howdy!! a bit late but on the other hand, it IS wednesday now... i saw you reblog that lore ask meme, and figured i'd send an ask! pls talk a bit more about the handsome young man Isidor, i would love to hear ALL about him!! what is his personality like? is he very fussy about his silks or just a bit "meh" on what happens to them? - rifter-pride
Ayy thank you, it's never too late to ask me questions about my dragons! I'm so down for talking more about Isidor:
Isidor is a young Gaoler (early twenties-ish if he was human) who has participated in dangerous expeditions before. He’s handled Shade infestations and seen an eldritch abomination up close once, but always as part of a team led by more experienced, older Gaolers. He thinks the elders are a bit antiquated and favor those of the younger generations who parrot their views. In turn, this has made him feel more than a little overshadowed and led him to go out on his own. Both to get rid of the shackles of his elders, but also prove to them that he’s good actually.
Still, Dragonhome’s not too far from home, if he gets homesick then it’s only a short trip back to his Order.
He’s a bit too confident in his own abilities and nowhere near as experienced as he wants to believe. He has yet to understand the virtues of patience. This leads him into dumb situations that could have been avoided but there’s no one to blame but himself. Still, he stands his ground and doesn’t let himself be bullied either by the roving Blackblades or the creatures he encounters.
Like many Gaolers before him, he barged in with this idea that the desert’s just an issue because none of the locals have tried his neat tricks. It’s starting to sink in that maybe things are a bit more complicated than that, and Gaolers do not have the answers to every problem in the world.
Also, that’s not how you make friends, and Isidor is a friendly guy. He’s outgoing and not yet jaded by the world. Still, he has some subconscious disdain for those older than him, even when he’s a newcomer, due to his less than stellar experiences with his Gaoler mentors.
As for his silks, other Gaolers find him vain and deride him for picking up this modern custom. This may also have been part of the reason for why he left. He loves his silks and takes good care of them. However, he sees rips from certain kinds of wear and tear as “battle scars”. Tearing his scarf on a cactus is embarrassing and his own fault, but a desert monster ripping at it, that’s honorable damage. He’ll still repair it, though.
He also enjoys when others comment on them—he’s confident about wearing them but it’s just so nice when others notice, you know?
Do any of the Blackblades have an immutable code of honor? something that even a grand offer of coin couldn't make them betray? Have any of them ever taken a fee for something that they simply couldn't follow through on?
If Ashen were to be restored to divinity tomorrow, would he be forgiving of former followers who weren't responsible for his loss, or vengeful over the experience of being forgotten and abandoned to the sands of time?
Ayy thank you for these great questions! I'll put most of it under the cut.
Code of honor
The Blackblades have an unwritten and immutable code of honor! Here are some of the rules:
If another Blackblade is facing danger from either city/desert creatures or a vengeful employer, you’re honor-bound to aid them. You only cut your losses and run if those in danger aren’t a Blackblade. Employers may get themselves eaten by eldritch abominations or old gods but friends cutthroat mercenaries do not let friends cutthroat mercenaries perish to scary creatures.
You may accept a job that pits you against another Blackblade, but in the event of physical conflict, you will not maim them or deliver lethal blows. Direct assassination contracts or the like are off-limits.
No touching eldritch artifacts. The employer will always show up in person or provide a team that handles this stuff.
No contract that demands you spend more than a day in the eldritch city is worth it. Remember what happened to Thorn, Whisper and Hemlock.
It is also a quiet agreement that if Thorn, Whisper and Hemlock warp more than they already have, the rest will put them out of their misery.
Anything the Order of the Sacred Tomb (Lazarus, Jarah, Ishmerai) guards in their underground catacombs is off-limits, no matter the price.
You always alert others to the presence of lawmen or those who bring their own protection, you cannot be bribed into silence.
Fee for something they could not follow through on:
Occasionally they do that! Two examples:
Yerah was hired by a stupidly rich Pearlcatcher from Mirrorlight Promenade to retrieve an artifact from the eldritch city. She took payment up front and promptly pretended she died (got Sahar to write back to her employer and attached a bloodied tuft of her mane). Never set a foot in the city, which is the only way to handle those kinds of risky jobs.
Caillan, Andrus and Sarik accepted a job to escort an archaeology team to a promising Second Age site, and to protect the camp and supplies for the duration of the excavation. On day two, their stirrings awoke Mirage, an old goddess who “died” when the seas retreated—this was roughly when Ashen was in his prime. Mirage was not happy about being woken. The gang fled, most of the archaeologists made it out, but their supplies weren’t so lucky. The archaeologists wanted a refund, and instead of providing that, the gang ran for the hills and lay low for a while.
Ashen’s restoration to divinity:
At first, Ashen entertained thoughts of retribution. To him, even those who had nothing to do with the betrayal were guilty by association because they left him just the same. If they returned to him when he was weak, he’d forgive them, they’d seen the errors of their ways.
But the years passed and no one came. The fires of vengeance burned out just like his own, and a deep, aching loneliness took their place. This is where he is now, alone and forgotten. If he was restored to his former glory and his people returned, he’d forgive them. Out of fear of being abandoned again, he may just end up a bit too forgiving.
