Shalott

Shalott

~The Lady in the Mirror~

Every member of Gwindel's tea party is said to be mad in some way, and Lady Shalott is no exception. A strange creature who prefers to spend her days swimming in the Fire Lands' frothing seas instead of flying through the sky like most Imperials do, Shalott is quite a bit of an enigma. Many question why she even chose to come to the Fire Lands, where water can only be found in the seas bordering the Fire Flight's territory. No one is even absolutely certain that she is capable of speaking, having never heard anything except dolphin-like chirrups and faint, creaking whispers, like icebergs breaking apart, from her, and, thus, no one has ever bothered to ask about her past. (No one is also sure of her real name: as she appeared to be mute upon her arrival, they gave her a name they found in some ancient scroll on shadows and loneliness and longing.) She spends days away from the clan, swimming through thermal vents found in the depths of the lands' scalding waters, without it ever even singing her scales, and returns without notice, causing many a dragon in the clan to startle as they notice her sitting in the corner of the lair, wide-eyed and wet. Despite her odd habits, Shalott is very much a lady. Graceful in her movements, elegant, and distant as if very far away, she spends hours gazing into the lair's thermal pools, looking upon her reflection, Seeing into some distant past or future--no one is sure what she sees in the pools. Whatever the cause of her longing glance is, the sight of her, poised above the pool in her refined manner, has earned her the nickname "Lady of the Mirror."