Kalina

This article was written for Summer Camp 2024 and may be missing some information. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comment section at the end of the article.

Kalina Sarkus or The Crimson Dragon is a revered figure in Embari celestial legend.
As the Goddess of Freedom of Retribution, it is claimed that she could transform into a sentinent dragon at will.
Malvarri scholars who chronicle Astaerian history regard her as the most powerful therianthrope of legend, though her true existence as a historical figure is debatable.

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Early Life

According to legend, Kalina had a troubled start to life. Raised in an orphanage in Draconis, she was forced to work from a young age mostly spinning and twisting yarn to produce rope.
At the age of 9, she was involved in a series of strange happenings, which would set the course for the rest of her life.
After an argument with another child concerning a missing pillow grew violent, Kalina's hands glowed white hot. In her rage, Kalina struck the other girl's face, causing severe burns.
As a result, her wary mistress called her a 'witch', and ordered a bewildered and distressed Kalina to leave the orphanage and never return.

Over the next few weeks, Kalina survived by stealing from the local market and begging food vendors for leftovers at the end of the trading day.
During this short time, she noticed her hair was gradually changing colour from dark brown to bright red. This caught the attention of a gang of slavers.
But Kalina was observant and had already noticed the gang following her. Afeared, she broke out into a run, only to be cornered in an alleyway behind an old antiques shop.
For the second time in her life, heat rushed to her hands, and when one slaver attempted to snatch her, she grabbed his face.
The slaver collapsed, yowling, his face sizzling, but Kalina didn't have time for guilt as the second slaver lunged towards her.
Kalina threw up her arms to protect herself from the oncoming dagger. Instead of slashing her though, the sharpened steel bounced off her skin as if she was wearing armour.
Frightened, the slaver and the rest of his entourage fled, leaving the hysterical child behind.

Flame Fire Woman Inflamed Light by Leandro De Carvalho

Kalina, though, was not alone. The incident had been seen by owner of the owner of the antiques shop. The man calmed her down and took her inside for a cup of honey tea.
The antiques dealer told her that his name was Volkin Celebri, and that he knew an archmage who could help her control her powers.
The archmage Celebri was referring to was Erden O'sichi, one of the most notable magi in ancient Astaerian history.

The Abolitionist Magi

Mystic Library Magic by Julie Zimmi

Kalina lived as O'sichi's apprentice and for the next ten years, as they tried together to understand her powers.
Her master was a kind and patient teacher, and Kalina felt safety and love for the first time in her life under his care.
In her practical studies, though, she struggled, failing to demonstrate even a shred of the powers she knew she had in her.
Meanwhile, politics in the Ember Isles turned sour between the abolitionists, who wanted to see an end to the abhorrent Embari slave trade and the monarchy, who profited highly from the state imposed slavers' tax.
War became a very distinct possibility, and it became the policy of the state to recruit the most powerful individuals to its army. This included registered magi, who, according to law, were forbidden to be sold as slaves.
Though many Embari magi supported the continuation of slavery, O'sichi did not. The King's army came knocking several times over the years, and each time Kalina watched with the utmost respect as her master refused to serve them.

In secret though, O'sichi held meetings for a handful of compassionate magi who were seeking ways to aid the abolitionists in their cause.
Forbidden from attending these meetings, Kalina could often be found with her ear to the door.
When O'sichi's house was raided during what would become the last meeting of the Abolitionist Magi, it became apparent there had been a mole.
O'sichi and his magi friends were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death in a public ceremony.

The Crimson Dragon

O'sichi accepted his fate and went willingly to the noose in 478 BE, forbidding Kalina to watch him die.
Kalina, now the free-thinking 19-year-old that O'sichi had raised her to be, ignored her teacher's request and was present at for the ceremony.
As she watched the hangman place the noose around her guardian's neck, Kalina felt burning deep within her veins, stronger and more persistent than ever before.
Gideon Thackeray, prominent academic of Embari history at the Bridgeport Guild of Scholars, explains what happened next.

"Many onlookers in the square that day apparently watched in awe as a majestic crimson dragon, over 300 hands tall, emerged from the body of this young woman, its scales adorned with garnets and rubies, its wings lined with pure gold . This dragon rained fire down upon the Kingsguard and freed the magi abolitionists from their oppressors.
A fanciful account, of course, which should be taken with a heap of salt.
Therianthropes are the epitome of Astaerian myth. But even later accounts of these therianthropic transformations imply that it is far from 'majestic' and more of violent and gruesome transformation indeed. Bones splinter, vital organs stretch and swell, and skin bursts open to make room for the creature within. To transform into such a tremendously large creature should logically result in instant death.
Even if the physical human body could withstand such a change, it would take an immense amount of power to transform back again, and a robust constitution to withstand the potentially fatal injury or sickness that would occur as a result.
Nevertheless, Kalina is undoubtedly an important figure of celestial legend.
After this incident, she is said to have roamed the Ember Isles, in her dragon form, as an emancipator of the oppressed, providing justice for the innocent and retribution for slavers.
It's a nice thought, yet these accounts have no grounding in the historical evidence we have from that time or our current understanding of magic and its limitations."

Gideon Thackeray, the Bridgeport Guild of Scholars

Child of Dracona

Dragon Myth Mythology Legend Pagan by MythologyArt

Kalina is now regarded as the Embari goddess of freedom and retribution, and a true child of Dracona. In fact, many believe she was raised to immortality and apotheosis by the Mother Ethera herself.
The Temple of the Crimson Dragon in Draconis offers a place to pay respect to Kalina and offer prayers for intervention and retribution.
The existence of Kalina as a real historical figure is a debatable topic, however the last claimed sighting of her was in 698 A.E. by an Embari goat herder named Karem Keser, who claimed to have seen the Crimson Dragon circling above the mountainside near his property.
His claim was later backed by several farmers in the area, prompting a yearly pilgrimage from Draconis to the site of Kerser's family farm for Kalina's most loyal followers.

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