ixris » Lair » Ink

Ink

(#9317877)

Level 1 Coatl

Familiar

Velvet Floracat

Energy: 0/50

Personal Style

Apparel

Skin

Scene

Physical Attributes

Battle Stats

Measurements

Length

6.98 m

Wingspan

7.86 m

Weight

1001.24 kg

Genetics

Obsidian
Piebald

Obsidian
Shimmer

Silver
Spines

Hatchday

Jan 02, 2015
(9 years)

Breed

Adult
Coatl

Eye Type

Light
Common

Level 1 Coatl

EXP: 0 / 245

STR

AGI

DEF

QCK

INT

VIT

MND

Lineage

Parents

Offspring

Biography

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LUCK
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Ink

Researcher
Specializes in Slaying the Undead

"I'd like to see the source materials."

Ink is one of those dragons. You know, the kind who silently disagrees with some established doctrine and disappears for days on end before reemerging with the proof that it can be done differently. The kind who listens attentively and never judges out loud, but you get the sneaking suspicion she thinks you're pretty dumb.

Oh, she'll never say you're dumb. She'd never insult you to your face. And maybe it's just that she's so busy all the time with the record keeping and the research that she never learned social graces. But she's clipped with everyone, including her closest friends. She always seems two breaths away from an exasperated sigh that will sink a bonepriest back into the forest floor. She seems like she has no time for this mundane 'quality time' routine some of her clanmates seem a bit too into.

And that's a very accurate assessment.

Ink came to the clan because she heard of the dead rising in Carinstone Rest. She came because she heard of the exploits of Hodges and Torch. She heard that there were those who could and would stand against the perversion of ancestral tombs, of the hallowed places among the first country. She came because she had spent her life learning everything she could about things she had thought were purest fancy - but they weren't.

Ink resides in a cavern deep underground, connected by a labyrinth to where Hodges and Torch do their work. Her home is a workshop and library, manned by her mate, Paige. Together, they collect and catalogue the creatures and places found beneath Oakrest, then dissect and study it. Ink is constantly busy, whether engaged in alchemy, invention, or research. She can go whole days without seeing or speaking to anyone besides Paige, and even that is strictly a professional exchange.

She is a deft fighter in her own right, skilled with magic but also swift melee assaults to dispatch an enemy. Her usual tactic when surprised alone or with Paige is to rely on her skills and wits, and to never pin herself or her mate in a corner. From there, it is a matter of setting traps and killing those who would kill her. She is a very cautious explorer, though, and is more than willing to abandon her research in an effort to preserve her life.

Sometimes she is called to support Torch and Hodges in the depths of Carinstone. There, she is content to lend them her spells and her claws. She knows she can't take a lich or a horde of zombies on her own, and she knows those two often do together. When working with them or any other, Ink knows she must trust the skills of those who venture with her. Together their skills will ensure they all see the next dawn.

(Paige is transfemale, and as such their hatchlings will have two moms)

For a long time, Ink and Paige thought they would not have a nest. Certainly there was no physical barrier, but neither of them found the situation very pleasant. They turned their attentions to more important pursuits, namely the safety of their clan and the enormity of their work.

But the thought often returned to them in their quiet mornings, before the brunt of their work could begin - how lovely to be mothers. They discussed their options and determined that however this might be done, it would not be the usual way. They would need outside help.

So Ink and Paige did what they do best. They turned to research, wrote letters, and tried to find someone - anyone - who could help them without the aid of some dark magic.

While visiting his parents and cousins, Carnelian heard their problem and suggested they talk to Azili, who had helped a pair in his clan. Still uncertain, the two discussed and weighed their options, but ultimately decided to send a letter asking her advice.

Azili came as soon as she was able, and she listened to their worries and hopes as a kindly aunt. She wandered Oakrest for a few days, then returned to them with a solution.

"Dig a nest in the sunniest spot," she said. "Do not let it grow damp, and line it with the softest earth."

They went at once and found a spot where it seemed the sun shined all the time. Here, they dug a nest, and they breathed their worries that this wouldn't work. Oh, but if it did!

When they reported to her that the nest was dug, Azili inspected it and seemed satisfied. "Now you must shape eggs," she said. She told them what would go into these eggs - rich clay, stones from the mountains, water from the underground rivers, and notes from their library. She had them mix these items together and form eggs, and let them harden in the sun before placing them in the nest.

Ink and Paige gathered the requisite items and did as they were asked. For several days they waited, turning and checking the eggs to make sure they were set before showing them to Azili. When she was satisfied that their task was done correctly, she bade them to place the eggs in the nest and sleep beside it.

But in the morning, the nest was not filled with eggs. Instead, there were only the facsimiles that the would-be mothers had placed on the earth. Paige grew despondent, and Ink grew angry.

But when Azili came to grant her counsel, the merely smiled. "Friends, you must be patient. The magic is there, and it's working, but this will take longer than some of my other clients."

"How much longer?" Ink asked.

But Azili didn't know.

"Why?" Paige asked.

But Azili shook her head again. "The magic of Dragonhome is old, and sometimes it moves slowly. Be patient, and you will be rewarded."

It took weeks longer than expected. Ink and Paige moved their research out near the nests to keep watch over the eggs but not lose a moment of time for their work. They shielded the eggs when it rained, making sure their precious charges would not dissolve back into their base components. They sometimes read to them distinct passages. They passed their days and weeks as attendant parents.

And in time, what Azili saw became clear to both of them - where there had been sundried mud, there was now the distinctive scaling of an earth egg. It took a long time to come to fruition, far longer than any in Oakrest had known before, but there were eggs - perfect in both their mothers' eyes.

Ink and Paige thanked Azili for her kindness and counsel before she returned home. And for her part, Azili reminded them that now they knew the process, they would be free to replicate it any time they wished. "But," she added, "you must be patient."

Layout by Straif/34928
Stat block by hisako/19016

Artwork

Artists cited by name & number beneath each piece

iglasty / 199781

Quote:

It had been months since the Citadel was reopened. Trade was picking up, and new faces were moving in. Repairs to the corridors and chambers within were well under way. Normalcy seemed right around the corner.

So close, Paige thought, but not close enough.

She thought often of her mate, Ink. She thought of how Ink sat up at night, silently staring down her drawing board. She thought of how, since that first encounter with the Withered King, Ink had not had the strength she used to have.

It had been a long recovery. Ink gave her all during the time the Citadel was sealed, as had they all. The Hunters of Oakrest had worked together to ensure that the few civilians who had been locked within with them were safe, that the monsters who had swarmed the halls of the Citadel were stopped. But where Ink had once been nigh unstoppable, she now tired so quickly.

After the Citadel reopened, Paige had hoped her mate would strengthen quickly. Sunlight, fresh air, less stress in the clan ... It all should have added up to a rapid recovery for all of them. But where Paige and Six and Dru and Torch rebounded from the exhaustion they shared, Ink walked with a limp and her usually engaged attention was now withdrawn.

At Paige's insistance, they went to Oddity for an assessment. Oakrest's doctor looked her over, listening to the symptoms listed by both dragons. Then, he sent Paige from the room to listen to Ink's troubles in privacy.

That half hour was worrying for Paige, but she trusted Ink, and she trusted Odd to make an accurate assessment.

When she returned, she was surprised by the explanation to which they had arrived.

"My best guess is a curse," Oddity said, his tail twitching softly as he watched the two of them. "When Torch and Dru pulled you away from the wyrm, it nearly had you."

Ink nodded softly. "I don't remember much more of that time passed that. It was exhausting."

"It's trying to kill you even now," Oddity said. "You will continue to fight this weakness for the rest of your life if you do not break the curse."

There was a great silence, and Paige drew close to her mate. "How?" she asked softly, glancing over at Ink's stern gaze. The way her jaw was set was heartening. It looked like she at least knew what to fight.

Oddity shook his head. "I'm a surgeon and a diagnostician. I have no experience with curses and their ilk. I've never truly seen one in action before I moved here. I had only heard of them in rumors."

"I'll find a way," Ink said, her voice the honed edge of a knife.

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Exalting Ink to the service of the Earthshaker will remove them from your lair forever. They will leave behind a small sum of riches that they have accumulated. This action is irreversible.

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