Brooke

Haunted Stone Orb Trinkets When touched, wisps of smoke begin to swim beneath the surface of this dark stone, becoming more tangible the longer you hold it. (KS-sponsored by Nick B.) 75

Brooke "I gave you a chance to listen. It's too late now."

Memento Mori Generation 4 Fortuna Caeca Est watchful | silent | merciless

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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Brooke hatched with the ability to see ghosts. Had she grown up with her mother or others of the Memento Mori lineage, this might have been a manageable burden. Unfortunately, she was caught up in a storm as a hatchling and blown to The Shifting Expanse.

The dragons of Lightning had no patience for inane tales about invisible spirits. There was work to be done and no time to waste on childish lies. When Brooke could not suppress her talent, she bottled up her feelings instead. She ignored the ghosts - and then she ignored everything else.

Brooke worked through meals without complaint. She worked overtime to meet deadlines, and if the sun came up to find her still at her task, she continued into her regular shift without protesting. The Lighting flight dragons around her saw her productivity as a virtue, but they never stopped to tally the demands they each were making - and never looked closely enough to notice that she grew thinner and more haggard each day. She died there on the workroom floor.

The familiar spirit that came to bargain was a creature of potential extinguished too soon, of smoldering resentment, of shackled, impotent rage. In Brooke it saw the chance to act again on the world, and so take its revenge. For her part, Brooke saw how her life had been wasted, and saw in the spirit a chance to reclaim it. She seized the spirit, and her Second Chance, and flew back to life.

Brooke revived to find that, with her collapse, her colleagues had finally noticed her - but it was far too little and much too late. She left The Shifting Expanse without a word, ignoring their belated concern and petty indignation. She would give no more to those who had taken so much without giving back. Her new companion was not a pleasant one, but at least the bargain was fairly struck, and fairly kept.

The passage of time in the Underworld has rendered SoddenEmbers an erratic and unreliable narrator. Brooke suspects that her bound familiar does not remember the actual wrongs done to it, or the beings responsible. (And even if it could remember, time may well have placed them beyond the reach of justice.) Only the rage still remains. No matter. Brooke can provide the direction and purpose; SoddenEmbers need only provide the power.

Brooke is unimposing, almost frail, and easy to overlook. She often has trouble convincing others to pay attention to her, but she has a knack for connecting with the forgotten and powerless among both the living and the dead. Dragon, beastclan, ghost - she hears the voices others ignore, and as Reaper, exacts their revenge.

Brooke is not much of a fighter in direct combat, but with SoddenEmbers behind her, she has a potent command of curses. The stillness of the grave comes for all in the end, and neither strength nor pride will spare you. She can curse the works of your claws to crumble to naught; curse your body to a chill that is not warmed by sun or flame; curse your face and your name to fade from the memories of those around you. And for those who do not take the warning, or for those who have left a trail of ghosts in their wake? She can curse even the rushing blood to stillness, and a heart to fall silent forever. It is so hard to muster a defense against someone you never really noticed at all.

Brooke wandered with SoddenEmbers through several regions before landing in Dragonhome. There, to her surprise, she found that most dragons accepted the existence of the restless dead. Granted, most of Earth flight has had more experience with unearthed skeletons than disembodied spirits. Still, when she said that she spoke with the dead, dragons with age and experience were generally willing to listen.

She settled into a clan that was already home to several of these reanimated dragons, as well as several living dragons trained to deal with the dead. She also met other members of the Memento Mori lineages for the first time, dragons who were finally able to help her make sense of who she was and what she had become. And here, for the first time, she found allies in dealing with the wrongs of the dead. Others who can bear her warnings, and give them weight - and who can support her in claiming vengeance if peaceful avenues fail.

After so long alone, or with only SoddenEmbers beside her, Brooke is slow to trust. But if she can bring herself to do so, she may find that she is - finally - Home.