Cadelus

"You have the touch of the Plague Mother upon you, Cadelus Heartbinder" the shaman told him, her appraising eyes glowing deep in her bird skull mask. "Best honor Her all of your days."


The Clan of the Bleached Stone had taken leave to hunt the territory of the Skyaar clan. The Clan of the Bleached Stone numbered far more, and their brazen kills on Skyaar land proclaimed that they feared no retaliation from the smaller group. Lateri Heartbinder, leader of the Skyaar, was not so easily cowed. She gathered every member of the Skyaar to lay a trap for their rivals. When the trap was sprung, the fighting went from sunup to sundown of several days until Lateri, the last Skyaar, was dead. She took a secret to the Plague Mother.

Nestled safely inside the fresh carcass of an unlucky elk was the continuation of her line, the next Heartbimder and the last Skyaar. Cadelus' first breaths were drawn three days from the death of his entire clan, and his plaintive, hungry chirps drew the attention of a scavenging young Mirror. The Mirror, Svet, took him along with her back to Blacktoe, her own clan, for reasons even she did not understand.

The Plaguebringer began to whisper to Cadelus a few months later. His dreams of the day-long slaughter of many dragons troubled him, and he sought the advice of the Blacktoe shaman. The shaman, nearly taken aback by the power emanating from him, was compelled to help him Seek into his past, a ritual that granted him the knowledge of his own history. The clearest part of which was a deep, wonderfully terrible voice speaking one word, "Heartbinder"

The shaman was in awe, as the Seeking rarely rewarded anyone with more than misty glimpses of emotion, and even that was often guessed at. She proclaimed that he was destined to honor the Plague Mother all of his days, and that he must gather a group of others as Mother-touched as he to do so. To them he must be their king, their guide into destiny. To turn away from such a strong touch was to invite sure destruction, she cautioned. She spoke as well to Svet, the Mirror that had found him, telling her that she was bound to Cadelus forever and beyond, though she might stray away.

When a consort befitting Cadelus' cause and presence was found, he wasted no time in creating heirs for his dynasty. Two among the four bore the mark of the Favored, that which made them destined to rule. His son Amorek was hotheaded and rash, charging into battle to prove himself. Cadelus was more troubled by his favored daughter, whose solemn, knowing eyes reflected the war within her. While his mind is often overtaken by other thoughts, he lets the matter of Saqui's strangeness simmer at the rear of his awareness.

Amorek eventually announced that he had been called to Serve the Plague Mother. Cadelus knew if this was the case, that the Mother had deemed his oldest son not fit to rule in his stead. Cadelus consoled himself that he was not to be replaced yet and that he would preside over a ceremony fit for a first born prince to send Amorek on his journey. Again his thoughts turned to Saqui, but his daughter made no mention of being called to Serve.

Cadelus' clan has grown, and though there brews on the outskirts of his territory opposition to his rule and expansion, it pales to the honor and glory paid to the Plague Mother by his faithful and devoted subjects. Of late, the Plague Mother has been murmuring to Cadelus that the time has come to crown another Queen and consort. Not, of course, to replace Hel, but to stand in addition to her. Several Queens and lines will strengthen his claim on the land. More children to spread the message and call home the faithful. It can't be just any dragon, of course, and so the search for a dragon as exceptional as Hel has begun in earnest.