Jehanne

The small maize colored fae looks over her glasses at you, "You want to know more about Jehanne?" She waves you to a padded nook in the massive chamber that is Stormcliff's hoard, "Sit, sit. Let me finish this and then we can talk."You sit in the nook and discover that you can hear the roar of the waves here. Even this far inside the eastern cliffs the ocean makes itself known.

The fae finishes her work and flies over to a ledge covered in padded silk. It is set at eye height for most other dragons and keeps her well out of danger of being crushed.

"So you want to know about Jehanne, eh?" She takes her glasses off and rubs her nose where they rest, "What do you want to know? How she founded the clan? Why even the mightiest of Imperials pays her deference?"

You nod.

The fae flicks an ear crest, "Don't ask for much, do you? I'm Aria, by the way, keeper of the hoard and logistician." She trills a laugh at your look of surprise, "And you believe the stories about fae being scatterbrains too. We aren't but it makes for a nice cover. But you are not here to learn about the Fae but about Jehanne, so listen well."

"Our founder is quiet. Many tend to think that being quiet equals weakness.

It does not.

Her quietness is that of the hour before the storm rages. Of the resolve to see the work done. It was the quiet that drew Tamiln to her when the Stormcatcher asked for settlers for the eastern part of the Expanse.

"I see you are surprised by my mention of the Boss. He is far more active with his children than many other deities. As I was saying;

"They came here at the Stormcatcher's behest. It was not easy, entire clutches were lost to the raids of the beast clans. And even the Boss could not blunt the fury of the Tidelord. But Jehanne persevered. She made allies with other clans. Brought new blood into the nests. Fought in the Coliseum. Brought treasure and gems to our coffers."

She gestures with a flick of her tail to the vast hoard behind you, "Now we feed those who have less because we remember the times when others fed us. We get good offers for our sons and daughters. No one is sent to the Boss out of need, only a desire to serve. Jehanne gets respect because she gives it first. All are her equal and none are her lesser. Imperial to Fae, rarest of the rare or the most common of colors and breeds." She tilts her head and smiles a little, "Though some have had to learn that lesson the hard way. Tundra have sharp teeth, and Jehanne has an even sharper wit. So does that tell you what you wanted to know?"

Jehanne jumped as the cry echoed around the cliff face that gave Stormcliff its name. She and Tamlin tumbled out of their lair as the cry was repeated. Some dragon was in danger or seriously hurt.

“Southern ridge,” Tamlin rumbled the words as he launched himself that direction. Jehanne pulled herself into the sky after him. They weren’t the mightiest fighters of the clan but the Stormcatcher help whatever had invaded their lands.

The cries continued as other clan members took to the air to help their brethren in need. The cry wasn’t coming from the lairs but from a ledge below them. The young imperial Ranger lay there, one wing bent at an unnatural angle. “I have to get to her!”

Jehanne landed near his head, “Get to who?” She looked over the bandages he was half covered in and frowned.

“Halona!” He tried to thrash himself to his feet once again, only to have Tamlin shove him back down.

“What in the bright blue skies are you talking about,” the guardian rasped.

Ranger continued to thrash as more dragons landed nearby, “She went to the cliffs. To do my patrol...”

Umbra flitted in, odd-looking without his gold armor, “Why would she do that?” He looked the much larger imperial over, “And why didn’t you report to me that you’d been hurt? And how did you get hurt?”

“That would be my responsibility,” Magus stepped forward, his eyes gleaming from under his hood. “Took him to the Mire with me today for training.” He turned those pale red orbs on Ranger, “But I trusted that he would have reported that he was unfit for patrol.”

“I wasn’t unfit,” Ranger ducked his head, “At least until I fell off the ledge.” He raised it again, “But Halona is still on the cliffs!”

Jehanne turned, “Trev, go to the cliffs. Skye, Umbra and I will follow as soon as we can.”

The massive blue and green imperial nodded once and launched himself off the ledge. She turned back to the others, “We will discuss this later.” She took to the sky with Umbra at her side.