Haunted

He claps his hands together and gives you a big grin.

"Alright! Now, where to start... Aha! This area we're in now is the main clan grounds, where most of us live out our everyday lives. We have a mess hall with a training area out the back, a sculpting hall, floating islands, all that fun stuff! Oooo, we even have a volcano - that's where all the fire element dragons hang around.

"Our clan is founded on the south edge of a massive lake - seriously, it's huge, and deep too! - and there's some hot springs and a weird statue place? to the east and a little more south; there's a nice path through the forest and everything!"

She points to the left and suddenly looks a lot more serious.

"Over there is a path that leads to the old city on the west side of the lake. I'm warning you now, don't go there; it's far too dangerous for any normal person. Even the team (***) we have specially trained to deal with raids in there runs into trouble far too often for anyone's peace of mind... Anyway!"

His serious expression vanishes and is replaced by the grin that's becoming familiar. She points right this time.

"Across the mountains that way is a really cool place, it's like someone took a ruin from the light domain and plonked it on the shore! It's full of dragons that I've heard aren't actually dragons or something and it just sounds really cool!! Of course, I've never actually been there, the only one who's allowed to go is Windcutter, our leader and the creator of this clan, but I wanna go so bad! It seems like it'd be a whole fun time!

He waves his hands and wings around a lot to emphasize what he's saying, especially when he's excited, you're beginning to notice. She turns around and starts heading towards the shore, motioning for you to follow with a little "Come on!" Once there, he points out north across the lake towards a distant shoreline you can hardly see, but from what you can make out, it looks to be covered in trees and greenery with a line of mountainous terrain beyond.

"Over there, the mountains make a circle and inside is the densest forest we've found around here. I'm not entirely sure what's in there, but let me tell you, it doesn't like when someone enters it's place. There's just a heavy feeling in the air, it's so still and quiet, and then you feel like you're being watched the whole time..."

She shudders with a noise of discomfort.

"Just thinking about it gives me the heebie jeebies. I wouldn't recommend going there either, but it seems to be less dangerous than the city, given that we weren't attacked, just... watched with malice. Okay, maybe not a good idea at all. Avoid the forest! Just stick around here 'til the storm passes - shouldn't be long now."

He pauses for a moment to think, his face screwing up as his brain starts to tick over.

"Is that everything? I feel like I'm forgetting something. I'm forgetting something aren't I. Uhhh, okay, clan grounds, city, hot springs, statues, ruins, forest..."

She stares into space for a moment more, before her face lights up and she says:

"AHA! Got it! The aether cave! (can't believe i forgot about that, what the heck...) Ahem! Right, the cave where the aethers live is right over... -where is it? i can't remember, what's going on..."

A passing dragon, a male spiral with a grey body covered in golden runes and amber feathered wings pipes up and says:

"The moth cave? Oh, it's in that big mountain to the west, just south of the first branch in the city path. Lovely things, those aethers, those big moths. They're so cute! Definitely worth a visit if you've got the time."

His voice lowers to a conspiratorial whisper and he leans closer before continuing his speech.

"I heard that they adopted an outside dragon into their group. I don't know much about them, but I do know that they're usually rather closed off to dragons that aren't their own kind, which only makes the phenomenon all the stranger. If you do go see them, could you perhaps come back and tell me about this dragon? I'm not one for going out myself and no-one else has indulged me yet, so I am incredibly curious."

He winks at you and leans back, looking over at Haunted who's watching him with faint suspicion. He gives him an easy smile, says his goodbyes and goes on his way again. You ask who that was.

"Oh! That was Charm, he's quite... charming, you could say, eh? Oh, stop looking at me like that, it was a good pun! Anyway, he's one for gossip and he always has to know what's going on with who. It's actually kind of annoying how he's always after the latest info about everyone. Great fashion sense though - all his outfits are on point."

"..."

"...Would you like a hot drink? Let's go to- there's this great cafe, they have all the good stuff, like chocolate croissants, and apple pie, ooo and they put icecream on it, oh it's so good..."

She continues to chatter about random things on the way to this cafe, which ended up being as good as she was saying, and by the time you both finish your chosen foods, the snowstorm has lifted and the sun is shining it's pale light through the magical dome surrounding this place. He turns to you and begins speaking again.

"I guess this is where we part. Come visit again some time? This has been a blast, we don't get nearly enough people through. Should I escort you to the edge, or will you make your way yourself?"

You answer that you'll be okay to go by yourself, but this has been fun and you enjoyed your stay here.

Her wings fluff up and she gives you a big happy grin in return, then says:

"Okay! Safe travels then, friend!"

You turn away and leave, continuing on your journey.

---

The clan's 'lookout/guide/welcoming party' dragon. He's a pretty nice guy, friendly and all that jazz. She will, however, talk your ears off if given the chance (He might've been a spiral in another life or something). It's a wonder that Adept keeps her around :/

Usually hangs around at the top of the dome.


Was ripple stripes circuit, Adelaide has circuit (to remind me)
Boulder given: 24/10/22
Toxin given: 05/11/22
Points given: 05/11/22