Nepenthe

---

2 Oct 2020

---

Nepenthe had nothing.
They were happy enough, despite this.

Hatched, freed from the shell, upon the first day of the Plaguekin's month; when still the Arcane drakes did dance and make merry for the last few days of their own celebration. They were hatched, and into this clan they were brought. They were quick, as is the nature of Nocturnes, to learn how to fit among the other dragons. Quick to grow into a dragon warm of nature and of color, Nepenthe learned also of the greed of dragons. Learned of their lust for beauty, for power, learned how their culture was one of greed for coin, and how that greed was the manner in which they accumulated so much else.

Nepenthe did not understand, though they learned to mimic the behaviors of the other dragons.

For months after hatching, as they grew to adolescence, they tried to understand why heavy stones and shaped metals would be worth the keeping. Was it because they were beautiful? But the coins did not strike Nepenthe as beautiful- it was merely yellow and white metal that they traded and hoarded so zealously. They did not even use it to make glittering adornments; when a coin was made, rare was it to see that same coin turned to something else.

And for the gemstones, the same question: it was certainly beautiful stuff, but there was no use that Nepenthe could see. Was it enough to simply collect a hoard of them? Dragons would cry to see their gemstones marred by a scuff or a chipping, but they were still quite beautiful regardless, were they not?

So Nepenthe did not understand, though they mimicked the nature of the dragons around them, while they were still young.
But time wears on, and Nepenthe grew still further. A young adult, they asked their friends, the dragons of the clan. "And what if," they asked, "what if I were to become like you- to adorn myself in apparel and patterns from scrolls and painted skins? If I made myself strong like the others, and beautiful, and all without ever understanding your treasure and gems?"
The dragons in the clan found this very odd. To train oneself was easy; many in the clan had done that before. But to acquire new genes, and clothes, and all the rest that Nepenthe sought- that would be difficult. Perhaps impossible.
Nepenthe shook their head. "I have heard of others who do not use your currency for a similar quest; I am not a simple child any more, who stays forever in the bounds of one clan. They do it for their reasons; I do it for my own."
A hiss of whispering passed through the group Nepenthe spoke to, before one spoke up. "If you want to do this, then best of luck, friend."

Nepenthe didn't have anything.
But somehow, that didn't seem like it would stop them.

---

---