[This blog contains spoilers for "Ash Bringer"]
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"Red was the color of blood. The color of fire and heat. Lust and danger. All things Draak. The woman wore it like a beacon drawing me in and telling me she was already mine before I’d arrived. My eyes gave off a faint glow as my arousal started to warm. Primal urges were nothing but a pang of hunger that all creatures had to satiate and she’d be that source of relief tonight."
Birth Place:
Draakon
Physical Appearance:
Everly describes Draven as having sun-kissed skin, giving him a warm hue. He has intense, orange eyes, like flames, which grow brighter and more vivid depending on his emotions. Like all Draak, Draven has slightly sharpened eye teeth. He stands at about 6'6" with a muscular figure and has copper hair that hangs, usually a bit unkempt, just past his shoulders. He has numerous tattoos in red ink, but their origins are mostly unknown, even to him, as he's lived so long some of his memories have escaped him.
In his Dragon form, Draven is a monstrous, deep red (almost black) beast with spines and sharp scales, beneath which the glow of his "flame" can be seen in low light. His exact size is unknown, but since Draak don't stop growing in their dragon forms until they die, he is quite large in comparison to others. (Not many living Draak are larger than a Boeing 747, but Draven is among those few)
Personality Traits:
Aggressive. Hot headed. Passionate. Committed. Spontaneous. Dominating. Vengeful.
Draven Tempest is a 1,000+ year old Draak originally from the Draak homeworld, Draakon. He's what's known as an Ash Bringer aka Red. Reds are Draak mothered by the Zephyre or "Red Witches," a species of primarily female humanoids with a knack for altering genetics and creating new or improved races to benefit their own. Because the Zephyre have strong telepathic abilities, so do their children, the Ash Bringers. He has an identical twin brother, Valerio, which is extremely rare among Draak as the birth of a Draak takes a large toll on those who mother them.
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Draven and Valerio were mothered by a Zephyre named Zeek'eia, who died shortly after their birth, even with the advanced technology being utilized by her kind. He and Valerio were among the first generations of Draak who could shift into the form of men. Not only that, but both Draven and Valerio are Archons. Archons are described as being "genetic alphas." They are extremely uncommon and because of their ability to rally and organize other Draak in times of conflict, Draven and Valerio were large targets in the first war.
Ash Bringers are known for being hot-headed and action-oriented. Draven embodies both of those traits as a Draak who led rebellions, fought numerous wars across worlds, and has faced foes most have only heard stories about, including the Leviathan. After war destroyed his home world, he and hundreds of others fled to Kumir and settled for almost three hundred years before war followed once again. This pattern is what gave him and those like him their name--Ash Bringers.
On Kumir, Draven found a mate, whom he loved deeply, but when the Zephyre came to that world to lay siege to their adopted home, his wife was destroyed along with thousands of others. This large attack happened on his "binding day" aka his wedding. Draven returned once more to the angry, battle-ready creature he was on Draakon in order to lead another fight against their enemies, but in the end, another world had been destroyed because of the conflict. Valerio, being the more level-headed brother, was a strategist in the war on Kumir while Draven carried out brutal attacks, often leading to many casualties for all sides.
Draven has been a hateful creature for most of his life. Nearly finding peace on Kumir only to lose it almost immediately created his bitter, aggressive outlook on all things. When he and the remaining Draak left Kumir behind and found their way to Earth, contact with humans sprouted yet another war. Draven and hundreds of others were fighting again, this time a new enemy that they didn't understand. The day they arrived was later called the "Second Wave," as other Draak had already arrived on Earth after the war on Draakon centuries earlier. Decades later, humanity and Draak finally came to a very fragile understanding and the war was ended.
Draven stepped down from any diplomatic responsibilities and left communication and talks to his brother, Valerio, as his own expertise was rooted in killing and war. After humans and Draak created the councils, the Draakir (Draak council) and the Order (human council), to build a new government. Draven began to get to know the new world they'd come to reside on. He often refers to humans as sheep or lower beings and sometimes even rats. Bitter over the loss of his wife on Kumir and the loss of many of his people, Draven could not come to accept humans as equals and viewed them more as subordinates.
Once the sectors were established, Draven disappeared for many years, leaving the building of a new world to those more suited for the job. Valerio came out as the Archon to the world and began to foster a society that saw Draak as leaders rather than invaders. When Draven returned to his brother's side, he once again refused to have any responsibilities involving politics, despite that he was an Archon as well. He stayed out of the spotlight and took up residence in a large estate outside of the city.
It wasn't until almost 2 centuries after the second wave that Draven met a human who held his interest. That human was a woman named Everly Ghlass. Everly challenged Draven. He's a hateful creature. One who has lived centuries upon centuries at the helm of conflict and war. One who has never been able to settle and therefore never expected to. His expectations for humans were set low, but when Everly came into his life, her strength, resilience, and attitude made him question many of his views. Not only that, but as a man who accepted he would never find peace, Draven put his mark on Everly as a punishment to bind her to him, intending to use her as a servant rather than a mate. This plan backfired, however, as the two got to know each other. The mark's effects became more potent the longer they were together and eventually, after Everly's life is put in danger, Draven finds that their bond is something he can't ignore. For the first time in hundreds of years, Draven's primary objectives became to keep her safe rather than to start a conflict.
Behind the Name:
Draven's original name was Draek'vehn, which is from the Draakonian language of his homeworld and means "storm." It was changed on Kumir to "Draavfen," which was a pronunciation created by the Kumirian people. He and Valerio were also given the additional name, "Yurah," which also means "storm" in the Kumirian language. So on Kumir, his name was Drahvehn Yurah. After arriving on Earth, Draven and Valerio adopted the last name "Tempest," also meaning "storm," and their names were once again altered slightly to fit human pronunciations.
(Known) Family Ties:
Brother: Valerio/Val'haerio (Ash Bringer)
Mother: Zeek'eia (Zephyre)
Father: Um'ehk'kahn (Ash Bringer)