Hymnsorrow

There are many whispered legends of what happens to dragons that wander too close to cauldron of roiling puss at the center of The Wyrmwound. All dragons have learned to fear it for what curse should befall them if they come too close. Louder are the gasps of horror at the rumor of a dragon that did not heed such warnings. When searching for secrets and power in the Scarred Wasteland one should be wary of what they go looking for, as they may just find it.

Plague has become Hymsorrow's home, for the Plaguebringer struck one with a grotesque blessing and in his near un-death, this sorrowful shepherd has become manifestation of rot. His flesh in a constant state of decay and roiling regrowth, the dragon he once was long forgotten in exchange for a mutated but, nearly indestructible form. For what drove the dragon to bathe in the sour puss of the Wyrmwound is the question that brought many to seek him out and whatever the answer may be, it seems those that have the constitution are drawn to join his company with an honorable loyalty.

In truth, Hymnsorrow is gentle and purposeful if a bit heavy of step, moving with deliberate and calculated movements that betray a stiff body yet, his mind is sharp and his claws sharper still. To those he calls friends he is a remarkable guardian who is stern and concise in words and this approach seems to carry over to combat should there be conflict. Hymnsorrow is not one to trade blows so much as walk through them to deliver his own and with a festering form he has the accursed vitality to do so.

The truer passion that this dragon seems to hold is one for creation, as it seems his body is now able to withstand the mutating effects of the cauldron at the heart of the Wyrmwound and with such ability he has taken to reshaping dragons with it to create in his eyes, perfect embodiments of elemental power such as his own powerful albeit hideous form, a foreshadowing to the price of perfection. As there would be with any experiment, not all outcomes are those intended and indeed there are many who have not arisen the same after their indoctrination of genes due to Hymnsorrow's intense applications.

You see, to bless those in his lair with extraordinary power requires his own vital essences to apply strengthened mutagens, something that comes at a dire cost to those who do not seem to bond well with it. It seems even those who are cursed to a plagued version of their former selves have a strange dedication to the dragon that sired them, even becoming advocates for others to ascend to elemental divinity despite their own failed transformation.

To become like the gods, there must be sacrifice.