Altitudo

_____ A L T I T U D O Clan's Fisher/Sailor STATISTICS: STR |▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░| DEX |▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░| CON |▓▓▓▓░░░░░| INT |▓▓▓▓▓░░░░| WIS |▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓| CHA |▓░░░░░░░░| Manning a ship, whether it is a small fisher boat or a large military ship, requires a lot of wisdom, dexterity, and strength. However, Altitudo very much perfers to work alone, described by his low charisma. He does not trust others with his ship in any aspect. However, it would be nice to build a navy... . Clan Sun Bear's Water Ambassador Altitudo very much considers himself a Water dragon, despite his deep green eyes and his Nature elemental alignment. As a souvenir of his past he keeps an alive plant in a small potion jar. It doesn't require watering, only a little bit of sunlight every day. This magic plant was a work of the Clan's apprentice sorcerer, LittleRiver. She made it for him as a gift after becoming the clan's very own Water ambassador and told him to not let the new title go to his head, and to stay true to his roots. TITLE HERE ____Tunder was booming in the Viridian Labyrinth. The leaves on all of the gigantic trees were rustling as the branches swung violently, threatening to crack and smash into the ground. A small Nature clan seemed to be in the heart of the storm. The resided in the Gladeveins. They thought the small rivers and streams would be a great place to start their clan, but they were quickly proven wrong. ____Those small rivers and streams were growing and growing, with no signs of slowing down. First was to go was the general residence of the clan. Washed away in a blink of an eye. "The nursery!" a voice cried, barely audible in the roaring storm. Nobody could hear him, nobody cared. At that point it was every dragon for himself. And soon after that, the nursery was gone. Many parents of small nests could save their children and eggs, quickly running under any coverage from the storm they could find. However, a lot of them couldn't get away. All of the nesting parents who couldn't run sunk with their children and unhatched eggs, never to be seen again. New Beginnings ____A small shake was the first sign, then a crack, then finally a dragon burst through the egg. A small guardian was born into the world. He knew nothing of where he was from, nor of the world outside of the sea. It never occurred to the hatchling to swim up for air, so he remained underwater. He lived most of his live here, traveling the waters with ease. One day, though, he noticed something. The sands and creatures of the sea changed with each new area he explored. Why did the creatures all stay in one spot? ____Finally he decided to swim up and up as far as he could until where was no more water. This dragon, now a full adult, breathed his first sip or air in this moment, as a gasp for what he saw in front of him. Land. Solid land. He stepped out of the water, collapsing almost immediately. He wasn't used to the gravity here. It was a lot easier being in the water, the guardian thought to himself. Why would anyone live here? It's awful. A New Home ____Curious and determined, though, Altitudo stood himself up and walked on. It was difficult getting used to the new environment, and the underwater dragon had to get used to it, but eventually he got the hand of it. Around him it was so bright even the trees seemed to glow. Soon he saw a light blue and purple dragon. This odd species intrigued him. She was so.... tiny, a little more than half his size. She was sitting in the light green-yellow grass,looking at flowers and flipping through a book. "What are you doing?" His voice boomed in the previously very quiet atmosphere, the poor little dragon nearly jumped out of her scales. She turned to him in such a hurry she almost tripped over her own tail. "W-who are you?!" She asked, panicked. "What are you doing in Sun Bear territory?!" Sun Bear? What the hell was that? "Relax, little dragon. I am not here to hurt you... what is a... 'Sun Bear'?" Altitudo felt a little ridiculous for asking. This Sun Bear thing seemed to mean a lot to the other dragon. "Uhh, it's a clan... I live here, along others. You're not supp---" The tiny dragon couldn't even finish her sentence before she was interrupted. Suddenly a third dragon landed between them with a giant thud. Immediately Altitudo's weapon was drawn and now pointing at this new dragon. "You must leave! This is not your home, trespasser!" This new dragon was bright red with piercing yellow eyes. He was smaller than the flower-picking dragon, but seemed more lean. He had a weapon, a sword, as well and it was drawn and facing Altitudo's face. Altitudo couldn't care less about this new dragon. He wished to speak with the first one longer, so he came up with a plan. "I'm here to speak with Sun Bear's leader." He lied. "What is your business?! What clan are you with?! We are not expecting visitors." He had to think quick. What business did he have with a land-dwelling clan? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a river... he could work with this. "The river," he started "your clan is disrupting the waters, polluting them. I am with no faction. I live in these rivers, and your clan is ruining my home. Well, at least only half of that was a lie... [...] Altitudo didn't get exactly what he had wanted. He was currently in this...clan. More dragons than he expected lived here, and they were all staring at him. However, the only dragon he wanted to see was no where in sight. The bright red dragon, who he had learned was called Rubinus, was stuck to his side. He had spoken to a few dragons when they first passed the clan's gates. Now, they were in the town's center, waiting. A crowd was forming around them. All sorts of dragons that he had not seen before, like a black and yellow dragon with four wings, a white and black dragon with a lion's head, and two particularly mean-looking purple dragons. Finally, the crowd started to quiet down. It wasn't before a voice started to speak that he had realized why. "State your business, trespasser." It was a bed and gold dragon with antlers that had spoken. This was the first dragon he had ever seen that was larger than him, at twice his own size. Three dragons were standing on a small cliff over the opening. There was the antlered dragon and next to him was a black and purple snake-looking dragon. Beside him was....! Ah! It was the tiny dragon from before! She wasn't looking at him, but rather down and away. "I wish to speak to the leader." He said. "Well, obviously." said the other. "Why?" "I need to speak with her about the river." The antlered dragon looked fed up with him and puzzled at the same time. "Fine," he finally said. He turned behind him for a brief second, then stepped to the side. Altitudo had expected an even bigger dragon than that to come stepping out, but he was expecting wrong. The fourth dragon was all gold and shined brightly in the direct sunlight. She was only slightly bigger than the first tiny dragon he had saw. She was wearing equally glistening golden armour with a plain sword. This was obviously their leader. The antlered dragon spoke up again. "This is Aurum, Bringer of Lost Souls." The crowd of dragons were suddenly bowing to her, even Rubinus. Altitudo, however, did not. "I understand you have a problem with our river.." The leader, Aurum, began. "Yes. You are polluting it. Your clan has no care of the waters, and in turn, is damaging my home." "Explain." Aurum said, sitting down. "Their daily activities! Jumping and running through it, disturbing the life there! Creating needless waves... and they clean things in it! Making the clear, bright blue water murky and disgusting." Altitudo was just completely making all of this up. He had never even stepped foot in this river he was talking about. "You live... in the river?" She asked. "Yes! Sometimes. I travel." "That is interesting... considering the river is far too shallow for you to submerge your self in. Surely if you were travelling in this river someone in my clan would have saw you." Uh oh. "Well, she saw me! The tiny dragon!" He said, pointing towards his subject of interest. She jumped and saw that everyone was now looking at her. She seemed panicked. "Is this true, LittleRiver?" LittleRiver. That was the tiny dragon's name. It fit, considering her tiny body and blue scales. It was almost as beautiful as she was, he thought. "Oh! Uhh. Uhm. Yes... I think I saw him by the river..... I don't really remember..." he voice was quiet, he had to strain to hear her. LittleRiver trailed off, not really ending her sentence, just letting it fade away. "Well," the leader began, "I trust your judgement LittleRiver." Aurum turned back to him. "On behalf of Clan Sun Bear, I apologize. I would never want to disturb another's home. What is your name, traveler?" "Altitudo." "Well, Altitudo, I promise you that my clan will be more careful when interacting with the river." "How do I know that?" Altitudo said quickly, almost interrupting Aurum."How do I know you will be more careful?" "You have my word." "I don't care about your word! I care about the water's ecosystem and well-being. I demand TITLE HERE ____Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea. Art made by the talented Quadruped! Special thanks to DraconicProphet for helping me complete this gene project! Bio template by Mibella, find it here.

Altitudo's den was set up right on the outskirts of the clan next to the river that runs through the clan. This den was rarely used, however. The Guardian was almost never in the clan, instead out to sea either on his ship or just by himself, swimming in the deep blue. If he was not dealing with Water neogotiations or problems, he was the clan's Fisher and responsible for feeding the seafood eaters in the clan. He loved his role in the clan because he didn't feel like he was even in one at all. He still had his freedom, but with an extra security net that he could fall on at anytime.
There was one thing he hated about it though..
Since he was never in the clan, he never got to see LittleRiver, the tiny Nocturne of his admiration. She was the Archmage's, Faux's, apprentice. She was always busy with her studies, locked away in her own den. She only seemed to leave her den for dinner or to gather ingredients for her alchemy. It was a shame, really.
Except today.
Today LittleRiver was in the center of the clan. She was sitting with the clan's master archer, Andy. Maybe this was his chance, his chance to..... try to talk to her? Ugh, Altitudo didn't know. He never felt this way about any dragon before. He was a loner at heart and stayed away from any dragon he met. But, it was different for LittleRiver. He wanted to be near her at all hours. Hell, he would even give up a year-long voyage to just spend a day with her.
Ugh this was stupid.
He should just go back to his den.
Despite his mind thinking this, his legs moved him towards her, until he was standing over Andy and LittleRiver.
"Hello." he said.
"Oh hi! You're Altitudo, right?" The Coatl, Andy, replied back.
"Obviously." he said.
Nobody said anything after that. Altitudo felt so awkward... he was not a good conversationlist. At all.
"When's your next adventure, Altitudo?" LittleRiver broke the silence, thank Tidelord.
"Hm. I'm not really sure. The clan is stocked up on enough seafood to last the clan for months, and I've been to every region by now..." ugh come on, think of something to talk about you stupid lizard.
"Maybe I will go to Dragonhome next." Altitudo had no interest of going to Dragonhome, but LittleRiver was an Earth dragon. Maybe she would want to go with him..
LittleRiver smiled and opened her mouth to talk, but Andy interrupted her.
"Really? I never would expect you would want to go there. You hate everything Earthy!! You're like a fish!" Andy laughed at his own joke.
"I am not a fish." Andy stopped laughing and silence covered the three once again.
"Oh, uh, well, I have to go. See you around LittleRiver!" Andy left and the Nocturne waved bye.
"I have to go back to my studies now.." LittleRiver got up and was about to walk away before he stopped her.
"Wait! Uh.. I know you're the Archmage's apprentice... do you... happen to.. uh, need any ingredients from Dragonhome? Or any other region? I don't mind quickly stopping to find something for you." He felt stupid and awkward and just a mess. Why would LittleRiver want him to pick her up something? She obviously didn't care about him, and why would she? He's just a stupid, big---
"Oh, sure!" She said, smiling. "I need 6 Kuhli Loaches, and 5 thistles of Always-Autumn.. I hope that isn't too much trouble.."
"Oh, no, definetly not!" It was safe to say that Altitudo had no idea what those things were. At all.
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. The ship's all ready to go."
LittleRiver shifted her weight, as if she was suddenly uncomfortable. Maybe he was just imagining it.
"Oh, alright! I guess I'll see you when you get back?"
Altitudo nodded. Yes, he would very much like that.
---
It took five months. The trip to Dragonhome didn't take five months itself, but Altitudo liked to visit the different clans of the world. Before, he did not care about any clan what so ever, but he did like to browse the various markets. During his trip he did find the items LittleRiver had wanted, plus a few extras. The merchants had promised him they were common alchemy ingredients that any mage would want plenty of. However, Altitudo was obviously not magically inclined, so he would guess that they probably scammed him. He didn't really care, though. LittleRiver would appreciate the gifts even if they were useless. Or, perhaps she would find uses for them.
Altitudo was just docking his rowboat when he heard a voice before him.
"I'm surprised they make big enough rowboats to fit you!" they had called to him. He turned to see the clan's Food Manager, Toblerone. He was always the first one to approach him when he returned from long treks across Sornieth. Altitudo was not stupid, though. He knew Toblerone only wanted his seafood findings, not to actually converse with him. It was just small talk.
Knowing this, Altitudo had brought all of the seafood he had gotten from his adventure on to the rowboat before he left his ship. His ship was currently out in the ocean, a safe distance away from land.
Toblerone was alone. Great, now he had to help him bring all of the crates to to Toblerone's den.
"It's custom."
"I bet!"
Toberlone did nearly none of the heavy lifting. Altitudo was unsure if it was because he didn't want to or if he just physically couldn't. He was a slightly pudgy brown Coatl, about average height. His pudginess didn't help him with the rumours going around that he eats most of the clan's food stocks.
Once the Guardian was finished helping Toblerone do all of the lifting and carrying, he returned to his (thankfully) untouched rowboat. There was only two bags of things he needed to bring back. One was his personal belongings, the other was filled with LittleRiver's items. After a quick stop to his own den, Altitudo walked to LittleRiver's.
LittleRiver's den wasn't actually hers. It was technically Faux's. Being his apprentice, the poor Nocturne didn't get her own den. It most not be that bad living with Faux 24/7 since she never complained about it. Then again, she didn't complain about anything.
Altitudo stepped in the lair. It was surprisingly dark. Almost no light was casted in the den, covered by trees and a thick branch roof. The Archmage's den was the biggest den of any other factions, even Aurum's. He was four major "rooms". The center one, the one Altitudo was currently in, was the brewing room. In the center was a large brewing pot. It didn't seem to be in use at the moment. To the right were their personal rooms. Altitudo didn't really know what they looked like, as he had never been there. To the left was a huge library, which consisted of most of the den space. Ingredients and books were in this room. On side was for ingreidents (which were neatly labeled and put away in storage drawers), and the other was for books. And that is where he found her. She was looking at the spines of books on a cart, and neatly putting the books in their proper places. She seemed so calm and content. It was obvious she was deep in thought as she didn't hear the giant Guardian walk in. It was also obvious that she wasn't deep in thought about what she was doing because she had to read a book spine twice or thrice to find the proper place for it. Altitudo almost didn't want to say anything, didn't want to disturb her.
"Hello." One simple word from Altitudo made the poor Nocturne jump out of her scales.
"Ah! Al-- Hi! Welcome home!" LittleRiver replied back, surprised. She walked up and hugged him. Altitudo didn't know if he should hug her back or not, so he just cleared his throat and she let go.
"I brought your items." He said flatly, handing her the bag. No good to see you? No thanks? God, Altitudo, how could you be so socially awkward.
"Oh thanks." She took if from him and placed it on the cool tile floor. She opened the bag and looked back at him.
"Wha? I didn't ask you for all of this! Altitudo, you shouldn't have!" She said, pulling a bundle of Maiden's Blush from the bag. Fitting, as LittleRiver was also blushing.
"I-- I hope this didn't cause you any trouble..." she seemed sincere, and of course she was. She was the sweetest dragon to ever exist.
"Don't worry, it wasn't." He lied. It was actually what took up 70% of his time. Wandering random hills and valleys, searching through many merchant stalls, and having to bargain with countless sellers.
Silence fell after that. LittleRiver was browsing through the bag, pulling out a few Meal Moths, a handful of Stellaria Media, and countless other ingredients. Altitudo felt like he should say something. But what? 'Oh hey LittleRiver, it was actually a ton of trouble but I don't care at all because I'm so deeply infactuated with you that whenever I see you I feel like Im drowning, but when I'm away it feels like there's a hole in my chest where my heart should be'. Yeah, that would go over well.
But Tidelord knows that's what he wanted to say more than anything else.
What is appropriate here? Asking her on a date? Asking her if the ingredients are useless? Just leaving? Altitudo felt like leaving would be the safest course of action, but it was the one he least wanted to do....
His racing mind was stopped in his tracks when he realized LittleRiver was looking at him. Oh shoot, was she talking to him?
"Pardon?"
"I said thank you!" She repeated. She was smiling as she said that, and Altitudo knew that he would travel the five months all over again just to see that smile once more.
"You're welcome. I'll be honest, I don't know if these things are actually useful or not."
LittleRiver looked back at the items, now all carefully laid out on the floor in their own little piles.
"I'll be honest," she started, "I haven't heard of a lot of these things.... but that's just means it's all more exciting to discover!"
Altitudo smiled along with her, or tried to anyways. He almost never smiled, so sometimes he forgot how.
"LittleRiver!" A voice from the den's opening called. Altitudo recongized the voice immediately: Faux.
He stepped into the library, stopping in his tracks to take in the scene before him. He didn't seem angry or anything, just a mixture of surprised and confused.
"Excuse me, Altitudo, I need LittleRiver. We have training." He said, nodding towards the Guardian.
"Of course." He replied back, unhappy to have to leave.
"Thank you again, Alti! I'll see you around!"
That was the first time she had ever called him that. It was adorable, he loved it.
"No problem, see you." His voice was low and even, not hinting at his inner thoughts even slightly.
---
Altitudo woke to a knock on his door. Ugh, who the hell was bothering him now? He opened the door and instantly his anger vanished. A tiny Nocturne stood infront of him.
"Mornin', Alti!"
Suddently the worst thing to wake up to turned into the best thing.
"Good morning, LittleRiver." He replied back. He felt like he should come up with a nickname for her, too, but he couldn't figure out how to condense her name down. Maybe to just River?
Altitudo stepped to the side, letting his guest in. This was probably the only time he ever let anyone into his chambers. Not only because he was a dragon who perferred to generally be on his lonesome, but because his den was so far away from anything else in the clan.
"I hope I didn't wake you.. but it looks like I did!" She was teasing him, which earned her a chuckle.
"Yes.. yes you did." He just realized he was smiling. How long had he been doing that? Tidelord, River (no, definetly sticking with LittleRiver) probably thought he was an idiot.
"I brought you a gift!" It was only then did he realize that she was caring a small box with her. It looked gray and plain, but Altitudo was still very excited.
"What is it?!" His voice came out much more excited than he wanted to let on.
"Well, open it!" LittleRiver handed him the box and Altitudo opened it as quick as he could.
Inside was packing paper, which he cast aside. He pulled out the gift and immediately fell in love. It was a round medium-sized jar, and inside was a leaf that seemed to be floating.
"Now don't you start thinking this is some oridinary leaf I just stuck in a jar." LittleRiver was smiling, proud of herself. "It's magic!"
"Magic?" He questioned. He believed her, he was just eager to tell him how a leaf in a jar was magic.
"Well... you see," she began, "this is a special leaf. It doesn't require any water and only a fraction of the sunlight it would normally need. It still does need a little bit of sun, though... so make sure to take it outside once and awhile!"
Altitudo was still turning the jar in his claws, amazed. How could she even make such a thing? Was it a leaf she conjured up, or was it an enchanted regular leaf? He had no idea.
"I made this for you because I can only imagine how lonely the ship gets.." Her smile faded slightly, a hint of sadness now poking through. "I know dragons sometimes give you grief about being a Nature-aligned, so I also wanted you to associate Nature with something good! And I wanted you to never forget about us! Uh, you know, the clan.."
So much throught went into this gift, Altitudo didn't even know what to say.
"And I don't want you to forget me, either."
Oh.
Well that caught him by surprise.
"I could never forget you, LittleRiver." Altitudo felt slightly embarrassed by admitting his feelings, but he looked at the Nocturne and realized she was blushing, too.
LittleRiver didn't say anything else. Instead, she ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug she could muster. Altitudo couldn't help but laugh. Tidelord, she was so tiny.
After that, LittleRiver just knew they were meant to be together. With much to Faux's displeasure, LittleRiver eventually moved to Altitudo's chambers. She even goes on adventures with him when she's not busy with her alchemy work.