"What are the bones of the living compared to bones of the earth?"
Background[]
Gaia was born in the heart of Dragonhome, within a clan whose existence was not dependant on the individuals that made it up, but its values of freedom that were shared. While she drifted from that clan, as many members were wont to do, the core value was instilled within her nonetheless.
Her parents were both fascinated by bones: the remains of living things that told their story even a millennia after the creature had met its end, natural or otherwise. They told her of all the secrets they unlocked, and even showed her how to unlock them herself. She took to it like a duck to water, or a snapper to knowledge, absorbing it all and retaining the knowledge within her head, never writing it down. She had no need to. At this point, the young Gaia was convinced that she would become a bonescryer like her parents.
But then she discovered something else, something that drew her in like a moth to a flame. The rocks themselves, the ones that made up her home, surrounding her wherever she went, became alive. They did not actually animate, although she had heard stories of the possibility in other realms, but a curious young snapper once caught sight of something different. It was an ore, she was told. The lifeblood of the stones around them. If the stones had blood, she reasoned, they must also have bones.
From then on, she dedicated herself to hunting down the bones of the earth itself, leaving her birth clan to follow the veins of ore wherever she went. Over the long journey, she found many more types of rocks, storing all the information in her head. By the time she reached the Starfall Isles, she could hazard to call herself an expert on the rock formations of Sornieth. That is, until she discovered the chalcedony that made up much of the Arcanist’s domain.
Within the Starfall Isles, she found herself lingering in various clans, determined to unravel the mysteries of the new geology she found, before finding one that was not only full of scholars - that was not unusual within the Starfall Isles, she had discovered - but also exhibited the same core values of her birth lair, of freedom and loyalty. It was as close to ‘home’ as she had ever felt, so she stayed, although she still occasionally leaves the lair for weeks at a time, just wandering.
Personality[]
Gaia is a calm and collected individual, who has no wish for conflicts and will leave any area that appears to be reaching a state of tension. For this reason, there are some clan members that she will never be in the same place as at the same time, and other clan members, or even areas of the lair itself, which she will never venture near. While many clan members maintain that her seemingly infinite patience would make her a brilliant mediator, she simply does not wish to get involved in disagreements, because she doesn’t want them to get stuck in her memory.
Things such as romance do not agree with her, either. She tried it, once, but could not remain attached to either her mate, or her only son, and soon drifted away from them. It is the one period of her life she wishes that she could regret. Hatchlings have never been, and will never be, her favourite thing. They grow up too fast for that.
Role Within The Clan[]
Gaia’s main role as part of the clan has little to do with her self-appointed job of studying the rocks, although she uses it as an excuse to get out of the lair a while to investigate new veins, or old ones she enjoyed visiting in the past and wished to return to. She is the clan’s Earth representative, and her long, meandering journeys are supposed to end up within Dragonhome as an ambassador for the clan. This does not always happen, as she finds the task quite tedious at times and prefers to remain alone within the rocks on her journeys than deal with her ambassador duties.
Appearance[]
Never seen without her scarf, well worn from her travels, or her hat, equally battered yet still well-loved, Gaia’s appearance somewhat betrays her almost nomadic nature. Her partially shiny hide reflects her love of the stones within the ground, which also glitter in the right light.
Abilities[]
Magic[]
Gaia does not have an affinity for magic, although others in the clan are confident that if she remains in the Starfall Isles much longer the vast amounts of magic in the area will make their way into her and she’ll be capable of casting small spells, rather than relying on the likes of Hyoga and Ryoshi to transport her to and from the floating lair.
Mêlée[]
Her bulk gives her some physical power, but as a pacifist that is only reluctantly being brought into the coliseum because the clan wants the surety that she will be safe on her travels she is not keen on fighting. This means that while she has the ability to seriously harm other dragons, she is determined to avoid doing so.
Relationships[]
As a wanderer, she has not made many steadfast connections within the clan, mainly only talking with Hyoga and Ryoshi when they help her in and out of the lair.
Trivia[]
- Gaia is from the Greek γαια and means earth