Starfallen Submissions, Part 5

Our penultimate round of candidates features two dragons who are well-acquainted with power and greed. One, however, was blind to the lessons taught by such a life, while another learned them so well that it teeters on the brink of death.

Note that some Kin use the words "death" and "change" interchangeably.

REGENT, Hollow Tyrant

The Kin are in many ways the nobility of life on Earth, and few embody the darker side of this as well as Regent. Beautiful and strong, it has earned the envy of other nearby Kin for its material success. Its mindsong is clever and fluent, tales are told by lesser beings of its might, and every animal in its territory cowers in fear of it. It has crowned itself a mighty ruler of the land, taking a name which befits its exalted status. But where the journey of life leads some to wisdom, Regent knows only greedy desire in the depths of its heart.

Though it considers itself wise, Regent is, in truth, quite a fool. It loves to spread exaggerated tales of its own prowess. While it is true that it earned much success by tooth, claw, and deception, it denies fortune’s large role and seeks to take credit for the work of others, even other Kin. To Regent, life is a game played to win, and one wins by having all the fortune and glory to oneself. No falsehood is too great, no trick too low if it results in Regent’s being enriched in some way. Its only love is itself, a self which it does not even truly know.

A combination of fear of dying in Many-Times-Burned’s crusade and lust for riches untold on a new world caused it to buy its way into the exodus. Darktooth knew Regent’s true nature but allowed it to join anyway for unclear reasons. Perhaps it thought that the cruel and selfish Kin could be reformed by the experience, or perhaps it fit into a greater scheme of Darktooth’s. In any case, Regent hides a rotten soul beneath its seemingly fair and benevolent demeanor. It seems destined for ultimate ruin, but will the new generation on Newhome learn from it or follow it into the Void?

AVARICE, Compassion Awakened

While every wise Kin knows that excess is self-destructive, most still hold greed… that is, a powerful desire to draw things to oneself… as a general virtue. The quest for “more” has always been a strong force for evolution, and the active seeking of treasure, prey, pleasure, and power are culturally encouraged by the Kin and by reality in general.

So it was with a young Emerald Kin, child of the Emerald Flame and a powerful Ruby warrior, who threw itself into life’s struggle for supremacy with unusual fervor, even glee. It wanted every animal, every treasure, every secret for itself. Any failures only increased its lust to possess all. It wanted to own everything, take everything into itself until it was as big as the world, and then seek even more.

In young adulthood, Avarice tried to possess something new: another Kin. It lusted after the other dragon’s body, but also its mind and even its soul. It found it so blindingly beautiful that it would settle for no less than complete and permanent ownership of it in every aspect. Tragically, this ended in the destruction of the dragon it loved, and the young Avarice began to realize a new truth: the moment of having was also the moment of loss. So it had been for all its life, it realized: anything which it had taken had ceased to truly exist as itself. Once fully taken and controlled by another, no being can keep its true beauty or essence. There was a terrible price being paid for its endless wanting. For the first time, it knew despair.

When the Grand Moot occurred, the treasure-wealthy Avarice easily paid the joining-price to Darktooth and became part of the exodus, still chasing the shadow of wealth and power untold beyond the stars, but it was now hunted by regret. Arriving in a new world, it met the ghost of the Kin it had once loved everywhere. Even hunting seemed only an exercise in blood and pain. Keenly aware of death’s finality, it tried to exist on the tiniest and least conscious beings it could find. A diet of plankton, bacteria, and other such prey made it lean, drained its deep green color and left it pale and wasted away. It learned to hate its former way of life and named itself Avarice (“Too-Much-Greed”, in the draconic) as a mark of shame.

Now surrounded by wonders on Newhome, Avarice dares not reach out and take the shining bounty. Instead, it is now dedicated to the search for an answer to its deepest questions. Can life be maintained without tearing it from others? Can anything be possessed without murdering its soul? Avarice’s road to peace will be a long one, but though the seeds of compassion bloom slowly, their flowers may be the most beautiful and fragrant in the end.

“DO NOT LOVE,” it sings, “FOR IT WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER.”