Quail

Quail's Reference

> Ah, I'm a little nervous, but fortunately I don't have much to lose. The shadow monsters are always there. You just have to learn which ones to smile at.
>
> ***Quail to Moonsnail***

A friendly, creative young SandWing in the Gold Winglet who seems to want nothing more than to make friends. He never hesitates to say hello and often finds their ambitions flinging them into things she can't handle taking on. Nothing ever slows them down though- at least, that's how she makes it seem.

Quail is currently portrayed by Oliver/Dapple.

## Appearance

Quail is a tall-for-his-age, lanky SandWing with a lot of sharp angles. Their scales are a soft tan with some medium and darker tan splotches throughout, and her underscales are a lighter tan. His frill is light as well, fading to a medium brown on their snout, and freckles dot his face underneath their green-irised black eyes. Their foot-pads, tail barb, ears, and forked tongue are all black. Quail's scales radiate warmth.

## Personality

Quail is a constant friendly face to nearly anyone who is in so much as the same vicinity as them. Everything the SandWing does is an an attempt to be likeable, often offering their help (whether its wanted or not...), which can come across as nosy at times but has good intentions. The dragon is all smiles and laughs around others but can end up forcing this, often unconsciously, and may try a little too hard to make friends. The philosophy they parrot is "better to have friends than enemies," which has thus far worked pretty well for her. They did not have many friends their age when they were younger (often making friends with her teachers instead), so he does not want to mess up his chances at JMA.

She tries to be respectful to existing friendships and ongoing conversations at all times (due to past experiences of being ignored or snapped at when interrupting others), but will never hesitate to attempt to strike up a conversation with someone sitting alone. He is very easily overwhelmed by large, loud, or otherwise busy situations and so prefers one-on-one talks and smaller, quiet, and/or confined spaces.

The SandWing can slip into internal anxiety and self deprecation easily, often berating himself with his self-given nickname ("Q") at the slightest of things. Most of these things are things Quail is overthinking about, like word choice or how they appear to others. Quail is very careful with herself at all times, never letting any of these thoughts slip out or manifest physically if he can help it, though they may come out as tail flicking or head tossing tics.

Quail is very creative and has a mind which is constantly hungry for new possibilities and ideas. She is very big on sensory descriptions and they adore rich worlds, often found in their escape of artwork- drawing, writing, or reading, to name a few. The SandWing has a lot of big ideas but rarely the time or motivation to see them through, such as ideas of drawing every dragon in the school or mastering an instrument in a year. He holds a lot of wonder for big, beautiful, and intricate things- the Great Hall, the library, the observatory, and the music room being some of the SandWing's favorites.

Quail is delighted with the unusual and hungry for knowledge, always wanting to learn and extremely curious. They grew up pretty isolated in terms of how many tribes they met, so other dragons are a particular area of interest for him. She is known for sometimes analyzing the little things too intensely and missing the bigger picture.

As mentioned, Quail talks to herself a lot in their own head. A lot of it is anxious and self-deprecating, as the SandWing can often be ashamed of his own thoughts, feelings, and actions. They fear that his morals are royally screwed and that someday she will do something that he cannot take back and will deeply regret (a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶) and so keeps a very tight leash on herself. All bad memories and history are kept locked away in a deep, dark part of Quail's soul that he allows to see the light of day.

They can at times feel envious of the well-off, powerful, and admired.

## History

### Early Years

Quail was hatched in the small SandWing town of Diamondback Dunes and grew up fairly sheltered, having few friends in school and often being left to his own devices. Her father was constantly sick (to a dragonet's eyes- she would realize later that it was more a constant drunkenness than an illness) and mother was rarely around.

A few years before enrolling in JMA, the SandWing left home to wander the desert on his own, alone. Their hometown did not want her there and would not accept him back. He does not like to think about why.

*More to be revealed soon...*

### Jade Mountain Academy

Quail enrolled in Jade Mountain Academy as a sort of fresh start and is the SandWing of the Gold Winglet. She arrived safely and began making friends quickly.

*More to come!*

## Relationships

### Moonsnail

Moonsnail is the SeaWing in the Jade Winglet.

Quail met Moonsnail at orientation on their first day of school. A friendly conversation between them quickly turned into a mutual interest, Quail being intrigued by and liking Moonsnail's unique way of seeing the world and Moonsnail wanting to understand Quail as the first dragon who seemed to like her despite (or for) them. After Headmaster Xylorhiza's speech, the two continued talking and quickly became good friends.

Quail considers Moonsnail his closest friend thus far and is very interested in her, hoping to stay good friends with her and find out more about how she sees the world.

### Troubleseeker

Troubleseeker is the NightWing in the Copper Winglet.

Though their introduction in the school's observatory started off with some hostility, Quail and Troubleseeker quickly became acquainted and friendly with each other. Quail helped the NightWing set up a date with his crush, Eden, and they found some shared history between them before parting ways amicably.

Quail is semi-wary of Troubleseeker, but finds him friendly enough and only hopes he does not pull a knife on them again.

### Eden

Eden is the RainWing in Quail's Winglet.

Eden and Quail did not meet for a while as school first started, but Quail left the RainWing a note asking to arrange a small party as a meet and greet/date with Troubleseeker. They finally met in person during the Gold Winglet's first class, Self Defense and Combat.

Quail thinks Eden is nice, but does not know the RainWing very well yet.

### Storm

Storm is the SeaWing in the Quartz Winglet.

Storm and Quail met in the library, where Quail offered to help the SeaWing look for scrolls. They had a friendly but somewhat limited conversation about scrolls before Quail left.

Quail thinks Storm is somewhat odd and shy, but nice enough.

### Sunkiss

Sunkiss is the SilkWing in the Jade Winglet.

Quail and Sunkiss met in the Music Room, where they spoke for a time about the school before Sunkiss offered to teach Quail some basics on playing the piano. Quail happily accepted and learned some musical skills! The two parted as the first classes of the day began.

Quail thinks Sunkiss is very talented and friendly, and would like to get to know the SilkWing better.

### Dionaea

Dionaea is the LeafWing in Quail's Winglet.

Quail and Dionaea met in their first class of the year, Self Defense and Combat. They had a brief conversation about the teacher before Quail left the LeafWing alone, but were later paired for a mock battle, which Quail won, accidently targeting the LeafWing's wings.

Quail thinks Dionaea thinks he is annoying but does not know her roommate very well just yet. The SandWing is extremely guilty over the fight that happened in Self Defense.

### Gull

Gull is the SeaWing in Quail's Winglet.

The two met in the underground lakes. They quickly grew curious about each other and began asking each other questions. They resolved to try some experiments, culminating in Quail half-drowning the SeaWing by holding their hands over his gills. They parted before causing any more harm.

Quail likes Gull but worries that they could be a bad influence on each other. Or that they might accidently commit murder.

### Linnea

Linnea is the LeafWing teacher of the Botany class.

Quail got off on a bit of a wrong foot with Linnea, skidding into her classroom dripping wet and very chattery, quickly getting off track. She is somewhat intimidated by the teacher and the class, being somewhat claustrophobic in the small, cluttered space.

*Relationships in progress! More to come soon.*

## Trivia

* Quail uses all pronouns.
* Quail is an asexual lesbian.
* Quail is named after the California Quail, a small desert bird known for its distinctive plumage.
* One of Quail's other philosophies is that home is where your wings take you, not where your family is.
* Quail loves the rain!
* Quail's favorite way they have been described thus far is the following description by Moonsnail concerning his name:
	+ *"It has a rather smoky, but pleasant flavor to it. Almost like if you dipped an apple into the sea for a few minutes and let it swim with the most beautiful creatures it's ever seen, and then wish it was a dragon itself to experience the joys and pains of life. But it has no mouth, so it must scream."*
* Quail picks at the small scales around her claws and underneath their talons, often leading them to become bloody messes.