Story:
Life was far from fair.
Pothocaex was a low-tier member of her kobold clan. Abnormally big, she found herself already at odds with the rest of the clan even before she found it difficult to slot into any of the clan's roles. Even the simpler tasks of watching eggs or foraging were made difficult by her wandering mind and oversized form. She eventually was made to sit watch at the burrow's opening as simple guard. All she truly wanted was to belong in the clan, but she could never be enough for them. At her naming ceremony, she was given her cruel name, meaning "Stupid Sword".
Her clan's burrow was nestled into the foothills of a great mountain. This made them relatively safe and isolated, but it also meant there were other clans who were eager to move in on their territory. Skirmishes were common. One particularly violent raid drew Pothocaex into the fight. However, she found herself overwhelmed by superior force, and fled. In her panic, she tumbled down the hills and stumbled into a secluded grove. Injury from both the fight and the flight was too much for the kobold, and she passed out.
When she came to, she found herself in a cozy cabin's bed. Sitting across the way was a rugged halfling. The kobold assumed she had been captured, and attempted an escape - short-lived, due to her continued injuries. The halfling called himself Pendrake Mossglide, and gently chided the kobold's attempts to leave while injured. Especially after she crashed into his private glade. He was mostly joking at that latter point, but Pothocaex was still skeptical and paranoid of the non-kobold's intentions. Still, she was in no state to run, so she begrudgingly accepted his offer of aid. Refusing to give her name, Pendrake had to think of something to call his visitor. He settled on Kalanchoe: a slightly toxic but beautiful flower.
Pendrake wouldn't admit it to the kobold yet, but he hoped that maybe some care and comfort would do her wonders. He knew the foothills were prime kobold territory, but he had a sense of sympathy to the lizards: he saw the rough kind of life they had been granted, and thought maybe he could better at least this one's. If his former deity could see him now...
Even as Kalanchoe's wounds healed, she felt reluctant to leave. Pendrake was such a providing host, and she couldn't help but feel the warmth in the way he acted. He wasn't like the clan, or what the clan had told her to expect from outsiders. This kindness felt... good. Eventually she talked to Pendrake about her life in the clan, admitting her real name - and its cruelty. This only made Pendrake feel more for the kobold; he was glad she decided to keep the name he gave her. Months would pass, and the two would grow closer. With Pendrake's gentle assistance, she learned how to farm and bake and build and even fight a little. Months turned to years. The two fell in love, together in their own private paradise.
But life was far from fair.
Many years later, there would be trouble at the couple's doorstep. Kalanchoe's old tribe had had a mighty expansion in the past years, aided by the arrival of a large, young red dragon named Vythnir (Steel Spear). There were plans for a new base of operations, and they had spread outward in search. Thus Kalanchoe and Pendrake's small cottage was found by a scout. Initially, the scout tried to bring Kalanchoe back, feigning feelings of sorrow for her being lost so many years ago. When she wouldn't budge, and Pendrake insinuated violence, the scout fled. They thought it would be the end of that... until the dragon personally made a stop to make an example of them. Vythnir snapped Kalanchoe's tail off and left her for dead deep in the grove's lake. By the time Kalanchoe came too, all were ashes.
Heartbroken and alone, Kalanchoe sifted through the ashes of what was her life. In those embers, she heard a voice from on high. A steady but compassionate voice, the voice of Helm. She had walked the long road to happiness and was wrongly robbed of her paradise. She would have vengeance. One of the only things to survive the blaze were Pendrake's old armor and sword. Rejecting her kobold heiritage, she donned the all-concealing armor. As far as friend should know, she was just a halfling, much like the one who took her into his heart all those years go.
Guided by Helm and spurred by vengeance, she holds an oath to avenge all who had their lives felled by the vain and self-important. Most importantly, she would one day become strong enough to face Vythnir. She would see his blood spill before her own.
Life was far from fair. She would put her sword on the scale.
