Artan

Artan is a traveling Bard who chose to settle in the clan after meeting several handsome and beautiful dragons. He has a tendency to flirt with every dragon that he finds attractive, giving no thought to the difficulties that such a relationship might hold. The best example of this being his continuing crush on every single Imperial in the lair. They all find him rather precious, but are fairly certain that their differences in size would likely cause problems.

It would be rather impossible for an Imperial to incubate a Fae egg successfully without crushing it, and it would be equally as difficult for a Fae to incubate an Imperial egg due to its size. And honestly, what if they accidentally sighed and knocked him clean out of the lair?? That would be absolutely dreadful.

Artan is one of the more outgoing Faes of the clan, and he can often be found flitting among all the different dragons, playing or singing for them and asking them for suggestions on how to improve. Everyone is fond enough of him that they all tolerate his midnight serenading of at least half of the dragons in the lair.

Because of his occupation and personality, he is often more easily understood by other dragons in the lair outside of The Hive, as his voice is full of lilting tones and emotion. He doesn't necessarily understand why the other dragons speak like that, but he's at least got it down to mimic. Artan is an extremely boisterous personality.

The only one who can ever rein him in even the tiniest bit is his father, Panacea, and the older Fae rarely ever feels the need to do so.

Lightning cracked through the sky, heralded by booming thunder and screaming winds, as Artan made his way as swiftly as he could to the lair. "Plaguebringer's Rot." he muttered under his breath, trying to remain calm as hail began to pelt down from above. The lair was in his sight when the screaming of the wind grew to an almighty roar, and seconds later he was trapped in an enormous wind vortex.

Some days after an enormous storm, Arseni flew out of the lair, pleased to finally be off the ground and in the skies yet again. Seasoned flyer or no, everyone knew better than to fly through the center of a fight between Windsinger and Stormcatcher. As he maneuvered his way through the Twisting Crescendo, he saw what looked to be refuse on the ground below. Slightly moving refuse. He landed and upon further inspection found it to be a badly injured, but still breathing Fae.

Today's expedition would have to wait. Arseni very gently picked up the hurt dragon and returned to the lair, calling for KioKyo and Carmenta to come as quickly as they could. The little Fae would need all the help and healing they could provide.

Recently he was out during a storm so strong he was hurled all the way to the Windswept Plateau. Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself in a new lair, full of friendly, if concerned, dragons.


As a small traveling bard, this had not been his first near-death experience. Each time, he had quietly accepted his fate and this time had been no different. But while the healers worked profusely to restore him to life, the creeping sense of dread overcame him as a dragon... no... death in dragon form loomed curiously over his bedside. Through hazy eyes, he saw a Bogsneak crowned with bones watching him. Had this angel come to take him away?

Death had always just been a possibility before... but now he was staring into the face of death and the thought occurred to him that oh. okay. so it is real and it absolutely will be coming for him.

And then the healers spoke.

"Taki, didn't we tell you to stay away from the patients while they're recovering? Your presence is unsettling and we can't afford his condition to worsen."

"I can't help it. He's so small and I wanted to get a closer look."

A sigh. "This is why Tawarayama refuses to come out of his hole..."

Taki... so that was her name. As his eyes began to feel heavy again, he managed to say his final words in a barely audible raspy voice. "I wouldn't mind dying if I get to go with you."

The reaper chuckled. "Oh, he'll probably live. You guys are good at your job~ Look how energetic he is!"

"Taki.... I don't think that's what 'energetic' looks like...."


But she had been right, of course. The combined efforts of the healers of the clan managed to revive him and release him to go about his business as he would.

As luck or fate would have it, the head of the welcome wagon was a Snapper by the name of Rosette (who so happened to be the mate of the Skydancer who had rescued him from the Crescendo)... Rosette... He knew that name! AmethystEater had spoken about her before, he was sure of it. And lo and behold, she confirmed it for him when he told her what clan he was from. The "others", she said, would love to hear about him and boy would he have some tales to tell everyone back home after this!

The majority of the dragons he spoke with were quite hospitable to him and made him feel welcome in their home. Some he even recognized by sight and not just names - he hadn't realized that so many from his clan had ended up in the same windy place! - and he was not shy about telling them they looked as beautiful as ever.

This.... yielded mixed results, as it would turn out. Ruby, Olofat, and Logi were happy enough to see him in their own ways. Choi, on the other hand, seemed scared of him for some reason - Arseni tried to reassure him that he thought the storm had just unnerved her, but Artan had doubts.

And then he accidentally started a turf war.

All he'd wanted was a fun flirt, but Raynan had interpreted that as the makings of a hostile takeover and refused to back down despite Winhill's initial attempts to calm him. Maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have continued to push his luck by flirting relentlessly with Winhill in Raynan's presence. And only perhaps he should have refrained from tossing a few aggressive flirts in Raynan's direction to tease him.

Was it really his fault, though, that they were so pretty and his heart was so soft?

Eventually, Winhill got the little firecracker to calm down and the most Artan had to worry about was the occasional shifty eye every time he tossed a friendly flirt around. Some dragons flirted back and others simply regarded him with either amusement or disinterest. Some even had no idea how to respond, as though they were unused to the concept of someone finding them attractive, and would splutter incoherently, which Artan found to be quite adorable. It was vastly preferable to the reactions of the ones who got angry at him for having the nerve to express an emotion at them... He really hoped those dragons would be okay one day.

To Artan's more pleasant surprise, he noticed that the Imperials of this clan were far less reserved about pursuing relationships with smaller dragons than his Imperials back home were. Right away, he'd found two Imperials snuggled up with a Spiral and there was one Fae who was practically universally beloved by everyone in the clan. And when Artan tried his luck with two pretty pink Imperials dressed in feathers, they were very bold about putting their faces right up close to him for a nuzzle.


But it was a Tundra called Abyssa who he found a kindred spirit in when she approached him soon after word of his arrival spread. "Hey, boo~ Did it hurt when you fell from the heavens?"

"Fell from them?" True to form, Artan did not miss a beat. "I have to still be in them to find a dragon like you."

And just like that, a match was made. It felt nice to be around someone who had just as much enthusiasm for beautiful dragons as he had and, as they spent time together, he learned that Abyssa was a romantic at heart. The fact that she loved his serenades so much delighted him greatly. Her feedback was thoughtful and he found it pleasant when she hummed along. She was also particularly fond of letting him snuggle in her fur and carrying him around while she showed him all the sights her home had to offer.

Artan enjoyed her company greatly, but he knew full well that this time would eventually end and neither of them planned to give up their homes. He didn't want her to be sad about it, especially after she had told him that he was the first dragon who felt this special to her. But when they broached the subject of making a nest together, Abyssa reassured him that in her mind their fleeting time together was enough to last a lifetime and Artan was sure this wonderful dragon truly understood him.

[This section done by WolfieGrrrl]