Foray

»About.
Foray is an incredibly intelligent dragon, adept at anything she puts her mind to and is perfectly capable of deep work. In the past, she has even had spouts of such intense concentration that she has lost track of several days at a time. Despite seeming to have the capability, she abundantly lacks common sense and is socially inept in many ways. She generally enjoys the presence of others yet lacks the urge to build relationships beyond acquaintanceship.
However, there is one exception: Meatpack. Despite their brief meeting, she often thinks of him fondly, and in the dark depths of the ocean, she can't help but associate him with freedom and the accomplishment that would come with reaching the surface again.

Due to Foray’s apprenticeship with deep water magic, she has taken on new characteristics synonymous with deep underwater living, although that was of course the purpose of her apprenticeship. The odd magic, coupled with the high pressure and lack of any sun light has made her body softer and squishier, and her dark red skin tone now a bit paler. The magic alone, however, is responsible for the more major changes in her anatomy. Her wings and underside have developed light-sensitive phosphores, making her resemble a Hatchet Fish. Other parts of her body have developed smaller phosphores, allowing for her own form of bioluminescence to help see and communicate in the dark. Naturally, she has also developed gills, but has also kept her land-lubber lungs. Due to her roots, new growths, and propensity for traveling, she has become an asset to the clan and is one of the few who can return to the surface, although she now needs magical aid to do so.

»Origin.
As a young dragon raised within the inviting landscape of the Windswept Plateau, Foray was urged to follow where her gut took her and travel, as all Windies are raised to do.

When she came of age, Foray traveled north into the Scarred Wasteland, wondering if they were as gruesome as in the stories she had heard. Her curious personality and way with words allowed her to get along with new dragons that may have otherwise brushed her off as a vapid tourist, naïve to local customs. Unbeknownst to them however, Foray was naïve but just the right amount. Smart enough to be curious and teachable, but with the social ineptitude others interpreted as gentle naivety. Foray’s willingness to learn about the culture led her to unknowingly make acquaintances with local underdwellers that most would have instinctively avoided. During her travels in the southern Wastelands, Foray’s inherently open and talkative nature caught the interest of a pair of pirates. Lively as she was, Foray blabbered on about her journeys, cultural tolerance, and skill with maps and navigation. The pirates interpreted Foray’s curiosity and talkativeness as code for, “I’ve got the skills you’ve been looking for” and promptly answered all the questions she had. This of course meant she had been brought in on their schemes. Meanwhile, Foray was simply elated to be learning the ins-and-outs of a culture so new to her--To follow the intriguing natives wherever they invited and do whatever work they asked of her. She honestly thought they were friends at first sight.

With shades unknowingly drawn over both parties’ eyes, the pirates led the new member of their organization toward the east coast to get acquainted, and Foray followed her new friends right along. However, Foray’s ignorant adventure would soon come to a startling halt. The dragoness thought her travels were continuing on as normal, only this time being shown around by natives, introduced to niche coastal towns with the best seafood this side of the Wasteland—or that was what she had had in mind. She was eventually brought to what appeared to be a spindly harbor village on the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Initially, nothing seemed off to Foray as her friends led her around town, through storefronts, alleyways, and finally up the gangplank of a docked ship. Seated in the captain’s quarters, however, something made Foray’s mind begin to reel. Moments later as she was seated in front of an elaborate desk with an ostentatious tundra on the other side, she knew something was wrong. ‘How do I feel about the gods? Do I get seasick? What weapons do I carry? What connections do I have? What’s a keyhaul?! For Windsinger’s sake! ’ Where was she? What had she agreed to? Saying there had been a miscommunication would be an understatement (because there hadn’t been one). Foray tried not to overwhelm herself in the moment, suddenly felt rocking beneath her feet, and stood up making the other dragon start. She knew somewhere some information had gone astray, but she didn’t care where. She couldn’t allow whatever she had agreed to, to continue. She simply wanted out, apologized for the confusion, and voiced just that. Foray can still recall the dragon on the other side of the table giving her a fowl look just before she blacked out.

Suspecting Foray to be a spy, the pirates sailed into the middle of the thousand-current sea and tossed her unconscious body overboard.

Miraculously, Foray awoke, groggy, confused, and encased in a bubble at the very bottom of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Thought to be a barren, un-touched wasteland beneath the Leviathan Trench, Foray was discovered by a local dragon and brought back to a settlement to recuperate, however this would prove to be complicated. As the dragon explained, the immense pressure at the bottom of the ocean would eventually wear her out, and eventually crush her. The magic air bubble that saved her descent into the deep could not keep her alive at this depth as long as she needed, so something else would need to be done. Foray agreed to the terms without much thought, only thinking of survival, and soon became an apprentice to a water drake of the clan and began following her magic teachings. As Foray would soon learn, all of the local dragons had developed special characteristics that allowed them to survive at such a depth, but this also kept them from returning to the surface. With this in mind, Foray went forward with her apprenticeship, vowing someday to remember what had happened to her and return home.

Although her apprenticeship was started purely out of necessity, Foray has since developed a genuine interest in it and pursues her lessons and goals with fervor, rather than seeing it as the means to the end that it initially was.