And so it was that the ailing crown lay
Beneath the boughs of that beck'ning oak
Eyes seeking that wondrous firmament
With its twinkling jewels of deepest night
As weary eyes bore him from this world
To one filled bursting with fanciful dream
Over yonder, the rolling hills he'd walked
He saw a brightness approaching
Like breaking dawn, its radiance grew
Its light washing o'er land
As endless waves of gold and amber
Casting the oak in eerie hues
The plagued king peered at this evening sun
But could not ken a blazing heart
Instead, his sight was graced
By a many-plumaged tail
— Excerpt from Di'Pithrelignë
The subject of a quest undertaken by an ailing king in the lyrical epic known as
Di'Pithrelignë, the Dathanna was once a mere figment of myth. Said to possess a tail made of nine different-coloured pinion feathers so colourful and brilliant that they shone like the sun, the Dathanna is prized not only for its beauty but also for the seven songs of soothing and healing that it knows.
No longer mere myth as a result of the manifestation of the
Shardscape, the Dathanna is now the subject of a long and bloody hunt spearheaded by the most avid of animal collectors who desire it for its uniqueness, tyrants who believe that its song will render them immortal, as well as advocates who merely wish to protect the otherwise delicate creature. Fortunately, the Dathanna is not a defenceless creature and apart from being elusive, knows a song that puts any and all who threaten it to sleep.
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