Eventuality

The Forsaken are a strange crossbreed of fungus and dragon, born of coincidence and magic. A happenstance accident - an act of the Gods - gave them life; and the inner drive of their fungal roots encourages them to spread their existence, to find connection in all corners of the globe. The places they nest glow with spores being cast to the lands around them, humming with hope and creation. Though not all of those cast find life, some spores land - by coincidence - in the dark and the damp, where the earth is warm; there, they grow - by magic - into something that is almost (but not quite) a dragon.

At least, it's dragon-shaped.

Not all hatchlings awaken their connection to the hyphae - the vast telepathic network that links all Sporelings together - and those that don't wander, believing themselves orphaned and forgotten, not quite sure what it is that makes them different. Those that do, however...




Like many things on Sornieth, a hatchling's innate abilities can be determined by the color of its eyes; however, without fail, faceted and goat eyed dragons have a stronger connection with their innate magic, and are able to manipulate it with ease. There's a rumor that facet-eyed dragons can even learn other schools of magic, given enough time, but there must be more research conducted before that can be confirmed.

All hatchlings capable of a Forsaken Connection have darkvision, an innate ability to sense when secrets are being kept, and are prone to bouts of curiousity. Unsurprising - after all, that's how you found this, isn't it?

Forsaken spores have yet to take root in Earth's domain - there's not enough dark, damp areas to satisfy the needs of gestation.
Spores that begin in Fire are surprisingly even-tempered; their tenacious calm is born of the temperatures their chitin has to endure for them to even reach gestation in the blazing heat of the Ashfall Wastes.

They are all readily capable of firebreathing and can all endure heat to an extreme degree, with the rare hatchling producing incendiary spores when threatened and some unusual cases literally catching fire across the whole of their bodies for an extended period of time, by manner of excreting flammable substances from their pores and then sporing to catch them ablaze. The most primal of the Flamecaller's Forsaken have an innate connection with heat and fire, and can use this to manipulate the temperature of the air around them and producing fireballs at will.

Most of Fire's Forsaken have a notoriously hard time developing connections with those around them. They hold grudges, nursing the embers of their hatred long past when they should have died down. However, they burn with a similar strength and persistence when their soul resonates with others; the loyalty of an Emberling is hard won and even harder lost.
Spores that gestate on the Winds are flighty and excitable, always looking for new adventure. They reach maturity at a faster rate than almost any other sporelings, and are always eager to spread their joy.

Windlings are all capable of wind manipulation, and have an innate sense about the weather; they can predict storms and dry spells with equal accuracy. Rarely hatchlings are very good at tracking, able to detect the most subtle of forgotten scents that linger on the breezes; and unusual hatchlings are capable of short-range teleportation, or 'blinking'. A primal hatchling from Wind is capable of controlling the weather, via subtle mastery of the winds and air currents that migrate across Sornieth.

The Forsaken of Winds are full of indecision and are all prone to flights of fancy. They are, almost without fail, forgetful and easily distracted; however, they bring every ounce of their excitable energy to all their endeavors. Any event that includes one of them is sure to be one full of laughter and delight.

The spores that begin their lives in Water's domain take the natural divination properties inherent in most Water dragons to another level - they possess a foresight that reaches at least a day into the future, with uncommon and rare hatchlings being able to see far beyond that, and primal hatchlings are rumored to be able to see for years. In addition, the rare hatchling is capable of telekinetic clairvoyance - they can See the lives of others by touching beloved possessions, even without the other dragon in the room - and unusual hatchlings are quite skilled at prophesying. The most primal of Waterlings are direct conduits to the Universe, and can provide eerily accurate answers to any number of questions - but beware, the truth is not always worth hearing...

The Forsaken Shadows are an unruly lot, prone to weaving elaborate lies in order to provide infinite amusement. The most fae of the Sporelings, they're incorrigible pranksters, full of riddles and questions all designed to frustrate and infuriate even the most stubborn of dragons. However, this fire of chaos and destruction seems to simmer as they age, with elder Shadowlings nurturing their connection with chaos to offer eerily accurate predictions of oncoming devastation.

The breeding grounds are plentiful in Shadow, making it hard to analyze and record the incredibly varied abilities of the spores that begin their lives there. Without a doubt, all Shadowling are attuned to elements of chaos - they all have the ability to subtly adjust the happenings around them, pushing at luck and pulling at entropy to ensure that the results are as chaotic and unexpected as they are. Prestidigitation, too, seems common in the hatchlings that spore in the Tangled Woods. The rare hatchling has displayed some low-level conjuration abilities, with unusual hatchlings having a knack for inspiring fear - all for the sake of trickery. Those that are most primal possess an innate connection with the shadows, able to manipulate and merge with them at will.

The Forsaken Shadows are an unruly lot, prone to weaving elaborate lies in order to provide infinite amusement. The most fae of the Sporelings, they're incorrigible pranksters, full of riddles and questions all designed to frustrate and infuriate even the most stubborn of dragons. However, this fire of chaos and destruction seems to simmer as they age, with elder Shadowlings nurturing their connection with chaos to offer eerily accurate predictions of oncoming devastation.
There are only a few hot spots in the Southern Icefield that can provide satisfactory gestation grounds for drifting spores; as such, very few Forsaken nest in Ice, and those that do do not do so frequently.

The rarity of safe sporing grounds means that the spores are often scattered wide, with very few of them actually finding enough warmth to sustain them; as such, even those clutched together rarely grow together - in the barren Icefields, one mouth is easier to feed than two. The constitution of Icelings is, as a result, incredible; they can go days without feeding or replenishing themselves. On some uncommon occasions, hatchlings have have shown a proclivity towards gardening, capable of nurturing plants in the harshest of environments. The rare hatchling can revert ice to water and back again, with the occasional unusual hatchling able to also boil water with a touch. Primal hatchlings born in Ice can produce ice at will, creating from the air around them the base of their magic for use in any fashion they so choose.

Being creatures of connection, the fact that most of the Icy Forsaken begin life alone tends to result in them seeking out loud and boisterous clans. Some of them will blend in as though they've always lived there (sometimes to the chagrin of the residents) while others simply loom nearby, still as statues, waiting for acknowledgement. What they lack for in magical talent they make up for in strength, and they will fight to the death for the clans that take them in. However, they tend to remain stoic, unapproachable creatures, unsure how to engage in the lively proceedings around them without feeling the heat of life themselves.
Sparklings are common, as the addition of Lightning to a sporing can increase the number of spores that survive the tumultuous process of shaking off their chitin and reaching for the skies. The only spores that mature faster than those grown on the Shifting Expanse are the ones that find their future in the winds.

Lightning hatchlings are clever and curious, with an uncanny knack for getting out of (and into) unexpectedly tricky situations, as problem-solving is in their nature.

Their curiousity will be their downfall.
Like Earth, there are few spaces in Light's domain that are well-suited for the Forsaken. Those that do nest there tend to do so in the ruins of the Hewn City, creating hatchlings that are strangely haunted.

All of Light's Forsaken can see ghosts - whether real or imagined is anyone's guess - and the more unusual of them can speak with the dead (anyone's dead). The rare hatchling can perform divination from this ability, developing a knack for querying the other side that provides insight to this one. The most primal of Glittering spores are truly terrifying - there are rumors they can raise the dead, or give life (and take life) from a corpse with a touch. Though whether or not it is any sort of life worth having is questionable.

Due to the eerily haunted mantle that tends to lay on the shoulders of Light's Forsaken, most clans shun them. Those that give them succor find that they bring their ghosts with them, and as a result they never stay in one place for long - either choosing to move on to protect the dragons they love, or being chased out by dragons that have come to loathe them. Only other Forsaken seem capable of placating the ghost - though they can do so just by existing near the Glittering one.
Seedlings are patient, but also terrifying.

They're capable of growth - they can encourage life to sprout, gestate, and bloom - and more advanced Seedlings can also reverse growth. Primal seedlings can manipulate all life - not just plants - which is probably the scariest thing in existence

Plaguelings are rare.

Space cadets.

---