<div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/jjCig7W.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/Knh2xBj.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Destrian Brand<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>The Burning<br/><strong>Dragon Type:</strong>Fire<br/><strong>Apparent Age:</strong>early 30s<br/><strong>Height:</strong>6’1”<br/><strong>Weight:</strong>185 lbs<br/><strong>Hair Color:</strong>Brown<br/><strong>Eye Color:</strong>Brown<br/><strong>Sexuality:</strong>Heterosexual<br/><strong>Basic Description:</strong>Des is a six-foot-one, one-hundred and eighty-five pound Avantasian-Human male with brown, short feathered hair singed and missing in patches along the sides and nape. His right eye is pearly-white and left a dark brown. Parts of his muscular body are covered in wavy, burn scars. Half of his lower jaw was near burnt to nothing, and became replaced by rows of clenched, dragon-like teeth after he consumed the dragon heart. His tongue became black and pointed, capable of extending passed his chin.<br/><br/>His knight armor is steel plate, and he wears coverings to hide his unsightly features. In modern times, people would say Des has RBF (when they can see his face), which doesn’t make him appear any friendlier. Most of his pre-burning scars had been melted in his own flesh, but in the parts of his flesh still unburned, they remain. Beneath his shoulder blades and down the small of his back are red, ruby-like dragon scales.<br/><br/>His body temperature is higher than a human’s. He describes his stomach to be like an incinerator. Anything that enters it burns as fuel rather than sits and digests.<br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong>Des has been through very hard times. He had a short childhood, and he didn’t have much room for hopes and aspirations. He grew up doing what he needed to do to survive, and he regrets nothing. He believes life dealt him a bad hand. Nothing more. Des doesn’t like to talk about his past before the knighthood. Frankly, he feels the only reason the King accepted him was because he had the power of a Dragon Slayer, and he couldn’t afford to make anymore enemies with such a power. Like the theme of his life, he joined the knighthood to survive, and it was better than sitting in a dungeon. He doesn’t care about atonement, pride, or honor. He is in it for himself.<br/><br/>Des is a quiet type. He isn’t used to being social. Before becoming a Dragon Slayer, he was a criminal. After becoming one, his transformation made him into a freak. He avoided social gatherings and doesn’t show his face without his coverings for he grows tired of the negative reactions to his face and body. To cope with it, he prefers either to be alone or not talk about it.<br/><br/>The flaming heart he consumed burned all the way down to his stomach. When he speaks, his voice is quite gravelly as though his vocal cords never properly healed. He can be quite sarcastic and rude, but beneath that crispy exterior, is a sense of humor. When Des is angry or preparing for combat, his body erupts in flame. The flames leave his scars and extend from his pearly eye like a banner.<br/><br/><strong>Backstory:</strong><br/><br/>Destrian Brand was born into an abusive household. His father, Aldric, was an alcoholic who spent more time drinking at the tavern than earning money for the home. He was once a successful sellsword until the dragons appeared and made Avantasia a miserable place. Money had been good when it was Man vs. Man. As soon as it became Man vs. Dragon, kingdoms only wanted to hire any warrior dumb enough to try and slay a dragon. In Aldric’s mind, the world was ending.<em>His</em>world was ending, and he was too much of a coward to escape it.<br/><br/>Destrian’s mother, Irene, worked whatever job she could find to feed her only son in her husband’s absence. Whatever money she saved, Aldric stole to spend on spirits, and whenever he and Irene had an argument, he raised his hand against her. Despite the toxic atmosphere, Irene never ran away with Destrian as much as she contemplated doing it. Every now and then, Aldric would return balling his eyes out and apologizing for his behavior, creating a repetitive situation of love-hate she didn’t have the strength to escape.<br/><br/>When Destrian became old enough to understand instructions, the weight of saving the family was dumped onto his little shoulders. Whatever money he made, his mother would take and reward him with his favorite dessert, a slice of Pale Apple Pie. Destrian always looked forward to his dessert until the day he came home to see his parents fighting. Aldric, upon noticing him, stormed over and wrenched the coins from his hands. Destrian angrily yelled at his father knowing that he worked hard for the money and wouldn’t get any pie if he didn’t give it to Irene. For talking back, Aldric gave Destrian his first slap, and it became easier after. The boy hadn’t known that Irene had been trying to keep it a secret from Aldric that he was the one bringing her money. Aldric decided to take advantage of his son, putting the stress on him to return with coin.<br/><br/>Out of fear of returning home empty-handed, Destrian started stealing whenever his jobs didn’t pay enough. He became proficient at it, but he lived in a small town and it only took time for the townsfolk to start banging on the Brands' door. Other people had to make a living too, and Destrian was making their lives just as hard with his stealing. The town demanded compensation and a stressed Aldric didn’t know how to pay them all back. It was either chop off Destrian’s hands or…<br/><br/>Aldric took the boy into the dark one evening not wanting to awaken Irene. Destrian was frightened and confused, and after miles of walking, he was handed to a stranger with a prison wagon. His father was given a sack of coins, and he never saw his family again.<br/><br/>Destrian spent his child to teenage life as a slave. He worked for his master because his master clothed and fed him. He worked until he became stronger and smarter to realize he no longer needed his current life. Destrian escaped, and unsure how to live a free life, he resorted to his old thieving skills. He continued to steal until he became hunted by the guard. He had wanted posters out for his arrest. He had been captured in a prison carriage a few times, and each time he didn’t go in ill-prepared. He was a notorious escape artist, but every time he was captured by a new guard across the country. New carriages; new bindings; things he hadn’t seen before. It became a game for him to figure out how to escape before the carriage reached its final destination.<br/><br/>Cat and mouse became a game of kill or be killed. As he became older, the guards didn’t seem him as just some boy anymore. He was a man, and no longer deserved leniency. Destrian often had to fight his way out of a situation, but there was one day—one he would never forget nor be allowed to forget—the day the red dragon, Jamrot (Yam’rot) freed him.<br/><br/>It hadn’t been intentional. The prison carriage had passed through the dragon’s territory and the creature happened to have been prowling overhead in the clouds. The dragon descended like a burning ship. Fire billowed and burst about its body, leaking from its eyes, nose, and mouth. Jamrot landed over the road, causing the jailers to flee with the smell of piss and shit wafting from their trousers. The beast opened its mouth and hosed the land with its fire. Destrian stretched out as flat as he could upon the carriage floor. The horses drawing the wagon were cooked medium-rare and still alive! In the horses’ agony and craze, the carriage tipped over and was dragged across the road, tearing apart until Destrian rolled free.<br/><br/>Quickly, he fled to hide nearby walls of flame. He saw the bodies of the guards charred upon the ground. A quick glance at the dragon, and he noticed Jamrot became distracted by the running horses. Destrian was convinced that the god wouldn’t let him escape alive. After it consumed the horses, he wouldn’t be able to run fast enough to escape its flight. With shaking hands and panicked breath, Destrian realized that he would have to try and kill it. It was him or it. If he was lucky, he might eat from its heart. It had seemed like a story—an old slave’s tale. He didn’t have much of a choice. He had to try it.<br/><br/>Destrian removed a long sword from the guard’s hip and swiftly sprinted over to the dragon. He kept his steps light like a thief! Jamrot was smashing the horses beneath its claws like a cat toying with a mouse. Its back was turned! He need only be wary of his whipping tail. Destrian passed between its hind legs, limbs wider than the pillars of a temple. Its abdomen was arched and chest curved and low to the ground, granting him easy access. Destrian waited for the dragon to consume the second horse before he drove the blade into the creature’s chest with all his might.<br/><br/>The sword passed through as though he might have been lucky to pass between its ribs. The dragon reared in startle and stomped about in a panic. Destrian released the sword and scrambled to evade the dragon’s thrashing. He feared the sword not being enough, but as he continued to watch the dragon squirm about, he saw it eject a stream of fire into the air. The dragon’s death throes were like an earthquake forcing Destrian to his rear. Its tail whipped, legs kicked, and head beat the earth as fire continued to spray from its mouth. The thief eventually noticed the build up of pressure in the creature’s chest. The dragon had been trying to alleviate it, but the imbalance created by the sword caused it to swell like a balloon. The sound of the dragon’s ribs cracking, Destrian felt in his own bones. He frantically stood and tried to escape, but with a loud explosion the god’s body scattered.<br/><br/>Its hot, golden blood splashed Destrian and burned through his clothes and flesh. To this day, he couldn’t recall the suffering as though his mind had repressed it all, but he remembered hearing himself scream. He had never heard himself scream in such a manner before. Destrian laid on the ground paralyzed from the excruciating pain caused by his burns. The pain made him delirious. He remembered only screaming while simultaneously thinking he was going to die.<br/><br/>Fortune; fate; whatever it was. The dragon’s heart landed like a sack of rice next to him and rolled across the grass. It glowed like a coal in a forge and pulsed with residual life. He had to get to it. If the old man was right, then he had a chance to live. If he was wrong, then he was a dead man any way. Destrian desperately crawled to the organ and upon grasping it, smoke rose from his hands as his skin began to burn. It had been like grasping a pot over a fire. He couldn’t retract his hands even if he wanted for they became melted to it. Destrian, with tears spilling from his eyes, bit into the heart’s flesh. Jamrot’s lava-like blood welled against his mouth, burning his lips and jaw. The piece of tissue felt as though it dragged like a knife down his throat, causing Destrian to finally faint.<br/><br/>Destrian awoke feeling a wooden staff being jabbed against his back. It was night, and a traveling couple had found his bare ass lying next to the corpse of Jamrot. The heart had lost its glow like a coal gone cold. He was no longer in pain. Destrian grasped his face, immediately feeling the monstrous teeth that occupied half his jaw. With a hand remaining clasped over his mouth in horror, he carefully rose to his feet and faced the couple who whimpered and screamed at the sight of him. What happened? They had called him a monster. Monster?! His body felt hot. Hotter than it had ever been, and in his apprehension, he combusted, causing the couple to flee back to their wagon. Looking back on it, Destrian would have found the scene comical for he chased after the couple while on fire, pleading for their help. They only urged their horses to flee faster to escape him.<br/><br/>It had taken Destrian the entire night to get over the shock of his transformation. In the morning, knights had surrounded the corpse of Jamrot and were conducting an investigation. Each one tried to eat a piece of the cold and decomposing heart, but only received emesis and the shits. They couldn’t figure out how the dragon had died due to the mess and wondered if it had been a natural death. Gods could die naturally? Unheard of!<br/><br/>Destrian had been too afraid to show himself and knew that a bounty still remained on his head. He remained in hiding until he found survival too difficult a challenge. Driven by hunger and a need to care for himself, Destrian eventually turned himself in. He was imprisoned for two weeks until word reached some king in charge of a special knighthood that slayed dragons. The guards released him from the dungeon and armed escorted him to the king. It was at this castle before this king that his story began as a Dragon Slayer.<br/><br/><strong>Crest Location:</strong>The side of his neck<br/><br/><strong>Dragon Arm:</strong>A medium spear with a coal-black tip. The tip of the spear will turn from red to white as it heats up.<br/><br/><strong>Dragon Arm Ability:</strong><em>Flameheart</em>– Des will draw the spear back slowly like an archer pulling on the string of a bow. The spearhead will begin brightly burning, causing the air to ripple until it combusts with wisps of lashing flame. With rocket-like propulsion, the spear is launched at a dragon to detonate on impact.<br/><br/><strong>Dragon Mode:</strong>Destrian will become engulfed in his own flame, and his body will sprout thick, blade-like scaling. Any humanity burns away to reveal a skeleton and a draconic morphology. His body continues to burn in this form and his fire only gets hellishly-hot. [Reference (https://i.imgur.com/m3EiITB.jpg)]<br/><br/><strong>Dragon Magic:</strong><br/><br/>★<span class="bbc_u">Fire</span>: There is no fire hotter than Destrian’s. When pushed beyond his limits, Des can generate a heat near hotter than the brightest star. He controls the radius of his heat. He can cause grasses and clothing lacking flame-resistance to combust in his presence along with other flammable gases and liquids.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Flame Body</span>: Destrian can turn his body into flame. Objects will pass through his body like passing through a blaze. This body also causes him to burn on contact.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Flame Shield</span>: Destrian creates a shield of heat that burns objects to nothing that attempt to pass through it. He can wield the shield alongside his Dragon Arm.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Burning Momentum</span>: Destrian can apply propulsion to kicks, punches, leaps, and sprints. Fire will erupt around the limbs being boosted.<br/><br/><strong>Strengths:</strong><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">High Pain Tolerance</span>: Physically; emotionally; this man has been<em>burned</em>in so many ways.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Survivor</span>: At the end of the day, if he had to choose between him and someone else, whether it be friend or enemy. It’s going to be him.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Accuracy</span>: He isn’t the best there is, but he’ll make 90% count.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Expert Spearman</span>: Destrian knew how to swing and thrust a sword, but the knighthood felt he was more proficient with a spear. It was the basic weapon of any trainee, and with his flame techniques, Destrian learned to take it to a whole new level.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Thief</span>: He grew up picking pockets and robbing people blind. It’s wrong, but he’s good at it.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Escape Artist</span>: Never judge a book by its cover. He may not be attractive, but he isn’t stupid. He knows how to escape bindings and most prisons.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Brawler</span>: He may not know any martial arts beyond the spear, but he does know how to pummel someone he doesn’t like.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Hot Temperatures/Climates</span>: The less work he has to use to keep warm, the better. Hot climates and hot days increase the intensity of his flames.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Weaknesses:</strong><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Anti-Social</span>: Des isn’t used to being social with people. It is unusual to him, and so he may rather stay quiet and observant than chime into any on-going conversation. He also isn’t a fan of social gatherings.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">No real hobbies</span>: Because of Des’s background, he didn’t really have much of a life growing up that wasn’t spent trying to survive on the streets or sitting in a dungeon somewhere. His hobbies could basically be considered illegal such as everything to deal with stealing from others and devising strategies to break out of prison. There is…maintaining proficiency with his spear…(<del>work-related not hobby</del>).<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Water</span>: Water can create a ton of steam and lower the temperature of his attacks. While he can generate enough heat that water wouldn’t be too much of a problem, it still can make an annoying screen that blinds others. Not to mention the steam can be scalding to others.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Wind</span>: A strong wind could change the trajectory of his archery attacks. It can also scatter his flames as well as his Flame Body, forcing him to have to regain control of them. The wind sucks.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Physical Appearance</span>: He’s not the most handsome Dragon Slayer on the team. He knows he’s hard to look at. That’s why he keeps his face covered. He probably can’t go out in public without sunglasses and a scarf to hide his face.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Apple Pie</span>: It reminds him of his mother, and of course, a homemade pie always tastes good!<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Ice/Cold Climate</span>: It lowers his temperature and the strength of his attacks, forcing him to have to expend more energy than normal to keep up the heat.<br/><br/><strong>On/Offs:</strong>O/O (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=168823.0)