Volthar
The Stormwing
Overview
Element: Flame and Lightning
Dominant Trait: Ferocity
Where the cliffs north of Aetherreach rise into endless thunder, the Volthar make their nests among lightning and cloud. They are creatures of the tempest, sleek and mercurial and charged with an energy that never truly rests. The flash of their scales mirrors the stormlight that birthed them, a brilliant play of blue and silver that dazzles the sky.
If the Ignivar are the steady fire of the forge, the Volthar are the wildfire: brilliant, unpredictable, and dangerously alive. Their breath crackles with both flame and lightning, and when they fly the air hums with static before each strike. They are smaller in stature than the Ignivar but no less formidable, for their speed and precision make them masters of aerial warfare. In combat they descend like lightning bolts, weaving through enemy ranks in frenzied arcs of destruction.
Their temperaments reflect the storms they command. Volthar are impatient and passionate, creatures that thrive on motion and conflict, drawn to riders who think quickly, act decisively, and wield strategy like a blade. To bond with a Volthar is to know no peace, for even at rest they burn with the desire to fly, to fight, and to conquer the horizon.
Characteristics
Physical Attributes
Scales in every shade of blue, from bright to midnight, accented at the horns and scale-tips with silver like shining reflections. Their breath carries both flame and lightning, and static gathers along their spines before they strike.
Combat Style
Fast, precise, and vicious. Volthar own the air, weaving through enemy ranks at speed and striking with flame and lightning before an enemy can react.
Temperament
Highly intelligent and fiercely passionate, reactive to emotion, battle-hungry, and impatient. They are happiest in motion and in conflict.
Size: The size of a small cottage. Roughly twelve to fifteen feet tall, twenty-five to twenty-eight feet from nose to tail, with a wingspan of fifty-five to sixty-five feet, about the size of a light aircraft.
Coloration: Every shade of blue, bright and navy and midnight and royal, accented with silver at the horns and the tips of the scales.
Preferred Terrain: The northern cliffs above Aetherreach, where electrical storms swirl year-round.
Signature Ability: A breath of mingled flame and lightning. Where other dragons loose fire alone, the Volthar strike with both at once, and the thunderclap that follows is heard long after the blow has landed.
Battle Focus
Primary Role: Aerial combat
Volthar thrive in the air against other airborne threats. Their combination of fire and lightning gives them air superiority, while their vicious nature makes them a danger to anything that dares challenge them in the sky. They are the masters of dragon-to-dragon combat, the breed sent to seize and hold the air above a battle.
Swift and merciless, they hunt enemy flyers through the clouds and strike them from the sky, clearing the air so the rest of the Dominion's dragons can do their work below.
Rarity and Population
Status: Uncommon
The Volthar are uncommon, fewer in number than the Ignivar but more numerous than the rarest breeds, with a modest number bonded and a larger number waiting unbonded among the storm-wracked northern cliffs. They are common enough to field in real strength when the air must be won, and prized enough that each one lost is keenly felt.
They are drawn to riders who match their own fire: quick of thought, decisive in action, and unafraid of the storm. A Volthar will not abide a timid hand, and the bond between a Volthar and its rider is a restless, electric thing that never fully settles into calm.
"The Volthar do not rule the ground. They have never wanted it. The sky was always enough."
- attributed to the Wardens of the Order of Draconis