Sting [2023 update]

Type of Character: Dragon
Personal Info
Name: Sting
Alias: N/A
Age: Equivalent of a 30yro human
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pansexual
Personality: Sting is a dragon who believes actions speak louder than words. As such, she does not speak much- only when spoken to. (Naturally, this changes for her own family.) These days, she is incredibly dedicated to her work as a tracker, though this may only be an excuse to get out of the royal fortress. She has become sort of a workaholic and will hunt until exhaustion. Despite being Queen Consort, Sting is determined to show that she needs no coddling or servants. She often insists she can get her own food and drink and will rebuke anyone who tries to fetch it for her. Though she is a noble now, she is quite the opposite of posh.

Altogether, Sting is nice but can be a bit snarky. These days, she is irritable yet confident in her abilities, but also aware of her deficiencies and the need to train further.
Fears: Agoraphobia (fear of crowds)  
Strengths:
-Tracker: As a tracker, Sting has all the talents fitting for one. She is agile on both foot and wing, and she can reach the maximum speed of 80 miles per hour. These skills make her one of the best hunters in the tribe.
-Observant: Sting is the type of dragon to analyze and pay attention. Few things escape her notice when presented before her. She knows more than one might expect, all of which she learned simply by putting the pieces together and observing. In another universe, she would have made a brilliant detective.
-Parenting: Parenting comes easier for Sting than others. Though she has not laid eggs of her own, she has adopted several hatchlings. She is a kind mother who will protect her wards with her life, and dragonlings seem to get on remarkably well with her.
-Reputation: As a pureblood NightWing who has been with the Tribe since hatching, Sting had good standing since birth. This only improved as she stood to witness and give accounts of eras in the NightWing government. This started with the rule of Gemini, and she was present when Oculus became leader. Yep, she saw and shared the news of all that drama. Then there was the whole mess with Xangor. Through it all, she had also trained many young dragons to become trackers. A large portion of the new hunters in the NightWing ranks were trained by Sting. Her eyewitness accounts and mentorships have given her the reputation of a trustworthy dragon in the Tribe who knows her stuff.
Weaknesses:
-Strength: Though agile and quick, Sting lacks strength. Her muscles are honed for travel, not for combat. She is trained to dispatch prey instead of dragons. As such, she would do poorly in a fight, and if pinned or caught, she would be powerless to escape the grasp.
-Agoraphobia: Sting does fine with one-on-one interactions, but she often caves in to peer pressure. As a huntress, she is used to silence. Loud noises and social gatherings startle her, leaving her awkward and tongue-tied. As Queen Consort, this can be an issue. Fortunately, Tenebris tends to most of the social affairs.
-Leadership: Again, thanks to her years as a tracker, Sting is used to working alone. When it comes to it, she is terrible with giving directions. When put in charge, she tends to overthink her actions and solutions, sometimes preventing her from reaching a solution at all. In the rare times when Tenebris is absent and Sting is in charge of the NightWing Tribe, she tends to struggle. Luckily, those events are uncommon, and advisors will be willing to help her. . . for good or for ill.



General Appearance
Height: 35 feet
Scales: Black with deep bluish-purple undertones. Underbelly is paler in color, and wing membranes are white and scattered with black scales. Her scales are roughly teardrop shaped with a slight metallic shine. She has a line of white scales along her neck and under her eyes that glow like stars.
Eyes: Extremely pale blue, almost white. Black sclera.
Appearance: As a tracker, Sting has the build appropriate for a huntress. She is petite, thin, and wiry, which allows her the agility she needs to hunt. Her wings are large compared to the rest of her body and stands out more than the wings of other NightWings. While most NightWings have black wings with silver scales scattered to look like a night sky, Sting's are reversed: white with black freckles. An array of white spines tops the back of her head like a frill which rises and falls according to her emotions. Two straight white horns stick from her head, and white spikes line her spine from behind her ruff to the tip of her tail. Even her claws are white.

Sting in her queen regalia:

Tribe Information and Status
Tribe: NightWing
Inheritance: 100% NightWing
Rank: Queen Consort/Tracker
Family: Exodus (father, whereabouts unknown). All of Astral's children with Nimbus and Svadilfare are her grandchildren through adoption.
Mate: Tenebris (as of the end of the apocalypse)
Hatchlings: Cyclone and Typhoon (adopted), Astral, Zylah, Mephala (adopted through mateship with Tenebris)

Skills and Abilities
Normal Abilities:
-Night Vision: Sting can see in the dark in monochromatic colors.
-Shadowed Camouflage: Thanks to her dark colors, Sting can blend in well within darkness and the night sky.
-Sleepy Smoke: Like most NightWings, Sting can exhale a smoke that can send a dragon to sleep or make them drowsy. The average dragon is drowsy for one post before going into a slumber which lasts for another post. No dragon can defend itself when asleep. Dragons over fifty feet are only drowsy for three posts and do not fall asleep. This ability does not affect NightWings with the same ability.
Special Abilities:
-Dream Manipulation: Sleep and night is the domain of NightWings. As such, Sting has the special ability to manipulate dreams. She can only do this to a dragon directly next to her until they wake up. It is part of what makes her a good mother and mate: she can soothe any dragon's nightmare simply by laying next to them.
Combat Style: When in combat, Sting relies on her agility to dodge attacks. She is very rarely aggressive and only fights for self-preservation or the protection of her hatchlings. Though her lack of strength will never allow her to win a battle, Sting will never flee, especially when others are in danger. However, thanks to her speed, she is hard to lay a claw on.

Background
History: Sting hatched as a pureblooded NightWing during the rule of Gemini. By the time the leadership shifted, she was a young adult who had just finished her training. She observed all the drama that went down at Oculus' crowning, including the sudden presence of Astral. Oculus' leadership was a rocky one, and for some time, there were divisions between the NightWings. Through it all, Sting matured and honed her hunting skills. By the time Tenebris gained control, she had cemented herself as a trustworthy member of the Tribe thanks to her written eyewitness accounts of the changes in leadership and formation. She had also become a remarkable hunter. During the apocalypse, she resigned briefly as a citizen to raise hatchlings she found herself: Cyclone and Typhoon.

Like much of the world, Sting was bitter towards the gods for abandoning dragonkind in their time of need. When Astral restored the world to its peaceful state, that bitterness only grew. . . again, much like the rest of the world. Similar to most of the NightWings, Sting's respect for the God of Chaos Paradox grew as he became the paragon of the Tribe. She was never the religious type, thus rarely visited the temples, but at least Paradox was a dragon worthy of worship. It was high time for the world to look up to a god with no history of abandoning others.

Most remarkably, Sting entered a political mateship with Tenebris towards the end of the apocalypse. This boosted her ranking from mere citizen to Queen Consort of the NightWings. However, all the sudden attention unnerved her. With Cyclone and Typhoon now guardians, Sting allowed herself to return to her work as a hunter, despite her queendom.

She does not want to be a mere icon or figurehead of the Tribe. She wants to make real contributions, and her way of doing that is hunting.

This is really good. APPROVED!!!