Zᴀɪᴅ Aᴍᴍᴀʀ زيد عمار

1st

Arrival!
Woke up in a giant cage, trapped in his Dragon form and unable to speak or access his magic.
Proceeded to make Allies rather than enemies of the humans in the cage with him, much to his confusion.
Killed flying creatures that shared some small resemblances to his own kind, to his distress but determination.
Lost at least one of those allies to the creatures and proceeded to be attacked by a girl with a dangerous throwing aim.
Escaped the cages only to be shadow-stalked by an elf (who was surpisingly cordial in conversation)
Got into a fight with a 20 foot robot and was subsequently killed.

2nd

Woke in an open grave, once more in his human form and very confused as to the previous day's events and his current status of being alive, considering.
Met the ally he assumed to be dead in the same graveyard and acquired his first ever friend.
Proceeded to take a 3 hour conversational walk with said ally back to Southtown, and the Dive Shop.
Had a shower and acquired pants (and tea).
And possibly a place to stay for the night? Unsure.

3rd

Tour of Southtown's important locations. (Hotel/Clinic especially.)
Zaid meets Bruce and helps with the Greenhouse construction

6th

In dragon form, Zaid meets Bart, Amery, Balfour, and Poison for the first time. Encounters Legolas and Jeannot for the second time, and shows his dragon form to Khan and again to Mohinder, now that lives are not on the line.

11th

Plagued by a flower that makes him extremely reckless, Zaid jumps off the Lighthouse and breaks a wing/his arm, setting him back from his potential future flying lessons.

Some time after the 11th?

After some period of time he moves out of Mohinder's dive shop and into the hotel, for the sake of having his own bed/space.

19th

Moves into C12. Introduces himself (as a human) to the Airmen for the 'first time'.

asymboled

offtherail

Zaid's world is, in many ways, much like our own. Humans evolved, and quickly took over the Earth, making way for their own progress by clearing the old and outdated things they no longer had a use for. The worship of Gods and Goddesses died down as time moved forward, and people became wrapped up in technology and advancement of the species.

It was an ever forward rush to progress, leaving the old world and old religions behind.

But unlike our world of myth and legend, theirs was a world of ritual and magic. The Gods and Goddesses were not deities in so much as they were magical beings of great power. And with that power, finicky natures that held the eb and sway of their favor. Sacrifices were made to appease and garner their favor. Gifts were given to keep them complacent, and boredom often led to the creation of new species and creatures to do their tasks for them, as the Gods and Goddesses grew ever more disinterested in the lives of their subjects.

Water spirits to grant the rain and cause floods. Dune runners to whip the sands into angry furies and bury cities beneath their rage. Serpents, venomous and giant, that terrorized the populace and tunneled through the sands. Genies that granted wishes to whoever captured them.

The gods created their beasts and creatures and left, abandoning the humans to the whims of the beasts and magical things. And left unattended, the humans and the beings of magic clashed. Spiraling into violent and bloody wars.

Wars that destroyed much of the world, and what the humans had created for themselves. Outraged, the human race yelled, screamed and prayed for their gods to return to them. But weary of the constant requests and wars, none replied. Not until the first God was killed, did they realize the folly and danger of setting themselves at odds with Humanity. They had underestimated the tenacity of these tiny, 'powerless' creatures. Where the Gods and Goddesses had magic, the Humans had science. And they engineered ever more efficient and deadly weapons to destroy any magic creature they could find.

To broker peace between the creatures of magic and the humans, the gods drew forth creatures long extinct to help the humans, where all other creatures had become bent on destroying or tormenting humanity. These creatures were called Dragons. And they were to be the peacekeepers of both worlds. Part science, part magic, the powerful beasts lived amongst the humans, and protected them. They used their magic to defeat other magical creatures like themselves. Keeping the creations of the gods in check, and easing the balance of nature.

And when they were not fighting their battles, they used their sharp minds and keen grasp of science to help the human race make ever better advances in the various fields. Medicine, technology, and more.

For centuries, things were calm. A tentative peace between worlds was formed, and the dragons were hardly needed for their combat skills any longer.

But dragons were long-lived creatures, and human lives were fragile, brief and full of mistakes and violence. It was only a matter of time before a few dragons attempted a misguided and greedy bid for power over the humans. Surely everyone would benefit more if they were just led by the wiser, more powerful dragons. They saw so much in their long lives that they believed themselves to know better than the humans.

War was the natural state of both races, so it was no surprise that the action was met with aggression and violence. The two races clashed, and the humans quickly came to a decision. Magic must be the corrupting influence that led them down the path to violence and greed. It was dangerous, and worse, unexplainable.

The Guard were created. Specially trained military forces specifically designed to take down magical threats. All magical creatures, including dragons, were hunted down and killed.

The last nest of dragon eggs was found in the hot sands of the White Desert, the hatchlings slaughtered.

All but one.

For dragons of Egypt, life started beneath the burning sands of the desert. Zaid was one in a nest of five dragon eggs. Amongst them, his egg was the smallest and the toughest. The leathery shells of his brother's and sisters' eggs were soft and warm. A desert dragon's egg had no need for the hard, protective shells that other dragons required. The sand cushioned and protected them, and kept them warm through the years they spent developing and growing.

But for Zaid, that process was slower. Labored. His shell was too hard, though at times that was a blessing for the young dragon, as it protected him from the weight of his siblings on top of him. He was the deepest buried, the first laid, and unfortunately for Zaid, much too small of an egg. By normal dragon standards, he was a dud. An egg that should have died long before it ever had a chance to hatch.

Zaid and his siblings were the last clutch of Egyptian dragons to be laid. They had no way of knowing, in their well buried nests, innocently growing into the powerful creatures they would be, that their species was slowly being wiped clean from the Earth by an organization known only as The Guard.

The search for dragon nests in Egypt was never ending. Constant patrols through the harsh deserts made every week to look for signs of a nest hatching. On one of those days, Zaid's siblings had ripped through the shells of their eggs and clawed their way blindly out of the sand, into the warm, morning sun. The four young dragons, each around the size of a medium dog, made their stumbling, awkward way out of their nests and began to call for parents who had been dead now for half a year. Those calls became their demise.

But still trapped beneath the sands, one of the young dragons survived. Saved by the shell that should have damned him. Were it not for the literal grace of a goddess, his species would have died that night. Suffocated or scavenged by nocturnal predators.

It was Wadjet who saved the young dragon egg. Patron goddess and protector of Lower Egypt. She had watched the war between Humans and Dragons, and was angered by the blood spilled across her sands. Wadjet was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a kind goddess. She was the eye of divine vengeance. Her anger was a fury that would have poisoned the Nile in her younger years. But the Gods and Goddesses were no longer a match for the human race as a species. Fear had been replaced by hatred. Their creatures had been beaten, hunted and chased into the shadows, and that anger was a far more powerful driving force for Humanity. The Gods and Goddesses had decided to slip away into hiding and wait for the humans to forget them. Turning history into legend, and legend into fairytales.

Wadjet stilled the egg in the sands of the White Dessert. Pausing time for the young dragon, to give the world a chance to forget his kind. He was not the dragon she had gone there that day to save, but the young dragon runt was all they had left. The Gods would have to make do.

There were other survivors. Dragon eggs locked away in time across the world. But Zaid was the last of the Egyptian dragons. The only survivor of the slaughter of his kind. And when the world had forgotten dragons. Written them off as nothing more than fiction, Wadjet helped the young dragon escape his shell.

With no dragons left to raise him, the best way the Egyptian Gods could determine for him to survive was to give him a human body. To place him among the race they had decided he was destined to destroy. The human race was no longer prepared to fight dragons. When the time came, and he had grown large enough, and strong enough, they would set him on the warpath of destruction, to rain a plague of fire on the people who had killed his ancestors.

They didn't anticipate the problem giving him to a human family would cause for their plans.

Once again, the Gods had underestimated humanity.

The family who adopted the young dragon in the guise of a boy was well aware of their son's unique heritage. They were of the few still loyal to the old gods. But they did not, as Wadjet instructed, raise their new son on hatred and vengeance. Wadjet disapproved of her champion. He was a runt. A small and weak hatchling that would have to do in the absence of anything better. But to his family? Zaid was a gift. A quiet but intuitive young boy who picked things up far faster than other children his age.

He was raised on the values of the old ways. Honor, loyalty, and humility, the last of which was no dragon's strength. His childhood in Cairo was a rough one. Even as a human he was smaller and weaker than other boys. A cruel mimicry of his dragon existence, designed to ensure his life was full of torment.

Even as a young boy, whenever he got the chance, he would escape his bedroom to explore and play. And every time he would do so in his true form, looking for every opportunity to stretch his under-developed wings and try to fly. But crash after stumble after fall, he failed at every instance. With no one to teach him, flight evaded the young dragon. Attempts providing him with nothing but bruises and cuts that reflected on his human body.

His parents tried to help. They were ever encouraging and supportive of their son. Even when his tenacity resulted in trouble for him, or for them. Unfortunately for Zaid and his human family, Wadjet needed him bitter and angry to be her champion. And he could be neither if he lived a life of happiness and support.

His parents met their end simply by being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. But how convenient their murders were for Wadjet. Zaid became an orphan, and was raised as such by Cairo herself. Shuffled from one family to the next as he grew up.

It wasn't until his late teens that the anger Wadjet so desired began to slowly creep through. Zaid was destined for terrible things. Wadjet filled his head with the stories of false prophecies. The great Egyptian Plague Dragon. He would rain fire upon the humans. Turn the sands to glass and burn and break their buildings to the ground. And he would do it for her. Because it was what the people deserved. They had wiped out his entire race. And from Wadjet, Zaid never got whole truths.

He was fed half truths and led to believe he was the last dragon. That he alone was all that was left to avenge his species and the gods for the wrongs that had been done them. The stories of ancient dragons didn't speak of the Dragons who sought control over the humans. They did not tell Zaid that it was the dragons who sparked the fire of war.

He grew into a quick-handed pickpocket, but a clever man. Polite when possible, occasionally helpful. He had learned early on that charm won him more battles than antagonism. But he was a dragon. And the hot fury of Dragon fire fueled his temper at times. Flaring up into violence and aggression.

He had just begun to shake off Wadjet's influence when The Guard discovered him. They did not care whether Zaid had good or ill intentions. He was a creature of magic and needed to be destroyed. Hunted by them and still incapable of flight or fire, Zaid had no choice but to flee. He had pushed Wadjet away, so she denied him her aid and watched as The Guard chased him across Egypt and into Europe where he would, eventually, find another like him.

Zaid started his life with no knowledge of his true identity. As a young boy he was far more clever and quick to learn than other children his age. He picked things up so quickly that he excelled beyond his classmates at a startling speed. He was quieter than the other children as well. Keeping mainly to himself. This caused a lot of problems for the young dragon. He quickly grew bored of the tedium of a school that moved so much slower than he did. And the constant teasing of his classmates for being different managed to spark the fire within at times. He lashed out, got into fights at school and grew increasingly upset about his inability to fit in.

He was raised on the values of the old ways. Honor, loyalty, and humility, the last of which was no dragon's strength. His childhood in Cairo was a rough one. Even as a human he was smaller and weaker than other boys. A cruel mimicry of his dragon existence, designed to ensure his life was full of torment. Wadjet did not step in to help her charge, and did not allow his adoptive family to, either. He was forced to endure the bullying with no apparent escape. And from it, the darkness Wadjet needed within her champion slowly began to form. A bitterness the young dragon tried hard to fight that grabbed hold of him and held him.

After seeing the disappointment in his family's eyes each time he returned home with evidence of a fight, he realized he needed to do something to change. He took to silence in school, ignoring rather than reacting. Closing himself off, and isolating himself from his classmates. At every opportunity he escaped school and his home to explore the city around him and learn his own ways. School was a tedium that he was far past in his knowledge gathering, and so he did his learning in libraries and on rooftops. Exploring the large city with an ever growing need to know more.

Without the knowledge of his Dragon lineage or the influence of his kind, Zaid's greed turned toward what was available to him. Knowledge. But he was a clever boy, and it was not long before Zaid managed to change forms unintentionally, alone on a rooftop. The bewildered young dragon was fascinated by his newfound power and spent the next few years trying to teach himself to shift, attempting to learn to fly, and most of all, learning everything he could about dragons.

He even told his parents, who, rather than feeling fear at their son's abilities, were supportive and proud of their boy. It was unfortunate, for them. Because Zaid was happy, and his family kept him fighting to be in control of the dragon temper. But Wadjet needed him bitter and angry. She needed a champion of a dragon, bent on destroying the world of man.

After their deaths, Zaid withdrew from the world. He was an orphan of Cairo and with no support or guidance was a lost boy. The other orphans dragged the clever Zaid into their crimes. He became a pick-pocket and a thief. The planner and the one who got the other orphans out of trouble. But while he watched their backs, he did not allow himself to build loyalties with the other children. He would not let them close enough to care when they left him. Or so he told himself.

As he grew into his teen years, the fire of a dragon's temper only grew stronger. He became violent and combative. This was where Wadjet stepped in with her influence. She filled his head with prophecies and tales of how the humans slaughtered his kind and could not be trusted. And in his teens, the dragon took those influences to mind. He believed his mentor and began to view the world in a darker light. Zaid was destined for a dark and terrible path, and Wadjet was leading him to his destiny. As she saw fit. Thanks to her whispered half truths, Zaid began to believe in her stories. That he was the last dragon. That the humans had exterminated his race out of a hunger for power. And that Zaid was the one who would rain fire and vengeance upon the humans for what they had done to his kind. He was to be the great Egyptian Plague Dragon.

It was just unfortunate for Wadjet, that in his early years she had allowed him a family. A family who had been kind, supportive and unafraid. And a family that had been taken from him.

Beneath the fire and bitterness was a warmth. A smaller flame that his family had left behind. They had raised him to fight his temper. To be a good man and stronger than his anger.

As he grew older, he pushed Wadjet and her venomous stories away. Much to her frustration, her runt dragon was no monster of fire and hatred. Zaid's hunger, his greed for knowledge, had led him to the truth about the Dragons. That they had been the ones greedy for power, and the ones who started the war that wiped them out. Zaid never wanted to be a tool of vengeance. He wanted to learn. And in learning, he found a different desire. The desire to help the human race as his ancestors had been intended for.

Zaid has a temper that is the stamp of his heritage on him. While the young man he grew to become is disillusioned, he still holds the ideals of his father. Loyalty, Honor, Strength of character. He fights to be the man his adoptive family would have wanted him to be. He is in a constant war with the two halves of his self, forever attempting to find a way to reconcile them into one whole.

He has little faith in humanity as a species, but believes in the goodness individuals are capable of. His loyalty he reserves for those who have earned it, but he holds fast to honor and his attempts to be a better man.

His mind is adaptive and quick, and he picks up new tricks and trades constantly, making his way by whatever means necessary. He never fully put behind him the criminal days of his youth. At heart, Zaid wants to be the person who would make his parents proud. Brave, strong, kind and compassionate. But there is a dark, bitter rage in him that Wadjet carefully cultivated over the years. And his temper feeds into this, threatening to let it consume him.

It is this that causes him to spend much of his time avoiding connections and people. He fears the bitterness inside him will consume him if he allows himself to lose anything else. He keeps mostly to himself, studying science, magic, history. Anything that might help him to better understand where his ancestors went wrong and how to heal the wounds in the world.

And underneath it all is a fear that threatens to send him over the edge. The fear that one day The Guard will catch up to him, and in his rage, he will become the dragon Wadjet has tried to mold him into being.

He has spent most of his life hiding his true form, and fearing what would happen if he was found. And he continues to let that fear drive him from city to city, to avoid being captured.

A leather bound journal, a small golden cobra pendant (a gift from Wadjet) and the clothes on his back.

Other than his clever and adaptive mind, Zaid's abilities are surprisingly unused
Shapeshifting: The gift Wadjet bestowed upon him. Currently Zaid can only shift between his human and dragon forms.
Longevity: Dragons live for hundreds of years. Though Zaid has aged into a young man, his dragon form is still a juvenile and his human form ages far more slowly the older he becomes.
Empathy: Zaid can feel and be influenced by the strong emotions of those around him.
Fire-Breathing: He has the propensity for this ability but has not yet learned how to use it in canon.
Flying: He has not learned how to fly yet, but he can.
Magic: His gift from Wadjet extends into a variety of magic that Zaid has not had much practice with. Currently he is working on alchemy and illusions, but he has a dash of Wadjet's creation magic as well. The ability to bring into existence, things from his mind.

Intelligence: Dragons are naturally fast learners. Zaid can pick up nearly any subject in a matter of weeks, that would take most humans months or years to learn.
Heart: While Zaid thinks of himself as a corrupted Dragon, his commitment and heart are powerful forces. He is strongly driven by his own goals, when he can realize what they are.

Temper: It burns hot. Literally. Zaid is a very level-headed individual until the point where his temper flares. From then on, it is a dragon's fury people would be faced with.
Maleable: Zaid is easily influenced by those around him. Wadjet built the ability to be manipulated into him as he grew up. He can be influenced by those around him. Their thoughts, desires and emotions. When this pairs up with his empathy, the results can be disastrous.
Naive: Perhaps the worst part of the above weakness is that Zaid's naivety allows him to believe that those desires and emotions are his own. For a knowledgeable dragon, he has a very naive understanding of the world.

[Zaid clears his throat as he sets the device on a shelf and tilts his head to give it a closer look.]

This is day fourteen, end of the second week of my imprisonment here and attempt number five at trying to reach those in charge of my capture for answers.

[He takes a moment to glance at the device, and there is a slight eye roll to follow.]

Yes, I know. 'They won't respond'. You have all been quite certain in that respect, to remind me time and again. This message is not for you.

My name is Zaid Ammar and I once again request an audience with those responsible for my imprisonment here. This is the last time I will ask politely.

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