Fukutsu no Seishin (Clan of Fortitude)

"We are many, but we are one"
== The Founding ==
A young Tundra dragon, who called himself Kanshi, could never find a place that felt right.  He wandered Sornieth, investigating all of the regions in the hopes of finding a place that he would be happy to call home.  His lack of company wore him down as he travelled, until one day, wandering in the Scarred Wasteland, not far from the Wyrmwound itself, he smelt something different.  Investigating it closely, but warily because he was perfectly aware of where he was and the risks that could be found there, he discovered that it was a peculiar egg.  It was nothing like any of the others that he had smelt in nests before the parents had shooed him away, accusing him of attempting to snatch them.
This time there were no dragons to chase him away.  The egg was cool, indicating abandonment, and he almost left it where it was.  Despite his thick fur, his winter coat displaying itself in all its glory, he knew he had no way to incubate it.  Something nagged at him as he turned to leave, however, and almost before he realised it he had the strange egg tucked securely beneath his wings in a makeshift nest of his fur.
Now he had a priority.  The egg would not survive, nor hatch, unless he could find a clan to take him in, and the same instinct that had driven him to pick up the dying egg drove him back to where he had once hatched himself in the Crystalspine Reaches of the Starfall Isles.
There he found a tiny fae, who introduced herself as KetsuekiRyuu, struggling to complete her ambitious home by herself as the winter chill set in further.  Communication was hard, but he soon managed to make an agreement with her.  He would help her finish her home, and she would let him and his egg stay.  He couldn’t understand the monotony he was greeted with after the agreement was reached, but something told him that she was happy.
== The Early Days ==
Desperate not to be abandoned, Kanshi tried to get close to KetsuekiRyuu, and it wasn’t long before they had a nest of three eggs, which all successfully hatched, while the peculiar one stayed cool, despite Kanshi’s best efforts.
Tragedy struck when, not long after hatching, Aima, one of their three children, disappeared.  Both searched desperately, while still trying to take care of the other two and their egg, which both of them were now determined to save, and Kanshi eventually tracked the young fae to an Ice clan in the Frigid Floes.  The Guardians that ran the clan explained that they had found her seemingly lost and alone and had taken her in.  She seemed to be happy in her new home, and her parents decided to let her stay.  As they said their goodbyes, a guardian hatchling, the daughter of the clan leaders, begged to go with them.  She didn’t like the cold, she admitted, and was curious about the Starfall Isles, claiming that she would find her Charge there.  Her parents let her go, and Hoseki became the first dragon to join their lair from another clan.
She became obsessed with the cooling egg, much like Kanshi, except more so, as she determined that, by chance, the hatchling within the egg would be her Charge.  This decided, she gave it her all as she tried to keep it warm, her larger size helping where KetsuekiRyuu’s small frame could not, and after a week of determination, a nocturne dragon hatched.  They named her Kikai, as her survival had been nothing but luck.
== Clan Values ==
The members of the clan are varied.  They have yet to turn away a dragon seeking a home, and this means that within the clan there are numerous different personalities, and clashes of ideals.
Despite this, however, the overlying value that all the members have is community.  While individual dragons may not get on well together, as would be expected in a clan of currently sixty permanent residents, they are all capable, and willing of working together to keep themselves safe.  Disagreements are only that, and the clan is proud to say that they have never had a member leave due to excessive tension within the lair.
=== Serving the Arcanist ===
While the clan keeps expanding, there are some dragons who have left to serve the Arcanist within his Observatory.  While this is not an active push from the members, and the farewells are often tearful, there is never any aim to dissuade the dragons, normally barely out of hatchlinghood, that there is a better way to go.  Instead, most that have expressed a will to leave are carefully trained up to ensure they will survive the journey to the Observatory, now not too far from their current lair location within the Focal Point.
Due to the locality, the clan now often receives visitors passing through on their own pilgrimage to the Arcanist, and willingly help them train up if they have not already done so before the last leg of their journey.
== Conflict ==
The clan is a peaceful one, more interested on self protection and survival than warmongering, but that does not mean the clean is weak, or indeed incapable of waging war. As well as the defensive barriers maintained by the mages which keep out any with ill intent, even trapping some would-be-invaders in eternal time loops and space warps leading to some unusual decorations around the clan's territory boundary, they have a Warden whose Charge is the land itself, and will fight tooth and claw if such an occasion arises.
Beyond this, every member of the clan has spent most of their lives training for combat; even the weakest and most frail are more than capable of taking down a warrior if it comes down to it, although of course there are some more proactive in this regard than others.
There is a suspicion, never realised and barely formed in the minds of those not in the know, that the clan is a little too good at pre-empting events, both natural and from the inclination of other clans. Whether this is due to their oracle, or another, less magical, means, no-one knows. It's not a secret if anyone knows, after all.
Regardless of the clan's potential to cause devastating harm to enemies, they are a peaceful bunch always glad to make new friends and allies.
It is advisable to remember that betrayal may bring the wrath of the clan to your own home. There are rumours of entire clans that have disappeared overnight after altercations, after all.Category:Arcane
Category:Ancient Lair