, they were in the windfall plateausss, they led usss on a good chassse, but in the end mirrorsss alwaysss get their prey. There have been rumorsss that sssome pearlcatchersss ssstill lived, I will be glad to sssink my teeth into another pearlcatcher!" The mirror growled

The mirror lunged, and Elskar just barely dodged out of the way. The mirror growled and Elskar summoned up more breath, blasting the dragon into the ground, where it lay still. The smaller mirror went running. Elskar knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this dragon had killed his parents, this dragon was the reason he had grown up with no father and no mother. He had to push the thought from his mind as he looked for the poor creature now left in a similar state.

Elskar went over to the baby strangler, which regarded him with fear.He put out an outstretched claw, goading it closer. Finally, he gave it some of the food he had been carrying, and it allowed him to pet it. Just as he was getting it to be trusting of him, a sharp pain cut into his shoulder. The mirror had latched itself onto Elskar's shoulder. Blood poured down in streams from the wound, but Elskar managed to pull away, leaving a bleeding wound on his shoulder.

The mirror licked its lips," Mmm, my favorite." it hissed as it lunged again, this time for Elskar's chest. Elskar wasn't fast enough to dodge this time, and he knew the blow would cut into his heart, but strangely, there was no pain, instead, the pendant he wore was emanating a protective field around him. The mirror howled in frustration as Elskar meditated to bring in breath, having expended so much already.

The mirror, Elskar could tell, was chipping away at the barrier little by little, but something distracted it for the moment that Elskar finished meditating, and he shot out a blast at the mirror that sent it sprawling, with a crack on impact that left no doubt that the mirror would rise again. The strangler, it seemed, had been the distraction Elskar had needed, and it then slithered up to him fondly.

The moment wouldn't last, for from where the smaller mirror had run, a dozen mirrors now stood, it appeared that this was the rest of the hunting pack. Their blood-red eyes glared hatefully at the one who had slain their leader. They charged him. Luckily the barrier held against the first assault. Elskar began to meditate more, drawing in power. The barrier shattered and the closest mirror lunged.

Elskar thought he was done, but the mirror's teeth met only steel as a metal-clad green dragon jumped into the fray, this new dragon slammed the mirror with such force that blood began to well up under its scales and it didn't appear to be able to stand.

"Are you alright?" The dragon-knight asked.

"Aye, sir. Thanks." Elskar responded.

"Don't worry, then, stay behind us and we'll do our best to protect you!"

Us? Elskar thought, and just then, as if to answer his question, three more dragons jumped into the fray. I mirror female of warying shades of blue with green eyes, a shimmering Red guardian female of the wind clan and a light green spiral male. The two guardians seemed to be doing most of the fighting, with the mirror and the spiral working in tandem to make quick attacks on dragons that failed to pay them attention.

Despite their obviously greater skill, the fact was they were outnumbered roughly three to one. The dragon-knight was swarmed by three of the mirrors, and the other three dragons had their hands full with the other eight. Elskardrew in a breath, feeling more power than nornal pour into his body as he blasted first one then a second and finally the third plague dragons off of his rescuer. He went to take in air again, but by the time his energy was back, the mirrors were fleeing. their numbers at dangerously close to that of their opponents, their pack mentality must have convinced them that a battle of even numbers was not a battle of even skill. The three dragons still standing ran to the dragon-knight's aid, he was on the ground, bleeding from dozens of wounds.

Elskar stepped over to the dragon who had saved him. the green dragon smiled, sighed and then closed his eyes. The other three dragons began to lament.

Elskar growled,"NO!" and a pulse emanated from him, blue and green swirling vapors issued forth from his pearl and coalesced onto the fallen dragon. there was a moment that seemed like a eternity, but then the dragon opened its eyes, breather in and stood once more.

"How did you...?" The mirror female began.

"I don't... the pearl! it gave me the power to heal him!" Elskar exclaimed.

"Well... thanks, boy." The dragon-knight smiled,"My name's Viridius, and it would seem that I am in your debt."

"Oh, no. I'm in yours! I'd have been done for if you hadn't jumped in when you did." Elskar protested.

"Even then, and another successful mission. Will you join us on our return trek home?" Viridius asked.

"Where's home?" Elskar questioned.

"Why, the everbloom gardens, in the Viridian Labyrinth, that's the home of clan Verdant Claw."

"Certainly, that seems like the one land I've never visited."

Viridius raised a scaled eyebrow, but said nothing more to that. as they travelled back, they exchanged tales and everyone seemed thoroughly impressed with Elskar's tale, though Elskar was no less impressed with their feats.

When they returned, it was the beginning of the Greenskeeper gathering. It was a splendid holiday, and Elskar learned about the ways of the nature dragons and clan verdant Claw in particular. How they believed a slow and steady approach was best and they nurtured acquaintances as well as their friends. They were all about growth and increasing one's potential. Elskar loved eveything about it, so when he was about to leave for the windswept plateau and Viridius stopped him to ask if he'd like to Join verdant claw, Elskar said yes, but that he had one more stop to make before he could stay permanently.