. Dragon's Name .

Her Journey

JayKatt → Jaspernoir → rhapsodicDream → ReginaChaos → ArcticEira → Bxy26 → lyricalmyxteries → Archerfish → JayKatt

Day One: Jaspernoir, Alstroemeria clan #363800

Day Two: rhapsodicDream, Starscatter Temple #192638

Day Three: ReginaChaos, Aphid Hive #457490

Smolderpetal Plant Easier to gather than the speckled fire lily, this hardy flower tastes absolutely divine after a good roast. 37 4

Upon arriving a small village, Flos est Infernum, one such as Nephele could immediately recognize a festival happening here. Although it wasn't one in celebration of the Jubilee, however, one could still spot sunflowers from building to building through the market area. The market area, in the meantime, was quite crowded despite the size of the village itself. Dragons of a variety of shapes and sizes ventured through, talking and laughing while being dressed up for the occasion. 'What are they celebrating?' the Skydancer couldn't help but wonder, ready to pull another dragon to the side to repeat this question out loud.

"Ah! You must Nephele!" A voice called out, causing the Skydancer to turn her head quickly to see a Wildclaw of a sandy color coat of fur. He was decorated with orange and silver that somehow blended well with his natural color, while pale yellow flowers framed his hips and tail - even a sunflower could be seen within the body bouquet! "Oh, my apologies. I have become quite excited to even remember my manners." With a light chuckle, he gave her an apologetic bow of his head. "I am called Kydoimos and I am here to welcome you to our lovely home, Flos est Infernum. Despite the intimidating name, this village is actually a great place to relax and get away. There's quite a bit of history here, too, but..." He shook his head mostly towards the fact that he was getting carried away again. "You're not here for the history lesson. No. Instead, I want to show you our garden, which I am sure you'll appreciate."

As he guided her through the village, he explained to her that the festival that the village was currently celebrating was called The Bloom, which lasts the entirety of the month - there just happens to be more dragons in the area due to the Brightshine Jubilee. His excitement shined through his voice as he further explained how The Bloom was a reminder to the village on how far they have come, individually and as a whole - similar to a blooming flower after some rough hardships of growth. When the village had heard of sunflowers being the main theme for this year's jubilee, Kydoimos couldn't help but admit that many wished to be a part of this theme and grow many sunflowers this year.

"Here we are~" The Wildclaw paused in front of a large metal gate, which was clearly in front of the said garden he had mentioned earlier. With very easy ease, he pushed open the gate and urged her inside. "Take all the time you need to see the sights. We are very proud with all the work that has been put into this, so I hope that you, our dear guest, could enjoy it."

Without another word, Kydoimos left her be alone in the garden, allowing her eyes to gaze upon the beauty before her. Not only were there sunflowers, but there were many others to compliment the yellow flora. It seem that the Wildclaw was true to his word when he said that they had gone through so much for a display such as this one. Really makes one wonder what this village had gone through to be sure to have such a reminder of all that they have gone through...


Nephele did not make it to her next destination until evening. It was a long and rather difficult journey across the Sea of the Thousand Currents for a non-Wind or Water dragon. She arrived just as the clan members were gathering for the evening meal.

"Ah, the flowers for the evening have arrived, I see!" A small purple Mirror came forward to greet her. "Welcome to Clan Aquaurora. I'm Aoide, the clan leader. I'm sorry you missed out on our clan activities for the day, but you're quite welcome to a meal and a bed, if you need it."

Nephele shuffled her feet. "And what were the day's activities?" she asked shyly, handing the Mirror her bouquet of sunflowers.

Aoide grinned. "We sent everyone with a smattering of hunter training out to look for Immaculate Tablets. We got a bit behind this year, what with the guests coming in regularly and all. Not that we aren't delighted to have you and your compatriots, of course." She waved a claw in the direction of a massive pile of loot. "Although as you can see, we haven't been able to sort through our gains yet."

This piqued Nephele's interest. "Do you mind if I help?"

Aoide looked surprised. "If you're sure you want to...I mean, you are our guest, after all. I don't want to put you to work."

"I don't mind," the Skydancer said eagerly. "I always sort through the warriors' spoils at home. It's kind of like exploring, in a way, without the dangerous part."

Aoide shrugged. "Let's eat first, though. You must be starved, and I'm sure the hunters are as well!"

The meal was unlike any Nephele had ever had. Most of the food was passed out uncooked, and the dragons either ate it raw, or had a fire dragon roast it to their taste. But beyond the primitive cooking style, Nephele had never seen anything like some of the small critters provided for the meal.

She didn't want to seem rude, but curiosity finally got the better of her. "Where did you get these things?" she asked, holding what she could only describe as an eyeball-plant up to her hostess.

Aoide looked up from the many-tailed rat she was eating. "Our hunters brought them back from neat that mysterious portal that opened up recently. Didn't you hear about that?"

"As though it wasn't what everyone in Sorneith was talking about for the past several weeks!" Nephele glanced over at the pile of loot that remained to be sorted. "And that...?"

Aoide nodded.

Nephele grinned from ear to ear. She had had so little opportunity to study the trinkets from near the portal before being sent on this flower-delivery mission. This was a wonderful chance to glean information!

Soon, she was settled down between the warriors and the record keepers: taking detailed notes on each object, listening to the warriors describe the creatures they had fought that dropped each item, even smiling as they bragged about their scars.

"We've never seen anything like these before," a Mirror warrior said, turning over a glassy mask and comparing it to a leonine one.

"But of course we wouldn't have," Nephele interrupted, eyes shining. "Who knows what may be beyond the portal, what secrets we can learn about the world on the other side?" She bent to examine a large book with tentacles still squirming around it.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, even if she stayed up far too late. Early the next morning, as she sleepily munched an insect snack and gathered her flowers, Aoide came towards her leading a rather grumpy-looking Skydancer.

"We thought it would be appropriate to send you home with some of these relics you helped us categorize last night!" Aoide announced. "Thank you again."

The Skydancer handed her a small sack that clinked oddly. Nephele opened it to look, and smiled. "I'll have fun trying to puzzle this out. Thank you!"

"Come again!" Aoide said.



You touch down in the middle of a cobblestone road. No one seems to pay you any mind; just a quick glance and they carry on. How strange, that they aren't concerned about a foreign dragon stopping by.

As you walk down the busy road, you feel a gentle tug on your wing and look over to see the top half of a beige boa curled around your wingtip.

Red-Tailed Boa

Apparel

Fae dragons beware: red-tailed boas can grow to be quite large!

500

You blink at it. It flicks it's tongue at you playfully. Interestingly, the other half of the snake is resting on the body of a striped buttercup spiral. She must sense your gaze as she turns to look at you, smiling.

"Hi th - oh I'm so sorry!" She notices the snake connecting you both and reaches out to unwrap it. "It's an unfortunate habit of his to curl around hanging things. It's gotten him into a lot of trouble before." She says the last part while glowering at the snake.

You nod at that, unsure of how to reply.

"Anyways, I'm Melody, who are you? You don't seem to be from around here." Melody tilts her head at you.

"Um, my name is Nephele, I'm from a clan a little ways away from here. I'm a part of delivering sunflowers for Brightshine Jubilee?" You offer back.

Melody visibly perks. "Oh I've heard of that, haven't met anyone yet though. You're the first." She pauses for a moment to think. "What is it like? The other clans you've been to, I mean."

"Well, um, they're all different? Like in different areas of Sorneith? One was nearly all the way on the other side of Sorneith. They let me look at some things from that new portal the opened up a little while ago, which was very interesting."

Nephele reaches into her pouch and draws out a bundle of sunflowers. She holds them out to Melody. "I should probably give you these before I forget..."

Melody has a surprised look on her face. Her snake stretches out and flicks it's tongue at the bundle. "Oh thank you!" She takes the bundle and her snake immediately curls itself up in the flowers. Melody lets out a snort. "Well he seems to like them."

She turns back to you, a hopeful look on her face. "Can you tell me more about the other clans? I've never been outside the Sunbeam ruins before. I can show you a few places in the village you might like?" She turns slightly, gesturing with her claw at a crumbling structure in the North.

You think about it for a brief moment, then dip your head in a nod, stepping beside her. "Alright." You begin to tell Melody of the past couple days as you walk down the road. "Ah, the fourth clan had a really big garden full of flowers, and ... ... "