Mortem

"When I wake up, I'm afraid somebody else might take my place.."

Mortem. When one hears the name, one would expect to see a big dragon; tall and thick-set, with intimidating eyes and rows of sharp teeth and powerful jaws. Most of all, one would imagine a dragon fierce, ready to fight or to answer any challenge that comes to his way. It is a name a tyrant would use to inspire fear and obedience on his subjects. However, when you see the real Mortem, you will find that he is the exact opposite of all of the aforementioned.

To start with size; you can't expect a dragon of huge size with Mortem; he's a fae, and not a particularly big one either. Queen Vita is bigger than him, though he doesn't have any problem with that fact. His eyes are everything but intimidating and as for teeth, well, Mortem opens his mouth either to talk or to eat bowls upon bowls of insects.

Personality-wise, he is far from the most intimidating dragon in the clan. Mortem is one of the friendliest and easy-going dragons there is. Always friendly, always available to engage in conversation. Even when he is in a bad mood, he is willing to put that aside for the sake of friendly conversation, and being one of the founders won't stop him from that, although it's not as if he has a whole lot of work to do.

That is actually a major complaint about Mortem; despite being one of the founders, he doesn't really seem to do much. He isn't seen doing much for the clan other than his daily rounds of catching insects and scavenging for trinkets. A lot of dragons actually complain that he just lazes about, doing completely nothing compared to all that Vita has done, and they aren't really that off the mark. He is lazy, and he's glad that Vita did not decide to give him any additional responsibilities, though he is part of a branch of the royal family, though they've been 'removed' from power, so to speak, though if Vita finds a suitable candidate as a sovereign in his part of the family, she will not hesitate to take them under her wing, though it probably wouldn't be her first choice. Not only that, but he is part of the Council, one of the heads, even, though the Council isn't really called together for much other than emergencies or when important decision are to be taken. The last time the Council met was when they should move from the Shadow Flight, to where, and to discuss the preparations needed.

Most days, one can see Mortem doing either one of two things: either lazing about or gorging himself with whatever insects he finds. He is one of the clan's biggest eaters, despite his puny size, and if it can fit in his mouth, then it goes down his gullet. He has even been known to eat plants or meats when desperate enough, though you can be guaranteed to hear him moaning and cursing during the night. It's a miracle that he hasn't turned to one of the heaviest faes in the clan (that honor goes to Princess Scylla, who, while not being necessarily fat, has a big appetite, though not as big as Mortem's).

If there is one thing every dragon can agree on, almost unanimously, is that Mortem is persistent, to the point of stubbornness. When he sets his eyes on something, he won't stop until he either has it, or until it is physically impossible for him to achieve it. This is a reason why he and Vita can clash so much if they're discussing something of importance and stand on opposite sides. Vita can be just as stubborn as he, if not even more so. This was never seen more evident than when they were both fighting for authority on the clan. More on that later. There have been few times in history where he has ceded to another's will, and it was because it was either practical or because it was a losing battle on his side. It is this stubbornness that caused so much trouble with the fight for leadership when the clan was only just newly-formed, and part of the reason why Vita and Mortem drew further away.

Mortem was the first of a clutch of three, and the first son to the leaders of his birth clan. When he showed promise as a future leader for the clan, he was taken in to be groomed as future leader. As he grew, however, Mortem found that he didn't feel like he really belonged in the clan. He grew tired of the same old sights, grew to feel trapped by the territory, and he longed for something new, but he had to admit that having a position of power tempted him. He came to the conclusion that he should go off on his own, see new lands, meet new dragons and maybe, just maybe, create a clan of his own. He decided that he would go off on his own for a year, and if he still had not done something with himself in a year, then he would come back and give life in his clan a second chance. Or at least visit.

He never came back.

During his journey, he met with Vita, who he swears to this day to be one of the most beautiful faes he has ever seen. The two were almost instantly attracted to each other and became mates. Hardly a day passed when they found an orphaned Rubex and took him under their wing. Not long after, they had their first clutch of two eggs waiting. And then even more dragons (most of them hatchlings) grouped together, until they formed something that looked like the beginnings of a clan. Mortem was quick to become the self-appointed leader of the group and few protested (Vita being too busy with her nest to challenge).

Now Mortem wasn't a bad leader, but neither was he a good leader. He never oversaw what was needed to see, did better giving out orders than participating in what needed to be done and it wouldn't have been a strange sight to see him shirking off his responsibilities. It only got worse when his two daughters first hatched. Vita could be seen overseeing everything that needed to be done and seeking out problems and seeing them fixed. Most dragons preferred to go to her for help than to Mortem. It is even rumored that most of the decisions that were made on Mortem's part were influenced by Vita.

Dragons complained about Mortem when all was good for the clan, but things only got worse when one of their daughters, Salem, disappeared without a trace. It happened suddenly, at a time when both he and Vita were busy. The moment Salem disappeared and showed no signs of returning, he forsook his responsibilities to look for her, though it was to no avail. This went on for months, and in that time, the clan was, technically, leaderless.

However, the clan wasn't entirely in disarray. While Mortem went off searching for his daughter and falling deeper and deeper into grief, Vita stepped up to take charge and mend everything that Mortem was letting fall into ruins. Since the beginning of the clan's formation, Vita has been trying to convince Mortem to let her take charge, but at this point, she was no longer asking; she was demanding him to let her take charge. Mortem up to this point had kindly refused to step down, instead saying that she should just give it time, wait until their hatchlings were grown, see that she wasn't so full of responsibility and wait if she still felt the same way when the time came. Now he was flat-out ignoring her and the request of the people, following the line of thought that he was the leader and what he said goes. Vita and Mortem were often found arguing about it, and they drew further and further apart. As time went by, the clan saw how more competent Vita was and sided against Mortem until, finally, after seeing that it was a losing battle, he gave up.

He thought that by ceding the position of leadership to Vita would be the end of it all, but he had another surprise coming. Vita had found herself unable to stand Mortem's attitude any longer and divorced him. It was a heavy blow to Mortem, far heavier than losing the position of power he once held. The hurt only increased when he saw how quickly she jumped back, having an affair with Rok and giving him a clutch of three eggs. In a strange show of pride, and as of a way of distraction from Vita's affair, he began to pay more attention to the pearlcatcher Midnight, who had developed quite the crush on him. A part of him knew it was wrong to take advantage of Midnight's feelings this way, but a strange bout of male pride made him go through with it. This union brought the creation of his last three children; Siorus, Nocturna and Jareth. Jareth was the smallest of the three and died quickly after, but Siorus and Nocturna survived to become healthy adults. Nocturna, however, left the clan to join her mate's, and he never heard from her again. Siorus is the only one that remained.

Even though it all looked happy for Mortem, it was soon evident that it wouldn't work out for him and Midnight. No matter how hard he tried to pretend, he was still in love with Vita. He broke it off with Midnight as gently as he could. Midnight, though heartbroken, was agreeable and didn't make much of a fuss. Since then, Mortem has lived as a bachelor, not looking at other dragonelles. Try as he might, he was never really able to shake off his feelings for Vita, and he still stands to the thought that she is the most beautiful fae, if not the most beautiful dragon, he could have ever laid his eyes upon. It hurts him to see her having fling after fling with other males and hates the feeling that he has been replaced, but he doesn't interfere. He loves her, and he cherishes every moment he has with her, but most of all, he wants her to be happy, with or without him. And if it's without him, then so be it.