Areia

This dragon has set out on a journey through Sornieth during Brightshine Jubilee '19 from Sunday, June 23 'til June 30. It is one of many that wants to visit lairs and clans, hoping to receive lore before being sent back to their home after the adventure is complete. Even years later they will be able to look back at this time by going through the poetry, prose and art they received, as well as all the encounters, adventure, new friends and enemies they encountered. Please, keep in mind... not to purposely edit or delete lore made by other users not to breed or exalt this dragon while traveling to send this dragon off to the next designation after 1 day to return this dragon to its owner HelianthusNox as agreed to the rules of the event. This is the a list of destination lairs for Areia to keep track of his journey. KallyPaige - Lightning shanncrafter - Plague cobaltstorm - Wind Juri01 - Wind MandragoraAutumn - Nature ponds - Shadow BlackRayser - Fire Home! Let's get started, shall we? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Template made by Juri01

Areia looked off into the horizon, a buzz of excitement in his belly. His first journey. This one would be his own, he knew. His family would travel through his own path as it grew, and he knew it needed to be good. And so his quest began. As snappers aren't ones to sleep, he ambles his way toward the shifting expanse, collecting bits and pieces of plants to eat on his way.

He arrived at a menagerie of a clan. Colorful and bright. He soon came to meet a pair of males, Sparx and Omegon, who claimed to be brothers in bond. Omegon though intimidating to look at, was really just shy. He had a wide collection of books from the librarian of the clan. Sparx had a penchant for exaggerated acts of aggression, and this taught Areia how to battle against stronger opponents, without necessarily killing them.

Sparx proudly told him that this was exactly what he was trying to do. Though Areia couldn't help but smile and tell him that he doubted his words. As his time with this clan, crazy and fun as it had been, drew to a close, he stood at the edge of a ridge, Omegon settled beside him, watching him with his hidden grin.

"I have to continue on, Omegon, " His statement was fact, and his voice reflected that. Though he felt queasy saying it, not wanting to hurt his friend.
Omegon smiled, "I know that. You have a plan though, don't you?" He always used questions like that, which made Areia think hard. He made a good friend because of that.
Areia gave a slow nod, "The Plaguelands, I believe."
Omegon gave a nod in return, "Well, I'm sure you'll be alright. And as a goodbye gift, here." He takes a neat suede hat from his side pack, putting it on Areia's head. He sticks a quill into it, "Now you look right. Enjoy your journey, Areia, and know, you're always welcome here in Cosmotoral."
Areia smiles, his new gift settled on his head. He turned toward the Plaguelands and began his journey again.

_____

Not long after hiring a guide to show him around The Wasteland, Areia discovers precisely two things: 1. never trust the first dragon to approach him, hand him a crumpled brochure that offered 'cheep tours'-- yes, spelled exactly like that-- and direct him to a seedy-looking alleyway, and 2. to sleep with his treasure on him at all times and hug his possessions close. And so, two days into this foray into the Plaguelands, he finds himself alone and lost in the middle of the Boneyard with just his beret on his head (if anything, it comforts him that he was at least left a reminder of his friends) and a crushing sense of doom. The Abiding Boneyard is as tragically empty as his stomach. Fortunately, if there's one place on this deity-forsaken planet that shares a similar clime to the heat and barrenness of the Boneyard, it's Dragonhome. Areia manages to find a few tough shrubs that keep him satisfied, and decides to set off to the one place he knows that will lift his spirits: The Windswept Plateau. Though, this means that he will have to get out of this place, first. He walks. Snappers are good at that sort of thing, traversing endless distances with their steady, patient gait. Areia is no different. On the second night, he stumbles upon an encampment-- a modest-sized cluster of tents in the middle of nowhere. Not many adornments, but there are rather suspicious-looking stains on the fabric. He mistakes it for an mirage at first. Dehydration, he reasons, will do that to dragon. But he can't imagine the noise of a few dozen dragons chatting and working, can he? Nor the delicious scent wafting over? His stomach grumbles pleadingly, and he glances up at the sky. It's about dinner time. Before he knows it, he's lumbering over, though now with quicker steps. When he steps into the encampment, the dragons there welcome him with odd looks and side glances. No one stops him. Most of them are gathered around a fire that's warming up the contents of a large cauldron above. The smell is strong here, and Aeria licks his lips. The first to speak up is a skydancer with midnight-blue scales and white markings on his hide. 'Hey stranger,' he calls, and though his claw is held up in greeting, his face is guarded. 'You looking for someone?' Now that he's closer and the fire illuminates everyone's faces up, Areia gets a much better look at everyone. Dragons of all shapes and sizes stare back. Most are scarred and grizzled, some are young but have a cunning smile or a spiteful smirk on their face. A few have a wicked shine in their eyes-- Areia tries not to let his gaze linger too long on them. All are armed to the teeth: knives, swords, cleavers, spears, bows, axes. He thinks he sees a mace or two. Areia gulps. Raiding party, is the first thought that comes to mind. The second thing is: I have no treasure.

He opens his mouth, but has no idea what he's going to say. The skydancer stares at him. And then, of all the things to save him, his stomach is the one to do it, growling loudly in protest. A beat of silence. The camp breaks out in laughter. The smile on the skydancer's face looks too big and too wide for his face. Instantly, the mood in the encampment relaxes and dragons turn away, going back to their business. 'Well, that's a language we all understand.' He stands, comes up to Areia, pushes a tin bowl into his claws and nods at the cauldron on the fire. 'You're welcome to some of that stew, if you want.' 'I don't have any treasure,' croaks Areia hoarsely. It's the first words he's spoken in days. The skydancer gives him a quick once-over. It's a very experienced glance, though, and Area can feel him scrutinise and take in every bit of him, from the dust on his scales to the tiredness on his face to the rather crumpled feather in his beret. 'If you did, we would be having a very different conversation right now. Just get some food in that belly and someone'll find you a tent if you need to stay the night. You can be on your way in the morning.' 'Thank you.' Relief washes over him, and he remembers just before the skydancer walks away to introduce himself. 'I'm Areia.' 'Iota,' replies the skydancer, still smiling. That too-big smile is somehow reassuring and also vaguely unsettling at the same time. 'It's a pleasure.' So, he eats. Meets a few unsavoury characters and introduces himself. Thanks the spiral who offered him a tent profusely. Tries and fails to ignore the weird splashes of what is definitely not maroon paint on the tent walls. Sleeps surprisingly quickly for dragon of a breed known for its insomnia (overwhelmed with exhaustion, clearly). He rises bright and early the next morning, and says his goodbyes to Iota, the skydancer who'd greeted him the night before. In the light of the rising sun-- brighter by far than the flickering campfire light-- Iota's teeth seem a little sharper than normal when he opens his mouth to give directions, and Areia is fairly sure his pupils are slits. But no matter. At least he's nearly out of the Wasteland and well on his way to the Plateau. He thanks Iota for his hospitality, and walks away as quickly as his claws will take him. He's not fully conscious of it, but he only starts to relax when the camp is well out of sight. Off to the Windswept Plateau! -END-

_____

Areia really did want to get on with his travels. But foremost, he wanted to get out of the wind territory to look for a more Snapper-friendly terrain. Just as he’d parted with one wind clan, the weather took a turn for the worst. Summer storms where turning the gentle winds into wild beasts no dragon wanted to fly – or even walk – in. Looking around the terrain, the Windswept Plateau really wasn’t the place to just pitch up ones tent in open space. The sustained winds would just pick one up and throw anything into nether land.

At one point Areia ended up wobbling around near the Twisting Crescendo where the winds were actually at their strongest. If he wouldn’t come about a potential refuge very soon, the Snapper inevitably would have to somehow burry himself so he wouldn’t get blown away by the winds. Just as he was about to get into set up a makeshift camp, the dragon noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes. There was something sneaking around him!

Getting up once more, Areia tried to follow whatever it might be. Luckily for all parties involved it turned out to be a rather young hatchling, wandering alone inside the storm. Shocked by that fact, Areia approached the little one just to make yet another discovery: that youngster was actually a Gaoler!

“Hallo there! What are you doing out here! You did notice, we are in the middle of a storm right now, do you?!” – Areia asked.

Big eyed the Gaoler just nodded his head, as if it was the most natural thing. “I grew up loving weather,” it said. “Any time I feel down or I just want to look at an impressive sight, it always has to do with the weather. I used to watch summer storms through our hatchery window, together with my friends Bran and Snow – those two are a couple, one should not get too close right now – and the others got tired of it really soon as well. As for me, I could never stop going out to see and feel these weathers … oh, I’m Skald, by the way… and those bolts were the start of my lifelong obsession.”

It wasn’t long since Areia had met with Skald, but he was actually able to find her about returning home – for now. The young hatchling immediately gathered his belongings and waved the Gaoler along, guiding her new friend back home to Clan Àidhear.

“We have a nice Inn for you to relax at and get something in your tummy”. Areia would certainly never forget that little dragon, just standing inside the storm for the rest of his life.





<sub>By the time Areia left the Wind territory close to the Bamboo Falls, he knew his next destination would be the Tangled Wood - but between there and here lay the Sea of a Thousand Currents, which he had to cross if he didn't want to walk all around it.

Hiring a boat actually went down easier than expected, with the little treasure he had managed to gather during the last days & soon he couldn't see the shore anymore.
The sun wasn't a problem either, but - it was a very lonely and boring trip.
He wasn't on a big ship like he knew there were many of in those seas, with crews that build whole, large clans; he was on a small boat that would maybe fit another one of his size (but not of his weight, surely) and the 2 water dragons maneuvring it didn't do so from above, but from under the water's surface. Swimming along and directing via their magic, they only peeked a head up above from time to time to see if Areia was doing fine, never much time for smalltalk.
And there wasn't even much else than water to look at, most of the time...

That was, until he noticed a shadow swiftly crossing the boats surface. The sky was clear so he expected it to be a bird and looked up - when suddenly, with a harsh landing it came down next to him, causing the boat to violently shake, some water splashing in.

The two navigators came up immediately, calming the boat and looking at the culprit - a blue Mirror, adjusting the Contrast Aviator Helmet on his head.

"Ahh, sorry, sorry", he said, not very urgently. "Had to make an emergency stop, you know, wings got tired & there's no damn boulder or whatever around."
Next to him loud, angry chirping arose. It was a Ragepuff, hopping and flapping its wings at the dragon.
"Yeah, yeah...", the Mirror didn't even look at it, just shoved a claw in its face to shut it up. It didn't really work... "Anyway, didn't plan to board ya, swear."

The water dragons threw them reproachful looks but dove down again to carry on.

"It's alright", Areia finally answered, blinking at the new company. "Your familiar can't dive after all." He assumed the Mirror could, as he, as well, was a water dragon. "Where do you two live then?"

"Ah?", the Mirror made and it seemed to take him a moment until he realized, then he laughed. "Ah what no, I don't dive either, or swim, not longer than I need to catch a fish or two - I live over in Nature, I'm just visiting, y'know? Scavenging trip", he whispered in a lower voice, taking a suspicious look to the shadows beneath the surface. Then, loud, he laughed again. "It's fun, over here noone suspects me ."

Areia looked at him almost shocked. Not even because of the scavenging he mentioned.
"How did you make it till here, if you don't swim?"

"Flying?", the Mirror suggested in a tone that was clearly saying that he was asking about the obvious, and flapped se edges of his - feathered - wings in demonstration. He had just crashed here from above, after all...

"But the mainland has to by further away than a Mirror can fly. Does your clan have a lot of alliances?"

"Nah, some, but none in Water. Dunno what all that fuzz is about, I'm flying just fine. Don't know how they handle all that running, I don't even want to imagine how it would be having to walk everywhere."

Areia took a look above his shoulder, stretching the small wings on his back - not to demonstrate, but thinking.

"Oh, sorry", the Mirror mumbled nonetheless, remembereing what kind of dragon he was talking to. The Reagepuff that had been silently preening itself looked at him and chirped at him in disapproval a few loud times. "I said sorry!", its owner barked back at it.

"It's okay. Actually, I don't mind. I'm just coming back from a trip to Wind & while it was interesting and rising to the sky in a balloon was a welcomed experience I would not want it everyday. I'm sure flying by yourself is different... But without something solid under ones feet?" He just couldn't imagine that to be too comfortable, for a longer duration. He liked to feel the ground. "I'll be grateful to leave this boat, too..."

"Oh, I can help with that if you like. May not be that connected to Water & not practiced in magic, but y'know... I could help those two to get a little faster at least."

"Oh, that would be great! I'd love the company too, to be honest. It must be great to have a companion all the time."

The Mirror and his Ragepuff passed each other flat looks.
"Could be bett- Ah! Ouch! Stop that you little... I'm gonna make you my dinner for real!"

The Snapper observed the familiar pecking and scratching wildly at its owner's face for some moments. "I'm Areia, by the way.", he then just introduced.

"Volande", the Mirror growled - directed at the bird, not Areia. "'N that's Sweetie."

Areia chuckled. He had the feeling the rest of the trip would be far more entertaining.
Maybe he should think about finding himself a familiar companion as well.


When they arrived at the border to the Tangled Wood, Volande invited him to come over to the clan he lived in some time. Its name was Vertere and he drew the directions on a scrap piece of paper. Then he put it in the satchel he had carried and took said one off.

"Here, you can have it, so you don't lose the map." Areia wasn't sure if he the scribbly directions would help him anyway... But Volande had explained where the clan lived & Areia had a good sense of orientation, so he was sure to find it nonetheless. But the Mirror added, cackling: "It doesn't suit me anyway, I wanted to get a new one for long & that will be the best excuse!"
So Areia thanked him and took it.

They parted ways, and later, upon opening the satchel, he found it contained what seemingly was a remnant piece of Volande's scavenging tour.
It made him smile. He certainly had to visit the clan someday.</sub>

Day 6 ponds Mythos Clan Shadow

At long last, Areia made it to the Tangled Wood, happy to be out of the water and happier still not to be traversing the steppes of Wind territory. Still, it was easy enough to notice he did not quite blend in here, his Earth-like warm colouring standing out profusely in the dark shadows of this territory. It makes sense, but the Snapper can't help but wander what other similarly coloured (or brighter) dragons did in Shadow if they wanted to blend in, or hide. Or did they all just call that much attention to themselves all the time? Even the roses on his path seemed to want to hide. Before he can ponder on it some more, Hachiman steps out of a nearby cluster of trees, shaking a wing in annoyance, dark leaves falling off him in near slow motion. This dragon, like his raider friends in Plague, does not look like someone to be messed with. Covered in bloodied bandages, one eye blinded and scarred over, the sight of him makes Areia gulp in a mix of hesitation and fear. The Imperial peers down at him from his considerable height, focusing his one good eye on the Snapper, then smiles. "Relax. Beastclans ambassador. Looking threatening is part of the job description." He flicks off one last clinging leaf. "I'm Hachi, by the way. May I help you?" Areia can't quite believe his luck – twice now on this trip he has encountered dragons that could easily harm him, and twice now he had managed to avert that result. "I'm Areia, nice to meet you. And... I could use some food? Maybe a place to rest? Crossing the Tangled Wood at night might not have been my smartest idea." The Snapper extends his front paws as a manner of illustrating his point, and the larger dragon chuckles in amusement. "Come on kid", says Hachi, one long wing patting Areia not so gently on the back. "I'm sure my clan can help you."

RELATIONSHIPS (In order of appearance) ACQUIRED Blue Rose Plant White roses can take on many colors by tinting their water. Plant connoisseurs have also tried to encourage them to take on other flavors as well. This one tastes faintly of blueberries. 17 2 Levels 6-11

You met Tobaru, the blacksmith Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, stranger! Please, be careful! In my forge we only use incandescent and extremely hot instruments! Hey, hey! Careful! Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't keep pots full of lava on the shelves... Oh well don't worry. You are a Earth dragon, so it will burn a little but it will pass in a moment you will see! Achieved: 29 July 2019 BSJ