Nordic

"He taught me how to break my chains
And that money ain't worth a thing
And that no man should get
More of my time than me"
Nordic is a male IceWing, ex-prisoner and deserter.
Owned by FourFlames.
== Description==
Nordic is an IceWing of hunger and weak resolve-- bleak, frightful, a tad deranged-looking. His presence is demanding and spiteful; an interrogative undertone glazes his cold and forbidding voice, and a queer sort of vitality glitters in his lead-gray eyes. 
His main scales are quite dark for his tribe, a stormy shade of blue-gray, with neck spines that darken at the tips into a violent arctic-sea-blue. The keeled diamonds running down his back are blunted-- often smudged with unidentifiable filth or dirty snow-- and when in the correct light, they glisten with a slight tinge of color, a muted baby blue with faded sparkles. Spade-shaped scales reminiscent of slush in a frozen harbor are scattered across his hide. 
His belly scales and the webbing on his wings are both an off-white color, though his wing fingers themselves are stark blue-gray like the rest of his body.
On Nordic's left foreleg, a single dreary cuff has been melded into the ankle scales by extreme heat. Tarnished chain links drag behind the cuff, leaving dents and scratches in the snow underfoot.
== Abilities ==
Nordic's tough scales and physical appearance allow him to survive subzero temperatures like most of his tribe, and as a tribal breath weapon he can spit clouds of frozen debris that pierce and spread through the internal organs. However, he is more prone to use his claws and head (he likes to ram other dragons with his icicle horns) to inflict slow, painful damage to those in his way. Unfortunately, he's not good at thinking of strategies, being that he is severely impulse-oriented.
Light polarization that has evolved in his species' eyes gives him resistance to snowblindness, though his nightvision is severely weakened since his eyes omit certain wavelengths of light. 
He is a terribly slow flyer, being mostly self-taught. One of his most glaring weaknesses is his lack of agility and speed in the air, so he'll often choose to run or paddle. Occasionally he trips on the remnants of his manacle.
== History ==
==== Early Life (4998 AS - 5003 AS) ====
Nordic hatched on one of many barren peninsulas in the Ice Kingdom-- adjacent from the Little Glacier on the eastern coast-- to parents of modest wealth. 
For generations his line had dwelt in the seventh circle, owing their fealty to the nobles living there, but his parents' streak of bitterness towards the aristocracy and estrangement from the other tenants speedily cost them what moderate wealth they had, and so the immiserate family was forced to raise their dragonet in a small fishing community just outside their former home. His parents were united in their deep-seated resentment towards the dragons who landed them in this situation, and treated the rest of the IceWings living there with an overall unfriendliness.
As a dragonet, Nordic's understanding of life was childish and primitive in contrast. He was blessed with the optimism and curiosity of youth, but this was untimely ripped from his claws when an egregious disease defiled him. Confined to their inadequate shelter, the dragonet's unreliable hunger spells governed the decisions of his family; and in the stillness of his slumber, uncertainty of his health oppressed their hearts. Tears on their frosty cheeks solidifying in the chill air, his guardians daily endured the torture of bracing themselves for loss.
Nordic was isolated from the rest of the village by his condition, but his family tolerated the filth and infection loyally. Lies and pleas quickly became his chief tools of bargain with them. The world he knew revolved around him, whether or not his parents buckled from their own hunger or infection. And greed, collected from his time in the sequestered sick-cave, was his unfortunate escape from the temptation to despair himself.
==== Prisoner (5004 AS - 5005 AS) ====
In 5004 AS, the war decided to encroach on IceWing territory-- and Nordic's undefended village on the east coast was easy prey.
Nordic's parents were unable to fight back against the SkyWings, who carried him off as a child prisoner of war. Losing his home robbed him of the last bit of pride that had leveraged him above his disempowering reality.
Then he was shackled to a prison spire, and treated like a toy by a foreign tribe. Beaten, weary and miserable-- it was only a matter of time before the horrors of spectacle fighting would've killed him.
Luckily for Nordic, the opportunity for escape soon came. During an arena battle in 5005 AS, the IceWings launched a counterattack on the SkyWings, assaulting the palace in an effort to kill Queen Scarlet. While the SkyWings were distracted by the siege, a wing of soldiers was dispatched to sabotage the prison spire and free their tribe's captives. Nordic was lucky to be carried off before the death of Commander Sköll, with which the executive order to retreat was given.
==== Deserter (5006 AS - 5010 AS) ====
Rescuing a child prisoner, of course, came with a few caveats. Queen Glacier wanted to rescue the youngest captive IceWings possible, to train young blood for the war.
The young IceWing scavenged every remaining trinket in his old house and left, evading the military draft that Queen Glacier demanded of him and the other captives as gratitude. He resisted their attempts to corral him, negotiating his way out of prison with promises of treasure and favors that he would never make good on. 
He was eventually arrested in 5009 and forcibly relocated to a prison for the crime of deserting. He begged the guards to set him free, licking their claws in a desperate attempt to win back his agency. Despite his best efforts, Nordic was severely punished for every infraction. But he never saw formal warfare either, as the guards believed him too unreliable to send into actual combat.
==== Bum (5011- 5020) ====
After the war ended, Queen Glacier decided it no longer made sense to hold Nordic in containment for the draft and granted him his freedom. Lacking the responsibility to commit to a job and the patience learn a trade, Nordic fell into a life of poverty, using his knack for irritating others to subsist on minimal food and treasure.
== Personality ==
A dragon who is hopelessly dependent on strangers for his survival, while claiming that his condition is their fault. He's not exactly the most... congenial character. 
Indeed his life is controlled by a terrible yearning to reclaim the adulation he received as a dragonet, but his heart is far too wrathful to receive it. He is a wretched soul who beseeches and grovels like a pathetic sycophant, just for confirmation from some other dragon that his existence is acknowledged. His infantile behavior is inappropriate for a dragon his age, but he was never taught to consider other options. When he was taken prisoner by the SkyWings, he became known for such reasonless shouting and pitiful screaming that other dragons did their best to appease him for the sake of their ears.
His spontaneous bursts of anger and irrational thought are entirely self-servicing, not done maliciously (though often resulting in damages to others) but because he knows that his explosive temper will garner attention and drive others to do as he pleases. He seeks to instigate or make enemies to his cause feel sorry for him in order to achieve something he cannot get through self-deprecation or violence-- usually money or food. 
He relishes every iota of recognition and loves when other dragons plead for his help for a change. 
== Beliefs ==
* Everyone has an ulterior motive. Nordic doesn't trust IceWing society-- he sees nothing but backstabbing and impersonal discipline disguised behind the civil facade. He is unable to forgive the military for expecting him to be grateful that they rescued him for the sole purpose of sending him to die for their cause, and believes his parents only helped him while he was ill because he would be more useful to them alive. He doesn't trust the dragons who offer him food and money, and always makes sure to inspect his earnings carefully to make sure they aren't counterfeited or poisoned.
* In Nordic's mind, he is constantly being victimized by something. He believes he cannot change his situation because the idea that he can do so is probably how the royals manipulate dragons into working for them. He is scared to try and help himself because he expects that he will lose everything he earns.
* Those who have the privilege to help other dragons should help other dragons. Nordic holds resource-holding dragons responsible for delivering on his needs because they have more than enough and "owe" it to him. Given the opportunity, he will take advantage of kindness.
* He shares his late parents' resentment for the IceWing queen and her heirs, but would rather avoid them altogether than seek revenge or speak out against them.
* He strongly dislikes violence but would fight for his own life if it were a matter of survival.
== Opinions of the Tribes (Canon Only) ==
* IceWings: Expects most of his tribe to be pretty terrible, by no fault of their own. "The SkyWings probably killed the only decent ones left."
* MudWings: He fought one of their dragonets in the arena and discovered that they're incredibly difficult to kill. Would like to have one covering his back at least for the muscle, but finds the idea of sibling family units extremely weird and uncomfortable, and sort of dreads the idea of forming an emotional attachment with one.
* NightWings: Due to urban legends, he's not a big fan of them. Now that their Queen is dead and they're living in RainWing territory at Queen Glory's mercy, he finds them almost laughable.
* RainWings: Secretly thinks the Rain Kingdom is the ideal kingdom, but would never openly admit it. The dragons, on the other hand, have "completely vapid personalities" and he finds their possession of powerful venom and a bounty of food "unfair".
* SandWings: He assumes that their kingdom is an enormous mess that he'd rather not get involved with. Looks down on most of them, regardless of how well-off they are. "Oh, you're the wealthiest dragon in the Sand Kingdom? That must not have been a very difficult title to earn."
* SeaWings: He assumes that they're extremely powerful and full of themselves, but hasn't personally met one beyond arena fights. They seem to have an extensive monarchy, because Queen Scarlet keeps capturing princes, and "they'll never run out. Is that kingdom even functional?"
* SkyWings: He hates them with a burning passion, but can agree with them on one point: they at least have the decency to be forward about how they feel towards peasants and weirdlings. They're just like the Ice Kingdom but more violent.
* HiveWings, LeafWings and SilkWings: "I have literally never heard of those tribes in my life and-- by the Great Ice Dragon, why do they have that many wings?!"
== Gallery ==
Nordic Fullbody Nobg.png|by me
NordicFront.png|by me
Nordic-0.png|by me
Nordic.frayfae.jpg|by Frayfae-- beautiful!!!
Nordic by SSE.png|by the talented SpaceshipEarth!
Little Nordic.png|Little Nordic by me
Nordic-PixelChi.jpg|Amazing pixel art by Lightning!
Nordic Headshot.jpg|by me
Category:Content (FourFlames)
Category:Characters
Category:IceWingsCategory:Males