Malan

Malan has a quiet buoyancy to him, an excitement most often expressed through twitching wings and pacing back and forth. Clanmates know to come to him with artifacts both familiar and strange, as Malan has spent years studying the magically dubious. As a resident of the Starwood Strand, strange magic is particularly plentiful, and what Malan can't make sense of he brings to his mate, Calliope.

Like Calliope, Malan is not a native of the Arcane flight. He was born in lightning territory to a pair of gardeners and moved to the Crystalspine Reaches in order to "find himself." This, he figured, would involve making a space for himself apart from his multitude of siblings. Beyond that, he hoped that the strange curves and glittering heights of Arcane territory's unusual mountain range would inspire him to do something with his life.

Early on in his travels, Malan met the young fae, Mulberry, who was just beginning to form her fledgling clan. Impressed by Mulberry's magical skills--not to mention her raw intelligence--he decided to stay with her and her clan for a while. For two months he mined crystals in return for lessons on magic and history. Then a certain pearlcatcher priestess appeared and, well, Malan suddenly became a lot more interested in settling down.

Because he isn't particularly attached to one flight over another, it can be difficult for Malan to navigate his relationship with Calliope. True, he loves her--her compassion, her curiosity, her intuitive way with magic. He admires her deep-seated wisdom, and even, perhaps, her faith. But that faith, even if he admires it, is not something he shares. In his quest to understand the world--the way things fit together, the way they expand and contract and repeat--Malan has come to the conclusion that gods, while powerful, are not always sound in their decision making abilities. He admires their vast creative and destructive power, but not, sometimes, the way they use that power. And he certainly doesn't feel the need to dedicate himself to one particular god. With a mate as forceful and faithful as Calliope, this can be a bone of contention, but the two of them, so far, are making it work.