Eirian

Throughout history, arcane dragons have invented many methods of harnessing the magical energies of their flight. Some of them even work reliably! But after having his projects destroyed by one too many experimental magic condensers, Eirian decided it was worth his effort to study a less unstable method of collecting magic. The humble conflux. One of the arcane flight's oldest, safest, and definitely slowest magical devices.

Clan _______'s conflux sits alone on a barren patch of stone, exposed to the worst of the island's weather. Well, except for the small arcglass bubble shield that Eirian added for the express purpose of keeping the weather out. Which is actually rather large if you're not a guardian — quite a few fae could live comfortably inside it. Eirian copied the design from the Astrolodome. He had wanted to be one of the dragons who fixed cracks in the Dome back when he lived there, but it turned out that a guardian's weight caused cracks more quickly than he could fix them. (The magical reinforcements have to be turned off for repair work.)

The conflux itself is a deceptively simple looking building, made of wood and large enough to fit four or five imperials if you really twisted them up and crammed them in there. The pink chalcedony altar in the center appears to be the most important fixture, with the tables and shelves around it for storage a distant second. But what's actually important is the roof. It took months of effort for Eirian to get it just right, a complex lattice of tiny crystal lenses and gaps of open air that focus both starlight and energy from the local leyline into arcane patterns on the altar's surface. Every measurement was made with exacting precision, maximizing the magic redirected towards the altar. It's an environment perfected for infusing magic into items, allowing a talented crafter to create wonders, slowly but surely. Dragons like Cress and Raknakthak appreciate it quite a bit. Or you could just leave your magical flashlight in it for a few days and come back to pick it up fully charged.

Because really, that's all Eirian intended it for. Sure, the mathematics involved in designing the building are too complex for most to bother with the effort of ever learning them, but as far as he's concerned it's just a magic gazebo. It doesn't do anything that any other arcane clan couldn't do, but it's convenient and useful for his clanmates and that's all that really matters to him. All he should need to do is keep the conflux clean and the lenses aligned, and then he can spend the rest of his time pursuing his hobbies. Like music. Eirian can keep a sick beat on his drum kit. Said drum kit was banished to the caves on the rear of the island because the massive bass drum was vibrating the entire fortress, but Eirian doesn't care that much. The acoustics are surprisingly nice in the sea caves.

But things can't be that simple. Conflux maintenance is a full-time job, mostly due to the antics of one spiral. Looking at you, Zayin. The spiral, who has joined a cult / founded a cult / is an entire cult by himself is a constant thorn in Eirian's side. He would gladly let Zayin use the building, if Zayin would just stop insisting that it was actually a shrine to some great power, and more importantly stop messing with the alignment of the ceiling. Eirian has no patience for whatever the spiral's on about, but he knows for a fact that the conflux isn't sentient, and that no amount of extra feathers and lenses hanging from the ceiling will allow him to communicate with it. The poor dragon is probably just extra sensitive to leylines, Eirian thinks, and also clearly doesn't know what a leyline is. Not that that prevents Eirian from chasing him off with a big stick, but it does mean that he feels a little bad about it when he does so. Just a little.

Eirian carries around quite a few things at nearly all times, all strapped to various parts of his body, and all of which are used for maintenance of the conflux. He has charts and calculations of the correct alignment of the roof, and an eyepiece so that he can actually see the fine adjustments he's making. Angles often need to be recalculated as the stars move, so he has a telescope and more charts for doing that, and a wind flight device produces a smoke that he uses to visualize the eddies of the leyline, in case that power flow fluctuates and forces yet more adjustments. That's not to even get started on all the different cleaners he has for the lenses and the altar, along with some acids for etching new replacement lenses. Also the tea. That's very important, as it's what keeps him going through the day. He eats the tea plants raw.

Like all guardians, Eirian has a charge. He keeps it in on one of the shelves in the conflux, since it's not like he's not there all the time anyways. It's a set of fine crystal spheres, which Zayin won't keep his grubby little hands off of. They're not even important to anything! All they are the balls for a traditional fae team sport. They levitate, and then each team tries to send them through rings on the opposite side of the arena. Powerful throws or blasts of magic tend to send them ricocheting around everywhere, making for exciting gameplay even when the players aren't taking arcane bolts to the face. It's a somewhat modernized take on an even older game where you threw the crystal spheres directly at the other players. Eirian's set come from a world championship game that he was lucky enough to get tickets for. (There's not spots in the stands reserved for the largest dragon breeds.) Sure, he found his charge there, but the team he was rooting for lost, so all in all it was kind of a wash.