Machaeon Endrad

## Physical Appearance

Machaeon is a rather large Ancient dragon with forest green scales that have lighter green patches all over her body, she has a ridge of fins that travels from the back of her head to around the end of her tail, and her chest plates are a teal blue. Her already fairly angular head appears more triangular with the two substantial horns sprouting from her skull. Her golden-yellow eyes are somewhat small and beady compared to the rest of her head, but they don't miss much. She often wears a red-and-grey mask that covers the majority of her face with a depiction of the goddess Istara (a ball of energy cupped between two humanoid hands) in the center over two crossed swords.

## Personality

Mach's pretty mellow most of the time and will be happy to lend a hand where she's needed and won't hesitate to eliminate any threats to herself or those she cares for. She'd be your greatest friend and your most vicious enemy.

## Likes & Dislikes

Likes: Learning new things, especially where it involves new fighting tactics against the Withered Aegis.

Dislikes: The Withered Aegis, having to deal with children of any species for extended periods of time.

## Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: As far as dragons go, she's fairly average in most things, not specializing in one thing over another, but the spread of her skills gives her great flexibility in dealing with all sorts of situations.

Weaknesses: An "Achilles' Heel" is something she actively tries to avoid, but since she doesn't have any particular strengths either, something that can hammer away at any one weak link in particular rather than spread things out would overpower her.

## Story

### Biography

Machaeon hatched on the island of Skalkaar where all young dragons are brought to train after they hatch. The elder dragons around her could not tell her much about her past or her family since none had come to claim her after hatching; the most she learned at a young age was that her surname would have been Endrad, and that her egg had come from Draak. The young dragon trained and grew throughout all of Aradoth, not settling down in any one spot for longer than it took her to master the skills needed to thrive in the area. She did, however, gather friends along the way who helped her and who she helped in turn; from those friends, the guild Istara's Chosen eventually formed.

It was during her Rites of Passage, the journey all hatchling dragons must take to reach adulthood, where she finally learned the significance of the Endrad name after seeking help from Karane the Historian and digging through the ruins of Draak -

The Endrad family were prominent scholars and teachers involved with the early days of the Academy of Draak, the records that were found didn't give much more insight beyond that, but Machaeon could now be sure that any family she had had perished in the Withered Aegis attack on the Academy. This, in large part fueled her hatred of the undead, but tempered her reaction to fighting anything on Draak... she could never be sure if the ghosts she fought there were her mother or brother or father or sister.

After attaining Adulthood, she continued her journey of both battle and study, striving to become the dragon that any could be proud of. After a relatively short time (for dragons anyway) she undertook the Ancient Rites of passage to reach the pinnacle of dragonkind's capability, though as an Ancient she constantly strives to improve and learn ever more. After the collapse of her original guild, she founded Istara's Chosen and helped to build it up to a strong self-sufficient guild.

### Ongoing Story

Currently, Machaeon occupies herself in researching new methods for fighting back the tide of undead while assisting others in their endeavors. She has the title of Guildmaster for the guild Istara's Chosen, but the leadership is truly fairly evenly spread through the upper ranks; and she primarily concerns herself with the upkeep of guild resources and leading hunts rather than recruitment or interpersonal issues that may arise.

Outside of the public view she maintains a quiet and happy relationship with her mate Jstntron.

## Trivia

* She loosely follows the Helian philosophy on bipeds (non-dragon races), namely that they should be guided and taught by dragonkind to create a better future for all of the living races. She does, however, agree with the Lunus views in some situations - force should be applied where one race's actions endanger another race. But she doesn't accept the Lunus view that dragonkind should rule over the biped races as forceful and unchallenged overlords where bipeds seeking to increase their power is seen as a threat to dragonkind.
* She remembers the attack on Draak while she was in her egg, where many dragons died.
* Machaeon has a wyvern companion named Algontoth. Unlike other Gifted who named the wyverns to fit what they wanted, Machaeon was thoughtful enough to ask the creature its name - to which it responded 'Algontoth' with a little coaxing.

## Gallery

Mach and her mate Jstntron.Machaeon's appearance in-game.