Starfallen Submissions, Part 4

The parade of remarkable Kin continues! Today's candidates are all wild cards, none of them leading typical lives as the Kin judge such things. but such experiences can have interesting impacts on life in time. Today's hopefuls are:

FORTUNE, The Lucky One

Born in the sometimes-fertile but often-frozen wilds of Alaska, the Ruby Kin known as Fortune had poor prospects. With a stronger and more aggressive sibling already overshadowing it, it seemed doomed to failure.

Fate, however, was seemingly enamored with the hatchling. Its older sibling was killed by humans, the first of many tragedies which was to work in Fortune’s benefit. The struggles of mightier Kin and even the eruption of a massive volcano provided unusual opportunities, and Fortune learned to seek benefit in even the worst situations. Good, it learned, may arrive wearing a bad skin, and there were gems lying about the ruins of tragedies.

A true survivalist, Fortune joined the exodus to escape the prophesied doom of Many-Times-Burned’s crusade and preserve its own life, and succeeded mostly out of luck. Though it does have a modicum of compassion, having once saved the life of a human without seeking reward, it is luck which has played the biggest role in its life. Was it just random chance, or does destiny have an eye on this young Kin? Will Newhome be the end of its lucky streak, or the place where the meaning of its great good fortune will be revealed?

BUG, Devourer of Delvers

Deep in the bowels of the land, there lurks a horrific monster, feasting on dwarf children who dare stray from their settlements. A scream in the dark, and then silence. Strong warriors search for it in vain, as it is a master of traps and stealth, and weaker soldiers sent to hunt it are devoured by the thing in the shadows one by one, each knowing the true meaning of fear before the end. The dwarves call the thing “The Infernal Hellborn Spider Demon”. Most Draak-Kin, however, call it “The Bug”.

Having inherited the territory of one of its parents when they were killed by a heroic dwarf, Bug was hungry for both revenge and food, and found both by terrorizing the dwarves. Far from most other Kin, its smaller size helped it hide in cracks and crevices, its belly-sliding skitter facilitated quick movement and stealth, and its bulging eyes, which rarely saw light, had been reduced to haunting milk-white orbs. Few Kin have ever been called ugly or loathsome with any truth, but Bug was an exception. Even its speech was slower, repetitive and slightly broken, the product of having very little communication with anything in its life. Still, unattractive as it was, other Draak could not deny that Bug’s eternal war on the Delvers was to their benefit, and it once even received a visit from Never-Ever, who was intrigued by Bug’s devious yet effective campaign of shadowy death.

It was a surprise to many when Bug haltingly expressed a desire to join Darktooth after the Grand Moot. The endless, sunless crusade against the Delvers had worn Bug’s soul. Having been a killer in darkness for so long, it realized that its quest for revenge was unending, and it was becoming little more than a hungry beast who would never know peace. While ugly on the outside, there was a spark of light in Bug’s soul, a desire for a different kind of life, one with new opportunities, new experiences; an end to the long dark of endless hunger and blood. Asked for payment by Darktooth, Bug produced an enormous hoard of wealth ranging from gems and metals to rare dwarf artifacts, the spoils of its lifetime of murder and pillage. Darktooth could hardly turn down such a fortune, which would increase the chances of surviving the voyage for all, and granted the loathsome dwarf-killer a chance for a new life on Newhome. Would Bug return to its old ways and become a demon of destruction in this new world, or was there potential for a new light to shine in its death-weary heart?

CRESCENT, Uplifted by Knowledge

The teaching of a Draak in its egg during the months before its emergence is taken rather seriously by the Kin. Since the mind awakens soon after the egg is laid, few Kin come into the world completely without guidance or context. Even if the mother dies, the father will ensure that the tradition is upheld. But what happens when both parents are killed the very day after the egg is laid?

Crescent, child of two Onyx Kin killed by humans in just such a way, found out. Finding itself alive and alone with no knowledge at all of the world or its inhabitants, it struggled mightily to survive. Everything was a mystery to it, and it did not even know how to use its Mindsong, leaving it little more than a scavenging beast on the modern-day Holderness coast.

Eventually, Darktooth heard about a scrawny Kin who could not even communicate properly eking out a desperate existence. Darktooth took on a parental role, teaching Crescent all that it might have learned in the egg and more. Filled with a newfound understanding of its own existence and made tough and cunning by its trials, Crescent surged forth from the Great Lesson mightily, reversing its fortunes and meeting with success after success. It joined Darktooth’s voyage immediately out of its deep respect for the elder, and hopes to find a cure for the dreamless affliction common to its clan, which it feels slowly draining its will to live.