Withdrawing Venom

[MunaZaldrizoti 5731]

Spoiler

 

 

Every night, for the last two elven weeks, Syndra Caerme'onn had dreamt the same dream. A dozen winged beasts, horned and scaled and breathing molten flame, descending upon long-abandoned cities and castles, reducing them to nothing but melted stone. Afterward, once their intial chaos had been wrought, those same creatures flew to great inhabited citadels and villages, leaving any who once lived there with nothing but ash and death. Always, in conclusion, would one singular great beast turn upon her, in her frozen observation. It would settle two golden eyes upon her form, seeming to acknowledge her before opening its maw and coating her in flames. She would feel her spirit rise into the air, almost upon unseen wings of her own, and pay witness to what came after her demise. Nature, with all of it's force and bounty, would begin to creep through the fallen towers and demolished streets. Grass would grow, flowers would bloom, and the natural cycle would resume where flames had previously wreaked havoc.

Her return to civilization hadn't been easy. For a decade or more, she had searched for her father, who had yet again abandoned his sole daughter for the life of a wayward druid. She had need of him, for his tutelage and approval...but now she also needed him for the sake of her own anger. All her life, she had lived to only be the star of his life. He pushed her out into the wilderness at ten years old, bidding her good fortune so that she might return wiser than before. That had only left her feeling as if she had done something wrong, something to make her own maln feel shame when in her presence.When she had arrived at the Father Grove, he welcomed her as if nothing had happened. Syndra was her father's daughter again...and that was all that mattered to the young Caerme'onn. She could prove herself to him, be what he wanted her to be.

Venom. That was the totem she had taken, after her attunement. She had been so sure, so keen, on claiming for herself a name that evoked the same power and strength as that of her maln, Viper. Only later did she realize how everything around her, at a time when such a connection is so sacred, was all related to him. Attuned in his own private pool, hidden away in his own home. The visions of snakes and her own mother's gruesome death. And at it's climax, a specter in the form of her own father...speaking in disapproval. How could she not seek to please him, after paying witness to his disappointment in her own attuning?

All these woes and worries were brought before the sacred nature dragaar, Taynei'Hiylun, as Syndra located the last of her remaining beacons. She witnessed others there too, though paid little mind to their tasks as to see through her own intention. As the dragaar spoke, it relayed to her a warning, that dreams of Taynei's own ilk were never good. However, the source of these visions might be found in the young druid's own totem. Syndra seemed to understand in that moment of clarity, but couldn't grasp the idea of her totem being the pinpoint by which these troubling images had manifested themselves.

 

As the beacon faded and she made her way through the trees, she crept up onto a sturdy branch and sat awhile. She dwelt on the meaning of her dedication to the Aspects, her dedication to her father or the legacy of their bloodline. She felt as if she didn't know herself anymore, she was unnatural in this natural world. But in that moment, the realization collided with her all at once. Syndra knew, finally, what the visions had been trying to tell her all along.

 

Her death in flames was her rebirth, leaving behind the woes and invisible chains of her past to forge a new life in dedication to the Aspects. The weak-willed, prodigal child of the Viper Druid needed to shed her skin, not unlike a serpent, to ascend towards her higher self. And so too would she claim the unnatural for her own, so that perhaps she might one day guide them to a more natural existance.

It was at the union of two druii that she came into her own, renewed and revitalized. A friendly face from her past, keen to know the reasons for her abrupt departure, sparked a certain hubris within to tell of her new identity. Beneath the cover of a tree's winding canopy, Syndra Caerme'onn spoke the name of her new totem for the first time.

 

No longer was there Venom, a weapon the Viper could wield. Now, she would be nature's punishing flame, a force of restoration.

Sister Venom was no more. In her place, Sister Wyvern now rose.

 

Spoiler

Just a flavor post for a major turning point and closing of an old chapter for my character, Syndra Caerme'onn. Obviously this information is only privy to those whom she has told already, so please don't metagame otherwise. Hope it's a good read!

 

(I will fix any typos in the next day or so, wrote most of this in an hour and a half.)

 

[Epistile 856]

Spoiler

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