Creative Corner

Hi you guys! For a couple of months now, I have been debating doing the Nuzlocke challenge, and came up with many scenarios for it. Just last week, I found a plague egg and settled on the scenario for the story. Of course this means I had to exalt/sell all of my lair. I'm keeping ten dragons who are all technically a part of this challenge, because I couldn't settle on only one. (I'm also keeping my progens although they're not gonna be in this challenge.) This story has two viewpoint characters, Tenora, a level 25 Ridgeback girl and technically the survivor of the disaster, also one of the original clan founders [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=932613] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/9327/932613_350.png[/img] [/url] And Malidane, a young Mirror, son of the clan's original Matriarch: [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=6528839] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/65289/6528839_350.png[/img] [/url] Both stories are gonna be told side by side, with their own stories and characters. I'm not actually sure if the two will actually converge or anything, but we'll see what happens. Mostly using basic rules but I think it's important to include these specifics other people came up with: [b]Dragons will not be exalted until they are officially pronounced dead in the story![/b] (thanks @Kizmetto) [b]Coliseum cannot be reloaded to avoid death, you have to use the flee option and take the hit to energy.[/b] (thanks @LagMonster) Also since I'm keeping so many for the challenge, I'm only gonna buy an egg each month if someone died in the previous month. (It's one egg per death, so if two dragons die, I can buy one egg in the next month, and another egg the month after that - probably a better way to word the whole rule but whatever.) Also Tenora isn't allowed to fight until I have a lvl 25 healer! there's a reason for this in-story. I think also I might just break the rule about not doing any food gathering, because some of the food is Swipp items you can't get from anywhere else. (all non-Swipp food acquired from gathering will be sold though) [b]EDIT as of Feb 4th 2015[/b]: I'm changing the death in coli rules: Dragons have a chance to not die if they faint that goes up by 1/25 (4%) per level. Dragons are immune to dying via fainting once they reach lvl 25. The reason for this change is because I've realised it would be far too emotionally draining for the amount of effort it takes to train them to lvl 25 to not at least have some affect on stopping them dying. (It also probably relates to the undeniable fact that I am very very attached to Tenora as my last living Founder)

Contents:
Entry 1: Tenora 1
Entry 2: Malidane 1
Entry 3: Tenora 2
Entry 4: Malidane 2
Entry 5: Tenora 3
Entry 6: Malidane 3
Entry 7: Tenora 4
Entry 8: Malidane 4
Entry 9: Tenora 5
Dorian interlude 1
Entry 10: Malidane 5
Dorian interlude 2
Entry 11: Tenora 6
Dorian interlude 3
Entry 12: Malidane 6
Dorian interlude 4
Entry 13: Tenora 7
Dorian Interlude 5
Entry 14: Malidane 7
Entry 15: Tenora 8
Entry 16: Malidane 8
Entry 17: Tenora 9
Entry 18: Malidane 9
Entry 19: Tenora 10
Entry 20: Malidane 10
Entry 21: Tenora 11
Entry 22: Malidane 11
Entry 23: Tenora 12
Entry 24: Malidane 12
Entry 25: Tenora 13
Shianzar/Derianda
Entry 26: Malidane 13
Entry 27: Tenora 14
Entry 28: Malidane 14
Entry 29: Tenora 15
Entry 30: Malidane 15
Entry 31: Tenora 16
Shianzar/Derianda 2
Entry 32: Malidane 16
Entry 33: Tenora 17
Entry 34: Malidane 17
Entry 35: Tenora 18
Entry 36: Malidane 18
Entry 37: Tenora 19
Entry 38: Malidane 19
Entry 39: Tenora 20
Entry 40: Malidane 20
Entry 41: Tenora 21
Entry 42: Malidane 21
Entry 43: Tenora 22

Stats:
Survivors: 5/9
Eggs hatched: 26
Eggs found: 17
Eggs bought: 4
Eggs gifted: 3 (thanks, LagMonster, Khoshekh, Alxias!)
Own eggs survived: 3/4
Dragons bought: 4
Dragons gifted: 1 (thanks, Cewientje!)
Dragons dead: 4 (my gorgeous daughters, our lady of mystery, the excitable sister)
Dragons levelled to 25: 12
Currently living dragons: 34

Breed changes unused: 4
Egg purchases unused: 0
Dragon purchases unused: 0
Near-deaths since last nest: 3


Ping list:
@ Murklin @ LagMonster @ Gallows @ Cewientje @ Tedium @ Kizmetto @ AerinCantator @ caperantagonist @ Neige @ VictoryInSolace @ Survivors @ Chloraphyll @ Sildrael @ Khoshekh @ Stormdragon @ Scyras @ FlyingNorth @ psychocanes @ Sellenair @ Nihilo @ Digimon11 @ Katerrn @ Caeoltoiri @ seerofmind @ nindeanwa @ Lyel @ Tiirran @ sykotikkytten @ speedythedino @ tigressRising @ Harbinger

@Murklin @LagMonster @Gallows @Cewientje @Tedium @Kizmetto In the darkest shadow, a light shines. In the brightest light, a shadow is cast. The Hewn City stands starkly separate from the rest of the Sunbeam Ruins. Over that shattered remnant hangs a mystery – a deep shadow which no light can penetrate. The days here are shadowy, and the nights even darker, but nevertheless a great many curious Light dragons live here, determined to find an answer, a reason for the darkness. Before whatever lurks in the darkness finds them. [u]Entry 1[/u] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=932613] [img]https://38.media.tumblr.com/35d0a56643dbfd6891556662438b6686/tumblr_ni26cbyjQK1rkef44o4_400.png[/img] [/url] After the storm, Tenora opened her eyes to find herself far from home, trapped under rubble and immersed in a darkness that even her Shadow eyes could not penetrate. She shifted, struggling against the weight of tonnes of rock pressing down on her back and wings, but despite her great strength and size, the effort only spent her breath. Puffing and wheezing under the stone, but still struggling, she scraped and rattled her spines in the hope of freedom. Ridgebacks are suited to digging, and slowly but surely she began to pull herself through the rubble. After what seemed like an eternity of swimming through stone, her head broke the surface, and fresh air flooded her lungs. Once she had finally freed herself from the crushing darkness, she lay limply in the familiar gloom and tried to remember what had happened. But the past was clouded, a haze of light and sound and panic in the wake of the catastrophe that had swept through the Hewn City. Tenora's clan had lived in the dark and ruined city for much of her life, and she knew that for all the bad weather and strange occurrences the place endured, the tempest had been truly abnormal. She shook her head to clear it, as if her dazed musings were clinging to her face, and tried to climb to her feet. Her body protested, a chorus of aching muscles and throbbing bruises, but she endured, scolding herself, Hesser could heal these wounds when she returned home. Hesser! She hoped desperately that her Wind Tundra friend was all right. They had been close for all of their lives, even mates once. Together with Umbrex, a Spiral who was hyperactive even by his kind's standards, they had made an unbeatable team of warriors. Now she was all alone, and had no idea where she actually was. She clambered up a nearby pile of rubble and tried to get her bearings. She could see nowhere familiar in the ruins and rubble and the dim twilight that somehow never changed. She spread her wings to take to the air, but her left shoulder screamed, a sudden cramp spreading down through the flight muscles. She struggled against the pain pulling her wing tight, and by the time it subsided, she knew she would not be getting airborne. She sighed in frustration, and picked a direction at random, hoping that she would find someone else alive in this mess that could help her get home.

@ArgenteaMoon
Oh, how exciting! I'm absolutely vibrating in my seat right now! There's just so many questions buzzing all around! I can't wait to see where this goes, especially with your knack with lore.

@ArgenteaMoon A different start than what I'm used to seeing for Nuzlockes. Very interested to see where it goes! Especially if we get to see more of the Hewn City - those 'slightly off' places are fascinating for their own mysteries!

@argenteamoon

You started!! I love it so far, the mystery and the lore!

@Tedium @LagMonster @Kizmetto

I'm glad to see you're all interested, even though I think I'm not exactly the best at characterisation :p Hopefully the two stories won't be too much of a problem, especially since it's gonna jump back and forth between them.

(Before you ask are you technically doing two Nuzlockes at once? I'm just gonna say uh ... kinda? Tenora is the main character of a real Nuzlocke, and the rest of my lair are gonna be living under Nuzlocke conditions, but most of them are DG already, so really they're just gonna be a part of the story. But believe me they are gonna have to pull their weight to survive, anyone who already has genes are gonna have to level to earn them and stuff)

@Murklin @LagMonster @Gallows @Cewientje @Tedium @Kizmetto [i]Perspective switch, second protagonist introduction[/i] [u]Entry 2[/u] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=6528839] [img]http://41.media.tumblr.com/fd00ce55853d43c7f5af520d5cb54311/tumblr_ni25o7CWvI1rkef44o10_400.png[/img] [/url] Malidane's first thought was, [i]Lady Light, what was that??[/i] He opened his eyes and promptly shut them again. The lair was a mess, and knowing his mother, she would be here soon, demanding that he help clean up, so he may as well get a bit more sleep. Wait …? Wasn't the mess was more like devastation? Confused, he opened his eyes again. What he saw made him sit bolt upright, suddenly awake. Marl surveyed the destruction with shocked curiosity. He was in the clan's main hall, but many of the columns had fallen, along with the roof they supported; craning upwards, Marl could see the perpetually dim sky through the hole. As he stared at his surroundings, he heard a shout. “Marl!” [img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/90e3b282cc5b091a63ec66c42f9e268e/tumblr_nfla8ojCp61rkef44o2_r1_400.png[/img] He twisted rapidly in surprise, to see his older sister behind him. “Rianne! What happened? Why did the roof fall in? Where's everyone else? What's gonna – ” “Shut up a second, Marl!” Rianne interrupted. “I've got no idea what happened. We should find Mum.” Marl nodded. “Do you know where she is?” Rianne shook her head. “I was hoping you did, actually. We should go look in the vault, though.” But their mother Malagrine wasn't in the vault, where she spent a lot of time counting the clan's treasure, nor could they find her, or anyone else for that matter, anywhere else in the underground part of the lair. They headed up then, to search aboveground, but the destruction was far worse there, many of the rooms were broken, the bodies of their clanmates trapped under the rubble. It was a wonder that Marl and Rianne hadn't been trapped underground with only the new window in the roof as a way out. As they stared about at their destroyed home, a large pile of rubble suddenly shook, and from it emerged the vast lavender and blue form of the Guardian Thela. She lifted her wings, and revealed the sheltering forms of several other dragons. “Rianne. Malidane. Where is your mother?” she rumbled as the three dragons she had protected lifted their heads and squinted about. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=764577] [img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/a51f6d15e153c3de6eb5a0e795480b79/tumblr_ni25o7CWvI1rkef44o2_400.png[/img] [/url] “We can't find her, ma'am,” said Rianne. “She's not in the vault. You're the first other clan members we've found.” “Very well,” said Thela, “then until your mother is found, Rianne, you are our leader.”

Great start.

@Murklin @LagMonster @Gallows @Cewientje @Tedium @Kizmetto @AerinCantator

Entry 3
By the time that Tenora caught the scent of brine, she knew she was well off track. The Clan of Dusk and Dawn lived on the cliffs overlooking the Sea of a Thousand Currents, which was truthfully a vast freshwater lake, so she had to be on the other side of the Hewn City, closing on the eastern ocean. If it hadn't been for the perpetual gloom, she would have realised hours before.

Despite her frustration, she continued on seawards so she could find something to eat. When she reached the cliffs that protected the east coast, the gloom of the Hewn City was finally clearing. She gazed out on the setting sun glimmering over the water, the sounds of the surf and wind breaking on the rocks below her.

Down within that ocean was a bounty that could feed every Ridgeback for a thousand years and more. But Maren lurked within it as well, tending their hatred for dragonkind, who had driven them out of their esturine homes and into the salty seas. Also, Ridgebacks hate getting wet.

Tenora steeled herself for the uncomfortable experience, and clambered down the cliffs to the rocks below. She had barely touched the stone before a huge wave crashed over her, and threatened to drag her back with it. Digging in her claws and resisting the water's pull, she was rewarded with the sight of many fish flopping on the rocks.

But as she moved to gather some of the fish, she saw a glint of fins in the water, and another wave rose up, even larger than the last, and many hands grabbed her and dragged her under.



Pain and adrenaline flooded her system; she struggled against the strength of the current and the hooks in her flesh. Without oxygen, her vision blurred; water muffled her ears, and the Maren voices turned into some hideous chant.

One thought filled her entire being. Air. Up. I need to go up!

She thrashed and pulled the ropes that held her loose from the hands of her captors. She tore the hooks from her limbs and even as her blood clouded the water she made a mad dash upwards.

For the second time in as many days, her head found the surface from the choking darkness, but this time she wasn't safe yet. She could feel the water bending to the Marens' wishes, trying to drag her down once more. She laboured her wings despite the pain, and scrambled landwards, not getting clear of the water, but making progress nevertheless.

After what seemed like an age, but was probably just minutes, she clambered up the cliff, and back into the welcoming dimness. It was then she suddenly felt the damage to her body as the adrenaline finally gave out, and she collapsed into unconciousness.