Lightning Ridgeback --- --- [ House Router ] [ First Generation ] (She/Her) --- --- Arcane Minister (Second Derivation), First Consort to King Guapostrider --- ---

Cherry was born as the middle child of a litter of three, to endlessly fertile Flare and Wizard. She was born near the Tempest Spire of the Shifting Expanse alongside Polaris and LostOrphanage. The three siblings were great friends until their adulthood-- whereupon Polaris and LostOrphanage were sold off to other clans and exalted to the Tangled Wood and Southern Icefields, respectively. Cherry, herself, was sold off to a neighboring clan. However, she resisted this and ran away before a mere week had passed. She wandered the land in her early adulthood, teaching herself the dark art of sorcery. Committed to her craft, she became known wide and far for her magical prowess; bringing fortune and misfortune alike wherever she went. Consequently, she began to earn a reputation for leaving a trail of mischief across the Shifting Expanse.

Eventually, Cherry came to settle in the Highland Scrub of the Shifting Expanse. Initially, her goal to settle down and disappear. She had no idea what else to do with her life, save for focusing on strengthening her magic.

Cherry spent the next several years traveling the whole of Sornieth, teaching herself magic based on what she was able to scavenge from ruins. She learned the odds and ends of magic, developing her own unique understanding of how it worked. Cherry was especially fascinated by using unconventional combinations of elemental magic to achieve interesting results. Along the way, she befriended a wild Ophiotaurus, quickly adopting him as her familiar. Naming him Ophiuchus, he proved to be a stalwart ally in the study of the arcane. Through Ophiuchus, she was able to better understand of magic flowed through the bodies of organic beings, and that nature possesses a symbiotic nature with the forces of the arcane. Cherry theorized that the power of the arcane could be used to join bodies with anchors in planar space-- essentially allowing for wormholes to be created. Although she decided not to pursue this idea, she kept it in the back of her mind, in-case she ever got the opportunity. Cherry was quite happy living a life of freedom. One day, she discovered a clan known as the Routic Imperium; a vast territory where she was welcome to do as she pleased. They willing to accept her as she was, and were friendly with her even when she was intensely anti-social. Joining arms with House Router of the Shifting Expanse, she was made an official part of the clan with the intent to serve as the clan's Head Sorcerer; maybe even reaching the level of becoming the official Psionic Mage. Cherry quickly set up her workshop within the clan, making herself known as the local healer and magic-woman. Unfortunately, her past slowly began to catch up to her. Several members of the newly formed House Abyssal of the Shifting Expanse began to voice concerns, stating that Cherry had been known across the Shifting Expanse to use her magic to cause quite good deal of misfortune. This cast doubt on her ability to integrate well and become the clan's Psionic Mage. Ignoring the rumors surrounding her, Cherry pushed on and did her best to show that she could be a valuable asset to the clan.

After the clan was requisitioned near The Source of the Shifting Expanse, Queen Silkrouter's plans for Cherry changed. She was made the First Consort to King Guapostrider, and was arranged to sire children with him in an attempt to strengthen the bloodline of House Router. Having matured, she no longer had the impulse to drop everyone and run away once again. Even though her dreams of becoming a professional sorcerer were dashed, she had come to befriend the other dragons in the clan and no longer wanted to live a life of wandering in solitude. She ended up accepting her adoption into the family, using their resources to fund a series of secret arcane projects. Consort Cherry soon began a correspondence with Parliamentarian BurningArcana of the Allied Die Kingdom. The two exchanged notes and updates on their arcane projects, hoping their shared work would allow them to create a powerful wormhole between their two lairs. Consort Cherry kept these projects of her hidden, hoping to unveil them when the time was right and after she knew that House Router trusted her... Over time, Consort Cherry began to find herself falling in-love with King Guapostrider. This was an unexpected turn of events, as she had never felt that strongly about any dragon in her life before. It was quite scary to be vulnerable to somebody else, for once. Unfortunately their romance was forbidden, as the King was married to Queen Silkrouter. He had a duty to the Queen and the duties of the throne. He was not supposed to fall in-love with her, he was just supposed to strengthen his bloodline... yet... he had. Consort Cherry was especially crushed by this development, as it hurt to have her first real feelings of romantic affection be so unfortunate. One night, King Guapostrider decided to visit Consort Cherry in her chambers and confess his true feelings of love for her. Hearing this made her ecstatic, even though she understood they could not be together. She felt that at least she had his heart, even though it was not codified in law or made public. Unfortunately, Prince Guaposilver had been attempting to steal from her that same night. The Prince had broken in at the moment of the King's confession, and he was immediately caught. As a result, he had overhead his father's confession of love to another woman. Upset, Prince Guaposilver stormed off into the night.

Wanting to sit alone with his anger, the young Prince tried to lose himself in the forest, hoping never to return. Consort Cherry followed him back to his encampment, where she revealed to him that he happened to be very much like she had been in her own youth. She also explained to him that she had great proficiency with the arcane; a detail that very much intrigued him. Upon hearing this new information, something clicked within Prince Guaposilver's heart. He agreed to hide the nature of Consort Cherry and King Guapostrider's relationship as long as Consort Cherry agreed to tutor him in the dark art of sorcery. She hadn't expected it, but Consort Cherry had gained a new apprentice in the form of her secret lover's son. Her life had become something that she had never imagined it would be. It was not long before Prince Guaposilver began to see Consort Cherry as a second mother.

Once House Abyssal's eggs were hatched, the time came for King Guapostrider and Consort Cherry to come together to sire children for the good of the clan. Much to their surprise, the two of them hatched four children: Princess Cherrystrider I, Prince Guapocherry I, Princess Cherrytwilight I, and Prince Guapogranite I; two female Fae and two male Ridgebacks. The eldest and youngest of the four, Princess Cherrystrider and Prince Guapogranite, were sent to live with their uncle in-law-- King Silkdie I of the Allied Die Kingdom. While Cherry was rather sad to see them go so soon, the children themselves were excited to be living in the Windswept Plateau. She understood that they needed their era of freedom, to be able to find themselves. Princess Cherrytwilight did not stay with her long either, running away from the Routic Imperium after being enticed by the stories of Queen Magmicvulcan-- amazed by her tyrannical strength. As a result of nearly all of her children leaving the Imperium while they were still young, Cherry ended up being quite protective over Prince Guapocherry, the one hatchling who had decided to stay. She often took him along on long treks across the the Shifting Expanse in search of reagents for her potions and spells. Consort Cherry taught him the value of magic along the way, making sure that her son would be even more proficient than she was by the time he grew up. Prince Guapocherry seemed to have taken an interest in the flora of the Shifting Expanse, very keen to study its genetics. Cherry found this fascinating and tried to encourage her son's interest as much as she could. It wouldn't help his royal ambitions, but it was something that could bring him happiness. Making sure he had a happy life was all that she really cared about. After King Guapostrider had a long talk with Queen Silkrouter, he came to Cherry bearing the news that they could officially be together once his son took over as King. This made her immensely happy, for she could finally be together with the person that she loved-- no longer any need to conceal their relationship from the world. The two of them embraced, and Cherry promised that she would love King Guapostrider as long as he lived. They planned to spend their days relaxing together, taking it slow and living in a quiet cottage together. It was they life they had truly been waiting for. She planned to tell Prince Guaposilver the news once he next returned from the forest, excited to tell her adoptive son.

Consort Cherry continued her work with Parliamentarian BurningArcana, trying to perfect her wormhole spell as much as she could. It was a difficult one to master, as it involved a lot of active reagents assembled in a map of glyphs. She could all upon it as long as she was nearby, and could use it to open gates to destinations she held in her mind. However, she found herself unable to keep the wormholes open for very long, and without the utmost concentration the wormholes could easily be thrown off-course. Because of this, she found it rather tasking to perform different test and experiments to get to the root of the cause. In-order to make the spell easier to cast, Consort Cherry constructed a talisman that could be held to easily cast a much, much weaker version of the spell. She dubbed this talisman, the Arcane Gateway I, which allowed her to continue her work in a much easier manner.

When Prince Guaposilver returned, he announced his marriage to the mysterious Paladin Ashenidol. He began stating his intent to hatch children with the Paladin and claim the throne of the Routic Imperium. This puzzled Cherry, as Prince Guaposilver had not shown any interest for the throne before now. She tried to reach out to him, but the Prince was far too busy with wedding plans and tending to his eggs to spare a moment for her. Cherry was eager to tell the Prince the news, and confront him about his sudden change in life plans. She found this all very concerning, and expressed these feelings to his father. King Guapostrider found himself concerned as well, but was glad that his son was finally wanting to contribute back to House Router. not wanting to stifle Prince Guaposilver's imperial ambitions, Consort Cherry decided to hold off on telling the Prince the news about the cottage. Having recently purchased a piece of land in the Tsunami Flats of the Sea of a Thousand Currents, she hoped that it would give her enough time to build the cottage and make it look presentable before she showed it to him. On the night before the wedding and subsequent inauguration of the Second Union, Consort Cherry wandered the castle. She was anxious for the following morning, clutching the Arcane Gateway I in her claws and pacing about the halls. Nothing about what had been going on recently had felt right to her. She knew that there was a bigger piece of the story that she was missing, and wasn't sure if she wanted to go after it. Cherry understood that doing do would get her wrapped up in a much bigger conflict-- and possibly ruin her chance at escaping to a more peaceful location with King Guapostrider. She did not want to bring any more pain unto herself, yet she worried about the Prince that she had come to love as a son. As she wandered the halls of the imperial castle, she wondered about what her next move would be. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that she wanted to intervene. However, whatever she did next had to be clandestine, discreet... it was not long before she began to hear the loud sounds of a battle taking place in an adjacent chamber-- Queen Silkrouter's bedroom.

The commotion caused Consort Cherry to enter the Queen's bedroom and investigate. As soon as she opened the door, Paladin Ashenidol tumbled out-- pursued by Queen Silkrouter wielding a makeshift mechanized spear. The battle continued as the two of them entered the hallway, with Queen Silkrouter gaining the upper hand by impaling Ashenidol's left arm. Roaring, the Paladin picked up Queen Silkrouter and tossed her, taking the fight to the connecting chamber for House Router's bedrooms. Consort Cherry followed them, desperately casting spells in an attempt to stop the fight and protect the Queen. Unfortunately it was too late, Queen Silkrouter and Paladin Ashenidol were locked in conflict-- the Queen shouting that Ashenidol was unfit to be the next Queen, and Ashenidol responding that the current Queen was too dangerous to be kept alive. Faced with uncertainty, Consort Cherry decided to activate an experimental spell that she had been developing with Parlimentarian BurningArcana: a wormhole connecting to the Allied Die Kingdom.

Opening up a wormhole shining with the natural element of Light and the Arcane, Consort Cherry hoped that she would be able to banish Ashenidol from the castle and save the Queen. However, her spell resulted in the awakening of Princes Starrouter and Starfern-- who rushed to their mother's side in an attempt to help her. Wielding their matching royal lances, Princes Starrouter and Starfern tried to push Ashenidol away from Queen Silkrouter. Sensing that she may begin to be outmatched, Ashenidol decided that she needed to be smart about her next move. Retreating from the two princes, Ashenidol decided to attack Consort Cherry; wounding her and destabilizing the wormhole she had opened up. With the Consort's spell going completely haywire, Ashenidol gained the upper hand, as the entire battlefield was being pulled towards the wormhole. From there she leapt directly at Prince Starfern, who she knocked to the ground and slashed across the face with her claws. Desperate to save his brother, Prince Starrouter rushed towards Paladin Ashenidol, bringing his lance down upon her. Noticing his approach, Ashenidol tossed Prince Starfern and grappled Prince Starrouter before he could even land a single blow. Watching her children being viciously wounded by the Paladin, Queen Silkrouter rushed over to protect them. Anticipating this, Ashenidol moved out of the way-- sending the Queen tumbling towards the wormhole. Off-balance, the Queen tried to return to her feet. Before she could, Ashenidol kicked her directly into the unstable wormhole, tossing Prince Starrouter into it after her. Shouting in anguish, Prince Starfern jumped into the wormhole after them. No longer able to maintain the wormhole due to her wounds, Consort Cherry collapsed and the wormhole dissipated. Laying on the ground weakly, Cheery threatened to reveal Ashenidol to the Imperium for the monster that she truly was. All Ashenidol had for a response, was that considering she would be Queen tomorrow, Cherry better watch her tongue-- or she would end up being charged for the murder of three members of the Royal Family.

The next morning, Consort Cherry found herself feeling even worse than the night before. She had remained quiet about the battle between her and Ashenidol-- who had quickly been inaugurated Queen. Cherry decided not to attend the wedding or the inauguration, despite Prince Guaposilver expecting her to do so. She couldn't bear to face him, nor could she face King Guapostrider. She had no idea what to do, or how she would tell them that had happened. Would they even believe her? Thinking about it drove her crazy, and the ridgeback found herself hiding away in her chambers for most of the following week. Feeling dirty, she locked her Arcane Gateway I away in a drawer and hid all of her notes on the wormhole spell. She never wanted to use it again. Instead, she began to focus more on brewing new potions. It took her mind off of things, and gave few a few moments of solace in such a turbulent world. She cared not for the political developments outside her room, choosing to live her life as quiet as possible.

After spending many days and many nights alone, Cherry soon received a knock on her door. To her surprise, it was King Guaposilver. It was the first time she had seen him in weeks, and he bore what he considered to be 'great news' for her. The new King announced that he had selected her to become the Imperium's second Psionic Mage. It was his way of rewarding her for taking care of him when he was young; finally giving her the position that he knew she had dreamed about. Cherry was shocked at first, unsure of whether she would be able to accept the new position.

The day after Chief Warmaster Zephyrbone left the castle to begin the first wave of the El Guapo Expeditions, Duke Starcatcher decided to visit Psionic Mage Cherry's chambers. It was where King Guaposilver was being kept, slowly recovering from his wounds. When he arrived, he found himself walking into the middle of a heated battle. Prince Blackrose and former Psionic Mage Canyondust were attacking Psionic Mage Cherry-- attempting to kidnap the injured King Guaposilver. While this could have been favorable to him, he realized that the two attacking dragons were members of the Birthright Faction of the Routic Imperium. Knowing that if they gained any amount of power over the imperial rulership that it could spell trouble for all of them, Duke Starcatcher leapt forward and performed a surprise attack. He quickly slashed Prince Blackrose across the face with his claws, pushing the assailant to the floor and giving Psionic Mage Cherry the distraction she needed to strike Canyondust down with a magical spell. Together, the two of them took the two revolutionaries down.

Unfortunately, Prince Blackrose was carrying a dagger with him. He stabbed Duke Starcatcher in the abdomen and kicked the pearlcatcher off of him. Canyondust used the distraction to break free from Psionic Mage Cherry's grasp, picking up the slumbering King Guaposilver and running off after Prince Blackrose-- who was already making his escape. Before he could get away, Cherry shot a lightning bolt through Canyondust's heart, stopping him in his place. As the former Psionic Mage fell, he threw King Guaposilver into Prince Blackrose's arms. This allowed Prince Blackrose to escape with King Guaposilver as Canyondust was captured and arrested. Duke Starcatcher was deeply wounded by the Prince's attack, and was one of many casualties that day; a day that would later come to be known as the Birthright's Bloody Dawn.

Duke Starcatcher stayed with Psionic Mage Cherry for a while, letting her heal his wounds as she lamented over the loss of the King that she had seen as her son. The Duke cared naught for this, taking the first opportunity to leave her chambers and seek out Queen Ashenidol.



(tbc...)