Anu

**Anu** is a Sandwing dragonet prince.

## Appearance

Prince Anu is a tall and lanky sandwing, standing at 3 '6'. Having long thin legs and neck, he looms over those of his same age, though he is somehow thinner. The scales covering his chest and back look as if they were storm clouds, with his neck and limbs being bright orange and gold, as if the sun were captured inside them. His wings are bright near the beginning, like the sun rising, with starbursts of yellow and orange, slowly fading to dark black at the edges. His stinger is a bright white, contrasting to the vibrant yellow and smoky black of his scales.

## Personality

Prince Anu is an outgoing and very social dragonet. He loves to talk with anyone who will allow him, and hear their experiences and life stories. Inspired by history, he aspires to learn everything he can to help his mother and sisters run the kingdom. Born with the rare power of healing, he dosent view it as anything strange, or important, he views it as a gift from the gods to protect the ones he cares about. Inheriting his mother’s love for reptiles, he enjoys visiting and caring for all the lizards around the palace, sometimes even going near the vipers during the day to feed them.

Anu also has an interest in capturing the world into ways he can express it. Either through the beauty of art, or the rhythm of music. He believes those two things can connect and speak to anyone who is willing to listen and look.

The prince has a deep attachment to his family, wanting to spend every moment he can with them before time and misfortune catch up to them all. He gets attached to dragons very easily, viewing some of the dragons he sees every day as an extension of his family even if not related by blood.. Being the firstborn to queen Ishtar, and thus the oldest of his siblings, he likes to dote on the younger dragonets and protect them.

## Backstory

Anu was the first born of his clutch, oldest son of Queen Ishtar. Though not a princess, he was spoiled by his mother and the servants of the castle. Growing up with everything he could ever want, he learned that having everything did not in fact make him happy. So he found comfort in the ways he could capture a moment, a way to reflect what he was feeling, delighting in the simple joy of finally finishing a piece of art. When he finally grew to be half a year old, he went through the ceremony of choosing the reptile he wished to be bonded with. The friend, the pet that would always be his other half for the rest of his life.

Anu was nervous at first, how could he know what creature could make him happy, could he even be worthy of them? At first he contemplated obtaining an egg of his mother’s titanoboa. But, on one of his daily explorations in the courtyard, a small snake, recently born, slithered from under the palace walls into his sight. The snake was so tiny it could fit in his hand, but its body was covered in gold and black, almost mimicking his own scales. Enamored with it, he colored the snake sunbathing on a rock, and he felt something small like this could be satisfied with someone like himself.

So he chose this special snake to be his friend, his half for life. They were ordinary, they were simple, but they were his. Enki, as he called them, was calm and easily adapted to life in his claws, quickly growing to know that Anu’s scales were seemingly warmer than the sun to this tiny snake. They grew fast, just as fast as Anu as he raced through life, learning all that his little mind could absorb.

The prince shadowed his mother wherever she went. Trailing behind just to marvel at the work she did, knowing he would never have the position or power she commanded. And he felt fine with that, he wasn't special like the little sisters that were born soon after he did, they were meant for greatness unlike himself. But that was fine, he loved to watch them prance as he did, and look to the stars as if they could hold them in their claws.

As he understood his place in the royal world, he decided if he couldn't help directly, maybe he could help guide his sisters and his mothers. What better way to learn the way then to look where dragons had learned before? Turning to the palace libraries, he learned that there were mysteries and discoveries in these pages that he could only dream of. And how could he stop when there was still so much more to learn that wasn't captured into words?