Irctas

Black Witch

Insect

This wicked insect is immune to fire, so it often lures predators to their doom by flying through bursts of lava.

25

3

Igneous Flow

Minerals & Ores

These rocks can be found where Blacksand Annex meets the domain of the Tidelord.

80

Charged Tungsten

Minerals & Ores

A popular material in bulbs and superalloys. Lightning dragons harvest the stuff like it's going out of style.

375

Jasper

Minerals & Ores

The vibrant red has earned this variety the nickname ''Bloodstone''.

120

Singed Webbing

Organics

This miracle of nature can actually be woven to produce flame-resistant clothing for use by dragons that may not have started their lives in the Ashfall Waste.

41

Red-Winged Dewbug

Insect

This species has adapted to the harsh conditions of Rotrock Rim. It thrives upon the native disease-ridden flora.

19

2

Irctas | Ferocious Fighter/Smith

Irctas wanted out. From the moment he hatched, he was restless to escape his confining skin, the cracked grey scales as stiff as slabs of shale, the eyelids heavy no matter the time of day. Or rather, eyelid. One eye, a sightless, milky orb, stared out at the world defiantly, seeing nothing and daring anyone to question what it saw. Irctas's body was suffocating, and it had to end.
At only a few days old, he made his move. That day, he broke free from his second shell.
That day, he became flame.
Irctas became a blaze so hot, so wild, his scales disintegrating around him, chipping, then crumbling, then no more. The column of flame in the nursery soon caught the attention of the hatchery attendants, and they rushed in, shouting alarm upon discovering the scene.
Another hatchling - another motherless child - sat by, however, silently watching the flames. She did not cry out, or shrink back, like the others - merely watched, observing, taking notes in her small, scheming brain.
Irctas wanted the moment to last forever.
And then they doused him.
Shocking cold snuffed his flame. He became a being of ash - flowing ash, coursing across his hide and attempting to regain a hold on its previous form.
For then, he was calmed once more.
And so he continued, the cracked little dragon, skin like cooled lava, brittle and ridged and irregular.
It was much later before he broke free again.
In a different manner, this time. He left the clan that refused to accept his being, that had snuffed out his spark without a second thought. He took with him only one part of his past - the other hatchling from the nursery. His surrogate sister, and the only family he had as far as he cared. She took his hand gladly when he offered it, and the two went to seek a clan where Irctas's flame could live.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The Pearlcatcher standing before you is...strange. He looks as if someone was sculpting a dragon, but lost interest halfway through, leaving something resembling a dragon, but craggy and misshapen in odd spots. His skin has furrows upon it, not in the pattern of scales, but rather like where ash once flowed, then hardened.

Irctas opens his crooked mouth, resuming his story.
"An' these - " here he points to one of the brilliant orange stones, dangling in spots across his body "- these are my fire stones! Had a mage craft 'em up in the far reaches. I don't have much magic myself, but these fellas have just enough to give me a burst when I need it."

to be continued