Dawn

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Summary for lore:
Is rather sweet and elegant, lives in Clan Burning Fantasies a clan located between the wind and fire flights their home is more like the fire flights though even with customs from both due to the clan originally being of wind. Dawn loves flowers and with no florists or ability to make flowers survive in the high heat and windy environment this makes her feel very down.

Growing up in the lush tropical clan of Sunbeam Grotto, Dawn found a staggering difference in her environment after moving to the Clan Burning Fantasies. It wasn't that she didn't like the strong winds or fierce heat of her new home - but the ash like soil didn't quite make for the bountiful flower gardens Dawn held with such fondness in her memories. When she saw a message her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Begonia sent out offering for a dragon to learn to garden with him, she jumped at the chance!


It took only a few days of waiting for a reply to arrive by postal dragon.


Dawn's heart leapt with joy at the invitation! Of course she knew she would be welcome to visit Sunbeam Grotto any time...but it never hurt to have a good excuse. She darted around her den, packing any item she might need at any point over the next two weeks into a rarely-used leather satchel. A strong beat of her wings was enough to launch her off the ashy soil and towards the direction of the clan Dawn once called home - until she realized she'd better turn back to let her neighbors know she was taking a sabbatical.


When Dawn touched down on the warm sand of Sunbeam Grotto's shore, she felt a nostalgic sort of peace bloom in her belly. Everything looked so much smaller now that she was...well, so much bigger. Still, it only took a moment to get her bearings and point herself toward the wildflower garden of which Begonia was so proud. She strolled down the beach, smiling when she saw old friends and distant relatives and waving when they noticed her.

As expected, Begonia was indeed in the garden. His bulky form was hunched over a bed of seedlings as Dawn approached, and had she not called out to him he might not have noticed she was there, focused as he was on his work. But when he heard his great-grandchild's voice, Begonia pulled himself to his feet to greet her warmly.

The two dragons decided to take a walk through the garden to catch up - which meant Dawn asked after relatives and clanmates she hadn't seen in a while, Begonia answered concisely, and they soon lapsed into a comfortable silence as they admired the beauty of the wildflowers. Dawn was delighted to see the tiny insect-like dragons that fluttered between the colorful blooms. There were some flowers that grew in the Ashfall Wastes, Dawn explained to Begonia, but the region's conditions were so extreme that keeping a garden year-round was near impossible. Furthermore, the native Fire flowers were all...so...orange - in stark contrast to the wildflower garden, which boasted flowers of all shapes and shades. Begonia's serene expression turned to a thoughtful one, and then he asked Dawn to follow him further into the garden.

A raised flowerbed held flowers that looked like all the rest - at first glance, at least. When Begonia invited Dawn to look closer, she realized that each plant was two different types of flowers grafted together. Marigolds and hydrangeas melded together in a watercolor wash of orange and pink, while a row of bluebells grew daffodil yellow. A rainbow of roses sprouted from a single bush. With wonder in her eyes, Dawn asked Begonia how this was all possible - he answered, "magic, in the form of some very clever botany."

While the magic would have been a tricky component to translate, botany was much easier to pass down from dragon to dragon. In the following days, Dawn helped Begonia with every task in his garden, so that once they were finished with daily chores they could rush to the raised flowerbed in the back of the garden. Begonia had previously worked with his niece Dominic and Sunbeam Grotto's farmers to grow crops from other elemental regions in Sunbeam Grotto's tropical climate, carefully breeding the plants to tolerate weather they were unused to. With their new objective - a colorful, hardy, fire-tolerant garden, they employed much the same techniques and borrowed Dominic's Nature magic to hasten the process. Dawn became adept at taking notes in shorthand, quickly filling a scroll with scribbles that would be incomprehensible to anyone outside the project.

All in all, it only took two short weeks for the selected plants to consistently produce seeds that grew shorter, stronger plants that could withstand harsh winds, while also able to contain a greater amount of water in their petals and leaves so the high temperatures and flying embers wouldn't burn them to a crisp. Dawn and Begonia carefully collected a satchet full of these special seeds, and Dawn didn't let it out of her sight even as she packed her bag and circled the clan bidding everyone farewell (for now). Before leaving, she returned to the wildflower garden, where Begonia was predictably hunched over the dirt, sowing some new seeds of his own. Dawn gave her great-grandfather a hug goodbye, and promised to write to him about how the new garden fared. Begonia smiled and waved her off, still waving even after her silhouette disappeared into the clouds.