Creative Corner

@ShinyDecidueye

Of course! I'll send him over right away!

@Petall Oh wow, that was a pretty emotionally-charged chapter. I'm so glad to see that the kids have found new homes, though I really feel for Xinskarr and Xaiya. I think you did a great job showing how they felt about the situation and also rationalizing why they would keep Yuu. Hoping they all find peace soon! [emoji=heart size=1]

@Disillusionist

Thank you! Honestly, figuring out what to do with the other hatchlings in the nest of an alphabet legacy challenge pair in my main lore in a way that fits can be a challenge sometimes. Sometimes, it even results in extra dragons sticking around (*cough* Rammus *cough*), because in the end, it's what makes the most sense for the story and characters that determines what happens in my lore more than anything else. I start with the base ideas, but it gets a whole life of its own after that.

----- [center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2383572/67#post_38880975]Previous[/url][/center] ----- [center][b][u]Chapter 130: Deus Ex Machina[/u][/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=36377357] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/363774/36377357_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] Eclipse stepped into the darkness of Deus Ex Machina. Once again, there was a flare of light as she took a few steps, lighting the shop. Eclipse rolled her eyes. It was dramatic and mysterious the first time, but now that she knew what to expect, it seemed like a cheap trick. She glanced around the shop, trying to catch sight of Silas among the cluttered wares of the dark shop. Disappointed, she turned to go and saw a mask floating in front of her face, surrounded by candles. Eclipse jumped and yelled in fright, swishing her useless sword in the air around it. Behind her, a familiar voice laughed. Silas. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50655025] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/506551/50655025_350.png[/img] [/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50655027] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/506551/50655027_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "Very funny." Eclipse huffed as she turned around to face the shopkeeper. She snorted when she saw the swirl around his eyes, he still hadn't changed his ridiculous getup. "I see you met my brother, Stellan." Silas said. Eclipse was confused by his comment until she noticed his gesturing to the mask that was floating around the shop, bouncing as if it was laughing. "Your brother?" Eclipse asked, raising an eyebrow. It was noting but an enchanted paper bag with googly eyes glued on. "The infamous third brother." Silas said, looking proud. "Of course, you haven't met Sterling, have you? He's busy right now, he and his mate just had their first nest, bless them." "Whatever." Eclipse said, shaking her head. She forgot how ridiculous this place was. "Hey, do you think we could get some more light in this place?" "Hey! This is all your fault!" Silas said, clearly offended. "The shop tailors itself to its customers, if you weren't such a dark and gloomy dragon this wouldn't have happened!" "I'm not-!" Eclipse started, then she took a breath and pasted a fake smile on her face. She had to remember why she was here, not get caught up in Silas's shenanigans. "I have a complaint to make." "Uh oh. We don't like those." Silas looked concerned and exchanged a look with the mask. 'Stellan' shook his head side to side and the mouth crumpled into a frown. "What seems to be the problem?" "I'll tell you what the problem is." Eclipse said, raising her sword into the air and watched as it drooped and brushed her nose, causing her to sneeze. "You promised this would be genuine. It's kind of an important request, you know, overthrow the evil monarchs, return peace to the clan, all that fun stuff." She growled through gritted teeth. "Oh dear, that wasn't supposed to happen." Silas looked surprisingly distraught. Eclipse fully expected the imperial to be laughing at her misfortune. After all, this was some sort of joke shop, wasn't it? "It wasn't?" Eclipse asked, confusion replacing her anger. "No, it wasn't! I guess I don't have as much control over my wares as I thought, or someone is interfering with your story." Silas pondered. "Are you interfering?" Eclipse asked, still not entirely trusting the shopkeeper. "Of course not! I wanted to help! Forget I said anything, it was a silly theory anyways." Silas waved off his thought. "You know what? There is a select few items the shop isn't capable of procuring, hold on, let me check." Silas whipped out a large and battered leatherbound book and clunked it on the counter with a loud thunk. He began flicking through the pages, muttering to himself. "What was it you wanted? A lunar blade?" Silas asked, making eye contact with Eclipse for a moment before returning to his book. "Lunar blade... Lunar blade... Ah! There we are! It's as I thought! See right here? Lunar blade. A limited item, they are far too rare and their magic doesn't mesh well with the shop's, because they tend to be bound to the soul of the moon warrior when they gain their powers. It's not a tangible enough object for the shop to produce. So there you go." He slammed the book shut. "It tried, and you ended up with that. It even used glowshrooms to give it the glow, it's good!" "Can I get a refund then?" Eclipse asked. She was grateful Silas hadn't intentionally tricked her, but it would have been helpful if he looked up that bit of information [i]before[/i] she forked over all those gems. "Nope, sorry. The shop had a strict no-return policy. But I can do you one better! I'll give you something that will help you on your journey to find someone who can help you get your lunar blade back, free of charge!" Silas said with a grin. "Raizel, wasn't it?" "How did you know-" Eclipse began. "It's not important!" Silas said quickly. "Ah, Raizel. Lovely lady, tried to slit my throat for trespassing when the shop popped up in her grove, but that's understandable. Time hasn't been the most kind to her." "You've met Raizel?" Eclipse asked, eyes widening. "Oh yes! You meet a lot of dragons you wouldn't expect in this line of work." Silas said puffing out his chest. "Can you give me directions?" Eclipse asked. "My dear, the shop disappears and reappears at will, directions are not my strong point." Silas sighed. "But that doesn't mean I can't help you." Eclipse watched as Silas stepped out from behind the counter and began rifling through the shelves of the shop, knocking things off in the process. He didn't bother to pick them up. Eventually, he snatched something off of the back of the shelf and returned to Eclipse holding a sealed parchment scroll. "What is this?" Eclipse asked as she took the scroll and moved to open the scroll. "Don't break the seal!" Silas snatched it away from her before she could pry the wax away. "This is a single-use magic map, tell it where you want to go or who you want to find, and it will lead you there." "And it will work? It's not going to turn out to be a ridiculous doodle or something?" Eclipse asked. "Of course not! Unless I'm handing you the wrong scroll... here, let me the the seal?" Silas said, examining the seal before handing it back to her. "Three footprints. Yes, this is the right one! The joke one only has two." "Well in that case, thank you for your help." Eclipse said, flashing Silas a smile. "You're very welcome." Silas said, sweeping into a low bow. "Oh wait! I almost forgot!" Silas rushed to a pile of objects strewn on the floor and began digging through it. Eclipse craned her neck to try to catch a glimpse of what he was digging for. To her surprise, Silas pulled out a young imperial by the tail, only just reaching the end of hatchlinghood. She looked to be small in comparison to the massive imperial, but Eclipse saw as Silas returned that the child was slightly bigger than she was at her fully grown size. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=51611366] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/516114/51611366_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "This is Tatum, my brother's daughter. Please take her with you, she has been getting into things she shouldn't and causing all sorts of trouble. I can't deal with it anymore." Silas said, shaking his head and looking at the laughing imperial as she wiggled and tried to swing up to bite onto her uncle's talons. "I can't-" Eclipse began to protest when Silas plunked Tatum down on top of her like an oversized scarf, almost causing her to lose her balance. Eclipse almost strained her injured wing as she moved to recover her footing. By the time she was stable again, she looked up and saw that the shop had once again disappeared, leaving her in the charred remains of an old building with a giggling child crawling down her back and batting at her tail. ----- [center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2383572/68#post_38909683]Next[/url][/center] ----- [center]@CleverDual @Alwaid @zzzhorses @Amezrou @ScrivenerRook @Kizzan @clarax @lilastar @tigressRising @Disillusionist @Aetherstorm @rainphee @RiaFire11 @Tirtouga678 @catmeow1 @ShinyDecidueye @AlchemyFox[/center] ----- I originally wasn't planning on bringing Tatum into this arc but the other day I had the best idea of how to bring her from Point A to Point B, so cue Silas plunking her on Eclipse and taking off. She's probably not going to be a major character, but she is going to have to journey with the group for a bit. I left her image link as it is because she's gonna grow up tomorrow and it just at the right age that she could either have the hatchling art or adult art. I found out when checking size comparisons between Tatum and Eclipse (Tatum is 3.74m long, Eclipse is 3.67) that Silas is MASSIVE! While his brothers sit at about 17-19m, Silas is over 31m long! Also, I was realizing while planning lore for Tatum that I completely forgot to give Rori a magical ability beyond her elemental capacities! That's something I've tried to give every dragon from this bloodline since Kyra, and I totally forgot to give Rori something and she's too well established as a character to give her anything now.

@Petall Stellan looks amazing! It's a simple outfit, but it suits his character and story so well, and those shades of blue are really soothing to look at. I like the idea of the shop trying to tailor itself and its wares to its customers, and I was also pleasantly surprised by how contrite Silas was. Would've been very easy to make him into a taunting trickster type, so seeing him being genuinely regretful and helpful is really refreshing. [emoji=guardian laughing size=1] Tatum is soooooo cute! [emoji=heart size=1] And honestly, I think Rori is perfect as she is without an extra ability! She's so richly developed and makes the story more fun; she's already awesome. [emoji=rainbow star 1 size=1]

@Petall

I love the Deus Ex boys whenever they show up~
They mean the best, even though sometimes they think what's best is a good laugh instead of.. you know, usefulness. Also, about Rori... since you already have singing as her skill of choice, she could have just a weak, natural magical enthrallment. Something that she actually would have to notice and train to have any real power. Just a thought~

@Disillusionist

Thanks! It was fun to introduce him!

As much of a trickster as the Deus Ex Machina brothers are, Silas just wants to help, especially when it comes to liberating Windkeep Tower! As he said in its last appearance, he misses the way it was. There are times for fun and games and pranks, but this is not one of them!

That's what I feel too. And I think being the only one without powers provides some interesting lore possibilities too, or even having some subtle power that hasn't raised its head yet. But I don't feel she needs one so I'm not desperate to push anything on.

@AlchemyFox

They are pretty fun to write too!

That's a great suggestion, I like it! Ultimately, it depends what works best with her lore, I don't want to force anything on her for the sake of trying to make her fit into the pattern, but I will definitely be considering it because an ability like that could come in handy and would go well with her current talents!

----- [center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2383572/68#post_38893792]Previous[/url][/center] ----- [center][b][u]Chapter 131: A Royal Decree[/u][/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35290001] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/352901/35290001_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] Lin was still sleeping when he heard the knock rapping on his door. He groaned as he returned to consciousness and glanced out the window. It was not yet light yet. He may be an early riser, but who could it possibly be at this hour? He slid his glasses on his face and made his way towards the door, wishing he had some of India's coffee to help wake him. He hated greeting company like this, even if they were calling at a ridiculous hour. He was very surprised when he opened the door to find Magiere on the other side. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=26649130] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/266492/26649130_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "We need to talk." Magiere said sharply as she stormed in and sat herself down in Lin's sitting room. She stared expectantly at him as he followed and gestured for him to sit down as well. She paid no mind to the books, papers and magical instruments strewn about his suite. "I haven't known you to willingly be awake at such an early hour." Lin said, taking his seat on a cushion and tilting his head curiously. "Gotten ourselves into a bit of trouble, have we?" "You're forgetting who you're speaking to." Magiere snapped. Lin could tell he hit a nerve. "I'm the head of the military now, not some stupid apprentice." "And yet you still have so much to learn. You still can't keep your temper." Lin pointed out with a small smile. "You're going to regret saying that once you hear what I have to say." Magiere growled. "Then go ahead, be my guest and enlighten me as to why you are here. I should very much like to return to sleep." Lin said, waving nonchalantly. "Quartz is providing magical military training to every dragon in Windkeep Tower." Magiere announced, raising her head proudly. "You are now to work for me to accomplish this." "And if I refuse?" Lin asked. "There will be consequences. You don't want to get on the wrong side of Quartz." Magiere narrowed her eyes to glare at her old mentor. "And why, pray tell, does Quartz wish to equip everyone with such abilities?" Lin asked, not letting it show how much his heart was pounding in his heart. Quartz was an unbalanced mage, but he was powerful. Plus, he had a number of resources at his disposal that Lin was simply too noble to use. He was not in any position to challenge Quartz at this point and time. "Conquest." Magiere's eyes gleamed at the thought of such power. "Windkeep Tower is to become the base of an expansive empire spanning all eleven flights. Between the undead and an army of highly skilled elemental warriors, expanding our territory shall be easy, and the bigger we grow, the more dragons will join our army." Lin raised a hand to his mouth, unable to disguise his shock. Mageire's eyes glinted in satisfaction once she saw how she had finally cracked the powerful skydancer. "There's nothing you can do to stop this, don't you even try." Magiere's grin grew wider and malicious laughter escaped her lips. "We can do this with or without you, but I have been ordered to use any means possible to enlist your help. I'm sure Quartz would be understanding if I had you beheaded for your refusal, even if it is a waste of magical talents." Lin stared into the eyes of his old apprentice, trying to think of a way out of this, but Magiere had unsheathed a curved sword and was running her talons over it methodically, not even blinking as she stared down Lin. The rhythm was strangely hypnotic, and Lin found himself losing his edge. "Very well." Lin agreed at last, dipping his head in respect to Magiere. The skydancer had never before seen such a look of triumph on her face. [center][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/e0bf/f/2018/247/7/5/divider_by_cas_a_fras-dcm237t.png[/img] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=38822064] [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=38822064&skin=0&apparel=24227,24221&xt=dressing.png[/img] [/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=40974719] [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=40974719&skin=0&apparel=750,10380,26359,25793,25797,15736,3630,27765&xt=dressing.png[/img] [/url][/center] "You can't do this!" Zolean exclaimed, shaking a poster in the air. The normally calm tundra was pacing Quartz's office in anger, casting furious glares at he coatl. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were the king of this clan." Quartz purred. "Oh wait, that's me. I can do whatever I want, I don't need to answer to a lowly peasant like you." "Have you thought this through at all?!" Zolean demanded, stopping in front of Quartz's face and tapping vigorously at the poster. It was a call inviting all the residents of windkeep tower for mandatory elemental battle magic lessons. Similar posters had been pasted in all corners of the clan just the night before. "Of course I have. Everyone has a set schedule. I have taken into account their businesses and have worked out a training schedule that allows everyone to carry on their business as usual." Quartz said, swelling a little with pride at his genius. "We'll be strong enough to expand our empire in no time!" "This is outrageous!" Zolean spat, not for the first time. "So you've said. I'm sorry to say your opinion doesn't matter here." Quartz sighed. He was growing tired of this tundras persistent nagging. "Well it should! Think of the damage you will be doing! The lives and families you'll be tearing apart! The casualties, on both sides! The casualties of training! Not everyone has the same capacity for elemental magic you know, push them too far and they could spontaneously combust from the effort!" Zolean ranted. "Why can't you be happy with what you have? Why must you keep taking and taking and taking?" "Sacrifices must be made in every great pursuit." Quartz explained calmly. "Not like this." Zolean warned, glaring intensely into Quartz's eyes. "And I'm not going to stop by and watch as you do this. I have stood by and let too many dragons be toyed with in the past to stand by and watch you bully these dragons who have become my family and absolutely disgrace what this clan was built to be!" "Ah yes! I have heard of your past escapades." Quartz hummed. "What was it now? Experimenting on dragon DNA? It's a pity you turned your back on quite a practice, I've seen your handiwork. Lalo is quite the stunning specimen. We could do with more like her." "You're not getting any of that." Zolean growled. "In fact, you aren't getting any of anything anymore!" And with that, he charged at his king, teeth and claws charged with electrical magic. Quartz deflected his blow by summoning a pink shield around his body. Then he summoned his own elemental magic and sprung into battle. Zolean was prepared for him, and sent a powerful bolt of lightning towards the king. He was going for the kill. Quartz had no idea such a calm and peaceful healer harbored such raw and untapped power beneath. This was going to be a difficult battle. The two dragons tussled, each buffeting each other with powerful elemental blows. Quartz was actually breaking a sweat. It wasn't often he was challenged in this way. It was exhilarating, a perfect test to start his rise to king of Sornieth. Of the two, however, Quartz held slightly more power. He could tell the tundra was growing tired. He smirked as he was able to get in a few blows that would normally be easily blocked. his defenses were slipping. In one deft blow, Quartz pinned Zolean down to the floor. The tundra was panting, and his fur was wet and matted with sweat. Quartz began to prepare what he hoped would be his final blast of magic. "Goodbye, Zolean." Quartz said, and he unleashed the energy that had been building up within him. There was a bright flash of pink light as it hit the healer squarely in the chest. The tundra beneath him screamed, and the light faded. Quartz looked down and was satisfied to see his opponent dead. Quartz wiped his hands together to get ride of the residual sparks of magic as he stepped off of the tundra. He hated to kill one of his number like that, but disloyalty would not be tolerated. Besides, it had been refreshing to expend his power to such a level. No sooner had he moved to his desk to go over some paperwork for the army, the door swung open and Banella stormed in. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33201295] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/332013/33201295_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "Quartz? I heard noises. Is everything-" She paused as she caught sight of Zolean's body. He could see her breath catch in her chest and her usually solid composure flickered for a moment. "Quartz, would you like to explain just what happened here?" "He challenged my orders." Quartz said, not looking up from his work. "And what orders constitute the murder of what I remind you is our clan's only healer?" Banella raised an eyebrow. Quartz's heart skipped a beat. Windkeep Tower's only healer? He had forgotten about that. "Once we begin our conquest we shall have healers aplenty." Quartz purred, easily brushing off his panic. "Conquest? What conquest?" Banella demanded, eyes blazing. "The conquest of Sornieth, my dear. We are going to be building an empire." Quartz hummed sweetly, smiling at his wife. "And didn't you think to consult [i]me[/i] about this?" Banella asked, clearly growing more furious. "You know, your queen? Your partner?" "Hey, don't get mad at me, isn't this what you wanted?" Quartz hissed, growing angry. "The biggest and grandest kingdom in all of Sornieth? A legacy that will never fade? Because that's what I am trying to do here! I'm giving you the world!" "This wasn't what I wanted!" Banella spat. "Oh yeah, then what did you want? For us to be a happy little family? This is what you have to do, Banella, if you want anything in this world. You have to fight dirty. You have to cut corners and get your claws dirty. Nobody gets anything by sitting around and demanding it be given to you on a silver platter like a spoiled princess! You think I got where I am by asking for it? I made sacrifices! I took risks! It's time you started doing something for yourself for a change!" Quartz spat, growing increasingly furious with each word. Gosh, he couldn't wait until he could do away with her and run this whole thing on his own. "How dare you speak to me like that! I'm just trying to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew! You killed our only healer!!!" Banella shrieked. "You know, I can't talk to you like this. Come talk to me again once you've had some sense knocked into you!" "Hey, you're the one who told me to harness my anger and use fear tactics! What is a better example of that than doing away with anyone who challenges me!" Quartz huffed, and his eyes grew dark. Banella took a step back. "Don't make me do the same to you. Now, on you are my side or not?" Banella stared at him dubiously, clearly hating that he had more power in this situation. Zolean's death shook her, he could see it in her eyes. Fear behind the anger. She had never actually seen death firsthand, had she? She was still shaken by the loss of her family. Quartz was disgusted by her weakness. "Of course I am on your side." Banella said, taking a deep breath and narrowing her eyes. "I just want an equal part in this, that's all. This is my kingdom too." "Of course." Quartz nodded, turning away. The sooner he could overturn her, the better. It was time to get back to plotting. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=51366345] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/513664/51366345_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] Sapphire hardly dared to breathe. He had been walking through a secret passageway in the walls of the mansion when he had stumbled across the portal into the royal suite of Windkeep Tower, or Quartz's office as it was now more commonly known. He had heard everything, from the conversation with the healer to the arguement between his parents. He shivered as he thought about what his father planned to do. What his father had already done. And if he wasn't mistaken, his siblings were being trained to be a part of this whole thing too. He had never been more scared of his father, but instead of immobilizing him, his fear only motivated him. He had to find some way to stop his father, before Quartz burned all of Sornieth to the ground in his greed. ----- [center][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2383572/69#post_38914738]Next[/url][/center] ----- [center]@CleverDual @Alwaid @zzzhorses @Amezrou @ScrivenerRook @Kizzan @clarax @lilastar @tigressRising @Disillusionist @Aetherstorm @rainphee @RiaFire11 @Tirtouga678 @catmeow1 @ShinyDecidueye @AlchemyFox[/center] ----- As I started this chapter, I knew someone had to die. The stakes were rising, and I needed to show that Quartz would stop at nothing in his mission. I didn't know who it would be, and I certainly never expected it to be Zolean. He's just too precious, too much a core part of the clan. Plus, he's a tundra. I'm just discovering my love of tundras, and killing him would decrease my already small number in Windkeep Tower's population. But it made the most narrative sense. With his backstory, he would never stand by and let anyone twist the clan into such dark means. (Idk if you remember [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=39041491]Lalo[/url], but she appeared in my introduction arc and I always meant to do more with her). Besides, Quartz's biggest flaw is that he always goes further than he intends in his pursuit of what he wants. So it made the most narrative sense. I'm really gonna miss this guy though. It's going to be weird having Windkeep Tower without him. And now I'm listening to his theme songs and crying. I guess I'm gonna have to get used to this if I'm going to start a pinkerlocke for my new main clan in a month.

@Petall Ahhhhh such a good chapter! You are correct that it wouldn't be much of a war without blood being spilt, but it doesn't make it any less painful to lose dragons to your own lore! It's so sad seeing him on your "[url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1945352/15#post_38909849]Past Bios[/url]" though... [emoji=spiral sad size=3] I do love to see Q&B's power couple mode disintegrating too hehehe [emoji=ridgeback laughing size=3] And Sapphire going all in for the "unexpected ally" position on Team Revolution! No brainwashing for this boi! Vive La Windkeep! Gods Save Queen Fenn! Truth! Freedom! Justice! And A Hard-Boiled Egg! Down With Tyrants!

@AlchemyFox Honestly, it was so sad to remove all his apparel and set up his post in my past bios... [emoji=tundra sad size=1] The honeymoon period is truly over for Quartz and Banella, now it's time for things to get real...