Arkus

Arkus is a difficult character to explain, because it isn’t really a character; it’s the real me. Arkus is a representation of my “higher self”, a sort of spiritual self-portrait.

Arkus is a blue, grey, and black dragon with a burly, tiger-like build and a mixture of leathery hide, scales, fur, and feathers on its body. It is a representation of a predator, with traits of a tiger, crocodile, shark, and theropod dinosaur/bird of prey. Arkus can produce a variety of sounds, including a shrill, piercing cry similar to a mountain lion’s scream, crocodilian rolling throat-growls, snake-like hissing, and tiger-like whuffs and chuffs. It can speak, but prefers not to, finding human language to be cumbersome and difficult.

Arkus is a demigod of the sky, weather, clouds, and storms – particularly the phenomenon known as thundersnow, in which a thunderstorm produces snowfall. Clouds and weather “reflect” on the underside of its wings, and it breathes out cold, white fog. It can sculpt thunderstorms, walk upon clouds, conduct lightning with its horns (typically shown with a floating blue flame of St. Elmo’s Fire between its horns), and can communicate with animals, plants, and spirits. It lives as a feral hermit, and prefers quiet solitude at the peaks of high mountains. Arkus’ body colors change slightly depending on the weather and time of day.