Odile

(As with most of my dragons, unless specified otherwise, breeding, offspring, and Favorite Offspring are non-lore stuff.)
(Raffle Iguana Friend )


(Note 1 - The bio below reflects that nobody in Odile's hatch-clan ever understood the specifics involved.

Note 2 - Although some specifics do not parallel, this dragon's bio was written with a real-life friend in mind. I say this gently - the only opinion that matters to me on the subject of Odile's bio is theirs.

Note 3 - I am probably never going to hear DL's "Fire It Up" without thinking of this dragon. Earwyrm?)



(Level 25, melee, retrained to try Sylvandyr's Kelp Beds Fire duo.)

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Known as an especially hot-tempered Fire Wildclaw, Odile hatched unusually large, as though he needed to be larger to contain his inner flames. Mistaken for a female in the nest, he was half-grown before a Tundra's keen-nosed sniff determined there was anything different about Odile from his three sisters. In Wildclaws there is generally not a great difference except in size and scent, and until half-grown, Odile smelled no different from his sisters and was the largest offspring his parents had ever hatched.

To his parents' credit, while they were confused to learn of their misidentification of their offspring, they dealt with the discovery admirably well, giving Odile the choice of what came next. Some dragons in his clan took longer to adjust, but these days the only relic of Odile's hatchling days is the name he chose, following long consideration, to keep after shedding the rest of his accidental female identity.

It was not this that saw him exiled, but that hot temper that only grew hotter with time. He fought over anything and everything, over nothing even. Odile fought for the pure rush and joy he found in battle, without a care for social rank or even the outcomes of the fights he started. Win or lose, it was a rush he could not seem to resist, making him a frustrating and unnerving element in a carefully-structured Wildclaw clan.

It took a new clan and a new friend in the quiet artist Onemala to cool Odile's flames somewhat. That, and the watchful eyes and honed skills of Azakar, who saw in Odile a dragon who needed focus and purpose for his combative inclinations. In his old clan, Odile was repeatedly turned away from training as a warrior, as he was considered dangerous enough without making him more so. In his new clan, Odile is being trained for battle against the most terrifying foes his clan will face, with all of Azakar's skills and confidence as a teacher to help Odile channel his energy toward this end.

So far, it seems to be working to help Odile learn to manage his impulses, and it certainly helps that with other trainers now serving the clan, Azakar has the time on top of his already seemingly boundless energy to keep an eye on his newest pupil. As well as.... not so much "keep him out of trouble" (an acknowledged probably-impossible task), as direct Odile into more carefully-chosen kinds of trouble that do not lead him to yet another clan turning him out on his ear - or possibly even lead him to his death. The Mirror warrior considers Odile incredibly lucky to have survived long enough to have this second chance, and he is probably right.

Odile, the Fire Wildclaw warrior-apprentice who once fought anyone over everything and nothing, spends quite a bit of time these days with Onemala, the Water Wildclaw artist who never fights anyone over anything. Two less-likely friends one might never meet; even Onemala was wary of him at first, and Odile found Onemala's steadfast refusal to raise a claw or a sharp word against him to be both frustrating and fascinating. But friends they are, now, with Odile having become Onemala's closest friend, and Onemala still probably Odile's only dragon friend, unless one counts his newfound teacher.

Odile's aggressive tactics proved to work well with Mohala's flamboyant style, so these two quite different warriors can often be found working in tandem on a hunt or in a fight. They are, however, prone to engage in verbal scraps with each other when not otherwise occupied.

These days the need for another, larger warrior to linger nearby when their voices are raised, ready to intervene when things become too heated and sparks are flying between these two, is less than it once was; Odile has learned to direct his tremendous anger more usefully, although a push too far is still answered with fire.

And of course, he has his familiar companions, as brave and hot-tempered as Odile himself; he has become the go-to for the larger and more alarming Fire creatures, as Reveler is for the smaller, friendlier sort. But Odile's closest friend is the one clinging to him with rough little lizard toes.