Caligo
(#75144727)
Level 1 Banescale
Familiar
Shadow Serpent
Click or tap to view this dragon in Predict Morphology.
Energy: 50/50
This dragon’s natural inborn element is Shadow.
Female Banescale
This dragon is an ancient breed.
This dragon is hibernating.
Expand the dragon details section.
Collapse the dragon details section.
Personal Style
Ancient dragons cannot wear apparel.
Skin
Scene
Measurements
Length
6.64 m
Wingspan
5.79 m
Weight
481.28 kg
Genetics
Blackberry
Ragged (Banescale)
Ragged (Banescale)
Heather
Toxin (Banescale)
Toxin (Banescale)
Purple
Wraith (Banescale)
Wraith (Banescale)
Hatchday
Breed
Eye Type
Level 1 Banescale
EXP: 0 / 245
STR
8
AGI
7
DEF
6
QCK
8
INT
5
VIT
6
MND
5
Lineage
Biography
Latin: caligo, caliginis [f.] C
3. Declension Consonant Stems
Gender: feminine
wip
In Attendance:
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: It's 9am; let's get straight to business. Caligo and a couple other dragons defected to form their own Clan, then declared war on us.
LAUREL PAPAVER: What.
ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: What.
PRIMAL BLUEFIRE: What.
NEBULA MESSIER: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: This isn't a prank?
ES: Unfortunately, no. I wish it was.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: I... hmm. In retrospect, it was quite obvious, but Ava doesn't look very surprised...
AVA STARLING: I was the one who found out through my information network, I alerted him.
MAGNOLIA FLORIS: Any chance she was influenced by Dusk, or this even being related to Dusk? It's a valid question.
AVA STARLING: Not that I can find... yet. Key word being yet. It could be that there's none, it could just be mind control, or it could be... anything, really. Right now, they're calling themselves the Eclipse Clan.
EILEEN BLAZELIGHT: Father, who did they take?
ES: Fluorite Myrrhina, Elrond Cuprum, Ruthe, Finedel, Zudal, Syzygy Eclipse, Galvana Pushpanjan, Coleus Blumei, Acee Deecee, Wolfcry Silvertongue, Brighteye Silvertongue.
VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: [EXPLETIVE DELETED], the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] SILVERTONGUES got persuaded to join? Either Caligo was very persuasive, or they decided it was a good idea.
LP: Galvana? [EXPLETIVE DELETED], Volta's going to be [EXPLETIVE DELETED].
HIKARI CASPIA: I've... actually never heard you swear so much before.
LP: If you haven't noticed, we're technically now at war, forgive me for being stressed. Although... there's only twelve of them, it can't be that big of a problem, right?
MARIA STARLING: (Crashes into the room via the window) Sorry for being late, I was spying on the Eclipse Clan.
LP: What.
(HIKARI CASPIA does first aid on MARIA STARLING; AMALIA BLAZELIGHT fixes the window)
AS: Precautionary measures. Report?
MS: Yeah, uh, they've set up camp in the Hewn City and are using the power of the Shade. Naturally, I got the hell out of Dodge.
AS: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
DJr: (Genuine gasp) Ava! Language!
AS: Apologies. Normally I vote we strike before they bolster their numbers, but if they're using the Shade...
(Everyone turns to LYNX ISKÁT)
LYNX ISKÁT: What are you all looking at me for?
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: ...Project Daybreak?
LI: Oh. Right. We've been developing Shade-resistant charms and armour, it obviously hasn't seen live testing yet but theoretically it's promising. As for actually countering it, we have Zia and Dawn Sr. And Hikari.
HC: Well, my theorised Shade-resistant shields haven't undergone live testing yet, and I'm not anxious to do so right now, so my usefulness in that regard is-
LI: I was referring to helping with sorting out our finances and resource management. Military funding isn't cheap.
HC: I'm not your secretary; Gladia is and does her job perfectly well.
LI: And Gladia is currently in the hospital wing due to food poisoning; ergo you are our de facto secretary until she's recovered.
HC: [EXPLETIVE DELETED].
AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ: Um... should I put that down too?
HC: (Winces) Put that down as [EXPLETIVE DELETED], all caps, square brackets.
VA: Won't that make it sound worse than it actually is?
HC: Look, it's the principle of the thing...
TOJI EVERWINTER: ...who's that?
HC: My assistant scribe, because I got tired of transcribing and sorting everything. My workload is heavy enough as is. Yes, I briefed him, yes, he's sworn to secrecy, magical oaths and all that. Anyway, you look like you wanted to say something?
POLARIS EVERWINTER: I can get a letter out to the Academia to ask for papers on the Shade, if I include the rationale I can probably get clearance very quickly. I'm supposed to be there for a compulsory Archmage conference next week, anyway. It's not like ice does a lot against the Shade, and the three / four Academia kids are going to be there so they can help me search. The only problem is that that means a few of our more capable mages are all gone.
VA: You can't back out of it?
PE: Compulsory.
VA: Yikes.
PE: Yeah, I have to deal with Phorcys Thalássēs, Begonia Flōrōsae, Ahephyx Deoxyribose, Rancollo Lavala, and Orithyia Borealis all being in the same room, it's an utter nightmare; I would skip if I could just so I don't have to see Orithyia or listen to Begonia's interminable yet somehow useless speeches, but... well... (Long sigh) Really, all they do is talk all day and come up with constant tangents and nothing much's accomplished, Ahephyx does most of the work-
LP: Like you're currently demonstrating?
(POLARIS EVERWINTER glares at LAUREL PAPAVER, but silently concedes the point and nods her head towards NEBULA MESSIER)
NM: Sorry, Orithyia?
PE: The other - and much older - Ice Archmage; unpleasant is an understatement. It's like that old crone perpetually has a stick up her-
RB: Ahem.
PE: Anyway, my point is, I can get you information on the Shade in the Academia. Toji will act as my representative while I'm gone.
LI: Any information on the Shade would be useful, even if it only confirms what we already know. What we need is information on Dusk and Eclipse specifically.
BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS: On that note, how is Mephisto?
LI: He sent a report in yesterday, I was still reading through it. He seems to have included much on Dusk's current state, and apparently she currently believes that she is a god; as such the Shade she can control has somehow acquiesced and-
DJr: So this whole dang mess is her fault? Well, I mean, can't be too surprised about that, our aunt ruins everything she comes into contact with regardless of whether she's doing it consciously or not. All of her familial relations, the in-laws, the Clan, her hold on the Clan, her own sanity... Huh.
VS: Mhm, our aunt is a real witch, isn't she? Any plans to tell Mom?
ES: Eh... should we?
VS: Well, either we do tell her now and risk her setting another trash can on fire to bring to Aceso for therapy, or we don't tell her, and when our dearest aunt attacks Mom sets the forest on fire. Personally, I prefer the flaming garbage.
DJr: I will... very grudgingly... admit that Mother is quite spot-on with her imitation of Dusk. The deliberately sweet cloying smoke to represent the Shade is... not half bad. Objectively, the better plan would be to tell her, on the condition we bring Aceso, Ting and Ayseor in as well. Have any of you seen what Mother is like when she's furious?
ES: ...me?
VS: (Hastily) Other than direct relatives.
PB: Does spotting her sneak into the royal cellar once count?
DJr: What.
PB: Yep.
DJr: Anyway, if Mother has to be there I want someone to keep her in check. Can't have the room burn down.
HC: Alright, reasonable enough, approved.
ES: Mhm.
AMALIA BLAZELIGHT: All jokes aside, I read the reports; Dusk was an extremely powerful mage even before she started meddling with the Shade, and we don't know much about what she's capable of. Admittedly, this is before Father had us, but over half of the current Clan has been around along with Dusk.
VA: You know, I just noticed Aurealis isn't present...
AS: Aurealis is entirely unsuited for clandestine affairs such as this. He believes that a) dragons are naturally honourable, b) everyone knows what his code of "honour" and "chivalry" is, c) others naturally will follow said code, d) those who don't are thus the scum of the earth, and e) he's always right. For our collective sanity, I recommended that he not be briefed at all about the secret documents. As such, he believes that the ESO is genuinely just an observatory. Well, technically we are a fully functional astral observatory that also carries out other non-observatory activities, so to back up the rather obviously false claim, we do have the star charts to show for it. I suppose we should be lucky that he takes such things at face-value and never stops to consider whether we are lying by omission to him.
LP: ...huh. That makes a lot of sense. Hold on, how do you have so much say on who gets to see what? I thought that was Hikari's job?
AS: I don't like lying outright, and in this case it was basic common sense and she agreed.
HC: I did. Him exploding at us for what he perceives as lying him to him is much more trouble than it's worth, and I don't want him to start working against us.
AS: Either way, he would strongly object to the existence of this plan, and I believe we all know him well enough to know that he would just go charge straight into the Hewn City and get himself killed.
ES: ...while I do share the same sentiment, he is my son.
AS: Meaning that it's your job to know his usual behaviour and thus stop him from being too reckless, yes?
ES: ...yes.
**: Out of interest, what's the contingency plan in case Elio dies or abdicates? Sorry, it's a legitimate question from me. I just don't want to see him on the throne, he'll become a Knight Templar.
RB: Absolute primogeniture, eldest child inherits the throne, so Eileen becomes queen. If she has children, those children will be next in line after her, followed by Aurealis. Technically, the order is Eileen, Aurealis, Amalia, Victoria, and then we go down the Summershall line. Back to the point, Aurealis is on a need-to-know basis, with what he "needs to know" just being that Dusk might be growing in power and plotting something, but that she is far too powerful for him to just rush in and try to kill her. Nothing about the Shade so far, because he views the Shade as a corruptive force and it's his job to liberate everything from the Shade.
DJr: Well, corruptive is right, but... chronic hero syndrome? Recipe for disaster right there. Anyway, I was going to say that we do know Dusk's abilities... kind of. Caligo's is a complete unknown, especially since we don't know how the Shade has affected Eclipse. If we go in assuming that they have the same abilities as before, it'd be suicidal.
(Pause)
PB: Huh. She's right.
NM: When did she stop being crazy?
PB: Since she was five-
NM: Oh.
PB: -months old.
NM: Oh.
PB: It's all careful obfuscation, she can probably give Ava a run for her treasure anyway. Would you like me to scry the future for you to see Caligo's next moves?
LI: I was actually going to ask. Yes.
LP: So... we're going to spy on Eclipse, ask Mephisto to do more Mephisto things, continue developing the anti-Shade things, and get Dawn Sr in?
HC: Essentially.
TE: Can I propose having everyone train to fight the Shade and/or affected dragons?
RB: You can, good idea, we were planning on having something like that anyway. How do we break the news to the Clan?
ES: Leave that one to me.
In Attendance:
ELIO SHADOWBANE: Happy Night of the Nocturne, everyone. I... hope that you all are actually who you are supposed to be, and not secretly Nocturnes disguised as someone else.
MARIA STARLING: ...does that include me?
ES: ...excluding Maria for obvious reasons. I'll start - firstly, we've got a few more people, they've been cleared to read the previous meeting. I've also come up with a draft on anti-Shade fighting tactics from what we've gleaned so far, and I'll update them one more time after this meeting so our warriors can get started ASAP.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: Small correction, so everyone can get started ASAP. We need all the support we can get.
ES: Okay, fair. Lynx, you wanted to go next?
LYNX ISKÁT: Yes. So far, we haven't managed to update the shields, but thanks to Betelgeuse and his team, we've managed to create necklaces that help to ward off the Shade. A side effect of the spells was that the pendants can apparently form semi-sentient spirit animals - and no, unfortunately the animals are fixed. Do any of you want any? They're still in the prototype stage, but we're trying to make them as useful as possible.
TOJI EVERWINTER: I think Mom will appreciate looking at them, what animals do you have?
BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS: We have... ah... (Checks notes) a red wolf, an orange cat, a yellow owl, a green stag, a blue orca, and a purple raven. Colours do not correspond to elements; if anything, they're Neutral-aligned. As you can see, I have my own; Annemarie helped with the testing so Anne took one as well. Show of claws?
(AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, AKAIRO KARMOZIJN, ASTERIA ZEPHYRANTHES, AYSEOR SHADOWTALON, DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON, HIKARI CASPIA, MAGNOLIA FLORIS raise claws. BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS hands the necklaces out.)
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Out of interest, what happens if you wear multiple?
BH: We... haven't actually tried yet, have a second one. You can unclip it and attach to the first.
DJr: Thanks. Huh. Ava, you don't want one?
AVA STARLING: Firstly, none of them go with my colour scheme. Secondly, they're prototypes. If they break, then I will be in serious trouble. Finally, I would rather not if they have some massive drawback.
RB: Same here. I would like a finalised version... also I don't want a wolf.
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: Fair. Okay, my turn, I was out with Magnolia, Akairo and Ava, so naturally we got attacked by Syzygy.
LAUREL PAPAVER: (Instantly sits bolt upright and turns to face her) Are you alright?!
VA: Everyone there - except Akairo - is a mage and/or archer, so we just flew around to avoid the attacks, it was chaos. In exchange, Syzygy summoned beasts made out of the Shade to attack everyone as well as the usual blasts of Shadow magic. I'm fine, I didn't get hit, I don't think Ava did either given her speed and how all the wind magic from both of us absolutely shredded most of the weaker constructs. Akairo... maybe a bit... Apparently Akairo managed to slice through the Shade quite effectively, but had to retreat after a bit, what happened?
AKAIRO KARMOZIJN: The Shade was corroding the supposedly Shade-resistant gauntlets I was trying out. Do you want them? I still have them, I put them in a locked box.
LI: Yes please.
AS: She failed to mention that Magnolia took a direct Shade blast to the face.
(Winces all around)
VA: Fortunately, we managed to retreat in time while creating a diversion, and we brought Maggie to the hospital wing for treatment. Dawn Sr happened to be there, and she healed her, so she's now fine. Mostly.
(Pause)
DAWN BLAZELIGHT SR: ...I do know how to purify and heal injuries caused the Shade, is it so strange?
LP: It's not that, it's just concern for her, that's all.
MAGNOLIA FLORIS: ...there's still some lingering pain, but otherwise... yeah. I'm not supposed to use any magic for the next two weeks or so while my condition is monitored, but I can move around like this.
RB: So, what have we learned?
AS: Syzygy's relative strength, capabilities and modus operandi?
**: The fact that I apparently have a special constitution that lets me resist Shade magic?
AK: The gauntlets need improving, and that full-body armour to go along with it would be nice?
VA: The beasts created by Syzygy are susceptible to blasts of extremely loud and disruptive sound waves? They're able to reform back, though, so I don't know if that counts.
**: You were shooting supersonic arrows that gave off sonic booms... The sound was so loud that each blast became a shock wave that physically moved the constructs on the side of the arrows' trajectories away from them and into Ava's shots. With the sheer amount of force each arrow possessed plus the power of the shockwaves and the sound disrupting Syzygy's concentration, I'm fairly sure that all of those contributed to her forces nearly being decimated. Although, a) I suppose that does count as them being susceptible and b) please give us some warning first, I nearly became deaf myself and Dawn Sr had to stop the perpetual loud ringing I kept hearing during the fight. Speaking of which, Ava, how did you withstand it?
VA: (Winces) Sorry, it's... a work in progress.
AS: The same way my own sonic booms do not hurt me, wind magic manipulation. In this case, I deafened myself during the fight and stayed high above both so I wouldn't be taken by surprise and so it wouldn't be as loud.
VA: Yep, me too. Sorry Reg, please continue.
RB: I was thinking about how you should attempt to immediately try to flee, or failing that, to make the Eclipse dragons distracted and/or unconscious first, but yes those work too and your answers are completely in character so I'm not surprised. Was she alone?
AS: Other than her summons, yes, she appeared to be so, I did not see anyone else. However, it is still possible that she was obscuring some of her allies. A possible strategy would be to distract her instead, but I don't... why are you smiling?
DJr: (Grinning from horn to horn) I told you my Peahats would come in handy! Would you like some of the Bomb Flower variety?
LP: I... am fairly sure that growing bombs in your background counts as being against the law...
DJr: Nah, it's fine, I have a license to grow "exotic, endangered and/or dangerous plants", I'm in the clear. Besides, they only explode when exposed to high heat, it's fine. I'll see if I can grow some with anti-Shade properties. So, you're confirmed to be alright?
**: Well, I'm not the one in a wheelchair...
DJr: ...touche.
ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: By the way, did Syzygy look like her normal self, or...?
VA: Oh, right, that's important - No, there are now yellow and purple scale-like patterns on her body, it's probably the Shade's influence. Laurel, what was Volta's reaction?
LP: Emotionally crushed, but otherwise fine. Aceso, you probably should expect him trying to arrange an appointment. Who's next?
TE: Me, Mom sent back some of the Academia material on the Shade. Apparently they're highly classified and the only reason we're being shown said papers is because... well, it's the Shade. I'll also pass if to you.
BH: Mhm. Please help me to test all the necklaces, and I'll improve our Shade items. Magnolia, have a good rest, the necklace should hopefully mitigate any lingering effects of the Shade. If any of you feel adverse effects, again, inform me.
DJr: Great, if that's all can someone wheel me out?
ES: ...sure.
"Hey," Dawn Jr lazily stretched from where she was sitting on her wheelchair. Naturally, she had gone for the comfiest option possible, complete with blanket and headrest.
"...hey," Laurel finally conceded.
"I'm trying to test the necklaces," Dawn Jr gestured to the two spectral animals frolicking around in her villa garden. "So far I've been able to give them vague commands and they've followed it in spirit. They'll phase through walls to get my glass of water for me and teleport back with said glass, they'll find a ball I hid in some random spot, and they've managed to send messages to Ava while she was flying around in the stratosphere - I asked her to, she agreed."
"Sounds useful."
"Meanwhile, Magnolia's back on chef duty, and did you know she has a whole collection of chef's knives? I didn't. Good morning to you too, any updates so far?"
"No," Ava answered slowly from behind Laurel, sounding rather annoyed that she had been caught despite doing her best to remain hidden. "Maria will be busy for the next few weeks, she won't be in the Clan and she's out doing errands for me. By the way, have you managed to project your voice through the spirits yet?"
"...unfortunately no, but I did witness Ayseor's raven holding a dagger and terrorising everyone else because it woke up and chose violence for... whatever reason. Also, did you know that-"
There was bit of a swirl, and a pale yellow barn own appeared out of thin air before Hikari's (oddly tense) disembodied voice emanated from it. "Urgent news from Delonix: Fluorite and Coleus struck - they took Pyrolysis. The two of them were on the road, she fled, but Pyrolysis didn't and Fluorite used the power of the Shade to knock him unconscious. Last she saw, they took him but she barely made it out. Dawn Sr is treating her. Meeting in the usual place, five minutes."
Dawn Jr glanced up at the unusually solemn Ava and Laurel, and let out a string of unprintable curses for good measure.
In Attendance:
FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON: Where's everyone else?
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: Mother is still treating Delonix, apparently she got hit with some of the Shade as well. Fortunately, it's not serious, but the blast was still quite powerful. Zia is helping Mother and... exchanging tips with her. Did you know that their magic combined makes for quite the potent combination against the Shade? As for Lynx and Betelgeuse, they are busy improving Akairo's armour and fitting it to his size. I suspect that they have received the news and are now making the armour fireproof. The rest are out fortifying our defenses against intruders in case they return.
FS: Ah. Okay. Understandable. You know... this whole thing has got me thinking. By now, it's quite obvious that my sorry excuse of a mother is behind this whole thing, yes? Well... what if Eclipse is her attempt at making a counter to the Eternal Stars?
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Wait, what?
FS: Mhm. Think about it - right now, there's thirteen of them, and while we don't know how the Shade has altered them, they all possess some ability to somewhat shut down each of their... counterparts, let's say. Caligo could make impenetrable dark mists, and the Shade has probably enhanced that ability - that could massively cripple Regina. Pyrolysis and Polaris cancel each other out. Acee's lightning manipulation could potentially protect himself against Laurel. Wolfcry is persuasive, like Ava, and his ability to become mist also stops Ava's arrows... although straight-up wind manipulation is still fine, I suppose?
AVA STARLING: Wouldn't Wolfcry be perfectly countered by Polaris?
FS: True, but that's not the point here. Fluorite and Coleus are obvious counters to Dawn Jr and Asteria, though I'm not sure who is for what.
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: I'll do you one better, we work in tandem. I'm the mage, Asteria's trying out more close combat. Although, in this case, it might be a bad thing.
FS: Finedel was able to pierce most of Hikari's shields, and that's before the Shade influence.
HIKARI CASPIA: (Sigh) I've been trying to improve my shields, but...
FS: Brighteye... not sure, probably Ankaa, she's the least-fitting but the rest work so... disclaimer. Zudal is also physically strong, like Akairo. Galvana notoriously didn't like Seraphina before all of this. Ruthe fits as Victoria's, both are quite knowledgeable about the arts, both were considered dainty until Victoria revealed that her harp doubled as a heavily enchanted bow with absurdly high poundage, both distract from the fact that they are quite capable in combat... hmm. Syzygy is Maria's perfect counter because Maria typically only deals with one target at a time and Syzygy can summon endless minions. Finally, Elrond and Magnolia are both scouts, have similar colour schemes, and are archers at that.
(Long pause)
VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: You know... knowing Dusk, she could be entirely right. The bit about Brighteye is shaky, but the rest sort of fit. What's your suggestion?
FS: Naturally, don't send them after their counters. Instead, gang up on them, it usually works. Honestly? We're fortunate they don't have any shielders, but...
AYSEOR SHADOWTALON: I was going to suggest that we flood the battlefield with Dawn Sr's magic flames. Backed up by Zia, of course.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: I was going to suggest striking as hard and fast as we can before they have time to recruit more for their cause. And yes, before you ask, we will consider Pyrolysis a lost cause because by now he might already be converted. The only somewhat optimistic take I can see is that we know more about how they've been altered, but...
TOJI EVERWINTER: Field as many mages and archers as we can?
AMALIA BLAZELIGHT: Speaking of which, did you know that Aurealis called me a coward for using magic instead of fighting with close-range weapons "like a real dragon"? I told him he was "positively primeval" in a light enough voice so he didn't catch onto the fact that he was being insulted, then I asked him his opinion of Polaris and he quickly shut up, but... he's my brother and he still treats me like this?
RB: Ouch. You need me to talk to him?
AmB: Sorry, just tired of being treated like a joke by him. At least I know I can be wrong though. I don't think Aurealis has ever been wrong in his life - and if you don't believe me, you could probably just ask him.
RB: Oh, I know. Once, he won a small, swords-only sparring tournament. So, I said this to him, and I quote: "Under the deeply moving impression of the capitulation of your opponents, I congratulate you on the mighty victory granted by the Lightweaver. What a turn of events brought about by divine dispensation!"
NEBULA MESSIER: ...huh?
RB: Note the phrasing - "granted by the Lightweaver" and "brought about by divine dispensation", implying that he only won because he was lucky. He naturally took it at face value. It's part of what makes coming up with such stealth insults so entertaining, really, it's seeing how far you can go without the one being insulted catching on.
EILEEN BLAZELIGHT: He is... mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence, isn't he?
AS: Truly, I have never seen one whose heart and ego are so much bigger than one's brain as him.
DJr: Why, he sets the standard of intelligence, humility, and civility for the entire world!
HIKARI CASPIA: I have never met anyone who has caused me more paperwork than him, other than Dawn Sr for obvious reasons.
NM: Obvious reasons being...?
HC: Apart from all the fireproofing I had to order? I was her former secretary, naturally most of my paperwork came from her.
NM: Ohhhhh. Right.
AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ: ...what's going on?
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, / And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; / Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, / Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.
LAUREL PAPAVER: ...I would join in, but I can't think of anything to say without it potentially going to his head and inflating his ego further.
VA: He... carries out his duties entirely to his own satisfaction, has the heart of a young boy, and is steadfast in his beliefs?
TE: Sorry, what duties exactly?
VA: His self-imposed duty of proving his superiority, naturally. Unless you can think of anything else he does with equal or greater competence?
ES: He is... punctual?
FS: Regrettably, yes, I can. He's actually a connoisseur when it comes to swords. I literally handed him a rusted sword I found in the back of my cellar and he was able to tell me its exact type, age, material, forging techniques, the smith it was made by and the optimal fighting style one uses to fight with it. Well, yes, he said that such a magnificent blade shouldn't have been left to languish in the back of my cellar and rot, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was my mother's and it was only because I was cleaning out my cellar did I find it.
VA: Huh. Was he correct?
FS: Later took it to Forgewarden for appraisal. Aurealis was spot on about every single detail except for its previous owner, which I thought would have been obvious. To be fair... he answered "Caos", but then again that's a reasonable assumption.
(Pause)
DJr: Never would've thought he would be capable of that, to be honest. What happened to the sword?
FS: Forgewarden repaired it. It's not magical, it's just a decently-forged blade. Still, it's about the only other thing I think he's competent at.
HC: It's absolutely absurd. Most of it is him getting offended by... whatever he thinks is offensive. The hilarious bit is that what he's offended by aren't the actual insults, but what he views as "base" behaviour. Well, I suppose that his... refined sense of grace and keen awareness of his social status has left him rather bereft of other qualities he considers "lesser".
DJr: Ha! Nice!
(Whole room erupts into laughter. Everyone save ELIO SHADOWBANE clink their glasses together and down their respective - non-alcoholic, fortunately - contents.)
LP: That works. Now, before we get carried away with how much we can damn him with faint praise, we should really be getting back to the main point, lest we turn out like how Polaris accused her co-workers of being.
ES: Right. Thank you. Back to the point about fielding as many mages and archers as we can... close-contact is probably a bad idea until we have better Shade-resistant gear, but magical affinity is... finnicky. Battle-hardened warriors have their fighting styles ingrained into them as muscle memory and asking them to suddenly change that is...
RB: Then don't ask them to suddenly change it, put them in roles that suit them. For example, they can be in charge of protecting the mage and archer squads. Or... hmm. Ava?
AS: There's also the problem of equipment. Yes, Bella can provide infinite materials, but we only have so many smiths. We need to repair equipment and make new arrows, but if our smiths are swamped with work, then it will be quite difficult to maintain the offensive. Supply lines will not be relevant until we are actually pushing into the Hewn City, but it is still good to keep in mind.
VA: The arrow problem is easily solved by the archers creating out of magic... actually, never mind, it assumes that the archer in question has enough magical control to create basic constructs that can still flex a little, and it assumes that the Shade-touched dragons are vulnerable to all elements. I suppose it could be a useful trick in case?
TE: Also, it could be useful in general as a long-range projectile if one has no other options. That could help. Are we considering offensive or defensive warfare first?
ES: Neither; we are currently on the receiving end of guerilla warfare.
VS: ...not again. Why are we on the receiving end this time?
NM: ...sorry?
DJr: (Shudders) When Mother and our dearest Aunt were still fighting over the throne, all the infighting attracted an Imperial called Revelough, who temporarily succeeded in taking over the Clan so everyone who was left banded together to form the Resistance. Shockingly, yes, they actually managed to work together, it was the most civil I have ever seen both be. Revelough got personally killed by Mother, believe it or not. We... extensively utilised guerilla warfare, but...
AS: But?
DJr: Dusk was our chief strategist... do you see the problem now?
(Pause)
DJr: ...yeah. To answer Toji, this will mostly be defensive warfare, which means we have to dust off all the old strategy books and grab the most competent generals we can. Also, this means we have to increase the security on everything in general, especially all our entrances, equipment, and food and water supplies. You never know if they poison the resource supplies...
ES: In that case, I need to get my armour from the smiths. Will Phoenix be of any help?
DJr: Did you forget she used to be one of our most competent mages? I mean, she's probably gotten rusty, but fire magic isn't the kind of thing you just forget how to cast. Generally speaking, most of our family is competent at magic, anyway-
ES: I feel like there's a "so what happened to you" somewhere in there...
DJr: Nope, that's directed to Aurealis and the Summershalls, Zia excluded. Righto, Polaris is returning in a few days, I hope you have enough info to give her?
TE: Hopefully, yes.
In Attendance:
POLARIS EVERWINTER: Why the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] is it that every time I leave, all kinds of [EXPLETIVE DELETED] happen?
HIKARI CASPIA: (Dryly) Well, every time you leave, I need to delete less expletives... I'd count that as a plus...
PE: Pot, meet kettle...
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: Either way, I called everyone here because we found the location of their Clan - or rather Mephisto did.
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Let me guess: it's in the Hewn City, where Dusk is, right?
ES: Bingo.
DJr: For the record, the guess isn't coming from any sort of poetics, it's from pure pragmatism - they would naturally congregate around the area with the strongest Shade magic in the region. Right... How's everyone?
PE: Alright. Harvest is in the Academia, Annemarie's trying to finish their paper, I brought back several papers on the Shade. The more important part is, now that we know where they're hiding, shouldn't we strike against them?
AVA STARLING: Not without proper protection of the Shade. I highly doubt that even with Zia and Dawn Sr's combined efforts, we'll be able to get rid of it entirely. We also don't know what traps they've set up.
LAUREL PAPAVER: Isn't that what Mephisto is for?
AVA STARLING: He's not omniscient.
LP: Fair. Lynx?
LYNX ISKÁT: What?
- mist/fog/vapor
- darkness/gloom/murkiness
- moral/intellectual/mental dark
- dizziness
3. Declension Consonant Stems
Gender: feminine
wip
ULTRA TOP SECRET
ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
Date of Meeting: 5 Rockbreakers, 4e 40294ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
In Attendance:
- AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, HRH (AmB)
- AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ, ASSISTANT SCRIBE (AL)
- AVA STARLING, "MINTAKA" / DELTA INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR (AS)
- BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS, HEAD RESEARCHER (BH)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, PRINCESS ROYAL (DJr)
- EILEEN BLAZELIGHT, HRH (EB)
- ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE, HMTK (ES)
- HIKARI CASPIA, SECRETARY / TRANSCRIBER (HC)
- LAUREL PAPAVER, CHIEF JUSTICE (LP)
- LYNX ISKÁT, SEEKER / PROJECT DAYBREAK HEAD (LI)
- MAGNOLIA FLORIS, "CAPELLA" (**)
- MARIA STARLING, "PROCYON" / AVA'S HITDRAGON (MS)
- NEBULA MESSIER, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (NM)
- POLARIS EVERWINTER, ARCHMAGE (PE)
- PRIMAL BLUEFIRE, SEER (PB)
- REGINA BLAZELIGHT, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (RB)
- TOJI EVERWINTER, POLARIS' SECRETARY (TE)
- VICTORIA AMARYLLIS, "VEGA" / BARD (VA)
- VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, HRH / COUNCIL OF LEAVES LEADER (VS)
- ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, DUCHESS (ZIA)
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: It's 9am; let's get straight to business. Caligo and a couple other dragons defected to form their own Clan, then declared war on us.
LAUREL PAPAVER: What.
ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: What.
PRIMAL BLUEFIRE: What.
NEBULA MESSIER: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: This isn't a prank?
ES: Unfortunately, no. I wish it was.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: I... hmm. In retrospect, it was quite obvious, but Ava doesn't look very surprised...
AVA STARLING: I was the one who found out through my information network, I alerted him.
MAGNOLIA FLORIS: Any chance she was influenced by Dusk, or this even being related to Dusk? It's a valid question.
AVA STARLING: Not that I can find... yet. Key word being yet. It could be that there's none, it could just be mind control, or it could be... anything, really. Right now, they're calling themselves the Eclipse Clan.
EILEEN BLAZELIGHT: Father, who did they take?
ES: Fluorite Myrrhina, Elrond Cuprum, Ruthe, Finedel, Zudal, Syzygy Eclipse, Galvana Pushpanjan, Coleus Blumei, Acee Deecee, Wolfcry Silvertongue, Brighteye Silvertongue.
VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: [EXPLETIVE DELETED], the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] SILVERTONGUES got persuaded to join? Either Caligo was very persuasive, or they decided it was a good idea.
LP: Galvana? [EXPLETIVE DELETED], Volta's going to be [EXPLETIVE DELETED].
HIKARI CASPIA: I've... actually never heard you swear so much before.
LP: If you haven't noticed, we're technically now at war, forgive me for being stressed. Although... there's only twelve of them, it can't be that big of a problem, right?
MARIA STARLING: (Crashes into the room via the window) Sorry for being late, I was spying on the Eclipse Clan.
LP: What.
(HIKARI CASPIA does first aid on MARIA STARLING; AMALIA BLAZELIGHT fixes the window)
AS: Precautionary measures. Report?
MS: Yeah, uh, they've set up camp in the Hewn City and are using the power of the Shade. Naturally, I got the hell out of Dodge.
AS: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]
DJr: (Genuine gasp) Ava! Language!
AS: Apologies. Normally I vote we strike before they bolster their numbers, but if they're using the Shade...
(Everyone turns to LYNX ISKÁT)
LYNX ISKÁT: What are you all looking at me for?
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: ...Project Daybreak?
LI: Oh. Right. We've been developing Shade-resistant charms and armour, it obviously hasn't seen live testing yet but theoretically it's promising. As for actually countering it, we have Zia and Dawn Sr. And Hikari.
HC: Well, my theorised Shade-resistant shields haven't undergone live testing yet, and I'm not anxious to do so right now, so my usefulness in that regard is-
LI: I was referring to helping with sorting out our finances and resource management. Military funding isn't cheap.
HC: I'm not your secretary; Gladia is and does her job perfectly well.
LI: And Gladia is currently in the hospital wing due to food poisoning; ergo you are our de facto secretary until she's recovered.
HC: [EXPLETIVE DELETED].
AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ: Um... should I put that down too?
HC: (Winces) Put that down as [EXPLETIVE DELETED], all caps, square brackets.
VA: Won't that make it sound worse than it actually is?
HC: Look, it's the principle of the thing...
TOJI EVERWINTER: ...who's that?
HC: My assistant scribe, because I got tired of transcribing and sorting everything. My workload is heavy enough as is. Yes, I briefed him, yes, he's sworn to secrecy, magical oaths and all that. Anyway, you look like you wanted to say something?
POLARIS EVERWINTER: I can get a letter out to the Academia to ask for papers on the Shade, if I include the rationale I can probably get clearance very quickly. I'm supposed to be there for a compulsory Archmage conference next week, anyway. It's not like ice does a lot against the Shade, and the three / four Academia kids are going to be there so they can help me search. The only problem is that that means a few of our more capable mages are all gone.
VA: You can't back out of it?
PE: Compulsory.
VA: Yikes.
PE: Yeah, I have to deal with Phorcys Thalássēs, Begonia Flōrōsae, Ahephyx Deoxyribose, Rancollo Lavala, and Orithyia Borealis all being in the same room, it's an utter nightmare; I would skip if I could just so I don't have to see Orithyia or listen to Begonia's interminable yet somehow useless speeches, but... well... (Long sigh) Really, all they do is talk all day and come up with constant tangents and nothing much's accomplished, Ahephyx does most of the work-
LP: Like you're currently demonstrating?
(POLARIS EVERWINTER glares at LAUREL PAPAVER, but silently concedes the point and nods her head towards NEBULA MESSIER)
NM: Sorry, Orithyia?
PE: The other - and much older - Ice Archmage; unpleasant is an understatement. It's like that old crone perpetually has a stick up her-
RB: Ahem.
PE: Anyway, my point is, I can get you information on the Shade in the Academia. Toji will act as my representative while I'm gone.
LI: Any information on the Shade would be useful, even if it only confirms what we already know. What we need is information on Dusk and Eclipse specifically.
BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS: On that note, how is Mephisto?
LI: He sent a report in yesterday, I was still reading through it. He seems to have included much on Dusk's current state, and apparently she currently believes that she is a god; as such the Shade she can control has somehow acquiesced and-
DJr: So this whole dang mess is her fault? Well, I mean, can't be too surprised about that, our aunt ruins everything she comes into contact with regardless of whether she's doing it consciously or not. All of her familial relations, the in-laws, the Clan, her hold on the Clan, her own sanity... Huh.
VS: Mhm, our aunt is a real witch, isn't she? Any plans to tell Mom?
ES: Eh... should we?
VS: Well, either we do tell her now and risk her setting another trash can on fire to bring to Aceso for therapy, or we don't tell her, and when our dearest aunt attacks Mom sets the forest on fire. Personally, I prefer the flaming garbage.
DJr: I will... very grudgingly... admit that Mother is quite spot-on with her imitation of Dusk. The deliberately sweet cloying smoke to represent the Shade is... not half bad. Objectively, the better plan would be to tell her, on the condition we bring Aceso, Ting and Ayseor in as well. Have any of you seen what Mother is like when she's furious?
ES: ...me?
VS: (Hastily) Other than direct relatives.
PB: Does spotting her sneak into the royal cellar once count?
DJr: What.
PB: Yep.
DJr: Anyway, if Mother has to be there I want someone to keep her in check. Can't have the room burn down.
HC: Alright, reasonable enough, approved.
ES: Mhm.
AMALIA BLAZELIGHT: All jokes aside, I read the reports; Dusk was an extremely powerful mage even before she started meddling with the Shade, and we don't know much about what she's capable of. Admittedly, this is before Father had us, but over half of the current Clan has been around along with Dusk.
VA: You know, I just noticed Aurealis isn't present...
AS: Aurealis is entirely unsuited for clandestine affairs such as this. He believes that a) dragons are naturally honourable, b) everyone knows what his code of "honour" and "chivalry" is, c) others naturally will follow said code, d) those who don't are thus the scum of the earth, and e) he's always right. For our collective sanity, I recommended that he not be briefed at all about the secret documents. As such, he believes that the ESO is genuinely just an observatory. Well, technically we are a fully functional astral observatory that also carries out other non-observatory activities, so to back up the rather obviously false claim, we do have the star charts to show for it. I suppose we should be lucky that he takes such things at face-value and never stops to consider whether we are lying by omission to him.
LP: ...huh. That makes a lot of sense. Hold on, how do you have so much say on who gets to see what? I thought that was Hikari's job?
AS: I don't like lying outright, and in this case it was basic common sense and she agreed.
HC: I did. Him exploding at us for what he perceives as lying him to him is much more trouble than it's worth, and I don't want him to start working against us.
AS: Either way, he would strongly object to the existence of this plan, and I believe we all know him well enough to know that he would just go charge straight into the Hewn City and get himself killed.
ES: ...while I do share the same sentiment, he is my son.
AS: Meaning that it's your job to know his usual behaviour and thus stop him from being too reckless, yes?
ES: ...yes.
**: Out of interest, what's the contingency plan in case Elio dies or abdicates? Sorry, it's a legitimate question from me. I just don't want to see him on the throne, he'll become a Knight Templar.
RB: Absolute primogeniture, eldest child inherits the throne, so Eileen becomes queen. If she has children, those children will be next in line after her, followed by Aurealis. Technically, the order is Eileen, Aurealis, Amalia, Victoria, and then we go down the Summershall line. Back to the point, Aurealis is on a need-to-know basis, with what he "needs to know" just being that Dusk might be growing in power and plotting something, but that she is far too powerful for him to just rush in and try to kill her. Nothing about the Shade so far, because he views the Shade as a corruptive force and it's his job to liberate everything from the Shade.
DJr: Well, corruptive is right, but... chronic hero syndrome? Recipe for disaster right there. Anyway, I was going to say that we do know Dusk's abilities... kind of. Caligo's is a complete unknown, especially since we don't know how the Shade has affected Eclipse. If we go in assuming that they have the same abilities as before, it'd be suicidal.
(Pause)
PB: Huh. She's right.
NM: When did she stop being crazy?
PB: Since she was five-
NM: Oh.
PB: -months old.
NM: Oh.
PB: It's all careful obfuscation, she can probably give Ava a run for her treasure anyway. Would you like me to scry the future for you to see Caligo's next moves?
LI: I was actually going to ask. Yes.
LP: So... we're going to spy on Eclipse, ask Mephisto to do more Mephisto things, continue developing the anti-Shade things, and get Dawn Sr in?
HC: Essentially.
TE: Can I propose having everyone train to fight the Shade and/or affected dragons?
RB: You can, good idea, we were planning on having something like that anyway. How do we break the news to the Clan?
ES: Leave that one to me.
ULTRA TOP SECRET
ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
Date of Meeting: 1 NotN, 4e 40294ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
In Attendance:
- ACESO ĪĀ́SEŌS, THERAPIST (AI)
- AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, HRH (AmB)
- AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ, ASSISTANT SCRIBE (AL)
- AKAIRO KARMOZIJN, "ANTARES" (AK)
- ASTERIA ZEPHYRANTHES, "ARCTURUS" / INCINC VICE-HEAD (AZ)
- AVA STARLING, "MINTAKA" / DELTA INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR (AS)
- AYSEOR SHADOWTALON, MORALITY CHAIN (AyS)
- BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS, HEAD RESEARCHER (BH)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, PRINCESS ROYAL (DJr)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT SR, DUCHESS (DSr)
- EILEEN BLAZELIGHT, HRH (EB)
- ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE, HMTK (ES)
- FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON, SHADOW FLIGHT DEPARTMENT HEAD (FS)
- HIKARI CASPIA, SECRETARY / TRANSCRIBER (HC)
- LAUREL PAPAVER, CHIEF JUSTICE (LP)
- LYNX ISKÁT, SEEKER / PROJECT DAYBREAK HEAD (LI)
- MAGNOLIA FLORIS, "CAPELLA" (**)
- MARIA STARLING, "PROCYON" / AVA'S HITDRAGON (MS)
- NEBULA MESSIER, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (NM)
- PRIMAL BLUEFIRE, SEER (PB)
- REGINA BLAZELIGHT, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (RB)
- TOJI EVERWINTER, POLARIS' SECRETARY (TE)
- VICTORIA AMARYLLIS, "VEGA" / BARD (VA)
- VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, HRH / COUNCIL OF LEAVES LEADER (VS)
- ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, DUCHESS (ZIA)
ELIO SHADOWBANE: Happy Night of the Nocturne, everyone. I... hope that you all are actually who you are supposed to be, and not secretly Nocturnes disguised as someone else.
MARIA STARLING: ...does that include me?
ES: ...excluding Maria for obvious reasons. I'll start - firstly, we've got a few more people, they've been cleared to read the previous meeting. I've also come up with a draft on anti-Shade fighting tactics from what we've gleaned so far, and I'll update them one more time after this meeting so our warriors can get started ASAP.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: Small correction, so everyone can get started ASAP. We need all the support we can get.
ES: Okay, fair. Lynx, you wanted to go next?
LYNX ISKÁT: Yes. So far, we haven't managed to update the shields, but thanks to Betelgeuse and his team, we've managed to create necklaces that help to ward off the Shade. A side effect of the spells was that the pendants can apparently form semi-sentient spirit animals - and no, unfortunately the animals are fixed. Do any of you want any? They're still in the prototype stage, but we're trying to make them as useful as possible.
TOJI EVERWINTER: I think Mom will appreciate looking at them, what animals do you have?
BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS: We have... ah... (Checks notes) a red wolf, an orange cat, a yellow owl, a green stag, a blue orca, and a purple raven. Colours do not correspond to elements; if anything, they're Neutral-aligned. As you can see, I have my own; Annemarie helped with the testing so Anne took one as well. Show of claws?
(AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, AKAIRO KARMOZIJN, ASTERIA ZEPHYRANTHES, AYSEOR SHADOWTALON, DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON, HIKARI CASPIA, MAGNOLIA FLORIS raise claws. BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS hands the necklaces out.)
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Out of interest, what happens if you wear multiple?
BH: We... haven't actually tried yet, have a second one. You can unclip it and attach to the first.
DJr: Thanks. Huh. Ava, you don't want one?
AVA STARLING: Firstly, none of them go with my colour scheme. Secondly, they're prototypes. If they break, then I will be in serious trouble. Finally, I would rather not if they have some massive drawback.
RB: Same here. I would like a finalised version... also I don't want a wolf.
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: Fair. Okay, my turn, I was out with Magnolia, Akairo and Ava, so naturally we got attacked by Syzygy.
LAUREL PAPAVER: (Instantly sits bolt upright and turns to face her) Are you alright?!
VA: Everyone there - except Akairo - is a mage and/or archer, so we just flew around to avoid the attacks, it was chaos. In exchange, Syzygy summoned beasts made out of the Shade to attack everyone as well as the usual blasts of Shadow magic. I'm fine, I didn't get hit, I don't think Ava did either given her speed and how all the wind magic from both of us absolutely shredded most of the weaker constructs. Akairo... maybe a bit... Apparently Akairo managed to slice through the Shade quite effectively, but had to retreat after a bit, what happened?
AKAIRO KARMOZIJN: The Shade was corroding the supposedly Shade-resistant gauntlets I was trying out. Do you want them? I still have them, I put them in a locked box.
LI: Yes please.
AS: She failed to mention that Magnolia took a direct Shade blast to the face.
(Winces all around)
VA: Fortunately, we managed to retreat in time while creating a diversion, and we brought Maggie to the hospital wing for treatment. Dawn Sr happened to be there, and she healed her, so she's now fine. Mostly.
(Pause)
DAWN BLAZELIGHT SR: ...I do know how to purify and heal injuries caused the Shade, is it so strange?
LP: It's not that, it's just concern for her, that's all.
MAGNOLIA FLORIS: ...there's still some lingering pain, but otherwise... yeah. I'm not supposed to use any magic for the next two weeks or so while my condition is monitored, but I can move around like this.
RB: So, what have we learned?
AS: Syzygy's relative strength, capabilities and modus operandi?
**: The fact that I apparently have a special constitution that lets me resist Shade magic?
AK: The gauntlets need improving, and that full-body armour to go along with it would be nice?
VA: The beasts created by Syzygy are susceptible to blasts of extremely loud and disruptive sound waves? They're able to reform back, though, so I don't know if that counts.
**: You were shooting supersonic arrows that gave off sonic booms... The sound was so loud that each blast became a shock wave that physically moved the constructs on the side of the arrows' trajectories away from them and into Ava's shots. With the sheer amount of force each arrow possessed plus the power of the shockwaves and the sound disrupting Syzygy's concentration, I'm fairly sure that all of those contributed to her forces nearly being decimated. Although, a) I suppose that does count as them being susceptible and b) please give us some warning first, I nearly became deaf myself and Dawn Sr had to stop the perpetual loud ringing I kept hearing during the fight. Speaking of which, Ava, how did you withstand it?
VA: (Winces) Sorry, it's... a work in progress.
AS: The same way my own sonic booms do not hurt me, wind magic manipulation. In this case, I deafened myself during the fight and stayed high above both so I wouldn't be taken by surprise and so it wouldn't be as loud.
VA: Yep, me too. Sorry Reg, please continue.
RB: I was thinking about how you should attempt to immediately try to flee, or failing that, to make the Eclipse dragons distracted and/or unconscious first, but yes those work too and your answers are completely in character so I'm not surprised. Was she alone?
AS: Other than her summons, yes, she appeared to be so, I did not see anyone else. However, it is still possible that she was obscuring some of her allies. A possible strategy would be to distract her instead, but I don't... why are you smiling?
DJr: (Grinning from horn to horn) I told you my Peahats would come in handy! Would you like some of the Bomb Flower variety?
LP: I... am fairly sure that growing bombs in your background counts as being against the law...
DJr: Nah, it's fine, I have a license to grow "exotic, endangered and/or dangerous plants", I'm in the clear. Besides, they only explode when exposed to high heat, it's fine. I'll see if I can grow some with anti-Shade properties. So, you're confirmed to be alright?
**: Well, I'm not the one in a wheelchair...
DJr: ...touche.
ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: By the way, did Syzygy look like her normal self, or...?
VA: Oh, right, that's important - No, there are now yellow and purple scale-like patterns on her body, it's probably the Shade's influence. Laurel, what was Volta's reaction?
LP: Emotionally crushed, but otherwise fine. Aceso, you probably should expect him trying to arrange an appointment. Who's next?
TE: Me, Mom sent back some of the Academia material on the Shade. Apparently they're highly classified and the only reason we're being shown said papers is because... well, it's the Shade. I'll also pass if to you.
BH: Mhm. Please help me to test all the necklaces, and I'll improve our Shade items. Magnolia, have a good rest, the necklace should hopefully mitigate any lingering effects of the Shade. If any of you feel adverse effects, again, inform me.
DJr: Great, if that's all can someone wheel me out?
ES: ...sure.
"Hey," Dawn Jr lazily stretched from where she was sitting on her wheelchair. Naturally, she had gone for the comfiest option possible, complete with blanket and headrest.
"...hey," Laurel finally conceded.
"I'm trying to test the necklaces," Dawn Jr gestured to the two spectral animals frolicking around in her villa garden. "So far I've been able to give them vague commands and they've followed it in spirit. They'll phase through walls to get my glass of water for me and teleport back with said glass, they'll find a ball I hid in some random spot, and they've managed to send messages to Ava while she was flying around in the stratosphere - I asked her to, she agreed."
"Sounds useful."
"Meanwhile, Magnolia's back on chef duty, and did you know she has a whole collection of chef's knives? I didn't. Good morning to you too, any updates so far?"
"No," Ava answered slowly from behind Laurel, sounding rather annoyed that she had been caught despite doing her best to remain hidden. "Maria will be busy for the next few weeks, she won't be in the Clan and she's out doing errands for me. By the way, have you managed to project your voice through the spirits yet?"
"...unfortunately no, but I did witness Ayseor's raven holding a dagger and terrorising everyone else because it woke up and chose violence for... whatever reason. Also, did you know that-"
There was bit of a swirl, and a pale yellow barn own appeared out of thin air before Hikari's (oddly tense) disembodied voice emanated from it. "Urgent news from Delonix: Fluorite and Coleus struck - they took Pyrolysis. The two of them were on the road, she fled, but Pyrolysis didn't and Fluorite used the power of the Shade to knock him unconscious. Last she saw, they took him but she barely made it out. Dawn Sr is treating her. Meeting in the usual place, five minutes."
Dawn Jr glanced up at the unusually solemn Ava and Laurel, and let out a string of unprintable curses for good measure.
ULTRA TOP SECRET
ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
Date of Meeting: 4 NotN, 4e 40294ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
In Attendance:
- AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, HRH (AmB)
- AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ, ASSISTANT SCRIBE (AL)
- AVA STARLING, "MINTAKA" / DELTA INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR (AS)
- AYSEOR SHADOWTALON, MORALITY CHAIN (AyS)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, PRINCESS ROYAL (DJr)
- EILEEN BLAZELIGHT, HRH (EB)
- ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE, HMTK (ES)
- FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON, SHADOW FLIGHT DEPARTMENT HEAD (FS)
- HIKARI CASPIA, SECRETARY / TRANSCRIBER (HC)
- LAUREL PAPAVER, CHIEF JUSTICE (LP)
- NEBULA MESSIER, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (NM)
- REGINA BLAZELIGHT, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (RB)
- TOJI EVERWINTER, POLARIS' SECRETARY (TE)
- VICTORIA AMARYLLIS, "VEGA" / BARD (VA)
- VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, HRH / COUNCIL OF LEAVES LEADER (VS)
FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON: Where's everyone else?
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: Mother is still treating Delonix, apparently she got hit with some of the Shade as well. Fortunately, it's not serious, but the blast was still quite powerful. Zia is helping Mother and... exchanging tips with her. Did you know that their magic combined makes for quite the potent combination against the Shade? As for Lynx and Betelgeuse, they are busy improving Akairo's armour and fitting it to his size. I suspect that they have received the news and are now making the armour fireproof. The rest are out fortifying our defenses against intruders in case they return.
FS: Ah. Okay. Understandable. You know... this whole thing has got me thinking. By now, it's quite obvious that my sorry excuse of a mother is behind this whole thing, yes? Well... what if Eclipse is her attempt at making a counter to the Eternal Stars?
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Wait, what?
FS: Mhm. Think about it - right now, there's thirteen of them, and while we don't know how the Shade has altered them, they all possess some ability to somewhat shut down each of their... counterparts, let's say. Caligo could make impenetrable dark mists, and the Shade has probably enhanced that ability - that could massively cripple Regina. Pyrolysis and Polaris cancel each other out. Acee's lightning manipulation could potentially protect himself against Laurel. Wolfcry is persuasive, like Ava, and his ability to become mist also stops Ava's arrows... although straight-up wind manipulation is still fine, I suppose?
AVA STARLING: Wouldn't Wolfcry be perfectly countered by Polaris?
FS: True, but that's not the point here. Fluorite and Coleus are obvious counters to Dawn Jr and Asteria, though I'm not sure who is for what.
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: I'll do you one better, we work in tandem. I'm the mage, Asteria's trying out more close combat. Although, in this case, it might be a bad thing.
FS: Finedel was able to pierce most of Hikari's shields, and that's before the Shade influence.
HIKARI CASPIA: (Sigh) I've been trying to improve my shields, but...
FS: Brighteye... not sure, probably Ankaa, she's the least-fitting but the rest work so... disclaimer. Zudal is also physically strong, like Akairo. Galvana notoriously didn't like Seraphina before all of this. Ruthe fits as Victoria's, both are quite knowledgeable about the arts, both were considered dainty until Victoria revealed that her harp doubled as a heavily enchanted bow with absurdly high poundage, both distract from the fact that they are quite capable in combat... hmm. Syzygy is Maria's perfect counter because Maria typically only deals with one target at a time and Syzygy can summon endless minions. Finally, Elrond and Magnolia are both scouts, have similar colour schemes, and are archers at that.
(Long pause)
VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT: You know... knowing Dusk, she could be entirely right. The bit about Brighteye is shaky, but the rest sort of fit. What's your suggestion?
FS: Naturally, don't send them after their counters. Instead, gang up on them, it usually works. Honestly? We're fortunate they don't have any shielders, but...
AYSEOR SHADOWTALON: I was going to suggest that we flood the battlefield with Dawn Sr's magic flames. Backed up by Zia, of course.
REGINA BLAZELIGHT: I was going to suggest striking as hard and fast as we can before they have time to recruit more for their cause. And yes, before you ask, we will consider Pyrolysis a lost cause because by now he might already be converted. The only somewhat optimistic take I can see is that we know more about how they've been altered, but...
TOJI EVERWINTER: Field as many mages and archers as we can?
AMALIA BLAZELIGHT: Speaking of which, did you know that Aurealis called me a coward for using magic instead of fighting with close-range weapons "like a real dragon"? I told him he was "positively primeval" in a light enough voice so he didn't catch onto the fact that he was being insulted, then I asked him his opinion of Polaris and he quickly shut up, but... he's my brother and he still treats me like this?
RB: Ouch. You need me to talk to him?
AmB: Sorry, just tired of being treated like a joke by him. At least I know I can be wrong though. I don't think Aurealis has ever been wrong in his life - and if you don't believe me, you could probably just ask him.
RB: Oh, I know. Once, he won a small, swords-only sparring tournament. So, I said this to him, and I quote: "Under the deeply moving impression of the capitulation of your opponents, I congratulate you on the mighty victory granted by the Lightweaver. What a turn of events brought about by divine dispensation!"
NEBULA MESSIER: ...huh?
RB: Note the phrasing - "granted by the Lightweaver" and "brought about by divine dispensation", implying that he only won because he was lucky. He naturally took it at face value. It's part of what makes coming up with such stealth insults so entertaining, really, it's seeing how far you can go without the one being insulted catching on.
EILEEN BLAZELIGHT: He is... mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence, isn't he?
AS: Truly, I have never seen one whose heart and ego are so much bigger than one's brain as him.
DJr: Why, he sets the standard of intelligence, humility, and civility for the entire world!
HIKARI CASPIA: I have never met anyone who has caused me more paperwork than him, other than Dawn Sr for obvious reasons.
NM: Obvious reasons being...?
HC: Apart from all the fireproofing I had to order? I was her former secretary, naturally most of my paperwork came from her.
NM: Ohhhhh. Right.
AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ: ...what's going on?
VICTORIA AMARYLLIS: Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, / And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; / Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, / Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.
LAUREL PAPAVER: ...I would join in, but I can't think of anything to say without it potentially going to his head and inflating his ego further.
VA: He... carries out his duties entirely to his own satisfaction, has the heart of a young boy, and is steadfast in his beliefs?
TE: Sorry, what duties exactly?
VA: His self-imposed duty of proving his superiority, naturally. Unless you can think of anything else he does with equal or greater competence?
ES: He is... punctual?
FS: Regrettably, yes, I can. He's actually a connoisseur when it comes to swords. I literally handed him a rusted sword I found in the back of my cellar and he was able to tell me its exact type, age, material, forging techniques, the smith it was made by and the optimal fighting style one uses to fight with it. Well, yes, he said that such a magnificent blade shouldn't have been left to languish in the back of my cellar and rot, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was my mother's and it was only because I was cleaning out my cellar did I find it.
VA: Huh. Was he correct?
FS: Later took it to Forgewarden for appraisal. Aurealis was spot on about every single detail except for its previous owner, which I thought would have been obvious. To be fair... he answered "Caos", but then again that's a reasonable assumption.
(Pause)
DJr: Never would've thought he would be capable of that, to be honest. What happened to the sword?
FS: Forgewarden repaired it. It's not magical, it's just a decently-forged blade. Still, it's about the only other thing I think he's competent at.
HC: It's absolutely absurd. Most of it is him getting offended by... whatever he thinks is offensive. The hilarious bit is that what he's offended by aren't the actual insults, but what he views as "base" behaviour. Well, I suppose that his... refined sense of grace and keen awareness of his social status has left him rather bereft of other qualities he considers "lesser".
DJr: Ha! Nice!
(Whole room erupts into laughter. Everyone save ELIO SHADOWBANE clink their glasses together and down their respective - non-alcoholic, fortunately - contents.)
LP: That works. Now, before we get carried away with how much we can damn him with faint praise, we should really be getting back to the main point, lest we turn out like how Polaris accused her co-workers of being.
ES: Right. Thank you. Back to the point about fielding as many mages and archers as we can... close-contact is probably a bad idea until we have better Shade-resistant gear, but magical affinity is... finnicky. Battle-hardened warriors have their fighting styles ingrained into them as muscle memory and asking them to suddenly change that is...
RB: Then don't ask them to suddenly change it, put them in roles that suit them. For example, they can be in charge of protecting the mage and archer squads. Or... hmm. Ava?
AS: There's also the problem of equipment. Yes, Bella can provide infinite materials, but we only have so many smiths. We need to repair equipment and make new arrows, but if our smiths are swamped with work, then it will be quite difficult to maintain the offensive. Supply lines will not be relevant until we are actually pushing into the Hewn City, but it is still good to keep in mind.
VA: The arrow problem is easily solved by the archers creating out of magic... actually, never mind, it assumes that the archer in question has enough magical control to create basic constructs that can still flex a little, and it assumes that the Shade-touched dragons are vulnerable to all elements. I suppose it could be a useful trick in case?
TE: Also, it could be useful in general as a long-range projectile if one has no other options. That could help. Are we considering offensive or defensive warfare first?
ES: Neither; we are currently on the receiving end of guerilla warfare.
VS: ...not again. Why are we on the receiving end this time?
NM: ...sorry?
DJr: (Shudders) When Mother and our dearest Aunt were still fighting over the throne, all the infighting attracted an Imperial called Revelough, who temporarily succeeded in taking over the Clan so everyone who was left banded together to form the Resistance. Shockingly, yes, they actually managed to work together, it was the most civil I have ever seen both be. Revelough got personally killed by Mother, believe it or not. We... extensively utilised guerilla warfare, but...
AS: But?
DJr: Dusk was our chief strategist... do you see the problem now?
(Pause)
DJr: ...yeah. To answer Toji, this will mostly be defensive warfare, which means we have to dust off all the old strategy books and grab the most competent generals we can. Also, this means we have to increase the security on everything in general, especially all our entrances, equipment, and food and water supplies. You never know if they poison the resource supplies...
ES: In that case, I need to get my armour from the smiths. Will Phoenix be of any help?
DJr: Did you forget she used to be one of our most competent mages? I mean, she's probably gotten rusty, but fire magic isn't the kind of thing you just forget how to cast. Generally speaking, most of our family is competent at magic, anyway-
ES: I feel like there's a "so what happened to you" somewhere in there...
DJr: Nope, that's directed to Aurealis and the Summershalls, Zia excluded. Righto, Polaris is returning in a few days, I hope you have enough info to give her?
TE: Hopefully, yes.
ULTRA TOP SECRET
ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
Date of Meeting: 8 NotN, 4e 40294ZENITH'S LIGHT MEETING - TRANSCRIPT
In Attendance:
- AMALIA BLAZELIGHT, HRH (AmB)
- AMANUENSIS LIBRĀRIOLĪ, ASSISTANT SCRIBE (AL)
- AKAIRO KARMOZIJN, "ANTARES" (AK)
- ASTERIA ZEPHYRANTHES, "ARCTURUS" / INCINC VICE-HEAD (AZ)
- AVA STARLING, "MINTAKA" / DELTA INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR (AS)
- AYSEOR SHADOWTALON, MORALITY CHAIN (AyS)
- BETELGEUSE HYPÓKIRRHOS, HEAD RESEARCHER (BH)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR, PRINCESS ROYAL (DJr)
- DAWN BLAZELIGHT SR, DUCHESS (DSr)
- EILEEN BLAZELIGHT, HRH (EB)
- ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE, HMTK (ES)
- FLEETINGSHADOW SHADOWTALON, SHADOW FLIGHT DEPARTMENT HEAD (FS)
- HIKARI CASPIA, SECRETARY / TRANSCRIBER (HC)
- LAUREL PAPAVER, CHIEF JUSTICE (LP)
- LYNX ISKÁT, SEEKER / PROJECT DAYBREAK HEAD (LI)
- MAGNOLIA FLORIS, "CAPELLA" (**)
- MARIA STARLING, "PROCYON" / AVA'S HITDRAGON (MS)
- NEBULA MESSIER, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (NM)
- POLARIS EVERWINTER, ARCHMAGE (PE)
- PRIMAL BLUEFIRE, SEER (PB)
- REGINA BLAZELIGHT, ETERNAL STAR OBSERVATORY CO-DIRECTOR (RB)
- TOJI EVERWINTER, POLARIS' SECRETARY (TE)
- VICTORIA AMARYLLIS, "VEGA" / BARD (VA)
- VICTORIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, HRH / COUNCIL OF LEAVES LEADER (VS)
- ZIA SUMMERSHALL BLAZELIGHT, DUCHESS (ZIA)
POLARIS EVERWINTER: Why the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] is it that every time I leave, all kinds of [EXPLETIVE DELETED] happen?
HIKARI CASPIA: (Dryly) Well, every time you leave, I need to delete less expletives... I'd count that as a plus...
PE: Pot, meet kettle...
ELIO BLAZELIGHT SHADOWBANE: Either way, I called everyone here because we found the location of their Clan - or rather Mephisto did.
DAWN BLAZELIGHT JR: Let me guess: it's in the Hewn City, where Dusk is, right?
ES: Bingo.
DJr: For the record, the guess isn't coming from any sort of poetics, it's from pure pragmatism - they would naturally congregate around the area with the strongest Shade magic in the region. Right... How's everyone?
PE: Alright. Harvest is in the Academia, Annemarie's trying to finish their paper, I brought back several papers on the Shade. The more important part is, now that we know where they're hiding, shouldn't we strike against them?
AVA STARLING: Not without proper protection of the Shade. I highly doubt that even with Zia and Dawn Sr's combined efforts, we'll be able to get rid of it entirely. We also don't know what traps they've set up.
LAUREL PAPAVER: Isn't that what Mephisto is for?
AVA STARLING: He's not omniscient.
LP: Fair. Lynx?
LYNX ISKÁT: What?
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