Creative Corner

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Art Post #12[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 103 (July 15, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 8, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=fine woodsculpt] [/center] [i](click for bigger)[/i] [url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/1cb97819b91fe5865cf049584b68a026/37accb5daef16099-eb/s2048x3072/83f981f0201723f0b5c30913bf3515ed6c5a003f.jpg][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/1cb97819b91fe5865cf049584b68a026/37accb5daef16099-eb/s2048x3072/83f981f0201723f0b5c30913bf3515ed6c5a003f.jpg[/img][/url] YES! This thread is back from hibernation! I put off updating it until now mostly due to a lack of inspiration and motivation, and the fact that the next art piece I had planned involved drawing [i]six[/i] dragons in the same picture. I'm so glad I finally got it finished and posted! I experimented with a couple of different brushes when figuring out how to add Thylacine to Rythorn and Felicity. I like Rythorn's better, and I'm pretty darn happy with the look of Starbloom's Jupiter pattern. :)

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 32[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 105 (July 17, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 5-6, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=scarlet yuccaweave] [/center] “Garnet! We’re home!” Brandywine cried out, zipping through the entrance to Clan Ashfeather’s hidden grove. “We made it!” “Brandywine!” Garnet hurried over, and Brandywine wrapped her whole body around Garnet’s shoulders, hugging her with a Spiral’s energy and enthusiasm. Garnet sat down and hugged back as best she could with her short forelegs and wings. “How was it? Did you find the mage you were looking for?” “We did, we did! We’re not under a curse! No one in this clan is!” There was a commotion as the rest of Clan Ashfeather gathered around to hear the story of the journey from their four returned clan members. Felicity took the lead in telling it. She was clearly in brighter spirits than she had been when she had left the hidden grove. Felicity and her companions had found a mage, who had gladly invited them into her workshop when they told her why they were there. Once inside, Felicity unburdened herself of her entire family history, starting with Duskbright’s magical mishap and ending with the question that plagued her so: Was there truly bad blood, or some sort of curse, that she had inherited from her grandmother and passed on to her son and his hatchlings? The mage had been glad to send out her magic along the connections between Felicity and her relatives and clanmates, past and present, in search of curses, in exchange for some of the few coins and materials Clan Ashfeather had run across in their scavenging here in the Tangled Wood. She had made a potion whose vapors induced a vision, which Felicity had shared with her companions. They had seen that Duskbright was, indeed, afflicted with a curse – she had been transformed into a statue. However, this particular curse was not, by its nature, transmissible; it could not and did not extend to anyone connected to Duskbright by blood or clan membership. Interestingly enough, one of Felicity’s other connections to her former clanmates in Clan Adeptica had revealed two others who were currently under that very same curse – Reina and her mate, Darcy. The vision had revealed the two of them, transformed into stone statues, frozen in their vigil over a nest of Earth eggs that had also been turned to stone. “We’re going,” Felicity said at the end of her story. “To Dragonhome, to find Reina and Darcy. It is the next stop on the route marked on our map, after all. When I told the mage I wanted to find them, she gave me a compass that always points toward their location.” She showed it to the rest of the clan. “When are we going?” said Mindor. “As soon as we’re ready to leave.” “But what about Great-grandmother Duskbright? Why go to Reina and Darcy, and not to her?” “She’s in a lair back in the Starfall Isles. We wouldn’t want to backtrack on our grand tour of Sornieth, would we? And from the way she was dressed in our vision, it looks like she became one of the leading mages in her new clan before she was cursed. That answered my question about what became of her. I believe we should press on toward our goal of the Ashfall Waste, and pay our respects to Reina and Darcy along the way. Maybe even undo their curse, if we can figure out how.” “Why do we have to go, Grandma?” little Silviana asked. “You told her about the map we made and the journey Clan Ashfeather is on, didn’t you?” Felicity asked her son. “I did,” Mindor said. “I know this seems all-of-a-sudden, Silvie, but we’re going on a big adventure.” “But we just got our Shadow Clan registration!” Silviana protested. “We did?” said Felicity. “Yeah! Mom has the black queen to prove it.” “Here it is,” Mithril said to Felicity, stepping forward. “Starbloom was right. Some of Shadow’s exalted officials did come while you were gone. I told them the truth – that I was Shadow-hatched, the last survivor of the Clan of the Redsky Isles, and that Garnet and Brandywine saved my life and did their best to avenge my native clan. I showed them the flag that Kamien made, and they registered us as a Shadow clan. When they do that, they give you a scroll and an enchanted chess piece, to prove you’re registered.” Mithril showed them to Felicity. The black queen bore a glowing Shadow sigil on its bottom. “That’s wonderful,” Felicity said. “We’ll need these when we get to the border with Earth. With any luck, it’ll be a lot like the border between Plague and Water – we’ll just have to show our registration and prove that we mean no harm by crossing the border. Hold on to these until we get there, all right?” “I will,” said Mithril. “I already have a good, sturdy satchel to keep them safe in.” The clan busied itself with preparations for the journey ahead. They were going to have to walk through these darkened woods until they reached the Forum of the Obscured Crescent, which was the only opportunity they were likely to have to get above the trees. It would probably take a few days, during which they would only have each other and their collective sense of direction to rely on. The gods willing, they would make it to the border of Dragonhome without getting lost.

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Coliseum Battle Post #28 - #30[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills tasks for:[/b] - Day 96 (July 8, 2017) - Day 97 (July 9, 2017) - Day 98 (July 10, 2017)[/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Battles Completed: 73 total (41+11+21) Items of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=tolbunt rooster] [item=pelagas feathers] [item=banded snail] [/center] In Round 28, Rythorn reached Level 9, and Kessel reached Level 10. [b]Loot[/b] [item=giant desert centipede] x20 [item=zebra cricket] x10 [item=white-masked dustbug] x10 [item=wisp fruit] x9 [item=centaur ration pouch] x8 [item=red-winged dewbug] x8 [item=decorative centaur quiver] x8 [item=leather centaur quiver] x8 [item=dried jerky] x7 [item=bonepriest venom] x7 [item=zeeba horn] x7 [item=miniature potash peach] x5 [item=thick meat strips] x5 [item=songbird mimic] x5 [item=jar of vapors] x4 [item=expertly-crafted spear] x4 [item=owlcat journal] x4 [item=tiny feathers] x4 [item=dwarf fawn] x4 [item=charged sprocket] x3 [item=bottled embers] x3 [item=umberhorn qiriq horn] x3 [item=umbral catfish] x3 [item=fragile antler] x3 [item=moss-covered rubble] x2 [item=ebon-edged spear] x2 [item=rambra horn] x2 [item=forest field guide] x2 [item=pineapple shiners] x2 [item=extinguished bunny] x2 [item=emerald shiners] x2 [item=shining might fragment] x1 [item=sparrow skull] x1 [item=hydro bolt] x1 [item=centaur nut mix] x1 [item=augite fragments] x1 [item=common sparrow] x1 [item=herdbeast hoof] x1

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Art Post #13[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 106 (July 18, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 8, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=fine woodsculpt] [/center] [i](click for bigger)[/i] [url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/47aab01315a6d72d11742b5b76856101/4ab6e083fed2c03e-3d/s1280x1920/fdc45fe711767e278680a40292766706c8d8da14.jpg][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/47aab01315a6d72d11742b5b76856101/4ab6e083fed2c03e-3d/s1280x1920/fdc45fe711767e278680a40292766706c8d8da14.jpg[/img][/url] (Yes, Pinkerton did give me two of the same trinket within a span of a few days. Thanks, Pinkerton.)

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 33[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 107 (July 19, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 7-8, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Sanded Birch Plank] [/center] Clan Ashfeather left its hidden grove in the Tangled Wood at the first light of day, two days after Felicity and her group of companions had returned from their visit to the mage. They left the grove even neater and cleaner than they had found it, the abandoned prey bones buried and the graves of the two lost hatchlings tidied and swept. Mithril, who had been the one to suggest opening the hidden door leading to the grove, was the one to close it behind them. As soon as she left the hollow tree, she found a green maple leaf and spoke softly into it. “Thank you, Shadowbinder, for giving us a safe home,” she said. “I will never forget you or your ways, no matter where I may live.” She released the leaf and let the wind carry it away. The clan traversed the rest of the Tangled Wood, guided at times by Felicity’s new compass when the forest became especially dense and confusing. They emerged onto the narrow inlet of sea that separated Shadow from Earth territory and were pleased to find that the bridge marked on the clan’s map was still there. A wooden guardhouse stood at the end nearest them, and they could see a sandstone castle tower at the far end. Mithril joined Starbloom and Felicity in speaking with the exalted officials staffing the guardhouse, and Clan Ashfeather was granted safe passage into Dragonhome. The Snapper officials who ran the castle tower at the Earth end of the suspended bridge were delighted to receive them. They urged the travelers to stay with them and rest a while, so that they could tell them the story of the ancient deeds of the dragon deities, and of why there stood a Pillar in their land and how it had come to be broken. This took several days, but they were a very pleasant few days, on the whole. They were all given as much of their preferred foods as they wanted, and it was good for the younger dragons to get to hear the tale of Sornieth’s ancient history from the world’s most famous storytellers. Garnet, in particular, was enthralled by the story; she’d never really been around other Snappers before, at least not that she could remember, and she finally understood what it meant to be one. When the story was finished, Clan Ashfeather set out again, now guided entirely by Felicity’s compass. The ground was dry and dusty here, and Garnet began to grow tired of the taste of the scrubby desert grass. Finally, they arrived at a crack in the side of a mesa, which widened into a cave as they ventured through. Within the cave, there was an inscription in the wall above the entrance to a branching passageway that read ‘Clan Cloudreach.’ The needle on Felicity’s compass was still vibrating, leading them deeper into the cave system. In a few moments, they were in a cavern containing several nests. Two of them were occupied, and one of them looked exactly as it had in the vision the mage had shown them. Reina and Darcy stood on either side of the nest, transformed into stone. Their crest-fins and mouths were frozen in positions that suggested they had been excitedly discussing their hopes for their two hatchlings when the statue curse had taken them. The eggs in the nest had also been transformed into stone - they were the same dull shade of grey as the petrified dragons watching over them, not the tan color that Earth eggs normally were. The two dragons on the other nest were similarly frozen at a moment in time. There had been no other signs of life in the cave as they had entered; it looked like the curse had affected any dragon who had been within the caves at the moment it fell. Starbloom cautiously stepped forward, turning her crest-fins this way and that, sensing the feel of the magic in this place. “Fascinating,” she said. “The curse places them in a form of stasis. They are not truly dead, but neither are they aware or conscious.” “Oh,” said Felicity. “G-good to know.” She too came closer, reflecting on the scene. The vision they’d all seen had been true. Clan Ashfeather had spent a fair amount of time living a quiet, domestic life in the Tangled Wood. Felicity had thought that was long enough for her to finish grieving the loss of Diego and Belladonna. Now, as she gazed at Reina’s once-brightly-colored wings, she realized she had been wrong. She, Belladonna, and Reina had all been clanmates together back in Clan Adeptica. She was still all for the idea of starting her own clan, but she missed both of them, and some of the others from the old clan, too. She turned away from the stone nest, feeling a thickness gathering in the back of her throat. She cried softly, letting her tears fall onto the surface of her pearl, where they joined the glistening, iridescent patterns she was making in its new layer. After she had finished and the pearl was drying, Mindor and Starbloom came to comfort her, brushing their wings against hers. “I miss them, too,” Starbloom said. “Reina had such a bright, adventurous spirit,” Felicity said. “It was an inspiration to us. I hope someday the curse breaks, and she can be free to go exploring again.” “Who goes there?” An unfamiliar voice echoed through the multi-chambered cavern. Kessel and Rythorn immediately went into defensive stances. Mithril, Starbloom, and Felicity all exchanged glances. The former two nodded, indicating that Felicity should speak for the group this time. “We mean you no harm,” she called in the direction of the cavern’s entrance. “We are travelers seeking our lost clanmates. Who are you?” A dark-brown Ridgeback head adorned with glowing golden runes appeared from around a corner. “My name is Atsuki, daughter of Evelyn, of Clan Burnttree,” the Ridgeback said. “Who are you?” “Felicity, daughter of Ephron, formerly of Clan Adeptica, now co-leader of Clan Ashfeather,” she answered. “What brings you to this place, if I may ask?” “You may.” Atsuki came fully into the nesting chamber and crouched down, so that she could talk to Felicity more easily. “It sounds like your quest isn’t very different from mine. I came here as part of my search for all the relatives I’ve never met. That Fae male there is named Darcy, and we’re half-siblings.” “Really! His mate there is Reina - we were clanmates once!” “You were? Wow!” Atsuki and Felicity took a few minutes to trade stories with each other. Atsuki had also found this place by following the guidance of a spell - in her case, one that located blood family members. Her mother, Evelyn, had been on a quest to hatch and find homes for a hundred hatchlings, which was the same quest that had brought Reina to Dragonhome. Atsuki had decided, mainly out of curiosity, to make it her quest to find out what had become of as many of them as possible. Some were living happy, fulfilling lives, but not all; Darcy wasn’t the first half-sibling she’d found in this cursed state. She’d been trying to find a way to break the curse, so far without success. “With everything they know how to do with magic in Arcane,” Felicity remarked, “you’d think there’d be a known way to turn statues like these back into the dragons they were before.” “You misunderstand,” said Atsuki. “It isn’t the ‘being turned into a statue’ part that’s the curse. That’s actually a [i]mercy[/i] granted by the Eleven. The curse is that the clan’s [i]esprit de corps[/i] is gone.” “Espree-de-[i]what?[/i]” Silviana asked. “A clan’s [i]esprit de corps[/i] is that invisible, emotional and psychological bond that makes a group of dragons a clan,” Atsuki explained. “Occasionally, it just… [i]goes away.[/i] No one really knows why or how it happens, but I’m studying the phenomenon, trying to fill in those blanks.” “So, what’s this about mercy?” Felicity said. “When a clan loses its [i]esprit de corps[/i], no one in it wants to do much of anything anymore. If they weren’t turned into statues, they’d all waste away and starve to death, like some Guardians who have lost their Charges do. I believe it’s a mercy from the deities because the statues are made from different materials in different elemental regions. They may be granite, like these, or petrified wood, or crystal, or obsidian, or even clear, solid ice.” “Wow,” said Silviana. “It is a fascinating phenomenon,” said Atsuki. “I’m glad you and your clan are here. If you’re willing to help me out, maybe we can take a crack at this curse from a new angle.” “Yes,” Felicity said immediately. “We’d be happy to help you out.”

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Coliseum Battle Post #31[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills tasks for: Day 108 (July 20, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Battles Completed: 21 Items of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Silverfish Spectre] [/center] [b]Loot[/b] [item=giant desert centipede] x8 [item=bonepriest venom] x6 [item=dwarf fawn] x5 [item=zebra cricket] x4 [item=red-winged dewbug] x4 [item=fragile antler] x3 [item=thick meat strips] x3 [item=zeeba horn] x2 [item=forest field guide] x2 [item=tiny feathers] x2 [item=rotting leather] x2 [item=dried jerky] x2 [item=songbird mimic] x2 [item=owlcat journal] x2 [item=white-masked dustbug] x1 [item=minor health potion] x1 [item=miniature potash peach] x1 [item=leather centaur quiver] x1 [item=sparrow skull] x1 [item=jar of vapors] x1

@Petall Oh my Arcanist, I'm so glad you like it! Yes, I will absolutely ping you for future updates! :D

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 34[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 109 (July 21, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 8, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Fortification Agate] [/center] At every stage of her quest, Atsuki had been trying to use her own familial connections to her half-siblings as the lever to pry off the curse that lay upon them. Her hypothesis was that, since Reina had been in the same clan with Felicity and Starbloom, there may still be some residual [i]esprit de corps[/i] from Clan Adeptica lingering within all three of them. Atsuki thought that that might make an even better, stronger lever than the one she had been using. Over the next few days, the members of Clan Ashfeather shared what they knew of magic with Atsuki, and they worked out a plan for a spell to cast. When the time came and they were all ready, Felicity went and placed a claw gently on the statue that was Reina. Starbloom sat on Felicity’s back, and Kessel and Mindor stood to either side of their mother, touching wingtips with her. Silviana did the same with Mindor. When Atsuki gave them the signal, Starbloom and Felicity recalled, as clearly as they could, their memories of Reina from when they had all been in Clan Adeptica together, especially the time they had spent with her sewing traveling satchels and listening to her advice about traveling the world. Felicity’s sons and granddaughter channeled their magical power through their linked chain into the statue. Felicity could feel the warmth of [i]family[/i], by blood and by clan membership, running through all of them. She felt an answering warmth from the stone statue, an acute awareness that this was really a dormant living being- but no more. The curse did not break. They ran through the spell a few more times, but to no avail. Atsuki was pleased that her hypothesis about there still being some of Clan Adeptica’s [i]esprit de corps[/i] between Reina, Felicity, and Starbloom had proved to be correct, but she couldn’t help being disappointed that it wasn’t enough to break the curse. In the end, they decided that if they couldn’t break the curse, they would leave a tribute for Reina and Darcy in case they ever broke free of it. The area around Clan Cloudreach’s lair seemed to have been mostly undisturbed since the curse had fallen, and it didn’t seem to affect life forms that weren’t dragons or Beastclan species, so there was a fair amount of food to be found. The dragons busied themselves with storing, drying, and smoking food for the next stages of their journeys, always setting aside a small portion of whatever they had preserved to leave in the cave for Reina and Darcy. Felicity even left them a note to tell them who had been there, decorating the envelope with the last dried Mana Thief she had brought with her from the Starfall Isles. “Do you know how much that species would sell for in a marketplace?” Starbloom said, watching her place the envelope on top of her stack of parchment-wrapped packages. “A lot,” said Felicity. “But we’ve got plenty of provisions, and there will be even more over in the Viridian Labyrinth. I want to do this for Reina.” “Very well,” said Starbloom. Clan Ashfeather had their quest to continue with, and Atsuki had hers, but they parted ways as good friends. Atsuki agreed to carry the news of what had become of Reina and Darcy, and of how Clan Ashfeather was faring, back to Clan Adeptica in their cave under the Observatory. Since they were bound for the Ashfall Waste, where Atsuki lived when she wasn’t off adventuring, she gave them an enchanted piece of obsidian with Clan Burnttree’s emblem carved into it. “When you get to the Ashfall Waste, trace the outline of the emblem with a claw-tip,” Atsuki explained. “An arrow will appear that will point the way to our clan’s lair. I hope I get to see you again sometime.” “We do, too,” said Felicity. “Farewell, Atsuki, and safe travels on your quest.” “Safe travels to you, too,” said Atsuki. Clan Ashfeather watched her take flight and disappear over the horizon.

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Art Post #14[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 113 (July 25, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: November 14, 2019 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Owlcat Journal] [/center] [i](click for bigger)[/i] [url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/4fce5c84cdd1d646431543ae2d326906/b694336b9b6c4910-63/s2048x3072/a0f5c097e297259ce06391c1d4d9453a3960295b.jpg][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/4fce5c84cdd1d646431543ae2d326906/b694336b9b6c4910-63/s2048x3072/a0f5c097e297259ce06391c1d4d9453a3960295b.jpg[/img][/url] Starbloom and Silviana visit the Pillar of the World. (Silviana was hatched in Shadow in-lore, though not in actual gameplay, so I drew her with Shadow eyes.) @Petall - Updated! This post and the one above this one are both new, but I'm only sending the one ping. :)