Solius

Va~Light~ines 2022

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Solius has scant memories of her parents, mostly just hazy visions, a few hushed phrases, and a scent that reminds her of the nest she hatched in. She recalls being carried away while her mother cried, and the only clue she has to her heritage is an emblem locket. She was raised by a kind foster mother, but this older dragon passed away a few months ago before she was able to give Solius any guidance on where to look for her birth family. Undeterred, Solius has made this search her own personal quest and has vowed to help the other dragons that she meets along the way.

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Crown Adventures - Brightshine Jubilee 2022


Day 1 - Sunday: Tell us about your clan's leader. If your clan does not have a leader, talk about who would be most fitting to lead your clan and why!

As she wandered around the gathering, meeting dragons of various talents and backgrounds, Solius found herself thinking about the qualities of her own clan leader.

Lumi is a pragmatic leader who thinks deeply about how her actions will affect her charges. The clan sees how hard she works to keep them healthy and happy, safe and sound. She is well-loved and respected for her diplomatic personality that has allowed for bonds to be created with other local clans and traveling merchants. She is able to balance being a loving mother to her own children with her duty to the clan, in part due to being able to ask for help and rely on the other members of the clan. A good leader should be respected and trusted - loved even - by their people, thought Solius. Lumi has created a family of friends and lovers who support one another.

Lumi's family had welcomed Solius and her caretaker in when she had still been very young. After her caretaker had passed away, Solius had relied on her new family to overcome her grief and teach her how to survive. Though she still had questions about her heritage, she would never regret being part of her current family group.

Main Game: Solius's next destination will be Emperor's Wake.

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Day 2 - Monday: Our of the following four, which royal / leadership quality do you think is most important and why? (You can answer from a dragon's opinion or from your personal experience)
- Compassion - Wisdom - Charisma - Integrity

Solius pondered which of the royal qualities she thought was most important. All of them have merit, of course. But if she had to choose one that she thought all leaders should have, she decided that compassion would be best.

In her own clan, there are many wise dragons and their leader took time to listen to offered advice and opinions. A leader might be wise on their own, but it was also worth listening to the experience and knowledge of others.

Charisma can motivate dragons to join a cause or follow you into danger. But not all leaders rely on charisma to accomplish their goals. Some use reason or fear or something else entirely. A leader's presence should not be overwhelming, though a good leader usually does not go entirely unnoticed.

Being honest and morally upright is admirable. While many dragons might strive to be of strong integrity, honor alone did not a ruler make.

A leader is one who has a responsibility to those they represent, and perhaps to dragonkind as a whole. Thus compassion is a trait that all leaders should possess. Empathy and understanding of others - as well as one's self - helps us make the decisions that will more positively affect change in the world. Compassion is a trait that Solius values highly and one that has enabled her to help numerous dragons thus far.

Main Game: As Solius approached the stage to demonstrate her royal qualities, she noticed a young dragon who had been shoved to the ground. Waving the next participant to go ahead of her, she turned toward the injured Spiral and asked if she was alright. The poor youth's tail had been stepped on after she'd been knocked down by another audience member. She smiled at the whimpering dragon and spoke calmly to reassure her. Solius inspected the Spiral's tail for injuries, noting a small laceration and the beginning of some bruising. She removed the silk sash that she wore, tearing off a strip to bandage the wound. After tending to the Spiral, she quietly returned to the end of the line to await her turn once more.

As she stood in line, a lone Imperial in the distance caught her attention. She recalled that one of the clan's guardians, an Imperial named Vivid, warned her of the danger of Emperors. While the participants and crowd had been told that Luminax would be thoroughly distracted, she couldn't figure out why that lone dragon was hanging around the lair that the Emperor was known to inhabit. She kept her eyes on that area, alert for potential future threats.

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Day 3 - Tuesday: What is the most difficult part about being a leader?

Solius understood that being a leader meant having your own troubles. She saw how the responsibility of decisions affecting many lives weighed on her clan leader's heart. The most difficult part of being a leader, she surmised, was living with your decisions, no matter the outcome. Good or bad, your followers would hold you responsible. She understood why Lumi never made any decision lightly, no matter how seemingly simple and inconsequential it may seem to Solius.

Main game: While Solius wanted to help face off against the threat that is an awoken Emperor, her first thought was to help get the audience members to safety. She recognized numerous faces of locals who traded with her clan and wanted to make sure that they would return safely to their loved ones. She grabbed a dragon that had been injured during the chaos caused by panic and carried his to safety before moving to assist another...

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Day 4 - Wednesday: Should a leader take risks, or should a leader play it safe in order to protect his or her team? Why?

A leader should attempt to reduce risks that might endanger their team, though be willing to put themselves at risk if it means protecting the ones they are responsible for safeguarding. Risks should be weighed against their potential benefits, with caution winning over bravado. Solius knows that Lumi would never recklessly endanger herself, leaving the clan vulnerable. But she would put herself in harm’s way if it meant protecting a clan member.

Main Game: Solius worked with the groups that were ushering citizens to safety. As she worked, she was approached by a dragon asking for help in locating her lost child. The worry in this parent’s face moved Solius and she promised them that she would look for the missing child.

As she scanned the still anxious crowd, she noticed the group that had surrounded the Imperial that had been seen by the Emperor’s lair. Many voices were raised in anger and the surrounded dragon was sobbing and mumbling out apologies. Moved by compassion to want to ease his pain, she stepped towards the group. “Everyone, please lower your voices. We’ll have time to hear his story later, but for the moment there are more pressing concerns. Let’s focus on dealing with the current threat and leave seeking justice for when Luminax is no longer destroying our homes and terrorizing our citizens.” She moved to place herself between the shaken Imperial and some of the more aggressive dragons.

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Day 5 - Thursday: A good number of people have favored leaders taking risks yesterday. What should a leader do if someone makes a grave mistake? What if it is the leader who makes the grave mistake, despite carefully weighing everything?

Sometimes choices have predictable consequences, and sometimes the consequences are unexpected. When these unexpected consequences affect the group negatively, the leader must still take responsibility, even if it wasn’t their actions that caused the consequence.

Solius remembers when clan leader Lumi went to apologize to a neighboring clan after a dispute over territory boundaries had caused fighting between scouts. One of the clan’s newer scouts had traveled too close to the neighboring clan’s nesting grounds, triggering an attack by their guards. The terrified scout had flown home quickly, causing Solius’s clans’ guards to strike back at the neighboring guards that had chased the scout. Multiple dragons had been injured due to the scout’s ignorance over boundaries and proper etiquette forgotten in a moment of panic. Lumi worked to ease tensions with their neighbor, aided by the clan’s diplomats and healers. She took responsibility for her scout’s mistake and patiently worked to make amends so that a conflict like that could be avoided in the future. Everyone was glad that no dragons had died, but the scars - both physical and mental - remained to remind them of what had happened.

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Day 6 - Friday: Do you think leaders are born or made?

Leaders are made, shaped by their circumstances. There are many kinds of leaders, each strong in their own way, suited to the specific challenges that they step forward to face. Some are lucky enough to be guided into the role, while others find themselves stepping up when a leader is needed and there is no one else willing or able to take on the responsibility. Solius thought that many of the best leaders have been those chosen to lead by their subjects because they prove themselves worthy of that trust.

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Day 7 - Saturday: What qualities do you wish to see in a leader?

Aside from the aforementioned qualities of Compassion, Wisdom, Charisma, and Integrity, Solius thought that leaders should strive to be Respectful, Understanding, and Self-Aware. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses is important, as is being able to recognize them in others. Being able to communicate effectively and delegate responsibility are important skills, one’s that require respect for and understanding of other dragons’ thoughts and feelings. Solius has seen how her clan leader listens to and validates her clan, and everyone trusts and respects her for it.

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