Isla Aukate
Jak Snow (back) trying to get the attention of Ian Bismuth
Jak Snow (back) trying to get the attention of Ian Bismuth

Ian is technically Cobalt’s twin, but a fraternal one as they both came from the same twin clutch of eggs. Since Darnathi are monogendered, fraternal twins in their society means that each parent contributed an egg that the other fertilized. So Ian’s father was Cobalt’s mother and vice versa. While Cobalt favored his southern born mother with her stocky build and fluffy fur, Ian more closely resembled his father who was a central darnathi with shorter fur and a more slight build. Despite these differences, Ian and his brother were nigh inseparable as tadpoles. This became a problem when Cobalt outgrew the nursery pool where the tadpoles stayed until they could manage being out of water for long periods of time and their legs were strong enough for them to walk. Ian developed slower and while Cobalt was walking around just fine on his own on dry land, Ian still needed to spend time submerged while his skin and lungs continued to mature.

Cobalt was moved to his own room but missed Ian’s company, so he would routinely pull Ian out of the nursery pool and carry him around. His parents tried to put a stop to it fearing that the time out of water would affect Ian’s development, but the opposite happened and Ian began to grow sickly and listless without regular contact from Cobalt. So his parents finally decided to install a second and smaller nursery pool in Cobalt’s room so the two could be together once more. It was the habit of tending to his ‘bruvver’ that sparked Cobalt’s interest in medicine later in life.

Ian always remained a little small and sickly compared to Cobalt. As the two grew up they both chose to join the colony initiative. Cobalt managed to get the both of them on the same ship so they could remain together, but they had to act somewhat distant so as not to draw the notice of the other people. His shipmates were vaguely aware that the two were related but didn’t know they were twin siblings.

When Cobalt left the ship Ian felt abandoned and alone, and a nagging part of his mind feared that the worst had happened to him. Beryl was the one who attempted to comfort him during this time and took advantage of Ian’s vulnerability. She used him to try and weaken the lair while the second Alvarni colony ship arrived -- and Ian took a great measure of comfort in knowing that Beryl had been shot dead the moment the ship landed.

As penance, Ian serves at the abbey on Aukate whenever he can, taking a vow of silence whenever he’s within the abbey’s walls. Outside the abbey he assists his brother as much as he can and tries to enjoy life on the seaside.