KYRILLOS STAVROS

[attr="class","ws-title"]HISTORY

Once upon a time, a man uncovered a large egg within a cave toward the highest peak of the Trugin Mountains. The egg was seemingly abandoned without a caretaker in sight, so greed got the better of the human. He reached out and pried the egg from its nest, wrapping it in cloth before tucking it away in his bag. Down the mountain he went, smuggling the egg to the north where he would not hear the enraged cry of a mother dragon returning to her den.

The man called Voith Island home, hiding himself deep within the dense jungle where a small hut had been crafted. The man set up a fire and carefully placed the egg over it. He had no intentions of cooking the egg, and he dutifully watched over the egg to make sure it did not get too cold or too hot. Months passed before his hard work paid off, and he extinguished the fire as the egg's shell began to shake and crack. Within was a dragon the size of a cat with scales as black as night and eyes as red as blood. The dragon chirped and blinked, looking around before staring at the man to see if this strange creature was his mother.

Well, he supposed the man would have to do.

The dragon proved to be a handful and a half from day one, nearly eating the man out of house and home. He was a bottomless pit,
eating anything and everything until he began to grow a pickier palette. There was a big push to teach the dragon how to fish on his own, but that also posed the next issue of teaching him to swim.

Months passed, and the infant dragon grew surprisingly fast. He went from the size of a cat to the size of a large dog by his fifth month, and the amount of food he consumed only grew with him. The man was finding him to be more trouble than he was worth,
but the intention of keeping the dragon had never been on his mind. The human put up with him long enough to treat him like anyone would a dog. He trained him in basic commands, gave him only the very basic skills anything living should know, and then...

They went on a trip!

An uncomfortable rope was tied around his neck, and they boarded a small boat that nearly toppled over when the dragon climbed in.
They sailed until they reached the mainland, but the rope around the dragon's neck kept him from rushing off to explore. He was tugged along, allowed very little time to rest until they reached their destination. There was a caravan waiting for them, a cloaked figure sitting on top. Horses pawed at the ground with their hooves, whinnying when they caught sight of the dragon. Said dragon lunged, wanting to figure out what these giant, furry creatures were (and see if they tasted good), but he was quickly tugged back.

The cloaked figured looked over the young dragon before producing a heavy, clinking bag from beneath their cloak, handing it to the man. The bag was exchanged with the rope, and the man promptly turned and left without even glancing at the young dragon.
He squawked and cried, pulling on his rope in an attempt to follow after his 'mother', only to be yanked toward the caravan.
He tried to fight back, to return to his 'mother', but a sack filled with some sort of herb was quickly shoved over his snout and secured with another rope. The dragon soon fell asleep.

Innocence fell to black in the following decades. He had been taken to a secluded area where he was left alone in a cage just barely large enough to support his growing form for weeks on end before the cloaked figure would return with just enough food to keep him alive. The figure would remain for up to a week to personally train the dragon using methods meant to break and reshape him. He would be battered, bloodied, and bruised by the end of the week, only to be left alone for a long time once more. It became apparent that the figure only checked on him to make sure he was still alive before taking the time to bring him food. By the third decade, this stubborn young dragon had been broken.

He did as he was told without a single noise of complaint. He was allowed to abandon the cage, and the figure opted for a heavy chain collar that kept him tethered to the ground while the figure was away. The cage was only empty for a month before another creature occupied it, this time a bear cub. A sharp command was given not to eat the bear, and the dragon obeyed.

He tried his hardest to ignore the cub's presence while the figure--the master--was away, but the cub made it hard when it pawed at the bars and cried. Eventually, he caved. The figure came a little more often than when it had just been the dragon, but it was not nearly enough to keep the cub from nearly starving each time. When the figure left next, the dragon slipped the cub the food he had stashed away in a hole he dug and kept hidden beneath his hulking form. The bear grew stronger, and the figure was none the wiser.

The little kinship the pair formed lasted only a couple of years before the bear was sold off to some noble across the land. The dragon found himself alone once more, and it brought into perspective that he was meant to be sold as well... Right?

No, he was to be rented.

A large, black adolescent dragon was too valuable to merely sell to the highest bidder. Instead, those with enough coin could borrow him for a set amount of time before the cloaked figure returned to collect him and any extra fees depending on his condition. For the most part, he was used as a scare tactic for powerful people or a temporary trophy for the sake of it. It was only when he finally took a human form that people would find other uses for him. He could not refuse, and the figure would merely make them spend more.

His favorite temporary jobs came in the form of violence. Whether war was brewing or someone double crossed the wrong person, if he was told to kill, he enjoyed it. A means of taking out his pent up anger and frustration, a means of stating his hunger as long as he remembered to leave the head... Perhaps he enjoyed it a little too much. Perhaps that was why coming across a familiar scent he should have affiliated with family only fueled that desire. He broke away from his chains mid-travel to the secluded lands he knew and loathed, ignoring the figure's calls as he took to the sky and followed the scent.

He found a heavily wrinkled old man, tired grey eyes widened as they stared up at the massive dragon diving down, jaws gaping. The man he once called mother met a gruesome end, and the dragon found he preferred fresher meat. The man had aged too much; he tasted terrible.

He was punished for disobeying. He was whipped, shackled, and shoved into a cage far too small for his form. He should have changed forms, but the figure said no.

The dragon was left there for a month, and he could barely walk from the pain in his joints when he was let out of the cage.

Centuries passed, and the dragon discovered that the cloaked figure was an elf. The discovery was unintentional, more while eavesdropping as the figure spoke with a client. They were an elf that had been banished from their homeland for, you guessed it, animal trafficking. Shocker. The dragon did not seem to care, at least not until the dragon had been sold off instead of merely rented. It was like the day he had been originally sold off all those years ago. He fell into a panic, but the difference was that anger quickly overwhelmed him. The figure was unable to ready anything to subdue him, and they were quickly snapped in half by powerful jaws.

His anger turned to his buyer, a foolish nobleman who only arrived with a handful of guards to keep him save. They fell to the wrath of the black dragon, and he once more found himself alone. Perhaps he should have regretted his actions, and perhaps he does, but the dragon could only think about getting rid of the chain tethering him to the ground. He yanked and yanked until the chain snapped.

The dragon took to the sky, disappearing into the horizon.

The next thousand years involved the dragon figuring out what to do with himself. He had been raised to be a weapon, a tool, a pet--not a dragon. There was one point where he ended up in Drosir Gorge, though his time with other dragons was cut short simply because of his lack of understanding of dragon hierarchy and culture. It was too much work, and he did not want to learn unless there was an actual reward in it. So, he left.

The dragon found himself in the care of another human when he dared to chase a storm and sprained his wing. Had it not been for the compassion of a farmer's wife, her husband would have came at him with a pitch fork, and he would have burned their farm to the ground. They cared for him until he could use his wing once more, and he repaid their kindness by... burning their farm down anyway. That's what they get for not letting him eat their cows.

Enough time passed that the dragon began taking human form in order to a) hide and b) learn more about the different cultures in the land. Humans were entertaining creatures, always resorting to violence to get what they want. He found a particular fondness for those who throw their money around to get what they want as well. He stuck to those like glue, doing whatever they asked of him as long as there was coin involved. With money, he could buy food, and some humans definitely knew how to cook their meat. He also took food as payment, but, for the most part, if they did not cough up enough money, he would just eat them instead.

That's a fair trade, right?

This cycle continued for centuries, only putting itself on hold when he decided to hole himself up in a cave somewhere and sleep for decades at a time. Due to his tendencies to go wherever money took him, he found himself accidentally enlisting to help in wars, and the kingdoms soon found a black dragon, whose size rivaled even the tallest buildings in the kingdoms, on the battlefield. He was nowhere in their records, having enlisted as a human rather than a dragon, and many attempts on Cesta's side to capture the dragon dealing heavy damage on the field ended in failure. He always managed to give them the slip.

He earned the name Phantom Wing from those that survived because he would be there one moment and gone the next.

He found himself bored with war after a few thousand years, so Phantom Wing became nothing more than legend within the past century.

The dragon has taken on various identities throughout his lifespan while attempting to blend into human civilization. His current name, Kyrillos Stavros, came from the last person who managed to capture him in an attempt to enslave him. He took their life and their name for the hassle they gave him.

[attr="class","ws-title"]PERSONALITY

Kyrillos has been molded from pain, wrath, and greed. What was once an innocent young dragon has turned into a beast just waiting for the chance to pounce. Thankfully for most, he has the self-control of a monk until you refuse to pay up or until his current buyer commands it.

When you meet Kyrillos, you will find a charming man who obviously has something he wants from you. He does not try to conceal it,
and he might just open up with a "sales pitch" of sorts if you look like you have sufficient coin. If you don't fit that qualification, he'll at least be sort of polite and hold up some sort of conversation as long as you can keep him entertained.

To those who have the pleasure of knowing him past your first meeting, with or without the whole "you should buy me" thing, you will find that Kyrillos is, despite his upbringing, a very affectionate man. Perhaps he is too affectionate at times, especially if you have caught his eye. If you suit his tastes, he'll be your best friend (or whatever else you ask him to be). He'll be a gentleman, to an extent.

Despite this, Kyrillos has a hard time maintaining relationships of any kind. He may call you a friend, but you're just as expendable as the next guy. He expects you to leave him at some point, and he has tried hard to numb himself to that feeling over his lifetime. He refuses to get too close to someone because he is afraid of them leaving him. Thus, if you have the money to keep him around, he will stay. Otherwise, he will leave you before he can grow attached.

[attr="class","ws-title"]ABILITIES

DERMAL ARMOR // The ability to create/have innate armor as part of their body to protect from attacks and extreme temperatures.
--> Dragon Form: This ability is more obvious in his natural form. His large black scales provide protection from almost everything, though he does have a few weak points from the torture he went through when his scales were softer.
--> Human Form: This ability is not nearly as shown in his human form, though this form can withstand higher or lower temperatures than normal. Flesh, however, is still too soft for his liking.

ENHANCED CONDITION // The ability to have heightened senses, strength, durability, etc.
--> Human Form: This ability only works at about 50% while in this form.

FIRE BREATH // The ability to generate fire from within and exhale them as a powerful flame.
--> Human Form: Inaccessible in this form.

FLIGHT // The ability to fly through the use of large wings.
--> Human Form: Inaccessible in this form.

SHARPSHOOTER // When you've had thousands of years to be bored, you start toying around with human weaponry. Kyrillos has trained enough in his spare time to become lethally accurate with ranged weapons.
--> Dragon Form: Inaccessible in this form.
--> Human Form: Only counts if he has a weapon or something throwable in range!

[attr="class","ws-title"]LIKES/DISLIKES

+ meat
+ cute things
+ heat
+ libraries
+ parties

- cold foods
- confined spaces
- being ordered around without pay upfront
- being denied
- bland people