Iyress

Physical Appearance
Iyress is rather strong and muscular, although her appearance doesn't showcase it very well. Most of her strength is in her chest, hips, and tail, allowing her to run and leap quite effectively as well as easily making powerful tail lashes. She is red in her base color, fading up to a pinkish-red and darkening to a deep blood-red. Her eyes are a silvery-grey color. She has two horns on her head and lacks nose horns, as all female Sparkclaws do. The spikes down her back at more nubs and blunt. Her claws, horns, and spikes are all a pink-red color. The underside of her wings is based pink-red, like her chest plates, and fades into a pinkish color and darkens into a semi-red.

Biography
Iyress, born into a lower class family, was taught the harsh reality of Sparkclaw life early. She left school very early to support her family, becoming a mineworker in moldy, dirty, and wet mines. She often became sick in these conditions, only to be reprimanded by her superiors for taking too much time off, so she ended up working through her diseases. As she grew older, her immune system grew stronger, but stronger strains of deadlier diseases often hit her and passed through her workmates.

One year, she ended up getting her tail trapped under a horrible cave collapse. The broken appendage quickly became infected from the dirty conditions. Her life in jeopardy now, Iyress looked to her family for support and healing. Her brother and workmate Rakiter worked his tail off night and day to gather money for a doctor or learn how to treat such an infection. He ended up returning a few days later with an assortment of plantlife, which he then mashed up and spread over her tail to heal the infection. When asked where he learned this, he only replied to say that it was a mystery Longwing. Confused, Iyress tried to considering what kind of Longwing would give up knowledge like this to spare a Sparkclaw rather than laugh about her ailments.

Years down the road, Iyress watched a royal execution. A Longwing she never saw before was the culprit, but the instant her brother saw him, he went into a rage. To her horror, her brother attacked the royals themselves, shouting insults and profanities to them. He then ran off with the criminal, leaving Iyress in shock. She didn't see her brother again for a long while.

When he did return, though, he was a changed drake. Stronger, more confident - she was confused as to what instituted such a change in him. He then began to speak to her about a different nation, opposed to the tyranny and racism of the Dragon Empire. Confused at first, Iyress slowly warmed up to the idea, eventually agreeing eagerly with the views of his new nation. She was amazed at the existence of an entire new world above the ground and the idea of complete equality - the existence of Sparkwings, even! Without persecution!

Her expectations were met and exceeded tenfold when she entered the rebel nation. New faces - friendly faces, even! - greeted her. She eagerly accepted this new way of life, glad to escape the daily torture of the Empire. She and her brother were brought into the rebel army, joining a group of pairs of siblings working together.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck some years later. Rakiter often visited his mate in the Empire whenever he could through sneaking in, but one time, he never came back. Nezrik was in the area and confirmed that he was killed by a guard, attacking it to commit suicide rather than be tortured for information about the Red Claw. Iyress was devastated. Her brother was with her through everything - from saving her life as a young adult, to fighting with her through training and skirmishes in their years in the Red Claw army. Her personality shifted from joyous and radiating confidence to miserable and self-absorbed. She pulled out of the Red Claw's army after years of training day-in and day-out, attempting to lose her mind in monotonous training sessions. She volunteered to become an infiltrator, no longer able to bear sleeping in the home cave that one belonged to her and her brother. The memories were too strong and it made her miserable to think of it.

The Red Claw felt she wasn't well enough at blending in and sneaking around to be part of the spies sent into the Empire. She was much more valuable as a soldier; she was one of the best the Red Claw had ever known and it would be a shame to lose her after her brother's untimely death. Angry at the denial, she vanished one day, leaving all of her belongings and friends behind for the Empire.

Presently, she lives in the Empire, trying to fit in with the rest of the Empire dragons. Her cold, uncaring disposition lets her fit in more easily; dragons don't really try to mess with her, fearful of both her powerful looks and angry glares she shoots at any passerbys. She shifts from workplace to workplace, unable to truly settle, living in a lower-class homecave.

Not too long ago, she met a Longwing named Kither in the middle-class section of the city. Against all of her wishes, she fell for him. The Longwing thankfully shared similar ideals as the Red Claw; that dragons were equal and racism shouldn't exist. However, he wasn't very open about it, and it took a lot of prodding for him to realise what Iyress was implying. The two bonded through words in secret and, soon after, Iyress became gravid with his clutch. Terrified of the consequences but unable to abandon her mate, she stayed in the Empire, hoping to raise the hatchling in secret. Unfortunately, things didn't work out. (See comic appearances)

Personality
Before her brother died, Iyress was a joyful and headstrong dragoness. She loved to jump into any tussle she could and often came out on top, using her opponent's movements and attacks to her advantage. She was rather lighthearted and enjoyed making jokes, but could be serious when need be.

After the death of her brother, though, Iyress became irritable and closed-in. She doesn't give many hints of her feelings outwardly, the only thing people usually feeling being irritation and rage. She never makes jokes or laughs and generally furrows her brow without really noticing, giving her a grouchy look. The only other emotions she shows are curiousity, worry, or misery.

Comic Appearances
Iyress first appears in Chapter 1 as a prisoner of the Royals, forced to watch her hatchling killed in front of her by Kaenan. She breaks free of their metal bonds, using her flame to weaken them until she could open her mouth, then openly attacked Kaenan while he bit her hatchling. The two engaged in a fighting circle before the guard handling her started tugging her back from the King. She begs Kither for help, but he instead surrenders himself. In her misery and anger, she flees with her dead hatchling.

Meeting up with Tygressa and Ruskaer, she escorts them to the surface before turning to fight a guard that followed them to the cave-in. Her fate in the fight, which splattered Tygressa's face with blood, is unknown. In Chapter 2, Iyress is reveal to be alive and is being held hostage by Queen Zursha. Zursha Introduces Iyress to her Tunnel Guardians. The Tunnel Guardians are Longwings who gave up their sails but not their wings so they could fit into their tight armor.

Later on She is taken back to the Red Claw by two Empire Longwings to be used as a bargaining chip.