Bladesinger

Breed - Snapper
Gender - Female
Element - Shadow
Talent - Prestidigitation (minor magic).
Faction - Diplomats
Role – Personal guard to the Fairy King, assistant warrior.
Dark Secret – Has romantic feelings for Alexi but has not divulged them, as the king is considerably younger and more innocent than herself (and also her direct superior).
Traits - Well-intentioned, friendly and outgoing, fiercely loyal, not particularly intelligent or perceptive, cheerful (often at inappropriate times), awful sense of humor, others tend to find her anger amusing.
Appearance – Moves surprisingly gracefully and quietly despite her size and appearance.
Sins – Manslaughter, ignorance, aiding and abetting a corrupt regime.
Likes – Fancy dresses, sparring (particularly with blades), fresh-cut roses (for dinner), staying up late.
Dislikes – Actually killing things, being compared to her siblings, waking up early, pranks and pranksters.
Theme Music – Beautiful (Carly Rae Jepsen)

The Fairy Kingdom, though gradually being modernized, still clings to some outdated beliefs and practices - particularly the notion of speciesism. Despite evidence to the contrary, Snapper dragons are still largely seen as dumb brutes, best suited for manual labor or military service.

Unfortunately, Bladesinger fit quite neatly into this demeaning stereotype. Though well-intentioned, she was rather unintelligent, and even from a young age she had every intention of joining the military. Her family unit lived in relative comfort, despite being quite poor – true poverty and suffering were rare within the Fairy Kingdom.

Bladesinger had five elder siblings, all Snapper dragons. All were also fully trained and well-established soldiers, who had been particularly successful in their careers thus far. Her eldest brother and sister had both become officers, and a total of four of her siblings had received medals commemorating either their valor or their bravery. Needless to say, when the young Snapper began her training, she was subjected to a great deal of scrutiny, and the expectations for her performance were remarkably high.

When Alexi was crowned as the new Fairy King, he was given the opportunity to choose the members of his personal guard. Being an adolescent in the midst of training, and a Snapper no less, Bladesinger was fairly certain this would have no impact whatsoever on her future.

However, it seemed that the child king had no species biases, and desired that his closest companions be of a similar age to himself – despite the vocal protests of the Fae’s advisor, Alexi chose the young Snapper to become a member of his personal guard. Not only that, he insisted on treating her as a close friend, rather than the subordinate that she actually was. It was truly incredible, a privilege that she had never even dreamed of.

Bladesinger was deeply grateful for the opportunity that she had been given and the kindness that she had been shown, and was determined to do her absolute best to succeed in this new role. As such, she often took on extra duties, and covered shifts that her fellow guardsmen disliked.

It was for this reason that the Snapper was on evening watch on that fateful night when an attempt was made to end Alexi’s life. Relying on her meager training, Bladesinger intercepted and confronted the assassin – and before she realised what she had done, the assassin lay dead at her feet. It was her first kill, but she had little time to dwell on what she’d done.

Alexi’s advisor, a Spiral dragon by the name of Dreamweaver, insisted that the child king must immediately flee the kingdom before the violence escalated any further and a civil war truly began. Bladesinger insisted that she be allowed to travel with them. She had already saved her king once, she argued – she could undoubtedly do so again.

Dreamweaver was (and still is) of the opinion that the Snapper was as dull as a post, and had no faith whatsoever in her abilities. However, at Alexi’s insistence, he grudgingly assented. As the trio fled the kingdom, travelling across Sornieth in search of safe haven, Bladesinger became their guardian. A stalwart defender, she faced down every threat that they encountered on their journey. Though not always successful, she gradually proved her worth.

When Alexi chose to seek refuge within the Clan of Second Chances, the young Snapper saw no reason to argue. This was a clan of powerful warriors, who could undoubtedly protect the Fairy King until such time as he could return to his home. Dreamweaver objected – but then again, Dreamweaver always objected.

What ensued was a great deal of arguing and negotiation. Bladesinger admittedly lost track of the progress of the discussion, but the outcome was clear enough – and decidedly positive.

Having been accepted into the clan as a refugee, Bladesinger is now under new orders. She is to aid the warriors of the Unrepentant clan in any way that they deem necessary, as recompense for their protection of her king. The Snapper is as determined as always to do her best, for Alexi’s sake.

Within the territory of the Clan of Second Chances, the Fairy King appears to be safe from the warring factions of his own kingdom, so Bladesinger is willing to step aside from her guard post and do as she is ordered – though if Alexi is threatened, she has every intention of returning immediately to his side, orders be damned. If it weren’t for his unwavering belief in her, she would never have come nearly this far, and she values his life quite nearly above her own.

Dreamweaver knows this, and has finally come to understand that the depths of Bladesinger’s loyalty are quite nearly a match for his own. Though he still clearly disapproves of the king’s choice, he now makes at least some effort to accept the young Snapper - she has demonstrated that she deserves a chance.

The Unrepentant warriors are rough and violent, reluctant to accept an outsider, but the Snapper has proven herself skilled enough to be a boon rather than a burden. As such, she is continuing her training at their direction.

Her current role model, so to speak, is Torchlight – a fellow female Snapper who has earned countless victories during her long career as a mercenary. Bladesinger is always eager to hear the stories of these victories, and Torchlight always obliges. In the mercenary’s opinion, the young Snapper has the potential to be a skilled (though admittedly naïve) protégée.

As always, Dreamweaver disapproves. Training is all well and good, but if the impressionable young Snapper happens to adopt any of the terrible habits of the Unrepentant dragons – or worse yet, happens to impart any of those habits to the equally impressionably Fairy King…

Well, suffice to say that the Spiral will be very, very displeased.