Scout

• Courier
• Diplomatic Attache

Scout left her clan following increased raids and fighting in Dragonhome. Wary of remaining in the area, she was determined to get as far away as she could and flew for the Shifting Expanse. She managed to make a safe journey as far as the plains, but in her efforts to avoid any more Beastclan settlements attempted to skirt the Reach by cutting over the highest part of the Steppes... and right through hostile harpy territory.

Her attackers were driven off by one of the Reach's longneck scout patrols. Rather than grateful, they found her terrified; grounded by the harpies' nets and badly injured, surrounded by what she thought to be enemies. Luckily Syrah happened to have been in the area ("Meditating," she said, though nobody knows on what or why she felt the need to be half in enemy territory to do it) and managed to stop the frightened Skydancer from hurting herself or her rescuers in her frantic struggles.

Lain, one of the tribe's Menders, turned up only shortly afterwards and managed to heal the worst of her injuries--broken bones and internal damage--leaving only superficial cuts and a number of lacerations that were bandaged quickly. Exhausted as the sun began to set, Lain determined that taking her up to the main lair and having her recount her experiences yet again would take too long and put her under too much stress, and graciously invited her to his own home. She was still wary of a trap, but was not so ungrateful as to refuse when the patrol had risked themselves to save her life. Lain mixed up a warm insect stew and settled her on a pile of cushions for the night, allowing her to regain her strength.

As she began to recover, it became obvious that some of her injuries could not be healed. While the healers of the Reach did their best for her, she will never have real use of her left foreleg again and unfortunately the damage done to her lungs when her ribs were broken is unlikely to ever heal fully. She retains her reflexes and courage, but will never be a front-line fighter again, and overexertion causes her severe breathing problems.

While the physical demands of the patrols and light skirmishes she was accustomed to were no longer possible, Scout proved a gift from the gods in running messages and light loads along the valley and to the surrounding plains. She uses traditional dye and colors to highlight both the ways she has changed and the ways in which she remains the same--warpaint, the mark of a fighter, but in messenger's symbols to show her pride in her service to her clan.

She’s faster than any of our landbound neighbors, and considerably more accessible (and reliable) than other means of quick communication. The instant cooperation between the two "canyon dragons" grew into a rock-solid partnership, and they remain an invaluable asset to the Reach.