Creative Corner

@Petall Thank you very much!! :)

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Event Post #13[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 54 (May 27, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: August 5, 2017 (Death Streak); June 11-12, 2020 (writing) Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Scholar] [/center] Clan Ashfeather now numbered only seven dragons, plus three familiars. Stasia, the Enchanting Goblin, had always been Starbloom’s closest companion. Rythorn had Takehiko, the Bamboo Phytocat that had once been Belladonna’s. Kessel had Blyska, the Murkbottom Gull that had once been Kamien’s. Blyska was a good hunter, helping Kessel find shrimp, shellfish, and other water-dwelling creatures whenever the opportunity arose. One day, Milinitica asked Rythorn how he could find a familiar of his own. “I don’t really have a good answer for that, son,” the Spiral said. “In my experience, they find you. Takehiko here followed Belladonna home after Kamien died in the Coliseum in Water. Then he stayed with me after we lost her. Blyska was a gift from Clan Adeptica when our clan’s founders set out on their own. Stasia came to Clan Adeptica around the same time Starbloom was hatched, and they bonded right away.” “So I have to wait for some kind of important event to happen before a familiar will find me?” Milintica said. “Maybe. Sometimes it happens on ordinary days, too. You just have to keep your eyes open -” Rythorn chuckled - “[i]all[/i] your eyes, and remember that some creatures can be friends, not food or enemies.” Milintica kept his father’s words in mind the next time he was out hunting and exploring with Smolder. He stretched his head up and sniffed the Shifting Expanse’s nearly ever-present wind, trying to catch the scent of a live creature, like a hare or boar. Instead, he caught a sound - the sound of metal objects striking against each other, but not like any sound he had heard before. These sounds were [i]beautiful.[/i] He crouched low to the ground and stalked off in the direction the sound was coming from. Smolder followed, trying to stay as low as he could on his two powerful legs. They came around a bend in the canyon they were in, and Milintica saw what was making the sound. Someone had suspended a set of metal pipes of different lengths from wires, and hung the wires from a circular metal hoop that was suspended from a beam that jutted out from the top of the canyon wall. There were other bits of metal hanging from the beam, shaped so that they made whistling sounds when the wind blew over and through them. Milintica was fascinated by the sounds. Forgetting himself, he went and stood directly under the metal hoop, where he closed both pairs of eyes and let the beautiful sounds wash over him. The tones had no real pattern, but they harmonized and danced around each other, and Milintica wanted to join in. He tried to add to the chorus of whistles, but to no avail; his mouth and tongue were shaped all wrong for that. He was disappointed, but kept listening to the beautiful, strange music. “Milintica!” Smolder called out in an urgent hiss. “Look up! Beasts coming!” Milintica’s eyes snapped open. Sure enough, a row of blue and red-armored miths were winging their way out of an opening in the cliff face, just below the hanging metal sculpture. He tried to slink away before one of them saw him - too late. There was a flurry of chirps and whistles above him, followed by a warning shot of the same colorless energy that Starbloom used to attack with. The flying cloud of white fog exploded just above Milintica’s head, making it ache and disorienting him. “RUN!” Smolder shouted, and began to do just that, back the way they had come. Milintica ran after him, trying to work up to that infamous Mirror sprinting speed, but finding it difficult with his ears still ringing from the near-miss with the contusion beam. Four of the miths had broken off from the group to chase off the two intruding dragons, occasionally firing off more magical beams at them as they ran. Oh, how Milintica wished he were as strong a flyer as his Wildclaw companion. When Smolder had encountered a boulder in his path, he had run up the side of it, leapt from the top and taken to the air, where he could engage the miths directly with his fire magic. Milintica knew he didn’t have the lift or maneuverability to join him in that kind of battle, so he kept running. He was heading back toward Clan Ashfeather’s camp, hoping to find safety in numbers. [i]For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,[/i] he thought. He knew he didn’t have the strength to fight off the two miths who were still chasing him without his clanmates. Rythorn and Mindor happened to be the first to see Milintica coming, and they both leapt into aerial combat without a second thought. This camp was dragon territory, if only temporarily, and the miths were now on the defensive. Rythorn had one of them Enamored in a few moments, while the other, enraged, fired another shot of magic down toward Milintica. Mindor went into a dive and intercepted the beam, hitting the ground in a heap and rolling onto his back. His pearl rolled free of his claws. [i]“Mindor!”[/i] Rythorn and Milintica cried out - and a third, much louder voice joined them, unleashing an animalistic shout of fury. Kessel had arisen from where he had curled up on the ground. With his size and height, he could easily attack the miths in the air with the spines on his head and neck. That assault sent one of them spiraling to the ground, and the other retreating to its cliffside lair. “Mindor!” Kessel cried out, crouching down next to him. “Stay with me, brother…” Mindor shook his head weakly. “Take care of my pearl for me, okay?” he said. “Okay,” said Kessel. “You were so brave…” Milintica said, hardly knowing what else to say. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome,” Mindor breathed. “You can be brave, too, I know you can. I’m glad you’re in our clan.” Then his spark of life went out. Kessel, Rythorn, and Milintica went and gathered the others in their clan for what had, regrettably, become routine. It seemed to take no time to create a grave and a cairn for Mindor. However, as he had requested, Kessel kept his pearl in one of his many bags. In place of the pearl, Kessel placed the discarded chest armor of the defeated mith on top of the cairn, as a marker. “I don’t think these creatures wanted to be friends,” Milintica said sadly to Rythorn, gazing at the morbid grave marker after the burial. “Some other time,” Rythorn said. “You’ll find one that does eventually, if you keep looking. We’ll stay here and rest for another day or two, and then we’ll move on.” ………… [b]In Memoriam[/b] [columns] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/332394/33239382.png[/img] [nextcol] [b][color=orange]Mindor[/color][/b] Hatched: May 24, 2017 Exalted: August 5, 2017 Means of death: In honorable combat with a Construction Mith Mindor was the calm, cool-headed, philosophical half of the pair of brothers who hatched in the cave on the shore of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Both brothers survived many harrowing adventures during the clan’s journey to the Ashfall Waste. Mindor leapt into danger without hesitation and took the full power of a Contuse beam meant for Milintica, giving his life to save that of his newest, youngest clanmate. He will be remembered fondly and missed by all his clanmates, especially his brother Kessel, his mate Mithril, and their daughter Silviana. [/columns] ………… [i](I have a confession to make. I’ve been a bad Pinkerlocker. At some point toward the end of May, 2017, after I had already fallen behind on posting updates to this thread, I sat down and flipped a quarter three times for each of the three battlestones I’d gotten since the first one. The last one came up heads, hence this event post. I flipped tails for these two, so I’m not going to bother making separate posts for them: [item=ambush] - April 15, 2017 [item=ambush] - May 7, 2017 I did get a total of 11 more battlestones from June through August of 2017, but I never did get around to doing any more coin flips or any more Death Streaks. I am sorry. I do, however, plan to use those items as fuel for a separate challenge that will be a sequel to this one.)[/i] @Dakala @Petall @Sabariel - I was feeling creative tonight! The art piece that accompanies this story post is 75% done and should be posted tomorrow night. I plan to try to finish the rest of this story (not necessarily the rest of the art, though) by next Saturday, the 20th, so that I can start a new one. :-)

@Petall Yeah, it was sad to play through, too. :( Thankfully, there's only one more really sad chapter to go, and then the grand finale chapters, which are definitely happier.

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Art Post #18[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 125 (August 6, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: June 12, 2020 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Simple Raptorik Sash] [/center] [i](click for bigger)[/i] [url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/070c1034f6ff907939247280169d0ed8/dda7e7ac00cb30d0-7d/s1280x1920/85745a6b9ac5b2233a2ca2410f53b0762469d6d5.jpg][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/070c1034f6ff907939247280169d0ed8/dda7e7ac00cb30d0-7d/s1280x1920/85745a6b9ac5b2233a2ca2410f53b0762469d6d5.jpg[/img][/url] This is an illustration of the death in Event Post #13. @Dakala @Petall @Sabariel

@Petall Thank you so much!! [emoji=pearlcatcher happy size=2] 4 more chapters and 4 more pieces of art to go!

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Coliseum Battle Post #33[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills tasks for: Day 123 (August 4, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Battles Completed: 11 Items of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Longneck Winter Rations] [/center] [item=zebra cricket] x3 [item=songbird mimic] x2 [item=dried jerky] x2 [item=white-masked dustbug] x2 [item=forest field guide] x2 [item=fragrant orchid] x1 [item=cheerful chime] x1 [item=rambra horn] x1 [item=tiny feathers] x1 [item=zeeba horn] x1 [item=bonepriest venom] x1 [item=dwarf fawn] x1 [item=fragile antler] x1 [item=giant desert centipede] x1 [item=herdbeast hoof] x1 [item=leather centaur quiver] x1

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 40[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 129 (August 10, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: May 1 and June 5, with final revisions made June 13, 2020 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Bone Fragments] [/center] Clan Ashfeather remained encamped where it was for a few more days, nursing its latest wound. Silviana was a full-grown dragoness by now, but that didn’t mean she didn’t need her mother or her uncle to comfort her after the loss of her father. Kessel let his niece sleep curled up around Mindor’s pearl, along with her own. Stasia helped her sleep, too, by singing her the lullabies of the Starfall Isles. Milintica was exhausted from his ordeal and grateful for a chance to rest at the camp, but his Mirror’s metabolism had him back out on the hunt soon enough. The second evening since Mindor’s death saw Milintica returning to the camp with something in his jaws. A jackrabbit, Rythorn and Starbloom saw when he came closer. “Well, look at you,” Rythorn said. “You have to be fast to catch one of those. Well done, son.” The young Mirror dropped his catch. “Thank you, Father,” he said. “I’ll go and start getting it ready.” Rythorn picked up the jackrabbit and flew away to their fire. “You are growing up to be a fine, strong young dragon, Milintica,” Starbloom said. “I am very proud of you.” “Thank you, Auntie,” Milintica said. “I wish I could have caught something for you, too, but I don’t have the talent for insect-catching. I’m just a hunter.” “That is all right; most Mirrors are better hunters than insect-catchers. That does not mean you must always remain just a hunter, though. You can be something else, as well. Ember was a blacksmith, and a good one, in her time.” Milintica lay down, stretching out. “Tell me about her.” Starbloom landed on the gray sand next to his head. “She was one of the best friends I ever had. She had so much love for life, so much passion for the things she valued. Her friends, her trade, traveling, and Coatls, most prominently.” “That’s why we’re on this journey now, right?” “Yes. Ember wanted to get out and see the world, and then settle down in the Ashfall Waste at the end of the journey. We as a clan have maintained our focus on those goals since the very beginning.” Her crest-fins quaked and rippled - a laugh. “When we were about to leave on our journey, I decided to bring a new hatchling along on the journey, and Ember thought I was crazy. She thought it was too dangerous for little ones out here on the road. But look at you. You were hatched on the road, and you are not only surviving, but [i]thriving.[/i]” “Plaguebringer would be proud of me, wouldn’t she?” “Yes, precisely. And I believe Flamecaller would, too. I can already see a great deal of Ember’s passion in you. Do you know what you might want to be, besides a hunter?” Milintica tilted his head to the side, thinking. “I think I might want to be a builder. Living in tents is all right, but every time we pass a lair with permanent structures, I just want to stay and look at them all day, and see how they were put together.” Starbloom nodded. “A noble pursuit, and one you should have no difficulty picking up from our neighbors in the Ashfall Waste. I hope you have the opportunity to help us build a permanent home when we get there.” *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The specifics of Clan Ashfeather’s plans for entering the Ashfall Waste were the main topic of conversation over dinner that night. This crossing, being a simple border on flat land, didn’t seem likely to be as treacherous as the last - but then again, they had learned a hard lesson that last time, and wanted to be prepared for anything. By now, the administrative side of things was a familiar routine. Kessel still had their clan flag, as well as the parchment scroll they’d gotten from the Lightning officials at their last border crossing. He, Rythorn, Starbloom, and Mithril all had experience dealing with regional exaltee officials, so they knew how to be forthright and non-threatening toward them. This time was different in one important way, though. This time, they were moving into the region to stay. Starbloom had been working on her appeal to the Fire Flight officials throughout the journey, and she practiced the speech for the clan that night, to their delight and applause. The next day, as they made their way toward the border between Lightning and Fire territory, Kessel practiced the head-bobbing moves he’d used to defend the clan from the miths, over and over again. Starbloom and Silviana both stayed quiet, lost in meditation, trying to absorb as much power from the local ley lines as they could. The entire clan was on their guard. Starbloom’s speech went over well with the Coatl officials and their Mirror interpreters at the border control station. She spoke of how she and her friends had planned out their long journey that would end up in the Ashfall Waste, and how their clan had persevered toward that goal, never letting their passion for their purpose grow cold no matter how many losses they suffered. She ended by showing them their clan flag, with its emblem of a multicolored feather that resembled a flame, at which the officials nodded their approval. It helped their cause that they already had a Mirror with them, too. The official took the clan’s old parchment charter from Lightning Flight, made a copy for their records, burned the original in a brazier, and then handed them a fresh new sheet of parchment with all the same information on it as the old one, but with Fire Flight’s sigil branded into it at the bottom. They accepted it gratefully and went on their way. When Milintica’s feet sank into the soft ash of the ground outside the border control station, he felt like he was home. It was finer, springier, and less gritty than the coarse sand of the Shifting Expanse. He knew that this place held dangers of its own, but he was eager to see what there was to see, all the same. Testing his footing on the new surface first, he ran to the front of the pack and led the way into this new territory. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It started without warning. One moment, Starbloom was flying along behind Kessel, her large Fae eyes drinking in the stark, but strangely beautiful landscape around her. The next, she was reeling off into the air, her wing membranes and eyes burning. She managed to reorient herself in the air and rub her eyes with her knuckles. When her vision cleared, she could see Kessel hopping up and down and cursing, his flank scorched by the same gout of hot steam that had knocked her flight path askew. She flew down to help heal him, but while she was doing so, a sound came from all around them. The rattles of rattlesnake tails. Big ones. Too big to belong to ordinary rattlesnakes - they had to belong to Serthis. They had wandered into the Volcanic Vents. “We must retreat!” Starbloom said in the most commanding voice she could muster. “These are the Volcanic Vents. Ember warned me about this place. She said Vader had a premonition about her journey and told her never to come here!” “No!” Kessel stamped his foot. “We're exploring this place, and I want to stay and see more of it! We can defend ourselves right here!” “Kessel, you big hothead!” Mithril exclaimed, a passion of her own flaring up at his words. “I believe Starbloom and Ember. If you insist upon fighting, could you at least cover our escape? We can explore the land in some other direction!” “Mithril is correct about that,” Starbloom said. The local Serthis were coming out of the tunnel entrances they had burrowed into the ground now, their rattles still rattling and their spears, bows, and spells at the ready. There were a fair few of them. “Okay, fine,” Kessel said, annoyed but resigned. “I’ll cover you! Get out of here!” Kessel spread his huge wings, reared back on his hind legs, and charged. Behind him, Rythorn, Mithril, Silviana, and Milintica ran and flew back the way they had just come. Starbloom, however, found herself still hovering by Rythorn’s side. She knew well how dangerous it was, but she had fought to protect her clanmates' lives many times before, and she was unwilling to turn away from doing so now. Battle cries, the clashing of claws and steel, and the whoosh of projectile spells rang out. Two of the Serthis casters’ acid-green spheres of magical energy came hurtling past Kessel’s guard and hit Starbloom’s tiny form, a second or two apart. Fortunately, he saw her start to falter and caught her on his back, where she shivered with the spell’s noxious effects. Knowing she could no longer heal him, he turned and ran after the rest of the clan, lashing his spiked tail to keep the pursuing Serthis at bay. Eventually, once the dragons had crossed some unmarked border known only to the Serthis, the Beastclan left off its pursuit. The dragons turned aside to rest under a [url=https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/images/JoshuaTrees_LMcAfee.jpg?maxwidth=1200&maxheight=1200&autorotate=false]spiny, desert-dwelling tree,[/url] one of a species that they'd seen before in the Shifting Expanse. One of its seeds must have blown or been carried across the border. Rythorn retrieved Starbloom from Kessel’s back and laid her on the ground, gently supporting her head - she was too weak to hold it up. “Kessel,” she said. “And everyone else. Look over there.” They looked in the direction Starbloom was pointing. “What do you see?” Kessel asked. “I see a caldera rising from the land across the bay. It’s the one we marked with a star on our map. We made it. We’re home.” “I see it, too,” Kessel said. “I will get us there, and we will build our clan’s very own lair there. I promise.” “You are, indeed, your mother’s son. Thank you, Kessel.” “I was a stranger you found on the road,” Rythorn said, “and this clan welcomed me. I will stay. Thank you, Starbloom. For everything.” Starbloom nodded, acknowledging him gratefully. “Milintica…” she said. “Y-yes?” said the young Mirror, trying to hold back from crying. “I am glad to have known you. Ember’s passion and the clan’s spirit live in you now. Go. Build the best lair you can.” “But you won’t be there to enjoy it.” “That is all right. I am content. I love you, every one of you.” She looked around at her clanmates one last time, then closed her eyes and slipped away. Milintica and Kessel dug the grave for her with their own claws, at the foot of the desert tree. After they had finished burying her, while everyone was gathering pumice stones to line the edge of the grave with, Rythorn found the sling that Starbloom had made for Kamien among the clan’s belongings, and hung it from the lower branches of the tree, as a marker and a memorial. ………… [columns] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/272142/27214120.png[/img] [nextcol] [b][color=orange]Starbloom[/color][/b] Hatched: September 25, 2016 Exalted: August 14, 2017 Means of death: In honorable combat with an Opheodrys Serthis Starbloom was the last survivor of the original group of five dragons who set out from Clan Adeptica in the Starfall Isles to found Clan Ashfeather. She leaves behind a strong core of clan members who are committed to seeing Starbloom’s, Ember’s, and Felicity’s dream through to the end. [/columns] [i](@Dakala @Petall @Sabariel - This post and the one above it are new; as I did with Felicity, I’m giving coli round #33 its own post because there was a death during it. That was the last one, I promise. The story gets happier after this. This one was about as hard for me to take as Felicity's when it happened in-game, but hey, getting emotional about a game is the point of a Nuzlocke. :-) Also, there will be another coli post below this one.)[/i]