Hawthorne

Who, who are you really? Hawthorne is the cautious and excitable mate of Rose, and one of the members of the hunting group. Hawthorne is calculating and precise in battle, allowing his wife to lead the charge with brute force while he goes in for precision strikes against an enemy's weak spot. He's often on the road, either hunting with Amethyst and Rose, or bartering the clan's wares in order to bring in more money. Unlike his wife, hunting is not Hawthorne's passion. Hawthorne is much more interested in the aftermath of a successful hunt, where he uses his finely honed skills and tools to skin, carve, and otherwise take apart the spoils of their victory. Hawthorne likes to keep an ear out for materials in hot demand on the market and direct his hunting partners to acquire those items in particular. The girls are happy to tag along; Rose is just in it for the thrill of the kill, and as long as Amethyst's wanderlust is sated, she's satisfied to go wherever the wind takes the trio. Still, there are boundaries Hathorne won't cross in the name of the hunt--especially when it comes to the supernatural. Ghost stories, poltergeists, superstitions, and fortune telling all scare him in equal measure; if there's even a chance that something freaky is going to happen, you can guarantee he will disappear in a heart beat, no matter the circumstances. His wife loves to tease him over this.

Bluefin Charger Familiar The bluefin charger hunts on thin ice. It will charge its prey, breaking the ice beneath their feet, sending it to a watery grave. The charger itself is semi-aquatic. 1850 Coral Basilisk Field Notes Dragonmade Detailed field notes on the abilities of the Coral Basilisk. Where is the author? 23 Nurtured Cluster Apparel These planters carry fragile flora on-the-go that need the constant attention of the wearer. They can also carry hardy plants to provide attention for the wearer instead! (Greenskeeper Gathering 2021 Holiday Item) 0 Skin: the weeds, the unwanted Spiral Male Only Skins are equippable items that can be worn like a coat of paint on top of the skin of your dragon. The look of the skin will not be passed onto offspring and may be unequipped at any time. (Designed by endings.) Itemid #34144

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The light flight is famed for its scholarly dragons, and Hawthorne was no exception to this. Growing up, he always found himself attracted to watching the older dragons performing the more tactile jobs and hobbies--pottery, carpentry, jewelry making, among other crafts.

One of the elders in particular, Gato, took notice of Hawthorne's skill and eye for detail at a young age, and introduced him to the art of meat carving. Gato was a leather worker, who preferred to do his own skinning. He taught Hawthorne the cleanest way to skin an animal, and while Hawthorne came to love the activity and was quite proficient in it, he didn't take quite as well to the art of leather making, and Gato lost interest in training him.

Not deterred by the loss of his first mentor, he sought out Gato's friend, the dragon who supplied Gato with his kills. She, however, was not so quick to take on an apprentice, especially not Gato's leftovers. A proud Wildclaw, she preferred to hunt alone, or only with her mate.

Hawthorne, as annoyingly persistent as he was as a child, was not as annoying as the hunter's will was stubborn. Still, her mate took pity on him and gave him the rejected kills that were no good for leather making, allowing Hawthorne to practice his carving. In classis Spiral fashion, it didn't take long for Hawthorne to bore of carving the same animals over and over, however, and took to finding a better source to hone his skills. He sought out new mentors, travelling to different territories. His various mentors not only taught him more carving skills, but how to extract valuable materials from various living things, and how to sell them for a profit.

In the northern reaches of Nature territory, while he was studying with a shaman the art of dissecting fragile plants, he met Rose, who took an instant liking to him, flirting with and complimenting him. He was overwhelmed, not used to this kind of attention, and didn't put up as much resistance as he should have when she quite literally dragged him home for a night of fun.

The following morning, as he nervously sat with Rose and picked a few bugs off her plate, Champagne started polite conversation with him. They hit it off quite quickly, and as he started visiting the clan more in his free time, he became fast friends with several of the dragons in the clan, and was eventually offered a spot in the clan, if he so desired. He accepted, and soon after, became the clan's business ambassador, as well as forming the hunting band itself.

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"Well now, this is a fine quality set of gems you've brought back indeed. Where did you find them again? [...] Ok, stop! Too much information. My goodness..."

"Hawthorne, could you be a dear and hurry up skinning that ampelope? [...] Oh, don't give me that! We have enough to sell already! I'm dying to start another fight!"

"Welcome home, ... Hawthorne. [...] Yes, you, too. Blueberry... Blueberry missed, you. Yes. She's over, by the stream... I think. I gave, her, a snack, just an hour, ago... Don't spoil her, too much."

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"So..."

Hawthorne looked up from the furian he was carefully taking apart, his sharpened knife cleanly removing tendons from bone. "Yes?" he responded, looking up at Amethyst. They stared in silence for a moment, the harsh light of the bonfire washing out the brilliant sheen of Amethyst's normally iridescent fur. He cut another tendon, not looking, and Amethyst flinched at the motion. He quickly put his tool down, remembering how much she hated watching him dissect something without looking at it.

"...So you're ok, like, killing animals and beastclans, right?"

Hawthorne tilted his left ear, then his right, contemplating the possible inspiration behind the question. "Well, not in like, the senseless violence way, I guess, but yeah, I suppose?"

"Of course, that's what we have Rose for," she joked, squinting at the other Spiral sitting beside him, picking meat from between her teeth with a rib bone. She didn't speak, but the widening of her smile showed her agreement.

Amethyst huffed. "I guess I was just curious if you've ever been afraid of like, being haunted by the things we have killed."

Hawthorne's arms and back prickled. The sudden onset of goosebumps caused his scales to stand up, already visibly upset over the concept of the supernatural. "Nope. No ghosts here." He quickly snatched up his knife and got back to carving.

"Well, I mean, isn't it possible--"

"Absolutely not," he cut her off tertly. "No ghosts. None."

Rose snickered at him. "Love, no matter what way you cut it, it's a reasonable question." She delighted at the way he flinched, his expression a mix of disdain and concentration. Was he trying to block her out? "Ghosts are canon, after all."

Before Rose could tease her husband further, Amethyst interrupted. "What did you just say?" She looked at Rose quizzically, and Hawthorne's movements even slowed, though he refused to look at her, lest she refocus on him.

Rose responded with confidence. "I said, 'ghosts are canon after all'."

Amethyst continued to give her a questioning look, not satisfied with the answer. "...Canon?" she elaborated, drawing out the word in emphasis.

"Yeah, because they're real. Are you not familiar with that word, canon?" Looking a little smug, Rose examined her nails as she explained. "Perhaps you should read more books then."

"Just what are you talking about?" Amethyst asked, completely baffled.

"Oh, they were going on about it in FEMM's little book club," came the smug response. "Oh, this couple should have been canon, oh, that thing that happened is canon--"

Glad the conversation had been moved to a different direction, Hawthorne was quick to tune them out, dedicating his full attention back to the furian in his hands.

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Old bio
Like his mate, Hawthorne is an excellent warrior and performs well on the battlefield. However, his real talent shines through after the battle is over, as he is an expert at collecting the rare and valuable materials off fallen enemies that are used to bring in most of the clan’s income. Without him, it’s safe to say the clan would be a lot poorer than it is now. He is also an ambassador but mostly deals with the selling and trading of materials rather than relationships with other clans.

Holds the most diverse roles and skills of the clan, but also the most likely to twist himself into knots in fits of anger or stress.