Age: 15
Gender: Male
Species: Gryphon
Subspecies: Eagle/Puma hybrid
Height: 5'10" at the shoulder
Build: Average
Feathers: Silver-white
Fur: Albino
Eye: Black
Origin: Senaerra, Searched at Aranas
Status: Bonded at Darkling Dawn / Lord's son
Searcher: Ysmea, with green Exzentrischth
Card: 4 of Swords (truce)
Element: Air
Zodiac: Capricorn
Personality: Always a Lord, never a serf, U'an maintains a very firm set of standards that have carried through from life into death. He refuses to speak with anyone who cannot be respectful and commands respect from both superiors and servants alike with ease. In truth, he dislikes the attitude of many spoiled-rotten nobles and is more apt to speak with their subordinates, much to the nobles' anger. Urian has a deep fascination for legends, particularly those dealing with the afterlife, and has been thoroughly amused by the fact that the legends were, in fact, quite right.
Description: Small for a Gryphon, but no less powerful, he is of average build in an undersized frame. Although his form suggests combinations of an eagle and a puma's features, his colouration is that of an albino, with silver-white feathers and pure white fur. His black eyes are piercing, contrasting sharply with the pearlescent hue of his beak. In addition to his striking colouration, an indigo tattoo has been placed on the left side of his face as an indicator of his status.
Gender: Male
Colour: Silver-White
Age: Adult
Size: Small
Dam: Green-Blue Careth
Sire: Andalusite-Celestial Krinoth
Clutch: #6
Origin: Darkling Dawn
Personality: He shares many qualities with his bond; his sense of justice, truth, and respect are admirable to say the least. Still, he's far less outspoken than U'an and is more likely to keep quiet on most issues, rather than rock the boat. Indeed, Quartzth is more of a silent diplomat, quick to compromise, rather than make any demands. Small for his kind, it is perhaps most fitting that he is more of an intellectual dragon, rather than a fighter.
"Lord Urian?"
"He ... he's not well, Llei. I ... I didn't see the dagger, the dart, I couldn't, he was moving around so much that ...", Keahi's voice cracked and the young man began to cry, his hands fumbling for his face. "Assassins.", he managed to say in his broken voice, the word nearly incomprehensible.
"Lord Siordan.", Lleissae's lips twisted in a snarl. Siordan, Lord of his own stretch of kingdom had had his eye on the realm of elder Lord Rascha, lands which would soon be passed to Urian. Rascha was on his deathbed and, now, his only son was also treading the fine line between life and death. Things did not look good for their Lord or his lands and Siordan was the only one to truly blame.
"Where is he?", the young woman demanded, giving Keahi a stiff shake. "Tell me! We have to see him!"
"Infirmary.", came Keahi's slurred response and he followed numbly as Lleissae pulled him along after her at a full run.
***
They arrived to see Urian strapped to a bed, his huge form trembling with the effects of poison. Lord Urian, as his father before, was a proud gryphon and possessed the combined forms of an eagle and a mountain lion. His father had made the long trek from the throne room and now sat in front of his son with watery eyes. And now, the servants who had failed their master stood in the room as well, unable to do any more than to watch the doctors dashing about like mice, trying to fix the unfixable, to cure the uncurable.
Lleissae burst into tears and reached out numbly for Keahi, resting her head atop his. The old Lord Rascha turned his head slowly, his eyes suddenly burning with anger.
"You who have failed my son and my kingdom! If he lives, then you will live, but if he dies ... I will live to see you pass, headless, into death.", he growled, his talons clicking fiercely on the floor. "Do you hear me? You will die if my son, my only son, dies!"
And though they should have been outraged, neither servant seemed upset by the decree. Instead, Keahi lifted his head, tears gleaming on his cheeks, and declared, "If that is the wish of you, my Lord. Of you and Lord Urian. We die willingly for him."
His voice jerked and twitched, little more than a moan of pain, but Urian answered, "Don't leave me alone in death, Keahi, Lleissae. Please. It's ... death is a lonely place ..." He extended a mighty talon and both his servants dashed to his side, placing their hands on a claw that could rend them to pieces. They looked into his watery, blood-shot eyes and he looked back, the fire of life slowly flickering out of them. "I loved you both.", came his final gasp, as the gryphon's body began to relax.
"My Lord!", Lleissae cried, embracing Urian's feathered neck, even as he slumped beneath his straps. His body gave a final shudder, and as Keahi reached to stroke Urian's neck feathers, his life was over. Rascha lifted his voice in a raw cry, a mourning shriek that pierced the silence that had fallen after Urian had taken his last breath.
***
Early in the morning, the executioner's block was set up and a powerful black gryphon -- raven and panther, from the build -- sat beside it with a set of great metal scythes affixed to his natural talons. He regarded the gathering of people with an indifferent gaze, clicking his metal talons on the ground; all he had to do was wait for the two traitors to come and his work would be done for the day. Work was slow for him, but he didn't mind it so much; he had other talents, after all.
As Lleissae and Keahi were brought out by the guards, the gathered people began to fling things at them, rotted vegetation and rocks, despite the bellowing guards' demands otherwise. Lleissae was pulled away first and all she had time to do was mouth the words, "Be brave." to Keahi before she was flung to the ground and her head adjusted on the block.
She did not cry or scream or try to escape; she bore her penalty with a pride and strength that would have made any gryphon proud. The executioner's talons swung down and severed her head neatly before tossing her body aside. "Bring the next one.", he rasped, wiping his talons on Lleissae's clothing.
Keahi trembled, but did not cry -- Lleissae's final words to him kept him from breaking down -- but he felt dread begin to twist in his gut. He shut his eyes and the whistle of the scythes removed his head from his body. Dimly, he was aware that he was still conscious, but he didn't seem to hurt anywhere. Then the darkness rushed in, silencing the cheers of the crowd.
***
"Are you awake?"
The voice, familiar yet strangely out of place, snapped Keahi to attention almost immediately.
"My Lord?", he gasped, sitting up from where he lay in a tangled bed of vines and flowers. Lleissae lay beside him, her limbs sprawled akimbo amid the green and lavender; she seemed dead to the world, with the exception of her hideously loud snoring.
Grimacing, Keahi looked around for any sight of the Gryphon Lord and found him, nestled nearby in a roughly made nest of the selfsame vines that sprawled across the ground. Tears leapt to fox-shifter's eyes as he stood, stumbling to Urian with wide-spread arms. "How I missed you, my Lord! I thought ... I thought you had ..."
"I did. As did both of you.", the Gryphon rumbled, seeming amused at the whole situation. "We three are, actually, dead. But not to worry." Urian gaped his jaw in a smile, even as Keahi buried his head in the Gryphon's feathered neck. "I haven't seen any Judges yet."
"J-Judges? What are you talking about?", Lleissae's sleep-slurred voice rose groggily, though the frog-shifter didn't actually get up. "You're talking like we're in a courthouse or somesuch."
"Essentially, we are. This is the legendary world of Judgment, from what I can tell.", Urian replied, his tail whipping behind him. "I can tell because of the unnatural plant growth. Legend states that Judgement is a place where all living creatures are cast off into their appropriate domains, after death. I'm fortunate that no Judge has found me ... otherwise, I wouldn't be here with you."
"Oh." Lleissae finally sat up, rubbing at her sleep-encrusted eyes, seemingly un-surprised at Urian's more or less living state. "So ... what? We've got bodies in this Judgement place?"
"Apparently.", came the Gryphon's bemused reply.
A thick rustling in the bushes around them startled the lot of them into silence. Lleissae snapped out of her groggy state and scurried to Urian's side, clinging to his feathered neck as Keahi did on the other side. Urian, for his part, did not rise, but gazed steadily about to pinpoint the source of the rustling.
"There.", he hissed softly, jerking his head in the direction of several vine-laden trees. "Do not move, either of you."
They remained as they were, the two servants trembling a little. Lleissae shot a nervous look over to Keahi, who returned it with teary eyes. "Not again.", the male fox-shifter whined softly. "I don't want to die again."
"You won't.", Lleissae did her best to reassure her companion, but in all honesty, she was perhaps more terrified of the prospect than he.
"Hullo over there!", a distinctly feminine voice called from the bushes to the trio's side. As they looked on, three immense dragon heads lifted, leaves falling from their heads. One silver, one green, and one was oddly metallic, as if gold and silver melted together. The three were quite impressive and they fixed their whirling blue-green eyes on the three cowering in the vine thicket before them. One could almost say that they appeared amused at the sight.
The owner of the voice, a sleek female who appeared underweight and possessed feline ears, strode purposefully through the tangle of bushes without a problem. Keahi identified her quickly as a cat-shifter by scent alone and Lleissae felt oddly uncomfortable in the woman's presence. Two humans emerged after her, one of whom appeared to be noble-born, but raised like a brat. The other, a servant by her mannerisms, carried herself far better than the other two. She alone smiled at the three and wiggled her fingers in a small greeting, unnoticed by her companions.
The noble brat stomped a foot. "Exzentrischth says that she likes that one, the funny-looking thing that looks like a cat and a bird all mooshed together." Her nose wrinkled. "But I don't bloody know why." The girl glared angrily at the green dragon, who puffed up her chest haughtily and seemed to reply, since the girl rolled her eyes. "Right, right. You, you cat-bird thing. What's your name?"
"Ysmea ...", the servant girl sighed, shaking her head. "Please try to be polite."
"I'll do what I want.", the girl Ysmea snorted. "Answer me!"
"I don't answer to rotten cubs.", the Gryphon replied, his smooth voice rolling through the clearing. His head swung in the servant's direction as he addressed her. "I would be Urian, Gryphon Lord of the Eastern Lands and rival to Lord Siordan. And what would your name be?"
Before the servant Eslai could introduce herself, Ysmea interjected with a fierce, "I don't answer to stupid cat-birds."
The cat-shifter, for her part, was silent through all the goings on, though she did lift a hand to press at her forehead. It was, ironically perhaps, the dragons who interrupted the tizzy, as the multi-metallic dragon released a piercing cry that stunned Ysmea into silence.
"My name is Eslai, rider to silver Erdbeereth, riding for our Lady Drakiera. We are on a quest.", Eslai replied and Prriitha gave her a thin smile and nod of approval. "He -- Erdbeereth, that is -- has decided he rather likes you.", the girl nodded quickly to Lleissae.
"Well spoken, Eslai. And I am Prriitha, a fortuneteller and rider to starry Katzenbuckelth. She's the unusual one, there.", the feline-shifter arched an eyebrow. "She seems to find you, fox-shifter, to be most interesting."
"And Zen' seems to like you, you stupid ..."
"Bite your tongue.", Prriitha snapped, then turned once more to the three strange entities before them. "Lord Urian, it seems Exzentrischth, bonded to Ysmea, has determined you to be worthy as well."
"I would be dubious of her tastes.", the Gryphon replied, looking sharply at the green's rider.
"Mm. Doubtless we are, as well. However, Katzenbuckelth has agreed that you would be suitable for our quest." The cat-shifter smiled. "How would you like the ability to return home and for you, Lord Urian, to regain your lost lands?"
"How did you -?!", Keahi stuttered, staring at Prriitha openly.
"I am also a fortuneteller. Trust me on this. A darkness has cast a shadow over your lands, my Lord. Your sire has passed in the wake of your own death and your rival has taken over. If you would have a chance at regaining your lands, listen to what we are about to request.", Prriitha looked to Eslai, gesturing the girl forward. Ysmea stamped her feet and, in a huff, went back through the bushes quite noisily.
"I ... okay. Our dragons are able to sense, to some degree, if others would be able to become riders. Erdy isn't usually sensitive like this, but we're on a quest, and I guess that changes things.", the servant girl dug at the ground with her toe. "So, we're asking if you'd like to try to ride a dragon. Er. Or bond them, I should say.", she looked at Urian apologetically. "Dragons are fine companions and almost all of them are able to transport passengers through space-time. You'd be able to get home -"
"And we'd have a living weapon.", Urian finished, his keen mind already catching on. "I will agree to your request, as will my companions."
"I'm Keahi. Sorry for not saying so earlier.", the fox-shifter stuttered, offering a hand.
"And I'm Lleissae. I'm still a bit tired, really. Nice meeting you, though."
"And we're ready to go, then. Lord Urian, you can fit easily on Katzenbuckelth's back, given her size. We'll need to make use of her transporting abilities, otherwise, you could fly on your own.", Prriitha sounded almost apologetic as she helped the others to mount up. None of them rode with Ysmea, however, and the girl gave pointed glares at all three newly searched candidates.
"Off we go, then.", the cat-shifter called, and soon, they were off ...