Lethe

Lethe "Isn't it better to just... forget?" Dried Flowers Organics Looks just like a live flower in every way, except flatter. 27 Azure Yuccarope Dragonmade This strong rope can hold an impressive amount of weight before breaking. 41 Cobra Snakehead Seafood Many a dragon has been startled when this fish appears in the water. 64 8 Lethe is a strange, thin wisp of a dragon. He has an almost mournful air about him; speaking in hollow, clipped tones, and lacking the characteristic energy of spirals. Drowned in white, billowing fabric, Lethe could be easily mistaken for a ghost, though he is very much alive. Lethe has the ability to sense and affect dragons’ emotions. His influence can be subtle -- particularly when affecting negative or strong emotions -- or more obvious, such as when he tries to affect positive or weak emotions. With enough focus and physical contact with his target, Lethe can manipulate memories; able to edit, create, or delete them. He himself is an amnesiac who only remembers the most basic details about himself and a vague memory that tells him dragons react negatively to his mind-reading.

by razrroth

Despite his empathic abilities, Lethe himself is an introvert. He tends to distance himself from others, and can be pretty socially and emotionally dense. As a result, he's almost unsettlingly level-headed, and has a somewhat under-developed moral compass-- instead relying on the emotions of nearby dragons to decide right from wrong. Especially good liars can deceive him and his ability.

Although distant towards other dragons, Lethe is deeply compassionate and altruistic, even when discounting his abilities. He has multiple scars across his face, though usually he hides them under his hood and mask. One is especially noticeable: a starburst-shaped magic burn across his forehead that he hides under extra layers of bandages. He's almost unnaturally thin and frail-looking, and the vaguely skeletal bands across his hands don't help him look any less ghostly.

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Once, he was told he had a talent for magic. By somebody who first fretted and frowned and said it was a shame his capacity for it was so low when his ability to work it was so high. They say a dragon's magic is tied directly to their life force. Shallow reserves indicated a weak connection to life, an early death sure to soon follow.

Whenever the topic came up, Lethe always felt a sense of impending doom -- an image of invisible floorboards being torn up and the day he'd unknowingly step off them. He tasted it, too, with the something that sat in his forehead that hummed in resonance with the emotions and thoughts of those around him. They pitied him, and he knew it. The flavor was cloying, suffocating, and so familiar.

Still, she had complimented his spell work, smiled back at him as he learned to shape the force even as he had to take frequent, frustrating breaks when the reservoir of his magic ran dry. Yet she was also a firm voice, providing guidance and critique where he needed it. The two of them made good friends, who complemented each other's skill sets and personalities. But there was a sour note at the end of these recollections. A wound in their friendship that never healed. Jagged and shaped like the talons tipping his fingers.

Alone in the world, he could now only taste the stale feelings surrounding those memories, unable to recall that good friend's name. All she was was a face smudged out except for that warm smile that promised him a future, now shattered into pieces around his fist.

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