Creative Corner

[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DGvMJXY.png[/img] Deep in the Tangled Wood, there once was a clan that started as nothing, became everything, and then fell to nothingness once again. This is their story. It is a long one, filled with twists and turns, love and betrayal, and determination against all odds. The original clan itself has long since died out...but it's legacy remains. And for those who remember it at it's peak, Clan Nocturne will never be forgotten. [rule] [columns] [center][font=constantia][size=6][i]Welcome![/i][/size][/font] [color=#575757]_______________[/color][/center] This is a keepsake thread for my first true lore clan when I started playing. They reigned for several years as my only clan before lore events wiped them out, however, the story continues in future clans and the descendants of the original royal family. I have over 70 pages of lore and story for these guys, so what will be posted here is the vastly cut down pieces that amount to a very rough timeline. But this way I don't forget details when I keep building on things in my current lair. Note! This will be a pretty image heavy thread! Lots and lots of art here :D [center][color=#575757]_______________[/color][/center] [nextcol] [img]https://i.imgur.com/6MKBEPT.png[/img][/columns] [/center] [rule] [center][font=optima][size=4][b]TABLE OF CONTENTS[/b][/size][/font] [i]Coming soon...[/i][/center] [columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800][img]https://i.imgur.com/jNipBBV.png[/img] [center][i]History[/i][/url][/center] [nextcol] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699#post_48624016][img]https://i.imgur.com/Z43RmXM.png[/img] [center][i]Members[/i][/url][/center] [nextcol] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699#post_48624023][img]https://i.imgur.com/HnDGg0X.png[/img] [center][i]Important Places[/i][/center][/url] [nextcol] image here [center][i]????[/i][/center] [/columns] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/IaEsxQq.png[/img][/center]

[center][font=optima][size=6][i]The History of Nocturne[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/snMCeIh.png[/img][/center] The story of Nocturne doesn’t begin in Shadow, but rather in the Scarred Wasteland of Plague. There a lone guardian and his charge, a timid fae, struggled to survive. They were born of Plague but neither could remember their parents or even having a home. They just remembered struggling and barely surviving for as long as they could remember anything. But the guardian, a dragon that would eventually be known as [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/2964574]Eternal[/url]--though that is a long ways in the future--was big, strong, and adept enough at surviving that word got out and slowly, more and more dragons came to join them. It was the beginnings of a clan, but it was hardly one strong or capable of lasting long in the Wasteland. Sooner or later they were going to fail. Eternal and his fae charge had their first nest. Four eggs...two of them never even hatched. The other two died shortly after. And that would be par for the course for the struggling band of survivors. The weight of trying to keep so many alive was wearing fast on Eternal, as was the loss of his hatchlings. Hope was a distant memory, until the day a stranger arrived. Like spun midnight, with glimmering magenta gems, the strange skydancer was a creature of pure Shadow. She looked far too frail to survive and yet...she was a master of it. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/3121252]Nox [/url]was her name. She was a testament of survival though they didn’t know it then. The gems caused by a cobra bite were still small and she flew easily, helping to gather food. She was a master of shadow magic and illusions, helping them to fend off enemies. They flourished in the short time she stayed...and one thing was clear. While Eternal had originally been what the small group of dragons had clustered to in hopes of strength, Nox--as small as she was--had that in spades. The transfer of leadership was simple. One day Eternal stepped down and Nox took over. A willing and mutual exchange. And just as quickly, Nox turned towards the borders between Plague and Shadow...and took her small clan home with her. They were the beginnings of Clan Nocturne. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NPKttzq.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YPeMNfC.png[/img][/center] Most know of Nocturne as the empire it became, few know the true beginnings. From the small scraggly band of plague survivors to a modest encampment on the edge of the Foxfire Bramble. Their first home in the Tangled Wood was within the brambles where they could use the natural defenses of the border to protect their growing clan. There they grew slowly, but steadily in size. Nox proved to be even more of an efficient leader here than in Plague. Her quiet, unassuming ways often caught outsiders off guard. While naturally regal, she often was found in the thick of things and not at all removed from the daily life of the rest of her clan. As they grew and began to venture out of the Brambles they made alliances with the Dunhoof centaurs that often traveled through, but it was also here that they had their first run in with the Splinterroot Serthis. In the beginning, they weren’t enemies, but they were never friends. The Splinterroot saw the budding dragon clan as an easy mark and would often raid their supplies. When it became clear that the dragons could and would fight back, the raids temporarily ceased--but it was the beginning of an animosity that would only grow. It was here, very shortly after the move to the Tangled Wood that a pair of dragons came to join Nocturne. Sluagh and Andais, masters of illusion and dark magic. In a time where the clan was weak and being preyed upon by outsiders like the serthis, their magic was welcomed. Deceptive illusions that left the serthis fighting their own were invaluable. [center][i]Their home in the Foxfire Brambles[/i]: [img]https://i.imgur.com/HefUzJ2.png[/img] [i]note to self: find image credits[/i][/center]

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/czcGzbI.png[/img][/center] Sadly, the initial serthis problems were not the only problems the growing clan would face. Even as a young clan, Nocturne would have it’s enemies. The first major one, and one that sank it’s claws into the clan and left lasting marks would be Sagr. A wildclaw with crazed notions. Born of Plague, he was convinced that only Plague dragons were fit for survival in this world and that anywhere else was weak. Living nearby the original band in Plague, when they left and began to flourish...his anger began to seethe. They were simply avoiding the fate that had been meant for them--extinction. With his enslaved bloodseer he concocted the idea of creating an Emperor dragon that he could control. One that he could unleash on his enemies and wipe the lesser flights off of Sornieth one by one. With the help of a few other dragons crazy enough to believe his ideas...Sagr begun his experiment, and his raids against Nocturne. He poisoned their food supplies, cut off their caravans, enraged the neighboring clans and beastclans against them. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hbPfw9Q.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ShgeJYY.png[/img] [/center] Later he would steal an imperial prince from a well established Plague clan to use as the heart of his monstrosity, and then one by one began collecting the other six dragons he would use to create his monster. When a pair of Nocturne’s chief hunters were attacked--a pair of imperials--poisoned and nearly drug to the border of plague before Sagr’s attack on them was discovered, fear was struck into the heart of all imperials within Clan Nocturne’s walls: they were not safe there. After that, all but one left. Bones, a scavenger, born of a tundra and imperial mating. His father had died when he was but a hatchling, but his mother was Clan Nocturne’s kennel master and loved her home dearly and as did Bones. Neither would willingly abandon it. By now Clan Nocturne was growing desperate. Despised from all sides, painted as raiders when it was really Sagr’s crew doing the dirty work, all of their food sources tainted...Nox ordered Bones and his crew to begin raiding for food. They were only to strike against those who struck against them--like the Splinterroot Serthis--but still, it only further enraged the clans rallying against them. But at that point, what choice did they have? They were already painted the enemy. Nox was growing unsettled. Her prayers to the Shadowbinder increased, as did her reassurance to her people. But they were falling against an enemy they hadn’t even seen. It was finally here, when Quoth--her seer--had success on one of his scouts. His ravens came back with the images of a band of dragons on the edge of the Wyrmwound, imperials laying in chains, and a wildclaw matching the rumors they’d heard running them all.

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/aFJ6ebn.png[/img][/center] It wasn’t until one of the chained imperials escaped and lay pleading at Nocturne’s door that they began to understand their enemy’s plot. And no matter how high Nox’s suspicions of the imperial were...she couldn’t turn away a nesting mother. Necrosis was allowed within Nocturne to nest and hatch her eggs, but she was kept under the careful watchful eye of Sluagh. It didn’t matter, she’d done her purpose and drew their attention exactly where Sagr had wanted it. Away from him. On Bones’ next raid, the large imperial was captured and dragged across the border to join the others of his brethren chained beside the Wyrmwound. And by the time those trying to find and save Bones turned back to question the Necrosis...she was gone, with her three newly-hatched babies, and one of Nocturne’s nest tenders as hostage. There was nothing to be done now, but to take the fight to Sagr. Simply surviving and outlasting his attacks and slander had gained them nothing, but with the whispers of what he was creating an ever-present danger hanging on the horizon--they had to act. Nox gave one last prayer to the Shadowbinder, pleading with her deity for aid. After all, if Sagr succeeded, they would indeed need a deity’s intervention to bring it down. The following morning she mobilized Nocturne and turned back towards the Scarred Wasteland. They would bring the fight to Sagr. They were met that dawn with three imperial warriors blessed by the Shadowbinder to join them in their fight. There was hope for the first time in months. That hope vanished when Sagr’s came into view...just as he rose his Emperor. Bones was among the dead raised into such a creature. Still, there was no backing down. Nox signaled the attack and Nocturne poured into Sagr’s camp. One imperial had escaped the fate of becoming part of the Emperor...the Plague Prince that Sagr had gotten in hopes of being able to control the monster he created. Instead, the Prince joined Nocturne that day in their fight against his captor and monster. Still, as the day dwindled so did their hope of victory. More and more of Nocturne was failing. The warriors given to them by the Shadowbinder had all died, with their corpses burned on the battlefield so that they too couldn’t rise and join the monster. But as night fell...renewed strength filled them. The Shadowbinder’s blessing felt upon them all. The night, the darkness, the shadows...this was their time. And it was in the dark of night, with every bit of help they could get, that the Emperor and Sagr fell into the Wyrmwound and Clan Nocturne stood exhausted but victorious. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xM3GEjI.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/lfk0Dgt.png[/img][/center] Victory did not come without a price for Clan Nocturne. They had struggled for months under Sagr’s attacks and deceit, add in their losses from the battle, and they were once again a motley band of survivors. Nor did they feel safe resuming their home within the Foxfire Brambles. This time, Nox took them deeper into the Tangled Wood, to the edge of the Driftwood Drag and into the Wispwillow Grove. It was there that they rebuilt. New trade relationships were built, new alliances formed. Nox sought to establish Nocturne as a place that couldn’t be turned so easily by a wicked tongue and lies.

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/iOyJhg3.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/kU2jv9H.png[/img] [i]image corvidus[/i][/center] Here, in the Wispwillow Grove, is where Clan Nocturne flourished into the Empire it became. Strong, yet secretive. Illusions led travelers astray...or whisked into slumber until they could be brought within the walls without patrons knowing the clan’s exact location. Wards often left explorers confused and frazzled, unsure of what lay on that section of the map. Their trade began to flourish. Nocturne became known for its hand woven wooden lanterns, twisted and shaped to be a souvenir of the Tangled Wood itself. Their kennels became renowned--both for pets, companions, and protection. Alliances were formed, including their most well known one with Clan Orodres--a fire clan, due to a particular fire courier managing to slip past all of Nocturne’s wards and crash land within the heart of the territory. Various other clans joined the mix, even more sent ambassadors to Nocturne to talk of treaties. In the end representatives from clans of nature, wind, lightning, plague, fire, and shadow came to the journey and a handful of alliances and trades relationships were made. It was in this era that Nox took a mate, though interestingly enough, not a King. Sluagh, one of the clan’s master illusionists, and one of the most trusted voices by the Queen. Although he up until that point had been mate to another--Andais--their relationship had been exclusively mirror interests. If Sluagh was known for being aloof, Andais was cold and completely unreachable. She was nearly impossible to understand to anyone other than Sluagh and by then she had drawn even further into her work, their joint pursuits long forgotten, Andais made no protest in Sluagh taking another mate. But while Sluagh was undeniably loyal to Nox, and therefore Nocturne, and had been her unwavering and steadfast council--he was not the type of dragon that should be King. His boundaries for good and evil were too blurred. So while Nox took him as her mate, as her heart, Nocturne would have no king. [img]https://i.imgur.com/QtVU4PR.png[/img] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/7bOGfj3.png[/img][/center] The more Clan Nocturne flourished, and now that Queen Nox had chosen a mate, the questions of an heir became more and more frequent. How would one be chosen? When would one be chosen? The answer came with Nox’s first nest. Four eggs, though one vanished into the shadows the day it was laid. Some rumors spoke that maybe Nox had traded her firstborn for the Shadowbinder’s aid against the Emperor. Others thought maybe the egg had been exalted to the Shadowbinder in thanks for her aid in helping Nocturne flourish. But one thing was clear, no one knew the answer. The second two were male and female: Umbrix and Styx. It is said that Umbrix hatched first, with Styx just a half breath behind him...so by typical right of birth, he should have been named heir. But Styx was the first born daughter of Nox. It was her, from the moment she cracked her shell, that Nox named heir. Not that the First Princess of Nocturne ever had any want to rule. While Umbrix would eventually leave Nocturne and join Orodres, living a life of his own, a life that at that time Styx envied dearly, she was stuck learning how to rule a land she didn’t want. Styx did turn her attention to the kennels. Always fascinated by the umbra wolves that had made their home within Nocturne, she spent more time in the kennels than anywhere else. With her father’s teachings for dark magic, her mother’s master of illusions...Styx found herself creating her own spells. One that let her get away from her life as princess for a while. Using an old umbra wolf pelt and dark magic she crafted an illusion that let her transform temporarily into the wolf who’s pelt she wore. It was a skill that she would later teach others and perfect over the years, but in those early days it was a simple escape. A freedom from a life she didn’t want. And while Styx would always say that she would never name an heir, never force a daughter of hers to play a role she didn’t want, time eventually makes fools of us all--even her.

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NoJPALq.png[/img][/center] By now, Nocturne had blossomed, the first hatchlings of the Queen now adults and moving on with their lives. It is a time known for being peaceful for the clan, but in reality it was the calm before the storm. Andais had taken another mate, though at that time it was unknown to any in Nocturne. Most of her affairs had always been kept secret and with Sluagh away dealing with hatchlings and aiding Nox, it meant there was no one overseeing Andais’ continued study into dark magics. None noticed her growing fascination with the history of the Shade, especially when a son of Saeva Renatus--another plague clan--came to live within Nocturne’s walls. He’d come after hearing tales from a friend of his and looking for adventure, being totally fascinated with the kennels of umbra wolves--but he was not quite right. Rumors were that Saeva Renatus was shade-touched, but at the same time they were on good terms with Nocturne and Nox didn’t wish to anger another plague clan. Especially not one as formidable as Saeva Renatus, so she welcomed the young prince. He was an unassuming young skydancer who loved the wolves and the quiet. He worked happily with Nocturne’s Kennel Master. But the potential for a dragon to be touched by the Shade was too much for Andais. Already slipping into the brink of madness she cornered the prince, and when he refused to submit to her experiments, she attempted to kill him. Her actions were halted, but not before she also attempted to kill Nox and her Princess Styx. It was an act of treason, and one that also could have spurred a war with a clan far too dangerous for them to make an enemy. Nox ordered Andais’ execution that day--though it is unknown if Styx’s is mate at the time did the deed, or if it was Styx herself. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Ckpl5RW.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/3S6lQ1U.png[/img][/center] But Andais’ execution came too late--there were many other works she set into motion. One of which was a daughter named Niceven, who she dubbed the Barrow Queen, though it was hardly fairies Niceven ruled. But a small band of black magic users like herself--dragons and beastclans alike. Amongst them were a splinter group of serthis-–youngsters from the tribe Nocturne used to raid. Niceven shows them that they have a common enemy and they ally with the intent to destroy Nocturne. After all, Niceven did not take kindly to her mother’s execution. She came for Nox herself while the rest of her Court attacked Nocturne. While Nox managed to fend off the attack and Styx killed Niceven in the end, their triumph came too late. For the rest of the Barrow Court had invaded below--and the deaths that resulted left a crippling blow on Nocturne. Tenebris, one of Nox and Sluagh’s sons was murdered at the hands of serthis arrows...Splinterroot serthis arrows. Noire, the clan’s kennel master was also killed in the onslaught and her death triggered the Saeva Renatus prince into losing control. Many more lives were lost that day before he was calmed. But by then the damage was done. The plague prince moved on and Nocturne was left once again to rebuild, but their hearts were heavy.

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/b7N3nm0.png[/img][/center] One thing was clear with the Barrow Court’s attack: the Splinterroot Serthis had not forgotten their old enemies. Nor was the animosity limited to only those who had defected from Splinterroot to help Niceven--the amount of arrows, poisons, and serthis present in the attack also showed a tentative alliance between the Splinterroot and Niceven. This time there were no attempts by Nocturne to establish peace. Splinterroot traders were banned from Nocturne’s doorstep, if not outright attacked. The only thing that kept either of them from slipping into all out war was both sides were far too cautious. They knew their enemy well and they were far too evenly matched for an easy victor to be decided. Still reeling from Niceven’s attack, Nocturne was left in shreds. Nox, unwilling to bring allies into a potential war that she feels she started, does the only thing she can think to do. Pulling on every illusion and every dragon in her clan, they cast a spell over Nocturne and pull it into hiding. It essentially vanishes. The hope was that if they hid long enough, their enemy would give up and move on. Or at least in the meantime they could rebuild...again. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/w9BCw4q.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BBSaIPd.png[/img][/center] Nocturne wasn’t looking for a war necessarily, they were just done with Splinterroot’s attacks on them, but perhaps they should have been. Because by now Splinterroot was determined to destroy their long standing enemy and to do so they sought an alliance from an unlikely source. The Barrencove were a group of maren warlocks that had surfaced in the Driftwood Drag, but powerful water seers were exactly what the Splinterroot needed. In the time that Splinterroot was building an alliance and prepping for war...Nocturne was rebuilding. Nox and Sluagh finally felt safe enough to have another nest, but it was sadly on the day of their hatchling Clan Nocturne fell under its harshest attack yet. Maren seers led the Splinterroot to the edge of the illusive Veil that shrouded Nocturne...and then using powerful magic the warlocks dispelled it entirely by bringing waves from the Sea of a Thousand Currents up through the drag and slamming it into Nocturne. The Splinterroot leader wore the pelt of Nox’s son on his back as he and the rest of his clan rode in on the waves.

[center][font=optima][size=4][i]continued[/i][/size][/font] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]i. The Beginning[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619800]ii. The Tangled Wood[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iii. The Raids[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48619805]iv. The Plague Prince[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]v. The Making of an Emperor[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48620801]vi. Recovery[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]vii. The Heart of an Empire[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622547]viii. An Heir to the Throne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]ix. A Traitor in the Mists[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622610]x. The Barrow Court[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xi. Old Enemies Not Forgotten[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622715]xii. The Splinterroot and Barrencove Alliance[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiii. The Fall of Nocturne[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3045699/1#post_48622746]xiv. The Aftermath[/url] [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/AV0vY2Z.png[/img][/center] It would be an attack that this time Clan Nocturne did not survive. They fought with everything they had, but it was not enough. It was Eternal, the plague guardian from the beginning, the one who started it all that Nox gave her newborn hatchling too with a plea that he see the last princess of Nocturne safe. That he saw the last of her children safe. So many of them had fallen over the years to protect their home. Two of them fought still--Styx and Ludere. But this one, barely out of the egg, deserved a chance at life. So unlike those who stayed and fought that day, Eternal fled with a hatchling hidden away under his wing in hopes that she could live. It was as he fled that he saw the final fall of Nocturne. Nox and Sluagh were dragged under water by maren, lifeless from a pair of serthis spears through their hearts. He saw Styx and Ludere go under and countless others. And then he too was dragged into the water...the last heir of Nocturne with him. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Xkrhhi3.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/2o75pOk.png[/img][/center] The empire of Clan Nocturne was reduced to nothing more than ruins after that day for the longest time. There were, however, survivors. Ludere escaped and joined one of his brothers living in an arcane clan. He never returned to the Tangled Wood. Styx also survived. A member of Saeva Renatus found her and let her recover in safety there before she caught wind that Eternal and her youngest sibling had potentially survived...and were living in the depths of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Their stories continues in the lore of the Crystalline Gallows, and then later, in their descendents, in the lore of Leylight Glacier (ongoing).

[center][font=optima][size=6][i]Notable Members[/i][/size][/font][/center] [rule] [columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/3121252][img]https://i.imgur.com/R2gjxwG.png[/img][/url] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/3121252][font=optima][size=5][i]Nox[/i][/size][/font][/url][/center] [nextcol] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kthfVXW.png[/img] [size=4][i]Queen of Nocturne[/i][/size] [i]deceased[/i][/center] Little blurb thing will go here. Note she changed to a nocturne right before her first nest. [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/drs/3028308]Nox Lineage Tracker (wip)[/url][/center] [/columns] [rule] [columns] [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/icons/139.png[/img][/center] [center] [size=4][i]Princess of Nocturne[/i][/size] [i]last known: alive[/i][/center] Little blurb thing will go here. She has since changed her name to EverAfter. [nextcol] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/9083887][img]https://i.imgur.com/mRRZtci.png[/img][/url] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/9083887][font=optima][size=5][i]Styx[/i][/size][/font][/url][/center] [/columns] [rule] Eternal, Umbrix, Tenebris, Ludere, Sluagh, Andais, Noire, Bones, Niceven, Sagr, Sovereign, Cassiel....

[center] [center][font=optima][size=6][i]Important Places[/i][/size][/font][/center] [center][font=optima][size=4][i]The Merchant Square[/i][/size][/font][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/MRrRX3Q.png[/img] Despite Nocturne's intense interest in secrecy, their largest Market was centered in the middle of the territory. Traders were often brought under spell and illusion deep within the clan to the Merchant Square (willingly or more likely, unknowingly to them). [rule] [size=4][i]Popular Shops in the Merchant Square[/i][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/hCr5QmX.png[/img] [i]The Tattered Grimoire [/i] Not your ordinary bookstore...unless you wanted it to be. Anything from fictional tales to the history of Sornieth could be found within the wooden shop walls. If your tastes were towards something darker, the shelves of enchanted and befouled books often drew the wandering eye. [rule] [i]Fable's Ruins and Rumors [/i] The crudely put together wagon was only a seasonal shop in the Merchant Square, but the various festival goodies always drew a crowd. [rule] [i]The Darkened Eclipse Inn[/i] The only place that outsiders could stay within Nocturne and while it was often busy, the guests were often offered more than their share of muddled mead to dull their senses and memory. After all, wanderers were not welcome inside Nocturne. [rule] [img]https://i.imgur.com/xy2QpiF.png[/img] [i]The Lotus Lantern[/i] One of the most famous shops in Nocturne, the beautifully hand-crafted lanterns often drew outsiders from all flights into the dark, twisting Shadow forest in search of these ornate designs. While Lotus' first attempts were crude and sloppy, they got the job done in Nocturne's early stage, but at the height of the empire she'd perfected her craft. [img]https://i.imgur.com/DSQOSEI.png[/img] [rule] [rule] [size=4][i]Other Notable Places[/i][/size] [i]The Kennels of Nocturne[/i] [img]https://i.imgur.com/XN2Gh8b.png[/img] Not all came to Nocturne to shop for various items--their kennels became well known throughout a good deal of Sornieth. At first they specialized in umbra wolves and black wolves: as hunting companions, pets, livestock guardians and protectors. Once confident in their success they began to experiment with other breeds, including some of their own. [img]https://i.imgur.com/DeeVnz7.png[/img] These are larger than their gale or umbra counterparts, however those two elemental types are the main mix behind this breed. Known for powerful gusts of wind and their ability to vanish even in the light of day, they made for strong combat allies. The Original Wolves: [img]https://i.imgur.com/aqQ22hS.png[/img] After the wolves, Nocturne's wolf keeper Noire turned her attention to smaller breeds and species for more practical uses. Some of these would be:[/center] [left][LIST] [*]Wispwillow Collies - small, but glowy collies used to help round the herds [*]Grove Hainu - wispwillow collies/hainu hybrids. Sold or gifted as a sign of great trust from Nocturne. [*]Umbrahounds - large 'irish wolfhound' style hounds, brambles often natted in their fur. [/LIST][/left] [center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/mC4Qm9N.png[/img] [rule] [i]The Aviaries[/i] [img]https://i.imgur.com/jurxYfM.png[/img] Death seekers were and storm seekers were bred for their usefulness. Otherwise small birds like blue throated budgies were bred for individual pets. [rule] [i]The Crescent Shrine[/i] [img]https://i.imgur.com/sVebolA.png[/img] Originally only the Queen's shrine, it was built into a large cave on an island in the middle of the territory's largest lake. Stone steps led medium to smaller sized dragons down into the interior, where it was often only lit by candles before the light was snuffed out entirely by the darkness. Eventually the island outskirts became the ceremonial grounds for Nocturne and outdoor spaces were built for the larger dragons. [rule] [/center]