Ella

During the beginning of the Third Age, a dragon was born, and was one of multiple dragons to be formed from the destruction of the giant engine; when the engine exploded, debris scattered throughout Sornieth, each endowed with the power of the Arcanist and each containing life within it. The debris that she was born from landed in the Sea of a Thousand Currents, sinking deep into the Spiral Keep.

In her shell, she slept for many, many years, but when she finally arose from the debris, opening her eyes to dark and murky waters, she walked for miles in search of a home, and in search of other dragons who'd been born from the explosion. Every clan she found and attempted to settle into rejected her presence, for due to her association with the engine that had wiped out thousands in moments and despite her young age, they saw her as a danger; not helping was the fact that she was a Bogsneak, a breed that was almost unheard of at the time of her birth. Searching for weeks on end but finding no signs of Arcane life, no dragons that looked like her, nor a clan that would take her in, her hope had dwindled. It was then that she saw the bright star ahead of her; a star bright enough to pierce the blackness of the deep sea, a star that she felt compelled to follow. When the star was directly above her, it had led her to a ghost town underneath the waves, and having nowhere else to call home, she took refuge in one of the many empty caverns.

Up until her adulthood, she spent years in the empty town fending only for herself, the bright star in the sky the closest thing she had to company. Hunting for food proved especially grueling, as unlike the clans she'd tried and failed to join, she had no hunting party, and the creatures that lived in the sea were well-known for their strength and brutality in comparison to those who dwelled on land.

It was the night after a particularly vicious encounter — an encounter that she narrowly escaped empty-handed — that she stopped hunting altogether; the isolation and loneliness, combined with her pain, began to weigh heavily on her. Not even strong enough to return to her cavern, she lay still and quiet in the middle of the city, fully prepared to let starvation put her to rest; that is, if her agony wasn't the first to do that. She stared at the star above silently pleading for it to save her as her conscious began to fade away. The bright spot in the sea was the last thing she saw when she finally passed out.

It was only the sound of an actual voice — something that she hadn't heard in decades — that she finally, though briefly, woke up. Her hunger and pain hindered her senses, but she could just barely make out the shape of a Guardian looking down at her, two Spiral hatchlings on either side of him. They were each speaking to one another, but she couldn't really make out what any of them were saying; she knew one of the hatchlings must have been asking the Guardian a question in worry, but only by the tone of their voice. She only heard a syllable of what she assumed was the Guardian's voice — the same voice that she'd woken up to — before she returned to her sleep.

When she awoke a second time, she realized that her pain had diminished significantly; it was still there, but her body allowed itself to move, shifting just enough for her to realize that she was no longer outside, but in a cavern.

"Hey, you're awake!" a voice called out as one of the Spiral hatchlings darted towards her. Though dizzy, she could see the hatchling much clearer this time. The child reminded her so much of herself; like her, many scars stood out among the glimmering of stars on his hide. Before she could react, another dragon entered the hut, this one a Guardian — the same Guardian that she'd just barely seen, that she'd just barely heard, with another Spiral hatchling alongside him. Constellations and marks of battle covered his body as well; she couldn't help but wonder what caused their injuries. The Guardian introduced himself as Darinxur, but not before asking her questions; about who she was, and if her pain had subsided. She could only answer the latter question; the other, she had no answer. Dar understood, and instead told her about himself: to her surprise, he'd been born from the same explosion as she'd been born from, though unlike her, he'd landed in the Wasteland. She knew very little about the world outside of the Tidelord's realm, but based on what she'd hear being whispered about the Wasteland among the clans she'd met, she no longer had to wonder about the origin of the scars.

For the next few years, Darinxur and the Bogsneak, as well as the two hatchlings — whom she learned were named Indigo and Meredith, and were Dar's adoptive children — shared the ghost town. With Dar's strength combined with her resilience, it was no longer a struggle to obtain food. With each passing day, Dar grew closer to her, and she grew closer to Dar, and began to see the hatchlings as her own children; they even began to call her Mother, something that she welcome.

One early morning, right before she left home to join Darinxur for their daily hunt, Meredith trotted over to her and asked her, "Mama... Can I call you Ella?" When she'd perplexedly asked why, the hatchling simply replied, a big smile on her face, "I don't know, really... I just think it's pretty, like you!"

And from that moment on, she finally felt like a real dragon; like she was something other than a wandering entity.

It wasn't too long after she'd finally been given a name that the night occurred; the night that changed all of their lives forever.

That night, the Spirals frantically attempted to prod Dar and Ella awake. This was nothing new, as they'd occasionally wake them to tell them that they couldn't sleep, or that they were hungry. But this time was different; there was a sense of urgency in their voices, one that caused Dar to, as opposed to grumpily shaking them off or stubbornly keeping his eye closed until they gave up, become alert fairly quickly. As the hatchlings impatiently led Ella and Darinxur outside, they exchanged anxious glances, wondering what the fuss was. Dar had his claws and fangs bared, fully prepared to fight against the intruder whom he suspected was right outside of their door.

When they finally got outside, however, they could only stand and stare.

Outside stood a large group of dragons, the glow of their eyes, all beaming with Arcane energy and laced with the same exhaustion Ella had felt when she'd first stumbled across the ghost town, giving the water a purple tint. All of them had stars on their skin, just like her and Darinxur, making the scene look like a sea of stars suspended within a violet sky.

A single dragon stepped forward — a female Bogsneak, just like Ella — and whispered, "We were led here by the glow of your stars... They shine so brightly, so much brighter than ours." She paused, and then said, "We have no home to go back to."

Not needing to hear another word, both Ella and Darinxur knew at that very moment that the ghost town, from that night forward, would no longer be a ghost town, but their territory.

As the years passed, many dragons — all of them being led by the glow of the dragons' stars — congregated in the area, some of them descending from the engine's destruction, others merely having nowhere else to call home, but all of them welcome. As the years passed, Ella became not a lonely occupant of a desolate city, but the Queen of a new civilization — one she'd dubbed "The Violet Sea" in dedication to that night — with Darinux standing by her as her devoted King, and the dragons that had officially began that civilization now forming a council led by Ella, dedicated to choosing what was best for the denizens of their land. The Spirals, when they reached adulthood and with the birth of the Violet Sea's heir, went their own separate ways; while Indigo chose to stay among the Violet Sea's denizens, Meredith chose to create a clan of her own in the nearby outskirts of the Spiral Keep. They never stopped seeing each other; they never stopped being a family.

Every night before Ella slept, after a day of watching over her new home, Ella would gaze at the bright star above, the only light that she'd seen at the end of the tunnel; not to plead, but to show gratitude. As she closed her eyes, she could almost hear it whisper to her:

"Let the glow of the stars be your guide."

(See also Darinxur's bio!)

Extra Trivia:

- Personality-wise, Ella is described as very kind and compassionate; whether she is interacting with her fellow council members, her employees, or with a denizen, she is warm and pleasant towards everyone she interacts with. Despite this, she, like her mate, takes her position as the Queen of the Violet Sea very seriously, and she will be strict and firm whenever the situation calls for it. Above all, she values the safety, comfort, and happiness of those who live in the Violet Sea, and will do all that she can to make life in her kingdom worth living.

- Ella being a Bogsneak is most likely the result of being in her debris-casing for an extended period of time before "hatching", thus being exposed to powerful Arcane energy long enough to cause a genetic mutation and making her one of the earliest cases of said mutation. It is unknown what breed she may have been originally.

- Ella's familiar, a Spellwrought Ambassador named Nebulae, was befriended by Ella during the Violet Sea's 2018 Starfall Celebration.

- Ella's favorite foods are Lucky Stars and Salted Game.

- Ella was at one point an avid hunter like her mate Darinxur, but after her near-death experience prior to founding the Violet Sea, Ella permanently retired from hunting.

- The battle that left Ella almost fatally injured was with a Dire Claw.

- During downtime, Ella enjoys stargazing with her mate and three children.

- Ella's closest friend (other than her mate Darinxur) is Ursula, a fellow Star Council member and the only other Bogsneak dragon in the Council (likely from also spending an extended period of time in her shell) other than her child Major.


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