Runespectre

Ever since the Arcanist's first, fateful encounter with the Shade, Arcane dragons have always been more susceptible to becoming shadetouched. Perhaps it is due to the Arcane culture of experimentation and exploration, beyond what other flights might call 'reasonable bounds'; or maybe the Shade recognizes something, the essence of that being that once called out to it.
Whatever the reason, Arcane clans have always been particularly cautious of the Shade.

House Runesworn has always been on the forefront of Shade research, though sometimes that research puts dragons into direct contact with the Shade or its energies.
Sometimes, nests end up caught in the crossfire.

It was thought that an egg touched by the Shade would never hatch, the life inside snuffed out in an instant. But a pair of Runesworn scholars, desperate to save their children, began to experiment with the runes they had studied for so long. Runes for binding, runes for growth, runes for protection, willpower, arcane power - if they thought a rune would help, they cast it. They worked so tirelessly with their eggs that they themselves became shadetouched, but they simply cast their runes and continued on, using themselves as living test subjects to determine the best combination of runes.

After many weeks, against all odds, the eggs hatched. The hatchlings' scales glistened black, proof of their contact with the Shade. Their wings bore markings and coloration like those of the dragons who devoted themselves to alchemy, changed on some fundamental level. But all along them glistened bright blue runes of power, keeping them whole, keeping them alive.

They grew up like most any other dragon, playing and learning. With the apparent success of their children, the two scholars began to help other dragons with shadetouched eggs. And though they all bore the marks of their brush with the Shade, they survived, runesworn on the most fundamental level.