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[b][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Day 5 :[/b] [/font][/size][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Urias[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=34789639]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/347897/34789639.png[/img]
[/url] [/center][/size][/font]
[indent][i][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Ambition can sometimes be punishing. A pursuit that seems like it will lead you forward can sometimes end up thrusting you a thousand steps back. This, it seems, is where I found myself. I understood the look of frustration on Solaris’ face, but there was no better answer than the one I’d given her. And so I sought to explain further.
I told her about the creation of Encryption.
He was intended to be a weapon: a tool to protect House Aéternas when my own power was insufficient. A few seasons ago we’d taken captive a cyborg -- a part living, part mechanical dragon, likely created by an engineer from the Shifting Expanse -- which we took apart and researched at length. And so began the process of creating our own. Yet in the end I am a Blood Mage, not an electrician. So I used my craft to replicate the segments I could not recreate.
Thus he came to be: a cybernetic creation who consumed blood as energy. But for Encryption, being a weapon was not enough. He began working on his own inventions.
“And let me guess… these inventions of his are what zapped us here.” Solaris’ tone was icy, her gaze colder still.
“That is my only presumption,” I replied. “Though I’ve not been able to track him down since then to be sure. I imagine he eludes me intentionally.”
“So he’s rebelling against you? I take it you couldn’t just convince him to send us back home, then?”
“Unlikely. A show of force will be required.” I frowned, weighing the stakes in my mind. I needed to get back as quickly as possible. To my research. To my apparatus. This was an area I could not afford to fail. “Solaris. I need to gather some allies. Powerful allies.”
The librarian raised an eyebrow. “That might be difficult, considering the most powerful dragons of the Brightwing Clan all hate you.”
I sighed. “Yes...So they do.”[/i][/indent]
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Day 5 : Urias
Ambition can sometimes be punishing. A pursuit that seems like it will lead you forward can sometimes end up thrusting you a thousand steps back. This, it seems, is where I found myself. I understood the look of frustration on Solaris’ face, but there was no better answer than the one I’d given her. And so I sought to explain further.
I told her about the creation of Encryption.
He was intended to be a weapon: a tool to protect House Aéternas when my own power was insufficient. A few seasons ago we’d taken captive a cyborg -- a part living, part mechanical dragon, likely created by an engineer from the Shifting Expanse -- which we took apart and researched at length. And so began the process of creating our own. Yet in the end I am a Blood Mage, not an electrician. So I used my craft to replicate the segments I could not recreate.
Thus he came to be: a cybernetic creation who consumed blood as energy. But for Encryption, being a weapon was not enough. He began working on his own inventions.
“And let me guess… these inventions of his are what zapped us here.” Solaris’ tone was icy, her gaze colder still.
“That is my only presumption,” I replied. “Though I’ve not been able to track him down since then to be sure. I imagine he eludes me intentionally.”
“So he’s rebelling against you? I take it you couldn’t just convince him to send us back home, then?”
“Unlikely. A show of force will be required.” I frowned, weighing the stakes in my mind. I needed to get back as quickly as possible. To my research. To my apparatus. This was an area I could not afford to fail. “Solaris. I need to gather some allies. Powerful allies.”
The librarian raised an eyebrow. “That might be difficult, considering the most powerful dragons of the Brightwing Clan all hate you.”
I sighed. “Yes...So they do.”
~~~
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*sigh* All of that is just guesswork. And the sort that has a good chance to cause a huge misunderstanding... of the unpleasant kind, given Urias´ response. Oh, this is bad. And Solaris´ too. Even if Encryption does try to evade Urias, he may not be aware he took anyone else along. Maybe, just maybe, someone who is fast and looks unassuming could do more good than powerful allies.
...Unless, of course, he is the one who attacked Flutterheart. Ha. Which he probably is the one, it´d be a bit too many coincidences for one round. Hmm... perhaps Urias does know what to expect out of his creations well enough. Which would be unfortunate... but if House Aeternas does happen to gain allies because of it? All´s well that ends well. :)
*sigh* All of that is just guesswork. And the sort that has a good chance to cause a huge misunderstanding... of the unpleasant kind, given Urias´ response. Oh, this is bad. And Solaris´ too. Even if Encryption does try to evade Urias, he may not be aware he took anyone else along. Maybe, just maybe, someone who is fast and looks unassuming could do more good than powerful allies.
...Unless, of course, he is the one who attacked Flutterheart. Ha. Which he probably is the one, it´d be a bit too many coincidences for one round. Hmm... perhaps Urias does know what to expect out of his creations well enough. Which would be unfortunate... but if House Aeternas does happen to gain allies because of it? All´s well that ends well. :)
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[b][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Day 6 :[/b] [/font][/size][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Shezarni[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35356243]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/353563/35356243.png[/img]
[/url] [/center][/size][/font]
[indent][i][size=5][font=Century Gothic]For a while, everything seemed to be going well. I’d watched my son Revelation banish a demon who had been plaguing the Brightwing lands - and then rise to become Captain of the Guard soon after. My heart swelled with pride at his accomplishments. And with Veritas as Archmage, I felt I couldn’t be more secure, more ready to take my father’s place as Clan Leader at last.
And then this happens: an unprecedented disaster. Neither my father’s wisdom, my son’s strength or my mate’s raw power could offer answers about what to do now that we’re stranded in the Shifting Expanse. I felt lost; stuck. The last things a leader should be.
Then things only worsened. Fantasy came to me, trembling, desperate. Since I had only ever seen the imperial as a carefree spirit who performed spellbinding dance numbers at the temple, this new side came as a shock. She explained to me that her youngest daughter had gone missing, that she’d searched every plain and every crevice, but with no sign of Flutterheart.
“I know House Eros broke away from the Brightwing Clan,” Fantasy said, her hands clasped to her chest. “But, I’m desperate. I don’t know where else to turn.”
As though things were not complicated enough, I was then approached by Solaris, the librarian of Mirrorlight Archives. She said she had a lead on some answers about how our clan got transported here, but she told me if I wanted to meet her source, I had to swear I would not bring any harm to him. Even as she said that, I could feel my muscles tighten, my throat go dry. I had a feeling I knew who her source had to be. I’d seen him once, witnessed his terrifying power: the Blood Mage from the Archives’ cellars.
And yet, what choice did I have? I needed that information, for the good of my clan. I might not have been a mage like Veritas or a warrior like Revelation, but I had my words. Armed with my diplomacy, I had to face my clan’s greatest enemy.
I took a deep breath and looked to Fantasy, and then to Solaris. “Alright, then. Let’s go.”
[/i][/indent]
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Day 6 : Shezarni
For a while, everything seemed to be going well. I’d watched my son Revelation banish a demon who had been plaguing the Brightwing lands - and then rise to become Captain of the Guard soon after. My heart swelled with pride at his accomplishments. And with Veritas as Archmage, I felt I couldn’t be more secure, more ready to take my father’s place as Clan Leader at last.
And then this happens: an unprecedented disaster. Neither my father’s wisdom, my son’s strength or my mate’s raw power could offer answers about what to do now that we’re stranded in the Shifting Expanse. I felt lost; stuck. The last things a leader should be.
Then things only worsened. Fantasy came to me, trembling, desperate. Since I had only ever seen the imperial as a carefree spirit who performed spellbinding dance numbers at the temple, this new side came as a shock. She explained to me that her youngest daughter had gone missing, that she’d searched every plain and every crevice, but with no sign of Flutterheart.
“I know House Eros broke away from the Brightwing Clan,” Fantasy said, her hands clasped to her chest. “But, I’m desperate. I don’t know where else to turn.”
As though things were not complicated enough, I was then approached by Solaris, the librarian of Mirrorlight Archives. She said she had a lead on some answers about how our clan got transported here, but she told me if I wanted to meet her source, I had to swear I would not bring any harm to him. Even as she said that, I could feel my muscles tighten, my throat go dry. I had a feeling I knew who her source had to be. I’d seen him once, witnessed his terrifying power: the Blood Mage from the Archives’ cellars.
And yet, what choice did I have? I needed that information, for the good of my clan. I might not have been a mage like Veritas or a warrior like Revelation, but I had my words. Armed with my diplomacy, I had to face my clan’s greatest enemy.
I took a deep breath and looked to Fantasy, and then to Solaris. “Alright, then. Let’s go.”
~~~
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*hums* Shezarni still doesn´t have much confidence, I see. But... they are all in this together. And besides... to call Urias an enemy... if she knows his power, she should know that his intention is not to cause harm. If it was, it´d likely be much uglier than anything they´d had to deal with up untill now. PX
*hums* Shezarni still doesn´t have much confidence, I see. But... they are all in this together. And besides... to call Urias an enemy... if she knows his power, she should know that his intention is not to cause harm. If it was, it´d likely be much uglier than anything they´d had to deal with up untill now. PX
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[b][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Day 7 :[/b] [/font][/size][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Fantasy[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=31612004]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/316121/31612004.png[/img]
[/url] [/center][/size][/font]
[indent][i][size=5][font=Century Gothic]I would once laugh at trouble. In sorrow I would dance, tumbling and twirling through the wind until my sorrows felt more like trinkets than burdens, glistening on my wings.
But I can’t dance away my fears about Flutterheart.
I have other children, of course. The shining, devoted Daybreak, the dark and dangerous Enigma. But Flutterheart -- she is my precious treasure.
Her father was my first love. Once upon a time, we would abandon the world and its responsibilities and frolic together in the sky, wings beating in time like a pair of butterflies in spring. But then something new caught Romance’s eye, and he turned away, distracted and excited for a new pursuit. And I dwelt in my heartbreak for awhile, swam in it, drinking deep. But eventually I contented myself with being in the backdrop of his life. I would care for his children -- of which many were not mine -- and continued to encourage him, his ambitions as numerous as his romantic conquests.
And then, inexplicably, he came back to me. It wasn’t quite like before -- we’d become different dragons since then, our cares not so easy to toss aside. And yet my time with him was so warm and sweet, I felt my hard shell crumbling as I melted back into young Fantasy once again.
He was already gone as I tended to my new brood, but it was alright. I couldn’t wait to meet my new child. I never expected that she would hatch in a new world, under thundering skies. But it didn’t matter that her eyes were turquoise blue. She had her father’s pink coloring and my butterfly wings: my darling Flutterheart.
I wasn’t frightened by the idea of meeting the Blood Mage. After all, he was Enigma’s teacher, and he had a long-standing contract with House Eros. But as I watched Shezarni speak with him, Urias revealed something that troubled me to the core. His invention, a robotic wildclaw, was on the loose -- and it fed off the blood of dragons.
Had my Flutterheart become its prey?
[/i][/indent]
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Day 7 : Fantasy
I would once laugh at trouble. In sorrow I would dance, tumbling and twirling through the wind until my sorrows felt more like trinkets than burdens, glistening on my wings.
But I can’t dance away my fears about Flutterheart.
I have other children, of course. The shining, devoted Daybreak, the dark and dangerous Enigma. But Flutterheart -- she is my precious treasure.
Her father was my first love. Once upon a time, we would abandon the world and its responsibilities and frolic together in the sky, wings beating in time like a pair of butterflies in spring. But then something new caught Romance’s eye, and he turned away, distracted and excited for a new pursuit. And I dwelt in my heartbreak for awhile, swam in it, drinking deep. But eventually I contented myself with being in the backdrop of his life. I would care for his children -- of which many were not mine -- and continued to encourage him, his ambitions as numerous as his romantic conquests.
And then, inexplicably, he came back to me. It wasn’t quite like before -- we’d become different dragons since then, our cares not so easy to toss aside. And yet my time with him was so warm and sweet, I felt my hard shell crumbling as I melted back into young Fantasy once again.
He was already gone as I tended to my new brood, but it was alright. I couldn’t wait to meet my new child. I never expected that she would hatch in a new world, under thundering skies. But it didn’t matter that her eyes were turquoise blue. She had her father’s pink coloring and my butterfly wings: my darling Flutterheart.
I wasn’t frightened by the idea of meeting the Blood Mage. After all, he was Enigma’s teacher, and he had a long-standing contract with House Eros. But as I watched Shezarni speak with him, Urias revealed something that troubled me to the core. His invention, a robotic wildclaw, was on the loose -- and it fed off the blood of dragons.
Had my Flutterheart become its prey?
~~~
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Ooops. Well... ooops. It made sense for a mesh of robotics and living flesh to have some blood magic in it, but... I´ll admit, I didn´t anticipate it being vampiric. Even though, that does make sense, too. Hmm... it sounds bad, but then again. Not all vampires need to kill to feed. Actually, it is much more convenient for one not to kill the victim... hehe... and a dragon like Flutterheart, carefree and lighthearted, is the perfect Thrall material if ever I saw one. Hmm... wonder how smart Encryption is.
Ooops. Well... ooops. It made sense for a mesh of robotics and living flesh to have some blood magic in it, but... I´ll admit, I didn´t anticipate it being vampiric. Even though, that does make sense, too. Hmm... it sounds bad, but then again. Not all vampires need to kill to feed. Actually, it is much more convenient for one not to kill the victim... hehe... and a dragon like Flutterheart, carefree and lighthearted, is the perfect Thrall material if ever I saw one. Hmm... wonder how smart Encryption is.
Very glad to see another installment of DD! Sorry to have been MIA at the beginning. Looking forward to more :-)
Very glad to see another installment of DD! Sorry to have been MIA at the beginning. Looking forward to more :-)
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[b][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Day 8 :[/b] [/font][/size][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Ragnarok[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=54946232]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/549463/54946232.png[/img]
[/url] [/center][/size][/font]
[indent][i][size=5][font=Century Gothic]My pops, he’s into power: always wants to be the big man in the chair running it all. Me, that aint really my schtick. I’m into mysteries, myself. The one collecting the clues under flickering firelight, that’s yours truly.
But this time, it seemed our interests aligned. He wanted me to be the hero, have the clan all indebted to me and such. The easiest way to do that, I figured, was to crack the case of how we all got here in the first place. Investigator Ragnarok, on the job.
Of course, you gotta take each mystery one bite at a time. And so I started my investigation with a smaller case: the mystery of one missing Imperial by the name of Flutterheart. According to her mom, little missy was a bit of a wanderer: the call to explore humming deep in her bones. Sadly she hadn’t seen which direction she’d wandered on this particular afternoon. But that didn’t mean no one had. It was time to do some digging.
I started with her family. I never realized how big House Eros was -- guess I shouldn’t be surprised, rumor has it their founder would jump into the nesting grounds with anything that breathed. But within the ranks of sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, not a single one had seen miss Flutters that morning. Shame, really. My pops would have lectured them on the importance of bloodlines, lineage and all.
Finally, though, I found a lead. A clan guardsman with a similar fiery aesthetic to my own called Smoulder said he saw a pink Imperial chatting up a fellow guard, a newbie named Frostbite. When I found the guy, he was none too talkative, ‘bout as cold as the name implied. But I am nothing if not persistent. And in time, I mustered a clue out of him: she mentioned she was going to go looking for blue parrot tulips, which only grow on a particular ridge in the Expanse.
Bingo.
‘Course, I’m no fool. I wasn’t about to simply wander into the place on my own, ‘case I got ensnared in the same trap as poor Flutterheart. It was time to call on the toughest dragon I knew: the Captain of the Guard himself.
[/i][/indent]
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Digsie - Glad to have you along for the ride! And no worries about when you read it - I like to imagine when I'm writing this that people can pick up whenever they please, doesn't have to be while a round is active. But I look forward to your input as always :D
Morigan - Those ideas may have something to do with what inspired this round. :)
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Day 8 : Ragnarok
My pops, he’s into power: always wants to be the big man in the chair running it all. Me, that aint really my schtick. I’m into mysteries, myself. The one collecting the clues under flickering firelight, that’s yours truly.
But this time, it seemed our interests aligned. He wanted me to be the hero, have the clan all indebted to me and such. The easiest way to do that, I figured, was to crack the case of how we all got here in the first place. Investigator Ragnarok, on the job.
Of course, you gotta take each mystery one bite at a time. And so I started my investigation with a smaller case: the mystery of one missing Imperial by the name of Flutterheart. According to her mom, little missy was a bit of a wanderer: the call to explore humming deep in her bones. Sadly she hadn’t seen which direction she’d wandered on this particular afternoon. But that didn’t mean no one had. It was time to do some digging.
I started with her family. I never realized how big House Eros was -- guess I shouldn’t be surprised, rumor has it their founder would jump into the nesting grounds with anything that breathed. But within the ranks of sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, not a single one had seen miss Flutters that morning. Shame, really. My pops would have lectured them on the importance of bloodlines, lineage and all.
Finally, though, I found a lead. A clan guardsman with a similar fiery aesthetic to my own called Smoulder said he saw a pink Imperial chatting up a fellow guard, a newbie named Frostbite. When I found the guy, he was none too talkative, ‘bout as cold as the name implied. But I am nothing if not persistent. And in time, I mustered a clue out of him: she mentioned she was going to go looking for blue parrot tulips, which only grow on a particular ridge in the Expanse.
Bingo.
‘Course, I’m no fool. I wasn’t about to simply wander into the place on my own, ‘case I got ensnared in the same trap as poor Flutterheart. It was time to call on the toughest dragon I knew: the Captain of the Guard himself.
~~~
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Digsie - Glad to have you along for the ride! And no worries about when you read it - I like to imagine when I'm writing this that people can pick up whenever they please, doesn't have to be while a round is active. But I look forward to your input as always :D
Morigan - Those ideas may have something to do with what inspired this round. :)
*giggles* Oooh, well then. Good to know my yammering isn´t leagues off. XD
Anyway, I feel a lot of kinship with Ragnarok here. I mean, I´m here for the mysteries too... among other things, like your characterization.
Which Ragnarok is a perfect example of again. Maybe I´m overthinking this, but I feel like the way he´s dressed says so much about him. It´s a combination of items I´d never think of, but so perfectly fitting in color and even shapes that it does make him look sharp. So this is the impression he makes to me, like someone who might seem as a fun guy and even a bit wacky, but who has a clever mind with a great attention to detail. All of which is useful for getting info... I´d honestly not want this guy to start poking into my clan secrets, that´s for sure. XD
*giggles* Oooh, well then. Good to know my yammering isn´t leagues off. XD
Anyway, I feel a lot of kinship with Ragnarok here. I mean, I´m here for the mysteries too... among other things, like your characterization.
Which Ragnarok is a perfect example of again. Maybe I´m overthinking this, but I feel like the way he´s dressed says so much about him. It´s a combination of items I´d never think of, but so perfectly fitting in color and even shapes that it does make him look sharp. So this is the impression he makes to me, like someone who might seem as a fun guy and even a bit wacky, but who has a clever mind with a great attention to detail. All of which is useful for getting info... I´d honestly not want this guy to start poking into my clan secrets, that´s for sure. XD
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[b][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Day 9 :[/b] [/font][/size][size=5][font=Century Gothic]Veritas[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=28379713]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/283798/28379713.png[/img]
[/url] [/center][/size][/font]
[indent][i][size=5][font=Century Gothic]When I saw him standing there out in the open -- Urias the Blood Mage, the biggest b*stard in all Sornieth -- well, I just about blasted him into a smoking crater right there and then.
The only thing that stopped me was Shezarni, standing there next to him. I remembered the last time I went charging in toward an enemy with magic blazing: it had only made things worse in the long run, and led to her breaking up with me. That’s right. Sheza and I had been apart for what felt like half a century. Even my new role as Archmage, cool as it was to have all these up-and-coming mages looking up to me, wasn’t enough of a distraction. The lonely nights without her there… heck, it was almost too much to take.
I finally won her back by proving to her I was more than just a trigger-happy son-of-a-witch. I suggested to her it might be politically advantageous for the soon-to-be Clan Leader to have a kid with the Archmage. I’m not sure what surprised her more, the boldness of my proposal or the fact I used the words 'politically advantageous.’ And by the time our son Revelation came around, she couldn’t deny it: she’d missed me.
But back to the stupid Blood Mage with his stupid rainbow-colored getup. I wanted to pummel him even more when the truth came out: the reason we were all zapped here was because of some invention of his that went cataclysmically wrong. I could’ve freakin’ called it.
Again came Shezarni’s hand on my shoulder, quelling me. D*mn woman had me reined and bridled. She looked me straight in the eyes.
“Veritas… this is a problem that affects all of us. Every house, no matter what their creed or banner. If we’re going to confront this threat…” She looked at Urias, and back to me. “We’re going to have to do it together.”
I felt my pulse race, sizzling with fury. If it were any old dragon I might have said, no freaking way. Over my dead body. Urias had his claws in my family for years, manipulating us, threatening us, even destroying ones we loved. But, Shezarni was my better half. The calm to my storm. She was the voice of reason piercing through the roaring fury inside me. When it came to her… I just didn’t have it in me to say no.
[/i][/indent]
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~[/center]
Morigan - Glad you enjoy Ragnarok :) I was looking forward to trying out his voice for the first time! I wanted him to have a little bit Royal, a little bit Aesling, with a hefty portion of his own unique feel ^^
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~~~
Day 9 : Veritas
When I saw him standing there out in the open -- Urias the Blood Mage, the biggest b*stard in all Sornieth -- well, I just about blasted him into a smoking crater right there and then.
The only thing that stopped me was Shezarni, standing there next to him. I remembered the last time I went charging in toward an enemy with magic blazing: it had only made things worse in the long run, and led to her breaking up with me. That’s right. Sheza and I had been apart for what felt like half a century. Even my new role as Archmage, cool as it was to have all these up-and-coming mages looking up to me, wasn’t enough of a distraction. The lonely nights without her there… heck, it was almost too much to take.
I finally won her back by proving to her I was more than just a trigger-happy son-of-a-witch. I suggested to her it might be politically advantageous for the soon-to-be Clan Leader to have a kid with the Archmage. I’m not sure what surprised her more, the boldness of my proposal or the fact I used the words 'politically advantageous.’ And by the time our son Revelation came around, she couldn’t deny it: she’d missed me.
But back to the stupid Blood Mage with his stupid rainbow-colored getup. I wanted to pummel him even more when the truth came out: the reason we were all zapped here was because of some invention of his that went cataclysmically wrong. I could’ve freakin’ called it.
Again came Shezarni’s hand on my shoulder, quelling me. D*mn woman had me reined and bridled. She looked me straight in the eyes.
“Veritas… this is a problem that affects all of us. Every house, no matter what their creed or banner. If we’re going to confront this threat…” She looked at Urias, and back to me. “We’re going to have to do it together.”
I felt my pulse race, sizzling with fury. If it were any old dragon I might have said, no freaking way. Over my dead body. Urias had his claws in my family for years, manipulating us, threatening us, even destroying ones we loved. But, Shezarni was my better half. The calm to my storm. She was the voice of reason piercing through the roaring fury inside me. When it came to her… I just didn’t have it in me to say no.
~~~
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Morigan - Glad you enjoy Ragnarok :) I was looking forward to trying out his voice for the first time! I wanted him to have a little bit Royal, a little bit Aesling, with a hefty portion of his own unique feel ^^
