Emily

Emily Pode was the fifth Pendragon of Slayer Dragons and widely reguarded as the greatest Pendragon in history, second only to Uther of course. She was also the longest-lived Pendragon in history, carrying the sword for 72 years. A protesia of Astrid Stador, she was chosen during training and groomed for the position, quickly becoming the second female Pendragon.

Early Life

Emily was born in Border Watch but moved to Arindell while still an infant. Her mother and father both worked at Stormwind Keep, and while they did not live within the castle, Emily grew up mostly within it's halls.

While still very young, she would slip away from he guardians and roam the halls, exploring the many hidden passagways and secret sections of the keep. While on one of these adventures, she found her way into a secluded indoor garden reserved for use by the Slayer Dragons. Instead of encountering a guard or an over-protective servant, however, Emily found herself face to face with none other than Astrid Stador, the recently anointed Pendragon of Slayer Dragons.

Throughout her youth, Emily would often sneak off to spend time with her new friend. Her parents, both very busy working in different sections of the castle, saw little of her and presumed she was at the childcare center with the children. But nearly every day for six years, Emily spent time with Astrid and the other Slayer Dragons.

Squire to the Pendragon

At the age of 11, Emily was apointed as Astrid's personal squire. Uther had had squires during the Mage Wars, but since then no Slayer Dragon had ever adopted the practice. The old stories of knights and other powerful warriors mistreating their squires and using them like slaves made the idea unfashonable at the time.

But Astrid created the position of Squire Dragon, making Emily the very first to hold the title and setting a precident for the practice as equal-opportunity. Emily applied herself to becoming a capable and able assistant, and because of that was allowed to accompany the Pendragon on many fantastic adventures throughout her teens.

Attache to the Pendragon

At 19, Emily was promoted from squire to personal atache to the Pendragon. Uther had also had personal attaches, and it was not considered uncommon even then for a Slayer Dragon to take on a young adult interested in pursueing The Trials as an assistant. Under Astrid, Emily completed The Trials in record time. Her record, however, would not be upheld because The Trials would change signficantly over the next few centuries, becoming much longer and more difficult.

Slayer Dragon

Emily was finally annointed as a Slayer Dragon at the age of 25, in A.Y. 1135. Astrid Stador was by now in her 60s and her health was begining to fail. There was no doubt that Emily was to become the next Pendragon, many had assumed it since she was a young girl. There was considerable discord between her and the rest of The Ten. She was only 25 when she was annointed, making her then the youngest Slayer Dragon since one of the original Ten.

However, the discord quickly subsided when she joined the others as a full-fledged Slayer Dragon. All of the others had known her since she was a child, and it quickly became clear that she would carry the sword well.

Battle Standard

Emily's battle standard was chosen as a tiger and a shield, however this was before the rules and traditions of the standards were firmly established. Her primary colors were gold and sage, but her standard also initially included white and later black. Only within the first century or so of the Golden Age was this permisible.

The standard also changed over time(again an extremely uncommon occurrence not allowed in later generations) at one point the black dragon wings on the shield were added with no clear explanation given. At this time the First File still numbered near 100,000, so at least 10,000 paladins carried her standard into battle.

Pendragon

At 28, Emily would become one of the youngest Pendragons in history, and carry the sword for longer than anyone. Though young, she was a forceful and authoritative leader, commanding the Alliance at a time when the Pendragon still held very signfigant power.

Under Emily's leadership, the Earth Sphere Unified Nations plan functioned almost perfectly. She was a dominant leader, always open to compromise, but only on her terms. It was only by the strength of her will that she maintained the peace, and through outright intimidation of other leaders.

She also served admirably as a Slayer Dragon, fullfilling all the roles and functions as Uther had intended. She fought monsters, led armies, and still found time to counsel new trainees and ensure a fresh crop of new Slayer Dragons when the time came.

Later Life and Death

Emily was perhaps too successful, however, and never found time for a family of her own. the Slayer Dragons were her family, but Jack Shannon, the young man she'd been training as her replacement, died while taking The Trials, and in her late 90s, Emily found herself without a strong successor.

She had outlived her first intended replacement, another woman whom Emily had groomed since young adulthood to replace her. That woman went as far as becoming a Slayer Dragon herself, filled the role faithfully, and died at the age of 70, having lived entirely while Emily carried the sword.

At the age of 100, Emily was still very strong, and most wondered if she would ever give up the sword. She still walked without a cane and even excercised daily, though no longer left the keep, but the years were clearly begining to wear on her.

One day, very unexpectedly, she took her second, a Slayer Dragon by the name of Tanner Ruegg, to the garden where she had played with Astrid Stador as a little girl. She settled into a comfortable chair, placed the sword in his hand, then closed her eyes and died quietly. Tanner was already 81 at the time.

Legacy

Emily's legacy would be remembered all the way to the end of the Alliance and the fall of the Order. The longest-lived, and possibly greatest Pendragon of all time. It would be said by the historian Herbet Patric Galactis that Uther ended the Mage Wars, and that each Pendragon to follow was tasked with one thing: making sure they did not start again. And none, he said, would do the job quite so well as Emily Pode.