Dianus

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Dianus has always been something of an oddball, born in the shifting expanse as the result of a brief fling between his parents, after which they never spoke to each other again. He and his siblings were practically raised by the clan since neither parent paid them much attention. His childhood was solitary by choice, as instead of playing with other hatchlings he preferred to stay up late to watch the night sky.

He always had a fascination with the stars and as soon as he was able to read he began to read all books he could find about stars. He learned which stars could help you find your ways if you were lost, all the shapes and stories behind each constellation and even what constellation was visible at any time of the year. The clan liked to joke that he was swapped with an arcane egg when they were not looking.

However he couldn't just stare at the sky all day long, and so it began his training. Early on Dianus showed talent in magic, and he soon proved to be a prodigal student. However his passion was not on elemental magic, but on the magic that no deity managed to claim for his own, that of the moon. He began studying it, even if the almost daily storms of the shifting expanse made it difficult to study the sky. There were times when he had to brave the storms and fly over the clouds just to be able to see the night sky.

He didn’t know exactly when it started, but he began to feel weird. He somehow knew when the biggest storms would hit or when a wild beast was near, despite being meters away and completely hidden. It only grew stronger with time, until his dreams became visions of things that hadn’t happened yet, once he dreamt of a cloud of pollen covering the sky and making everyone sneeze, two days later half the clan came down with the flu, himself included.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out that he had somehow gained the powers of divination, the question was how. Said powers were rare to begin with, and they manifested early in the prophet's life, gaining them so late in life without the use of a ritual was unheard off. Finding answers wasn’t going to be easy, however, as his clan wasn’t exactly a well of knowledge there were few options available to the skydancer. Dianus didn’t know if it was due to his newfound powers, but he had a feeling that he shouldn’t stay there, like a gut feeling no one can explain, it told him that he should be elsewhere.

So he chose to leave his clan and head north to the Sunbeam Ruins. The decision wasn’t as hard as it should be, his obsession with the stars and moon and his new powers left Dianus with few friends and no close relationships. It surprised no one when he suddenly decided to leave. He eventually settled on a community of scholars in the Hewn City, they had come together to study the many ruins scattered around so they had no issue with his temporary residence. They held an impressive collection of ancient tomes, tablets and scrolls on a multitude of subjects, magic and prophecy among them.

It took some digging through some ancient scrolls, but he eventually learned of the civilization that built what today is known as the Forum of the Obscured Crescent. A mixture of sadness and anger swirled inside him at the idea that a place of study of the night sky had been destroyed and forgotten, and done so deliberately by a deity none the less. In his anger he considered briefly going to the forum and clearing the pool himself, but his common sense won in the end. There was no chance that a single skydancer would be able to challenge a deity, much less win.

Dianus left Hewn City soon after, defeated without even fighting and with no clear goals. He took to wandering, hoping that a new purpose might show itself to him. The skydancer first went to the Sea of a Thousand Currents, hoping that it’s rulers own divination powers could help kickstart his own. He had no such luck, and he soon left and headed south, to the wind flight’s domain. He wanted to at least be able to study the night sky freely and without interruptions.

He passed through many clans with very different lifestyles, some he left because they clashed with his own philosophies, others it was his own powers that spurned him on, reminding him that he should be elsewhere. It was like this that he came across a clan that made its home on a hill and surrounded their village with a wall of living bamboo, they were predictably named The clan of the Singing Bamboo.

He was welcomed without much of a fuzz. There was little he could offer to a tribe, but this clan was big enough that they also needed little. He became sort of a tutor to any that wanted or showed talent in the divination arts, and he counseled any that came with questions about the future, mainly the young about their love life or those looking for the best gathering grounds.

As the days turned to weeks Dianus was surprised to find that his powers had settled, they no longer urged him to travel elsewhere. He was puzzled about why they had led him here of all places, but he had never fought it so here he stayed. Of course a lot things made sense when he met a certain mirror.

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Nightime in the Plateau always seemed so calm to Dianus when compared to his childhood in the Shifting Expanse. There were no stray lightnings from the farms that lit up the sky and hid the stars, making their study more difficult for him. It had been a few weeks since he had ended his journey on the clan of the singing bamboo, and he had mostly gotten used to the new sights and dragons that made it their home. Yet tonight he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that something wasn’t right, it wasn’t the feeling of being watched, or one that predicted some sort of unforeseen danger. In fact it was almost identical to the one that convinced him to leave his homeland, a sense that he there was something else he should be doing.

With one last look at the stars the skydancer chose to once more give himself to whatever fate had in store for him. He turned this way and that, trying to find which way he was supposed to go but it didn’t seem like he was supposed to go in any specific direction. After turning around in circles a couple of times with little success he spread his wings and took to the skies. He slowly flew around the hill the clan called home, most of the torches had been put out for the night since most of the clan had gone to bed, barring a few night owls like himself, he could still see a light coming from the lab, he wondered if they ever slept. He had almost flown in a complete circle around camp when he saw it, a flick of gold shimmering in and out of existence. Intrigued, Dianus glided down to get a closer look.

As he neared, the flickering light turned out to be a dragon, a mirror, her obsidian scales and wings only accentuating the golden markings running over her body like a circuit which, worryingly, lit up every time she channelled her magic. Now that he was closer he could see that one of her wings was bent at an odd angle and blood was seeping from a number of wounds on her sides and a deep gash in her back leg. He also saw the mysterious dragon’s opponent, and that cleared some doubts.

Fellow skydancer Foghunter was aptly named, for rumors of what happened during his little hunting trips were always a point of discussion in clan meetings. It also didn’t help that he was rude and abrasive towards everyone but a few of the older members of the clan. Dianus could practically see the smug smirk the other skydancer was wearing as he calmly approached the wounded mirror, which appeared to have run out of breath as she collapsed.

Choosing to intervene before the situation got any worse Dianus dived down and landed right between the two dragons. The impact caused a small cloud of dust that he took advantage of to face his clanmate and shield the mirror. “What do think you’re doing?” He demanded angrily.

Foghunter’s face fell once he realized he had been interrupted, but the smirk returned when he saw who it was. “I was just chasing out an intruder that was trying to steal from our hoard. Nothing wrong.” He defended himself.

Dianus wasn’t fooled. “And how does ‘chasing out’ include breaking her legs and wings? Makes it hard for your opponent to escape , don’t you think?”

“What do know newcomer?! Get out of my way before I make you!” His clanmate threatened none too subtly.

However the stargazer wasn’t threatened and didn’t move an inch. “You sure you want to do that? There is still someone in the lab, it could even be Leonna, I wonder how she would react.” It was now his turn to attack.

Foghunter also didn’t move “It would be your word against mine. Do you think she will believe a newcomer over someone born and raised in clan?” Was his counterattack

Dianus wasn't deterred. “Want to bet?”

He turned to look at camp, then back at him, and then one more time at the camp before he tched. “You win for now, newcomer” Were his parting words before he walked back to the camp.

Dianus watched him until he disappeared in the distance before turning to the mirror, her whole form taut with nerves. Her four eyes were focused on him, it looked like she was of the wind flight. He took a tentative step toward her, she hadn’t attacked him but she still looked tense and her gaze distrusting. “Hello, can you still move? I can take you to my clans healer.” She remained silent. “Don’t worry about the other guy, he won’t try anything so soon.”

After a minute of further silence the mirror finally sighed. “Fine” She limped towards him and used him as a crutch to stay standing as he slowly made his way into the camp and towards the healer's den. It used to be a borrow that later had its roof removed and stone walls and roof built around it to make room for larger breeds. As such the entrance had a couple of steps that led to the main room below.

He knew Mallow and Disaba would hardly mind the late hour. He also noted that the mirror was extremely thin, even for her species, the life of a loner must be tough. When they arrived he poked his head inside, there was no one in the room and all the nests for the patients were empty. Since he couldn’t wait he called to curtain to the side that separated the room where the healers slept. “Mallow, we have someone injured.” A rustle was heard and a few seconds later said healer emerged and lit one of the torches lining the walls. He could tell the older skydancer had just awakened, he was not wearing his iconic white cowl and gloves, and his fur was in disarray. However just as he predicted the healer merely yawned and ushered them inside where he sat the mirror on one of nests and lit one of the torches lining the walls before he began to look over her injuries.

“Well the good news is that the wing is only dislocated, the bad news is that your left leg is broken and you won’t be walking on it for a while” Mallow finished his with a nod. “Also you need to eat more, you’re too skinny.”


“Did someone say broken bones?” Right on cue the clan’s other healer stepped out from behind the curtain. Unlike her mate, Disaba had time to preen her feathers back into an acceptable position and was wearing her normal lab coat. She approached and gave her own assessment before humming thoughtfully. “Oh, dear. Who did this to you?” She asked, concerned.

“One of your own attacked me” Spat the mirror accusingly. Disaba looked at him, her expression a mixture of curiosity and worry.

“Foghunter” Was his only replied and the two healers sighed.

“I will have words with him” Said Mallow tiredly, it probably wasn’t the first time something like this happened. “Now I want you to try and relax while we prepare some pain killers for you, we’ll have you fixed in no time.” Ending on that cheery note the skydancer went to follow his mate to what was commonly know as the herb room. Soon enough the sounds of an argument reached his ears, how those two stayed together despite all their fights was a mystery he would never unravel.

Now that they were alone again Dianus focused back on their unexpected guest. Under the torch light her obsidian scales gained a golden hue that matched her markings, it made her seem like she was golden rather than black. It was then that he realised that he didn’t even know her name. “Excuse me, but it seems that with all the excitement I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Dianus” He smiled.

The mirror stared at him oddly, like she wasn’t sure how to react. “Hellia” She finally replied. He had to suppress a chuckle, for he was sure she would take it badly. The name both suited her for her golden markings and didn’t for the black scales underneath. “What? Is there something on my face?” She snapped when he kept looking at her.

“I was just thinking that you look very pretty-” Dianus almost swallowed his own tongue as his brain finally caught with his mouth. He was sure he was blushing red from embarrassment beneath his fur.

It didn’t help that Hellia began laughing. “Ohh, so you think I’m pretty. Well then boy, do you know if they can spare me any food? I haven’t had a good meal in days.”

“Uhh, right! Food! I’ll-I’ll go ask.” He quickly fled before he lost what remained of his dignity. He was already halfway to the hoard before he realised that he would have to wake up Legion in order to get any sort of food. Why couldn’t fate make it easier for him.

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