Creative Corner

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]The Village of Numen[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/iZ6R0wN.png[/img] Welcome to the Village of Numen. It is a peaceful little village consisting of only twenty-seven living dragons. They each know their job and play their role well. Everything within the village is harmonious. It is all thanks to the careful watch and guidance of Numen and myself, Arcana. I was found by Numen. He practically begged me to help him. He was desperate and he looked so sad. I couldn't say no. Our village is kind. We have no crime and we have no trouble. Love abounds endlessly. We live in perfect balance with the nature around us and even the other settlements. We love getting visitors! We don't have much space for them, but we love sharing our knowledge, love, and passion. We have plenty of perfectly climate controlled outdoor spaces to lounge and sleep in. Please, stop by and allow us to show you what the love of the gods feels like. For the gods speak through us.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]History[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/iWzUVZZ.png[/img] Numen, the dragon, is one of the most kind and compassionate dragons. He, being the grandson of the Lightweaver and having much influence over the world, found twenty-two lost dragons. They were either new souls, seeking a place to belong, or dragons who could not recall their past. Numen showed mercy to them and guided them to a place they could call home. For months, the twenty-two and Numen began building a new and beautiful place to live. While building, Numen observed their strengths and gave them names and purposes. He promised them that their past was just that, the past, and they could live their present and future exactly as they saw fit. Finally, after much hard labor, the village was completed. Everyone had built their homes in the way they wanted. The village though, had no name. Numen thought long and hard about what the name should be. He wanted to show respect to the gods, but also have a name that would put them on the map. While deep in thought, the villagers approached Numen with an idea. They proposed that the village be named after him, to honor all he had done for them. He tried to convince them otherwise, but they were determined. So, the Village of Numen began to prosper. As the villagers got their trades and businesses up and running, the village began to be wealthy as well. Thus, the Village of Numen remains, happy, prosperous, and wealthy.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Structure[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/YTCpPH7.png[/img] The Village of Numen was constructed in such a way that it can be easily moved, which is genius if I do say so myself. With so many mages in the village, the sturdy houses and buildings can move across the continent as fast as the dragons themselves can. Even the flower boxes and pearl tree can move. The graveyard could move as well, but that's apparently "disrespectful to the dead." The village is crafted in a large circle. Mine and Numen's houses are at the northernmost edge of the circle, with his being on the west side and mine being on the east. The entrance to the village is on the south side, directly across from our houses. On the west side of the circle, starting next to Numen's house and moving towards the entrance is Fool, Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lover, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, and Fortune. On the east side of the circle, starting next to my house and moving towards the entrance is Justice, Hanged, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, and World. The graveyard for the village is behind Death's house. The chapel is a part of Sun, Moon, and Star's house. The three siblings have their homes connected via hallways. Star's home has the chapel, Sun's home has their offices, and Moon's home is where they live. Temperance's home holds the largest kitchen in the village, which she uses to cook meals for the whole village. The forge is in Strength's home. Though she usually uses it for glass and not for metal. The center of the village is the community center. In the very center is World's pearl tree. It is adorned with items from every dragon. World and Chariot made the tree. Strength made stained glass leaves to go on it. Some dragons carved beautiful designs onto it while others hung handmade tokens from the branches. The branches of the tree stretch over the whole village. When the light hits the glass leaves, the whole village is cast in beautiful colors. Every color of the rainbow bathes our village. The roots of the tree stretch as far as the branches and wind around everything. The community center is open and has lots of picnic tables for us to eat meals together at. There's also these gorgeous flower boxes that Hierophant put together for us. They're all super colorful. Some of the boxes even have themes of the different flights. There's pretty much always food out for everyone to eat. Temperance keeps snacks out all the time. We also have piles of soft pillows and blankets for cuddling. There's plenty of open space too; we sometimes hold theater nights and put on plays. Because of the pearl tree and the glass leaves, our village is protected from weather. If we want though, we can create our own weather using magic. We've enjoyed our fair share of snow days and thunderstorms where all the clouds hug the underside of the pearl branches. Our gardeners get to decide what weather we have, since they're the ones who need certain weather.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Geography[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/63acxcU.png[/img] The Village of Numen is currently located: [map x=1620 y=4461 view=land width=480 height=240][/map]

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Culture[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DvqThIS.png[/img] We at the Village of Numen are all devout followers of the Eleven. The chapel has small shrines to each of the Eleven. All dragons have personal shrines to the gods as well. Most choose one or two to pay homage to, usually the deity of the land they were born in and the deity who created their race. The most common practice for worship is sacrifice. Not of living beings, but a small portion of what they have. Some sacrifice food, others sacrifice treasure and gems. The sacrifice is personal. We are seekers and patrons of the arts. Both Numen and myself have large public libraries in our homes. Numen has the nonfiction section and I have the fiction section. We encourage the citizens to write and create. We have plenty of artists from florists to bakers to glassblowers. Music is almost always being played in the community center, whether from an enchanted music box or from live musicians. Our hierarchy is rather simple. Numen and I are at the top and everyone else is equal. Numen and I don't consider ourselves to be better than anyone else. We're more like administrators, making sure everything runs smoothly. We also handle public relations and alliances. My most favorite thing is our traditions and customs. Every holiday, we decorate the tree in paper lanterns the color of the flight we're celebrating. Temperance makes traditional foods and we party all week long. We dance and sing and have a grand time. We do something similar for birthdays. We make the dragons favorite foods and decorate the tree with lanterns in every color. Sun usually bakes the birthday cakes.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Alliances[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Z7SyH07.png[/img] [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=531330]Realm of Nightmares[/url]: Headed by Nightmare and Moon, the Realm of Nightmares was contacted in the hopes of switching them from nightmares to dreams. We do deeply hope that they can learn love and peace and hope. War is no way to exist. We established trade routes with them so we can hopefully spread our influence. [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=604850]The Grimm Troupe[/url]: Headed by Grimm, the Grimm Troupe was contacted in the hopes of keeping the Shade far away from the village. Numen seems very concerned about the Shade and wanted me to contact an expert. Though the topic is sparse and the Troupe is new, I believe they will be a great ally for protection and trade. [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=247400]The Virtues[/url]: The Virutes, while technically run by Forester and Epilobium, is a strong ally. They are a large city. It is really run by a gaoler named Penance and Absolution. I know they will be great trade allies, but I am wary about sending any of our dragons over there. We may need to help them.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Table of Contents[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/65HCvnO.png[/img] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/1#post_50002980]Celebrations[/url]: Numen can't help but feel down on the day of the village's opening. Something gnaws at him, something he can never talk to anyone about. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/1#post_56508436]Scrying[/url]: Death uses her pond to scry somewhere random into Sornieth. She ends up scrying some dragons who seem to know and dislike her. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56517805]Rescues[/url]: Sun goes on a trip to help give food to the needy in the Sea of a Thousand Currents. While down at the Fishspine Reef, he sees something odd and helps a dragon in a way he didn't intend to. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56530659]Sage Advice[/url]: Chariot goes around the village seeking advice on how to ask out Tower. Going to Numen and Emperor, he learned everything he needs to muster enough courage. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56544241]Carnivorous[/url]: Judgement is attacked on patrol by a strange, powerful banescale. After defeating him, she drags him back to the village where he must face Justice and Numen. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56550376]Secret Ingredients[/url]: Hermit and Priestess travel to the Viridian Labyrinth to gather some materials for Priestess' potion shop. They encounter some trouble and Hermit has the opportunity to prove himself. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56574903]The Mire Experience[/url]: Wands, Hermit, and Empress head out to the mire to do some training. Empress feels as though some old memories, that she desperately does not want to remember, are resurfacing. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56575127]Who Was I?[/url]: Empress demands an audience with Numen, insisting he tell her more about her past and what happened before everyone lost their memories. Numen confides in Empress. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3090936/2#post_56614878]Burrowing[/url]: A new member of the clan shows up and destroys part of the village. He fixes it and is lovingly taken care of and named by Numen.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Credits[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/oeENlf4.png[/img] All lore written by yours truly: Reiyn (291920) Thread graphics and dragon bio graphics by: [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=379019]dreamingcity[/url] (379019) Tarot card (in dragon bios) by: Yoshi Yoshitano (I have bought the deck)

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Celebrations[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/bLJxrhn.png[/img] Numen sat at his desk, staring forlornly into a cup of tea. Arcana had brought it earlier, noticing that Numen seemed down. The tea, now gone cold, taunted Numen. He had a large tome open on his desk. The tome had been pulled from under a false panel in a locked drawer of his desk. The tome itself had a heavy lock on it. The key for which was always safely around Numen's neck. The tome was bound with dyed red leather and had a rose embroidered on the front with black silk thread. It was a heavy book and a bit worn down. It had been carried around by many different dragons for many years. It had traveled from the Abiding Boneyard to the Hewn City to the Tangled Wood and all over Sornieth. It was a history of what once was. There were careful illustrations of the dragons involved in the history. Numen sighed as he ran his talons over an illustration of a certain imperial. A large lightning imperial. She was brilliantly red and blue. Numen leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He picked up his tea cup and held it up, toasting with no one. "Here's to many years unlike the last." He stared at the cup for a moment before hurling it at the wall, shattering it against a painting of himself. Tea dripped down the canvas, but the paint remained perfect. Numen sighed and pressed his head against the desk. He wished he could be just as clueless as everyone else.

[center][size=6][font=courier new][color=8c8c8c][b]Scrying[/b][/color][/font][/size] [img]https://i.imgur.com/q8OsUGf.png[/img] Death stared into her pond. The giant koi fish swam in mind-numbing circles. Over and over and over and over and over and over. Death watched them, her eyes rolling into her skull. It was something she found to be calming. Something, that distracted her from the constant nagging of the dead. Death waved her claw over her pond, curious as to what she could scry. Often when she tried, she found herself staring at unfamiliar dragons. Dragons whose faces seemed familiar, but when she tried to reach for the memories, they slipped through her claws, like sand. They were so familiar and yet she couldn't quite recall who they were or if they had once been important to her. Were any of them past lovers? Maybe family? Every time she asked Numen, he insisted that she needn't worry about it. Everything that she had forgotten was for a reason and she was happier here. Death wanted to believe him, she really did. Numen was charming, empathetic, lovable, and the grandson of the Lightweaver herself. He was everything a leader should be, but there was something off about him. The few times she had managed to scry him when he wasn't aware, he seemed tense. She had seen the secret compartment in his desk too. She knew he was hiding something. The way he looked at that book though; Death could tell it was something painful. Above all else, Numen was her friend. Death dragged her thoughts away from Numen and back to her pond. The surface rippled and showed a beautiful couple. It was a pearl colored pearlcatcher and a dwarf imperial. They sat at a camp, talking animatedly together. The pearlcatcher nuzzled into the imperial's neck before catching sight of Death in whatever surface she appeared on. The skydancer guessed she was being seen through some sort of washing bowl or other small surface. "Moti," the pearlcatcher hissed, pointing at the surface. "Ah, hello!" Death said as cheerfully as she could. "No thank you," the pearlcatcher said. "Jinju, give her a chance." The imperial said gently, trying to calm the clearly tempestuous pearlcatcher. "She may have changed." "What do you mean? Do you know about my past?" Death asked. She knew better. Numen had warned her against it, but really it felt like fate that she would scry dragons that knew her. It had to be the will of the gods and she was nothing if not obedient. "I want nothing to do with you, witch," Jinju, the pearlcatcher said. "Jinj..." the imperial said, placing a paw on her shoulder. "Please, you could visit us! I'm sure Numen would love to have you!" Death pleaded. "No. Begone." The last thing Death saw was a paw grabbing the scrying surface and tipping the water out. The image left the pond, leaving just Death with her thoughts. She sat back, resting on her haunches. Who were those dragons? What had she done to them to make them hate her so? She couldn't fathom what had happened, but she suddenly felt grateful that Numen was protecting them from that. Death just wanted to live peacefully. She took a deep breath and stood up from the pond. She had things to do and she wouldn't let the paranoia of random dragons infiltrate her peace.