Living Space Dragons

Created when a group of mages cast a spell that would help them to see space closer than telescopes allowed. Initially a success, the resulting explosion caused the mages to fuse with their creation. Or so one story goes.

## Lore

Like most incidents in Arcane, it started with good intentions and too much curiosity. There are several versions of the story, but some of the details stay the same. Thus, we can conclude the event went something like this:

There was a mage who believed the great Observatory was not enough for their studies of space. Oh, it was a fine construction, and certainly it was the pride of Starfall Isles, but (as the mages pointed out) it could not observe space...up close. In addition, the constraints of lightspeed meant that many of the events they observed happened thousands- if not millions!- of years ago.

What was needed (continued the mage) was a way to watch space in real time. A way to observe up close, without having to actually be there. A living model of space that wasn’t a model at all; rather, a peephole into the universe. A metaphysical pair of binoculars you could point anywhere.

The mage convinced her colleges that this was a thing that needed to be done. And so, they set to work.

The task took years. New spells are not a thing easily made; one of this complexity required much research, hours of fine-tuning, and many, many revisions. But, at last, the group felt like they had found the solution.

It was time to put it to the test.

The many versions of this story have different versions of the first casting, except for this: It worked. For a moment, the spell worked. After the smoke cleared, what remained (and what remained changes from story to story, so forgive the vagueness) was exactly what they wanted. For the first time, they could see supernovas up close. They could see thousands of stars being made in the Pillars of Creation. They could see distant planets, and the creatures they harbored.

Some shed a few tears of happiness.

And then it blew up.

When the group of mages regained consciousness, they had been changed. Their bodies were black, splattered with an even darker substance that could not be removed. There wings were dark and strangely glittering. Multiple attempts were made to restore their former appearances, but they all failed.

The whole project had been a failure.

But then, one of the mages cried out (with a voice filled with wonder and terror) that their wings were not glittering, not really. The glitter particles seemed to move. One looked like a comet. There was one section that looked like a galaxy, doesn’t it? That’s a galaxy.

They had become living embodiments of space.

 While it has been many years since the group of mages cast their faulty spell, many of their descendants have the same strange appearance. It is said these dragons have far more magical power during the night; that they can speak to beings from other worlds; that some of these dragons have flown into space without any apparently harm. However, given their quiet and withdrawn nature, these rumors have not been confirmed...

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