Being on their own was… strange. Tel’s friends in Cattivia helped them out a bit - but they made it clear that they weren’t going to do everything for them. So Tel started stealing to get along. They were good at getting places, and their height put off those that thought of fighting them.
That seemed to work out, for some time - they occasionally made some extra money fighting, but the looks their glowing blood attracted made them leery of catching the wrong sort of attention. Things were going decent, for a year or so.
And then one of their little thefts had gone wrong.
Tel wasn’t sure who the people that tried to stop them were, really, but they weren’t going to ask any questions. Instead, they hit the one that had tried to grab them and ran. They liked a good fight as much as the next person, but even they could clearly see that they were outnumbered by stronger, more experienced people.
That left running. They led their pursuers on a decent chase, scrambling through back alleys and narrow streets, but they never seemed to be able to lose them.
Try as they might, they slipped up and made a wrong turn, cornering themself in a dead end. As the annoyed voices drew closer, Tel tried desperately to backtrack, but it was too late. Their pursuers loomed in the only way out, shadowy figures in the deepening dark, and Tel knew they were going to have to fight their way out of this.
So they tried.
However, their previous instinct had proven true - the strange people were older and stronger than them, and though they heard a few gratifying cries of pain, they received more than a few blows themself. They were quickly pinned to the ground, face pressed against the ground. They tried to wriggle free of course, but their effort only earned them a derisive laugh and a tighter grip.
They were dragged to their feet, but as they were being frogmarched off to some unknown fate, something unexpected happened - the small gang’s leader, apparently taking an odd interest in them, made them an offer.
Work for the gang, and they wouldn’t suffer the originally planned fate.
A few members obviously weren’t happy with this offer, and most seemed surprised, but given the alternative… Tel took the chance.
And so they became part of the Sea Serpents, stealing items and doing various jobs. They were a decent fighter, and got better the longer they stayed. Even if practice was from picking fights with other members that said they were too baby-faced to be taken seriously.
Eventually, though, Tel went from only staying out of a reluctant wariness to… not minding their current position. As part of the group, they were relatively protected from people seeking to make a profit off of their odd looks, and it was nice to have a fairly steady source of income. Compared to the scrounging on their own they had been doing before.
They also became closer with others in the group - though of course there were some that were unsettled by their attitude and their strange eyes, Tel didn’t pay them much mind. Things settled into a routine, and though they still had to deal with the occasional good-natured comment about being too good-looking to be an intimidating bodyguard, they got along with most of the group.
They also got closer with their boss, Hecate Anwar Devadas, who had given them this chance - the longer they stayed, the more they saw that that hadn’t been an exception. Hecate cared for the people working under them, and made sure that they were treated well. They had a good eye for potential recruits to help with the group’s success, and were willing to do most anything to protect those in the group.
And so Tel developed a grudging respect for them that evolved into true respect as the years passed. They themself aso garnered a reputation in the group, and outside of it - even if they picked a lot of fights, they won most of them, and when they were on a job, they didn’t stop until that job was done.
They formed a few romantic connections over the years, eventually keeping things consistent with a few others in the group, and one of the clerks that did some of their records-keeping on a contractual basis. Tel figured that those in-the-know, so to speak, would be less distressed about the state they sometimes showed up in after a job didn’t go quite as expected. And, with those in the group, they wouldn’t have to risk being on opposite sides.
During this time, their cousins, also getting older, tried to get them to come to a few family reunions. Tel reluctantly accepted a few, and made sure to stay far away from their parent during those times.
The next few years were fairly uneventful - well, as normal as working as an enforcer for an underground group could get - but all that changed in 495.

Tel had been aware that tensions between the Sea Serpents and another rival group, the Riptides had been rising, but they hadn’t paid it much mind. Such was the way things went, to make your own way, you had to step on a few toes. However, things started to… escalate between the two groups, with a few strokes of bad luck putting the Sea Serpents on the defensive.
Tel figured the Sea Serpents would survive, that it was just lean times, but as things steadily got worse and Hecate’s started to change, it began to occur to them that things might not work out, after all. Still, this was the life they knew - and after the falling out with their parent, Tel was reluctant to give up anyone that had helped them out. Even if they got hurt in the process.
So they were there when the Riptides decided to end this conflict.
The Riptides weren’t subtle about it, either. Hecate saw it coming, and told anyone that had stayed with them through this to leave - it was mainly them that the Riptides were after, ‘cut off the head’ and all that. Some people chose to leave, but most of them - Tel included - decided to stay. For better or worse, they were in it until the bitter end.
As night fell, the fight began. It took place in the Sea Serpents’s headquarters - a multi-story house that they barricaded, but it was a losing battle.
Tel did their best, knowing their chances were slim, but after the respect they had developed for Hecate, they weren’t going to leave them. They managed to kill a good number of the opposing group, in the hall outside Hecate’s office, but it left them bleeding and battered, barely able to stand.
Despite their brief victory, it proved to be in vain when a group of reinforcements arrived. Tel tried to fight them, but all that ended up happening was them getting shot in the chest.
Still, even laying there, desperately dragging in some last few breaths, they tried to do something, anything, but their limbs refused to respond. Though they know it was a relatively quick death, they remember the drawn-out seconds of fighting to stay alive as their body shut down, and their vision faded to black.

Tel did not expect to wake up.
When, to their surprise, they did, they expected someone to try to kill them - in their mind, they were back in the hallway where they had died. It quickly became evident that something else was going on, however, when they were easily held down and told to relax by one of the people standing next to the… bed?
Tel, starting to sense that there was something seriously wrong, did not calm down. All they managed to do, though, was exhaust themself, and they unwillingly slid into unconsciousness again.
When they next awoke, the necromancer, Khraoxi explained to them that they had died, and their body …collected afterwards due to their odd eyes and glowing blood.
That didn’t come as a shock. What did come as a shock was the fact that they had been revived not with a human… but with a sundrake. It explained the scattered memories that clammered for attention in the forefront of Tel’s mind.
Tel took this news… poorly, and had to be held down again by the necromancer’s assistant.
Khraoxi was kind, at first - almost leading Tel to question if this was the same necromancer whose name was spoken with trepidation in relation to her ‘creations.’ But their eyes matched, the same glowing gold. Odd kindness aside, Tel still had no intention of sticking around with the odd necromancer.
Despite the urge to spit in her face and fight them all the way, Tel also knew that if they were to escape from this, they needed to be fully recovered. So after making a show of trying to escape and finding out how strong her assistant was, they ‘relented’.
They knew that Khraoxi’s ‘projects’ often ended up sold, and they had no intention of that happening to them.
They spend the next few days in a comfortable, if small, room, sleeping mostly. It was only after that that they actually felt able to stand, and reacquaint themself with their body.
Despite Khraoxi’s initial disappointment over their lack of more pronounced draconic features, it became clear that she didn’t consider Tel to be a complete failure. The glowing cracks that criss-crossed their skin, the same tone as their now-gold blood and - as was painfully determined - that any scars they received glowed the same tone were all points in their favor.
However, Tel got the sense that Khraoxi was still disappointed that their draconic features were much more subtle - fanged teeth, small patches of scales, and an increased body temperature - and they still worried that the ‘artist’ might try to ‘improve’ on them. ‘Improvement’ was something that Tel wanted to avoid at all costs - they liked how they were now, thanks.
They did not particularly liked the looks Khraoxi gave them sometimes, and after making a few false attempts to lull her and her bodyguard into the sense that their escape attempts would be ineffectual, they made a true attempt a few weeks after their revival.
It was close, but with the bits of fabric they had stuffed in their ears to block out Khraoxi’s songs, they managed to make it out into the city. THat wasn’t the end, though - with their looks, they were easily recognizable, and there was a chance that one of the other groups would catch them and give them back to the necromancer.
In other words, Tel needed to leave the city, at least for now. It was surprisingly hard - they’d grown up, and spent most of their life here, barring a few trips. But they needed to leave, at least for now, and so they gathered supplies from an old safehouse, made a few stops, and left.
One of those stops was to the building that they had died in.
It was a burned-out wreck now, and Tel stood in the old doorway, looking up at the skeleton of the place as memories fought in their mind.
Though they left soon, it became clear that someone had followed them, and they just managed to catch the ship they had booked passage on before it left, losing the person.

Tel knew that they were going to get their revenge, one way or another.
But to do that, they needed resources, and for Khraoxi’s search for them to die down somewhat.
And for the people that had killed them and those they cared about to think themselves safe.
Tel had found out, after, that not only had they and their boss been killed, but most others in their group had been, too. Which included their partners as well. They had already decided that those that had killed them and their boss needed to die, but what they learned furthered their determination to make the entire group pay.
Though the thought crossed their mind to ask their family for some financial assistance, Tel rejected that idea. Not only did they not want word of them asking for help to get back to their parent, but they, though they didn’t really admit it to themself, weren’t sure how their family would react to their changed appearance.
So they spend a few years in other parts of Meros, working odd jobs to make money and learning a few runes so that they could disguise their appearance. Once they felt they had let things die down enough, they went back to Cattivia to get even.
On the way, though, they stopped at one of the family events in Madeo - though they had learned the runes to make their appearance how it had been before their death, they decided at the last minute to not use it. Instead, they strode in with an air of confidence, and glared at people, daring them to ask.
Most people didn't, but Iole cornered them and dragged the story out of them. Though Tel didn’t enjoy telling them what had happened, their reaction was much calmer than they expected, and they told Tel that they would let the others know, only the pertinent details. It was… comforting, in a way. They did not expect the small kids to decide that they were the most awesome relative, sharp teeth and all.
But, once that was over, they got back to business.
The first few people in the Riptides that they killed were simpler, easy - they weren’t expecting someone to be after them. But after that, it became progressively harder as the others prepared and scattered to the winds, and Tel was forced to pick them off when they traveled after a few fights that ended badly.

One person in particular they followed all the way to Molonero, in Amara Antrum. It wasn’t the person that had killed them - but it was one they recognized as someone who had been there on that night, and Tel was determined.
The person had expected them coming, and had a few bodyguards with them - but after a few years of picking off groups larger than they were, Tel had learned a few tricks. And they had the advantage of surprise. Still, it was not a pleasant fight, and they had to almost drag themself back to the room they were renting, dripping glowing blood in their wake.
It was while they were patching themself up there that they received a few… unexpected visitors.
They were envoys of a sort from one of the organizations that operated in Molonero - the Tuominen family. In a situation almost a mirror of the one Tel had been in so many years ago, they were offered a choice: get out of the family’s territory, or work form them on a contractual basis, and potentially get some help hunting down the people they were after.
As much as Tel was reluctant to join another group, seeing where it had gotten them last time, the offer was attractive. It almost sounded too good to be true, and they were wary of it, and the next pointed comment about their… unique appearance being a risk drove the point home.
So Tel accepted the offer, and in 499 began to work for the Tuominen family, doing grunt work for the organization. They didn’t mind too much - it was simple, uncomplicated work and they got to scare people. Not to mention, having more ears open for rumors of those that killed them, even if they were just rumors, was an improvement.
They met a few people and made some wary friendships - though after what had happened, they were leery of getting too close to anyone. Even so, they found they got along with some people in the organization and outside of it, and found working with them somewhat enjoyable. Not that they’d admit it.
Tel spent some time settling into their new role, and waiting for whatever rumour the family would share with them about any members of the Riptides that they had heard of. Whether they would admit it or not, Tel liked this arrangement - they had never found the fruitless searching enjoyable, and would rather pass the time in a more interesting manner while someone else kept an ear out.
And then they would get their revenge.
Over the years, despite what had happened to them, Tel began to form some more romantic attachments to a few individuals they met in Molonero. It was a fairly casual romantic entanglement as far as they were concerned, and their other partners seemed to be fine with that.
They traveled to Madeo to make various family events, and if they had gotten a tidbit from the Tuominen family, take care of it along the way, along with offering to do the family some job outside of their normal scope. It was a decent arrangement as far as they were concerned.

This will be updated as Tel's story progresses!