Pearlcatchers are secretly a shadow breed. I know, sounds crazy, but lemme explain:
Their pearl goop man. Their pearl goop is black and slimy and comes out of their mouth throats. You know who else vomits up black gooey stuff? The Shadowbinder
What does shadow flight favor for hoarding (if you however over a region at the world map at the bottom of the flavour text you can read it)? Game pieces, and there are plenty stories of how people use their soul as a pawn or game piece/bet from things like popular media like Cuphead to old stories like people who have to beat Death in a game of their choosing to win their life back and continue living rather than die
Now look at pearlcatchers and compare their anatomy to Shadowbinder. pearlcatchers have very obvious and clawed fingers, like Shadowbinder, and unlike Lightweaver's spindly spaghetti fingies. Body shape? Lightweaver is thinner and and more pool-noodle shaped (same thickness throughout the body), while Shadowbinder has a slightly more protruding chest, like pearlies. Also Shadowbinder's wings have a more similar structure to pearlcatchers than Lightweaver's wings do, again with the visible claws at the end of them.
Point is: we have been lied to!! Pearlies are Shadowbinder's kids and Lightweaver took them in the divorce and stapled her ears on them because ever since emperors happened she hasn't been allowed to made a dragon breed and decided to steal Shadowbinder's kids because she wanted two breeds and was still salty about emperors going wrong and Shadowbinder made nocs look vaguely similar to Lightweaver with their somewhat spindly fingers and their unclawed wings as a jab at her for stealing one of her breeds and getting away with it
Their pearl goop man. Their pearl goop is black and slimy and comes out of their mouth throats. You know who else vomits up black gooey stuff? The Shadowbinder
What does shadow flight favor for hoarding (if you however over a region at the world map at the bottom of the flavour text you can read it)? Game pieces, and there are plenty stories of how people use their soul as a pawn or game piece/bet from things like popular media like Cuphead to old stories like people who have to beat Death in a game of their choosing to win their life back and continue living rather than die
Now look at pearlcatchers and compare their anatomy to Shadowbinder. pearlcatchers have very obvious and clawed fingers, like Shadowbinder, and unlike Lightweaver's spindly spaghetti fingies. Body shape? Lightweaver is thinner and and more pool-noodle shaped (same thickness throughout the body), while Shadowbinder has a slightly more protruding chest, like pearlies. Also Shadowbinder's wings have a more similar structure to pearlcatchers than Lightweaver's wings do, again with the visible claws at the end of them.
Point is: we have been lied to!! Pearlies are Shadowbinder's kids and Lightweaver took them in the divorce and stapled her ears on them because ever since emperors happened she hasn't been allowed to made a dragon breed and decided to steal Shadowbinder's kids because she wanted two breeds and was still salty about emperors going wrong and Shadowbinder made nocs look vaguely similar to Lightweaver with their somewhat spindly fingers and their unclawed wings as a jab at her for stealing one of her breeds and getting away with it
