Balthias || Honorbound || Sword Dragon

Name: Balthias

Age: 30 years

Hatchdate: May 3rd

Gender: Male

Picture:

Type Of Dragon Sword

Relation To Any Non-Dragons: He's lived in a village full of non-dragons his entire life. Hatched in the hearth of the village elder's home, he was thought to be a gift from the dragon god. He's grown up with and protected the village for as long as he was able.  

Personality/History:

Balthias's mother was poached for her tail, though nowhere near the nest. Were it not for an adventurous pair of boys, he might have never been hatched. At first, the boys were chided for coming upon a dragon's nest and poking around it. However, the stink of a dead dragon caught the attention of some hunters from the village and they realized that the egg was motherless. It was decided the village would hatch the egg and raise the dragon. Placed in the hearth of the home of the village elder, the coals were stoked and fed continuously, every so often small amounts of water were thrown upon it, to steam the egg much like a mother dragon's humid breath.

The villagers did all they knew, and they were fortuitous, perhaps even lucky, that they hatched the sword dragon chick.

He was named Balthias after the elder's long-dead son.

Unknown to Balthias, he began to act much like the elder's deceased son, protective of the people in the village, stubborn to ideas of change, convinced life in the village was as it ought to be. Balthias did not want his home to become an amoral center of commerce. Life was quaint and wonderful, though they had their hardships, everyone knew everyone and was likely to help their neighbor. Not everyone in the village was perfect, but they were worth protecting. They were his family.

The village started becoming the target for small bandit raids, and the villagers had long known not to look to the skies for help. As a tiny smudge on the great map of Dragon's Cove, they knew their plight did not concern the Guardians as much as the plight of bigger cities. Besides, villages were raided all the time. It was a fact of life. However, with Balthias now as an ally, these bandit raids came at a cost for the raiders.

The fight to keep the village safe took many years of Balthias's life, in which he became their stalwart defender. Fearsome, he faced down any raiding party without a hint of fear, and though he might not have known it, he'd scared the village elder more than once. Though he was a mighty dragon, the old man feared he might be slain.

In the Last Raid, his right eye was put out by the bandit leader, and he very nearly lost his life, were it not for the regrouping of the villagers. Balthias learned a chilling lesson of his mortality, and the strength and courage of non-dragons, villagers though they were. He resides, still, in the village of his hatching. Though the village elder passed on, the mantle of 'leader' was passed to him, one he did not feel he deserved, so he shares this duty with a man he deemed much more fit for it. He aids in the hunts for the village and can be seen resting in the commons, letting children play all over him. He would come to the defense of his village without a moment's thought.

Balthias is a loyal dragon, and honest, sometimes too blunt in his words. He adores tiny two-legs and lets them play all over him. However, he does not tolerate drunkards, criminals, swindlers, womanizers or abusive non-dragons. He is often seen coming to the defense of those who need it, and rarely thinks of himself in those kinds of situations. Though he was made aware of his own mortality, with the loss of his right eye, he continues to throw himself into situations for the sake of non-dragons. Having never met another of his species, let alone another dragon of any kind, he has never known romance. He has had silly crushes on non-dragon females, but they've all amounted to nothing. He gives good advice, and seems to enjoy listening to others. He is stubborn though, and if he does not like an idea, will ignore it as though it was never presented to him. When he makes a decision, it is final. If you've made an enemy of him, he will let you know you are not welcome, not one to hide the way he feels about others.

Description:

Balthias is a fully grown adult male Sword Dragon. His coloration is from a deep, almost black, blue color, to a vibrant blue, with dashes of purple along his wings legs and arms. His mane is dark blue in color and extends from the top of his head all down his back and ending at the start of his tail. His face is lighter blue in color, his left eye being his only good eye, is red in color. There is a long scar from above his brow bone to the line of his mouth crossing over his right eye. It is thick, and ridged, professing the depth of the cut he'd received from the Bandit Leader.  He is well muscled from his active lifestyle; toiling in the field with the villagers, hunting with them, fighting to defend them. His tail is whip-like and long, flattening and tapering to a point. It is deadly sharp on both edges and lightens to a silvery color. He can either stand and use his tail as a sword, or remain on all fours and use it as a whip with a deadly end.  His scales are smooth and tough, acting as body armor against petty attacks. He's normally a bit dusty but tries to keep clean, often taking a river trip with the villagers for a communal bath. His armor-like scales keeps him from accruing many scars, but he does have bear some from fights and hunts. His teeth are much like that of a wolf, and his tongue is thick, coming to a point and rests comfortably within his jaws. His head rests comfortably over that of an average male non-dragon, though when he stands he can easily be twice that size and is built larger than most predatory beasts. He can fly, and takes great joy in allowing children to ride his back, though he takes precautions to make sure they are well secured. He could bear a man, but as of yet, none of the villagers (aside from the children) wish to have their feet off the ground for more than a few seconds.

Other:

He has an obvious blind spot on his right side and tends to hold his tail to the right to compensate. Though his claws are wickedly sharp, he professes an incredible gentleness, so much so that he can grab a grape with his claws without piercing it.