Dearcandhubh

Dearcandhubh was one of the first daughters of Earraedhris and Ceotha, along with her Tundra sister Gealaglair. She was also one of the first children of the Bramblewood Grove to leave the forest, beginning her Search by striking out to the southern lands.

It would be many months before a heavily scarred, starving Guardian dragon dragged herself heavily through the trees, propped up by what looked like a mass of stone, bone, and moss at her side. A twisted claw of mutated flesh, reeking of the Plague lands, twitched and writhed on her shoulders. Her scales were blotched and cracked, and her wing membranes were shot through with constantly squirming dark splotches that seemed to have life of their own.

It was Earraedhris who first recognized his daughter's scent, rushing to her side as she heaved herself to the base of the great tree. There she let her head fall, closing her eyes wearily as she struggled to catch her breath.

"I..." she rumbled deeply, letting her wings fall limp, "am home."

---

Since then, Dearcandhubh has struggled to find her place anew in the Bramblewood Grove. She isn't contagious, but even the grove's most skilled healers could not remove some of the contagions and mutations that afflicted their blackberry during her sojourn in the Scarred Wasteland. Her many battles have made her strong, but this frightens some weaker and younger members of the clan, as she still strongly bears the marks of the Plague lands' touch.

Right now, she's most often found patrolling the outskirts of the territory, or in the Witches' Garden. The parasitic claw on her shoulder is more of a nuisance than a help during day-to-day life, but it does come in handy for carrying loads and packages. She frequently delivers things to and from the inhabitants of the Witches' Garden, who aren't quite so worried about the claw "contaminating" their goods.

Gealaglair, Earraedhris, and Ceotha are still feeling out just how much the Scarred Wasteland has changed their little blackberry. Time will tell.

---

And time did tell, for while Dearcandhubh had quit the land of Plague, Plague was not quite ready to quit her yet. Almost a year after her return to the Bramblewood Grove, her mutations surged once again. Once her clanmates managed to track her down in the fenny parts of the Witches' Garden, she was almost unrecognizable, except to the keen noses of her Tundra family members.

The clan's first Bogsneak, she retains some of the instincts of her Guardian birth, guarding the damper regions of the Garden almost as though they were her Charge.

---

Her mutations surged once more several years later, this time adding reinforcement and chitinous growths to her wings. At first, they made movement cumbersome and uncomfortable; however, several rough shedding cycles later, the growths and new bones split from her main wings to form a secondary pair. She is still relearning how to fly with them, but Meirleach and Balgair are eager to help their clanmate reclaim the skies. It's a struggle Meirleach, at least, knows intimately.