Solace

Items: Dented Iron Belt

Solace had been born in a Shadow nest. He had considered going to serve his deity, but instead decided to explore the world a bit. He was still very young when he came to this large fire lair but being a guardian he fit right in.

Solace became a close friend of the lair patriarch, but as Dalzen changed and acquired genes and had children Solace remained a single dragon. He had a few flings here and there but nothing serious.

Now he was starting to wonder if he had made a mistake in not serving one of the dragon gods. He loved the Flamecaller and thought it might be best to serve her. Again he was convinced to not become a tribute as Lost came home and suggested Solace follow in his footsteps and take a journey to other lairs.
*****
Before he even left Flamecaller's realm, a bone colored mirror spotted Solace and asked him his business. When Solace explained that he was out exploring a bit, the mirror, Punch, invited him back to a well established Lair. Solace was welcomed by the matriarch herself, who was once a guardian but had changed her shape to adapt to the needs of her charge.

Solace quickly found that Punch was the only mirror in the lair, which was why he'd been patrolling borders. It was a busy place, full of the ringing of hammers on forges and the woosh of air being blown into furnaces. Snappers and tundras worked carefully on gardens that could withstand the upheaval common in Fire lands, but meat was brought back by warriors. The best crews each had a guardian to anchor the team, and it wasn't long before Solace found some friends among them. A rather young Imperial wanted to try his claws, so Punch and Solace took Luster out battling. The older dragons enjoyed teaching an Imperial how to fight.

It felt good to hone his skills, but whatever he was looking for, Solace wouldn't find it here. After a few days, he thanked the dragons of the Lair and continued on his way, wearing an old iron belt that they'd given him to protect his flank.

======================================================

((leveled from 5->8, skill 'eliminate' added, gene 'crackle' added))

The Snappers found him. Of course they did. They explained to him as they escorted him back to one of the clan's lair complexes that their large territory meant many travelers who wandered into Plague lands passed through, and the long patrols they engaged in around it meant they were almost always the ones to find them. It sounded an interesting enough pasttime, but though Solace showed interest in joining one such patrol he was declined. Patrols were security, and the patriarch was adamant about hand-picking his security teams. He was not, the Snappers implied, the most trusting individual.

Everyone--not only the Snappers but all of the dragons at the lair center they brought him to--seemed very interested in saying hello and hearing stories about his travels so far. Though there were dragons of every breed among them, it was good to see that he was not alone among the Guardians, and that the others, though they were as plain as himself, seemed to hold the respect of those around them. Notably, there was one who bore herself with the ease of a seasoned veteran, covered in armor and ceremonial-looking skull jewelry. A fighter himself, he made an effort to strike up a conversation with her.

The older Guardian was named Liontari and, as it turned out, had also been hatched in the Shadowbinder's territory and found her way to Delphi during the clan's infancy. "What you're experiencing is normal, actually," she told him when he explained his journey and the feelings that had driven him to it. "All Guardians without a Charge feel purposeless and adrift. It's in our souls to wish to serve and protect."

That certainly gave Solace something to consider. In the end, he stayed with the clan for a few days, and while he had been turned away from patrols he was welcomed on hunting trips and in sparring matches, where he learned a new trick or two for future battles.

Ultimately, however, a feverish feeling and alarming cracks in his hide gave him the idea that perhaps he should move on to someplace slightly less contagious...
----

Solace wandered aimlessly through the coastal mountains, hardly noticing when the rocky terrain changed to trees and earth. He thought he had somehow managed to shake off his earlier sickness, though his face and body ached from the painful cracks and lesions that now danced across his body.
He was startled by the sudden appearance of a small, fiery black creature from under his feet. The fire sprite gibbered angrily in his face, then flew off huffily. Solace whipped his head around as a low chuckle was heard behind him.
"Relax, friend, I mean you no harm." A Skydancer that just barely reached the Guardian's knees swept down from the overhead branches. "Those fire sprites are quite mischievous, but they don't take kindly to being stepped on."
"I wouldn't take kindly to being stepped on either, stranger," the Guardian acknowledged. "I'm Solace. Which territory do I find myself in?"
"You are in the stand of woods that belongs to the Clan of the Rising Sparrow. Claudio, at your service." The Skydancer made a sweeping bow. "We can offer you lodging for a time if you so desire. I can see you suffer from a similar ailment as the last visitor that came through. Our doctors can treat you and have you in top shape in no time."
"I would appreciate that, yes."
As if they had some knowledge that they were being addressed, the ruptures in his skin exploded in pain, causing the Guardian to fall to his knees. Solace bellowed in agony, knocking the Skydancer off of his feet.
"Oh no. Hang on, Solace, I'm going to go get help!"
Claudio sprang to his feet and into the trees, his shouts for his clanmates fading as Solace gasped in pain. Several minutes passed. The Guardian flexed his wings involuntarily, the fissures that reached that far had started to ooze a cloudy liquid that burned as it made contact with the rest of the uninfected membrane, burning the tissue thoroughly. He knew he was going to fall. He did so as gently as he possibly could, but the flank that hit the ground seared in agony. His vision clouded over and he could no longer see clearly.
"Starcatcher! Over here, Rufio!"
He was vaguely aware of two long, dark, shimmering blurs approaching him, surrounding him. A smaller blur accompanied them, darting anxiously between the three larger dragons.
"Better hood him, Starcatcher, Moon said the last one almost went blind," a sharp voice commanded.
Solace panicked slightly as his eyesight darkened completely, but at this point there was nothing he could do to stop it. He grunted in pain as the two larger dragons gently lifted him.
"Are you able to walk?" a smoother, female voice asked.
"Hnn," Solace grunted. The spasm of pain that had wracked his body was fading slowly. He leaned heavily on her sinewy, serpentine body. "For maybe a short distance."
The dragon supporting him from the other side huffed. "I don't know why you foreigners turn into such hatchlings whenever you change your looks. If you knew you were going to be in such pain, why would you even do the magic to begin with?"
There was a loud thump, and the dragon that had spoken howled in pain.
"Why'd you do that, Star?!"
"He wandered through the Plaguelands, Rufio. You know that that place hastens the arrival of unwanted changes," the female dragon scolded.
"Ugh. Right. Whatever."
The two dragons bickered the whole way back to the lair. Claudio must have hitched a ride on one of them, the whole time he was muttering how much like children they were acting, how sorry he was, and that Moon and Rose would have him better soon.
Solace was holed up in the sick bay for the next few days. Claudio hardly left his side, and Starcatcher and Rufio (albeit reluctantly) even poked their regal heads in occasionally to check on him. The Imperials never stayed long as Rufio still scoffed at and taunted the Guardian despite several raps about the head from his partner's tail, and more often than not Star would lead him away with his ear clasped in her claw.
Finally, the Pearlcatcher doctors decided that Solace was well enough to travel once more. As the Guardian exchanged his final goodbyes with Claudio and Starcatcher, he was surprised when Rufio approached him with a dark cowl.
"This should help keep the sun off your face," the Imperial grunted, shoving the garment into the Guardian's claws. "If anything it will hide your ugly mug so you don't frighten any small children."
Starcatcher glared at her partner, readying her tail for another whap, but paused when Rufio bowed to the Guardian. "Sorry for being such a pain in the neck," he muttered. "I guess I kind of thought you were a jerk at first cause you were all leaning on Star but I came to the conclusion that I was being jealous. I'm the jerk. You couldn't help it, you were sick. So yeah. Sorry about that."
Solace chuckled. "It's alright. I kind of had the feeling that was what was going on. Although...." The Guardian glanced at the other Imperial to make sure she wasn't watching, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "Had I been feeling up to scratch, she's quite pretty. That's quite a catch you've got there, sir."
Rufio laughed heartily. "You are a jerk after all!" he rumbled. "Go on, get out of here. Good luck, man."
With a final nod at the group, Solace pulled the cowl over his cracked skin and took to the sky. He wondered what dragons he would meet next.
----
After a few days of flying, he finally ran into another dragon. Seeing how exhausted he looked, she offered to land and take him home--exactly what he wanted. He realized after landing that he found himself in a land belonging to servants of the Plaguebringer; he was near the land he came from, the Tangled Wood. Which was nothing special to note, just musing to himself that his journey had almost brought him full circle. Not home, since he was always wandering, but back to his beginning. Anyway, he passed the time with the Skydancer he met, Raive, who was, after all, the leader and the one who had brought him here. She seemed kind enough, and the Plague customs were rather similar to the ones he learned as a hatchling; playful teasing, wrestling, and the like. There was much more rampant illness, but hey, we all have our quirks, he thought. The others asked him to share his story so far, and in return, they gifted him with traditional facepaints given to the great storytellers of their clan. When it was time for him to leave, they showed him where to gather the materials to make more paint, and how to apply it himself, so he could always remember them. And that, he would, even as he took off to soar again.
[[Items : Dented Iron Belt, Dented Iron Boots, Whisperer's Cowl, Red Warrior Face Mask
Familiar : None
Gene : Stripes added]]

~~~~*~~~~

-The second trip through the Plague lands had agitated his condition, and by the time the guardian found his way to the Tsunami Flats, his sores were open and oozing green liquid once more. Her painfully tested the waters, finding them soothing to his cracked scales, and slid into the water.
-It was there that Serge found him. The small fae had been swimming underwater, foraging for food to supplement the clan's supplies, when he came face to face with the infected guardian. Slowly surfacing, he regarded the larger dragon carefully before he greeted him. "Welcome, stranger."
-"Hello," Solace rumbled warily, carefully keeping his painted face above the level of the water.
-"You're infected," murmured the fae, flicking his wings in dismay. "Poor boy. Let's get you back to the clan; Dragon's Tear will patch those sores of yours."
-Unable to find the words to protest, and in need of a place to sleep for the night, the guardian followed the fae from the cool waters and along the sandy beach. Eventually they found themselves at a large cave entrance, with a teal skydancer perched on an outcropping of rock above it.
-"Dragon's Tear!" Serge called, fluttering his wings to get her attention; she had once been a fae like him, and she knew well the emotive movements of their kind. "I found another traveler; he's infected like the last one was.
-The skydancer leaped down from her perch and slowly approached the pair. "Thank you, Serge." Motioning to the bundle of plants he held in his paws, she directed, "Add those to the stores, then help Dead Sea clear out the old bedding from his nest."
-The fae nodded respectfully and left the pair alone. Dragon's Tear looked him up and down with her one uncovered eye; the other was covered in bandages, much like her entire body. she was clearly a warrior as well as a healer.
-"Those wounds of yours... you've been through the Plaguebringer's lands recently, haven't you?" When Solace nodded agreement, she sighed. "Come with me. I'll clean the wounds and see if we can't get them covered until they heal."
--
-By the time Solace was preparing to leave, his sores-- while well cared for-- had not healed around the area of his chest. He was about to give up on resting another day when a purple snapper tapped on the medicine chamber's wall, announcing himself as El Nido. The snapper was holding a clean, green wrap of linen in a pouch at his side, and as he dropped it in front of Solace, he murmured, "Dragon's Tear said you shouldn't leave with your middle unwrapped. The wounds won't heal if they're uncovered."
-Nodding, Solace accepted the wraps. He found it difficult to put them on, and was embarrassed to have to ask El Nido for help. The snapper was kind, however, and showed him the best way to wrap his middle without causing himself additional discomfort, or worse, pain.
-Thanking the snapper, Solace gathered his belongings and left the cave, prepared for the next leg of his journey.
----
"Ahoy there!" Solace was greeted cheerily as he wearily winged across the icy plains. A charcoal and jade Ridgeback altered her patrol route to get closer. "Oh dear. It looks like you were recently infected too! So was our last guest. If you want to rest a bit, follow me!"

Solace followed the dragon, who he learned was named Verloren, back to the ice caves that served as their den. Despite the material, it was quite cozy, and his guide him showed him to an empty alcove to use.

The lair seemed content to let him recover quietly, although Verloren often kept him company to swap tales. She, too, had wandered extensively in her youth. The new clan Matriarch, Fente, also came by with a soothing balm every day, and by the end of his stay the sores were entirely healed.

"I'm rather sad you're leaving," Verloren said playfully as he gathered his things to go. "As troublesome as your illness was, look at you now! You're quite striking. Here! Before you go." She turned around and gestured for someone to come forward, and a lightning sprite peeked out from behind her hind leg. "Take a friend! This fellow's last companion went to serve the Icewarden, and they've been lonely."

Solace murmured his thanks and let the sprite nestle into his hood before taking off. It felt good to not hurt!

---

The brain4puzzles lair was ready to receive him. They did not seem to notice that he was in any way different, and he soon had three ladies fighting over him.
SpringMorning Joyeous Esther

Esther was the only other guardian in the lair, and Solace asked her what her Charge was.

"I am actually in charge of the Coliseum training for the lair," she explained. "It is a small Charge, but one that has brought a lot of satisfaction. Since you are further advanced than any other wandering dragon we have had come join us, I will put you in charge of training some of our younger members. I will also do some training of you myself."

Solace gulped. Although he outweighed her by 500 kg, she had a calm presence that projected her authority. This week would be a challenge! It was good that his scars had healed.

***

As he trained with SpringMorning, he found the gentle tundra had a good sense of humor. This was helpful because she was teaching him how to read. "Our guardians have been in charge of our library," she explained. "They have since gone on to serve the Lightweaver in her vast palace, but you might find yourself back in your home lair in charge of writing all your adventures. I am sure the others will want to read about you!"

Reaching Level 10 in the Coliseum was easier than he thought, given that he had helped SpringMorning reach level 5. Somehow, helping someone else achieve her goals made him happy.

An electronic attack made Solice's stay in the brain4puzzles lair a bit long, but he didn't mind. The three babies calling him daddy were so much fun. Maybe his Charge would be easy to find when he was home again!

---

Solace travelled to an ice lair next, where he met Opal, anotheer travelling dragon. They stayed there together, and decided they could just as well continue on their jurney together. Before he left, though, the clan gave him a pair of brass steampunk gloves.