Pilane

Pilane

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Pilane’s hatching was heralded like all the Stormchild hatchings are, with celebration and feasting and days of prayer to the Stormcatcher. But only a few short days after her hatching, there was an explosion of color, and Pilane’s dull, purple-and-murky-green coloring changed into vibrant blue-greens. This came as a pleasant surprise to everyone, who had secretly thought but would never say out loud that Pilane’s original coloring was downright hideous. Everyone brushed this off as a result of being a Stormchild.

But not long after that, the dragons who spent the most time being around Pilane, such as her parents, Heitor and Anasa, began to fall ill. The healers recognized their symptoms as being that of mild radiation poisoning, and were able to treat their conditions in time. Pilane was swept away for testing, where it was discovered that Pilane herself was extremely radioactive. Her blood, her scales, her mane — all of it emitted radiation, and her very existence was poisoning the dragons around her.

A special den was swiftly built for her, a lead cell that would block her radiation and protect her clanmates. This cell is where Pilane has spent her entire life since those fateful days. Pilane is not a prisoner, although she feels like one most days. She is allowed visitors, but they have to wear special protective suits to protect them from her radiation. Her most common visitors include her mate Curia, her brothers, Nightgleam and Gearshift, as well as fellow Stormchild Exe, who comes by when she is able to leave the bindings of her generator. Nightgleam frequently brings Pilane books from his library to keep her occupied.

It is from these books and Exe’s visits that Pilane got a brilliant idea. Cadfael was able to build a machine to draw out Exe’s excess Lightning magic and use it to power his lab. What was stopping Pilane from doing the same, and building a machine to draw out her radiation and use it as a source of nuclear power?

Ever since, Pilane has been working and studying hard to put this plan into action. Through her studies, Pilane has become one of the most brilliant and renowned nuclear physicists in Sornieth, and she frequently publishes papers on nuclear energy, although she requires someone else to retrieve the papers from her to submit them. She’s frequently tinkering with mini-nuclear generators which she powers herself; she’s started small, and currently her mini-generators can only power small things like flashlights, but she knows this is just her starting point to gaining her freedom one day.

Pilane frequently fantasizes about the things she is going to do when she can finally leave her lead cell. She’s going to give talks about her published papers, and help revolutionize nuclear energy throughout Sornieth, and work with the leadership at the Source, and above all, be able to freely do research without waiting for Nightgleam to bring her the books she needs. She’s going to hold Curia so close, and finally be able to spend time with her scale-to-scale instead of through protective outfitting. Pilane knows her research requires patience, but on the inside, she really can’t wait until the day she gets her radiation under control and can move freely.

Pilane has a very difficult relationship with her parents. Neither of them really visit Pilane, but she doesn’t mind that as much. She wouldn’t be thrilled about the idea of visiting someone who inadvertently gave her radiation poisoning, either, were she in their shoes. No, the bone Pilane has to pick with her parents came from a comment she heard Anasa make when she was just a hatchling, before the radiation took her over. At the initial Stormchild festivities to celebrate Pilane’s hatching, Anasa, frustrated after the surprise appearance of her granddaughter, Sadira, as the first Stormchild in the clan, and after the struggles she went through to help her son, Gearshift, hissed to Heitor, “Can’t we have a normal hatchling in our family for once?!” Pilane overheard this, and was extremely hurt. She has never quite forgiven her parents for this, and at this point, it is unlikely that she ever will.