Soul

╭━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╮ SOUL The Eye of the Shade ╰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╯ ♫ Main Theme ♫ » silent; ghostly; shy » earnest; subdued; anxious "..." HIRAETH A half-forgotten form, the scent of roses and cedar...

B I O G R A P H Y Long ago, in the forest of the Gladeveins, a Gaoler hatchling was discovered, bedraggled and alone, by a Guardian mage who had been passing through the area while searching for her charge. Feeling a strong connection and realizing that he must be the one she was destined to find, she took the hatchling under her wing, raising him as her own child as they traveled across the lands together in search of knowledge. The hatchling soon showed himself to be strangely gifted with magic, with vastly heightened perception and the ability to perceive the auras of dragons and other lifeforms and sense their emotional states, in a manner similar to the empathy naturally found in Skydancers. To the young Gaoler, however, these extrasensory abilities were intrusive and frighteningly vivid. It was like constantly seeing through walls, he said; it took great effort to stop visualizing the energies that flowed through his surroundings, even when his eyes were closed. As he grew, it became apparent that this was something more than a rare mutation; the hatchling's magical essence felt distinctly "off" to other Nature dragons, and he was nearly unable to wield the elemental magic that should have been his birthright. There was a darkness swimming behind his green eyes, something cold and hungry that haunted his dreams. The Guardian guessed at the meaning of this, and did her best to hide his powers while she traveled to libraries and temples across Sornieth to try and understand his origins. Eventually, however, despite her efforts, the anomaly became known to an organization of unscrupulous Arcane-based scholars, who hired a group of mercenaries to track down the Guardian and her charge. After a long hunt, the warriors managed to take down the mage, leaving her for dead in a remote northern forest while they fled with the hatchling. While passing through the Scarred Wasteland, the mercenaries were forced to part with their prize when a warlord with whom they had old ties came to collect his debts. The young Gaoler ended up in captivity, where his powers were turned to aid the expansion of the warlord's empire. Despite his Nature origins, he seemed oddly impervious to the diseases rampant in the Wasteland, as if his very presence repelled them. Under his captors' orders, he taught himself to control his growing empathic senses, until he could sense the positions of life forms in a wide area, and focus to know the location and mood of a dragon on the other side of the continent. He was often looking in the direction of the Viridian Labyrinth, and seemed distressed when he couldn't feel what he sought there. His captors did their best to make him forget about it. Although he was growing more and more powerful, his abilities seemed to be limited to passive observation, and they were complacent in that knowledge for decades - until one night, when he somehow slipped his chains, and vanished. There were rumors after that, in nearby settlements, of a ghostly black-and-white dragon, an insubstantial form that moved in the corner of your eye. When you turned to look at it, it was nowhere to be seen. Rumors spread of it materializing at night, looming over fear-frozen dragons with a maw dripping black and too many teeth. Wherever it was investigated, though, nothing was found but a general feeling of uneasiness and vague reports of missing food; the monster, it seemed, had a hatchling's sweet tooth. Whatever it was, it was on the move, and seemed to be learning to hide itself from the world; for these reports moved farther and farther from the warlord's domain, and eventually faded away entirely... A P P E A R A N C E (present, young adult) (past, hatchling)

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H O A R D Battered Book of Fables Dragonmade The terrible thing is that all your favorite characters die in the end. (Special thanks XenonZerrow.) 70 Fir Branch Organics Easily mistaken for a Pine Branch. 15 Battered Book of Fables Dragonmade The terrible thing is that all your favorite characters die in the end. (Special thanks XenonZerrow.) 70 Fir Branch Organics Easily mistaken for a Pine Branch. 15 Battered Book of Fables Dragonmade The terrible thing is that all your favorite characters die in the end. (Special thanks XenonZerrow.) 70 Fir Branch Organics Easily mistaken for a Pine Branch. 15 Battered Book of Fables Dragonmade The terrible thing is that all your favorite characters die in the end. (Special thanks XenonZerrow.) 70 Fir Branch Organics Easily mistaken for a Pine Branch. 15

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The Gaoler hatchling huddled on the Guardian's back as she flew low above the trees, dodging attacks from their pursuers. A wave of heat suddenly washed over him, and the larger dragon grunted in pain. Her flight became ragged and she began to head down towards the forest; the hatchling looked back to see that a great deal of her wings had been burned by a fire attack. Their pursuers began to gain on them, faster than before.

They landed heavily in a large clearing, the Guardian looking back to make sure her charge was all right. He'd curled up even more, tucking his head between his paws. She folded her singed wings over him for protection and looked up, to see the pursuing dragons coming down to land in the clearing nearby; they began to approach the grounded Guardian, summoning spells and drawing their weapons for battle.

The hatchling stayed hidden on her back throughout the fight that ensued. The familiar pungent smell of the Guardian's venom attacks reached him, as did the shock of the blows that managed to shake her, but he only clung more tightly to his refuge.

As their unrelenting attacks wore her down, the Guardian began to stagger and finally collapsed, landing heavily on the ground. She tried to get up, snarling, but fell back as another barrage hit her, and didn't move again. As her wings went limp, the Gaoler scrambled down from his perch and darted behind her, trying his best to stay hidden from the enemy. He moved over to her side and leaned against it; feeling her heartbeat slowing and life force fading, he desperately tried to summon the healing spell she had taught him. Pressing his paws against her bloodied scales, willing her to get up -

"There it is!" The leader of the warrior group, a fiery-eyed Wildclaw, jogged warily towards the hatchling, who turned, still confused and afraid. The rest of the band had formed a circle between the dying Guardian and the trees, but he wasn't about to run into them - away from the only protection he'd known. He tried to scratch the Wildclaw who grabbed him and the other dragons that approached, but as they realized he didn't pose much of a threat, they only laughed at his struggles, shoving him into a small spell-locked cage.

He looked back one last time as they flew away with him, seeing the Guardian sprawled motionless in the battle-torn clearing. The Gaoler closed his eyes and curled up, letting grief flow over him like a wave. Unconsciously, it strengthened his powers, and he realized with a flicker of hope that he could still feel her. The smallest flame of life burned in her still...

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