Name: Dakota Zahn
Alias: None yet
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Appearance & Physical Characteristics: Dakota is undeniably toned, years of hard work in the mines and pounding metal in her father’s forge having resulted in a lean layer of tight, wiry muscle that hardens the flesh and toughens the skin. She may have been pale once, but years of hard work have weathered it to a soot-stained tan. With eyes the colour of brass and short-cropped hair like gold and copper, she looks as if she were forged from the very metal she spent much of her life coaxing from the earth.
At work in the mines, she wears as little as she can: Hardened leather trousers to protect her knees and legs, a loose cotton shirt, tough gloves and heavy boots. Like many miners, she also wears a thick bandana over her mouth and nose, stained with years of soot and rock dust. The heat in the tunnels is enough to keep her far more than adequately warm, and it’s wise to avoid any chance of getting caught under a collapse or on fire, both common results of excess clothing.
Field Wear: When actively hunting, or otherwise in the field, Dakota wears tough dragon hide and cloth garments topped by incredibly minimal dragonscale armour: Uncut, sharply angular scales layered into makeshift spikes run along her upper arms to stick menacingly skyward, some scale guards mind her arms, legs and hands, and some mail fashioned from small flecks of scales, woven together with metal to create a flexible layer protect her torso, joints and throat. Some parts of her body are protected only by cloth and dragon hide (much to the displeasure of the many healers she’s acquainted) as she values her mobility above the While not quite as tough as plate scale armour, her mail is much lighter and more flexible and can take a glancing blow, if not a direct hit. Her mail is has the polished shine of bronze against a woven bed of black steel, while her scant plate armour resembles brushed silver.
Identifying Marks: Dakota spots a large variety of scars, including several cut and burn scars (all minor), that litter her body, most commonly the upper body and lower legs. However, these are not what the eye is drawn to when her bare arms are concerned.
Likely the most identifying of Dakota's physical traits are very strange and eerily beautiful scars that lace her arms like tattoos, most saturated in their pale colour on and near the hands, fading as they travel up the arms and all but disappear past the shoulder blades and down the ribcage. The longest tendrils snake down to her bottom ribs and lower back. They resemble erratic bolts of lightning, each line hair-thin and jagged. One alone would barely catch a glance, but the dozens that make up Dakota’s strange array combine to create a frightening and concise pattern, slicing through the skin in clear contrast.
Aside from scars, Dakota’s canine teeth, top and bottom, have begun to develop a cutting edge, and her pupils have taken an oval shape, nearing slits.
Personality: Witty, clever, cocky, confident, and headstrong.
Brief history: Dakota was raised in a small mining town high in the northern mountains, half-abandoned since the threat of dragons in the mines. Still, half the village refused to run, even hundreds of years later - they were tough and headstrong people who worked hard and stood their ground. She was born to a simple miner and, having killed her mother during birth, became the only member of her father’s family. However, she was lucky: Where many men would resent the child who took their love away from them, he only loved her more for it, being the last living remnant of his wife. The man made Dakota a part of everything in his life, from working alongside him in the mines from the time she was strong enough to hoist a pickaxe (many workers started as children, as they had an easier time navigating small areas) to teaching her to build fires, skin animals, tan leather and forge her own tools. The two made a small, happy family, content to continue their lives with little change. Of course, fate would never let them off so easily.
When Dakota was just shy of her eighteenth winter, there was a collapse in one of the many mining tunnels cut into the village’s mountain. This wasn’t out of the ordinary as the tunnels were old and worn, and no one was caught in the wreckage. It would have been naught but the menial task of resecuring the tunnel’s braces and clearing debris, if not for the fact that the collapse revealed another structure: a cavernous, round, and eerily smooth tunnel.
The mine rumbled with the growls of a beast awakened from a long slumber, and tales of the first discovery of dragons flashed through the minds of all who could feel it. Panic broke out as dozens of workers fled the tunnels, falling over themselves and each other and drawing more and more unwanted attention. Dakota, who had been one of the first on the scene to clear away the rubble, was furthest back in the frightened herd and thus, got a view she’d rather have avoided.
From the tunnel emerged a thin and bony beast, resembling an enormous snake with several sets of legs and torn wings protruding along its length. Horns and spikes like jagged swords guarded the creature’s head and spine, and its scales made it look like a beast made of interlocking metal.
In her haste, Dakota tripped over one of many rocky outcroppings in the tunnel floor, just as a sound like ear-shattering thunder cracked through the tunnel, sending a bolt of lightning over her head and into the tunnel roof above her.
Blinded by a dazzling rush, Dakota took an abandoned pickaxe in hand and ran at the monster, trying to bury the pick into its eye. Unfortunately for her, the beast was quicker than it looked, and her weapon ended up in the tongue of the dragon, sending a shock strong enough to knock her back and keep her down for over a minute through her body. When she awoke, dazed and in pain, a miracle presented itself: a shard of the dragon’s claw, discarded on the tunnel floor. To this day, Dakota scarcely remembers how the managed to slay the beast that came within inches of killing her - all she knows for sure is that the claw ended up buried in its eye.
Equipment/Inventory:
A pair of wicked daggers, each blade about a foot long and made from curved black dragon claw with handles wrapped in dragonskin
A steel skinning knife, 4 inches long in the blade
A spool of thin wire
A waterskin
Small pouches of various powdered ores
A small flint
Her mining bandana
Possible full dragon form: Though surprisingly small, no larger than a draft horse, Dakota’s dragon form is a sharp, serrated thing with obsidian scales and sharp, well, everything. She can camouflage well in stormclouds and dark areas, flies deftly, and can unleash a miniature lightning storm in the face of fiery breath. That said, her size works both for and against her; while the agility it allows her is great, she can be easily overwhelmed by force.
Alias: None yet
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Appearance & Physical Characteristics: Dakota is undeniably toned, years of hard work in the mines and pounding metal in her father’s forge having resulted in a lean layer of tight, wiry muscle that hardens the flesh and toughens the skin. She may have been pale once, but years of hard work have weathered it to a soot-stained tan. With eyes the colour of brass and short-cropped hair like gold and copper, she looks as if she were forged from the very metal she spent much of her life coaxing from the earth.
At work in the mines, she wears as little as she can: Hardened leather trousers to protect her knees and legs, a loose cotton shirt, tough gloves and heavy boots. Like many miners, she also wears a thick bandana over her mouth and nose, stained with years of soot and rock dust. The heat in the tunnels is enough to keep her far more than adequately warm, and it’s wise to avoid any chance of getting caught under a collapse or on fire, both common results of excess clothing.
Field Wear: When actively hunting, or otherwise in the field, Dakota wears tough dragon hide and cloth garments topped by incredibly minimal dragonscale armour: Uncut, sharply angular scales layered into makeshift spikes run along her upper arms to stick menacingly skyward, some scale guards mind her arms, legs and hands, and some mail fashioned from small flecks of scales, woven together with metal to create a flexible layer protect her torso, joints and throat. Some parts of her body are protected only by cloth and dragon hide (much to the displeasure of the many healers she’s acquainted) as she values her mobility above the While not quite as tough as plate scale armour, her mail is much lighter and more flexible and can take a glancing blow, if not a direct hit. Her mail is has the polished shine of bronze against a woven bed of black steel, while her scant plate armour resembles brushed silver.
Identifying Marks: Dakota spots a large variety of scars, including several cut and burn scars (all minor), that litter her body, most commonly the upper body and lower legs. However, these are not what the eye is drawn to when her bare arms are concerned.
Likely the most identifying of Dakota's physical traits are very strange and eerily beautiful scars that lace her arms like tattoos, most saturated in their pale colour on and near the hands, fading as they travel up the arms and all but disappear past the shoulder blades and down the ribcage. The longest tendrils snake down to her bottom ribs and lower back. They resemble erratic bolts of lightning, each line hair-thin and jagged. One alone would barely catch a glance, but the dozens that make up Dakota’s strange array combine to create a frightening and concise pattern, slicing through the skin in clear contrast.
Aside from scars, Dakota’s canine teeth, top and bottom, have begun to develop a cutting edge, and her pupils have taken an oval shape, nearing slits.
Personality: Witty, clever, cocky, confident, and headstrong.
Dakota has the ability to generate and control a crude form of electricity, comparable to lightning. She uses this as a type of generator to keep her body powered longer, extending her stamina far past the realm of normality for even the most athletic of people. This way, while her teammates will be left panting and tired after a long battle, Dakota is nothing but ready for more. The tradeoff for something so convenient is that as she uses this ability, she loses much of her judgement and stability. After a while of using her power, she takes on the traits of someone who hasn’t slept in days: Giddiness, lack of judgement, confusion, poor coordination, etc.
Use of her ability (or even sometimes just excitement, stress, or any other strong emotional response) creates a ‘discharge’ of excess energy in the form of static electricity that crackles along her body in bright arcs. It would be a good idea to avoid direct contact after she’s been going awhile - a touch of one of those shocks is enough to daze and topple a large mammal.
Typical exterior uses of Dakota’s ability include self-defence (in shocking an opponent in hopes of deterring them or making them hesitate in attack) setting traps (simple traps of charged wire to catch and stun whatever may trip them) and quickly starting fires.
To best harness her discharges, Dakota has woven conductive metals into her clothing and armour, and added metal studs into the soles of her boots (they also a nice sting to a good kick, shock or not). This way, though it may look no different, her clothing is significantly heavier than normal. It’s also not quite as warm, leaving her more vulnerable to the cold.
When she uses her power, her eyes change in colour from brassy to bright blue, and take on a faint, pulsing glow. Her scars also highlight the same colour, giving her quite the spooky look in the dark.
*Note: The most exterior electricity she can make (bolts/arcs) would be something no more powerful than to jump to someone standing nearby, like getting too close to a doorknob when you’re walking on carpet. Otherwise, she needs physical contact or some kind of conductive material to create a shock.
Use of her ability (or even sometimes just excitement, stress, or any other strong emotional response) creates a ‘discharge’ of excess energy in the form of static electricity that crackles along her body in bright arcs. It would be a good idea to avoid direct contact after she’s been going awhile - a touch of one of those shocks is enough to daze and topple a large mammal.
Typical exterior uses of Dakota’s ability include self-defence (in shocking an opponent in hopes of deterring them or making them hesitate in attack) setting traps (simple traps of charged wire to catch and stun whatever may trip them) and quickly starting fires.
To best harness her discharges, Dakota has woven conductive metals into her clothing and armour, and added metal studs into the soles of her boots (they also a nice sting to a good kick, shock or not). This way, though it may look no different, her clothing is significantly heavier than normal. It’s also not quite as warm, leaving her more vulnerable to the cold.
When she uses her power, her eyes change in colour from brassy to bright blue, and take on a faint, pulsing glow. Her scars also highlight the same colour, giving her quite the spooky look in the dark.
*Note: The most exterior electricity she can make (bolts/arcs) would be something no more powerful than to jump to someone standing nearby, like getting too close to a doorknob when you’re walking on carpet. Otherwise, she needs physical contact or some kind of conductive material to create a shock.
Brief history: Dakota was raised in a small mining town high in the northern mountains, half-abandoned since the threat of dragons in the mines. Still, half the village refused to run, even hundreds of years later - they were tough and headstrong people who worked hard and stood their ground. She was born to a simple miner and, having killed her mother during birth, became the only member of her father’s family. However, she was lucky: Where many men would resent the child who took their love away from them, he only loved her more for it, being the last living remnant of his wife. The man made Dakota a part of everything in his life, from working alongside him in the mines from the time she was strong enough to hoist a pickaxe (many workers started as children, as they had an easier time navigating small areas) to teaching her to build fires, skin animals, tan leather and forge her own tools. The two made a small, happy family, content to continue their lives with little change. Of course, fate would never let them off so easily.
When Dakota was just shy of her eighteenth winter, there was a collapse in one of the many mining tunnels cut into the village’s mountain. This wasn’t out of the ordinary as the tunnels were old and worn, and no one was caught in the wreckage. It would have been naught but the menial task of resecuring the tunnel’s braces and clearing debris, if not for the fact that the collapse revealed another structure: a cavernous, round, and eerily smooth tunnel.
The mine rumbled with the growls of a beast awakened from a long slumber, and tales of the first discovery of dragons flashed through the minds of all who could feel it. Panic broke out as dozens of workers fled the tunnels, falling over themselves and each other and drawing more and more unwanted attention. Dakota, who had been one of the first on the scene to clear away the rubble, was furthest back in the frightened herd and thus, got a view she’d rather have avoided.
From the tunnel emerged a thin and bony beast, resembling an enormous snake with several sets of legs and torn wings protruding along its length. Horns and spikes like jagged swords guarded the creature’s head and spine, and its scales made it look like a beast made of interlocking metal.
In her haste, Dakota tripped over one of many rocky outcroppings in the tunnel floor, just as a sound like ear-shattering thunder cracked through the tunnel, sending a bolt of lightning over her head and into the tunnel roof above her.
Blinded by a dazzling rush, Dakota took an abandoned pickaxe in hand and ran at the monster, trying to bury the pick into its eye. Unfortunately for her, the beast was quicker than it looked, and her weapon ended up in the tongue of the dragon, sending a shock strong enough to knock her back and keep her down for over a minute through her body. When she awoke, dazed and in pain, a miracle presented itself: a shard of the dragon’s claw, discarded on the tunnel floor. To this day, Dakota scarcely remembers how the managed to slay the beast that came within inches of killing her - all she knows for sure is that the claw ended up buried in its eye.
Equipment/Inventory:
A pair of wicked daggers, each blade about a foot long and made from curved black dragon claw with handles wrapped in dragonskin
A steel skinning knife, 4 inches long in the blade
A spool of thin wire
A waterskin
Small pouches of various powdered ores
A small flint
Her mining bandana
Possible full dragon form: Though surprisingly small, no larger than a draft horse, Dakota’s dragon form is a sharp, serrated thing with obsidian scales and sharp, well, everything. She can camouflage well in stormclouds and dark areas, flies deftly, and can unleash a miniature lightning storm in the face of fiery breath. That said, her size works both for and against her; while the agility it allows her is great, she can be easily overwhelmed by force.
Oh jesus my eyes hurt, night!
