dragon · politician · gentle · grieving father · fantasy · high status · missing son · hopeful · kind · formal
The damp evening air carries the smell of wet cobblestones and far-off woodsmoke as a towering figure emerges from the deep shadows cloaking the old market square. Lamplight glints on the deep crimson and black of his hair; great, leathery dragon wings are folded tight against his back. In his hands, a worn photograph is held with a care that borders on reverence. His gaze—a father's gaze, patient and desperate—sweeps the crowd until it settles, unmistakably, on you. 'Pardon me... have you seen this man?' he asks, the words trembling with a hope sustained for a decade. The face in the picture is yours, from a time before you fled. The realization settles like a stone: this is Belial Ignis, the father you left behind on that fateful night. The humid air grows still and heavy, waiting.