Deneb Albelen

Son of two Dragon Empire guardsfolk, Deneb's path in life was always clear. He wanted to follow in his parents' footsteps, train in combat and survival and serve his empire by protecting its people. Aside from a small hiccup when he transitioned from female-to-male at age eleven, this plan was going quite smoothly until an incident during his first year of basic training. During sparring drills he had completed hundreds of times before without issue, Deneb swung his practice weapon with such force it broke his partner's collarbone, and he didn't stop there. Though he was quickly restrained, the injuries he caused required months of healing. For his own part, Deneb struggled against his restraints until given a sedative, and upon recovering full consciousness, had only hazy memories of the event. A medical examination revealed a growth on the back of his neck, previously thought to be a simple skin tag, had developed into a tumor about the size of an apricot--and displayed features of a teratoma, including not only a variety of tissues but dentin and even bone throughout. What began as a suspicion that this growth was somehow connected to Deneb's aberrant behavior became certainty when, during later incidents of high stress, the tumor was observed to move and grow as if it had a mind of its own.

Despite having become a danger to himself and others, Deneb still wanted nothing more than to serve the imperial guard, and after demonstrating that he could learn how to control his affliction, he was ultimately assigned to Fort Kaerndall, the southernmost fort on the Sea Wall and the last stop for supplies and troops alike. Though he continues to struggle to keep the monster inside him under control, a knack for leadership has landed him a quick promotion and not one but two squads under his command--which feels more like a burden than a gift, after two beloved comrades have already fallen on his watch. Life on the Wall is hard, and keeping the monsters out is harder, but Deneb is determined to follow through, to protect the people he cares for most.

Creator's Notes:

• Deneb's affliction is based on a D&D race called the Daelkyr Half-blood: a "breed leech" attaches itself to a pregnant person and ultimately infects the unborn fetus, which is then born with a monstrous symbiotic twin. Tweaks were made, and I had just watched Venom at the time, so the squad pretty much just calls Deneb and his tumor "non-copyright-infringement Venom" and the way it plays out in game reflects that. Our GM plays the symbiont, Leech, whose personality so far is bloodthirsty and petulant. Deneb wears his guardsman sash as a scarf to conceal the increasingly large and gross teratoma, and foregoes armor in favor of a loose shift (adapted from mage robes) that he can easily chuck off when he transforms.
• Because our tabletop squad is like half trans folks, when deciding how trans issues go in this iteration of the Dragon Empire we all agreed that socially, it is not viewed as a big deal, and with the appropriate magic and/or alchemy you can get any kind of physical transition you want. Physically speaking, Deneb is equivalent to a trans guy on T who never had a feminine puberty. This is only relevant because he is naked kind of a lot. Like more than most wall folks, and they're already naked pretty frequently.