Teraum the Amber

A luster dragon with a heart of gold

## A Golden Ray

Teraum was born like most other dragons, hatched from an egg. Teraum's first memory was that of a golden ray of light filling the dark space he found himself in. A crack in the sky above him letting its bright vision into the tiny space. He poked his head out of the crack in the sky only to find a greater and bigger world outside. He was raised in a lair deep in the side of the Jur Mountains where his mother, an adult luster dragon, had put her lair. His early days were spent simply, eating the gold and gems his mother dug from the earth and rolling in the shiny piles of golden coin his mother had taken from greedy humanoids wanting to claim her treasures as their own.

His mother was very territorial, a piece of knowledge he had no way of knowing. Over the years people began to piece together the location of his mothers lair and within the past couple of years a strong group of mercenaries happened to stumble upon their home. Teraum was the only egg to hatch from his mother, the others having gone rotten before they could hatch. His mother doted on him all the more for that. Teraum was curious about the world above the earth and wanted to venture outside despite his mothers insistence he was not strong enough to do so.

One day while his mother was out collecting more treasures for food and hoard he decided he would venture outside. Digging a hole in a corner to escape without his mothers magic being triggered he managed to escape and play around at the base of the mountain. Unknown to him were the band of mercenaries looking for his mother. They attacked him, throwing a net on him much to his surprise and shock. They seemed about to kidnap him and sell him to the highest bidder or take his body for its magical properties. Teraum was filled with fear and cried for help from his mother and, in a bitter twist of fate, his wish was answered. His mother was weak for her species and as such aged much faster but much less powerful then most of their species. His mother burst from the ground and attacked the mercenaries telling Teraum to run. He followed her orders and dug under the earth back to the lair. After several hours however his mother hadn't returned. He gathered his courage and went to look only to find the corpse of his mother. Her scales, eyes, and organs had all been harvested by the humanoids. Leaving simply a mass of flesh behind Teraum bawled his eyes out for a long time before deciding he needed to figure out what to do next. He gathered what he could carry from his mothers lair and buried the lair so that no greedy man could find the gems and wealth within before heading east towards the open land and human city he could see in the distance.

## Unpolished

Teraum had magical powers like his mother, though a different kind from her control of the earth. He was able to radiate a feeling of power to others through the creation of crystalline structures he dubbed totems. He also held great appreciation for the nights sky, the stars looking like gems buried in dark soil. After appreciating the night sky for some time he developed a power from his desire to hold the stars. A butterfly seemingly made of the sparkling night sky landed upon his horn and whispered to him of power. A beautiful and delusional power of the night sky. He began to learn the secrets of illusions from the butterfly's whispers. It was not long before he could disguise his own looks and cause unexpected situations to freak out the wildlife nearby. He managed to survive via this and his ability to burrow into the earth for safety.

Eventually he reached a human trail and upon thinking for a space of time decided to take the form of a young child so as to blend into the human society to find the people who killed his mother as well as hide in plain sight.

After an amount of time perfecting his human form he began to go down the trail, finding a small unmarked village and being given directions. He struggled a little using the common tongue but knew enough to get directions towards the big city known as Corovon. Within a small amount of time and help of travelers along the way Teraum found his way to the city. He was stopped at the gate and thought for sure he would be found out and killed only to be asked if his mother was nearby. He replied honestly that his mother was dead and the kind guards looked at him with pity. They told him directions to an orphanage but Teraum had no intention of going to such a place and being discovered.

The next year was rough for Teraum... He slept under the earth during the day and performed at night in the streets for money. He had many set backs and days without delicious food. He ate metal and gems so he managed to survive off of junk people threw away. Broken silverware, old weapons, a cracked ruby once. It wasn't tasty, in fact it was a struggle to eat this refuse with its bad smell and taste. He survived however, and after a time spent saving managed to open a small Jewelers store. Two years later and he was a stable merchant of jewelry.

## A Shadow is Cast

Teraum had finally stabilized his life to a pleasurable life style. However he knew things could not stay like this. The people who killed his mother still lived and with rumors of dark creatures being freed he needed strength. He was not satisfied simply hoping others would defend him when he had such a sensitive identity. He decided he would start a life of an adventurer on the side. Posing as the summon of a mysterious magician with the help of some clever illusionary work and deceit. He thought the idea was a grand one and with supplies set up just in case as a back up plan his goals were set and he was ready. Teraum has entered the battlefield of adventurers.