Micah

On the surface level, Micah Raimondi's life hadn't been much different than that of most Stone Z'mai: Find a remote location, build yourself an elaborate den out of the stone and earth, hoard whatever you might consider to be the thing you treasure most, defend what you have when necessary, enjoy your quiet life of seclusion. One who dug a little deeper however, would find a restless soul living vicariously through the works of others. The eagerly inquisitive Micah hoarded books, the walls of her den were filled with shelves upon heaving shelves of tomes, ranging from folk stories meant for children and young adults, full of adventure and daring-do; informative, practical works with vital information on any desired topic; memoirs and journals both academic and non; even steamy tales of romance and occasional compilations of poetry (some penned by Micah herself, though she would be quite reticent to allow them to be seen and read).

Her chance for more finally came from an unlikely source: A diminutive Nature Z'mai who, upon introducing himself as Trillie, quickly made fast friends with the stone-faced Micah, inviting her back to his village on several occasions before accepting her own semi-reluctant invitation back to her den to see her collection. While there, his discovery of her library led to a most interesting revelation: That "Trillie" was in fact Trillium Ilex, foremost expert of Z'matrian flora and fauna, and the author of Micah's favorite book on the topic. He told her of his ambition to re-catalog the planet's life with updated text and information, making new discoveries along the way, and possibly even moving beyond the boundaries of planet Z'matras itself. The starstruck Micah immediately appointed herself as his guardian, believing that this overeager, impulsive little Z'mai would surely get himself hurt or worse traveling the sometimes harsh environs of Z'matras all on his own.

Though her stern face and eerily silent bearing might make her appear at a glance to be cold or hostile, any who meet Micah will find her quite warm and inviting, with a calm, helpful demeanor; albeit one with somewhat poor social skills from years of near-isolation. She's extremely protective of her hoard, taking a book from it's place on the shelf without warning is one of the few ways to get the placid dragon to raise the volume of her voice above a hushed whisper. The sheer magnitude of time Micah spends reading would baffle most, with particularly long stretches during lengthy series binges leaving ample time for moss to begin growing on her extremities. She will admit that she reads slowly however, not due to any developmental difficulties, but because she's been known to damage volumes with her claws when being too vigorous in her fervor to consume too quickly.

While nothing sends a shiver up her spine quite like the sight of deep water (after all, swimming is out of the question when one's arms, legs, and tail are heavier than stone), she deeply fears harming those that are smaller or weaker than she is, and similarly, fears that others are intimidated by her considerable presence. This, when coupled with her constant solitude (and a considerable stash of romantic novella), has left Micah quite starved for personal, physical contact, consistently fighting the compulsion to pet both small animals and people alike, lest she offend or even frighten them away with her enormous, clawed hands.

When not in her den reading the hours away or visiting newfound friends in the nearby Nature Z'mai village, Micah will generally be found following Trillie, tagging along on whatever adventure he happened to embark upon that day, ready to pull him away from danger (and into her waiting arms) at a moment's notice.