Fifi

Thousands of years ago, when the world was young, there lived creatures now lost in the mists of time and legend.  Unicorns and satyrs roamed the earth, and high above the land flew the giant rocs and the great dragons.  It was a time known as the Mythic Age.

But, as mankind grew in strength and numbers, these beasts began to die out.  The few who remained drew apart from the world of men and lived in hidden valleys and forbidding mountaintops.  As human civilisation progressed, fewer and fewer men even believed that these creatures existed outside of stories told around the campfire.  As belief faded, so all reality slowly shifted to match that belief.  Soon even those creatures who yet lived began to vanish from this world.

At last, only two remained of the greatest of the mythic beasts of the West: Vermithrax and Firidara, the last of the great dragons who had once commanded the skies and the land.  They too knew that their days on this world were numbered, and though Firidara faced her fate with dignity her mate was filled with fear and rage.

Vermithrax knew he could not survive on Earth, but he knew there were other Realms in the Umbra where his kind could flourish: Arcadia, perhaps, or the verdant fields of Oz.  But he could not reach these Realms himself for his powers were at a low ebb, and in his impatience he sought aid from the darkest pits of Malfeas.

The servants of the Wyrm offered him the power he sought, but as their price asked for the lifeblood of his mate.  Vermithrax did not hesitate, but flew back to his nest and attacked Firidara in a flurry of fang and flame and claw.

Bur Firidara had her own powers, and with her dying breath ripped her lifemate's head from his neck.  As her body failed she projected her spirit into the Umbra, where it would float in the endless void until a suitable host was found.

Centuries later, that spirit chose as its host the French poodle owned by a young psychic named Penny Potter, a dog called Fifi.  Why Firidara did so to this day remains a mystery.

Fifi is a small French poodle with a pale, almost white coat.  She is Penny's pet and companion, and most of the time acts just like any other dog.  However, she has a flat, unblinking stare that can unnerve even the strongest of men, and when stressed can breathe small gouts of oily flame.  She may also have other abilities, but if these exist they are as yet unrecorded.