Rhys

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. This dragon embarked on a trip across Sorneith during Brightshine Jubilee 2020 from June 21 to June 27. He is one of many who are traveling to various lairs and clans in the hopes of spreading love and joy to those they encounter. When it's over, they'll be able to look back at the adventures they had and dragons they met and remember the journey they went on. ____________________________________________ coding // graphics

Rhys couldn't believe his eyes. The sunflower fields looked more beautiful this year than they ever had before. The flowers seemed to welcome him, seemingly parting to receive his slender shape. He took a deep breath, clutched his bundle of sunflowers, and walked into the maze of blossoms. Soon, Rhys began to feel calm and prepared for the journey ahead. He knew now that no matter what happened, he would be all right. He continued on, ready for the journey ahead.

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Rhys' first stop was to a shopkeep by the Observatory. As he went about, he was pointed in the general direction by many local drakes. And yet, when he reached the spot, he had one question on his mind. Which shopkeep did these go to? Inside the Observatory was supposedly a hobbyist who dabbled in confectioneries and other sweet treats, and a few sunflowers would make a wonderful snack of candied seeds for some peckish Tundras. Then there was the Imperial in the underground levels of the Observatory, with his snakelike intonation and his slightly imposing demeanor. Okay, very imposing. He was huge! Even if he had a soft spot for a Guardian apparently making the same sort of trip as the delivery Coatl. He heard rumors the Imperial didn't like flowering plants though, so he was likely out. Then there was the guy who owned that little bar down below. Rhys had heard of some fancy uses for flowers in certain drinks meant for the herbivores of Sornieth. Were Sunflowers one of them? He had no clue.

As he wandered, hoping to find the right shopkeep, he ran into a Pearlcatcher with feathered wings of pitch and sharp golden eyes. The Coatl jumped back when he heard that lion-like rumble from the Pearlcatcher as he scooped up his pearl. "Hey! Watch where you're going." he snapped. Well, he certainly didn't seem happy. Before Rhys could talk, the drake continued. "First I'm sent off by Azriel to fetch that Umbra Wolf, and now I'm behind on setting up my bar for the first day of Brightshine. At this rate, I won't be able to sell anything!" Oh, so this was the barkeep! Rhys decided to pipe up.

"I'm sorry for running into you! I'm just delivering flowers, and I can't figure out which shopkeep is supposed to get them!" The Pearlcatcher, still a little grouchy, grumbled as he settled down next to the Coatl.

"So... do they have a name, or are you running around like a Java Sparrow on a caffeine rush?" Well, he hadn't wanted to open the papers that came with them... wait, did he have a list? He fished around the little greeting card envelopes with their respective sunflowers, and beamed when he found a list of recipients. He gasped.

"Oh, it looks like there's three for today! One's to a Coatl named Razael." The Pearlcatcher let out a disappointed sigh.

"Oh, him. He's the guy with the Aviary in the Observatory. When he has the time, he whips up some sweets in his little shop. The Sweet Treat, I think. Might be using them to make some candy petals for cakes or chocolate covered sunflower seeds. Wouldn't be surprised if he gave a few to the couriers." His wings folded in a little. "So, who else?" Rhys squinted at the name on the list.

"...An Imperial named Kami-" The Coatl was surprised when he heard a deep rumble of a purr from the Pearlcatcher as he pulled his pearl close.

"Kami! That'd be my fiance. She runs a little flower shop just down the way. I just came back from her place! She was wondering when the sunflowers would come in! She has quite the green thumb, you know." The Pearlcatcher continued to talk about his little chamomile flower Kamilla and how wonderful she is. He even warned Rhys to keep trees out of the equation with her. She had a fear of them when a rather large one in the Everbloom Gardens fell onto her when she was a hatchling. She'd barely survived, and couldn't stand having a canopy over her head ever since. Finally, after listening to this Pearlcatcher talk about his wife to be, Rhys was asked about the final shopkeep. He went silent when he heard the name.

"...Last one's a Pearlcatcher named Samael."

For a moment, Rhys thought he'd offended this poor fellow somehow. Did he know this Samael? Perhaps they were rivals of a sort? Finally, after a long pause, the Pearlcatcher spoke up.

"...I was wondering when my Meadow's Breath garnishes would come in."

By the end of the day, Rhys left with three new friends, some experience with feisty birds, and some candied flower petals. He may be a fish eater, but perhaps some of his plant-based clanmates would like a few?



"Get out of the way!"

Rhys hurled himself to the side, barely escaping being trampled by a ridgeback being followed quickly by a female fae. Whoops and hollers came from the pair as they crashed through the streets. A last glimspe told him they were chasing down a herd of animals. Other cries of shock came from those unfortunate enough to be near the stampede.

The male coatl grimaced to himself. Well, at least they weren't heading in his direction; he was on his way to deliver another round of sunflowers to... where was it again? He glanced down at the list he had been given.

"Windsinger's Fourth Temple?" Rhys muttered to himself. Did they number their temples here?

Looking up again, he caught sight of a towering palace like structure. Surrounding it was many more structurally sound buildings, and the streets looked cleaner than he would've imagined, considering there were familiar-chasers in this town. He could only see the top part of this building, however, due to the other shops and businesses dotting the landscape.

As he walked closer, Rhys noticed the polished up look of the surrounding areas to the temple. Yes, there were many more dragons to the center of the town, all looking to enter the place of worship, no doubt. But the flow of the line moved quickly. Either they were all being turned away, or the priests were completely efficient with their time.

Drawing nearer, he reasoned that even without its glowing lanterns and lights, without the crowd of dragons, he would've guessed it to be a temple just by its architecture. It had dark, sloping roofs to contrast its bleached white walls. There were about five levels, all gradually becoming smaller as the eye traveled upwards. On the bottom yard, close to the walls, were many trinkets and decorations -- gifts for Windsinger, he supposed.

Within about ten minutes, the line was almost gone, all of the dragons satisfied with what they had received. Rhys was the last to approach the temple, and upon closer look, he saw an ethereal dressed tundra, with blue silks draped across him. He was sitting peacefully, no other attendants in sight.

"Welcome, visitor. You may approach."

His voice was quiet but endearing. The tundra's peridot eyes brimmed with warmth and as soon as Rhys stepped up, the tundra smiled.

Rhys dipped his head to the priest out of respect. "I'm Rhys, and I have a delivery of sunflowers for the Brightshine Jubilee. I've been told to bring them to the Windsinger's Fourth Temple. I presume this is it...?"

The blue male waited a while before responding, as if he was processing all of Rhys' words.

"Yes, Lyedia had ordered those for decorations. Thank you for bringing them in."

The coatl nodded his head and slid over the bundle of sunflowers. Once the tundra had received the items, Rhys hesitated. Was that it? Nothing adventurous, just one stop at the temple? Maybe out of desperation to experience a little more, he continued the conversation.

"What do they call you here?"

The priest raised his head up from the flowers. A smile spread across his face, intrigued by this stranger's attempt at a conversation.

"My name is Glassdan and I work as an Oracle for the temple."

Ah. An oracle. Was that different than a priest?

"And before you leave, traveler, I would like to bless you if you'd allow it."

Wait, what? Rhys tilted his head. "I mean, uh, sure?" Bless? Why would he be blessed? Could oracles even do that? Turns out it didn't even matter because at this point Glassdan had stretched out his neck, placing his head on the yellow coatl's shoulders.

The oracle whispered under his breath in a language Rhys couldn't understand. The pair remained in that position for about a minute. When Glassdan did pull away, the coatl felt.. different? Enlightened? Lighter? What was the word? He couldn't describe it but something was better.

"Safe travels, Rhys. The Windsinger will watch over you for the rest of your journey." Glassdan was soft with his words, rounding the edges like a comfy blanket or a cloud.

"Thank you." He wasted no time in leaving, though a part of him wanted to stay with Glassdan, or at least come to know him better. Who blessed a random dragon they didn't know?


Rhys clutched his bundle of sunflowers as he flew down the cliffside, searching for a particular shop. He had only one delivery today; it was marked "Candydust". With a name like that, he figured the recipient must be a candymaker or something similar.

But the cliffs seemed rough and undeveloped; he could not discern any particular shops. A bitter and almost sickening herbal scent wafted out of one cave, a chemical stench accompanied by a lot of loud roars came from another, and the sound (and smell) of dozens of familiars came out of another.

Puzzled, he sat in the sand and scratched his head. He could tell that this clan was developing slowly; they had yet to have any more than the barest vestiges of civilization. So how did they come to have a candymaker? And where was he or she?

"Hello, traveler."

Rhys looked up, and gasped. A lovely vision of a Coatl soared down to meet him, landing gracefully on the beach. Her golden eyes lit up--all of them--at the sight of the sunflowers. "Ah! So it is that time of year again. I wondered what was making my heart so light this week."

"Are you Candydust?" Rhys asked, entranced by her many eyes.

She shook her head. "I am Sugarfrost. Candydust is my mate, and he will return shortly."

Rhys couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that his bundle was not for her. He would have liked to give her something.

She smiled knowingly. "That isn't really what you want, you know."

"How so?"

"Candydust and I, we are not like most other dragons, or even most other multigaze dragons. We see the hopes, dreams, and deepest desires of everyone we meet."

A pink Fae with blue eyes all down his sides fluttered up and hovered. "Welcome, Rhys," he said. "I'm the one you're looking for right now."

Rhys bowed, and handed the bouquet to the Fae, who smiled and handed half to his mate. "Happy Brightshine Jubilee," he said. Then he couldn't help asking, "Do you really know what I want more than anything?"

"We do," the two dragons said. "But we also know that the best way for you to find it is to keep looking yourself."

Candydust shot up to his own cave, and returned a moment later with a bit of honeycomb. "In the meantime, this small bit of sweetness will make your way easier, and your heart merry as you finish your errands this week," he said.

Rhys accepted it gratefully, and waved a claw to the candymakers as he flew off.


i feel bad for leaving this empty but i've been fighting this coatl anatomy for two days now and it's still gonna be a while and i didn't wanna clog up the chain so consider this an IOU for a pixel coatl headshot (that may just end up being a lore blurb if this keeps not working out but i felt bad for the poor guy having no art yet :c) that i'll get to you ASAP, hopefully that's ok <3

in the meantime please enjoy this fresh batch of sunflowers <3


Rhys looked down at the list. The next one was the Crystalstar Clan, located in a clearing within the Starwood Strand. Luckily, it was day time, so it wouldn't be too hard to locate the clan.

Something caught Rhys' eye. Buzzing with excitement, the Coatl swooped down to land. In front of Rhys, there was a clearing with many tents. Bright yellow banners with crudely drawn sunflowers hung flimsily around two wooden poles.

Around the poles swooped a white Spiral with green wings. Blue runes blazed along her body like the flowers found on the trees here. Rhys watched quietly with curiosity, wondering what this Spiral was doing.

Finally, after a few minutes, the Spiral looked up. She gasped, her claws flying to her face. Her body started to twist around anything it could reach. Rhys widened his eyes, alarmed, and stared at the Spiral, hoping she could explain what was happening.

“Oh, you’re the traveller!” She cried. She glanced back at the decorations. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you’d come so early! I’m not ready with the welcoming decorations yet!”

“It’s okay,” Rhys reassured. He handed the bundle of sunflowers to the Spiral.

“Oh! So forgetful. I’m Mistletoe, by the way.” Mistletoe smiled as she received the flowers.

“Rhys here.” The Coatl grinned. The two shook hands.

“So.” Mistletoe waved a claw at the decorations. “I’m not done with this yet. This is kind of awkward, so maybe you could be at the library for a while?”

Rhys contemplated the idea. The library sounded nice. There was a relatively big structure in the centre, and that could be the library, seeing as this is an Arcane Clan. He could stay in there, curled up with a book, and take a rest from his travels……

“No need. I’ll help you.” Rhys moved forward to tie the banner’s string around one of the wooden poles. "After all, the Brightshine Jubilee is all about spreading joy and happiness."

Mistletoe smiled brightly. “Great!”

Together, the two looped the banner around the poles, securing it tightly. Once they were done, Rhys fluttered down to admire the work.

Mistletoe bustled over with something in her talons. “Thanks again!” she said. “Here’s a gift for your troubles.” She handed over a cup with a Banescale model, its wings flared.

As Rhys inspected the cup, he saw the Banescale wink at him. Not for the first time, he smiled.

“Safe travels!” Mistletoe cried, waving at Rhys as he prepared for his next clan. “Do come back next time!”

Rhys nodded, flared his wings, and let the wind carry him as far as he could go.


Rhys was ready for a break by the time he made it to the next lair, after once more navigating the challenging air currents of the Windswept Plateau. And he found it when he paused at a corner table in an open lounge to take a look at the game that was going on.

"Want to join?" the bogsneak shuffling the cards invited. "Just starting a new round, there's an open seat."

"Oh, uh, gambling? I don't really have anything on me, and I've never played..."

"No money stakes this time, it's a teaching game," the bogsneak said, with a little smile and nod toward two fledglings coming over balancing fresh drinks. "...You could bet those sunflowers, if you like?"

Rhys hummed, and pulled out his delivery instructions to check—the next few bouquets weren't going to anyone specific, they were just to 'pass around to share the joy!' so he could, if he wanted. And it did look like fun. Rhys was sort of generally aware of the rules of the game, but not the specifics of play.

So he sat down with the bogsneak, a very old tundra and the two fledglings, and listened through the bogsneak's explanation of the turns, how betting worked, and which hands of cards were worth what. Then they played, and it was fun, mostly because the bets quickly got... silly, and determining equivalent wagers even sillier.

"I call..." one of the fledglings announced, face wrinkled in concentration, "...a tickling war."

Rhys hummed. That sounded like a hatchling thing to do (not that this fledgling looked very far out of hatchlinghood), and Rhys had never been much for rambunctious activity like that when he was that age. "Well, how does that work? What are the rules?"

The fledgling looked uncertain. "Whoever loses the hand gets tickled?"

The other fledgling set up a storm of ferocious protest.

"I call," the bogsneak said comfortably, "five minutes' practice in trick shuffling." And demonstrated, with a spare deck, that it was possible to shuffle cards on your own nose. The fledglings straightened up in avid competition.

"I raise," the old tundra said solemnly, with a twinkle in his eye, "a song, at least four minutes' duration, to be sung when and to whom at the winner's discretion."

"Call!" both fledglings said instantly, before sorting themselves back into proper order.

Rhys flicked his tongue at his cards, giving less attention to whether they were any good than to coming up with a good bet. Just sunflowers wouldn't do for this round. "I... call... half an hour of audience time. Dedicated attention to whatever you want attention for, and if I've enjoyed it, a bouquet of sunflowers gifted at the end."

The fledglings' eyes widened. "That's a raise," one said, impressed.

"Can it be for if I practice my comedy routine?" the other asked.

"Of course," Rhys nodded. "Oh, but it has to be something today, I have a schedule I have to keep."

"That's okay!" The fledgling looked ready to jump up from the table and go make whatever preparations were necessary for a comedy routine right that moment. The bogsneak coughed a tolerant reminder.

The fledgling lost the round. Rhys felt so bad he wound up watching the routine anyway, and to his surprise had a wonderful time.

art by Bananyan


Today was the final day of his journey, and although the end of his adventures as a sunflower courier left him with a sense of melancholy, there was also a touch of excitement at the thought of his homecoming and the stories he could share with his clanmates.

His last delivery was to be made to one by the name of 'Sunny', and Rhys was beginning to think that such a dragon did not exist with how far away from the market streets the directions he had been given led him. Opting to have faith in the confidently delivered 'he's somewhere over that way' he had received from one of the merchants, Rhys marched onward into a dusty clearing full of sunflowers and strange boxes. He couldn't help but wonder why one who had an entire field of sunflowers at their disposal would ask for another bundle, but he was pulled from these thoughts by the sound of buzzing, which grew louder the further into the field he wandered.

It appeared that these strange boxes were apiaries, and that the rising buzz was the sound of bees making the most of the floral anomaly that had taken place the past week. Taking a closer look at the face of one of the massive sunflowers, Rhys could pick out multiple species of bees and wasps existing together, suspending any rivalries in favor of ensuring that the bounty they had been given did not go to waste. Looking out into the field with this revelation in mind, he could see glade swarmers refusing to travel away from the larger group no matter the benefit, protective wasps diligently guarding the apiaries that served as their hives, and perdita bees floating lazily from flower to flower, seemingly unable to ever locate these aforementioned hives.

It was then that he heard a voice behind him,
"Welcome! Are you looking for Sunny, because that just so happens to be me! Sorry to have made you come all the way out here to deliver some sunflowers. I would have picked them myself, but I just couldn't bear to take any away from these little guys. Look at how happy they are!"

The speaker was an imperial, followed by yet another cluster of bees, due by and large to the flowers he wore across his shoulders. His entourage of small insects was no deterrent to Rhys as he reached into his pack one final time to deliver his very last bundle for the week. His bravery was quickly noticed by Sunny,
"It's great to see someone else who doesn't mind my little friends here! In fact, do you have a moment to spare? They've been working hard all week, and I could use another set of hands to help me harvest the extra honey."

With the promise that he would be able to take some of the sunflower honey back home, Rhys set out to work, following the beekeeper's lead. His first lesson was that bees and wasps were naturally protective of their hives and thus must be put to sleep before the honey can be harvested. Some used smoke to achieve this effect, but Sunny preferred to use the pollen of certain plants, as it placed less stress on the insects and still achieved the desired outcome. The boxes could then be broken down into several different layers from which the raw honeycomb was scraped. Rhys rather enjoyed this process, finding the ease with which the knife was able to separate comb from foundation very satisfying. With that done, the box was reassembled and the buckets they had filled with honeycomb were walked to the edge of the field, so as to reduce the likelihood that the wandering bees would get themselves stuck in the harvested product.

They harvested the first few hives together, but Rhys' confidence grew quickly, leading him to attempt the next hive on his own. The layers of the larger hives were quite difficult to lift, weighed down by a week's worth of produce, so they were left to the imperial while the coatl tended the smaller hives. Moving diligently from hive to hive much like the bees around him moved from flower to flower, Rhys soon came upon an inconsistency in the field.

There seemed to be a mound of dirt here while the rest of his surroundings were flat as far as the eye could see. Moreover, only the bolder species of bees and wasps could be found here; bumbles and crystalplate stingers had replaced the honeybees he had grown accustomed to working with. Almost as soon as he noticed the change, the ground beneath him began to quake and the mound of dirt pitched upward, revealing the form of a flowering pohip. He stood there in shock as the creature opened its mouth wide in a gaping yawn, but noticed that the insects around him were little more than annoyed at the sudden disruption.

Trusting their instincts, he approached the pohip with a piece of dripping honeycomb in hand, hoping to show it that he meant no harm. Intending to befriend the creature, but still unwilling to place his hands in between its powerful jaws, he tossed the honeycomb and watched as it was caught and swallowed in one quick gulp. Seemingly appeased, the pohip lied back down on the ground with its head slightly raised, watching Rhys tend to the rest of the hives and waiting for any more treats that were thrown its way.

At some point during the process, he caught up with Sunny who seemed glad but not surprised at the presence of the pohip claiming that 'it wouldn't be the first time one of them has come to visit'. Comforted by the knowledge that both he and his new friend were welcome in the sunflower fields, he finished the last portion of his task quickly.

After exchanging farewells with Sunny, he turned to go, only to be stopped by the sound of lumbering footsteps behind him. Turning back, he saw that the pohip had risen to its feet and was now staring intently at Rhys, as if awaiting instructions. A few more experimental steps revealed that the pohip intended to follow him home, and the coatl did not believe it would accept no for an answer. Honey in hand and titan in tow, Rhys began the final trek back home.


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