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Subspecies Lore
Written with input from Delta8.
Where there is Light, there is Darkness. And just as Light takes many forms and goes by many names, so does its opposite. One such name is Malum.
Malum is a force of Evil that seeks to spread its influence and cause pain and suffering to those who cross its path. It searches for a host dragon to let it in, often using deception to achieve its end. Once Malum has entered a dragon, it attempts to use them to wreak havoc and to harm others, and to spread its influence further. Some dragons perceive Malum like a voice that whispers in their ear and tricks them into perceiving its words as their own thoughts. Some dragons lose their previous identity entirely, consumed by this dark entity and becoming a walking embodiment of Evil. They are the Maledictus.
Dragons afflicted by this condition gain new, powerful magical abilities, but this does not come without disadvantages. The dragon’s skin gradually becomes thin and transparent, displaying what lies underneath for all to see. Many cover themselves entirely to hide this and protect themselves from exposure to the elements. Some become blind as well, though their other senses come to make up for it. Children of a Maledictus inherit the magical abilities of their afflicted parent, but they do not always inherit their blindness or transparent skin. The Evil that lives inside the Maledictus does not always transfer to offspring.
Some Maledictus fight against the Evil within them and attempt to use their newfound power for good. Others cannot, or will not. All are individuals and cannot be judged based on appearance.
Individual Lore
It sometimes came to him in a dream. Huge claws and fangs that ripped and tore, colossal tails and too many limbs that crushed everything in sight. The horrible, echoing bellows of the Emperor that destroyed his home.
Pippin had been a soldier, a protector of his clan. He had a family. He knew these things, but the only memories he still had were of that night. Of destruction, and of the death that surrounded him. He remembered lying in a pool of his own blood, dying, wishing for some kind of revenge for himself and those he had loved.
As his vision faded, a voice came to him. It offered him life and power, even revenge if he wanted it. All he had to do was let this thing in. Pippin agreed. There was darkness, and unspeakable agony as this dark entity wrapped itself around his very mind and essence and snuffed it out.
That is where the dream always ended, where he always awoke feeling a bit confused and disoriented. He was not Pippin anymore. Those memories and feelings, and that name, were not his. He was the Invader, a nameless force of evil and dark magic known by many as Malum. Or, at least, a part of it. He could not completely destroy this dragon who had invited him in, so he bound himself to what little of Pippin remained and corrupted what he could.
This new dragon became known as Daghishat.
Daghishat went on to commit acts of violence against others, toying with the lives of other dragons who crossed his path. When his intelligence and cunning were not enough to achieve his ends, his prodigious use of dark magic was more than enough. He became known as a bringer of death and sorrow.
After all, he had suffered. Spent what felt like eons watching and waiting for an opportunity to find a host, a dragon weak enough or foolish enough to welcome his influence. And there were those who hunted him. Who sought out his influence, the seeds of his being, and worked to wipe them out and drive him back. Who caused him pain and sorrow.
He would teach them, indiscriminately, what it meant to defy Malum.
There was also the Search. For he was only a piece of this Evil, and to be complete, he needed to find others. No matter where he found himself, Daghishat sought, too, those seeds of Malum or of other dark magic so that he might help them grow and spread. And he sought the Emperor, for something told him that they may be, in some ways, the same.
