Jochem

image made with Portrait Workshop

STATS
Name: Jochem
Age: 24
Gender: Non Binary Male
Race: Half Elf 
Class: Archer/Hunter/Rogue

Description: Jochem may have been born a male, with his slender figure, long hair and soft facial features, he's been known to throw off more than one person. His deep masculine voice and feminine gait add to the confusion. He does identify as male, but does not particularly feel he needs to change his appearance to please others. As for sexuality, he does not discriminate on race, gender nor bodytype - but he's not one to stay. 
Personality: Jochem is quite independent. He lives in a village but no-one truly knows him and that's the way he likes it. He knew from a young age that he didn't like socialising and had the presence of mind to choose a profession where he could enjoy solitude and quiet. 
Skills: Tracking, Trapping, Skinning
Enjoys: a good challenge
Dislikes: socialising, making small-talk 

*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*

BONDING
Jochem had been stalking his prey for a while now. He'd almost believe the creature was intelligent. Maybe it was. He WAS hunting a ghost. He'd been hired to investigate some unusual sightings. People had reported seeing unusual shadows beneath the trees, hearing something large move through the bushes and hearing loud roars and curses. It was widely assumed that it was some large predator like a bear. But that didn't mean a lot of other, more shady theories weren't being opted. Especially in the pub they'd been speaking about a shadow of death, or ghosts and the undead. Apparently the cursing had many people dismissing the notion that it was an animal. Animals didn't curse, only humans did.  
After a few days of tracking, Jochem was now certain of a few things. He was definitely chasing a living thing. It left footprints, excrement and remains of diner behind. It walked on four feet and seemed to have fur. And it was quite big by the size of those footprints. No wonder people had gotten scared when they'd heard it move. However, why hadn't it attacked? With that size, a human would not pose a threat. 
Sneaking, he knew he was getting closer. It wouldn't be long now until he caught sight of the creature. Jochem made certain to stay downwind and moved as quietly as possible. Hoping that same wind would mask his progress. He inched closer to a small window in the bushes where smaller creatures had probably worn away the shrubs. 
All he saw was a wall of green. 
"Hasn't this gone on long enough, dammit?" A voice suddenly called out, "I'm getting tired of you sonofa following me!"
Jochem looked around. 
"Up here!"
Jochem looked up and came face to face with a big reptilian head. It was green, had large glowing eyes, two pointy horns, ears and a mane of darker fur. Jochem swallowed hard and wondered if his life was forfeit.
"Like hell it is. I'm just minding my own frickin' business and would appreciate it if you would voice your problems to me straight. All this wishy-washy creeping up behind me is making me f-ing nervous."
"I don't have a problem with you." Jochem said, feeling a bit weirded out by the fact that the creature could apparently read his mind, "I was asked to find out whether you were a threat."
"I'm a dragon, Karilano'Taykah-Selamputo is my name."
"So are you a threat?" Jochem asked.
"Hardly." Karilano answered, "I'm just waiting for some injuries to heal and then I'll be on my way. I just need a place to rest."
"Oh..." Jochem said, "I do know of a place."
After all, he'd spend a lot of time away from people too and knew the places nobody came. 
"Wonderful!" the dragon exclaimed, "In return I shall take you back with me when I'm better. I know a lot of places where people don't travel too!"
Jochem wondered briefly about why he wasn't being asked whether or not he would even want to join, but then, how many people could say that they'd travelled with a dragon?
"That's settled then!" Karilano said smugly. 

Karilano was part of a Nexus Forum Giveaway (but during a 2022 revival at the discord)

STATS
Name: Karilano'Taykah-Selamputo
Gender: Male
Parents: Ore Enadula'Taykah x Green-White Orange Sateino Selamputo
Species: 1/4 Drak, 1/4 Danachian, 1/8 Piralan, 1/8 Hathian, 1/8 SCD Mutt, 1/16 Tavaryn, 1/16 Pernese
Colour: Plant-Black
Size: 12' tall / 28' long
Personality: More of a loner than a team-player, tends to snort and say the wrong things at the worst of times. Has a caustic sense of humour and won't hesitate to point out what is going wrong and giving a "I-told-you-so" when it's in order. 
Abilities: 
     *Telepathy
     *Teleportation
     *Verbal Speech
     *Spell Affinity
     *Acid Spitting
     *Full Shifting

*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*

WINDCHILL
A couple of destinations later, Jochem and Karilano had ventured into a previously empty dimensional pocket. Alas it was no longer empty. Some of Jochem's full-blooded relatives had deigned to create a settlement in the large cliff face that was the main feature of the dimension. The multitude of cave dwellings large enough to accommodate dragons was of course the reason Jochem had wanted to show Karilano the place. It would make a wonderful base of operations for future travelling as a place to leave their valuables. 
"The place is still pretty vacant, we wouldn't mind you guys taking up part of it." Sunspark Reflection, the current leader of WindChill had offered. He probably wanted to use them for added defences since his crew was indeed pretty basic. 
"We could see where this goes." Karilano offered, "Leaving is easy."
Jochem nodded, "I should probably help out anyway."
He had a lot to thank his elven heritage for after all. And spending time around others would maybe given him a couple of new tricks. That was always an added bonus. 

*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*-;-*
Lantessama Isle
Background image from deitydiva