Dedicating his life to studying ancient languages and symbols all across Sornieth, Arqam’s particular area of interest – some may even call it blind obsession – are Doors. Those mysterious portals can be seen spread across all flights, regardless of element alignment, age or degree of contact between civilizations. More interesting yet is the fact that many different tribes, without any contact between themselves, developed similar traditions and rituals surrounding the rustic shrines.
Understanding what Doors are, as well as the role of the guardian statues within each one, is Arqam raison d’etre, and the reason for his travels and current living arrangements.
After hearing rumors of an active Door – and one being deliberately manipulated by the clan’s dragons at will – the skydancer promptly left everything behind and started the journey to the Fortress of Ends, intent on finally finding concrete proof that would cement his theory in the academic world.
Not used to field trips in such harsh environments, despite being born in the ice realm, it took some getting used to as he trekked north.
Once settled in his new home, however, Arqam wasted no time in getting his most prized possession – an ancient guardian statue retrieved by his colleagues and left in his care – to his new home. Two guardian statues in the same place was unheard of in both myth and academic reports, and he was convinced that such an experiment would go a long way in explaining the nature of the stone carving and what their roles were.
Signs
As payment for his stay with the clan, Arqam has agreed to teach the prince and his mate sign language since the young Ember, being unable to speak common draconic, has no choice but to remain silent and withdrawn from her clan mates.
While dragonkind has no unified sign language accepted by all clans, Arqam was convinced that as long as the member is her clan could understand and communicate with her, it would matter little to Cybelle what origin the symbols she signed had.
The language being taught was one of Arqam’s own creation, a hodgepodge of symbols from ancient civilizations, modern vernacular and Fae motions designed to convey as many ideas as possible with the least possible confusion. While it is constantly challenging and requires an incredible amount of research to craft his own glossary, the scholar has to admit that he’s enjoying himself - as well as the implications of crafting a dialect that future researchers such as himself might puzzle over.
The idea of causing future dragons grief fills him with pride.
Aide
Leaving behind his whole life and career in a flurry of desperation to move to his new clan, Arqam forgot, among other things, to collect payment for services rendered to a number of dragons. Something that suddenly hit him as a female skydancer was sent to him as thanks.
Born and raised in the travelling caravan of a wealthy merchant, Khawala was Arqam’s payment for his invaluable service in validating and evaluating artifacts for the tundra. Trained as a servant and entertainer, the soft-spoken female tries hard to please her new master, despite his protests that she’s free to do what she will with her life in their new home.
Unused to being free to decide for herself, Khawala instead spends her day trailing after Arqam, driving the male insane as she often misplaces his scattered notes and research in an attempt to tidy up his den and make things easier for him.
Interestingly enough, more than once Arqam has caught her not only putting his notes away, but actually reading them whenever the female thinks herself alone. The subservient demeanor might be a façade hiding a sharp mind, and for once he welcomes company other than his beloved statues; maybe having an aide wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Gods know being the smartest in the room can get a bit tiring after some time.
