Bati

My fodderlocke group worships and sacrifices in honor of one of my permas, Nagia. Each of them periodically makes trips into the forest/swamp to prove their loyalty and faith etc, and of course sometimes leaders rig the whole thing a little bit and kill off members they think are losing faith or might challenge their power. And sometimes dragons are just lost because it's a dark, treacherous, haunted forest and escape is not guaranteed.

So there's Bati, young, wandering the world, looking for something to believe in. Idk what takes him here to the corner of light and shadow and nature (guess that's where we live now) but I'm thinking he doesn't start off with a skill with poisons. Maybe he likes healing and plants and this odd little corner of the world is said to have flora that doesn't exist anywhere else.

And on the way there he runs into dragons who talk about the forest out there, but not with wonder, not the way it'd been talked about back home in the everbloom gardens. No, these dragons speak of it in whispers, their awe intermingled with fear. A spirit haunts those woods, they say, and spirits are not kind but neither are they malicious. They simply are. It's their followers you have to watch out for.

And little Bati keeps that in mind. But he hasn't really learned how to fear yet.

Bati meets the leader of the fodderlocke crew, Citrus, and lets her convince him that the only way to enter the forest and escape alive is with people who know the forest. And that's just them.

He won't be required to stay of course, but he does need to stay with them and participate while he's there, otherwise the Spirit will be angry, and we don't want that, no do we?

Thanks to the warnings, Bati's never fully drawn in by the fodderlocke cult. He knows the moment he steps into the forest with them that he's made a mistake he probably wont live to see the other end of. He doesn't see a way out, but at least, unlike some of the poor fools around him, he can see.

He is drawn in by the forest though. Bati absolutely falls in love with it. He spends more time out wandering than anyone else dares to and everyone in fodderlocke is quietly convinced he'll disappear soon in that way that happens occasionally, where a dragon finds the Spirit's favor instead of her rage. On one of his ventures he find a bright little friend who he names [insert name here].

Look the general arc is that Lune's been watching Bati out in the woods, noticing how well he knows plants, takes note of his poisonous little pal, etc. And Lune, who is a power hungry pos who thinks he's in charge even though he lives among a bunch of dragons who respect literally no one's authority, goes "ah yes, that will be a good tool in keeping my power"

So Lune approaches Bati out in the forest one day. Keep in mind, Bati is still convinced one of the fodderlocke leaders is going to kill him if he tries to leave. And the whole fodderlocke cult is unaware of any other dragons living in these woods, they think it's themselves and the spirits of the woods, with one standing more powerful than the rest. Bati doesn't see it quite the same way, but his perception is still impacted by it.

So Bati sees this smiling coatl approach him, dressed all in white amidst the dark and ominous backdrop of the forst, and is just like "oh my spirit"

And the Lune says he's been watching him and wants to offer him a way out. The true spirit of the forest has been taken and caged by a spoiled, stuck up sorceress who wants to claim power over the forest for herself. If Bati were to, say, remove the sorceress from the equation, he's sure the spirit would be greatful and offer him a way out of the woods -- or a safer home, should he choose to stay of his owwn accord.
Bati's been living in fear for his life for a while now, he doesn't take the time to think, he barely hesitates. He wants to feel safe again the way he does among the trees back home.

So that's how Aiterra dies.

Well, if she'd died Bati would be in a lot less danger.

Aiterra's the one recently cursed by Narani with eternal life. She's exactly what Lune described: stuck up, spoiled, bossy, insulting. No one likes her except herself, but she really likes herself.

She almost fits in more, now that she's dead. That doesn't mean she's happy about it.

So, now we have Bati and two players within the "clan": Aiterra who hates him for killing her, and Lune who will protect him as someone who can be useful to him in the future. No one else really cares. No one else really notices.

So right there Bati makes the choice again to trust Lune who keeps promising safety and freedom. He hasn't delivered yet, but that doesn't mean her never will. And honestly, Bati does love the forest. It doesn't feel safe like home but that safety has always been...stifling, in some ways.

Bati kills for Lune. He gets good at poisons, at knives, at the bow and arrow. He gets good at his job.
After his time powerless among the fodderlocke crew, just waiting for them to get fed up with him, just waiting to die, finally he has power. And sometimes he uses it for himself too. When Citrus finally dies it's said she was lost to the forest. Perhaps embraced by it, perhaps strangled by it. In reality, it was an arrow, tipped with a toxin strong enough to guarantee a kill but not a quick one. Bati thanks his little friend for that.

And Bati, like the undead, eternal Aiterra, starts to fit in.

So. No redemption arc. Just Bati learning to kill for himself instead of anyone else like a good horrifying dragon baby. I'm thinking when he starts to break free of Lune's influence Jadis sees an opportunity and starts teaching him magic. She lets him come to her instead of the other way around and eventually teaches him everything she knows. That's how Bati remembers that he used to heal. That's how he learns to heal as well as he can kill and he never stops killing but he starts healing too. He has power over death and life now and a home that embraces him for all that he his.

Bought for: 100g
Breed: 50kt
Prim: 150kt
Sec: 144,500t
Tert: 110kt
Sinister Footpads and Vial: 260g
Dart Frog + Hat: 33g
Earrings + Quiver: 30kt
Bati: Priceless (393g + 484,500t)