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== Description[[Category:IceWings]] == |
== Description[[Category:IceWings]] == |
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| − | Nordic is an unhealthily hungry IceWing. His main scales are a stormy shade of blue-gray, with neck spines that darken at the tips into a violent arctic-sea-blue. His deep gray eyes are metallic like lead, shining with a queer sort of vitality. His body is covered in scattered spadelike scales reminiscent of slush in a frozen harbor. |
+ | Nordic is an unhealthily hungry IceWing-- distant, dull, a tad deranged-looking. His main scales are a stormy shade of blue-gray, with neck spines that darken at the tips into a violent arctic-sea-blue. His deep gray eyes are metallic like lead, shining with a queer sort of vitality. His body is covered in scattered spadelike scales reminiscent of slush in a frozen harbor. |
The elegant keeled scales running down his back are blunted, often smudged with unidentifiable filth or dirty snow. When in the correct light, they glisten with a slight tinge of color, a muted baby blue with faded sparkles. |
The elegant keeled scales running down his back are blunted, often smudged with unidentifiable filth or dirty snow. When in the correct light, they glisten with a slight tinge of color, a muted baby blue with faded sparkles. |
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His belly scales and the webbing on his wings are both an off-white color, though his wing fingers themselves are stark blue-gray like the rest of his body. |
His belly scales and the webbing on his wings are both an off-white color, though his wing fingers themselves are stark blue-gray like the rest of his body. |
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| − | On Nordic's left foreleg, a single dreary cuff has been melded into the ankle scales by extreme heat. |
+ | On Nordic's left foreleg, a single dreary cuff has been melded into the ankle scales by extreme heat. Tarnished chain links drag behind the cuff, leaving dents and scratches in the snow underfoot. |
There is an interrogative tone in his uncomfortably cold voice that lends him a demanding, spiteful presence. |
There is an interrogative tone in his uncomfortably cold voice that lends him a demanding, spiteful presence. |
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A dragon who is hopelessly dependent on strangers for his survival, while claiming that his condition is their fault. He's not exactly the most... ''congenial'' character. |
A dragon who is hopelessly dependent on strangers for his survival, while claiming that his condition is their fault. He's not exactly the most... ''congenial'' character. |
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| − | + | He is driven by an overwhelming desire for the security which he never received as a dragonet, but too wrathful to receive it. When he was taken prisoner by the SkyWings, he became known for such reasonless shouting and pitiful screaming that other dragons did their best to appease him for the sake of their ears. Now, he is a wretched soul that beseeches and grovels like a pathetic sycophant just for confirmation from some other dragon that his existence is acknowledged. His infantile behavior is inappropriate for a dragon his age, which he obsessively acknowledges but does little to improve. |
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| − | + | His spontaneous bursts of anger and irrational thought are entirely self-servicing, not done maliciously (though often resulting in damages to others) but because he knows that his explosive temper will garner attention and drive others to do as he pleases. He seeks to instigate or make enemies to his cause feel sorry for him in order to achieve something he cannot get through self-deprecation or violence-- usually money or food. |
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He relishes every iota of recognition and loves when other dragons plead for ''his'' help for a change. |
He relishes every iota of recognition and loves when other dragons plead for ''his'' help for a change. |
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Revision as of 04:55, 26 October 2020
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"He taught me how to break my chains |
Nordic is a male IceWing ex-prisoner.
Owned by FourFlames.
art by me
Description
Nordic is an unhealthily hungry IceWing-- distant, dull, a tad deranged-looking. His main scales are a stormy shade of blue-gray, with neck spines that darken at the tips into a violent arctic-sea-blue. His deep gray eyes are metallic like lead, shining with a queer sort of vitality. His body is covered in scattered spadelike scales reminiscent of slush in a frozen harbor.
The elegant keeled scales running down his back are blunted, often smudged with unidentifiable filth or dirty snow. When in the correct light, they glisten with a slight tinge of color, a muted baby blue with faded sparkles.
His belly scales and the webbing on his wings are both an off-white color, though his wing fingers themselves are stark blue-gray like the rest of his body.
On Nordic's left foreleg, a single dreary cuff has been melded into the ankle scales by extreme heat. Tarnished chain links drag behind the cuff, leaving dents and scratches in the snow underfoot.
There is an interrogative tone in his uncomfortably cold voice that lends him a demanding, spiteful presence.
Abilities
Nordic's tough scales and physical appearance allow him to survive subzero temperatures like most of his tribe, and as a breath weapon he can spit clouds of ice shards that are deadly to inhale, as the frozen debris is known to pierce the lungs and spread through the internal organs. However, he is more prone to use his claws and head (he likes to ram other dragons with his icicle horns) to inflict slow, painful damage to those in his way. He thinks strategy is important, especially when aiming for someone with power. Unfortunately, he's not good at thinking of strategies. He is severely impulse-oriented.
Light polarization that has evolved in his species' eyes gives him resistance to snowblindness, though his nightvision is severely weakened since his eyes omit certain wavelengths of light.
He almost never uses his tail in combat besides for balance, but he will resort to it if disabled or in appropriate range.
He is a terribly slow flyer, being mostly self-taught. One of his most glaring weaknesses is his lack of agility and speed in the air, so he'll often choose to run or paddle. Occasionally he trips on the remnants of his manacle.
History
Early Life (4998 AS - 5003 AS)
Nordic was born in 4998 AS on one of many barren peninsulas in the Ice Kingdom-- adjacent from the Little Glacier on the eastern coast-- to parents of little wealth.
For generations his line dwelt in the seventh circle with fealty to the nobles living there, but his parents' streak of bitterness towards the aristocracy and estrangement with other tenants made it easy for rivals to frame them for an act of theft. As a result, they lost what moderate wealth they had, and were forced to live in a small fishing community just outside their former home. His parents were united in their deep-seated resentment towards the dragons who landed them in this situation, and treated the rest of the IceWings living there with an overall unfriendliness.
As a dragonet, Nordic had a childish, primitive understanding of life. His parents described him as a 'little bundle of joy,' and this is true; he was blessed with the optimism and inspired curiosity of youth.
Until he caught a disease which threatened to snuff out his spark, the pain sending him into spells of long slumber and unreliable bouts of extreme hunger. His chest rose and fell with the quietness of sleep, while theirs were racked with nothing but helpless sputters. Squeezing their son's weak palms, tears on their frosty cheeks solidifying in the chill air, they suffered the grief of a parent who has to brace themselves for loss, uncertain when death will knell.
The virulent disease kept Nordic isolated from the rest of the village. Other dragons avoided him like the plague, but his family tolerated the filth and infection ravaging Nordic's body, resigning themselves to his defense. This obsessive custodial behavior left them helpless to another kind of malady gathering inside their son. Greed, collected from the sequestered sick-cave, where he learned that other dragons are mere tools and will do everything for you. That the world he knew revolved around him, and that whether or not his parents were hungry or infected was inconsequential.
Prisoner (5004 AS - 5005 AS)
In 5004 AS, the war decided to encroach on IceWing territory-- and Nordic's undefended village on the east coast was easy prey.
Nordic's parents were unable to fight back against the SkyWings, who carried him off as a child prisoner of war and killed his mother in the struggle to take him. His home had always been a source of resentment, but losing it robbed him of the last bit of pride that had elevated him above his situation.
Then he was locked in chains, and forced to kill other dragons for the amusement of a foreign tribe. Day after day he watched dragons throttle and incinerate each other mercilessly.
Nordic was an inexperienced killer, just a mere dragonet. He had spent most his life laying weak on a cot. Tattered, beaten, weary with hunger and misery-- it was only a matter of time before starvation or blood loss killed him.
The opportunity for escape soon came. During an arena battle in 5005 AS, the IceWings launched a counterattack on the SkyWings, assaulting the palace in an effort to kill Queen Scarlet. While the SkyWings were distracted by the siege, a wing of soldiers was dispatched to sabotage the prison spire and free their tribe's captives, but after the death of Commander Sköll someone gave the executive order to retreat. Nordic was lucky to be carried off, but with a nasty scar of his past: a chain bound to his spiny leg, burned into his flesh by the horrors of spectacle fighting.
Deserter (5006 AS - 5010 AS)
Rescuing a child prisoner, of course, came with a few caveats. The army wanted to rescue the youngest captive IceWings possible, to train young blood for the war.
By the time Nordic arrived back in the Ice Kingdom, news had come that the last of his family-- his father-- was dead, killed by a dodgy soldier in the seventh circle.
The young IceWing scavenged every remaining trinket in his old house and left the fishing village to rot, evading the military draft that Queen Glacier demanded of him and the other captives as gratitude. He resisted attempts to enforce the draft, fleeing custody and negotiating his way out of prison with promises of treasure and favors that he would never make good on.
He was eventually arrested in 5009 and forcibly relocated to a prison for the crime of deserting. He begged the guards to set him free, licking their claws in a desperate attempt to win back his agency. Despite his best efforts, Nordic was severely punished for every infraction; he never saw formal warfare, as the guards believed him too unreliable to send into actual combat.
Bum (5011- 5020)
After the war ended, Queen Glacier decided it no longer made sense to hold Nordic in containment for the draft and granted him his freedom. Lacking the responsibility to commit to a job and the patience learn a trade, Nordic fell into a life of poverty, using his knack for irritating others to subsist on minimal food and treasure.
Personality
A dragon who is hopelessly dependent on strangers for his survival, while claiming that his condition is their fault. He's not exactly the most... congenial character.
He is driven by an overwhelming desire for the security which he never received as a dragonet, but too wrathful to receive it. When he was taken prisoner by the SkyWings, he became known for such reasonless shouting and pitiful screaming that other dragons did their best to appease him for the sake of their ears. Now, he is a wretched soul that beseeches and grovels like a pathetic sycophant just for confirmation from some other dragon that his existence is acknowledged. His infantile behavior is inappropriate for a dragon his age, which he obsessively acknowledges but does little to improve.
His spontaneous bursts of anger and irrational thought are entirely self-servicing, not done maliciously (though often resulting in damages to others) but because he knows that his explosive temper will garner attention and drive others to do as he pleases. He seeks to instigate or make enemies to his cause feel sorry for him in order to achieve something he cannot get through self-deprecation or violence-- usually money or food.
He relishes every iota of recognition and loves when other dragons plead for his help for a change.
Beliefs
- Everyone has an ulterior motive. Nordic doesn't trust IceWing society-- he sees nothing but backstabbing and impersonal discipline disguised behind the civil facade of meritocracy. He is unable to forgive the military for expecting him to be grateful that they rescued him for the sole purpose of sending him to die for their cause, and believes his parents only helped him while he was ill because he would be more useful to them alive. He doesn't trust the people who offer him food and money, and always makes sure to inspect his earnings carefully to make sure they aren't counterfeited or poisoned.
- In Nordic's mind, he is constantly being victimized by something. Vulnerable to the unfair advantages plaguing the Circles, he believes he cannot change his situation because the idea that he can do so is probably how the royals manipulate dragons into working for them. He is scared to try and help himself because he expects that he will lose everything he earns.
- Those who have the privilege to help other dragons should help other dragons. Nordic has a twisted version of this idea planted in his head, holding other dragons responsible for delivering on his needs because they have more than enough and "owe" it to him. Given the opportunity, he will take advantage of kindness.
- He shares his late parents' resentment for the IceWing queen and her heirs, but would rather avoid them altogether than seek revenge or speak out against them.
- He strongly dislikes violence but would fight for his own life if it were a matter of survival.
Opinions of the Tribes (Canon Only)
- IceWings: Expects most of them to be pretty terrible, by no fault of their own. "The SkyWings probably killed the only decent ones left."
- MudWings: He fought one of their dragonets in the arena and discovered that they're incredibly difficult to kill. Would like to have one covering his back at least for the muscle, but finds the idea of sibling family units extremely alien and uncomfortable, and sort of dreads the idea of forming an emotional attachment with one.
- NightWings: Due to urban legends, he's not a big fan of them. Now that their Queen is dead and they're living in RainWing territory at Queen Glory's mercy, he finds them almost laughable.
- RainWings: Secretly thinks the Rain Kingdom is the ideal kingdom, but would never openly admit it. The dragons, on the other hand, have "completely vapid personalities" and he finds their possession of powerful venom and a bounty of food "unfair".
- SandWings: He assumes that their kingdom is an enormous mess that he'd rather not get involved with. Looks down on most of them and would be sure to rain pity on them, regardless of how well-off they are. "Oh, you're the wealthiest dragon in the Sand Kingdom? That must not have been a very difficult title to earn."
- SeaWings: He assumes that they're extremely powerful and full of themselves, but hasn't personally met one beyond arena fights. They seem to have an extensive monarchy, because Queen Scarlet keeps capturing princes, and "it's a miracle they haven't run out. Is that kingdom even functional?"
- SkyWings: He hates them with a burning passion, but can agree with them on one point. They're a rich, warfaring society-- just like Queen Glacier but more violent-- but at least have the decency to be forward about how they feel towards peasants and weirdlings.
- HiveWings, LeafWings and SilkWings: "I have literally never heard of those tribes in my life and-- by the Great Ice Dragon, why do they have that many wings?!"
Gallery
