Imperetrix

The Stargazer Her name, Imperetrix, means Empress, but she usually identifies herself merely as "Trix" and goes by that nickname most of the time. Trix is a stargazer and astonomer whom most other dragons find to be a little peculiar. There is the obvious strangeness of her body - an interlocking carapace marred lengthwise down each side by a row of wide alien eyes. They gleam with Light, but always seem to search hungrily about their surroundings independently of her own attentions. Ontop of that is a fair bit of eccentricity. In spite of her enthusiasm for astronomy, she sometimes seems to fear the night sky, going so far as to hide herself indoors or underground during certain cycles, when particular heavenly bodies are most prominent. She is otherwise quite confident and self-assured. She sometimes comes across as arrogant, which can make it a little hard for her to make friends. She knows she is special, and the stars of her birth marked her for great things. What those things are is a little less clear.

She is highly cautious of others, and can take a long time to gain her trust. She's not unfriendly; she's happy enough to talk to anyone about topics she feels are safe. Other dragons find her to be knowledgeable beyond her years, if not particularly wise or experienced. She greatly enjoys company, but rarely gets close to anyone.

In addition to her craft and learning surrounding astronomy and astrology, she has a keen ability to see through illusions and to know when someone or something has been enchanted. Given enough time to examine such magic, she can ably divine their nature as well.

Two Skillful Diplomats Empurios and Celeste traveled far from the Scarred Wasteland in the east at the request of their clan's leaders. The trip had two purposes. The first was diplomatic. A complex situation had arisen which required a show of presence on the part of the Clan of Singing Blood, or risk significant vulnerability to the clan's standing in the territories where it was taking place. Both the King and the Queen's Adviser had agreed that no specific action besides Empurios and Celeste being there would be necessary. The second purpose had to do with a certain doctor. Well, a dragon who currently billed himself as a doctor. Naedrist was an alchemist and astronomer, and all of his work derived from those two fields, which, by his philosophy and line of study, were intrinsically linked. He had in no uncertain terms made himself an enemy of the clan. He had inflicted a dire charm upon Sahko, as the two were rivals. This purpose required the stately diplomats' other skills.

The Black Telescope The greatest asset to this doctor's work was glimpsed only in a vague vision by the blind Seer Raldin. A black telescope though which the secrets of the stars poured into Naedrist's keep. Rumor and suggestion indicated it might be or have been a prototype designed and created as part of whatever ancient project erected the Arcane Observatory. Long lost and twisted over time. Twisted, perhaps, by some other and unknown evil will. It was decided that the structure was to be claimed or destroyed. The fate of Naedrist was much less important. A fractured plan was devised by the Queen of the Clan. It was inscrutable as most of her plans are. Straightforward on the surface: Empurios and Celeste were already going to be in the area, and some subtlety would be needed. Before they departed the Queen called Celeste to her chambers. Celeste remained with her for three days and nights.

In the House of Light

The pair arrived to the clan where they were meant to be meeting in the Mirrorlight Promenade. They set to impressing the locals, soothing the turbulent situation, and acting as faint, menacing reminder that the Clan of Singing Blood still had it's eyes on the matter.

Empurios then set himself to searching for signs of Naedrist, following what leads he had. Celeste maintained a presence among the diplomats and attended an elaborate party held in the evening. It took place in a great ruined hall which had been worked over by generations into something shining and new then lit up as bright as day with countless lanterns. Naedrist knew that the two of them would be coming, and he knew their secret roles. Tempting their wrath had been at least one of his reasons for tormenting Sakho. He had as an accomplice a charming enchantress whose rank and notability in the region saw her at the party with Celeste. The imperial had not been ready to defend herself against the enchantress' charms. She was separated from the party and the lights in the ruined hall, then spirited away by the night. When Empurios returned later that evening he found her vanished like a smoke. He asked, but none there knew where she had gone.

A Slave to Starlight Celeste was taken to a secret lair in the Hewn City, hidden and secure in the deep and crumbling foundation of an ancient shadowed structure. Here Naedrist had readied a special laboratory with a singular function. This was the place where the child and greatwyrm would be prepared. Using alchemy he was able to induce the production of eggs within his captured subject. When she woke, the skydancer she'd been meant to destroy told her gently not to worry. He spoke surely, but softly. She thought him mad. He spoke of the stars and planets and their alignments. He described the manner of alchemical compounds he was working with and using on her. Essences gathered and infused, salamander, drake, and undine spirits. All of which were connected in some way to particular planets that he gleefully named and listed. Celeste's mind felt slow, her body heavy. She was never able to recall what he had been on about, but he did something to her. She remembers the nest of five luminous eggs which she had been wrapped around. There were five. Then there were four. Then there was Empurios.

An Enchantment Broken

He found his mate with her senses dulled, four tiny hatchlings huddled in a loose, protective coil. Their children. His. It had taken him so long to find this cursed placed, searching the strange twilight ruins of the Hewn City. He had sent word back to his clan for aid, but none had yet arrived. The Scarred wasteland was a long way off. The Enchantress made to snare him, but he had come ready for that. As he fought her, Celeste stirred and joined the battle, attacking him furiously, but without any of her long-refined martial skill. Empurios was forced to fight his mate to get at the enchantress. He did so, and when the enchantress was slain, she melted away into a terrible black ooze which was flecked with starlight. The remains looked like a puddle of night sky.

With the enchantress dead Celeste was no longer charmed, but she was injured and her senses dulled by alchemical infusions into her body over the past several weeks. It was all the pair could do to flee the ruined laboratory with the four hatchlings, but Celeste did not forget there was a fifth.

A few days later they were joined by Roland, who was to take them back home. Empurios was confused. They had failed utterly in their task, and one of the hatchlings was still missing. Why had their clan not sent greater reinforcements? Roland had no answers for him only orders that they should return at once and worry no more about Naedrist or his telescope. Chains of Spun Sugar The missing hatchling was taken by Naedrist to the observatory which housed the Black Telescope. He was sure that he would be pursued and hounded for his crimes. The hidden observatory was the only place he was sure he and his work would be safe. It was a strange structure, hidden away beyond sight and inaccessible without certain keys: the answers to strange riddles and the proper application of obscure rituals. It had taken Naedrist years to locate and just as long to gain entrance.

It was, by simplest description, invisible to anyone who lacked a particular Sight. Naedrist had gained it with great sacrifice and subsequently come up with a new solution. He could treat the eyes of another with an alchemical mixture. It would grant temporary access to the place, as well as the ability to see other such secrets.

Once he had the young dragon at the observatory he set to placing powerful charms and bindings upon her. She was very important, and he could not risk anything going awry. His magic was subtle and tied tightly to his alchemy. He did not know that his efforts were in vain because of the blessings Celeste had received from her Queen. After observing the effects and nature of the charms on Sahko, the Mirror witch had used her own magic to upset the balances of Celeste's blood which would produce strange traits in her offspring. The harmless arcane mutations were ruinous for Naedrist's precise methods.

The Doctor's Daughter The skydancer persisted in his work, and the young imperial was named Imperetrix. He raised her as his own, and he was the only parent she knew. He was the only other dragon she knew. She could see others. The observatory had a quite good view of the countryside. She liked to watch the travelers as they passed. She also liked the books and trinkets that her father brought her from the outside world. He came and went freely, but she could not. She would some day; her father promised. For now though, she stayed in the the small keep upon which the observatory was built. Her father taught her many things, mostly about alchemy or astronomy, but a little about the outside world and the dragons who lived there too. He was strict, but kind. He came to love her very much, and called her Trix sometimes. It was always Imperetrix when things were serious, though.

She was a little spoiled and very proud. He always told her how important she was, that she was special. He showed her the stars of her birth, and from all she was learning, she understood that the stars and planets in that arrangement were very special, though she was yet to really understand why. That would come later. When she was older she would be her father's apprentice. She did not know the other purpose for which he groomed her.

She was always very well behaved, but then, she was still very young. Naedrist thought that her good behaviour was because of his charms, but it was really her natural disposition and his manner of parenting. He never worried about leaving her alone because she would always follow his rules. She had to, he was sure.

Incorrupted Eyes

Of course, children will all eventually come to mischief in some way or another. For Imperetrix, it was the Black Telescope - the primary device of the observatory. She was not allowed to use it. It was a promise. When she was older. When she was ready. She wasn't even allowed to climb up into the room where it was housed.

Really though, she only wanted to have a look at it. She would wait like her father said to peer through it. She was excited to see the stars with him, the way he did... but... she could go up and look at the telescope itself, as long as she didn't touch anything...

So that is what she did. One night, after her father had gone to bed, she crept up to the steep coiling staircase that wound up to the main observatory. There were no locked doors between her room and there. There should have been no reason to have any locked doors at all. The bindings that should have been in place on her would have kept her from her mischief.

She did not know that to merely enter the observatory was to make use of the Sight which the Black Telescope offered. It could itself be observed only from outside of the building, not within it.The entire chamber was was complex focusing device the likes of which she had no idea how to control. Countless lenses reflected and refined the light of the distant heavens and translated the messages within. When she entered there and looked through the telescope she understood new things about the nature of the universe and all its wild, vast beauty. It was more than a child should ever have comprehended, but also was such that could only be understood by a child. She also saw terrible Unknown Things reflected in the lens. She knew those Things were controlling her father and wanted to control her too. She realized he had tried to use magic to bind and enslave her and it would only get worse if she stayed and grew up with him. She was overwhelmed by the device and its multitude of visions. She screamed and wild roving eyes opened all along her body to take in all the Sights offered by the Black Telescope and the Unknown Things.

In a desperate bid to stop the visions and to keep the Unknown things and their cursed intentions away from her, she lashed out. The device and its components were not especially fragile, but its nature was delicate and it had not been designed to withstand any focused violence against it.

Naedrist heard the commotion, but by the time he reached the observatory the telescope was destroyed and his daughter was gone.




Life's Just Begun

The Stargazer & Her Story - Part 1 were written by Minstri