nepetoideae

Nep is the clan matriarch and co-founder. While her current title is held in esteem, her upbringing was far from extraordinary. She migrated from the southern Starwood Strand to the outer edges of the Crystalspine Reaches after her old clan collapsed under its own weight, over encumbered by tens of thousands of tree sap dens. From there she started anew, carving out a new life for herself on the cliffsides of the Crystalspine Reaches. Nep eventually bumped into Actius, a wandering explorer also looking for a new place to stay. He ended up joining her endeavors in creating a new clan; the two soon fell in love, and that was that. Nep is a strong leader for her clan. Despite being straight-faced and hard to read, she is quite involved in her clan members' lives and can be described as nothing but motherly and nurturing. Nep is especially soft for hatchlings, adorning new parents' nests with fertility statues and doing anything to ensure the health of young ones. Besides her caring nature, Nep's other love is for Arcane. In her down time, Nep is engrossed in her own research, enamored with the mysteries of the universe. She strives to improve her magic for the sake of the clan and its future. As such, she also offers aid to any clan member with problems that can be solved with magic or just words of wisdom. Overall, Nep is the picture perfect leader for an Arcane clan. Involved, dedicated, progressive. Or at least she used to be.

Clay Fertility Statue Dragonmade Statues like this are often given to matriarchs and mothers in hopes that their hatchlings develop strong and able. Many clans keep one in each of their nests for luck. 65 Juneflower Plant A popular flower of two tones. Bushels of Juneflower are used in garlands and necklaces for summer solstice celebrations. 50 5 Lucky Star Plant The extremely rare eight leaf Lucky Star is said to bestow good luck for life. Unfortunately, this isn't one. 15 2 Arcanist Meteorite Miniature Trinkets A modest figurine depicting the Arcanist. It is crafted from meteoric crystal and resonates with a soft, magical glow. 105

Haunted Stone Orb Trinkets When touched, wisps of smoke begin to swim beneath the surface of this dark stone, becoming more tangible the longer you hold it. (KS-sponsored by Nick B.) 75 Lost Crown Trinkets The king and kingdom are lost as well. 53 Deeprealm Runestone Trinkets It is not known who created these runestones and grew the massive hunters that carry them. 325 Feathery Fallout Apparel The constant bombardment of magical energies can manifest themselves in odd ways on dragons caught in the fallout. Some mages recoil from such changes, while others embrace it. (Starfall Celebration 2020 Holiday Item) 0

Not to say Nep no longer cares about the clan, per se. She is still involved, dedicated, and progressive. But for some unforeseen reason, Nep has slowly transformed to become involved only in her research, dedicated only to her Arcane magic, and progressive only in her search for knowledge. It's as if Nep, in her search for something beyond herself, has only withdrawn inwards. Her occasional smiles breaking her stony face are more and more rare, her eyes staring eerily into the vast beyond instead of their usual sharp and attentive focus- that is, for the dragons lucky enough to even see her. The clan's most longterm residents remember the matriarch as a once-loving soul, now corrupted- by greed, horrors, indifference, none can say. The more hopeful ones believe she's just at a difficult stage of her research that's demanding all her attention, on the cusp of a great discovery to bring the clan forward leaps and bounds. Newer members have never seen the brightest parts of Nep, and as such see her as only a sovereign figure, recognized by all but known by little. But every clan member shares an undiscussed feeling deep down, a strange gut feeling that interrupting the matriarch's research would be a very bad idea.

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Beginning of the End - Beginning of Something New

Nep stared out from the edge of the den, fins twitching ever so slightly as her two hatchlings tussled behind her. She didn't acknowledge them or the sound of her mate, Actius, urging them to sleep. Not that Nep wasn't an inattentive mother and partner- no, all her heart had gone to her new little family and her slowly growing clan. But Nep was an Arcane dragon. And to Nep, that meant upmost loyalty to the Arcanist and his pursuit for knowledge.

Then again, Nep knew that settling down had its sacrifices. Actius knew as well. Nep could tell from how he'd look at his handmade maps with lingering eyes, from how he'd tell stories of his adventures to put the hatchlings to sleep. Her mate put aside his life as an explorer to settle down with her. She, in kind, was supposed to put aside her research.

Nep understood it, really. And she had loved her family so much she didn't even mind not experimenting for a while. But shortly after their hatchlings were born, Nep witnessed a stray meteor from the Focal Point strike a nearby mountain peak, and she's been drawn in by the warping arcane energies the site produced ever since.

Nep ignored it for a while, kept caring for her hatchlings despite how curious she was- something Actius must've noticed, by his knowing looks. But the longer she continued like this, the more unbearable it became.

And unbearable it was.

This is how Nep found herself sitting at the edge of the den, staring at the soft glow emanating from the meteor in the night. There's no harm, she tried to reason with herself. It's just one look. She'd be back to her family in no time. And so Nep spread her wings, unaware of the gaze boring into her back, and lifted off-

Nep felt something crash into her. Before she could process it, she and the unknown force- no, it was Actius- her mate had grabbed her?- tumbled out of the sky. The shaky arms tightened their grip around her as the pair crashed to the ground. Nep opened her mouth to speak as they recovered from the impact, but in that moment Actius pulled her up by the shoulders.

“I know you want to see it, Nep. I know you're drawn by its power. I know. I can feel it too." Pink eyes bore into each other. "But please… We need to look after our hatchlings together. Both of us agreed our love for our hatchlings is greater than our love for knowledge, right? We agreed, right?"

Actius' eyes were blown wide, seemingly looking for something in Nep's face. She gave no response. He stared for a moment before tightening his grip.

"I know how much you love magic, Nep. But it does things to you. I see you change. You hide yourself away for hours, for days- I understand, but our hatchlings? What mother would do that to their hatchlings? We said it'd be best if we focused only on our family, at least while they're still young and need all our attention. I... was happy giving up my life for this."

Actius sighed and let go of Nep fully, taking a step back.

"I was happy."

Even his voice- normally bland, being a fae- was tinted with emotion, and his fins quivered and flared throughout the speech. Nep, however, didn’t make a noise, her fins only twitching ever so slightly. She analyzed her mate's distraught face, his shaking talons. A strange feeling took ahold of her. With that, Nep slowly spread her wings once again, this time returning to the den. She wordlessly took her daughter and began grooming her, the hatchling giving a sleepy squeak in response. Actius landed behind her moments later. He twined his tail with hers and gave it a squeeze- no words needed to be said. Nep watched, casually as can be, as he curled up to sleep.


Nep flew out to the meteor.

As she headed towards the glowing object in the distance, her thoughts swirled in her head. Nep couldn't help the guilt she felt for going behind her mate's back. But she also couldn't help going. The more she thought about it, though, the more she made it make sense to herself.

She wasn't going just for herself, after all. Her research wasn't selfish. Her research helped dragons understand the world- her research helped her clan, her family. In that same thought, Nep found herself relieved her clan was still so small. Just her family, a trio of teenage pearlcatchers, and a couple of ex-exalts she graciously gave shelter to; Otherwise, there'd be a risk of someone getting to the meteor before her.

Nep wouldn't let that happen. The way the glow was drawing her like a moth to a flame, it was almost as if it was meant just for her to discover. Maybe it was a reward for caring for her hatchlings so dearly. Maybe it was a gift from the Arcanist himself.

That's right, Nep decided. Actius didn't understand what Nep was meant for. She was meant to learn all there was to know about Arcane, the perfect dragon of intellect and curiosity the Arcanist created her to be. And she'd use the knowledge for the sake of her clan and family. It wasn't like their hatchlings would be alone while she was working, either. Actius was there too. How dare he stop her from going when it was supposed to be a team effort? Nep was still also a mother, though, so she knew she'd find time for both responsibilities. She'd still be there for her children. She knew so. She felt so.

As Nep landed in front of the meteor, her thoughts were drowned out by the sudden energy buzzing inside her. She barely registered her movements as, neck outstretched, she began creeping forward. The meteor was large with an unassuming grey exterior. Within- however- it was the opposite. From a small hole only a fae could fit through, Nep could feel energy pulsating from within. She slithered in like a snake and stretched her neck further in, folding her wings small as they could go. She scrambled through the rock for a few moments, eyes shutting in pain as she scraped against the sides, and when she opened them again-

Nep was staring magic itself in the face.

The fae was in a world of glowing pink crystal, an uncharted land of enchantment all in one little space. Nep, heart racing, brain going miles per minute yet also not quite processing, reached out a tiny claw to touch the mineral. The powerful energy she felt all came surging inside her. She gasped and her wings tried to flare out, but they only pressed against more crystal- causing magic to rush into her all at once.

Nep slowly opened her eyes, and she wondered if she blacked out for a moment. The shock had slowly begun to subside. She, getting her shaky breath under control, looked down at her talons to find them gripping a chunk of the crystal with fervor. There was still a tingling throughout her whole body, and yet Nep was not afraid.

No, everything was different now. Nep's eyes honed in on the pink shard in her iron grip. She knew what she was meant to do.

ACTIUS - MATE Actius is the other clan co-founder and Nep's mate. The two met in the Crystalspine Reaches when Nep was carving out her lair. They found a shared interest in discovery- Nep through magic research and Actius through exploration- and fell in love. Nowadays their relationship has strained, though very few know about this.

KIERIN - SON Kierin is one of Nep's only two children, and her only son. Kierin hasn't interacted with Nep in years and sees her as selfish and cold-hearted.

SAPHYN - DAUGHTER Saphyn is Nep's other child, and her only daughter. Unlike her younger brother, she has more memories of Nep's caring nature. She still loves her mother and hopes that they'll reconnect soon, however long that may take.

NYMA - GRANDDAUGHTER Nyma is Saphyn's daughter, and Nep's granddaughter. They have not interacted before. It's unclear whether or not Nep even knows she exists, or if she just hasn't made the time to go see her yet.

PLINTH - FAMILIAR Plinth is Nep's Runeback Slink. She's a cute and playful critter, a stark contrast to Nep's mysterious and sometimes off-putting demeanor. She collects small crystal shards or other materials for Nep and often curls around the fae's shoulders. Some say that Plinth is actually a spy, or the result of some experiment. But that's just a harmless joke. Actius, though, is the only one who worries; he knows Nep used to have a Bluelight Chipskink, which he hasn't seen in years.