Finally, here it is... A crown jewel of my art collection by far, this wonderful picture drawn by Isvoc is a grand portrayal of my canon character Arcaizen, whose appearance doubles as my sona for now. I'm still in awe of the sheer majesty and splendor of his form, so expertly executed and put into a visual form to behold. While not a proper pure Elderblood, he definitely bears the likeness of one in this splendid representation of his draconic magnificence. In canon terms, he'd be around 9.5 m tall in total height in this pose (approximately 6 m shoulder height) and about 28 m long.

The amazingly skilled artist who made this fantastic piece a reality is none other than  leilryu, go give her a watch! Her gallery is full of amazing dragons. I love how the artwork potrays Arc's serious, but collected nature. You can find her submission here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41630558/

The character belongs to me,  arcdanis.


Now for those of you who are here for some lore to go along with it:

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Arcaizen Selhar Fyldrannis... An Elderblood's name, given to a young dragon of noble, yet impure heritage. Not his birth name, the original one. A result of discovery of his past, but not his own discovery. A revelation brought to him by curiosity of others, determined souls who made Asrialtor his birthplace. An auspicious one, given the alternative of being born into a menagerie at best, slavery or death at worst. Arcaizen had features unusual for a dragon, as well as a past unlike that of most of his peers.

His story began as an egg, found and stolen by prospectors exploring frigid islands far north from the shores of Weismarth. The reason for the egg being unattended would not be known, yet the men looking for riches and rare earths could not pass up the opportunity to pick up such a novelty, even if they were vaguely aware of the risks and the wrath they could possibly bring upon themselves. Their find was enough of a rarity to pay for their otherwise rather fruitless effort, changing hands several times across the continent of Tylliarus. A dragon egg, being a rather obscure item, required an eccentric buyer. Few had any idea how to even attempt hatching it, most couldn't tell if it was fossilized or still dormant. Nobles, merchants and alchemists had it in their possession, be it for research or as a vanity trophy, a few close calls of imminent destruction in the name of "science" just narrowly averted. Eventually, it reached the hands of a customs office supervisor in the harbor city of Jiral Sorin, an awkward gift from his soon-to-be son-in-law, who had been trying to win his favor in pursuit of one of his daughters. The man was a pragmatist rather than a connoisseur, more willing to get his money's worth for the strange, blue-tinted egg than admire it as a peculiar piece of decoration. Despite his experience as a customs officer, he still had no idea how to appraise it. His inquiries got the word out that a strange item, a real dragon egg will soon be put up for sale or auction by its owner in Jiral Sorin.

Those news travelled far and wide, far enough to make their way across the sea to the Great Kandhaeris Republic, a powerful nation known for their welcoming and reverent attitude towards dragons. An elder scholar of dragon lore, a Falx (bird-man) named Qiazrav, just happened to be visiting Isber-Parnali, the grand Kandhaeris port city trading with Jiral Sorin, when he picked up a hint of news about a dragon egg from a conversation. After confirming it's likely to be more than a rumor, he hurried to meet the authorities of the state and academia, requesting an official permit and funding to reclaim the egg and salvage a piece of draconic heritage for the Republic, distrustful of men who he believed would defile or destroy such an artifact. Owing to his charisma, the mission got approved and he made his way across the sea in quite some haste, bent on outbidding any other prospective buyer. There were quite a few, some merely curious, some with their own ulterior motives, but in the end, Qiazrav managed to accomplish his goal. The egg's owner was delighted to see interest from a scholar from across the sea, believing he would make a fortune attracting individuals so interested in his unwanted novelty. He didn't close the deal disappointed, that's certain.

Qiazrav reported his mission to be a success and had the egg follow him to his home city of Asrialtor, in the mountains. The Falx was an esteemed professional when it came to dragon biology and nature, so he was able to properly examine his prize shortly after completing the purchase, prior to moving it. To his considerable surprise, he found out that in spite of its worrisome history of ownership, the egg still had the potential to hatch. It was also somewhat larger than described in his books. Given what he learned, he decided to pass the custody of his treasured acquisition to Gailmjaara, Asrialtor's resident dragoness. They struck an agreement, in which she would become the hatchling's stepmother, should one emerge from the egg. This hope became a reality within the next year and a new dragon was welcomed into the world, a male initially named Zarkunnis by his adoptive mother. Qiazrav and his scholarly peers were elated and keen to observe the youngling’s growth and upbringing. However, it didn’t take long for the hatchling to develop features that were highly unusual for a dragon and suggested an exotic heritage. Young Zarkunnis grew really fast, but beyond that, he quickly started developing an uncanny sprout of blue hair from the top of his head, forming into a mane, as well as a tuft of fur at the tip of his tail. His plating patterns started showing up early as well, catching Gailmjaara’s observant eye. Soon enough, she announced to the scholars and caretakers that they have a Hyalvarn’draakosh in their custody – a semi-Elderblood.

Since Elderblood Dragons were the progenitors of the Kandhaeris nation as it was, their descendants and relics were objects of essentially religious reverence to the Kandhras-Aen and Falxii living in the Great Republic. This revelation was no small news – tracking the lineage of the abandoned egg became a matter of great interest to many involved with dragon lore. The fledgling dragon, barely two years old, was given a choice to pick up a new name out of respect for him, since his stepmother insisted that a scion of the Elderbloods should bear a more appropriate one. They settled on Arcaizen, but the rest of his name was yet to be found. Qiazrav, feeling personally responsible for his fate, decided to take up the quest of tracking down his roots, the last grand mission of his life.

While the Falxian scholar embarked on his journey, young Arcaizen grew up between traditional dragon upbringing provided by Gailmjaara and a plethora of interactions with Kandhras-Aen caretakers, attendants and academics. He quickly grew aware that his adoptive mother wasn’t his real one, yet she kept her end of the bargain, being a patient and affectionate mentor for the juvenile dragon. The circumstances of Arcaizen’s youth were really unconventional for one of his kind, quickly growing accustomed to the Kandhaeris civilization and attached to the company of his aides, speaking pretty fluent ur-Kandahaar in addition to Draakin before he reached the age of ten. His youthful mind absorbed various topics brought up to him like a sponge, spiking his interest in astronomy, mathematics, law, geology and other topics the Kandhras-Aen eagerly shared with him, as well as tidbits of their social lives. Gailmjaara wasn’t exactly too appreciative of the level of familiarity he was developing towards those meant to be his servants and devotees rather than peers, but she made no objections beyond teaching him of dragon’s dignity. Disrespect wasn’t something he would have to contend with, not in the Kandhaeris Republic.

Eleven years had passed until Qiazrav returned, bringing in convincing evidence of Arcaizen’s ancestry. His grandfather turned out to be an Elderblood known by name, as the Falx had hoped in his arduous investigation. Recognized as Velquaznir Selhar Fyldrannis, the Storm Ruler of the northern seas, deified in sailors’ myths, but with a reputable historical record to back up his existence. Having collected his information, Qiazrav ventured as far as Järzlos Alden, a desolate island that held the lair of Velquaznir, barely returning alive from the journey. As per tradition, Arcaizen assumed the titular part of his name after his last Elderblood ancestor. It wasn’t yet known if he had any arcane powers associated with the ancient bloodline – if he did, they remained dormant. In the meantime, his presence became the pride of Asrialtor, his upbringing leaving him agreeable and interested in the life of the city. He accepted tokens of his allegiance to the Kandhaeris civilization – a cyan sash decorated in silver embroidery, a bracelet on his left paw, a tail band and even a reading glass to help amend the headaches he got while reading from his natural farsightedness, a trinket he truly prized. His Kandhras-Aen aides were emboldened by his amicable nature, often rummaging in his extraordinary mane, grooming and brushing it, which eventually led to the idea of giving him his renowned braids as he grew a bit older. He did enjoy the look and wore them with pride, making the citizens rejoice seeing him don the symbols of his allegiance to them, visibly pleased to be a „civilized dragon”.

The blissful years of youth were eventually to wane and pass for Arcaizen, turning into times of strife as dark clouds of a crisis loomed on the horizon and his own future endeavors went far from smoothly, making him a more mature and stern dragon as he moved towards his prime age… But those are some story bits for a different time. In the picture you can see him in his young adult age, with the Kandhaeris trinkets on him and his Elderblood features largely present in the posture, bulk of the body, plating patterns and wingspan.