Birch

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Pronouns: She/Her

Orientation: Bisexual

Gender: Nonbinary

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Born in a Venerable Lair on the Snowsquall Tundra, Birch was named after her fiery mother, a warm and passionate Wildclaw who fully supported her daughter's choice to leave home after spending decades on the tundra, battling marauders and hunting game with her father, Ink.

Ink was a quiet, shadowy drake who preferred action to words. He was an excellent hunter, easily able to hide amongst the fir trees of the Boreal Wood as they stalked their prey. Birch learned her survival, hunting, and fighting skills all from her father, though apart from sharing missions, they never did develop a close bond. Ink remained a very closed off and private individual, and to this day, Birch doesn't know what made her father leave the shadows of the Tangled Wood for the snowscape of the Southern Icefield.

Birch's mother, also named Birch, was another story. Born in the Emberglow Hearth to a Coatl father and a Wildclaw mother, she grew up surrounded by blacksmiths and the heat of the forge.

Although a talented flameforger, the elder Birch had a wanderlust that she needed to satisfy. She left home and travelled far and wide before meeting Ink and settling down in the Snowsquall Tundra. Here, she returned to her natural calling, becoming a blacksmith for the local clans. With the birth of their only hatchling, she knew her days of wandering were over.

The younger Birch shared a special bond with her mother, hanging on her every word when she would speak about her travels abroad. She was still quite young when she showed an interest in her mother's work, and so the elder Birch taught her daughter everything she knew about the forge. She turned out to have a knack for it, in spite of being Ice-born, and soon mother and daughter were running a fairly successful business.

Birch had grown into a fine young Wildclaw, but the wanderlust that had infected her mother was tugging at her as well. Finally, she approached her parents about leaving the tundra. Her father was surprised; her mother was not. The elder Birch gave her daughter her blessing. The taciturn Ink said nothing. She departed feeling torn in two directions.

Birch travelled much as her mother had, and found herself offering her services as both a blacksmith and a mercenary, sometimes both. She fought in battles all across the eleven elemental lands, earning treasures and scars for her troubles, until a Roc's talon gave her the eye injury that left her completely blind on one side. Realizing she was lucky to be alive, Birch decided to put an end to her adventuring.

She settled in the Starfall Isles, taking up the hammer once more. A chance encounter with some bandits led to her being hired, once again, for her fighting skills. This time, it was not as a warrior, but as an instructor. She now only works part-time at the forge, devoting the rest of her time to training young warriors in the coliseum. She keeps meaning to visit home, but somehow it never happens.

Instead, she's discovering that she has found a new home and a new family, strange though they may be. Somehow, she has developed a complicated bond with the temperamental Mirror who leads the Starwood Bandits. Azrael was also the one who bought her the tail bell, because years of training under her father Ink had given her the ability to sneak up on almost any dragon, even a Mirror!

She claims to be retired from that life, anyway, so she wears the bell to humor him. She can always remove it when she wants to...