seige's Clan

FR+1
This is an exalting lair. If I buy a dragon at or below fodder floor, it is probably serving BossDad.
fest guide: https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1388514
https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2726741#post_2726741
Food farming guide: https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2939736#post_2939736
LSG brought me here.

Disclaimer and Trigger Warning: Most of my dragons are minimalists so by consensus the lair has been declared "Clothing Optional". Many of the clan members are (gasp) unclothed.

Clan Improbable

Clan Improbable was founded by jewel and Sterling in a most, well, improbable way.

jewel had no home, nor kin. Her egg was lost or abandoned or scavenged, she didn’t know which, and hatched, by the grace of the Stormcatcher, by perfect conditions of temperature and humidity. She survived her youth by instinct and cunning. Other groups of dragons sometimes approached her, but she always fled. Life had taught her that she could depend on no one but herself. Whatever existence was possible in the stormy land she would build it for herself. The Stormcatcher had kept her alive to see adulthood -- the rest was up to her.

Sterling could only remember wandering the Shifting Expanse with no recall before that moment. Yet he had all the knowledge a Fae needed. He knew what insects were safe to eat, how to catch them and store them. He knew the best trees for harvesting sap and the best way to cure it. He knew which loose trinkets he found should go in his satchel and which ones weren’t worth keeping. He even knew where he was and that it was called the Shifting Expanse, which implied he might belong to the Lightning Flight. Though, without a mirror he couldn’t be sure of this last. He didn’t know his name, if he had a clan, or how he came to be in such a place.

A rare fit of depression had crept over jewel, and Sterling felt he was slowly going mad. Though neither of them could remember having a home, they both craved it. They were perishing from loneliness. Such were their states when they met.

Trusting another dragon was difficult for jewel. Sterling was patient, asking only not to be driven away. They remained together and began building the first real home either had ever known. Babies came along. When they chose to serve the Stormcatcher directly, jewel was grieved, but she understood.

Eventually, other dragons drifted to the small lair. Knowing how the past could be a sensitive subject, jewel and Sterling asked not where they came from or why. A clan archivist was appointed to keep up with the letters each dragon could write if they chose,

Dragons came and went, but the population soon stabilized. Young ones went off to other clans or to serve the Stormcatcher. A Council of Elders and a Council of Warriors were established. The clan was a smoothly-function cohesive group.

Only the remaining questions regarding their origins bothered the clan founders. They talked endlessly about their missing knowledge. Their need to know grew stronger and stronger.

They called their clan together. They vested control of the clan into the two created councils. They were off on a quest for their identities. They vowed to take their search to the very feet of the Stormcatcher, if need be.

Clan Improbable still exists in their absence, ever hoping for their return.

*An unknown time later*


The clan members in the lair lapsed into stunned silence when Percy, the Dwarf Unicorn, and Poppet, the Black Dwarf Unicorn, trotted out of a secluded part of the compound they called home. The two unicorns had not emerged since jewel and Sterling left on their quest. Percy and Poppet yawned and stretched and settled in near the perimeter of the clan’s territory.

Nerves were on edge. The spirals were tying themselves in knots. The air was abuzz with the low hum of anxious coatls. The hatchlings became fractious, despite their caretaker’s best efforts. Even the familiars were fidgety.

“Why did they come out?”
“Are they leaving?”
“Does this mean our founders won’t come back?”
“What’s happening?
“Mama, I’m scared.”
“We should consult the councils.”
“ Why do they just lay there staring west?”

Thane and Anatole, who had been with Clan Improbable almost since the beginning, emerged from the lair. They moved through the crowd murmuring words of comfort.

When they reached the front of the assemblage a hush settled in the throng. Thane, a handsome mirror, spoke.

“Be calm. All will be well. Percy and Poppet are bonded to our founders. That bond did not go away when the founders did. Percy and Poppet went into a deep mourning, much like a hibernation --a sleep of sorts. They waited patiently. Their emergence at this time can only be a sign of the return of Her Ladyship and His Lordship. They will return.”

The gathered clan scurried about, tidying the compound, talking of making a feast and generally getting in one another’s way.

Thane spoke quietly to Anatole. “Organize them, won’t you. Calm them down. You’re good at that sort of thing.. This chaos will achieve nothing.”

Anatole’s frills wiggled and waggled. “Got it,” he replied with his dull monotone belying his excitement.

Anatole fluttered up above the heads of the crowd and began calling names along with tasks. The chaotic crowd was soon a smoothly functioning team preparing for the return of its founders.

Anatole perched on a limb of the tree shading Thane. “Well, they’re organized and working. And you just lied your scales off. You don’t have any more idea what the unicorns mean than anyone else. And you’re just as frightened as everyone else.”

Thane sighed and toyed with the wendigo haunch his mate-of-the-moment had brought him for lunch. “They were on the verge of panic. What would you have had me do? I do know that the unicorns would not be waiting so calmly if the Founders were in danger. Dash off to the fields and gather some fresh moth wings. You know jewel adores them. I may not know when, but they will be back.”

*Days Later*

In a secluded glen of the clan’s territory two Ridgebacks were sharing a meal of eel fry. Themisto leaned from in to whisper to her son, Ambrosius, “That old Thane has this whole clan rushing around preparing for the return. You just don’t return from the Stormcatcher -- or any other deity for that matter. The answers you get there come at a price.”

“But, Mother, there are tales of those relieved of service for their bravery and persistence. “ said Ambrosious, who liked and admired Thane.

Themisto snapped, “Pish-posh! I’d love to see them return as much -- or more -- than anyone else. They took me in without a question; jewel helped me to arrange my sleeping place with her own talons.. I was the first Ridgeback here, amidst all the Faes and Pearlcatchers and Mirrors. Never once did she make me feel out of place or allow anyone else to.” Her eyes took on a far away look.

Ambrosius contemplated all this while he chewed an eel fry. His mother seldom spoke of her past.

“Thane is a smart old soul, Mom.. He trained me, you know.. Let’s hope he knows what he’s talking about.”

Themisto wiped away a tear. “I hope he does,” was her barely audible reply.

*An hour’s flight away from the home of Clan Improbable*

Two Faes landed atop a craggy mesa.

“Do you suppose they’ll recognize us in all our finery?” jewel asked.

“We were pretty plain before, but you bellow at them once and you’ll be instantly recognized,” Sterling chuckled.

She slapped at him with a wing, “You take that back! I do not bellow!”

He dodged, “Of course you don’t, luv. Anyhow, Percy and Poppet will know us. I hated leaving them but they’d never have survived this crazy trip. And we return with no more answers than we started with.”

A serene smile crossed jewel’s lips, “But we have the wisdom he gave us.” She stood straighter and closed her eyes and recited the lesson they had travelled so far to learn.

“It doesn’t matter where you start, nor where you finish. The journey is all.”

Sterling nodded, “So it is. But, let’s put paid to this particular journey and go home..”

Her frills fluttered, “Last one home’s a rotten egg.”

They took flight and soared homeward.

*Meanwhile, back at Clan Improable*

Percy’s nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. He nudged Poppet. They stood in unison and kept their eyes on the horizon.

Ambrosius, settled in the shade of a boulder on his shift of unicorn watch, lifted into the air and silently signaled Thane.

The Mirror closed his eyes and squeezed the Charged Sprocket he wore as a luckpiece and started toward the western perimeter of the clan’s territory. Ambrosius settled beside Thane a short distance from the unicorns. The Mirror and the Ridgeback stared at the patch of sky that fascinated the unicorns.

The rest of the clan drifted over in twos and threes. Tension thickened the air as they all gazed at the sky. Even the hatchlings were quiet and the Spirals were still.

Two enlarging dots appeared in the sky. Minutes passes as the spots grew and gradually resolved themselves into the silhouettes of Faes in flight.

Whispers and gasps sliced through the air.

“Is it them?”
“Could it be?”
“What if it’s not?
“Let it be them, please.”

The silhouettes grew larger. Themisto, tears streaming down her face, walked toward the front of the crowd like a sleepwalker. Percy and Poppet began to race in circles around and through the milling throng.

Thane met Anatole’s eyes. ”Aren’t you lucky I don’t say I told you so?”

Much Later

More improbably, jewel and Sterling made the decision to become Gaolers on 6/8/19.