DestinyOcean

Uh-oh, looks like this histrionic communicator wandered a little too far from his home lair (Hyzenthlaay, 452562), and now he's off to see the world! If you ever feel the urge to exalt, we'd really appreciate it if you could just send him off in the 'Dragons Off to See the World' thread instead. If you don't want another traveler in return, please send him back to his original home via the Crossroads or drop him off at the rest hub. You can also adopt him permanently if you don't want him leaving your lair - just contact Hyzenthlaay and let her know (it’s good for her notes)! Many people have worked very hard on this traveling dragon, and exalting him would be an absolute shame. Please don’t do it!

Destiny Ocean has built himself a bombastic persona using his ability to commune with the dead via high-budget productions, a talent usually reserved for more reverent situations by those who wield such powers. Known for hosting traveling stage shows in which he directly communicates with audience members' deceased loved ones, he is quick to deliver news of peace, prophecy, and/or unfulfilled wishes to his attendants - a practice considered highly immoral by most other spirit communicators. His love to commune seems to be based almost entirely in a love of money. As such, he doesn't take the precautions that most other communicators do, such as setting into place safety procedures - or even checking to make sure that he's talking to the right spirit to begin with (some spirits, after all, love nothing more than fooling the living). He's been under close examination by many in his field who fear that his bold stage presence will one day lead not only to his personal harm, but to an audience's; there's even a team of Luminous Reapers who dedicate themselves to following his act to settle any roused spirits after its performance. Does any of this seem to bother him? So long as coin freely flows, of course not.

Originally written by @Hyzenthlaay, lore shop here. Find more lore dragons and writing commissions for purchase there! If this dragon is in your possession at the time of purchasing a dragon from the shop, you can get 10g/10kt off of your purchase!



Running can only take you so far before you have to stop and rest your wings. That was DestinyOcean's bitter thought when he landed near the Blight Sanctum one extremely humid evening. Exhausted, hungry, and thoroughly damp, he began to slog through the Plaguelands on foot. Tentative sniffs at the scarce puddles he came across told him that drinking from them would be a terrible idea. He made decent progress into the Abiding Boneyard before he could walk not one step further. Crumpling, he was certain he would join the spirits that mocked him as he spiraled towards oblivion...

He thrashed to wakefulness in the confines of a rolling vehicle. Looking around in confusion (was he really in the spirit world? If so, why was it so bouncy?), he was soon informed that he had found his way into the company of a traveling circus. He could only laugh uproariously at this development and turn of his fortune. A circus! What better place to ply his talents?

After some dickering with the circus's manager, DestinyOcean found himself a place and an adoring audience of his own. His usual shtick was able to buy him quite the comfortable living situation within the circus, though he was careful to contribute to the group enough of his earnings that they would not throw him out. Generally he was well liked, though there was one detractor who seemed to dog his every performance, standing at the back of his tent and rolling her eyes or snorting in derision.

One evening after an especially tear-jerking (and purse-lightening) session, DestinyOcean ambled out of his tent and found himself pinned to the ground, his (extremely angry) detractor mere inches from his face. "What was that in there?" she demanded, one forepaw pressed to his throat.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to affect a cool unconcern he most certainly did not feel. "I merely called into the ether and spoke with those who have since left us, as I always do."

"So that only Spiral matriarch, you told her that you were speaking to her grandson, that he was happy serving the Lightweaver."

DestinyOcean nodded around the forepaw still pressed to his throat, trying to look as ingenuous as possible, though his voice came out a bit garbled. "I speak with the spirits of the dead. I ease their passage onward and give consolation to the liv-"

"Oh, you called up something alright. Something that capered and gibbered and caused a fuss. You, sir, are a liar. That was no dragon you spoke with. I've been watching you, and most of the spirits you conjure are harmless. They have their jape and go on their way. But this - this..." She shuddered. "My father was a necromancer. He taught me the words for banishment, should things ever go wrong. I never thought I'd use them. I never thought I'd need them. Thank every god you know that I knew them and used them this night." She fairly spat on DestinyOcean before letting him up. "I'll be watching. If I ever, ever see you conjuring again as you have tonight, I will kill you."

Her voice froze his blood as he watched her return to her own caravan. The spirit that had roused her anger had been one he'd read of and thought to try invoking on a whim. It was miles better than any of the others, speaking in a voice that all could hear, not just himself. It had made that particular act tip extremely well as a result. True to her word, she never missed a performance after that night, and he never summoned it again with her watchful eyes upon him.

Eventually, his purported reformed behavior earned him her good graces, and the Princess of Thieves did her best to teach him the spells for severing those spiritual connections that could prove troublesome. It was a dreadful amount of work, but DestinyOcean endeavored to do it for her sake, for he found (to his great annoyance) that her favor was something he now... almost desperately... sought.

The Princess's favor was presented plainly enough when their daughter cracked her shell. And it become equally plain that she had inherited the gifts of both her parents in abundance. She was always underfoot, babbling away. While most would take it for normal hatchling babble, her parents knew far better. As RunningWren grew, so did her powers, her father's ambition, and her mother's worry.

When DestinyOcean excitedly laid out plans for a father/daughter summoning act, Gourami put her foot down. It would not happen, not in her circus, not among her people. RunningWren would not get involved in the dangerous foolery her father delighted in.

It was obvious to DestinyOcean what he must do: he had to seek a new money-making scheme elsewhere. While he loved his daughter and thought fondly of his one-time mate, it was not to be, not anymore. Bidding the members of the Blacktoe Circus farewell, DestinyOcean set off again. As he flew, he took out the summoning spell that had caused so much drama and began to study it in earnest once more...



DestinyOcean was quite happy to come to the Sunbeam Lanternhouse. He could feel powerful spirits haunting the inn, and it seemed at least some of the residents were unaware that they lived in a building at the center of a great spiritual disturbance. With a dramatic reveal, he could enlighten them, and his purge of such unquiet souls would be a spectacular performance!

However, when he asked for someplace to prepare, the residents' warm hospitality cooled. Apparently, they were not quite as oblivious as he'd first assumed... nevertheless, he persisted in his requests until they sent Seanan to speak with him.

The Nocturne told him that the Lanternhouse was not home to any spirits, that a demonstration of his skills was not needed, and that any performance he put on that resulted in damages (spiritual or physical) would result in heavy fines and his banishment from the premises. However, he was welcome to stay as long as he liked should he put aside his erroneous assumption that the Lanternhouse was home to any kind of spirits.

DestinyOcean made a great show of acquiescing to Seanan's assertions - he wasn't quite ready to leave just yet; he knew what he'd felt. So he made his presence in the dining hall and the bar incredibly apparent, trying to sweet-talk Haruna and Yuzuki, but neither reacted favorably to his attention. To make matters worse, The Twins were watching his show with not-so-subtle suspicion. It seemed the residents were protective of their secrets. He was wasting his time, which meant he was wasting money. He moved on.



The pearlcatcher moved on and headed south to the Windswept Plateau, where much to his irritation he was caught in a heavy storm. DestinyOcean had been planning on going all the way to the icefields, but he couldn't fly in the weather, so he did his best to awkwardly land on the ground below. It was cold and raining with shrieking winds that ripped across the grass to pound him where he stood. Squinting his eyes against the stinging torrents, he could see in the distance great pillars of land rising from the ground, and knew from his limited knowledge of the geography there that it was the Reedcleft Ascent. Maybe I'll wait out the storm in it, and let it shelter me.

He quickly learned that a long skinny channel filtering a 70 miles per hour wind did not improve his situation. He couldn't stand up, and had to lay flat against the ground, willing himself to go further. DestinyOcean tried to think of any spells that could help him, but his mind came up blank. I suppose I'll just lay here until tomorrow morning, if I don't die of cold.

"What are you doing?" DestinyOcean blinked at the sound of another voice, and peeking over his shoulder was met face to face with another Imperial.

"Tryingnottodie," he mumbled back, but the Imperial heard him anyways, and snorted in amusement.

"Hah. Come with me to the Inn, small dragon." Then just like that, the huge, deep blue dragon began walking further into the Ascent as if there were just a mild breeze.

"But-" DestinyOcean opened his mouth to argue, but he could already barely see his rescuer, so he staggered to his feet, wings tucked against his body and braced and head down. Then, with achingly slow progress, he followed the other dragon, stumbling over the whipping grass and constantly wiping the rain from his eyes. He soon lost sight of the Imperial, and had no idea if he was going in the right direction. The pearlcatcher just struggled on, one foot in front of the other, until:

"AHH!" He felt the ground beneath his front claws disappear, and he tumbled about thirty feet down before crashing into a lake. He stumbled out of it, dripping and angry, but as he gathered his senses, he realized that the wind was no longer blowing as hard. DestinyOcean stood in a large depression in the ground, the top edges surrounded by bamboo and other plants, and a lake and a brook flowing cheerfully in its heart.

"Better?" The Imperial had been standing behind him, and he smiled proudly at the things around him. "This is Mistral Clan, and my name is Storm."

Storm brought DestinyOcean to stay in the local Riverside Inn, where several other traveling dragons were already settling in for the night. He would've performed right then and there, but he was exhausted, and had enough money to pay for a room and meals anyways. The next day, he immediately set off to exploring. Most of the clan was actually underground, families digging burrows into hills, then making it nice by putting in windows and a door. The homes were actually quite cozy and pretty, and efficient against the horrible winds that plagued them.

He requested with some of the leaders of the clan that he perform that night, and they agreed cheerfully, telling him to do as he pleased as long as it didn't stir up trouble. So DestinyOcean excitedly set up a makeshift platform and prepared a speech. He noticed that the clan didn't have any real magical dragons, and so even the smallest tasks, he thought, would fascinate them.

"My name is DestinyOcean, and I have mastered the difficult art of talking to the dead, so I can bring comfort to their grieving loved ones. One volunteer please step up and give me a name, and just one!" he announced in his most show-man attitude, but as he stood there, expecting to see a huge clamor of dragons wanting to give him a name, there was silence. Absolute silence. Forty or so dragons just sat and stared at him, looking confused.

"Any name," he chuckled, trying to laugh away the awkward silence. "Of a dragon killed or otherwise exalted."

"Why would we want to talk to them?" another pearlcatcher with pink wings spoke out.

"Because... Because you miss them! Don't you want to hear if they're alright, or tell them something?" he spluttered, embarrassment turning into anger at his humiliation on the stage.

"They're gone." The voice came from a black and green Skydancer, sitting in the shadows. "And we've grieved them, and we've let go of their souls and let them and us move on. We don't need to talk with them, because we love them still." Then, his audience seemed to just filter away, back to their homes as he stood there, dumbfounded, until just he and the Skydancer remained. "So you're DestinyOcean, the great dead-summoner," she said at last, tone suggesting mockery with every syllable.

"I can perform magic, yes," he replied with a hiss, finally regaining his tongue. "You are all idiots, all of you! You won't be able to get this chance again."

"What, to fill your wallet? Uh-huh. Listen," she said sharply. "You aren't trying to help others, you're just trying to get rich off of the tears of the grieving. Gold is your goal, not happiness, and it's never going to fulfill your life. We have almost nothing in such a worthless currency, but we're far richer than you. Dragon here are happy. We have families, hatchlings, friends. We love and we lose, and we gain again. We suffer through the pain of life together, and we live through death together. The future is bright, but the present is brighter, and the past is just a shadowy wisp of a memory. I once lost everyone and everything I cared about, but that doesn't mean I have to stay there. I have a mate and hatchlings on the way. Do you know how happy I am because of that?" DestinyOcean just stared, opening his mouth sometimes to interrupt, but no sound was able to come from his stunned form. "You'll save your money, save your treasure, save your jewels, and when you finally have 'enough to be happy', you'll be dead, and tell me what use treasure and gold will be then."

"I-I had-have- a daughter." His voice was barely a whisper, but she heard him. "She made me happy." The Skydancer nodded, and he thought he could see the glint of a tear in her eye.

"Maybe you should go back and visit her. She misses you, and no amount of gems will ever be able to buy life or happiness."

"What would you say I should do to be happy?" he asked in earnest, wanting to hear her answer.

"Make others happy. Keep on performing your magic, but don't do it for yourself, do it for the poor who can't afford you, and bring them comfort, real comfort. The happier the dragons are around you, the happier you'll become. Thank you for listening to me, friend." Then, just as suddenly as she had first spoken, she took off into the night, and he never saw her again.



"Make others happy. Keep performing your magic, but don't do it for yourself"



"Terrible advice" thought DestinyOcean. He had no investment in the feelings of others. Except, of course...



"Shink.... shink" A lack of light made the coins appear dark and dull, but running ones claws through them still produced a pleasant sound, familiar and laced with positive associations.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much coin left. Dragons weren't biting like they used to, and most of the clans DestinyOcean had rested at refused his services upfront.
His current resting place, a group in the Fortress of Ends, was letting him stay in exchange not for coin, but for resources. The pearlcatcher would normally refuse hard labor, but he was running low on options.
He squeezed a coin between his fingers.



"Make others happy..."



His thoughts drifted to his daughter. Had she truly made him happy? If so, why had he been so willing to leave her behind? From his icy quarters, he wandered outside.

The air was crisp. Nearby, a group of hatchlings were playing in the snow, taking turns sliding down a small snowdrift. A Bogsneak watched over them from beneath one of the great stone spires. Several pilcos were nested between her front legs, fast asleep.

Far above, spiritual energies cried out from the spire's upper floors. Everytime he stepped outside, they tempted him. Screamed for him. Reached for him.
This was no place to raise children.


And yet.. those sorts of energies... he would have been willing to expose his own daughter to them. If not for the princess..


"Please go."
A distant voice filled DestinyOcean's ears. He instinctively glanced to the hatchlings and their caregiver. Both appeared undisturbed.
"Oh?" he murmured through a mouth mostly closed. "Marvelous. Wonderous".

Beside the oblivious hatchlings now laid a Wildclaw, it's expression far more serene than could likely be exhibited by any living member of the species.

Destiny had never seen a spirit, dragon or otherwise, manifest without his calling. As such, he took the words it presented very seriously. Gathering the few items he had, including some borrowed rations, he fled the premises.

Alternative outfit acquired! During his travels, Destiny was invited to visit to the Wind Clan known as Oculus Mundi, to perform for the clan’s Matriach during a masquerade ball. The event and performance were both a huge success. The following gifts were received from the clan: Traveler's Runestone Trinkets The sigils indicate that they will grant swiftness to the bearer... but they don't seem to work for dragons. 325 Black Tulip Flower Crown Apparel A crown woven from fresh black tulips. Made by a skilled nature dragon, this crown is enchanted to never wilt. 1900 Phantasmal Halfmask Apparel A ghostly halfmask, carved from ivory. It's perfect for listening to the music of the night. 350 Twinkling Stardrapes Apparel This sparkling set of drapes appears to cascade off the wearer's form in lilting, spiraling motions formed by the heavens. 0 Starlight Guise Apparel A drape of starlight. 0 Cosmo Gecko Familiar The more luminous specimens consume a great quantity of fireflies. (Colored by LugiaFly.) 0

DestinyOcean arrived in Crow Callers to find a large performing circus within. Intrigued, DestinyOcean decided to inquire to see if he could join in on the performance - audience participation was encouraged, after all. He found the experience to be quite interesting.

Afterwards, CircusTent (the leader of this performing circus) asked him if maybe he wanted to join this circus permanently someday. DestinyOcean decided to politely turn down the offer, but appreciated it. He wouldn't mind if he came back to visit someday, however.



Clans Visited
Hyzenthlaay, 452562 - Clan Mavenlark
Zikul
xlMidnightRoselx - Fairy Island Clan
KnightOfAres, 367955 - Clan Ares
Lendri - Tva'Kadith
sgkat, 158838 - Sunbeam Lanternhouse
Belief, 461721 - Mistral Clan
RubescentClaret, 169667
Siouxsie, 327473 - Oculus Mundi
/grxndsxn, 437722 - Crow Callers

@Hyzenthlaay here! This dragon is officially a part of the "Around the World in 365 Dergs" challenge. Check out the thread for information and more travelers like this! ...or just read the following: The general idea is that I am going to create 365 unique traveling dragons, send them off into the world, and see what happens. I'm also going to complete mini-challenges along the way using travelers. If that interests you, consider checking the challenge thread out! I don't want to overflood the system with just my dragons, so adopting travelers from me to live in your lair is totally fine! In fact, I'm betting on it. Just let me know. Always feel free to tell me when you have this dragon in your lair! I love hearing updates.