Ryleia

I'm born to run down rocky cliffs

Ryliea ran like the wind, like the soaring breezes her brother rode above her. Despite his obvious advantage of being in the air, she easily kept pace, never out of breath.

Give me grace, bury my sins

She howled as the salty mist of the bay below her rose to meet her graceful form. Today she was old enough to leave the nest, fly free through Sornieth.

Shattered glass and black holes

The whole world was hers, and the taste of freedom was just as delicious as she'd always known it would be.

Can't hold me back from where I need to go

She howled again, a signal to her family she was leaving. Everyone had known she would leave, it was as sure as the sunrise over the glassy pink spikes that protected their village.

Oh oh oh

She was off, and for the first time, she wouldn't be coming back before sunset.

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Yellow hills and valleys deep

The first place she went was across the bay, where the wind swirled and the sky was open and free. The Windswept Plateau, where everyone joked she should have been hatched. Her wings spread wide, she roared joyfully at the empty air.

I watch them move under my feet

She met a clan that had carved a home for themselves in a cliff filled with gems and precious stones. She marveled at their careful craftsmanship of the wood, stone, and gems around them, before buying a full set of citrine jewelry to remember this place by.

Stranger things have come and gone

She rode the swirling winds, feeling the pulsing, vibrant magic of the land flow through her. This place felt like home, a reminder of what she'd left, yet she did not feel sad.

To see the world and take the throne

She left because she'd felt a calling to the great elsewhere, to see everything she could possibly see and find everything she could possibly find.

Don't hold back

It was what she lived for, what she'd always dreamed of. And now freedom was her reality.

Oh, I won't hold back

She banked southward and headed for the frigid expanse of the Southern Icefield.

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I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

Her time in the south was not very long, as she was not much a fan of the whirling blizzards that froze the air and made it impossible to see.

Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

She did, however, enjoy the expansive collections of fossils and such that one could accumulate from the ice.

I'm gonna spend my time like tomorrow won't come

Here she made a crown of ancient bones that had seen generations of dragons fly by. Then she flew northwest, to the Ashfall Waste.

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Do whatever I want like I'm born to run

She found she did not care for the ashy skies much, either.

I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo

Most of the things she found here did not suit her style, as metal armor weighed her down and limited her movement.

I wanna be careless even if I break my bones

She left rather quickly, moving further west to the Shifting Expanse. This place was much more to Ryliea's liking, to her infinite relief. She watched the various electrical marvels with great awe and felt at home in the bustling home of engineering and creation.

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

Here she acquired a set of claw armor that was razor sharp and fit like a glove. It proved very useful to her hunting.

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Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

Next, she went back northeast, to see the Sea of a Thousand Currents. She quickly learned to swim as fast as she could run, given her endless excitement and the distinct quantity of water.

A winding road where strangers meet

She met all sorts of seers and assorted aquatic dragons, not learning much of the future but learning a great deal about the ocean. She was endlessly intrigued by the wide variety of aquatic life and spent most of her time exploring the depths.

To feel the love of a warm drink

One tidbit of the future she did learn of, however, was that the calling she felt to explore would eventually fade. It was the pulling of arcane threads that pulled her to explore, to find what she most greatly sought.

My body moves, it's speaking loud

She sought a friend, a like-minded dragon who had seen as much as she had and would forever be by her side.

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Don't have to say what I'm thinking now

In the sunbeam ruins, she found yet more things to explore. She was met with massive libraries, filled with knowledge and observation of the world.

Don't hold back

She gorged herself on these books, filling her mind with all the facts and figures she could possibly handle. The day before she left, she flew up to the Beacon of the Radiant Eye, to see as much of Sornieth at once as she'd ever seen before.

Oh, I won't hold back

Though the sight was beautiful and the land was rich and welcoming, she once again felt restless. She took to the skies once more and left to explore the Tangled Wood.

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

It was here she learned to play the game of secrecy, to use her words like she used her claws. She delighted in the games of the woods, never letting her opponent best her strong spirit.

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Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

Soon enough, however, it was time to leave for her next discovery. She fluttered her way to the Viridian Labyrinth, feeling excited to explore such a wild, untamed wilderness.

I'm gonna spend my time like tomorrow won't come

She spent quite a while in the Labyrinth, exploring every nook and cranny she possibly could. The Behemoth beckoned to her, calling her to find her way through its branches.

Do whatever I want like I'm born to run

She answered the call, climbing carefully up the massive tree. She eventually made her way to the top, enjoying the wind on her face as she peeked out.

I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo

It was from there she leaped off, gliding away towards the Dragonhome.

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I wanna be careless even if I break my bones

She found she liked the Dragonhome, almost as much as she liked the Windswept Plateau. Its flat landscape lent itself to her favorite form of transportation: running.

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

She prowled the land, climbing every rock and crawling down every canyon. This was her hunting ground.

Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

One cave she poked around in produced a particularly plucky vulture. It was too bony to eat and too fierce to kill.

All these things I've seen and done

It seemed to come to respect her, however. As she turned to leave the cave, it flew after her and surprisingly kept pace.

I live my life like I'm born to run

And so Ryliea came to hunt with it, and she gained her familiar, Tarkana.

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All these things I've seen and done

As Ryliea flew south towards the Scarred Wasteland, she felt unusually nervous. There was a weight on her shoulders that reminded her of the brief bouts of homesickness she'd felt near the beginning of her journey.

I live my life like I'm born to run

Would she find what she was seeking here? She'd looked nearly everywhere else...

All these things I've seen and done

All she knew to do was keep searching.

I live my life like I'm born to run

She forged ahead, leaping over crevasses, dodging infected wildlife with relative ease.

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

It didn't smell all that pleasant here; like rot and smoke and death.

Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

The landscape wasn't much better, covered in putrid sludge and a wide variety of definitively dead creatures.

I'm gonna spend my time like tomorrow won't come

Hunting became a challenge, as any food would have to be checked for diseases and decontaminated before consumption. Getting sick was absolutely not on Ryliea's list of things to do.

Do whatever I want like I'm born to run

Out of the corner of her eye, as she neared the southwestern coast of the Scarred Wastelands where the festering mass met the Starwind bay, a flash of healthy green zipped by.

I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo

Instantly, she switched direction to pursue this creature, for it had been several days since she had been able to eat.

I wanna be careless even if I break my bones

The noggle, as she soon found it to be, proved quite evasive, squeezing through small cracks and between rotting piles of bones.

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

It also prooved to be quite inteligent as it suddenly changed direction towards an oddly colored pile of something that seemed... not quite so dead.

Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

She screeched to a halt as she saw the small fae that would become her closest companion for the first time.

Oh oh oh