Portobello
(#98703824)
G4 Naomi (Morel) | G3 Zinovia
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Energy: 48
out of
50
This dragon’s natural inborn element is Light.
Male Imperial
This dragon is hibernating.
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Personal Style
Apparel
Skin
Scene
Measurements
Length
20.65 m
Wingspan
24.2 m
Weight
6577.97 kg
Genetics
Sanddollar
Ribbon
Ribbon
Auburn
Shimmer
Shimmer
Tomato
Glimmer
Glimmer
Hatchday
Breed
Eye Type
Level 10 Imperial
EXP: 570 / 27676
STR
6
AGI
6
DEF
6
QCK
5
INT
8
VIT
8
MND
6
Biography
|
P O R T O B E L L O
NAOMI G4 (MOREL)
ZINOVIA G3 This sacred decay. . . 
Desperate to find a solution for her Shade Infection, Nadia (Emergent Shade Emperor, Child of Viorica, and Grandchild of Moroi) seeks out an estate rumored to be the final resting place of someone with a similar affliction to herself... |
|
"No!" She slammed her balled fists against the pale stone, but the only thing that moved were the birds that took flight from nearby trees, startled from their perches by her despairing screech. She’d done everything the old mouldered journal had said in order to find this place, studiously dedicating herself to the task of peeling back the old and ancient magics hiding it, one layer at a time. It had taken her weeks to coax the wards into even letting her come close… Weeks she had apparently wasted, for the marble wall that stretched as far as the eye could see to the left and right of her bore not a single imperfection much less any sort of door, gate, portcullis, or peep-hole she could use to get inside. The wall towered so high into the sky that she swore it rivaled the Pillar of the World, so she didn’t even have the option of attempting to fly up and over, either. The only notable thing about this stretch of wall were the two alabaster statues, a pair of silent sentinels on equally pallid pedestals that gazed down at her with unseeing eyes. She’d thought that, maybe, they had been placed there to mark the location of a hidden entrance, but if there was one, she couldn’t find it. The young imperial pressed her forehead against the cool stone, eyes screwing shut in an ill-fated attempt to ward off the tears already welling up. Perhaps she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. She should have realized that life would never give her any sort of reprieve from her suffering. It never had before; why would it ever start now? This had been Nadia’s last lead. After failing to locate ‘The Connexion Betwixt Shade and Emperor’ (or the noble lady that had checked it out from the Lanternlea Port Archives), she’d floundered, at a loss for what to do next. Completely by chance, she’d tripped over the journal while passing through a flea market. It was old, with pages warped and stained by water, and most of the words had been rendered illegible by time and circumstance… but the pages recalling the construction of the Halcyon Keep had been mostly readable. They had detailed the magic that had gone in to building an impenetrable sanctuary for a daughter of a powerful queen, a place where she could heal in peace from a terrible illness. A sanctuary that had ultimately become a prison and a tomb, when the daughter had succumbed. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines and see that she had much in common with that daughter. She’d thought those pages would lead her to salvation. Even if the daughter lost herself, in the end, Nadia had hoped that there might be something she could learn from her story, something she might be able to do different. Barring that… well, given how her own 'illness’ was progressing, she knew it was only a matter of time before her sense of self would be corroded away, leaving only a mindless beast behind. Better to lock herself away before that happened, so no one could get hurt. Surely the daughter wouldn’t mind a roommate? Misery curdling in her gut, Nadia turned, slumping down with her back against the wall. The sun was setting, and the shadows lengthened as it sank further toward the horizon. She studiously avoided looking at her own; she didn’t know if she could bear seeing the trio of shaded heads snapping and snarling at each other, feeding off of her despair. It was bad enough that she could feel them, phantom necks with phantom heads twisting and swaying like drunken serpents. Each day, as the Shade burrowed deeper and deeper into her soul, the shadowed heads grew darker and darker. Soon, they would be completely black, and at that point she knew nothing of herself would remain. “I hate you,” she told them. Phantom jaws twisted and gnawed at her throat for her candor. The Shade Heads were constantly at war with each other, but the one thing they seemed to find common ground in was their mutual hatred for her. To distract herself from the gnawing of phantom fangs, Nadia’s gaze shifted upward to the pair of statues that now bracketed her on either side. On the left, a lovely maiden reached upwards toward the sky, her face solemn in supplication. On the right, a handsome knight stood with sword and shield in a ready position, poised to defend. Now that she was looking at them more closely, she could see that they weren’t as pure as the marble at her back, but appeared to have spidery lines spreading across their surfaces that reminded her of shattered glass, though their surfaces remained perfectly smooth. Perhaps it was a different kind of marble? Seeing the two of them together made her heart twist in a way she’d tried desperately not to think about. “It must be nice, to have a friend,” she murmured, her gaze drifting from the handsome knight to the lovely maiden. “I bet neither of you feel lonely. I’ve always wondered what it felt like, to not be alone.” With a sigh, Nadia drew her cloak more closely around her. Here was a good a place as any to camp for the night. Tucked between the two statues, she was somewhat sheltered, and she could be reasonably assured that no other travelers could stumble upon her, given the strength of the Keep’s wards. Her eyes lingered momentarily upon the Knight’s face, wishing she could have a fraction of his bravery, before her eyelids fluttered closed.
---
Something was watching her. Given the nature of her shade-stricken soul and of her bloodline, Nadia was no stranger to staring. Though she tried to remain inconspicuous, lesser beings always seemed to sense just how different she was, perhaps subconsciously picking up on the inherent danger her very presence brought. Others looked at her with greedy consideration, trying to decide if her power was worth the risk. She was used to eyes following her wherever she went. This… this was different. She could feel the weight of this gaze upon her, intense and single-minded in its focus. That sort of focus usually meant danger, and so Nadia’s eyes snapped open, readying herself for a fight. The pedestal on the left still held the maiden, but the one on the right was distinctly empty. This was because its inhabitant was currently squatting in front of her, staring at her with glowing golden eyes, his handsome face only inches from her own. A heartbeat passed, and then the Knight opened his marble mouth and breathed on her. What appeared to be golden spores blowed straight into her face, the earthy scent of fungus and decay filling her nose. Nadia did the only thing she could think of: she shrieked at an octave that could probably shatter glass and slapped him. What else was one to do, when one woke to find oneself being breathed upon by a creepy statue with glowing golden eyes? To her surprise, confusion, and relief, her hand did not break as it impacted the Knight’s marble snout. The Knight recoiled, his golden eyes widening in shock, and she took advantage of this momentary disorientation to scramble past him, limbs and wings flailing. “Oh, no. Nononono, no thank you, it’s bad enough I’ve got a Shade curse on my soul, I don’t need a creepy statue with moldy breath on top of that!” Nadia babbled as she scuttled down the road, very intent on putting a respectable distance between herself and whatever it was she’d woken up to. Even an eldritch abomination such as herself had limits. To her great consternation, The Knight stood, turned on his heel with the discipline of a soldier, and marched right after her.
---
No matter how far she ran, the Knight followed her. It made no difference if she ran on foot or took to the skies; he still managed to find her when she finally stopped. No obstacle, terrain, or inclement weather seemed to deter him in the slightest. Nadia conceded defeat, if only because she had more serious matters to attend to, and the Knight didn’t really seem to want to do her any harm anyways, beyond occasionally accosting her with his strange, spore-infused breath. “Shouldn’t you be going back to your wall? Back to the Maiden?” She asked him, squinting suspiciously at him, “You were there for a reason. Surely following me around isn’t more important than that?” His noble face remained passive and neutral as he stared at her unblinkingly, ever silent. Being followed around by a marble statue tended to make one stand out, something she wished to avoid, and so Nadia ended up purchasing him a thick cloak to wear in hopes that he’d stop drawing so much attention to them both. From a distance, he looked like any other imperial-shaped noble swordsman, though his marble countenance was still obvious from up close. It would suffice for now, she thought grimly. To her great bafflement - but even greater relief - ever since the Knight had become her companion, the insidious darkness eating away at her soul seemed to have slowed its progress considerably. “Is… is that why you breath on me?”, Nadia asked him one night, as she settled down by the fire and he took up his customary post standing guard over her. Now that she’d gotten used to his presence somewhat, she didn’t find his company all that disagreeable at all. “To slow down the infection?” She got no answer. She decided that was answer enough. The biggest revelation, however, came during a particularly bad day. Nadia didn’t have to look at her shadow to know that the Shade heads were feeling particularly vicious that day, given she could feel their phantom fangs sinking in to her flesh, though no wound was ever left behind. The more restless they became, the meaner they got, and Nadia could feel them slowly chipping away at the abstract, innate thing that was herself. There was nothing she could do but find a quiet hole to hide in and wait it out, lest her shadow heads decide some poor innocent passerby was a preferable target. She glumly watched the shadows of the three heads continue their eternal duel for dominance against the cave wall, resigned to her apparent fate. Her Knight, who had positioned himself between her and the cave mouth and had otherwise been preoccupied with watching for interlopers, glanced her way- suddenly went very still. And then- he growled. It was the first noise Nadia had ever heard him make, and she flinched, eyes wide, alarmed at the fact that it had been directed at her. Or, rather- his gaze was not on her, but on her shadows. The Knight leaned over, his shadow echoing the movement on the wall. To her great horror, this caught the attention of her warring shadow-heads, all three of which turned towards it like blood-thirsty hounds that had caught a scent. Nadia jerked, terror lodging in her throat; the heads had never shown any interest in the Knight before, and she’d figured his being made of marble kept him safe. She knew what would happen next, if the Shade-heads managed to touch the shadow of another. They took great pleasure in consuming their prey, snatching the souls right out of their victims and leaving her standing helplessly over a shadowless husk. Before she could bolt away, a hand of alabaster shot out and pressed down upon her shoulder, keeping her still. “N-No!” she tried to protest, deeply afraid for her new (and only) friend- He breathed, and the shower of spores fluttered down upon her. Instantly, the Shade-heads began to writhe, slavering maws snapping and snarling in furious agony, their forms dancing viciously against the cave wall. Nadia watched in terrified fascination as the shadowed outlines of the heads began to blur and become indistinct, their edges losing all semblance of definition, until they disappeared completely, leaving her shadow with only one head attached to one neck, whose motion perfectly echoed her own. The Shade still lurked within her, but she felt- lighter. The Knight then did the most shocking thing of all: he smiled, pure and bright and beautiful as the dawn. For the first time in her life, Nadia felt hope. |
The Knight
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Exalting Portobello to the service of the Gladekeeper 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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