Note: More images may be added in at a later date.
It all started with the discovery of a claw.
As per agreement in document 12204-63 column 4 section B: Any historical finds, whether natural or otherwise made, must be investigated by a certified Archaeological technician. If deemed of some sort of value, all activities within 500 ft must cease until a team is dispatched to remove the item and clear the area for continued activity.
The find caused a series of groans in the project managers and supervisor. They were already behind on the construction of the underground conduit to connect one of the coastal plants with the Spire. This could push them back months, potentially years.
But to the diggers who discovered the thing, what they mostly felt was awe.
It was massive, twice the length of a ridgeback’s longest spine and opalized to a glowing sheen. Rumors flew over what it really was, or who it had belonged to.
At first the excavation turned up nothing; carefully carving their way through layer after layer of steel-colored sedimentary rock- running it through sifters and dusters and washers and the like. The two week timeframe was almost up, and the site supervisor ready to breathe a sigh of relief that it would soon be over-
Then they found another one. Coupled with a collection of finger-bones that were larger than even an imperial’s. The alignment was strange, so the excavation team called in a biologist to examine them.
“It’s not an ordinary limb. Perhaps a clawed flipper? The morphology reminds me of that of the spiny whales. But that is only in the most superficial sense. The makeup is… strange…”
Whatever the thing was, it was massive. They dug onward, following the arm bones up to a shoulder blade. The ribs were breathtaking and could be used to create a comfortable home even for a guardian.
The vertebrae had to be moved by teams of dragons of the larger breeds- in fear they would dislodge and crush one of the archaeologists below. The project was gaining more attention, and a second team arrived to help dig the monster free.
The perplexing parts were the long, massive sails. Or were they spines? Perhaps they were part of a decorative crest? Researchers from Lightning University and the Arcane Academy were ever present now- locked in heated debates over what this thing might be.
A near fatal accident left a Bogsneak in critical condition and a new appreciation for the creature’s bones. An attempt to core a sample out of one of the ribs had unleashed a massive electrical shock.
All work form then on was undertaken in rubber gloves and boots.
Its body seemed to go on. And on and on and on. The radius of the restricted zone increased. But nobody cared; they wanted to see where this would go. To watch. To help. They had never seen such a monstrous beast.
The next great item of discovery was found above the shoulders, securely encircling the string of neck vertebrae. A collar- no. A yoke? Massive chains on metal rings disappeared into the dirt. Some of the links they found shattered into tiny fragments.
There was no question about it- This was dragonmade.
Debate among the scholars raged to a near tipping point. They forcibly had to be separated when Dr. Wolkaw Shrike got his tail stepped on by Professor Argyle Tok.
The archaeologists in the dig were highly perplexed. There was no record of a creature like this to date, yet someone, somewhere, had tried to harness it.
More of the bony protrusions were discovered as they followed the neck upwards. Anticipation ran high. Estimates put the length of the creature nearly twice the largest known Imperial (A fellow named Bo, who fancies himself to be an excellent gardener in the realm of nature). Perhaps more.
When the skull was revealed, it would be destined to be the object of many horror stories to come. The skull started with a massive, sharp spike, whose edges were sharp despite the passage of time and rising over the crest of the skull.
There were rows of teeth. Rows. Massive and spade-shaped. Extra care was taken with them, as the tended to break tools that struck them.
Arlope Prisimmia, an artist famous for her reconstructions was brought in, drafting up design after potential design, trying to figure out how the muscle could have linked the bone, how the skin laid over flesh. Ink stained her fingertips as she worked.
It was only when an archaeologist sat nearby to eat lunch (a bucket of cod, each of which she would wrap in a piece of bread with mustard), that inspiration struck her. Suddenly the pieces were falling into place. As she sketched in a flurry to capture the image in her mind, a troubling thought dawned upon her.
This thing looked an awful lot like a ridgeback.
Larger view: https://66.media.tumblr.com/130bf86726aa14f4aebba018308dd40c/tumblr_pp3wjsXTn21vuvakgo1_1280.png
Quote:
TL;DR they are basically sand sharks and at a certain point below the rock it becomes quicksand, akin to the deep ocean. There lives all sorts of strange creatures and ‘fish’. Stormcatcher, being the resourceful god he is, harnessed them for his own means when the spire was in its infancy.
Over time he selected individuals who were smarter than the rest, slowly shaping the generations to become his employees.
Why else would ridgebacks like fish and be good at digging?
My lore is free and open to use! As long as it is used for FR things, you don’t even have to ask!
Over time he selected individuals who were smarter than the rest, slowly shaping the generations to become his employees.
Why else would ridgebacks like fish and be good at digging?
My lore is free and open to use! As long as it is used for FR things, you don’t even have to ask!
Link people to the source material so they can find it too. And ping me, i love seeing what people do!
