Mate - Hoarfrost
Species - Guardian
Gender - Male
Element - Shadow
Talent - Immune to toxins and disease.
Faction - Traitors
Role - Plotting the murder of his enemies (so, essentially useless).
Dark Secret - Has a different mirror for each year of his life (his collection is in the hundreds).
Traits - Bitter and jaded, prideful and vain, looks down on others, incredible perfectionist with OCD tendencies, honeyed yet condescending speech, often sneers or scoffs.
Appearance - One single white imperfect scale (grows back).
Sins - Pride, vanity, premeditated murder, torture through prolonged suffering (poisoning).
Likes - Praise and flattery, fresh veal, impossibly elaborate and expensive clothing, absolute silence.
Dislikes - Dirt (and dust, and mud, and slime and mold), menial labor, being ignored, anything that he perceives as ugly.
Theme Music - Poison (Alice Cooper)

From the day of his hatching, Nightshade could politely be described as obsessive. Desiring cleanliness and perfection in all things, he posed a serious challenge to the patience and sanity of his caregivers. If there was a single feather out of place in the pillows of his nest, a single burnt patch on his haunch of roast meat, he would refuse to sleep (or to eat) until the issue had been rectified.

Though irritating, he was rarely disciplined for his behavior. If anything, it was seen as endearing for a hatchling to be so precocious. Unchecked, his obsessive tendencies spiraled into a legitimate illness. An illness which did not fully manifest until he reached maturity.

Every adult Guardian dragon has a charge, an object or dragon that they must protect with their lives. Nightshade’s charge was… imperfect. A female fire dragon, a member of a ragtag hunting clan, living in a barren wasteland. He loathed every aspect of her being, but particularly her appearance. He wanted nothing more than to be rid of her.

His every instinct forbade him to directly harm or to kill his charge – but Nightshade devised a slow, painful solution. Poison. Meticulous as always, he tested the concoction first, gradually poisoning his charge’s elder sister until she succumbed to organ failure, and ultimately to death. Satisfied, he then underwent the slow process of poisoning his charge. At last, she was dead, and he was free.

Or, so he thought. The instincts of a Guardian are not so easily subverted, and he found himself drawn to a new charge. Even more imperfect than the last, the second was a male wind dragon with a missing wing and thirty-seven siblings, all sharing a cave. Nightshade once again used poison to dispatch his unwelcome burden, refining the formula to become more efficient, more potent, and far more painful.

With the death of his second charge came freedom from his Guardian instincts. No longer bound by an imperfect charge, Nightshade hastily moved on.

In his search for a clan that suited his particular tastes, he encountered the Clan of Second Chances. A vile clan, as far from perfect as was seemingly possible. He intended to stay for only a short while, to use his poisons to dispatch the most imperfect dragon of them all – a vile, brutal beast named Silverslash, who had no business being their leader. No, Nightshade himself was far more deserving of that role.

The poison progressed slowly. Far too slowly. His plot was discovered before the effects could become debilitating. Silverslash was amused – and vindictive. Nightshade’s punishment was not execution. Rather, he was forced to become a permanent member of the clan, forced to suffer their imperfection. If he were to attempt to leave, he would be hunted down and killed.

As his miserable tenure progressed, Nightshade often wandered deep into Unrepentant territory, not wanting to endure the company of such vile criminals but wanting to thoroughly test their patience. It was during these wanderings that he encountered the most beautiful dragon that he had ever seen – a Skydancer by the name of Hoarfrost.

She was badly wounded and near death – he would not allow her to die. Taking her back to the Unrepentant Clan, he demanded that she be healed. His request was granted, albeit grudgingly. Gore, perhaps the only dragon for whom he possessed even a modicum of respect, worked as swiftly and precisely as ever to save the Skydancer's life.

When the female recovered, he saw her true perfection. It quite nearly overwhelmed him when she agreed to become his mate. At long last, Nightshade had the charge that he desired. Chosen by him, not for him, she was truly flawless in every aspect of her being.

She was his match in frigidity, in egotism, in the scorn of all inferior and imperfect beings.

Having found the perfect mate, he is now a willing member of the clan. In his mind, their imperfection is eclipsed by her beauty - if she intends to remain with the clan, he will not risk losing her by designing to travel elsewhere.

Nightshade remains fascinated by poisons of all kinds, constantly tinkering with them and refining their formulas to create truly deadly toxins. He is determined to eventually create a poison that will dispatch Silverslash. In the meanwhile, he merely sickens his clan mates, using subtle, untraceable formulas to lay them low.

The suffering of the Unrepentant Clan brings him great pleasure – and if he is ever caught, his suffering will bring great pleasure to the Unrepentant Clan.

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