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Participant in the Urban Legends Choose Your own Adventure 2017.

As you near the edge of the woods, you come upon a clan’s burrow, buried in the outer trees. Dragons mill about, though not as many as you get the impression tend to be there. In particular, a nocturne lazes on a neatly chopped log, studying his claws. He looks up with eerie purple eyes as you approach.

“Would you look at that, a visitor. Welcome to the Starwood Strand, stranger.” His grin, spreading across his ridged, scaly face, is somewhat menacing from under the plume of his archer’s cap.

“You look to be a merchant, yes?” He takes a moment to let you be uncomfortable at the almost accusatory phrase, then laughs, waving a claw. “Oh, don’t worry, I have nothing against those seeking a profit from our illustrious flight during the Starfall Celebration. Who wouldn’t? After all, this is the first peaceful Arcane Festival in goodness knows how long. Tales of the stars. Fitting, no?”

You move to agree, but before you can, he looks away, claws lacing. “Nonetheless. I promise, it’ll be worth your while. Already folks from all over have gathered at the festival grounds… observing the heavens… sharing tales… discovering constellations… enjoying the wares…”

His eyes rove back to you, his smile now a bit smug. “Oh, apologies. You don’t know the way there, do you? Here, hand me your map. I can mark it…”

With some reluctance, you pass over your scroll case, contained within it a map of Sornieth as well as of the Starfall Isles. He studies it for a moment, then pulls the feather from his hat and marks a point in a shimmering, dark pink ink, carefully tracing a number of paths through the Starwood Strand. “There. Just don’t turn away from the main road and you ought to be fine. Do hurry, the festival has already begun.

“It would be a shame if something were to happen…”


Welcome to the Starfall Celebration ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ (CYOA) Game: Urban Legends!

Your dragon is a merchant* who is planning to join the festivities in the Starwood Strand, the Arcane Flight’s mysterious forest. What will happen when you venture into the glow of the trees …? You’ll have to play along to find out!

During your adventures in the Starwood Strand, you may earn a plethora of aides, counted in ‘Knowledge Points’ and ‘Starbear Points’ - or you may find yourself traumatized by the horrors of the Starfall Isles, incurring Panic Points instead. You can track your scores, and see how you compare to others, here! These points will factor into the ending you achieve as much as your decisions will, so act wisely…

Every time you participate in the CYOA, you will earn one ticket in the CYOA raffle and 100 tickets for our Out Of Flight Raffle (or In Flight for Arcanites!). Acquiring Knowledge, Starbear, and Panic points does not grant additional raffle tickets.

* Note: ‘Merchant’ can be interpreted as closely or as loosely as you like! Your dragon could be selling anything: physical crafted items like armour, written poems/stories, artwork or potions; gathered items like food or familiars; services such as battle training and fashion advice; or even performances (storytelling, dance, acting etc.). You do not have to know what your dragon would be selling in order to play!

As you leave the clan grounds onto the path, a coatl with almost-white plumage approaches the wry nocturne, settling at his side with a sigh. She takes a moment, then looks to him, speaking in an irritated series of nearly indecipherable chirps. “Please tell me you gave that one the right directions.”

The nocturne rolls his eyes, nudging his mate with an affectionate sigh. “Of course I did. I’d hate to have a death on my hands. But I think that’s the one, Whispia. They can figure this out.”

The coatl gave a clicking huff, nestling against his shoulder. “I guess so… I hope so. Let’s just hope the bears don’t cause too much trouble for the poor soul…”





You were warned by your clanmates that the Arcane Flight’s strange forest region is full of both wonders and dangers … but nothing they said quite prepared you for walking the narrow tracks yourself, alone.

The trees that stretch out on all sides seem to reach impossibly high. You pass by glades overflowing with pale lilies, their heads nodding in the direction of the Observatory, and you notice little charred hollows surrounded by singed Starfall Blossoms. Between the trees you sometimes see movement: a Sakura Owl ruffling its feathers on a branch high above; a herd of Wispwillow Perytons that watch you pass from a wary distance; a Psywurm, darting across the path ahead before plunging back into the undergrowth. It’s confusing and overwhelming, and it doesn’t help that the path you have chosen to follow – the path you think your scribbled map indicates – takes such a twisting route that you quickly lose all sense of direction.

When the light starts to fade, you only become more disoriented … Arcanist’s carpals!

You have to admit, though, the Starwood Strand at dusk is beautiful. The trees’ night-time blossoms start to open and the lower boughs quickly fill with twinkling, bioluminescent flowers, lighting the path as you travel onwards. It’s suddenly easy to see how the Starwood got its name … and its reputation of killing geniuses. You decide it’s better not to dwell on that train of thought.

Instead, you think about what will happen when you guaranteedly, definitely get to where you’re going. The festival location is marked on your hastily scrawled, very not accurate map - which you received from a local upon asking for directions towards the festival grounds. It’s not quite at the center of the Starwood Strand, rather it’s where the woods thin as they approach the broken islands of the Focal Point. You suppose you could have taken a ship around the Crystalspine Reaches, but the local you spoke to - a runed nocturne clad in purple - assured you that as long as you stayed on the path, you’d be fine, and promised it was faster for those travelling alone. He seemed to know what he was talking about, though… he was a shadow dragon … Oh, dear.

As you turn a corner around a dense thicket of birch, a pulsating glow off to the right of the path catches your eye. You stop and peer between the trees. It looks strange – strange even for the Starfall Isles. Unlike the night-blossoms, which shine with a gentle, star-like glimmer, this glow is a deep shade of thrumming pink, intense enough to cast the nearby tree trunks into vivid light and shadow. You can’t see what’s causing the glow from here, despite its brightness.

However, you can see a Hibernal Starbear snuffling between the trees. That must be what it is - when it turns, you see its strange head covering and wood necklace, runes flickering between its fluffy, dusty rose fur. It’s not following any dragon-made path, in fact, it doesn’t seem to be following any path at all … but it’s on its way somewhere, lumbering into the woods with an admittedly adorable, muffled sound.


What do you do next?

Make Your Choice






Day 1
SugarCrystals had been hatched into mermadia's nest 3 years ago, and hadn't been back since. Her parents, while traveling through the region in search of scrolls, had paused, clutched, and moved on.

Now she was carrying on their tradition of traveling. She had wandered west,from the Sunbeam Ruins, through the Tangled Woods and the Scarred Wasteland. Now she stood in the Starwood Strand, marveling in glittering trees.

The Starbear caught her attention. She had heard about them, and wondered if they were anything like the Sunbeam Ursas she saw occasionally, in the Mirrorlight Promenade. Was it guarding a scroll or three? Did it know where honey was? Her curiosity pricked, she turned and followed.

You decide it’s probably safe to leave the path with the Starbear as your guide.

+1 STARBEAR

After all, it’s walking confidently between the trees, it’s obviously on its way somewhere. And aren’t these things supposed to be the guardians of the Isles? Thankfully, the bear doesn’t seem perturbed to have a dragon following it - or perhaps it doesn’t notice, because it continues on its way without so much as a glance in your direction.

As you travel further from the path, the foliage closes in around you, but the shining runes on the Starbear’s flanks make it easy to track even in the densest vegetation. Also the sheer fluffiness. You get the impression that these creatures aren’t made to be stealthy in any way, shape, or form.

But you soon forget the thought when you notice where the bear is heading. Towards the glow.

It’s coming from a open space in the forest - but that’s not a natural clearing. There are fallen logs all along the tree-line, not cut down with tools or magic but simply pushed over, roots torn up and splintered wood exposed. The starbear lumbers in, but you stop dead, amazed at the sight before you.

The glow’s source is an enormous meteor. It sits in a shallow impact crater at the center of the clearing, pulsing with light at seemingly random intervals. The bear you have been following isn’t alone - there are several surrounding the meteor, some lounging on fallen trunks, others watching the meteor with wary brown eyes. One is even pawing at it in a curious manner, with a ridiculously fluffy foot.

Then you hear a sound. A unnatural skittering noise. You look back up at the meteor just in time to see a creature climb atop it, poring over the massive, twisted stone with a terrifyingly flat, featureless face, its massive, spindly hands scratching at a hollow -

What in the cosmos IS that thing?!

What do you do next?

• Tell the Authorities!
  
• This is really not my problem
  

Make Your Choice






Day 2
SugarCrystals looks down at her companion comet.

Its hum reminds her that sometimes good things come from space. It had come to her claws when she was still training in the malee arts in the Coliseum, and it had changed her direction in life. She no longer felt the need to scratch and nip
but to explore, gather new scrolls, and discover new companions. She had gathered familiars for her clan across the continent and in trading centers. She was more comfortable by far with beings who were not dragons.

She looks back at the scrabbling thing on the meteor, and then at the surrounding bears. They seem curious, but not alarmed.

This alarming being is not harming any other being at the moment, and she decides to stay quiet and observe. There seems to be no reason to raise a fuss....yet. She decides that

This is really not my problem





Whatever that thing is, you want absolutely nothing more to do with it! Who knows, it might even be normal for the Starwood Strand - you’re not an expert on the flora and fauna of these bizarre woods, and even if you are (not that you’ve seen ANYTHING like this before), this is the Arcane territory. There’s weird stuff all over the place! You tell yourself that it’s fine. It has to be.

You take one last look at that terrifying beast. It’s truly massive, bigger than even the grandest imperial. As you watch it, it scratches at the meteorite, its massive claws actually tearing a hunk of the twisted, melted stone clean out, which falls to the ground.

Oh, eleven above, those must be sharp. And strong. Sharper and stronger than most dragons’ claws. It would be stupid to stay so close to that thing. You swallow, and turn to make your way back through the woods.

CRACK!

A branch you didn’t even see breaks under your foot and the creature whirls around, its many, many, many legs churning through the undergrowth. You stare up at its elongated claws, its quivering spines, and watch with horror as its feathery tendrils stand on end and its face seems to break into pieces, slime oozing from between the segments.

And then you turn tail and run.

+1 PANIC

Branches and leaves whip at your flanks as you charge between the tree trunks. Vines clutch at your feet and you almost trip. You pull your wings in close to your body and barrel onwards. You can hear the bizarre, insectoid skittering of the monster’s legs as it follows you. The snap-crash as it breaks and discards whole trees that stand in its way. You’re also horribly aware of your own heartbeat in your ears. You can’t keep this pace up forever. You’re already out of breath.

Just as you come to that terrifying realisation, you charge through a bush and collide with something solid.

You tumble over and land in a bush, tangled up in the branches with what turns out to be a grumbling Starbear. It snorts and blinks mournfully at you: you have the sudden urge to apologise.

But there’s no time. You scramble out of the bear’s fluffy embrace and struggle out of the bush, glancing over your shoulder just once before you dash off between the trees once more. One glance is all you need to confirm that the thing is still right on your tail. Any lead you might have had is gone thanks to your collision with the bear.

Suddenly you burst through the undergrowth into a clearing filled with the blue light of Starwood Sap lanterns and skid to a halt to avoid colliding with a circle of dragons. They are arranged around a Skydancer, who was in the middle of a very dramatic story until you so rudely interrupted. He falls silent and his audience turns to stare at you, snacks hanging from their claws. The only sound is a low, confused murmur.

And that bizarre, insectoid skittering from right behind you.

With horror you realize - you’ve led the creature right into the middle of a clan’s private festival celebrations!

What do you do next?

• Warn the Clan!
• Try to stop the creature!

Make Your Choice


At this point I did not get the pings and so I stopped.
However, my choices are listed so I could get to the end of the story!


SugarCrystals realizes that something that big is not going to be easy to stop,and she decides to
Warn the Clan






You have only seconds - the creature is almost on top of you - so you dash forward, shouting at the assembled clan to run!

Your panicked expression and sensational description of the creature is enough to convince the clan that this isn’t just a practical joke. A Guardian leaps to her feet and orders the hatchlings and their caretakers to take cover and the warriors to prepare themselves - and not a moment too soon. Within a heartbeat, the creature tramples into the clearing, brushing aside the ancient woodland and hissing through its teeth.

There is instant pandemonium - even with your warning the clan is unprepared for something quite so downright terrifying. As it skitters towards the line of warriors, you can hear the hatchlings screaming in terror from the undergrowth nearby. You join several of the warriors who are standing guard over their hiding place. For a moment, you think the clan might be able to hold the creature back or even stop it.

Then a lash of the creature’s barbed tail knocks the lanterns from the trees, smashing the glass and splashing sticky trails of flaming sap across the grass. The clearing is plunged into strange, flickering darkness as the creature attacks.

It moves incredibly fast for a creature of such immense size. Its claws slice through the air, fending off airborne attacks from even the most dextrous aerial combatants. It catches a Fae with its elbow, slamming him backwards into a tree trunk, his half-cast spell fading as he falls motionless to the ground. It rears up, clawing a Skydancer with the tips of several of its segmented legs as it turns. Its tail whips out again, knocking into a Guardian hard enough to send her sprawling and embed several lengthy spines deep into her flank. Its blank faceplate thrashes back and forth, glaring at the warriors and snapping at their wings.

The whole thing lasts only a few moments. By the time your eyes have adjusted to the new gloom, it is over: you are left with the cries of the wounded and the crack and snap of trees giving way before its inconceivable strength as it departs - carving a new path through the trees.

The warriors who tried to face the creature are lying on the ground, groaning and nursing their injuries. As soon as the creature is gone, the hidden clan members rush out from between the trees to tend to them, some shooting you fearful glances as they pass but most of them barely registering that you are there are at all.


What do you do next?

• Get out of here!
• Help the clan
• Go after the creature

Make Your Choice



Wanting to help, but needing to warn others. SugarCrystal chooses to go after the creature.






You look around the clearing once more and your choice becomes clear to you: you have to follow the creature! You can’t let it get away after causing such havoc and destruction here. You hurry across the clearing and pick your way into the undergrowth on the far side, following the creature’s trail.

At first, it’s not difficult to track the creature along its swathe of destruction. However, once you have left the clearing behind, the creature’s path through the trees becomes less obvious. The splintered trees littering either side of the path taper off and the churned-up landscape becomes smooth once again. You keep going, following a few snapped branches that you can see up ahead, but there are fewer and fewer even of those.

Suddenly you realise that the creature’s trail has completely disappeared, and you’re in an unfamiliar part of the Starwood Strand.

The woods around you get darker as you walk onwards: the blossoms on the trees are high in the canopy above, hidden by a dense thatch of branches and leaves, and it seems that the bioluminescent plants of the Starwood Strand don’t grow in this area. You wander onwards, making your way between the tree trunks by touch and listening to the strange sounds of the forest all around you.

Eventually, you have to admit that you are lost.

+1 PANIC

As you peer through the gloom around you, you think you can make out a narrow track running through the undergrowth up ahead. Off to your right there is a faint, pink-ish glow through the tree trunks. To your left, you can see a distant glimmer of blue light.


What do you do next?

• Follow the dark path
• Head towards the pink light
• Head towards the blue light

Make Your Choice



"Well, this is annoying. Maybe I should go back?"
SugarCrystals looks around. That will not help anyone. She glances down at her comet.
"Ok, pink light it is!"





The pink light looks the closest - and less dangerous than the spooky pathway up ahead - so you turn towards it and squeeze your way through the tangle of branches and vines in that direction. After a short while, you realise that the source of the light is actually moving. You slow down, more cautious now, and creep through the woods towards the pink glow.

After a short distance, you reach an animal track and peer along it. To your surprise, you see a procession of five Hibernal Starbears heading along the pathway, their runes giving off the bright pink glow that you saw through the trees!

The sight of them all following one after the other, pudgy nose to fluffy tail, is so adorable that it lifts your spirits. You can’t resist joining them and take your position at the back of the line, falling in step with the last bear as it waddles along the track. After a few minutes, another bear snuffles out of the bushes behind you and tags on to the line, and it’s not long before you’re surrounded by contented, ursine snuffling and the soft tread of their feet.

+1 STARBEAR

Eventually you recognise a familiar pink glow up ahead through the trees. The bears lead the way into the clearing with the the immense meteor and join their fellows lounging around it. You’re sure that there are even more of them than before - even before your companions arrived.


What do you do next?

• Examine the meteor
• Find out what the Starbears are doing

Make Your Choice



The rock is glowing. The bears are humming. SugarCrystals decided to find out what the Starbears are doing.



The way the Hibernal Starbears have been acting around this meteor is very strange - you’ve thought so from the beginning. You’ve never seen so many of them gathered in one place before: it definitely seems that the meteor is attracting them. That’s worth investigating - especially since these bears are supposed to be the ‘Guardians of the Starfall Isles’. You make your way deeper into the clearing, heading towards the largest group of bears.

You hunker down amongst them and take in the way that the bears have arranged themselves around the clearing. They are everywhere, but the majority are circled around the meteor itself. They don’t seem particularly anxious about its presence, though it’s hard to tell: there is so much fluff that their expressions can be a little difficult to read. However, the way that they are lying around - even given Starbears’ natural inclination to nap at every opportunity - doesn’t suggest that they are in any way worried by the meteor. In fact, almost all of the bears are facing away from the meteor instead of towards it: they obviously don’t see it as something dangerous.

As you gaze at the bears ringed around the meteor, a thought snags in your mind. The bears are guardians - but what is it they are actually guarding?

Are they defending the Starwood Strand and its inhabitants from whatever threat the meteor poses … or are they protecting the meteor itself?

+1 STARBEAR

Suddenly you hear a noise from the trees close by - the scuttling sound of the creature’s approach. You just have time to turn to face it when it bursts out from the underground and undulates over the fallen logs at the edge of the clearing. You notice that the creature is wounded: there are gashes between the plates that form its chest and stomach. The cuts are seeping something pink and viscous. Several of its legs are held awkwardly off the ground or drag along, tripping up the rest and causing it to stumble. However, its long arms are still intact, as are the spines that protrude from its back - it's still potentially very dangerous.

When it spots you lets out a hiss, but doesn’t immediately attack. Instead, it scurries sideways across the clearing, up the side of the impact crater, and places its clawed hands on the meteor. Its visage ripples open in a threat-display to reveal mandibles and teeth and too much thick saliva before closing again. It shies back behind the meteor, raising one clawed hand.


What do you do next?

• Help the creature
• Kill the creature

Make Your Choice



SugarCrystals had never thought the creature as dangerous, just too big and blundering. Had it run into a broken branch, or tree?
She sighed, thinking of the healing lessons she had skipped out in back at the home lair. Maybe a couple of items from her first aid kit could help? She approaches, trying to see how she can help the creature.




This creature is just a creature. It’s just an animal, no more or less than any dragon, and terrifying though it may be, you can’t help but want to help it get back home. You ultimately can’t do anything else.

You step forward, opening your mouth to speak -

- and all at once, the Hibernal Starbears rise, mimicking your motion. They roll up, almost in unison, from their relaxed positions, and, as you watch with awe, they lumber towards you. Before you can blink, you’re surrounded by Hibernal Starbears, all of them waiting for you to make a move.

You feel kind of faint.

You swallow, then look back to the creature. It doesn’t seem nearly as confused as you are; in fact, it gives a series of hisses and clicks and scrabbles up onto the meteor once again. The messy clamber sends chunks of space rocks and space dust flying everywhere, but ultimately it settles atop the massive stone, gripping it as tightly as it can with some legs broken. Its face-plates shift a bit, pointing your way, but it does not attack, nor do its feathered spines flare upwards.

And suddenly, just as a strange, synchronized purr kicks up from the Starbears, that you can feel in your chest as much as you can hear, you know what to do.

You raise a claw and focus your magic as carefully as you can on lifting up the meteor. It really is an arcane thing to do, but regardless of your actual elemental alignment, it seems to work, as the starbears’ runes glow brighter, until the meteor gains a similar, vivid light, the stone’s hue fading into a bright, gentle white.

It’s a spell. They’re casting a spell, and you can feel the magic humming along your body and into the creature’s meteor. You feel VERY faint.

But you press onwards, and with some hesitation, raise your outstretched claw. You almost jerk from the sudden effort, like a weight crushing down on you, but there’s no going back now. You shudder, then lift your claw higher, and slowly but surely the meteor begins to mimic your movements, dislodging from the earth and rising into the sky, above the treeline, rotating towards the Observatory.

There’s just enough time for the creature to look over its shoulder and give a grateful series of clicks - at least you hope it’s grateful - before it soars up over the treetops, climbing higher over the Starwood Strand and gaining momentum incredibly fast. All at once, it takes on the appearance of a shooting star in reverse - falling upwards instead of down. The light of it brightens, then flickers, and then disappears as it presumably hits the upper atmosphere and returns to the vacuum of space.

You feel dizzy. You’d probably pass out, if it wasn’t for the starbears nudging almost worriedly at you.

That was... traumatic. And yet, heartwarming...?

You sit where you are for a solid minute - or maybe twenty, or maybe hours. You just don’t know. But reality finally settles around your shoulders, in its comfortingly naive way. You are a merchant. You came to Starfall to sell your wares.

You should probably go do that now.

---

The stars must have been watching, and they rewarded you handsomely. You had to close up shop before the last day of Starfall - you had nothing left to sell, and boy, are you tired today!

The path through the Starwood Strand is just as strange going back the way you came, but it seems somehow familiar, now. You’re almost sad when you reach the outer edges of its glowing embrace… though you’re not sure the sentiment will hold with time.

And then you hear a voice - “Hey, stranger!”

You turn, and it’s that nocturne, sauntering up to you with a smile. You’d almost forgotten about him, and trepidation wells inside you, remembering what he did. It was HIS advice that got you into trouble at Starfall! You could have died! If you hadn’t intervened, that creature would be dead, or Starfall would have been ruined -!

Oh. Ohhhh.

He must recognize the look on your face, because he laughs - a chirping, slightly shrill, coatl-esque laugh. “Yes, yes. There’s nothing you need to say. You’re welcome, my name is Arqam, and I’m sorry. Let me explain…

“My mate is an oracle. She knew far in advance of Starfall itself that certain things would not go as planned. In the preparation days, seals were created across the Isles, one of which was improperly prepared. Though the error was swiftly rectified, the cost was high. A meteor, bearing a Comet Rider, landed in our own Starwood Strand!

“Naturally, we hatched a plan. With some help from a chronomancer friend of ours - white and red nocturne, small and angry, you may have met her? - we broke up the timeline, and I think in total we tried 90 different timestreams, in the hopes that a majority of the ones we approached would return Mr. Mittens to their proper home.”

A beat. He chuckles. “One of the others named them that. It was delightful.

“So I had the map memorized, and when you passed through the Starwood Strand, I sketched out the path - messily enough that you’d be at a bit of a loss, you see. I’m an artist, that doesn’t normally happen. I am also a greeter and ambassador, so I don’t generally emanate suspicion like I did a week or so ago. It took a lot of practice to properly emulate my brethren in Shadow, though I fortunately had some help in the task from our sister clan in the Tangled Wood.

“Ultimately, as we’d hoped, you and a significant enough majority of others successfully sent Mr. Mittens back into deep space. We intend to present this incident to the Wardens, to convince them that the best way to handle even the most terrifying of beasts is not through violence, but through the Arcane method: Scientific understanding, compassion, and hope. Thank you, stranger.”

As he delivers the last of this speech, an unfamiliar coatl with ghostly pale plumage approaches him. She is draped in white silks and morganite, and despite her colorless hide, she seems rather spritely. She whispers something either in coatl or in heavily accented common to the nocturne - Arqam, you suppose - and then hands him a small package wrapped in a shimmering purple material. He nods, giving her a gentle nuzzle under her cheek, then hands the package to you.

“Now that this is over, we figured we ought to give our thanks. Whispia and I run an adopt shoppe here in the Starwood Strand - portraits, you see - and we thought we’d give everyone who was pulled into this mess the only compensation we could pull off.”

He nods to you, and you unwrap the package, revealing a small trinket - a sphere, of sorts, that floats upwards just a bit once it’s freed of the silken bonds - and a framed picture of you, looking over your shoulder in the Starwood Strand. In the sphere, you see the treetops of the Starwood, and a meteor leaving a glowing trail, a tiny version of the creature perched on it, amongst twinkling stars.

Arqam gives a sheepish smile, waving a claw a bit. “Do what you wish with those. The bauble might look nice in a clan trophy room, and our portraits tend to look lovely in dens. And, oh, friend?”

He takes a moment, then his smile turns somewhat more sincere. “Thank you. You will always be welcome in our clan. Consider yourself an urban legend now.”