Tieros Ironclaw

A long, slow walk down crooked, darkened streets leads you to the front of a dusty, old shop with a large wooden door. The windows on either sides do less to paint a clear picture of what's inside. Motes of dust cake the inside of the glass and do well to obscure your vision of the seemingly filled vials on display. You decide to enter. (You make a strength roll and succeed. The door opens with some clear resistance and struggle but after a moment you're able to push it open.)

What stands before you is a long counter with a robed, hooded figure on the opposite side of it. Along each side of the room seems to be rows and rows of glass cases which house different sorts of vials which are filled to the brim with different sorts of liquids. You see, out of the corner of your eye, a large reinforced glass case. With the turn of your head you can see that these flasks and vials are locked and housed within separate small cases.

You direct your gaze back to the figure before you. The figure now bears a wide, eerie, and sharp-toothed grin. You think you see plumes of a blackish purple smoke slowly rising out from his reptilian like nostrils. In fact... now that your eyes are adjusting to the dim light in the room you can clearly see this is no mere human but some sort of reptilian creature hidden underneath a large, singular, blackish purple flowing robe. His jaws part for a second just as a large candelabra above suddenly flickers to light, flooding the room in a brilliantly lit white light... and in that moment you swear you see the back of his throat swirling with purple and black just before it begins speaking,

"Greetings and good day to you. This one's name is Tieros Ironclaw. A dragon welcomes you to his shop. Please browse and let your eyes catch all the bits, baubles, wares, potions, and poisons before you!"

-

Tieros Ironclaw: Voidwalker

Tieros Ironclaw is a somewhat small yet imposing dragon. Very few people, aside from his sister, have ever seen his face. This is due to a ritual he performed in his younger days. (Which will be explored soon.) He has a very strange way of talking and always seems to refer to himself in the third person, never truly referring to himself in the first person. This can make him give off quite the mysterious vibe in conjunction with how his hood always seems to stay up and his jaws always seem to grin widely. Despite all this Tieros is quite passionate and loyal to those who he considers his friends. He is especially protective of the one who gave him a home; Elysia Ironclaw.

---

The Earlier Years

Many, many years ago he lived with his mother Lera and sister Minerva in the small dragon village of Arakht. Even in his younger days the dragon aspired to be an Alchemist.  His mother and sister encouraged Tieros to become the best he could possibly be. It was even Tieros' commitment to alchemy that inspired Minerva to become an Herbalist. In his quest for knowledge discovered an ancient tome of knowledge in the nearby forest of Arkos. The tome was specifically about the Void; the supposed place where the dead gods dwelled. While not much is still known about the Void there were always rumors of secrets being held within for those brave enough to perform rituals to walk along the Void. The lust for knowledge was much too tempting for the young dragon and he decisively began gathering the necessary materials for a ritual.

Once Lera caught wind of this she quickly forbade Tieros from doing this. Tieros was much too headstrong and argued long and hard with his mother about the ritual. After the heated discussion he simply and wordlessly went to bed... only to sneak out into the night with Minerva to perform the ritual deep within the forest.

Without going too much into detail the ritual was successfully performed... but at a price. (I actually have it written out in a document for those curious.) What was pulled forcefully into the Void was not the same being that emerged. His entire speech pattern changed. His robes grew a strange sickly dark purple and black. But the most alarming change was when his hood was pulled back to reveal a murky, dark black purplish void which outlined the shape of his head with wispy blackness floating off of it... and only two murky white eyes gazing from out of the void.

Minerva was fearfully concerned for her brother and only seemed to grow even more frightened when he would not say what he saw inside. All he would say is he met something and struck a deal with it. His wish had come true. He could perform all sorts of alchemy at a whim simply by literally reaching into himself. He could slip his claw into his robe as if it were nothing but murky water and pull out any potion he so desired. So his dream had come true... at the cost of his identity... and a dead god now sharing his body.

Upon returning back to his home his mother was awake and clearly concerned about his appearance... but one look at Tieros sent her into hysterics. This... was not her son anymore. This thing... this abomination... was not her son. The commotion ended up waking up the entire village who gathered outside of Tieros' home. Even as Tieros desperately tried to plea and reason with his mother that he was still the Tieros she knew and loved she would not have any of it. Her mind was made up. This thing was some vile abomination that she shunned. With only sobs of heartbreak and fear she fled the house and flew off deeply into the night.

Tieros watched from the doorway beside his sister... clutching on to her for support from the overwhelming emotions coursing through his body... tears running down both their cheeks... that was the last time they ever saw their mother.

It wasn't long until the two decided to pack up and leave. They could not stay there anymore.

And thus begins the torrent of overpowering guilt that still plagues Tieros to this very day...

---

Irhynam and Elysia

Dragons can live for quite the long time. The two were inseparable. They traveled far and wide and have seen a great many things. Some which they talk about... and some they don't.

While Tieros spent his years making quite the killing off of his alchemy business with Minerva making a steady amount of gold from her Herbalist sales, the two always found it hard to find a proper place to live because of Tieros' appearance and mannerisms. Mistrust was always evident whenever he tried to find a place to stay...

... but the one thing the two will always hold dear in their hearts is moving to Irhynam. While discussing dealings about an apartment to stay within the city their conversation was overheard by a beautiful white mare clad in the uniform of the Irhynam Police Force. She heard the cruel words that their potential landlord was spouting and quickly intervened. Some talk later and she had set the two up with a guest room to rent at her own home.

Tieros and Minerva were quite shocked and surprised at such a kind gesture of good faith. They eagerly accepted and thanked the woman; Elysia Ironclaw. A month later and the two managed to set up a shop within the city and were able to create it into their own home as well. They still regularly pay visits to Elysia while Minerva constantly brings her bouquets of roses for her hospitality.

-

What now?

Now with a shop of his own Tieros is free to sell his wares to each and every interested party that decides to set foot in his shop. While he still deals with the guilt of making their mother flee in terror he takes solace in knowing that he's done everything he possibly could to give his sister a home. Ever since that day he has been fiercely protective of his sister. But even with everything looking up he still finds mistrust in the eyes of strangers every so often particularly with a white tiger named Orion; Captain of the IPF.

Despite all this he honors the city's laws and upholds them with respect.

-

Camilla

After some time living in Irhynam he was encouraged by his sister to go out more often and take in the sights and smells of the city... and maybe even find a girl. Tieros was opposed to this idea for obvious reasons but with enough encouragement he simply decided to take his sister's advice. The dragon walked through the Irhynam streets and literally took in the smells of sweets, fried foods, and all sorts of treats that shops and vendors sold. He finally decided to walk into a bakery by the name of Melty Love. (The name caught his eye.)

As soon as he had stepped in he was awestruck and motionless upon seeing the beautiful woman working behind the counter. A beautiful, curvey cowgirl greeted the dragon with a smile. Her green eyes glistened like flawless emeralds while she waved him over to the counter. Tieros barely acknowledge the gesture as he was still awestruck by her beauty... but he quickly regained himself and clumsily walked over to her with a shy, soft smile of his own.

"Tieros... Tieros doesn't say this quite often, and you probably get this a lot... b-but... you are very beautiful, Miss," The dragon forced himself to say after ordering a Melty Love for himself. (The treat the bakery was named after.)

"Oh gosh, sweetie. You're too kind," The cowgirl replied while averting her gaze a bit shyly off to the side. The slight tilt of her head caused a few locks of her luscious blonde hair to tumble over one of her eyes.

"May this one know your name? And, err... would you perhaps like to go out with this one?"

"It's Camilla, darling. And... I normally don't do this but sure! Come back later... I'm free at eight."

"Tieros will be here at eight then. Goodbye, Miss Camilla." In a gesture even the dragon considered bold, He gently took her hand and planted a soft kiss on the back of it before casting a small, genuine smile to the cowgirl. Then he left... completely forgetting his Melty Love.

Even Camilla seemed to forget about it until she spotted it still resting on the counter. "Oh! Aw dang he forgot his Love... oh well... maybe we could share one later."

As Tieros was already walking down the sidewalk and collecting his thoughts and emotions he realized something: Not once did she give him a look or ask about why he talks the way he does.

A few weeks later and the two were shacked up.

They've since broken up but have remained great friends. (Aaaaand maybe a bit more on the side once in a while.~) They still enjoy baking together and spending time with one another as friends.

--

The Dead God

While Tieros is very secretive about the being that shares his body everyone he knows has come to accept the fact that he is still Tieros. His girlfriend Camilla was stunned and shocked by his true appearance but ultimately accepts and loves him for who he is. What little he does say about the dead god inside of him though is not good at all. He deals with it's constant whispers and ramblings into his mind and because of this he usually has long bouts of insomnia. He'll sometimes ramble to himself when the one within is too talkative. And on rare occasions the one within will bring up his mother which will infuriate Tieros. Tieros has never said the being's name to anyone because saying it's name could invoke it to take full control of Tieros... which has happened before in extreme situations... but it always gives Tieros back his body. The being is said to be curious of the world around him and the only thing that will quell it's incessant whispers is by exploring around the city or coming up with new potion ideas or even the act of meeting a particularly interesting person. Tieros grew greatly concerned when the being's whispers became completely silent upon hearing Orion announce himself as Captain of the IPF. While Tieros has grown more relaxed upon Orion's visits into his shops he is still concerned that the one within him will try to do something deadly to Orion...