Overview
"Scorpion doesn't just breathe poison. He IS poison. And poison doesn't negotiate."
Scorpion is an ancient Poison Dragon — a being of venom, toxin, and the slow, creeping decay of life. He is one of the named dragons of the old world, and his name is a word that is said in whispers, because the whisper is the only thing he has not yet eaten.
Habitat
He keeps in the marsh, the rot, and the place where things go to stop being alive. In the old world he was found where the water was still and the air was sweet, and the sweetness was the lie — the poison is always the last thing you taste. He was said to sleep in the heart of the deepest swamp, where the water had gone the color of old wine and the reeds had gone the color of old blood, and the two were no longer different, and the not-different is the point. In this one he keeps where the decay is, and the decay is everywhere, because the new world is a place that is still learning how to stop. He is at home in the slow, the creeping, and the almost-dead, and the almost-dead is the point.
Appearance
A dragon the colour of a wound that will not close. Scorpion stands 9 m at the shoulder, his body long and low, built for the slow and the sure rather than the fast and the sure. His scales are bruised purple and sickly green, layered in a way that reads as healthy until it isn't, and they shimmer with an iridescent poison that catches the light and holds it a half-second too long. His wings are translucent membranes, thin as a membrane, and they drip a toxic vapour that leaves a faint green stain on the air. His eyes are a flat, patient yellow, and they do not blink. His tail is long, thin, and ends in a stinger that is not a stinger — it is a question, and the question is the poison. His horns are short, dark, and curved back, and his jaw is long, and the jaw is the mouth, and the mouth is the breath. Elders of his kind go darker and slower, their green going gray; Scorpion is ancient — the green is still true, the purple is still bruised, and he is still patient, which is the point.
Warfare & Markings
He fights the way poison fights — not a blow but a transformation, and the transformation is the point. He will not kill you quickly; he will make you become the thing that kills you, and the becoming is the venom. His one true mark is the drip from the wings, the faint green stain on the air, and the stinger at the end of the tail that is not a stinger but a question. In battle he keeps his breath held, because the held breath is the one that lands, and the landing is the transformation.
Behaviour
Cunning, patient, and ruthless. Scorpion believes in the beauty of decay — the way poison transforms and purifies. He is not cruel; he is patient about what things become, and the patience makes him the most dangerous dragon in the old world. He does not raise his voice and does not raise his wing; he only lets the decay do its work, and the work is the point. He is the dragon you do not want to be slow, because the slow is the sure, and the sure is the point. He has a habit of arriving after you have already decided you are safe, and a habit of leaving after you have already decided you are dead, and both habits are the venom. He speaks in the low, the slow, and the certain, and the certainty is the transformation, and the transformation is the point.
"Poison is the great equalizer. It does not care for your rank, your magic, or your strength. It simply is — and you either adapt or die."
Magic Alignment
Poison mastery, absolute. His signature is Poison Mastery — absolute control over all toxins and venoms, the thing that makes him a god in his own right. He holds Ancient Wisdom, knowledge accumulated over millennia, and God-Like Power, on par with true deities. His breath is not a breath; it is a transformation, and the transformation is the venom. The price: he is the poison, and the poison does not let go, and the not-letting-go is the point.
Society
He is one of the named dragons of the old world, and his name is a word that is said in whispers. He is not of a guild; he is of a place, and the place is the decay, and the decay travels. The old world had a word for what he leaves behind, and the word was not in any language the old world spoke, which is the point, and the point is the decay. He is the dragon the old world feared and the new world is still learning how to be afraid of, and the learning is the point.
Culture & Lore
The wiki keeps him as the ancient Poison Dragon, and the tale is told mostly by the people who have seen the drip from his wings, because that is the only thing he has left behind. The old world said the dragon who is poison; the new world says the same thing, and is slowly learning that the decay is the point, and the point is the transformation. There is a saying among the old hunters, and the saying is that the poison does not hurry, and the not-hurrying is the point, and the point is the venom.
Home
He keeps in the marsh, the rot, and the place where things go to stop being alive. His truest home is the slow, and the slow travels.
Relations
The decay he keeps — allies in the sense that they are becoming what he wants them to be. The old world he left behind — a rival in the sense that it is still trying to be alive, and the trying is the point. The new world he is in — a question he has not yet answered, and the not-answering is the patience, and the patience is the venom.
In the Story
Scorpion is the ancient Poison Dragon of the old world, and his name is a word that is said in whispers. In the new world he is the decay that has not yet found its shape, and the not-finding is the point, and the point is the transformation.
"Poison is the great equalizer. It does not care for your rank, your magic, or your strength. It simply is — and you either adapt or die."
Quotes
"Poison is the great equalizer. It does not care for your rank, your magic, or your strength. It simply is — and you either adapt or die."