BicentenaryPoet

Stanza




ALIASES
Poet (nickname from Starry)

PERSONALITY
withdrawn, aggrieved, distrusting, resilient, hopeful, straightforward

RELATIONS
Starry (mate)

SONGS
The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace by The Amazing Devil
Your Love (Déjà Vu) by Glass Animals
You by Keaton Henson

HOARD

BACKGROUND
Hatched on Mediator Island.

HISTORY
Stanza was a recluse. Hatched parentless and grown parentless, she had no need for companionship. Though she sometimes wished for it, it wasn't any sort of secret desire. She only wanted a little less silence sometimes.

Stanza fell in love with Starry against her will. The dragons Stanza most despised were those that flaunted their privilege, walking about in their attire as if their intraflight and interflight power made them invulnerable. They'd lost their truest instincts in the pursuit of political success. Starry was one of those dragons. A descendant of many lines of royalty, vain, popular, and with many suitors. The perfect pinnacle of cliché.

Love was no priority of Stanza's, and she'd thought if she ever were to find a mate, they'd be a dragon like her. Quiet, quick-witted, and capable of connivance.

Connivance? Willing to be involved in wrongdoing?

Too many dragons are afraid to break the rules. They are too quick to judge. Stanza is immoral, and not afraid to admit it. The world doesn't give the poor second chances, so she's learned to take whatever chance she can get.

When Starry went out to visit the marketplaces, Stanza would dress as a peasant and walk in the shadows, pretending to look through the stalls while she watched Starry's walk. The first thing Stanza noticed about dragons was the way they walked. It's useful in judging one's character. Starry had a graceful, dignified gait, and her tail liked to flick in lazy figure-eights when she stood still, then wave back and forth when she walked. She held her head erect and stepped in the prim manner expected of nobledragons' daughters.

Starry would purchase the usual expensive pastries and expensive silks, but she would always make a trip to the bookstore. The books and scrolls she picked up were not silly romance novels nor etiquette guides. They were often maps. Dark mysteries. Fantasy adventures. Calligraphy pens. Gilded bookmarks and bookends. Her entourage didn't seem to approve, and Stanza liked that.

It was on one of these marketplace excursions that Starry spoke to Stanza for the first time. Sometimes Stanza would follow Starry into the bookshop. She had no money, but it was easy to steal from the place. The staff didn't seem to care about what was on their shelves as long as they got money, which seemed a shame, because there were so many intriguing titles from so many different genres. Stanza didn't steal every time, but when she found a tome that she couldn't put away and would fit in the folds of her clothing, she'd take it. She had a little hut in the pine forest surrounding the area. It wasn't much, but it was shelter enough for her small stash of personal belongings.

"I've read that one."

It was June. Stanza looked up. Starry's scales sparkled in a way Stanza's never had. Her voice sprinkled blue-grey dots across Stanza's vision.

"It's a literary masterpiece. You should read it. Tell me what you think."

Stanza was an opportunist, not a liar.

"I... don't have enough money," she whispered. Why was she whispering?

"Oh! I'll buy it for you then!"

Starry gently took the book from Stanza's claws - a weighty copy of a novel by the title of Watership Down - and strode to the counter. She set it down, fished a clawful of silver coins from some hidden wallet, and set them on the counter. Once the cashier had counted them, Starry took the book and handed it to Stanza. "How fast do you read?"

"Pretty fast." Stanza didn't have much she needed to do, besides hunt for food.

"Can you finish by Friday? Meet me by the Fisherwing Fountain! I haven't met anyone else interested in this book."

"Oh," Stanza blinked. "Sure."

"Great!" Starry's earrings spun like star-shaped dice. Her tail did a swoosh across the dusty rug on the floor of the bookstore. "I'll see you then?"

"Yes."

Stanza had never had an interpersonal obligation before.

---

200 years and 1 day ago, this poet guy was born.

Wildclaw: 2kg and cycling
Ribbon: 190kt
Eel: 155kt
Stained: 1.2kg
Goat: 250kt

---

By Leporidaisical


By DragonJade