Starscape

DEEPLY indev. This won't be readable (without eye damage) for awhile.

Also, it's one of my experimental horror pieces for "something awful that's well within site guidelines". I think this is the most successful I'm going to be at that. I don't know what trigger warning to put...it's not really body horror and the "monster" is neither cruel nor inflicting pain. Distress?

Dream Journal:
A younger me, broken and bloodied, still dragging myself through the Wilds on a careless Search. I stumble into a clearing. My Charge is there - my precious colony, calling out to me - I wrap myself around it and prepare to bleed out in peace. But then the ground gets all wrong, and I'm in the air, my Charge is too, its rhizomes twisted and trapped on a fine mesh of scale-covered tendrils, and it'll be another few hours before I understand that those are (were?) dragon scales. I'm already panicking, and then I start to feel its mind washing over me, clumsy attempts at soothing and petting, vines formed from chimeral flesh blossoming with eyes from ten Flights (it never took Nature eyes). I wish I hadn't felt that mind, I wish I could still believe it hates us because that would make what came next torture, and I know how to resist that. But it was trying to give me what I wanted, that was all, showering me with blessings, slithering through veins in some misguided understanding of what a hug was. It understood the Search in a way no non-Guardian could (how many Guardians are in there?). It threaded my Charge's rhizomes so deeply into my body I couldn't tear it out if I wanted. I tried to feel pain but couldn't; it wouldn't let me. It held me for days or weeks, weaving gobs of jungle and stolen meat into muscles to replace the ones it was peeling out. I tried to tell it to stop, but it just kept apologizing.

---

Tirohia's been watching me sleep.

I'm not sure for how long--I only found out thanks to Quince. I've been trying to stay up, chewing bitter herbs to keep myself alert, but my mind's slipping. Could I find an excuse to sleep in some public place, or would that force her hand?

On top of that, the coatl's meeting with me almost daily. Winks at me, talks about "blessings." Supposedly, her force has never taken a Nature dragon. I've seen enough of Cantos to know that a full-fledged Well victim is in no shape to talk about it. Besides, we have Rosaspinam's testimony. What was it Aria called her? A "war criminal"? Disgustingly bold lie - even more proof we shouldn't believe a word that hypnotic little snake spews out.

Note to self: It's time to talk to Quince about countermeasures of our own. I'm sure he knows something fast-acting and painless. We should also add more booby traps to the meeting-glade. Who knows how much they've figured out I'll assume "everything". There's likely moles in the clan proper. How long've they been planning this?

According to Rosaspinam, the only reason Aria's not made her move is because her real motives haven't been exposed, but once one of us is taken out, there's no point in holding back. The clan deserves a little forewarning. I'm going to set up a dead man's switch using some golems I borrowed from Antirra, spread word in case we fail to check in. And we need more traps on the perimeter! So much to do; Tirohia aside, I don't remember the last time I slept right.

Speaking of, Fulgurum's restless. I think the only reason he's listened to me so far is because something like half my body tissue came from his Charge. What kind of Guardian keeps another from their Search? Then again, what else can I do? If the Well found out that there's a dragon out there -- a Nature dragon, no less -- with that kind of bond? I know what it'll do to get him, and I can guess what it'll do to him.

The more I think about it, the more undefended we are. I can't just wait around! Maybe some tripwires? Better than nothing; I can't just stay here, I feel like the wood is crawling out from my skin. Wish I could wait for Quince, but I think I'll be fine. Tirohia hasn't done anything violent yet, and I'm pretty sure Cantos is with a "patient." I'd beg the Glademother to have mercy on me, but I've seen her mercy firsthand...perhaps I'll pray for her to ignore me, instead. Her and everyone else.

---

Old/bad

Somehow the Gladekeeper made something like a Guardian, but without eyes or claws or legs, something unable to move or speak, and she made its Charge all of dragonkind. Of course it's insane. It forged itself limbs from the bloated scraps of the Charges it failed and taught itself how to hug. It's scared and hurt and lonely, and if you try to help it, it'll shower you with its "gifts" until you escape or break. It didn't just forget about its Wellsprung. It's coming back for all its runaways, and I know it sent Aria to do the dirty work. Rosaspinam's told us all about that snake and her "blessed" fangs. It won't be long until her teeth are angling for Wellsprung throats, mark my words, but I'm not going to let that happen; I've slain plenty of serpents in my time.




Are she and Cantos planning something? I know we're not supposed to use their names, but he's still a dragon sometimes. Gods, I wish I could help, but every time he gets lucid I'm just terrified of what he'll ask. Some day it'll be for a mercy kill and I'll have to say no, or else it's open war. It might be anyways with that coatl here now.

We've got maybe a dozen dragons, and Rosaspinam's the only proper fighter. I've got a lifetime of training, but I know what'll happen if I try to fight. I've seen what it does to Cantos. I suppose the Well has less of me to puppet, at least? I've thought about spreading word, but best guess is that it thinks it's still a secret, mostly; that's probably the only reason the coatl's held off attacking. So we've got who-knows-how-much borrowed time to study this thing, shut it down, whatever. How am I supposed to fight something that owns so much of me? It's gotten into my dreams.



Starscape (considering a rename) recently "took over" the role of Wellsprung Leader from Quince, so there's some info missing here. Long story short:

Wellsprung: Dragon that's encountered the Well of the Woods.

Wellsprung: Society of dragons that work together to make sure the Well can't affect any more dragons.

This is confusing because, until very recently, there were no dragons in the clan who were Wellsprung without being a part of the Wellsprung. Going to think of a new name for them, I guess.

The Wellsprung as an organization is pretty powerless. But they keep trying; Quince does black-market herbology to fund their efforts, Starscape uses her leftover authority from her previous position to direct crews away from the Well, etc. So they put on a pretty good show, which ended up suckering Rosaspinam into staying with Castoff, which ended up with Aria finding out about these guys. They're convinced she's with the Well and is going to hunt them all down and drag them back there--wrong, of course, but since Aria is super crazy and everyone suspects the worst of her, she can't really convince them otherwise.

VS. the Glade Brigade in the "Castoff cold civil war." The Wellsprung have been with the clan longer, so they're really pushing for existing clanmates to be suspicious of the Glade Brigade. They've not exposed the Well's existence (yet).


Pre-Bio: An old storyteller visiting from the Behemoth. She only intended to remain with Castoff for a few months, but fell in love with the clan's easygoing lifestyle. The markings on her body are warding tattoos, enchanted to protect her hide from the creatures of the deep jungle. She's begun accompanying Fulgurum into the darkest parts of the Wilds, knowing full well the importance of the Search. She's been there before...

Wellsprung: like Fulgurum, her Charge was located at the Well--unlike him, she attempted the journey alone. She was weak and wounded when she stumbled into its territory. The Well took advantage of this, and its modifications went far beyond what it would normally subject a Nature dragon to. She was able to convince it to transplant her Charge (the mushroom colony) to her transformed self, likening it to the Well's own desire to draw in dragons. Overjoyed to be "understood," it did her one better, threading the colony's rhizomes through her entire body, and continued to shower her in "blessings" until she managed to escape.

Her feelings towards the Well are somewhat complicated. On one hand, there are few Guardians whose Charges are so immaculately protected. On the other, the Well has made it clear that it's not done with her, and she's nervous her presence is responsible for the attention Clan Castoff's been getting lately, particularly from Aria's cult. But then again, she has a certain empathy for it--she imagines it's like a paralyzed Guardian whose Charge is all of dragonkind. Its brokenness is more pitiable than terrifying.

She accompanies Fulgurum to keep him safe and ensure that, should he ever find his Charge, he won't be alone like she was. She also does her best to misdirect him, her storytelling skills being handy for wildly exaggerating the danger of the deep woods. On one hand, keeping another Guardian from their Charge is sacrosanct. On the other, she has reason to believe his Charge is the Well itself, and she shudders to imagine what the Well will do if it finds out.

The tattoos have no actual warding effect.

Tirohia scares the hell out of her.