Nocturne

Species – Guardian
Gender – Female
Element – Light
Talent – Incorporeal, visible only to hatchlings.
Faction – Nursery
Role – Preparing Unrepentant hatchlings for combat training.
Dark Secret – Determined to prove her ability, she claimed that a beast that her elder brother had defeated was actually her own first kill. Her claim was never contested.
Traits – Dedicated and hardworking, idealistic, completely loyal, formerly outspoken and persuasive (now silent), competent combatant, determined to make her sire proud.
Appearance – Her ghostly form is coated in a permanent rime of frost, due to the circumstances of her death.
Sins – Mass slaughter (on the field of combat).
Likes – Freshly baked bread, strict daily routines, hardtack, the successes of her trainees.
Dislikes – Clan infighting, idle gossip, the technicalities of the afterlife, anything pickled.
Theme Music – Anthem of the Angels (Breaking Benjamin)

Hatched as an offspring of Silverslash, leader of the Unrepentant Clan, Nocturne was never granted special privileges or status. Then again, neither were any of her dozens of siblings.

Instead, they were trained for war - trained to become their sire's army against the Beastclans that dared to stand against him. Nocturne took her training in stride, displaying aptitude for combat but great skill in diplomacy. A rare talent among the Clan of Second Chances, and one which she was taught to exploit.

When a clan from the far north sought an alliance with the Unrepentant dragons, Silverslash was intrigued, but suspicious. In lieu of a personal visit, he sent his daughter as his envoy. Recently awarded the rank of a minor commander, she led a sizable party of warriors with her. All were fellow hatchlings of the Unrepentant clan, and several were her siblings.

The journey across the ice fields was grueling, but nothing that she couldn't endure. She was determined to carry out her sire's orders, and mere cold was no obstacle. Under her dutiful watch, no Unrepentant warriors succumbed to the elements.

Their destination, however, proved to be their downfall. The clan with which they were sent to negotiate was in fact a clan of traitors - traitors to all dragonkind. Allied with the Beastclans, promised non-existent riches, their goal had been to draw Silverslash into an ambush and end his miserable life.

But it wasn't Silverslash that the northern clan ambushed. It was Nocturne. Her party fought bravely, showing their skill as warriors of the Unrepentant clan - but their skills were not nearly enough. Outnumbered by experienced dragons and vicious beasts, all of her warriors fell, and Nocturne fell with them.

She awakened later, still on the blood-soaked battlefield, to discover that their attackers were gone - likely regrouping and planning their next move. That next move was obvious to Nocturne. Emboldened, the traitorous clan would surely attack the Unrepentant dragons directly.

She knew that her duty was to return to the Clan of Second Chances, on swift wings and hurried claws, to warn her sire of the betrayal, of the ambush, and of the impending threat.

The journey back took her through those same grueling ice fields, but Nocturne felt no cold, no pain. She required no rest or food, traveling the distance in a fraction of the expected time. It was only when she reached the Unrepentant territory that she realized why.

No-one could see her. No-one could hear her. Because she was no longer alive. Nocturne had frozen to death as she bled out on that far-off battlefield, only her strong sense of duty and loyalty drawing her spirit back from the netherworld. She had returned with her warning, but had no way to deliver it.

The threat that she anticipated did in fact materialize, an attack on the Clan of Second Chances. However, as she watched the battle, she realized the difference that experience and advantageous terrain made - the Unrepentant dragons routed their enemies.

Nocturne was gladdened by the outcome. Her clan was safe, her sire had triumphed, and she believed that her spirit could now rest. Not so. The business that trapped her on the mortal plane was still technically unfinished. She did not find rest - and it's likely that she never will.

She has discovered that hatchlings are capable of seeing her, despite her incorporeal form. So, she has taken to mentoring them, giving them a head start on the combat training that would normally begin once they reach physical maturity.

The other Unrepentant dragons know, in some vague sense, that she is there - her spirit radiates an aura of extreme cold, and nearly every hatchling has at some point mentioned their "big sister" whom no adult dragon can see.

Dusk, spymaster of the clan, has already discerned her nature, her fate, and her true identity. However, he will not reveal this information to Silverslash. In fact, Dusk actively lies. The gladiator is an unstable leader at the best of times, relentlessly brutal. He can never discover that it was beasts, not the perils of the frozen north, that had slaughtered so many of the clan's youngest warriors. That beasts had killed so many of his own hatchlings, including the daughter whom he had never favored, yet had held so very dear.

If Silverslash were to discover the truth, it is likely that he would go completely insane, and descend into a murderous rage from which he would never return. No Beastclan would survive his rampage - but neither would he. Nocturne will never have the closure that she deserves, but for her sire's sake, she knows that the loneliness is worth it.

In life, she served as one of his most loyal commanders. In death, she now serves as an unseen bastion of his sanity.