Hedwig

Hedwig was the runt of her nest, and not the sharpest dragon in her lair by a long shot. She had to work twice as hard just to keep up with the rest of her family, and was never picked for hunting or foraging parties, hardly ever invited on travels.

Most of her time was spent travelling to the few libraries in the shadow flight, the rest of it studying voraciously.

All that reading, particularly in the dark when the rest of her family was asleep, diminished her eyesight, making her even more of a weakling to the rest of her family. She had to buy a pair of spectacles with her own measly coins and continued to read.

After a few more months of this, family disowned her, and she set up a small camp in the shadow flight's forests. Eventually, she ran out of money and, unable to feed herself enough to stay alive, she resorted to begging on the streets.

On the second day, she met a skydancer that was literally on fire, doing card tricks. She watched her and the skydancer noticed.

"Hey! Throw in a coin if you like the show!" called the dragon, juggling fireballs.

Hedwig shook her head. "I have no money."

The skydancer paused and gazed at Hedwig. "Hm. Got any cool talents?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I do magic tricks."

Hedwig shook her head, again, and adjusted her glasses. "I can't do anything. I'm dumb."

The skydancer sighed. "Well, whatever. I'll take you anyway."

The skydancer, named Firetouch, led her to a place in the arcane flight called the Moonspire.

A fae and guardian greeted her.

"We will allow you to stay for two days to recover before you leave. Feel free to try out our facilities," the guardian said, inclining his head.

That day, she discovered a small laboratory with a bit of simple machinery and a toolbox. The reading Hedwig had done, day in and day out, slowly came back to her, and she created a lamp, a box with whirring gears, fixed her glasses. The second day she spent working on a gift for the fae or guardian, a pair of mechanical wings to boost their flying power.

That sunset, tired but proud, she presented her gift. The fae was impressed, and the guardian voiced her thoughts: "This is amazing. Have you made anything else during your stay?"

Hedwig led them to the lab and, meekly, showed them her "Little junky things I made.. It's really nothing."


"Nonsense," the guardian said, as the fae nodded vehemently. "You may stay if you wish, you have a real talent. Keep the wings for yourself, and make yourself other apparel if you need it as well. I shall ship in more tech for you to work with."

Hedwig's eyes lit up.

Now Hedwig works with technology, mechanics, and is arguably the smartest dragon in the Moonspire. She's still shy and quirky, bordering on downright strange, and dragons in the Moonspire jokingly and affectionately call her Their Local Mad Scientist.