Witness

Owlcat Journal Trinkets Embossed with a colorful owlcat, this journal is filled with the hopes, dreams, and cookie recipes of a young dragon. 24

Witness "We understand. We will remember you."

Memento Mori Generation 1 Fortuna Caeca Est calm | kind | attentive

Memento mori (Latin: "remember that you have to die") is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. This curse would be traced down his lineage. All Moros' children were destined to die, like any dragon. But they would be given a second chance. It was up to the children if they would accept the bargain.

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The spirit that came to him rustled like feathers, like the pages of a book. It showed him tales of ghosts - sad, lonely, desperate - trapped between worlds, unable to move either forward or back as they lost themselves piece by piece to the inevitable erosion of time. It showed him those things in his own life that remained to be done, and painted vivid illustrations of the dragon's own fate among the newly dead. But this doom might be averted, it said, if only the dragon would agree to bring the spirit back into life with him. The dragon accepted.

The spirit had made more of an impression than it knew. The dragon came back committed, not just to avoiding his own death, but to helping others accept theirs. Witness helps ghosts deal with their unfinished business and release their remaining anchors. While no one knows what waits beyond for those who move on, it is certain that they have neither hope nor peace while they remain as ghosts. However, he feels his true calling is to try and help souls find their peace before they die. It is good to ease suffering, but better still to prevent it. This can be a hard sell given dragonish tendencies for hoarding, but Witness is dedicated to his self-appointed task.

Witness is a particularly patient and attentive listener. So many of the dead and dying need most to be heard, to feel like their lives mattered to someone. When Witness adds a new layer to his pearl, or Ghostwriter adds a new story to its pages, the listener has tangible proof that they are remembered. This may be enough to let them release a (current or future) anchor that cannot or will not provide the memory they crave.

Psychopomp, guide thyself; Witness is particularly aware that someday, even his Second Chance will end. He tries to cultivate a sense of calm detachment that he hopes will allow him to move on easily when his time comes.

This is sometimes made more challenging by his krewe. Brooke is more likely to reward a ghost's desire for "justice" than to calm it, and when Spectre brings the party, she's hard to ignore. Witness has a natural ally in Doughty, whose advocacy for "the Good Death" seeks to alleviate the fear that so often makes living and dead reluctant to let go.

As a native of Shadow, Witness also has had a difficult time adapting to some of his clanmates here in Earth. He gets along well enough with the Canyon Wyrms, but the Tomb Guardians seem intent on validating the persistence of the restless dead rather than releasing them. Worse, the Cairnstone Skeletons and Fossils seem to be enjoying a "Second Chance" that is unexplained by Memento Mori orthodoxy or psychopomp philosophy. Their presence reminds him that, given the choice, Witness himself refused to pass on not so long ago.