Irvin

Irwin woke up in the Scarred Wasteland. He had been asleep for a long time, but he remembered he passed out in the domain of the Lightweaver. All he remembered was his home, the Skydancer and the messages. When he stood up, he felt cloth resting on his scales. He looked down, to find that bloody bandages from head to toe.

He took his first steps into the violent wasteland, trying to find out how this happened. He recalled what he knew about where he came from, trying to convince himself he would be fine. Then he noticed his scales had become pale white and were peeling off, his wings had become tattered, he felt weak, and a infection had covered what was left of him. He knew he was one of the Afflicted now. He was going to die soon, most likely alone in this wasteland. That didn't matter to him. He needed to find out what the Skydancer girl in his faint memory had said to him.

He ran the scene over and over again in his head, but his memory was hazy, and his condition kept popping into his mind. And he was hungry, very hungry. It soon came to Irwin that he needed something to eat. He looked around for food, but the land seemed desolate and void of life. Then Irwin noticed smoke, coming from a nearby hill.

Hmm... Irwin thought to himself. Maybe there's other dragons there. Maybe they have food.

Irvin dragged his body to the hill, and as he guessed, a clan of dragons had claimed the hill home. He took some food roasting on the fire in the center of the clan, and dragged it to an empty cave. Maybe he could stay in this cave and join the dragons who lived here, at least for however long he lasted... as long as he could keep his affliction a secret to the world. Irwin quickly settled on staying with the clan. There was food and a lair here, after all. Irwin drifted off to sleep, awaiting the next chapter of his now fleeting life. But the Skydancer girl from his memory still echoed in his head. Would he ever be able to figure out what she said?


No, not today. You can think about that later.

Now, you just have to act normal. Like you're not Afflicted. Like you're not going to die.