Ashenidol

Lightning Guardian --- --- [ House Abyssal ] [ First Generation ] (She/Her) --- --- Empress of the Routic Imperium (First Autocratic Sovereignty), Queen of the Routic Imperium (Second Union), and Paladin to House Abyssal --- ---

Imperial Rulership First Union Queen Silkrouter and King Guapostrider ____ ___ Founding Union of the Routic Imperium. Together, the two of them laid the foundation for all future Imperial Rulership and their administrations; forming core allies in the process. --- --- Second Union King Guaposilver and Queen Ashenidol ____ ___ Ascended to power following an upset marriage, shocking the entire Imperium. Their policy begun the Opposition Era, which marked a turn away from standard Imperium values. --- --- First Autocratic Sovereignty Empress Ashenidol ____________ __________ Declared herself Empress after King Guaposilver was injured in an assassination attempt-- and later kidnapped. Consolidated her power in attempt to become eternal ruler. --- --- Third Union King Guaporouter and Queen Lapis ____ ___ Ousted Empress Ashenidol and restored traditional Imperium values with the help of the Birthright Faction.

Ashenidol was born near the Tempest Spire of the Shifting Expanse to Huckleberry and Loxely, a breeding pair housed at Rasia's Random House Hatchery. She was born the second oldest out of a litter of four: her older sister, Jarnsaxa, her younger sister, Metallicidol, and an unnamed younger brother. Ashenidol and her siblings were raised primarily to be sold off to the highest bidder-- with Huckleberry and Loxely being a rather popular pairing in-particular. Ashenidol became particularly close with her older sister, who taught her many valuable life lessons in the time they spent together. Ashenidol and Metallicidol were a lot alike, but they did not always get along; and Ashenidol barely knew her youngest, unnamed brother. Albeit born to serve her role as a commodity, Ashenidol considered the childhood months she spent with her siblings some of the happiest days of her life.

Unfortunately, the four of them were separated from each other when they were still very young. Jarnsaxa was sold off to a clan in the Wandering Contagion of the Scarred Wasteland, set to play an important religious role. Ashenidol was sold off to House Router of the Shifting Expanse, while Metallicidol and her younger brother stayed behind at the hatchery. Even though the young dragon was sad that she had to go, she saw her move to the Shifting Expanse as her ticket to freedom. She decided from then on that she would not let such emotions get in the way of her goals. Born completely powerless, the young Ashenidol sought to find a place in the world where she could be the most powerful dragon of all; either through magic or imperial rulership. So began her quest...

Ashenidol's first few days spent within the soon-to-be Routic Imperium were fast and hectic. She had quite a bit of trouble finding a place to live, and she found herself not socially adept enough to fully befriend the members of House Router. Instead, she found herself making friends with several of the dragons considered to be of lower stature. Ashenidol ended up finding her childhood friends in Zephyrbone and Serpentkiss. The three of them became bosom buddies-- forming an unbreakable friend group. Many citizens began to know them for always hanging out in a different part of the clan every day, chatting away amongst themselves. Ashenidol had feelings for both Zephyrbone and Serpentkiss, but never allowed herself to express them. She thought that to express her true feelings would be a weakness, and it kept her closed off from her closest friends. Eventually, Zephyrbone and Serpentkiss became a couple, and Ashenidol found herself third-wheeling. As a way of expressing their intent to make her feel welcome and at home within the clan, Queen Silkrouter gifted the young Ashenidol a Wooly Walrus. Ashenidol decided that it should be named Edgar Allen, trying to choose a name that invoked the feeling of brooding and angst. Zephyrbone was also given a familiar of his own by the Queen. As a result, Ashenidol and Zephyrbone felt as if they owned something to the clan. They both wanted to contribute, to become important contributors to the prosperity of their community. Together, they petitioned Chief Warmaster Mosspelt to allow them to enter the Knight's Academy; requesting that they be trained to serve in the clan's standing army as official Paladins. Although they were still young, Chief Warmaster Mosspelt could see there was a certain passion in their eyes. She could tell they cared greatly for the clan. She agreed to let them train to become Paladins under her guiding hand, hoping to shape them into the blueprint for all future Paladins within the clan. After a few short years of training at the Knight's Academy, both Zephyrbone and Ashenidol were officially made Paladins to House Abyssal; serving in the second regimen of the Routic Imperium's official standing army. The two of them took their newfound roles very seriously, and trained every day to hone their combat skills.

With the clan's strength and prominence on the rise, Paladin Ashenidol felt that she did not get the power or respect she deserved as a member of the clan's armed forces. As a result, she sought to change her position within the clan by spreading her influence. Coming together with Chief Warmaster Mosspelt, Psionic Mage Canyondust, Paladin Zephyrbone, and Serpentkiss, the five dragons petitioned the King and Queen to form a new House of their own: House Abyssal of the Shifting Expanse. Together, the dragons sought to form a council of mages and military specialists to lead their subsection of the clan. Chief Warmaster Mosspelt was chosen to be the head of this council, and become the main figurehead of House Abyssal.

Now a member of one of the Imperium's most influential families, Paladin Ashenidol held her head high.

Queen Ashenidol the Cold was wed and anointed on the very day her two children emerged from their eggs. Alongside the new King Guaposilver the Agronomist, the two of them had hatched a new generation of House Router and House Abyssal: Princess Ashensilver I, and Prince Guapoidol I. These new dragons signified a union between the two Houses that was not expected by members of the clan. As a result, a new era was ushered over the whole of the Routic Imperium (later dubbed the 'Opposition Era' by its citizens). Given that they were not an important part of her grand plan-- Queen Ashenidol felt that her work as ruler superseded the need to care for her children. This was a duty she delegated to those who served the Router Throne; allowing her to tend to the 'more important' things. It was not that she did not care for them, but that she was intent on building a better world that they could bask in, rather than raising them. She promised that one day, when her grand plan was carried out, that she would finally be able to settle down and spend time with her children. During the wedding, Queen Ashenidol was reunited with her younger sister, Metallicidol, who had traveled from the Tempest Spire of the Shifting Expanse to attend the new Queen's wedding. With the encouragement of Ashenidol, Metallicidol stepped forward to help the new administration tackle its ambitious goals. The Queen had hoped that keeping her sister close would make her a valuable political pawn that would come in-handy much later. Metallicidol, alongside Consort Starcatcher, were both chosen to serve as Dukes to House Abyssal and House Router, respectively; the first Dukes to serve the Routic Imperium. Their jobs were to serve as the mediators between the Houses and the current imperial rulership. King Guaposilver and Queen Ashenidol hoped that this new system would lead to better coordination between the governing bodies of the Imperium. The new Queen especially liked that it allowed the two monarchs to have greater influence over the three Houses. With greater control, she believed that she could keep a close eye on resistance efforts and seal her position before the time came to eliminate King Guaposilver.

One of the first thing the Second Union's administration tackled was the change in personnel. The King did not trust Chief Warmaster Mosspelt-- which ultimately led to her resignation. Being rather close with Paladin Zephyrbone, who had been training under Mosspelt for many years, the Queen decided to appoint Zephyrbone as the second Chief Warmaster of the Routic Imperium. Queen Ashenidol also expressed much concern about the 'rumors' behind Canyondust experimenting on live subjects (all ones that she, herself, had spread). While she wanted to make a move to choose the next Psionic Mage as a replacement, the King quickly chose Consort Cherry to take up the position. This angered the Queen, as she knew that Cherry already knew too much about her and her clandestine activities. She allowed the King to have his pick in-order to sate him, but knew that she had to begin building her plan of action once the new Psionic Mage decided to squeal.

After Mosspelt, Princer Guaporouter, and Princess Lapis got together and formed the Birthright Faction of the Routic Imperium, Queen Ashenidol began to get nervous. Although she could easily spy on the faction, a political organization with much prominent members could end up rallying a good deal of support. Rather than take them head-on, Queen Ashenidol sought out a different solution: a proxy war. Hastily meeting with Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal, the Queen argued that her administration would be one that is more accepting of the Order of the Blighted Sunset than one controlled by the Birthright Faction. Seeing this as an opportunity for increasing the influence of his religious organization-- Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal understood what she was asking of him. He promised that his organization would infiltrate the Birthright Faction and dismantle it from the inside. In-exchange, the Plaguemaster demanded that House Opal be privy to information regarding the hidden projects underneath the clan's castle. Queen Ashenidol begrudgingly accepted his offer, deciding that it would be easier to deal with him once the Birthright Faction had been eliminated. Queen Ashenidol soon sought out Duke Starcatcher, the dragon she had originally struck her deal with. Wanting to keep him updated, she told him all the details of what she had been up to within the past few weeks (excluding the fight she had had the night before she became Queen). Starcatcher was eager to become King, but Ashenidol insisted that they would have to wait until the time was right. She wanted to become more familiar with the role of Queen; to dig up information that could be valuable to them in their takeover. Despite her intention to stay cautious, the Duke was getting nervous. She did not understand why, but she could tell that there was something about the current situation that seemed to be pressing on him. Duke Starcatcher expressed that he would like to take the throne sooner rather than later-- suggesting that there were time-sensitive political alliances he was hoping to form once he rose to power. He refused to reveal more details than that, stating that he had to be cautious, as well, before revealing the details of his own grand plan. Albeit making the Queen suspicious of him, she understood, as she was doing the same thing, herself. It had just made her feel... a bit lonelier than she'd liked. Vulnerable.

Using the resources she now had available to her, the Queen sought out to uncover the secrets behind Project EDEN. Frustratingly, she quickly began to find that the Queen had completely concealed any evidence that the project had even existed. Queen Ashenidol and her Paladins were hard-pressed to find any of the resulting data or equipment. She quickly gave up her search and began working on a project of her own: Project ZERO; a cryonic stasis process that would allow her to contain dragons that she personally found to be unruly. She kept her work on this secret-- working very closely with Chief Warmaster Zephyrbone to gather the resources they would need to assemble such a machine. She had hoped that once she had nearly completed Project ZERO, she could reveal to King Guaposilver the nature of her project; allowing her to request funding for it and then use those resources to search for Project EDEN while Project ZERO was already being completed. She had to take any chance to obfuscate her true intentions.

Once King Guaposilver had formed the Silver Gear Company, he was able to help the Imperium make a profit by exporting his machines to the Allied Die Kingdom. This allowed him to secure the funding for some of his more expensive promises he had made to the people. Queen Ashenidol saw this as her opportunity to both snatch funding for her search for Project EDEN, and to keep the King from realizing some of his promises; as she did not want the people of the Imperium to have any more power than they already had. She proposed the idea of Project ZERO to him, stating that it would be used to establish a greater control over the citizens of the Routic Imperium; discouraging ideologies that were simply... not useful. Queen Ashenidol insisted that this was the most important step in uplifting their society to one of poise and class, that it was the sensible way to get rid of dissenting factions, and that it was their duty to know whats best for their citizens. Albeit reluctant, King Guaposilver did not want to stifle the Queen's vision for the future Imperium. After all, he had chosen her to rule alongside him-- he trusted her ideas for helping the citizens of the clan. With this grift complete, she was able to secure the funds for her excavation of Project EDEN. Albeit not making much headway after so much time spent, she was about to get her first breakthrough. In the mean-time, Queen Ashenidol began the final phase of testing for Project ZERO: dragon trials. She purchased a plague-born hatchling known as Enderblight, a mirror dragon she sought to make her first test subject for Project ZERO. After performing a series of experiments involving the fusion of the arcane into Enderblight's DNA, he was placed in a cryonic-stasis pod to see how long he would be able to survive in frozen containment. Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal took a great interest in this project once he had caught wind of it, requesting an audience with the Queen to take a close look at its inner-workings. She begrudgingly agreed, hoping that his insight may end up proving useful to her. He ended up having some rather interesting ideas of the freezing and storage of different diseases...

The Queen soon heard about King Guaposilver's intent to seek an audience with the former King Guapostrider-- the nature of their meeting kept concealed. Duke Starcatcher insisted that he come along with them in their meeting, and she found herself intensely curious as to what they might be discussing in that private meeting of theirs. When Duke Starcatcher returned, he explained to her that he had tried assassinating King Guaposilver and had pinned it on the former King Guapostrider. He told her that he had overheard the two of them talking about a hidden reference the former king had made to Project EDEN-- implying that he might know where it is being housed. This news absolutely pleased Queen Ashenidol, for it was her first lead toward uncovering Project EDEN. Now that King Guapostrider was imprisoned as a result of his "assassination attempt", Queen Ashenidol could interrogate him at her discretion. She would soon find this to be easier said than done, as the former King insisted he would take the secret to his grave. While the Queen could not kill him as he was her only lead, she started working on other ways of making him talk....

With the arrest of the former King, the Queen expected a reaction from the Birthright Faction. Led by Prince Guaporouter, she believed recent events would motivate him to strike. As an additional measure, she instructed Plaguedreamers Lovely and Glaciermist (who had infiltrated the Birthright Faction under orders from House Opal) to encourage the expedition of an attack on the Imperium. This all came to fruition on a day that would later be down as Birthright's Bloody Dawn. Just as she had predicted, the Birthright Faction struck the castle in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, her spies were able to provide her with the details of the attack before it even happened. Queen Ashenidol used this information to prepare her armed forces for the attack-- effectively preventing it before it had even begun. She also made sure to purposefully provide less security around Psionic Mage Cherry's chambers, hoping that, if left unprotected, both Cherry and King Guaposilver (who had been recovering in her care) would be eliminated; solving two separate problems for her. By the end of their attack, Queen Ashenidol had successfully arrested all but one of the leading members of the Birthright Faction: Prince Guaporouter, Princess Lapis, Canyondust, and Detective Serpentkiss.The Queen personally captured Prince Guaporouter herself, tackling him and clawing him across the stomach as he tried to let the resistance forces into the castle. Prince Blackrose had managed to escape, but luckily for the Queen, he had kidnapped King Guaposilver and injured Psionic Mage Cherry in the process. This was almost exactly what she had hoped for, and she was ecstatic to see all of her plans falling into place. Even better, she now felt that she had the one bartering chip she needed to get information about Project EDEN from King Guapostrider: his eldest son's life. In her next meeting with the former King, Queen Ashenidol made sure to give him a very detailed explanation of the Birthright Faction's defeat; embellishing the parts about personally arresting his son. King Guapostrider was horrified, and pleaded with her to leave his son and daughter in-law unharmed. Seeing her opportunity, the Queen grilled him on everything he knew about Project EDEN. He explained that he didn't know much, but he knew that the Queen had made her discovery by uncovering a gigantic egg-like structure. He had never found the project himself, but he had a few theories on its location based on the size of the egg, and what it would need to be supported. Queen Ashenidol smiled devilishly, leaving the former King alone in the darkness.

Based on the information King Guapostrider had proved, Queen Ashenidol was able to use machinery from the Silver Gear Company to excavate all of the possible locations for Project EDEN. With the help of Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal, the Queen was finally able to uncover it within a matter of weeks. After all this time, the entire project now laid out before her-- a gigantic dragon egg buried beneath the earth, surrounded by a menagerie of magic-infused machinery that bore into the eggshell. These machines formed the foundation of the life-support system contained inside. Once she was inside, Queen Ashenidol could see why Project EDEN needed a life support system. Inside, there was the corpse of a gigantic, ancient, white and featureless dragon. Queen Silkrouter theorized that this dragon was one of the first ever created-- dubbing it Adalyl the First.

The Queen was taken aback by this discovery, her mind running wild with all of the possibilities. It was all right there, all the setup had already been done for her. All of the equipment, all of the preliminary findings... finally now at her fingertips. Both Ashenidol and SunburnedOpal quickly realized the immense amount of power Adalyl's body stored. The Queen commanded Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal to pay a visit to Subject C-001 Canyonpelt, who had been described as Project EDEN's first test subject. All the pearlcatcher asked in return, was to have access to the Project EDEN experimentation site. Queen Ashenidol begrudgingly agreed, hoping that by studying him she could gauge his future usefulness to her. The Plaguemaster seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and could prove to be a valuable ally... if she could control him. While SunburnedOpal was investigating Canyonpelt, Queen Ashenidol planned to pursue what she designated as the project's second test subject: a perfect reconstruction of Adalyl the First. One thing she noticed about Adalyl is that the dragon's corpse was in a state of perpetual rot. Not just because it was old, of course. But in the sense that even when you use magic to heal the flesh... it immediately shrivels up the second the spell ends. Using the Order of the Blighted Sunset and their connection to the Plaguebringer, Queen Ashenidol was able to restore the ancient dragon just long enough to get a spotty recording of its DNA (a process the Order called their 'Divine Rejuvenation'). After Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal reported his findings on Subject C-001 Canyonpelt, the Queen was able to fill in the blanks of the spotty DNA record with Canyonpelt's DNA. Aberrations had apparently been the closest dragon descendants of Adalyl and were thus somewhat compatible with it. The Queen figured any clone of Adalyl using Aberration DNA would have two heads instead of Adalyl's one, but theorized that they should otherwise be able to produce comparable levels of power to the original. She reasoned that any clone she raised would be loyal to her, and could be forced into cryo-stasis, if not. Irregardless, the Queen believed that she could not fail anymore. Now that she possessed the power behind Project EDEN, she could no longer hope to be challenged by anyone but the Gods.

The Queen decided to name this new specimen of hers AMELIORATE-002; the official second test subject of Project EDEN. The dragon was created using a combination of magic and precious metal ores. It was raised in an electrified glass tube, a process that the Queen theorized would expedite its growth. With the help of Plaguemaster SunburnedOpal, Queen Ashenidol was able to construct an Aberrant dragon possessing a level of divine power nearly half that of Adalyl's record-- four times stronger than the results yielded by Canyonpelt. Even better, the Ameliorate's magic could be controlled much easier than Canyonpelt's mutation. Consequently, the Queen was ecstatic. After all this time, she was finally able to see the fruit of her labors. Within a week of Ameliorate's hatching, Ashenidol declared Subject C-001 Canyonpelt to be absolutely obsolete. In-turn, Ameliorate was completely loyal to Queen Ashenidol. She treated it better than her own children, ensuring that her 'ultimate life-form' would not be compromised. When Princess Ashensilver and Prince Guapoidol bothered her about spending more of her time with them, she simply replied that she had replaced them with a much more superior child. They were disgruntled, sure, but they knew better than to ask questions.

With her newfound power secured, and her husband missing, the Queen decided it was time to officially consolidate her power. She declared herself the sole Empress of the Routic Imperium-- stating that without a King, she was forced to take on additional power to fill the vacuum. Not long afterwards, Duke Starcatcher sought counsel with her. Albeit still being injured from Birthright's Bloody Dawn, he dragged himself to her chambers for a private meeting. This is where she revealed to him the details behind the attack. With King Guaposilver out of the picture, Duke Starcatcher proposed that it might be time for them to be wed and he be crowned King. Queen Ashenidol did not agree with this, deciding that she would consolidate power unto herself as an Empress-- inaugurating Duke Starcatcher as King later down the line, after her power was cemented. The Duke resisted this idea, which the Queen responded by pushing him onto the floor, crushing his rib cage with her foot. Queen Ashenidol claimed that she held all of the cards now, especially now that she had uncovered the secrets behind Project EDEN. All he could do was scamper away from her. His hands tied, Ashienidol made her demands: she wanted him to be more open with her. She wanted him to prove himself as a worthy romantic partner before she would wed him. She feared that all he cared about was himself. Fearing Empress Ashenidol and her lust for power, Duke Starcatcher scampered away and locked himself in his chambers. The Empress snickered to herself, ordering her royal guard to keep an eye on the Duke-- ensuring that he could not leave her sphere of influence. She had him trapped. She had everyone trapped. It was everything she had ever wanted... or so she thought. Even after everything that happened, the Empress found herself to be deeply lonely. She had placed her hopes in making Duke Starcatcher her romantic partner, but had since realized that he was a rather selfish dragon. He only sought power, he did not actually like her. She had hoped making Zephyrbone her Chief Warmaster would bring them closer-- but he had chosen to begin a romantic relationship with her sister, Duke Metallicidol, instead of her! 'How unbelievable!', she thought to herself. She had almost begun to miss her actual husband, King Guaposilver... but she knew that was a dangerous can of worms she had no desire to open. The (now former) King was just a pawn to her, nothing more. A piece in her grand game... all feeling for him and since been locked away deep inside her heart.

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