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Description
EDIT: goddamnit tui... like if you think stjärna is cooler than caribou

I've finally decided what I want to do with Stjärna. She's a dragon inspired by my childhood of singing in the Lucia choir at my local Swedish institute, connecting with my culture. The problem I've had with her, though, is that she just doesn't quite fit into the Wings of Fire universe. Sankta Lucia was a martyr, who because of her faith distributed her wealth to the poor, and died a martyr's death. IceWings wouldn't care about one of their dragons worshipping some weird god (and neither do I, quite frankly). And I don't want to bring a religion I no longer belong to and disagree with more and more into my dragon story. But... perhaps they would care about a dragon squandering their wealth and power for the poor... especially a certain power that IceWings are known for.

So. Legend tells that Lady Stjärna was born in poverty only around five hundred years after the Scorching, among circle-less IceWings who did not care much for titles. They did not have the greatest seal holes or hunting spots, but they were her family, and she wanted more for them. But she was thrust into more for herself and only herself when, at three years old, she discovered she was an animus. News of it spread to the royal IceWings quickly, because she was three, and she loudly asked her parents why they never told her you could make seal bones play music, in public. Animus power was still new to the IceWings, and they were making an effort to consolidate it all in the royal family. So they snatched her away from her parents and life and betrothed her to a First Circle prince whose mother had been an animus. And they taught her etiquette and manners and told her to start thinking about what she wanted to make during her gift ceremony on her seventh hatching day.

They never asked her how she felt about all this.

Because she did not feel good. She didn't like Felsenmeer, her fiancé, she didn't like anyone in the palace, she didn't like the circles, and she didn't like her etiquette lessons or her new hard, ill-fitting jewelry or the way everyone treated her like a delicate piece of glass that would shatter if they didn't bow and scrape hard enough. Maybe her life was easier now, maybe she didn't have to worry about where her next meal would come from, but... at least she had people she liked, back home. She wanted to do something good for them, too.

So when it came time to make her animus gift, she ignored the suggestion about making a mirror that predicted the weather, and instead made the "Gift of subsistence." A trio of pools in the poorest outskirts of the kingdom that would always give a seal to whoever wanted them. The circled IceWings in the palace would never even consider catching such easy prey, but no poor IceWing would ever have to worry about food again.

No circled IceWing liked it. But it was her gift, and Stjärna was fine with whatever consequences faced her. And she had worded her spell well: not even her animus mother-in-law could remove her gift. But Flaught did not want to let her useless, imperious little daughter-in-law go. If this went on, Stjärna would raise rebellious children, and Ice Dragon forbid they became animus dragons too. So she waited until Stjärna laid two eggs, and then had her killed so those eggs would not be corrupted by her.

But legend is firm on the fact that that was not the end of Lady Stjärna. Her spirit remained, and legend says that on the night her daughters were supposed to hatch, they disappeared from the hatchery. Different storytellers disagree on whether her eggs were animus dragons or not, but everyone knows that when Flaught tried to cordon off the pools Stjärna had created, Stjärna and her daughters appeared at all three pools and destroyed the barriers, ensuring food would always be available for dragons who needed it.

Legend says she and her daughters, Overwinter and Torpor, still guard those lakes, and ensure that they will never be destroyed. There will always be food for those who need it.

Description
EDIT: goddamnit tui... like if you think stjärna is cooler than caribou

I've finally decided what I want to do with Stjärna. She's a dragon inspired by my childhood of singing in the Lucia choir at my local Swedish institute, connecting with my culture. The problem I've had with her, though, is that she just doesn't quite fit into the Wings of Fire universe. Sankta Lucia was a martyr, who because of her faith distributed her wealth to the poor, and died a martyr's death. IceWings wouldn't care about one of their dragons worshipping some weird god (and neither do I, quite frankly). And I don't want to bring a religion I no longer belong to and disagree with more and more into my dragon story. But... perhaps they would care about a dragon squandering their wealth and power for the poor... especially a certain power that IceWings are known for.

So. Legend tells that Lady Stjärna was born in poverty only around five hundred years after the Scorching, among circle-less IceWings who did not care much for titles. They did not have the greatest seal holes or hunting spots, but they were her family, and she wanted more for them. But she was thrust into more for herself and only herself when, at three years old, she discovered she was an animus. News of it spread to the royal IceWings quickly, because she was three, and she loudly asked her parents why they never told her you could make seal bones play music, in public. Animus power was still new to the IceWings, and they were making an effort to consolidate it all in the royal family. So they snatched her away from her parents and life and betrothed her to a First Circle prince whose mother had been an animus. And they taught her etiquette and manners and told her to start thinking about what she wanted to make during her gift ceremony on her seventh hatching day.

They never asked her how she felt about all this.

Because she did not feel good. She didn't like Felsenmeer, her fiancé, she didn't like anyone in the palace, she didn't like the circles, and she didn't like her etiquette lessons or her new hard, ill-fitting jewelry or the way everyone treated her like a delicate piece of glass that would shatter if they didn't bow and scrape hard enough. Maybe her life was easier now, maybe she didn't have to worry about where her next meal would come from, but... at least she had people she liked, back home. She wanted to do something good for them, too.

So when it came time to make her animus gift, she ignored the suggestion about making a mirror that predicted the weather, and instead made the "Gift of subsistence." A trio of pools in the poorest outskirts of the kingdom that would always give a seal to whoever wanted them. The circled IceWings in the palace would never even consider catching such easy prey, but no poor IceWing would ever have to worry about food again.

No circled IceWing liked it. But it was her gift, and Stjärna was fine with whatever consequences faced her. And she had worded her spell well: not even her animus mother-in-law could remove her gift. But Flaught did not want to let her useless, imperious little daughter-in-law go. If this went on, Stjärna would raise rebellious children, and Ice Dragon forbid they became animus dragons too. So she waited until Stjärna laid two eggs, and then had her killed so those eggs would not be corrupted by her.

But legend is firm on the fact that that was not the end of Lady Stjärna. Her spirit remained, and legend says that on the night her daughters were supposed to hatch, they disappeared from the hatchery. Different storytellers disagree on whether her eggs were animus dragons or not, but everyone knows that when Flaught tried to cordon off the pools Stjärna had created, Stjärna and her daughters appeared at all three pools and destroyed the barriers, ensuring food would always be available for dragons who needed it.

Legend says she and her daughters, Overwinter and Torpor, still guard those lakes, and ensure that they will never be destroyed. There will always be food for those who need it.