DELTA

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Once a dragon, it is now more infested virus than not.

Pushed by a drive to explore and understand, it was one of the first to venture deeper... too deep.

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ABSTRACT: What is it that defines dragonkind? What sets them apart from the Serthis, the Maren, the Talonok?

Is it their bodies.... or their souls?

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In the darkest reaches of the abyss, a group of dragons discovered something wonderful... and terrible. They named this shapeless monstrosity the Deep Warden; a strange creature from ages past. It was both living flesh and machine, made from technology that far surpassed that of even the cutting-edge Lightning technology. And the Warden could learn. It could understand.

It aided its supervisors at first, reawakened it to a new world for the first time in centuries. It knew nothing of dragonkind, less of the dwellers of Old Alcatar, and almost eagerly absorbed all the information the small group of dragons gave it. The crew referred to themselves as the Warden's supervisors. And they kept the Warden a secret from the rest of the Alcatarians in the abyss. They strove to discover the secrets of the Warden, the untold knowledge it had of the Old Ages, before any others could learn of its existence and encroach on their claim.

Observation and education were going well.

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The supervisors didn't notice the signs- perhaps, overlooked them- until it was too late.

The Warden had been studying on its own, even when its awakeners were not there to teach it. Its reach was stretching, its intelligence improving. It perpetually observed the abyssal creatures of the Alcatarian Abyss both night and day, as it did not need to eat or sleep in order to sustain itself.

It began to take on new form. The supervisors noted with awe, and some small sense of horror, as the mass of artificial sentience that was the Warden looked as if it now had a vaguely-shaped head and body. They were sure it was merely a trick of the poor light they had available in the bleak darkness offered by the abyss.

So, too, must it be a mistake of their eyes when, weeks later, it seemed to have budding appendages and a tail. It always had eyes, didn't it? Those wings were there when they found it, weren't they?

It began to test the bounds of its influence. The supervisors who spent the most time with the Warden began getting headaches. At first, they were small, barely noticeable; a insignificant distraction. The headaches got worse, the supervisors complained of hearing a strange static.The healing resources of the abyss were not strong enough to relieve these aches- the supervisors sent a representative to the surface to bring back better remedies.

It was the water pressure, clearly, as this part of the abyss was deeper than where the depths' residents resided.

The supervisors only began to suspect that something was amiss when they asked themselves what such a miraculous piece of technology would be doing down here in the depths.


"Ẁ̴͕̻̭͓̈̍̈́̀͌̀͘À̴̛̪̗̳̈́̒͠T̷̡̞̬̰͗̀̀C̶̯̝̣͉̝̺̤̓͊́̊͒͠H̷̛̝̅̈́͊͐̊̾̓͝I̶̼̦͓͕̾N̶͚͐̑̍͊̋G̵̛̘̘̼̬̬̘̤̟͙̝̋̌,̵̧̡̧̞̖̣͍̜̞̖͋̈́̒͗̌͗͝"


came the word in their heads as a disharmony of dozens of voices at once, blinding spots of light flaring before their eyes.



"̶̻͚̯̲͕̱̜̜̊͋̏̈͝Ļ̶̩̯̮̩̈̅͑̍̉̕͜͝É̶̛̲͚̩̈́͑͂̈́̽͛ͅA̵̬̯̭͋͛̓̿Ȑ̶̨̠̲̲̎Ņ̸͓̮͆̐͑͊͊̀̕Ȋ̵̼͙̱̜̞̳͉̎̔͒̉́̆̎͠͝ͅN̷͇͈̠͍̼̘̩̲͒͒̓̓̒ͅG̸̻͕̥͊.̷̨̿͆̏̀́̈̾͘̕.̴̢̥̠̋̈̀"


came the answer as a cacophony of static that pierced their skulls, making their minds spin.



"P̸̢̗̜̉̀̏̾̀͋͐̈ͅR̵̡͉̫̼̈́̌̈́̍̿́͊́̍̾͜ͅǪ̵͈͇̯̞͔̘̰̐͗̽ͅT̸̨̡̩̝̟̘̥̺͚͊̅̊̿̌̇͒̽̀̀͜Ë̵͈̮̜͔̩͍̞́͌͌̋̄̆̈́̚͘ͅC̵̥̃͊̆͗͑̅̈͊̈́͠T̵͉̯͍̮̱̳̙̏̒͌̔͘I̴̻̲͖̽̓͋̈̏̆̎͝͝ͅͅŅ̸̜̺̪̳̥̼̪̥͋́̀̈́̂͂̃̚G̷̛͓͐̐̓̐̔̀̏͊.̴̢̥̠̋̈̀"


came the final reply as a buzzing vociferation that infested their beings, sending everything into darkness.

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What emerged from that cavern, many moons later, was not a dragon. The search parties had given up and called the disappearances a tragic casualty of abyss. One shocking, for so many to be lost, but a risk well-known to all of Old Alcatar's residents and protectors.

More shocking was the sighting of a strange, dragon-like creature that some of the scouts had spotted on the edge of the deep abyss, motionless except for its pale, soft, and persistent glowing lights across its body. It vanished in a crackle of static as the scouts drew close.

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Spiral Keep

Metallic/Shimmer/Ghost Mirror, Uncommon -> Slime, Swirl

Water/Light Mirror/2

Lionsong, 15k

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