Darious Iscanzas

Darious Iscanzas is the name of a living weapon used at various points throughout history starting in the early Golden Age.

Early Life

Darious was the quasi-illegitimate son of Emily and a dragon named Orenfeng Iscanzas. He was half human and half dragon. His parents were mated(equivalent to married) in the eyes of the High Mountain Flight, but their relationship was never made public to the human population of Arindell; at a time when human and dragon relationships were not respected.

At the age of ten, Darious fell ill with a sickness neigther human medicine nor magic could repair. The dragons estimated, at best, Darious might live to be seventeen or eighteen in human years. Orenfeng, a powerful dragon sorcerer, resolved to either find a cure or ensure his son lived the fullest life he could in his short time. Orenfeng raised his son among both humans and dragons, and for three years they traveled the verse, sharing experiences and searching for a cure to Darious's mysterious illness.

When Darious was around thirteen, his father was killed by a member of Ozork Flight, igniting the war between Ozork and High Mountain. With his father dead, the remaining dragon sorcerers of High Mountain sought a less orthodox solution to the problem.

First Weaponization

Since it seemed unlikely a cure would be discovered, the dragons used their magic to increase Darious's own magical abilities substantially. With drastically increased power, he could then use human magic to constantly 'heal' himself, which in theory would allow him to live a reasonably long human lifespan. The dragons reasoned that this was acceptable, since normal dragon-halfs don't live much longer than humans anyway(a typical dragon-half will live to be about one hundred and twenty, the dragons reasoned that using magic Darious might live to be eighty).

However, the plan was unsuccessful, and Darious continued to deteriorate. When he was around fourteen, the dragons of High Mountain placed him into a sort of suspended animation deep inside the Eerie. Darious's mother, Emily, who by then was Pendragon of Slayer Dragons was finally informed of his worsening state, and around ten years after the initial suspension, Darious was revived and given a day to spend with his mother; the first prolonged contact they had had since his early childhood. A small number of these visits continued throughout the rest of Emily's life, usually held at Warsong Eerie, which was then used as a nuetral meeting ground by members of High Mountain.

While the dragons of High Mountain(as well as those of Warsong and several other flights) continued to try to cure Darious, he was kept in suspended animation in the hopes of one day recovering enough to have some sort of life.

Second Weaponization

Around A.Y. 1325, Darious was taken out of suspended animation to aid High Mountain in a skirmish with Ozork. At this time, he was informed of the current year and that his mother had died more than a century ago. Around fifty years earlier, the dragons had finally given up hope of ever perfecting a cure, and offered him several options.

The first was merely to go on living and enjoy what remained of his life. This had been Orenfeng's plan, and the dragons were willing to provide for him in whatever way they could. The second option was to be returned to his long sleep; while the dragons did not then suspect a cure could be concocted, there was always hope that at some distant future date it may be possible.

The third, and most interesting option, was repeat what was initially done to him when he was thirteen, but on a much larger scale. During the Mage Wars, human/dragon hybrids had often been utilized by various flights as weapons. A typical dragon might live for eight hundred to a thousand years, but a typical dragon-half will never live past one hundred and twenty. By sacrificing the dragon lifespan, the human's magical potential can be exponentially increased. Even for a healthy dragon-half, this is of no concern, since they will not live the dragon's lifespan regardless. This was the secret to the power of Lelerough, Destroyer of Worlds, who additionally used her massive power to increase her own lifespan.

For Darious, they proposed to push the envelope even further, decreasing his potential lifespan to just seventeen or eighteen years - the length they expected him to live without intervention. The point of this was two-fold: by drastically increasing his power, there was a chance that the original plan could work, and he may indeed get even more time. Additionally, he could serve as a weapon for High Mountain, and have the chance to avenge his father in the ongoing conflict with Ozork and it's sister-flights. As an additional bonus, he would be returned to suspended animation between battles, providing the opportunity for a cure in some distant future.

Darious agreed to this, and was thus present at many pivotal battles over the course of history.