Quests & Challenges

[center][size=5][color=green][b]Event Post #4[/b][/color][/size] [size=4][color=green][b]Fulfills task for: Day 23 (April 12, 2019)[/b][/color][/size] [color=green][b]Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [Item=Extinguished Jackalope][/center] I bought my second new dragon of this challenge on the day I got my second familiar drop (Friday, April 12). As always, I'm placing the event post for it right after the story post that introduces the new dragon to the story. Last week, Random.org gave me #11 for the second time in a row. At 7:28 AM FRT on Fri. 4/12, the least expensive Nocturne on the Auction House was... [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50945086] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/509451/50945086_350.png[/img] [/url] ...this guy. It was the second day of Star Wars Celebration, so he gets to be named after a supporting Star Wars character.

On the day I got this drop, I flipped a real nickel and once again got Tails. Still no death streaks... yet.

The next morning, Kholyn and Murasaki returned to the fern grove they had come from, as planned, but they knew they would return to Baze's thicket soon. They had told him of their need for a larger home where a growing Nocturne could live more comfortably, and he had understood - or, at least, he seemed to. Murasaki knew only a few words of the common draconic language, and Baze likewise knew only a few words of the common language used among the Beastclans. The three dragons had had to use a lot of pantomime and pictures scratched in the dirt with fallen thorns to convey meaning to each other, but ultimately, Baze had let them stay with him for the night. When they took their leave in the morning, he watched Murasaki go with a look of particular fondness.

The two dragonesses made their way back to the fern grove where they had grown up. Cleia and the other dryads there were happy to see them safely back, and eager to hear of all their adventures. Murasaki chattered away excitedly, with Kholyn filling in the gaps that remained in the younger dragon's skill with words. Murasaki said that she wanted to move to the thicket as soon as possible.

The grove came alive with energy at these words. Some of the dryads immediately started planning what would need to be done to send the two dragons off, racing around to organize and gather supplies. Others started crying about how much they would miss the two little dragons. In all the confusion, Kholyn slipped away to her lair in the hollow under the tree root to be alone.

She could never really be alone there, though. No one entered or left that lair without Cleia noticing, and soon, she climbed into the hollow with her adopted daughter. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready to move to my own lair yet," Kholyn said. "I just saw how big the world is, and I'm so small."

"You're small, but you have a big heart," Cleia said. "You saw Murasaki's balloon when it was caught in the tree. You decided to help her by getting it down, and you got it down all by yourself. You're a good horticulturist, too. Just remember which plants the bees like, and remember to leave the dead plants for the worms, and you'll never have to worry about running out of food."

Kholyn nodded. "The thicket we went to was so... brown. If I'm going to live there, I want it to be greener."

"You have your bag of orchid seeds. Planting some of them should help. If you want, some of us can help you soften the ground in your thicket so they'll grow. We could even transplant some fern plants there."

"Yes! That's exactly what that place needs. Thank you so much!"

"Come on. We'll have to speak with Illiana about this."

Illiana was an Autumn Dryad, the eldest and most well-respected dryad who lived in their fern grove. They told her about their plan, and she agreed to it, choosing a few of the others to come along with her and help transplant the ferns to the dragons' new home. "But not too many," she said. "We don't want Baze to think we're an invasion army."

The rest of the evening was spent planning the logistics of the move and packing the few possessions the two dragons had made or scavenged for themselves into leafy packs. They would temporarily transplant a few young ferns into clay pots and wicker baskets right before their caravan was ready to leave. Kholyn felt better knowing that it would take a few days to plan and organize this expedition. She wanted to enjoy life in her fern grove while she still could.

[center][size=5][color=green][b]Coliseum Battle Post #3[/b][/color][/size] [size=4][color=green][b]Fulfills task for: Day 20 (April 9, 2019)[/b][/color][/size] [color=green][b]Battles Completed: 21 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [Item=Softshell Scorpion][/center] [b]Loot[/b] [item=dwarf fawn] x3 [item=pale pink rose] x3 [item=mustache moth] x2 [item=ruby brooch] x2 [item=firestarter] x2 [item=blue spot pygmy wrasse] x2 [item=shell-dwelling cichlid] x2 [item=honeycomb fragment] x1 [item=beeswax] x1 [item=crunchy moth legs] x1 [item=sweet songbird] x1 [item=display plumes] x1 [item=rosy similis] x1 [item=blue rose] x1 [item=emerald brooch] x1 [item=stuffed pincushion] x1 [item=satin violets] x1 [item=tiny feathers] x1 [item=serrated beak] x1 [item=jagged beak] x1 [item=false leaf] x1 [item=sticky pollen] x1 [item=fragile antler] x1 [item=micro deer] x1 [item=hardy antler] x1 [item=silken feathers] x1 [item=reverse silkworm moth] x1 [item=dark-tufted featherduster] x1 [item=brightly painted bird toy] x1 [item=ire tweet] x1 [item=bluelight chipskink tail] x1 [item=silverfish spectre] x1

@ShadewingRising: Oh my Gladekeeper, I have a reader!!! Yes, I will absolutely ping you for new posts! I was just about to start working on my next one. :)

(Note: Day 21 has been intentionally skipped for now because I got an Apparel item, which has been banked for later use.)

At last, all the ferns were ready to transport, and all the dragons' possessions, including the carefully-folded remains of Murasaki's silk balloon, were packed. The thicket expedition, as it had come to be called among the dryads, was ready to move out.

"I have a surprise for you," Cleia said to Kholyn and Murasaki when they got up in the morning. "Cover your eyes."

The two dragons did. "Now uncover them."

Cleia was holding up a banner made of an iridescent, bronze-green fabric. Embroidered on it in dark green was a wreath of six fern fronds.

"I always knew the day would come when you would leave here to go and live with other dragons, Kholyn," she said affectionately. "It will be the best thing for your future well-being if you do. I made you your very own clan banner. I hope you raise it with pride above your new home."

"It's beautiful," said Kholyn.

"I think I remember seeing banners like that before," Murasaki said, looking at the banner thoughtfully. "Before I... fell. In the balloon, I mean."

"That makes sense," said Cleia. "You probably came from a Wind clan with an airship. Dragon clans make clan banners like these to show others who they are, and what kind of a clan they have. I made this one because I hoped you wouldn't forget the place you came from when you started your own clan."

Kholyn's crest-fins quivered. "I won't," she said. "I'll never forget you, or our home. And I'll come back and visit whenever I can."

Cleia helped Kholyn pack the banner among the rest of her things. Then, she and the two dragons took their places at the head of the procession out of their grove.

@ShadewingRising - Whoops, forgot to ping when I originally posted this. Fixed now.

When the procession reached the thicket of thorny vines, Baze was asleep again, as he had been when Kholyn and Murasaki had first arrived there. It was only then that the two dragons realized that the other Nocturne had no idea of what Kholyn had planned for the thicket. What would he think of the ferns they had brought with them, or the orchids that Kholyn planned to plant? Would he like them? Should they plant them at all?

Kholyn asked Illiana, who advised that they should all set their pots and baskets down and wait for the sun to set. Then, she said, Kholyn and Murasaki should approach Baze and tell him about what they had in mind. If he said no to the idea of planting more plants, the dryads would take the ferns back home with them; otherwise, they would get started planting them.

When Baze awoke, he looked at the ferns curiously. A gleam of excitement appeared in his eyes, and he indicated specific places around the edges of the thicket where he wanted the ferns to go, using gestures, movements, and a few words - mostly the Beastclans' word for 'here.'

"He's putting them in places where they'll fill in the gaps between vines," Illiana observed. "When these fern plants are grown up, they'll give you better cover and make your home harder to see. Your friend is very wise."

Everyone, including all three of the dragons, pitched in to get the young fern plants out of their pots and baskets and into the ground. With so many workers, the task was done very quickly. When it was done, they all sat down to eat together - the dragons' first celebration in their new home.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The dryads returned to their home the next morning, and Kholyn and Murasaki bade them a fond farewell. They promised to come back and visit after they had established themselves as a clan.

As the dryads were leaving, Murasaki climbed carefully to the highest point on the thorny vines and hung their new clan banner there, placing the loops of twine sewn into its corners over two of the longer thorns. It fluttered gently in the breeze, its unique symbol indicating that this was the home of a new clan of dragons.

What none of the dragons in that clan knew was that a pair of pale, yellow eyes had been watching the flurry of activity the whole time that the ferns were being planted. Their owner approached the place, cautiously and curiously. Would he find a welcome here?

@ShadewingRising

[center][size=5][color=green][b]Coliseum Battle Post #4[/b][/color][/size] [size=4][color=green][b]Fulfills task for: Day 29 (April 18, 2019)[/b][/color][/size] [color=green][b]Battles Completed: 21 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [Item=Boneskitter][/center] [b]Loot[/b] [item=Shell-Dwelling Cichlid] x4 [item=sweet songbird] x3 [item=yellow-tinged featherduster] x3 [item=frosted violets] x3 [item=silken feathers] x2 [item=fragile moth wings] x2 [item=ire tweet] x2 [item=dark-tufted featherduster] x2 [item=worn pincushion] x2 [item=satin violets] x2 [item=cheerful bird toy] x2 [item=triad moth] x1 [item=brightly painted bird toy] x1 [item=crunchy moth legs] x1 [item=micro deer] x1 [item=hardy antler] x1 [item=leafy pack] x1 [item=fine filament] x1 [item=mustache moth] x1 [item=pale pink rose] x1 [item=sweetpuff feather] x1 [item=ragepuff down] x1 [item=false leaf] x1 [item=fragile moth wings] x1 [item=firestarter] x1 [item=blue spot pygmy wrasse] x1 [item=stuffed pincushion] x1 [item=emerald brooch] x1 [item=perdita bee] x1 [item=blue honeycomb] x1 @ShadewingRising - Likely the last post until next Wednesday at the earliest.