VaLumo

As the clan’s diplomat, VaLumo is in charge of advocating for the clan needs to other dragon groups, as well as making sure that good relationships are fostered through respectful negotiation. He was chosen for this job because of his deliberate way of speaking and skill at reading people. He’s surprisingly charismatic for a dragon so aloof.

He hosts a daily tea that anyone in the clan is invited to, but they’d better be entertaining or willing to be ignored. His favorite attendee is Phantasma, who he has a friendly rivalry with. He greatly enjoys their verbal sparring matches.

Currently, VaLumo is building out his connections in Dragonhome. It has been surprisingly slow going for him. He thinks it might be due to the insularity of the powerful clans.

VaLumo's best friend, Shrike, went missing on an overcast Tuesday, and the grim mood of the clan killed any game the hatchling would have played. He took to staying out of the way in a corner of the clan grounds. His decision to keep to the periphery was how Shrike’s mother, Kaye, found him as she wandered in a hitched, swaying gait. “Oh, child. I’ve found her. I’ve found my baby. Soon we will be reunited.” Kaye’s eyes turned on him, wide and glassy. It made VaLumo uneasy and he wished that she would blink. “Come with me, dear. I’ll show you where she is.” “Umm…no..n-no, thank you.” VaLumo, belly to ground in fear he didn’t understand, slunk backward slowly. Kaye tilted her head in confusion. “But you have to come? She wants to play with you, again. She misses you. She wants you, too.” Kaye swayed towards him, unsteady and threatening, and VaLumo broke and ran. Kaye pursued, but not further than the edges of the clan grounds. VaLumo splashed through the river that marked the boundary and fled to the safest place his mind could think of: the hatchlings' Secret Base. He had planned to hide there until one of the other adults came to find him in the morning. Except none of the adults came looking for him, not that day, nor the next, nor the day after that. After he finally gathered the courage to head home, instead of the familiar shaded meadow, he found a densely packed stand of gnarled cypress trees. VaLumo wasn’t lost, he knew the path and recognized this river. Where was his home? There you are we missed you. The wind rattled through the trees, shivering the cypress leaves. My best friend, come play! I miss you! “Shrike?” VaLumo turned in a circle, scanning his surroundings. Yes, I’m here! We’re all together now. VaLumo turned back to the trees, trying to peer into the shadowed grove. In the dim light, he finally made out the shape of one of his spiral clanmates poised to take off. “Arieke! It’s me VaLumo! What happened to our home?” VaLumo leaped into the river. He paused at the edge of the treeline. Why hadn’t Arieke taken off yet? Hurry, sproutling! Almost home! Arieke urged through the wind-shaken cypress branches. The shapes of the trees resolved. The painfully arched neck of a Calous. Come home, little one. The contorted wing of Forier. The stretched mouth of one of the twins. Come home. It’s quiet here. All the trees looked like trees until they didn’t, The earth is warm and the roots dig deep an unexpectedly draconic feature twisting its way out of the bark. Each tree bearing signs of his clan-family, Come, home to us and each of his family recognizable in multiple trees. The leaves murmured but there is no wind, and VaLumo fled back across the river.

There were no plants in the desert. VaLumo knew that wasn’t exactly true, but the desert was as close to barren as he could get. He was okay with oases or the rare succulent. Plant life in small doses, where it won’t be able to infect anyone. Life in the Expanse wasn’t bad. VaLumo was always very good at reading people, so it wasn’t hard for him to find traders and nomads willing to help a down-on-his-luck youngling. Being a drifter wasn’t a bad life, but seeing all the fancy things the traders brought around and getting the rare samples of exotic foods awakened in him a desire to possess all those luxuries. He wanted the tea and the cakes and the fine silks and the beautifully bound books, but to have those things VaLumo needed a clan. VaLumo specifically targeted a young clan because if he could be key contributor during the dangerous first years then he'd be able to indulge his expensive tastes when the wealth started rolling in. He staked out scientific trade shows and vetted his candidates mercilessly. He didn't content himself with just watching the official displays, but also stalked the most promising to see how they behaved when out of the spotlight There were many, many promising clans but Leanan – ah, Leanan – she burned with her fear of being inconsequential, motivated to the point of madness by her desire to matter. There was nothing she wasn’t willing to do to see her clan succeed, and that suited VaLumo just fine so he showed up at the clan complex two months later.

Bishop let VaLumo stay with the clan because the to-do list was never-ending and VaLumo had a lot experience with odd jobs. For all that VaLumo just showed up and demanded to be let in, he wasn’t particularly friendly. He didn’t bother currying favor either among his peer or bosses, and, when he spoke, he was cold and precise. Honestly, Bishop had no idea what to do with him until VaLumo intervened during a trade negotiation. xxx “He’s desperate.” VaLumo stated, staring down at the boss he’d pulled aside. Said boss seemed a bit startled to even be having a conversation with him. “He's really anxious to move his stock. If you back off and make him think you won’t buy, you’ll be able to get everything for half of your current offer.” xxx VaLumo was excellent at reading people, so much so that it’d be a waste for him to be a handyman or even a standard trader. Instead he was given the job of diplomat – better known as the fine art of getting other to do what you want and having them thank you for it. His cold demeanor was a bit of a handicap on the manipulation side of things, but most of his initial utility was passing on all his insight to Bishop and Chou so that they could outmaneuver completing clans. As he gained more social-skills, VaLumo was able to use his pin-point accuracy on weaknesses to maneuver the clan into some highly desirable alliances.

VaLumo had taken to wandering deeper into the ruins on his meandering explorations. He was too familiar with the normal places on the surface, and missed the thrill of discovery. Whatever place Ghostlight had been in the past, it had left buildings that had been partially buried by dust and time. It was on one of these explorations that VaLumo found the octahedral box. It was cold to the touch and made of stone so smooth it reminded him of porcelain. The natural striations of the rock had been used to make connecting patterns across the grey surface. It was only after carrying it home with him that he realized: 'How in the world did I know it was a box before even picking it up?'

VaLumo loved keeping predictable habits. He found it comforting. On Wednesday morning he watered his (safely palm-sized) succulents. Every first Sunday after Phantasma returned, he had lunch with her to catch up on gossip. However, his favorite by far was his tea time at 3pm sharp. Valumo enjoys looking at his reflection in the darkened water, it’s the only confirmation he has of the spurs – horned-ridges-pushing-through-skin – mantling his face in teeth that he can feel but not see. When Bishop started inviting himself to VaLumo’s tea, he had been rather put out and intent on ignoring him. But Bishop was a damnably good conversationalist, and it wasn’t long before VaLumo was putting down his books in favor of discussing politics in Goldensparc and the machinations of rival clans. A single interloper was more than enough, but soon others started showing up. Phantasma was first, which wasn’t too bad, but then came some of clanmates he’d barely even talked to! Bishop ended up with brunt of his complaints. xxx “Oh, yes, I told them you were open to hosting. I thought you could use a bit more interaction with the others. Just ignore them if you don’t like their company. They’ll get the hint.” Bishop smiled.The mirror behind him is full of rotten reeds and stagnant water. Cracked pieces of either a moon or a shell or a skull hang low in a black sky. The luminescent glow off its porcelain skin is the most beautiful thing VaLumo has ever seen. xxx Well, Hirluin was pleasant and always brought interesting stories, Plama was delightfully well read and, Elysia always brought fancy cakes to share so it wasn’t too bad, really. Except for Cemlyn, Cemlyn was never allowed to attend ever again.

Goldsparc was cutthroat at the best of times, but when sponsors started looking to invest things became downright deadly. VaLumo loved it, of course, and when three top tier energy barons started throwing their money around in a series of very lavish parties both he and Phantasma got their names on the list immediately. xxx “I’m just saying that a little wager could spice things up a bit.” Phantasma was unusually still as she stared at him, mirroring his aloofness. “We both know all the interesting stuff happens in the invitation-only sorts of events. I’m betting that I can get into more than you, even with all your connections here.”Phantasma is arching her wings in a way that looks painful. Silly, she should mirror the folded pair instead. xxx There was no way Phantasma could beat him, not in his own territory. He wagered his connections to a very lucrative smiting clan in favor of Phantasma hunting down some exceeding rare items for him. VaLumo thought his invitations to eight backroom affairs was more than sufficient to beat out his rival until she showed up with an insufferable thirteen. VaLumo sourly delivered what he promised, but was much more displeased at the other thing she received from the whole affair: bragging rights. A mid-tier financier with family connections is the perfect target. The introductions don’t go as smoothly has VaLumo had hoped. He is smiling, so why does that dragon look so scared?

As the clan fell to sickness around him, VaLumo was completely fine, not even bothered by a cough. This sparked hope in Leanan as she attempted to figure out why he was immune. VaLumo irritably submitted himself to her poking in favor of keeping his friends alive. Her claws itch, static sparking against the surface of him and running in plumed ripples over his skin. However, the more tests she ran, the more disturbed she seemed to become. xxx “No you don’t understand!” Leanan pushed herself aggressively into his face. “Cells behave in generally predictable ways. We can track cellular behaviors for each part of the body at different stages of life, but your data is all over the place. One part of you could read as healthy and another part as inflamed or dead or undeveloped. But what’s even worse is that the biological replicates I take don’t match!” Leanan is practically wailing by the end of her frustration fueled tirade. Valumo doesn’t understand what the problem is. He was and is and will be all of those things anyway. xxx Honestly, the only thing VaLumo got out of it was that he was immune but Leanan has no idea why. By the time she finally releases him from her clutches he’s too surly to care about the whys of it.

Dragonhome was just as nicely barren as the Expanse but with less sand a more sun. VaLumo settled among the clans of Terraclae with aggression born from interest in his new home. It was harder than expected to make connections among these aloof clans. A fae is staring at him from across the court, eyes dilated in fear. VaLumo hasn’t done more than think about approaching him. He not even looking at him with eyes the fae can see. He would have liked to spend more of his time there, but was often pulled away to the Colonnades of Antiquity where Willow needed all the help she could get on Leanan’s rather ambitious research goals. VaLumo was the one to spot Rhianwen. He read in her a fierce desire to prove herself, a gentle willingness to help any in need, and, best of all, no loyalty to any other clan in the area. He introduced her to Willow and invited them both to tea. His tea was little more than a venue for Willow to tempt Rhianwen into joining. That was fine with him. Finger foods in one hand, tea tray in the other, and confections in the other he went about keeping the afternoon running smoothly for Willow’s sales pitch.

Hired: 2016-10-02
Purebred 2nd Gen imp from leapday nest, bought for 1000g