Ksenia

Polished Walking Sticks Trinkets Well crafted and expensive walking sticks that have been polished to a fine sheen. 44

Ksenia "Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea" - Tolkien

Memento Mori Generation 3 Nascentes morimur curious | jaunty | implacable

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 Vigil's 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 Hungry Sleeper made a mistake.

The Hungry Sleeper is a stolid sort of soul, and slow to change. Waking briefly to consume food and knowledge before retreating in to hibernation is not a cycle that lends itself to malleable minds. Still, even the most intransigent spirits have to acknowledge the realities of the living world if they wish to escape the relentless pull of the Underworld. The beastclans no longer hold the power they once did. Most unsatisfactory. His next host would have to be a dragon.

He had not bonded with a dragon before; he did not know their breeds. His chosen candidate was respectably flightless, with a stout body clearly designed for sleeping through unfavorable conditions, and exerting her power in times of plenty. Yes, provided her mind was even half as adept at retaining wisdom as her body was at retaining sustenance, she would do very well indeed.

If he had known anything about the lifestyle of Snappers, he would have rolled over and gone back to sleep, and taken his chances with the Underworld.

The Bargain had scarcely been struck before Ksenia turned her tail towards the living and set herself to exploring the deeper Underworld, taking The Hungry Sleeper with her. His most strenuous objections were barely enough to convince her to return fully to Life, and anchor herself there before returning to explore Death. She never sleeps. The nomadic Snapper lifestyle means she is constantly wandering away from anything that begins to feel like a home territory, and just as frequently intruding on the territory of others. She even refuses to create a proper den! A temporary burrow for molting is not an adequate substitute.

Yes, yes, hunger for knowledge, at least that much went right, but whatever happened to self-satisfied contemplation? Ksenia is never satisified - always seeking to learn, to investigate, to explore. And does she have to be so... relentlessly cheerful? Necromancers are supposed to be brooding and mysterious, Shade take it!

But oh, to taste of Life again! It's as if her exuberance is infectious. Is she changing him, or is she reawakening something already his, but long lost, the ghost of a memory of a cub who hungered for adventure? And anyway, while her Second Chance lasts, there is no undoing the Bargain. So he plods on with her, just a bit further, just a little bit further...