Flight Rising Discussion

[center][color=80C7F5][size=6][b]Mini-Raffle[/b][/size][/color][/center] Thanks to our dedicated exploration team, ice has found a [b]lot[/b] of unexpected treasure on this ship. Perhaps the ghosts are helping us out? Regardless, we want to share it with the rest of flight rising. In order to earn tickets to this mini-raffle simply send 0T trades to our out of flight raffle between 1300 FR today and the end of the battle. The more 0T trades you send, the more tickets you will earn for this mini raffle. Winning in the mini-raffle doesn't remove you from the main raffle pool. Prizes [quote=Noc Noc Who's There?][center][item=unhatched nocturne egg][item=breed change: nocturne][/center][/quote] [quote=Dress Your Noc Up][center][skin=8765][item=unhatched nocturne egg][/center][/quote] [quote=Prepped for Next Fest][center][item=green goo][item=green sludge][item=green ooze][item=copper muck][item=grey slime][br][br] all items x10[/center][/quote] [quote=What a Nice View][center][item=Vista: Brightshine Jubilee][item=Vista: Thundercrack Carnivale][item=Vista: Flameforger's Festival][item=Vista: Starfall Celebration][item=Vista: Riot of Rot][item=Vista: Rockbreaker's Ceremony][item=Vista: Crystalline Gala][item=Vista: Trickmurk Circus][item=Vista: Mistral Jamboree][item=Vista: Wavecrest Saturnalia][item=Vista: Greenskeeper Gathering][/center][/quote] [quote=Be More Chill][center][item=frigid emblem][item=snowfall robe][item=frozen goblin][skin=21144][item=eternal snow]x99[/center][/quote] [quote=Water is Amazing][center][item=diver emblem][item=seashell mantle][item=bubbling goblin][skin=17524][item=giant sand dollar]x99[/center][/quote] [quote=Joxar][center][item=prismatic token][br][item=white slime][item=black slime][item=silver muck][item=gold muck][item=green ooze]x5 and 25,000T[/center][/quote]

Alright you guys, I've tossed all the non-breeding pairs and non-babies I got at you. Good luck!

My lair is so small now. I had like 115 or something. [rolls]

Aw looks like I missed the mini raffle. BUT COLI HERE I COME BECAUSE I FINALLY HAVE A FLIER

[BR]----- -----[columns][FONT=CAMBRIA][SIZE=4]SHIP'S LOG, DAY THE SIXTH; [/SIZE][/FONT][nextcol][color=transparent]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[nextcol][right][FONT=cursive][SIZE=4][i][b]concord[/b][/i][/SIZE][/FONT][/columns]----- ----- [br][center][font=cambria][i]This day’s entry is slipped into the log, written on a sheet of fine, supple velum by an elegant and looping hand. The letters dance across the page, the scribe’s penmanship light and swift; it could not be more different to Captain Hallowind’s severe, measured lettering.[/i][/font][br][br][/center] [columns][nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=32902114][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/329022/32902114p.png[/img][/url][nextcol][color=transparent]+[nextcol][indent][font=cambria][size=4][b]V[/b][/size][font=cambria][size=4]indication is a funny thing; I take no particular joy in this sudden and irrefutable proof that my hunches were correct. The presence I have felt from time to time since first laying eyes upon this ship has been unmistakable, undeniable. That my comrades could not see it before now is not their failing, though perhaps it is mine for failing to press my point. I was certain of the activity of spirits aboard the wreck even before dear Beaufort’s misadventure with the statue. My time spent in the galley was not entirely of a culinary concern - I saw movement in these places where the crew would have gone about their day-to-day duties many times, and having finally secured some time alone there, the signs were undeniable. This had been my intent as I returned to join with the crew - but of course, Beaufort’s accident waylaid all of that. As I flew to Beaufort’s aid, I had one of the knives I brought with me clutched in a talon. Fool thing that it is in my hand, nowhere near the deadly tool it would be in Stabby’s grasp, it fell to the deck of the hold as the spirit gripped me, every bit as useless as I’d known in my heart it would be. They did not harm me, the ghosts - I must make this very plain. I could not move, no: the creature, whatever it was, held me quite prone, and with such ease that I knew there to be no point in struggling. But for all its fearsome countenance-- gnashing fangs within a slavering maw, set all about by the deepest shadow I have ever seen-- it did not [i]harm[/i] me. I was unable to commune with my comrades - it all happened so quickly! The Captain and the others were all whisked away the instant one of the creatures bit him. I scarce had time to even notice their abrupt departure before they were gone. I confess to feeling a thrill of terror when the door to the hold snapped shut - the door, of course, which we tore to pieces yesterday - finding myself alone with the beasts was not quite what I had planned. Hands raised, palms opened, I turned back to face the hold. I am no warrior - I can man the rigging as well as any dragon, and I can manage navigation tools and all manner of ship’s business, but I cannot fight. I know this; there is no point in denying it for the folly of pride. And so a calm surrender seemed, at that time, my best hope of survival. “I mean you no harm, if you mean me no harm.” Keeping my voice low and even, I took another step toward the shadow. To my shock, the many-toothed creature was gone. The impenetrable darkness remained, but gone too was the silence and the chill of before. I took a step closer, careful to keep my palms outstretched and my wings tucked as flat to my sides as possible. I did not want to startle… whatever this was. The darkness shifted, growing smaller until it appeared as a shapeless mass, roughly the size of… well. A Skydancer. I took a breath, casting my eyes about the dimly-lit hold; my vision settled upon the statue Beau had been struggling with. It seemed smaller than it had before, toppled over onto its side as it was. I walked to it, and the shadow, more dragon-like with every passing moment, followed me. I bent to touch the statue, watching the figure, and it emitted a low hiss not unlike that of an irritated cat. I withdrew my hand, and touched a golden chalice that lay near one of my feet. The creature chittered softly, sounding almost like one of my own kin. I do not know how long we communed like this, in the guttering torchlight of the hold. Many hours passed - or so it seemed. I would speak to the wraith, and it would hiss and sigh. The light in the hold would wax and wane with its expressions, shadows growing and receding like some eldritch tide. This time, as I lifted the golden statue carefully in my arms, it simply hovered - almost anxiously - beside me. Following our ‘discussion,’ I was confident that this strange statue - in my arms it was a curious thing, both heavy and light- was somehow the key to the story of the wreck. I can only pray to the Icewarden that my shipmates and I be spared from whatever curse lies upon it. [/indent] [right][br][br][font=cursive][size=5] - [i]Laurentia Cass, ship's cook and mediator[/i] [/columns][br][br][center] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/3395.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/20120.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/262.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/5916.png[/img][/center] [br] [br] [right]-----[b]credits[/b]: ithika (46361), jetfeather (279801) and squidragon (48487)[/right]-----

[BR]----- -----[columns][FONT=CAMBRIA][SIZE=4]SHIP'S LOG, DAY THE SIXTH; [/SIZE][/FONT][nextcol][color=transparent]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[nextcol][right][FONT=cursive][SIZE=4][i][b]a cutting development[/b][/i][/SIZE][/FONT][/columns]----- ----- [br][center][font=cambria][i]A second sheaf is stuffed unceremoniously under the first, folded haphazardly down its middle and again, the thing all at odd angles. Upon unfolding, bits of ink tear from the page where it had transferred as it dried. The hand is a scrawl, the writer’s quill having left deep gouges in the page, such was their haste and fervour as they wrote. The page is littered with spelling errors and hasty addendums, written in tiny, near-indecipherable letters above what had been written before.[/i][/font][br][br][/center] [columns][nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33433613][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/334337/33433613p.png[/img][/url][nextcol][color=transparent]+[nextcol][indent][font=cambria][size=4][b]M[/b][/size][font=cambria][size=4]e heart leapt when that damned door opened up again and spat Laur out - I’d thought she was done in, what with being trapped below with the beast what savaged the Captain. I weren’t quick enough with my knife- or at least, I [s]thourt[/s] [s]thot[/s]- I felt maybe if I’de been quicker on the draw, Cap’n wouldn’t have got bit. I felt downright sick, thinking I’d let Laur douwn too, what with her supposing I ain’t fond of her and all. Would’a been a shame to end it like that. But there she be, rite as rayne and carryin’ that same statue as old Beaufort got us all into trouble muckin about with. A look of determination on her face, jaw set like she was fixin’ to go ta battle. I know what that’s like, so I went back to the door to bar it proper - no good them ghouls comin’ out after us, but she rested a hand on my shoulder and smiled, serene as ye like. “We must return to the [i]Fortune[/i],” spake she, like she knew all about whatever’s been going on in this blighted ghost ship. So I nod. I trust her- she’s a good heart, that Laur, and got her head screwed on right, too. We left most of our gear on the wreck - seemed not a-one of us felt it were worth takin’ the time to clear that lot up, in light of the ghosts and all. Rowing went by in double-time, and I don’t mind sayin’ I’ve never been more happy to clamber over the side of the old tub. Peace didn’t last - never does, ‘round here. As soon as we had that infernal bit of shine aboard the poor old [i]Fortune[/i] one of them wights came a-howlin’ toward us, screeching and screamin’ like a harpy on the hunt. This time, I shoved Laur aside, hard as I could, away from the statue, turning to face the beast head-on as it came. It flew truer than shot from a pistol for that statue, and I planted meself afore it and raised my swords. This time, it contends with me. The thing stole all the light from the heavens as it came - set a chill to me very bones as my steel bit into its…. Well. It ain’t got no flesh, so I don’t rightly know what I stabbed, but stabbed it I did. Steel is always true, that I do know, and my sword’s been true to me long as I can remember. Weren’t a good feeling, cutting into that ghost, set me all to shivering, teeth a-rattling in me jaws. But I held fast as the thing howled and railed, and brought my other blade into it’s… well it ain’t got a throat neither, but I struck it again, and the thing seemed to die. Melted, it did, like so much sand falling through your fingers, gathering back into itself in pools on the deck as it fell. Like water on an oilcloth, the black shadows gathered into one another as the [i]Fortune[/i] heaved and yawed with the swell beneath us, until finally - it plopped into the sea like so much offal. Funny thing, that. The statue - it’d been gold, y’see. After the creature melted and were reclaimed by the sea, the statue turned to pale, smooth stone. I remember lookin’ up back where we came - the sun were out, shinin’ on that sad old wreck. Hadn’t seen her in the clear sunlight, I realised, and for certain I could see why cap’n loves his ships so. [/indent] [right][br][br][font=cursive][size=5] - [i]Whipwillow Stabby, master-at-arms[/i] [/columns][br][br][center] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/3395.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/20120.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/262.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/5916.png[/img][/center] [br] [br] [right]-----[b]credits[/b]: ithika (46361), jetfeather (279801) and squidragon (48487)[/right]-----[br][br] But one entry in the adventures of the good ship [i]Frosty Fortune[/i] remains! For today, here is an addition to the log's glossary: [b]Offal[/b]:[color=transparent]++++[/color]The entrails and organs of a butchered animal, typically the less choice parts of the beast and most commonly discarded. Thank you for your support of Ice Flight!

Lores updated on front page of thread!

@Vulcanatus Not sure if you've noticed already, but on the contrary, the miniraffle ends in about 18 hours from now, when Saturday ends, so there's still time yet, haha ;>

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hey guys! Just remember that we have 0T CR/ 1T PA going on as well, and we will be throwing in this: [quote=Gotta Go Fast][center][item=speedy][br][br][size=2][i]Speedy[/i][/size][/center][/quote] Please send in for 1T PAs or 0T CRs with dragons for extra tickets in our [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/raf/2227362]OoF Raffle[/url]! This will be going in our mini-raffle. GO ICE!

[BR]----- -----[columns][FONT=CAMBRIA][SIZE=4]SHIP'S LOG, DAY THE SEVENTH; [/SIZE][/FONT][nextcol][color=transparent]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[nextcol][right][FONT=cursive][SIZE=4][i][b]revelation[/b][/i][/SIZE][/FONT][/columns]----- ----- [columns][color=transparent]+++++[nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33560339][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/335604/33560339p.png[/img][/url][nextcol][indent][font=cambria][size=4][b]T[/b][/size][font=cambria][size=3][i]his day began with delightful weather: clear skies the carefree blue that sings to the heart of every sailor. Though my esteem of the skies may be coloured by today’s events, the light breeze blowing sou’east by east is a welcome reprieve after the tension of the past week. The seas were gentle and easy, the slightest hint of a swell lending a homely roll to our good ship. [/i] I will begin the day’s log with a brief mention of the prior day - as indicated by the accounts provided by Laurentia and Whipwillow, I was scarcely involved. My injury was sudden, and crippling - the place where the ghost bit me had filled the very marrow of my bones with a cold, sick dread; an enduring terror that did not leave me until Whipwillow - Stabby, I should say - destroyed that awful creature, living up to her moniker. Along with that vile beast, so too did the malaise that lay upon me dissipate: I felt myself awaken as if from a deep and lengthy slumber, the fog of horror lifting from my mind. Following the departure of the demon, it seemed as though a shroud were lifted from the wreck in the distance. Once so uncannily still, the ancient ship began to move gently with the motion of the seas upon what remained of her hull, and some colour returned to her timbers and tattered sails. As we watched, a ghostly longboat materialised upon the water, manned by a crew of spectres. The four of us watched in silent awe as the ghost launch rowed towards us, her slender bow cutting through waves that moved in a different rhythm to those around her; as if the very ocean beneath their vessel was from a different time. My seaman’s eye picked out details in the longboat that spoke of her great age: the style of the prow, the curve of her beam, the height of her sides. The dragons aboard looked weary as they approached. Weary, but relieved - as one might appear at the satisfying end of a long and drawn out labour. The skydancer among them - dark of wing, pale of body and blue of eyes - embraced Laurentia as they boarded, her immaterial touch brushing over Laurentia’s plumage like a gentle breeze. The rest of the crew hung back from the rest of us, their eyes - a mix of the deep blue and pale white, where they were visible at all - fixed upon the two skydancers, one vital and living, one pale and deathly. The ghost chirruped gently, crooning in the way of that race in soft tones almost beyond my ability to hear - though it seemed as though Laurentia heard a far more detailed story. She leaned in to bring her orb nearer the apparition's own, communing with it in the manner of their breed, her face a mask of careful concentration. Laurentia’s eyes were swimming with emotion as she turned to recount the ghost’s sad tale - the crew had been pirates, sailing waters both fresh and salt, making offerings to Tidelord and Icewarden both. They had been a successful crew of marauders, she said, until their own greed and ambition mired them here. Some prizes, she recounted, ought be left where they lie. That they had [i]known[/i] the statue was cursed, and yet they hungered still for greater infamy, greater adulation; they were known in every port town and city of Sornieth, their names feared and respected by every draconic hand before the mast. It was not enough, and so they ventured farther, into uncharted waters where the Shade was rumoured to have taken root. Their pride and arrogance, she said, they now deeply regret. The ghosts do not know how long they had been trapped here, imprisoned out of time and hope, clinging to their half-life aboard the wreck of the ship that had once been their pride and glory. A wildclaw, his monochrome face scarred from battle, reached forwards to place his talon on my shoulder. His touch was cold, but not unpleasant - it was the cold of the winter sunlight on the southern icefields, fresh and vigorous and sweet. I see that “HOLD FAST” is inscribed across his knuckles in an ink that endured even into his death. There is comfort in the knowledge that he started his sailing life as a rigger, like me. He lifts his chin, indicating the hatch down to the [i]Frosty Fortune[/i]’s hold, and he passes through it. Us living dragons are slower to follow, but as we descend through the decks, making our way to the hold, the other members of the ghostly crew sink past us through the timbers, until they are all assembled when we arrive. A ghostly fae, her markings as fierce and bold as our own Stabby’s, whispers and shakes her crests, flitting to and fro gently in front of the door to the hold. “She says, on account o’ us lifting the curse what trapped ‘em, they want us to have half of the haul.” Stabby looks slightly awed as she translates for her ancient counterpart - the sprite is truly fearsome, and I hope that even as she admires them, Stabby appreciates that her countenance is equally as dire. The door to the [i]Fortune[/i]’s hold swings open of its own accord - the sight that greets us as awe-inspiring as it had been when we first saw the trove aboard the ghost ship. Laurentia whispered that the other half had been spirited aboard the Water crews’ vessel, who had helped in their own way, apart from us - and that the ghosts were pleased to divide the proceeds of their careers among dragons who hailed from the same lands as they had in life. The ancient dragons greeted us each in turn when we returned to the deck, filling us each with a sense of peace and a yearning for a long rest. Their farewells issued, the dragons bundled back into their ghostly longboat, and we each watched as they returned to the wreck. The sea did not take long to claim the wreck after that; the ocean, after all, is rarely denied that which it is owed. We watched, hands over hearts, as the ancient vessel finally submitted to the waves, her tired timbers breaking apart between the rocks that snared her and the gentle, welcoming surf. We were filled with a sense of thanks and relief as we set about our business, making the [i]Frosty Fortune[/i] ready to sail away from this place again. There was one last sight, as the sun finally set - a great galleon, her sails bellying out as though in a fine fresh gale, sailing away into the setting sun. As we looked, we noticed waves could be seen through her hull and sails, the ship as ghostly as her crew. Banners snapped proudly at her ensign staff and at the heads of her masts - we could see now, even in the dying light, that her sigil was one of Ice and Water, combined in harmony. The ship disappeared with the last light of the day, and was no more. [/indent][right][br][br][font=cursive][size=5] - [i]Captain Frost Hallowind[/i] [/columns][br][br][center] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/3395.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/20120.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/262.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/5916.png[/img][/center] [br] [br] [right]-----[b]credits[/b]: ithika (46361), jetfeather (279801) and squidragon (48487)[/right]----- [br] Herein we find the end of the mystery of the Galleon, as told by the crew of the good ship [i]Frosty Fortune[/i]. Thank you to everyone who has read along on this journey with us, and of course special thanks to everyone who supported Ice in our raffle for this epic and tense dom battle. Thanks also to Water Flight, an engaging and tenacious combatant. And thank you to everyone who commented on the story in the thread!