Overview[]
Personality[]
Clawmark is a very pragmatic dragon, and one of the most prominent supporters of the meritocracy. He always has a very solid vision of what he intends to make, and will always follow up on it.
He is also very loyal to those he leads in Rugged Ridge, often seeing them as comrades-in-arms rather than simply soldiers. He cares deeply for their well-being, and would do nearly anything to keep them alive.
Clawmark was once an extremely ambitious dragon, and still is, though not to the degree of his previous self (most of his ambition was sated after becoming Nest Chief). He still expects the best from his citizens, however, and sometimes holds them to an overly high standard.
Clawmark is much more of a “Big-Picture” kind of guy rather than small details. He sometimes doesn’t have everything thought out to the same degree as the intended result, but can usually fix the gaps with the help of his peers.
History[]
Commander, then named simply Clawmark for the stripes trailing from his head to his tail, was hatched to his parents in 4945 AS, in the Balding Basin Nest. He was born two years before his sister, Chitin. Clawmark was a very artistic dragonet, and had a great passion for art in general.
He would usually read up on various artists from across Pantala, and sometimes assisted his sister in finding projects to work on. He was well aware of Chitin's love of talons-on work, and helped her find various projects to work on, both at home and elsewhere.
When Clawmark finally finished his time in the academy (4952 AS), he wasn't super well-off, and was slated to become a Carver. Clawmark loved his job, following the standard CentiWing tradition of taking Carver as his primary name (though for the purposes of this article I will still refer to him as Clawmark). As he continued his craft, he became better and better at it, often selling his creations for Treasure in marketplaces and such. He gained a keen eye for details, and always made sure to keep everything in order with his creations.
Clawmark stayed as a Carver for about five more years, until he was about twelve years old. Then, the Khan was assassinated by one of Wasp's ambassadors, and the centiWings began mobilizing for war. Clawmark almost immediately signed up for the army and joined as a simple foot soldier.
Clawmark was present at the Battle of Khan Peak, and was one of the scouts who went to scope out the Vinegaroon Hive Lines. he noticed a dent of sorts in their formation, and brought the information back to his Commander, who relayed it to the rest of the troops.
This allowed the CentiWing forces to punch their way through the troops of Vinegaroon Hive and surround them, eventually routing them completely. Clawmark was shocked at this development, and was then immediately ecstatic about their victory. He began to hope that the war would go similarly as well.
Due to his contributions, Clawmark was promoted to the position of Lieutenant, and was put in command of his own platoon of soldiers. He fought with them through a series of battles after Khan Peak that eventually pushed the HiveWing forces out of the Harrowing Highlands long enough for the Intermission period.
Clawmark was promoted to the rank of commander during the Intermission, and began organizing defensive plans for if the HiveWings returned. He had a general respect for his troops, and they for him, but fights were not exactly uncommon. Dragons would occasionally challenge his leadership, but he would manage to keep them off of him for long enough.
Due to the HiveWing's lack of any real sort of presence around the Harrowing Highlands, Clawmark was under the impression that it was simply luck keeping the tribe in the war at this point. Despite not being particularly religious, he prayed that their luck wouldn't run out.
Their luck ran out.
The HiveWings, after dispatching the LeafWings, came back with a vengeance, shoring up the resources of Yellowjacket, Tsetse, and Wasp Hive for one massive push into the Harrowing Highlands. Clawmark appealed that the troops at the border be bolstered with more reserve troops, in an effort to push the HiveWings back, but the order was overturned.
Clawmark and his platoons fought bravely during the Great Fire, sweeping through sects of the Yellowjacket Troops, but they were eventually overwhelmed. Clawmark's troops were surrounded, and were quickly burned out by the HiveWing fire carriers. Clawmark himself survived, albeit grievously wounded, and fled back to the CentiWing territory. He collapsed from his wounds at the border of the Balding basin and Slipshod Pass.
Clawmark woke up about a year later after healing from his wounds, and found the CentiWing tribe in a state of near complete disarray. The then-Nest Chief of Balding basin recognized him for his efforts during the war, and immediately took him on as an advisor. With Clawmark's help, Balding basin was eventually restored to a sense of order.
Clawmark served under the Nest Chief for about ten years, during which he oversaw some reconstruction efforts, and met up with his sister for the first time in several years. He hadn't seen her since the beginning of the war, and was rather happy to see her again. He learned that she had since become a prominent architect, and worked with her to rebuild the Basin.
The Commander met his nephew for the first time the next year, while he was still a dragonet. Clawmark pretty much immediately took a liking to Blueshell, and found him to be a pleasantly intelligent dragonet. Not overly smart to the point of annoyance, but not so utterly stupid he could be mistaken for a sheep. Clawmark set about teaching him to keep an eye on the details of any given situation, and advised him to remember things well.
By the time he was 25, Clawmark was the Nest Chief's top advisor, and found himself consulted for nearly everything. Clawmark wasn't super thrilled about this, but gave as much input as he found reasonable. He continued to oversee the efforts to reconstruct Balding Basin, but began spending less and less time with his sister and nephew.
By the time Clawmark was about 28, the Nest Chief passed away from old age. Thinking himself to be the best for the job, Clawmark immediately set about attempting to become Nest Chief. His efforts were not in vain, as he was voted in by his peers in the next year.
Clawmark has served as the Nest Chief of the Balding basin ever since he was voted in, having served for about three decades. He runs the Nest efficiently, and makes sure that everyone does their work and pays their dues, be they in actual Treasure or otherwise. He tends to be much more public than other Nest Chiefs, often walking trough the nest and talking to the other dragons he meets.
Most of the time these talks will be about what the dragons think of the den and how they think it can be improved, Clawmark always keeps this information in his head for if/when the Nest needs a major overhaul in facilities and such, and usually attempts to establish a rapport with the dragons.
Clawmark still serves as the Nest Chief of Balding Basin, and has no regrets over taking the position, and even less over what his leadership has brought to the Nest.
Miscellaneous[]
Relationships[]
Architect Chitin[]
Being her brother, Clawmark has a decent relationship with Architect. They stay realistic towards each other, and are generally on friendly terms.
Farmer Blueshell[]
Clawmark had a good relationship with Blueshell, often teaching him when he wasn't assisting the Nest Chief. However, once Clawmark gained the position, he began spending less and less time with his nephew due to the amount of time he had to spend on various projects in the nest.
Metallurgist Slate[]
Metallurgist was one of the dragons who challenged Clawmark during his time as Commander, and as he such he didn't particularly like him, like most of the other challengers. However, he didn't;'t feel any hatred towards Metallurgist, as his leadership style was rather unconventional.
Strengths[]
- Eye for detail: Clawmark will remember the most minor of details with great clarity.
- Carving: Clawmark is rather skilled with carving, and is able to use his talons to carve pieces of wood into very detailed figurines.
- Haggling: Though he doesn't use this skill often, Clawmark is skilled in haggling due to his years selling his figurines.
- Spear Combat: Clawmark is rather adept at wielding a spear from his years in the military.
- Military Strategy: Clawmark is a brilliant strategist, and has used his Eye for Detail to construct plans.
Weaknesses[]
- Flightless: Tribal weakness.
- Bad eyesight: Clawmark cannot see too well out of his left eye, on account of the scars over it.
- Overly Pragmatic: Clawmark is a bit too focused on the realistic side of things to always efficiently consider every possibility.
Other[]
Hobbies[]
Clawmark is still a talented carver, and enjoys this practice very much. He always keeps his claws sharp in order to complete his sculptures, though he's recently had less and less time to do it on account of now having the duties of Nest Chief to deal with.
Usually, Clawmark will make sculptures of various CentiWings he sees during his travels through the nest. Due to the general lack of wood in the CentiWing Territory, Clawmark has actually taken to recycling his sculptures. The recycled versions are never as good as the originals, which Clawmark is very annoyed about, but uses it as stress relief nevertheless.
References[]
