Given Name: Valstrath
Alias: Lance Drachen
Age: 475; appears 29 as a human (and tends to affirm that belief)
Birthday: January 1 (supposedly)
Gender: Male
Category: Teacher - German Language (Part-Time), Economics
Appearance Description: Relatively tall at around 6'1", fairly lanky, and somewhat pale-skinned, 'Lance' usually appears much like any ordinary human... which, of course, is rather the point. Crowning his head is a mop of medium-length black hair with some obvious greys running through it, always unkempt. Light blue eyes occasionally lie partly covered by that hair, and the man has a habit of standing at a slight hunch, making him seem not quite as tall as he is. All in all, he's reasonably attractive (he likes to think; also part of the whole point), but he's not exactly the picture of masculinity, by any means. Also good luck ever finding him not clean-shaven and wearing a suit and tie, whatever the time, wherever the place, however the weather's like. It's just his thing, one could easily say, even under sweltering heat. Ah, and there's also the fact that he wears a simple pair of glasses... though if anyone else tries them on, they'll find that the lenses don't actually do anything. In short, the glasses are just for show.
In his true form, however, Lance (or rather Valstrath) is around the size of a pony... and most decidedly a dragon. The pointed snout, the hard, jet-black scales, the leathery wings, the spike-like obtrusions pointing back from his head, the long neck, the thick tail, the decidedly dangerous claws and teeth; it's not exactly a secret when one sees him in this form. In some contrast to the black scales, he has golden, reptilian-slitted eyes, that seem to be bordered slightly in a light blue. Hardly is he the size one would expect of a dragon, but a fairly strong dragon he is nonetheless.
Personality Description: It should first be noted that Lance says what he doesn't mean. Often. If one is to spend any extended amount of time around him, they'll have to try and learn to parse through what he says for the times he's actually being honest, which can definitely pose a degree of difficulty. Granted, there are times when he's obviously enough honest; ordering something to eat or drink, for example (he wouldn't want to get something he didn't actually want, after all), or while teaching (most of the time, anyway), but most of the time? It really could be anyone's guess. And it's fair to say that it's gotten him into some trouble with people various times in the past, for various reasons.
Regardless of this, however, Lance nearly always comes off as sociable and friendly, if a bit passive-aggressive toward things he doesn't like (which itself manifests in his lack of actual honesty, thus many probably wouldn't even notice). He quite dislikes confronting things directly, rather preferring to work his way into some sort of side approach where everyone can feel that they might have won. He's not always good at it, granted, but he still tries nonetheless. Supposedly, much of the reason is that he loathes strenuous physical activity... but really, he feels it a mercy to others he's certain he could wipe out in instants if he actually tried.
Powers:
Draconic Physiology: Paired with the ability to shift into a chosen human form fairly at will (which itself must always match his actual gender, and is never not at least mostly black-haired nor appearing younger than 16 or so), Lance has rather greater eyesight than normal humans. He can see things that are smaller or further away than most people would notice, though he has to focus enough for his eyes to zoom on the thing in question, thus causing his peripheral vision to take a hit at such times. Along with this, the thick scales in his natural form pose a definite difficulty to break through, and his leathery wings afford him the luxury of rather free flight, as well as his form itself being quite agile... prehensile tail included. And rather than the common myths revolving around Western Dragons, Lance himself is an ice-breather (albeit only in his dragon form; if he tries in human form, it will inevitably fail, to varying effects), which extends to him being perfectly fine under nearly any temperature. Any disease or illness, as well, mostly 'freezes' inside his body; however, this doesn't change the fact that it's there, and he can still suffer for it. All it changes is that it takes a while for the illness to have much effect... and in turn, for it to go away on its own afterward. In addition to everything else, his eyes have a degree of magic sensitivity; not in the way that he can identify what something is very easily, but that he can perceive magic of some form about it.
Flow Manipulation: While it is a rather subtle power, and one that acts fairly instinctively rather than via conscious thought, Lance can manipulate the flow of air or even water in the area to further benefit him. While he can only moderately increase or decrease the speed, he can very effectively change the direction. In this way, he has a rather easier time flying through the air or even darting through the water than most might, and occasionally uses the power for random other things. Getting a balloon down from a tree without having to work for it, for example.
Biography: Born in the mountains of Germany quite a number of years ago, before modern technology, before quite a number of things, was Valstrath. Born in a cave, no less, as the habitat of choice for his kin to have some shelter and security... both for them and their legendary hoard. And that fact was, most certainly, very true; they pillaged, and stole, and hunted, and grew their silvery and golden hoard, for no other reason than to have it. There was no practical use behind it, really; it wasn't as though they were going to go out and buy anything with it, least of all ever be allowed to. It was a thing intrinsic to them and their natural-born greed, and a thing Valstrath was taught about right from the outset. To say that he was interested would be perfectly fair; what dragon wouldn't be? And that it would all be his once he could 'inherit' it, by killing the present owners, was a point of great interest.
Even if those owners were his parents. The prospect just wasn't something that bothered him, nor even them, very much; 'twas just a natural progression.
Valstrath, however... didn't. He tried, suffice it to say; multiple times over the years, at that. But in the process, he was booted out of his birth home until the day he could possibly succeed... and in turn, came upon humans, the 'silly little creatures' his parents frequently talked about that roamed most of the land. For him, the runt, though, 'little' might have been a bit unfair; lots of them were taller than him when he stood normally on all four legs, after all, even if the advantage of actual body mass generally went to him. He kept mostly to the outskirts as a matter of caution, but at night especially, he risked looking into things a little. Seeing what these 'humans' did, even slowly coming to get a feel for the local tongue. Slowly he started to build his own small horde, but over time he began to stop caring about that of his parents. Rather, there were other points of interest now.
When the first so-called World War came along a few hundred years later, however, it put the dragon in a... somewhat tricky spot. On one hand, he'd come to relatively care about this land, and could likely wipe out enemy forces with little incident, especially as those 'guns' of theirs, while they had advanced over the years, still only did so much to him. On the other hand... was it even worth the trouble? Wars of varying sorts had come and gone; the Thirty Years War, the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, and others still, and he'd had little, if any, hand in any of them. A skirmish or two in the Thirty Years War initiated by the dragon himself, and maybe some small interest in Napoleon, but nothing further. He could watch, no doubt, but... perhaps something a little different was in order. Specifically, taking on a human guise for the first time and serving as some sort of soldier.
That it took a few months to even get used to this odd, rather more frail two-legged form was a matter of inconvenience, but he could deal with that much to sate his present curiosities, and he'd picked up more than enough of the language to get by otherwise. All he needed then was a name, and that was easy to come up with at random; no further questions were asked when he enlisted, considering they needed all the soldiers they could get.
It was the first and last time he'd take such a direct role in a human conflict as a presumed human, after he took enough damage to his leg to have him hospital-ridden for some time.
With that whole event registered as a giant mistake in his head, especially when the Germans lost the war, Valstrath opted to fade back into obscurity for a long while. Once again he watched the progression of these humans from the outskirts, occasionally taking another human guise to get more up-close looks. Eventually he opted for something a little more up-close, fabricating a background and still another new name and human shape and enlisting in this 'school' of theirs... as an honor student, no less, given he already knew much of what they taught, and still more. Progressing like that through high school, he moved on to college quickly enough to pursue a degree he was certain would be of some interest to him: that was, teaching. Between graduating with that and Economics, and spending some time as an assistant instructor, he found himself landing his first real teaching job at Starlight Academy in Manta Carlos... confident in the fact that nobody knew what he actually was.
Additional Information:
Alias: Lance Drachen
Age: 475; appears 29 as a human (and tends to affirm that belief)
Birthday: January 1 (supposedly)
Gender: Male
Category: Teacher - German Language (Part-Time), Economics
Appearance Description: Relatively tall at around 6'1", fairly lanky, and somewhat pale-skinned, 'Lance' usually appears much like any ordinary human... which, of course, is rather the point. Crowning his head is a mop of medium-length black hair with some obvious greys running through it, always unkempt. Light blue eyes occasionally lie partly covered by that hair, and the man has a habit of standing at a slight hunch, making him seem not quite as tall as he is. All in all, he's reasonably attractive (he likes to think; also part of the whole point), but he's not exactly the picture of masculinity, by any means. Also good luck ever finding him not clean-shaven and wearing a suit and tie, whatever the time, wherever the place, however the weather's like. It's just his thing, one could easily say, even under sweltering heat. Ah, and there's also the fact that he wears a simple pair of glasses... though if anyone else tries them on, they'll find that the lenses don't actually do anything. In short, the glasses are just for show.
In his true form, however, Lance (or rather Valstrath) is around the size of a pony... and most decidedly a dragon. The pointed snout, the hard, jet-black scales, the leathery wings, the spike-like obtrusions pointing back from his head, the long neck, the thick tail, the decidedly dangerous claws and teeth; it's not exactly a secret when one sees him in this form. In some contrast to the black scales, he has golden, reptilian-slitted eyes, that seem to be bordered slightly in a light blue. Hardly is he the size one would expect of a dragon, but a fairly strong dragon he is nonetheless.
Personality Description: It should first be noted that Lance says what he doesn't mean. Often. If one is to spend any extended amount of time around him, they'll have to try and learn to parse through what he says for the times he's actually being honest, which can definitely pose a degree of difficulty. Granted, there are times when he's obviously enough honest; ordering something to eat or drink, for example (he wouldn't want to get something he didn't actually want, after all), or while teaching (most of the time, anyway), but most of the time? It really could be anyone's guess. And it's fair to say that it's gotten him into some trouble with people various times in the past, for various reasons.
Regardless of this, however, Lance nearly always comes off as sociable and friendly, if a bit passive-aggressive toward things he doesn't like (which itself manifests in his lack of actual honesty, thus many probably wouldn't even notice). He quite dislikes confronting things directly, rather preferring to work his way into some sort of side approach where everyone can feel that they might have won. He's not always good at it, granted, but he still tries nonetheless. Supposedly, much of the reason is that he loathes strenuous physical activity... but really, he feels it a mercy to others he's certain he could wipe out in instants if he actually tried.
Powers:
Draconic Physiology: Paired with the ability to shift into a chosen human form fairly at will (which itself must always match his actual gender, and is never not at least mostly black-haired nor appearing younger than 16 or so), Lance has rather greater eyesight than normal humans. He can see things that are smaller or further away than most people would notice, though he has to focus enough for his eyes to zoom on the thing in question, thus causing his peripheral vision to take a hit at such times. Along with this, the thick scales in his natural form pose a definite difficulty to break through, and his leathery wings afford him the luxury of rather free flight, as well as his form itself being quite agile... prehensile tail included. And rather than the common myths revolving around Western Dragons, Lance himself is an ice-breather (albeit only in his dragon form; if he tries in human form, it will inevitably fail, to varying effects), which extends to him being perfectly fine under nearly any temperature. Any disease or illness, as well, mostly 'freezes' inside his body; however, this doesn't change the fact that it's there, and he can still suffer for it. All it changes is that it takes a while for the illness to have much effect... and in turn, for it to go away on its own afterward. In addition to everything else, his eyes have a degree of magic sensitivity; not in the way that he can identify what something is very easily, but that he can perceive magic of some form about it.
Flow Manipulation: While it is a rather subtle power, and one that acts fairly instinctively rather than via conscious thought, Lance can manipulate the flow of air or even water in the area to further benefit him. While he can only moderately increase or decrease the speed, he can very effectively change the direction. In this way, he has a rather easier time flying through the air or even darting through the water than most might, and occasionally uses the power for random other things. Getting a balloon down from a tree without having to work for it, for example.
Biography: Born in the mountains of Germany quite a number of years ago, before modern technology, before quite a number of things, was Valstrath. Born in a cave, no less, as the habitat of choice for his kin to have some shelter and security... both for them and their legendary hoard. And that fact was, most certainly, very true; they pillaged, and stole, and hunted, and grew their silvery and golden hoard, for no other reason than to have it. There was no practical use behind it, really; it wasn't as though they were going to go out and buy anything with it, least of all ever be allowed to. It was a thing intrinsic to them and their natural-born greed, and a thing Valstrath was taught about right from the outset. To say that he was interested would be perfectly fair; what dragon wouldn't be? And that it would all be his once he could 'inherit' it, by killing the present owners, was a point of great interest.
Even if those owners were his parents. The prospect just wasn't something that bothered him, nor even them, very much; 'twas just a natural progression.
Valstrath, however... didn't. He tried, suffice it to say; multiple times over the years, at that. But in the process, he was booted out of his birth home until the day he could possibly succeed... and in turn, came upon humans, the 'silly little creatures' his parents frequently talked about that roamed most of the land. For him, the runt, though, 'little' might have been a bit unfair; lots of them were taller than him when he stood normally on all four legs, after all, even if the advantage of actual body mass generally went to him. He kept mostly to the outskirts as a matter of caution, but at night especially, he risked looking into things a little. Seeing what these 'humans' did, even slowly coming to get a feel for the local tongue. Slowly he started to build his own small horde, but over time he began to stop caring about that of his parents. Rather, there were other points of interest now.
When the first so-called World War came along a few hundred years later, however, it put the dragon in a... somewhat tricky spot. On one hand, he'd come to relatively care about this land, and could likely wipe out enemy forces with little incident, especially as those 'guns' of theirs, while they had advanced over the years, still only did so much to him. On the other hand... was it even worth the trouble? Wars of varying sorts had come and gone; the Thirty Years War, the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, and others still, and he'd had little, if any, hand in any of them. A skirmish or two in the Thirty Years War initiated by the dragon himself, and maybe some small interest in Napoleon, but nothing further. He could watch, no doubt, but... perhaps something a little different was in order. Specifically, taking on a human guise for the first time and serving as some sort of soldier.
That it took a few months to even get used to this odd, rather more frail two-legged form was a matter of inconvenience, but he could deal with that much to sate his present curiosities, and he'd picked up more than enough of the language to get by otherwise. All he needed then was a name, and that was easy to come up with at random; no further questions were asked when he enlisted, considering they needed all the soldiers they could get.
It was the first and last time he'd take such a direct role in a human conflict as a presumed human, after he took enough damage to his leg to have him hospital-ridden for some time.
With that whole event registered as a giant mistake in his head, especially when the Germans lost the war, Valstrath opted to fade back into obscurity for a long while. Once again he watched the progression of these humans from the outskirts, occasionally taking another human guise to get more up-close looks. Eventually he opted for something a little more up-close, fabricating a background and still another new name and human shape and enlisting in this 'school' of theirs... as an honor student, no less, given he already knew much of what they taught, and still more. Progressing like that through high school, he moved on to college quickly enough to pursue a degree he was certain would be of some interest to him: that was, teaching. Between graduating with that and Economics, and spending some time as an assistant instructor, he found himself landing his first real teaching job at Starlight Academy in Manta Carlos... confident in the fact that nobody knew what he actually was.
Additional Information:
- Despite his natural healing and the time since passed, Lance occasionally walks with a slight limp from his old World War I injury.
- He still has a 'hoard' of sorts, but it mostly manifests in various watches, cufflinks, belt buckles, and various collectibles, 'limited edition' anything included (except food items, of course). Good luck getting anywhere in the (albeit relatively large) room in his house dedicated to such things on a series of shelves and, failing having room or perhaps just because of a lack of care in some cases, scattered along the floor. He also has a few of his old scales in the mess that is that room, but good luck ever finding them.
- His hobbies are hard to actually pin down; he seems to at least dabble in any number of things, with varying degrees of proficiency.