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Thank you so much for this event! It was a blast and I always looked forward to the logs.

@squidragon

I feel kind of bad asking this but I've seen someone else asking a similar question, so I hope this is okay...? It's just that I ended up a little confused... I got the "A Close Encounter" log on Day 4, in which my dragons decided not to attack the creature head on but try to collapse the ceiling on it. But they never acted on that - they wandered for a bit and then attacked the creature anyway ("It Lies in Wait" Log). I'm just confused by that, could it be possible I missed anything?

If you don't want to dig to all your stuff again or have already deleted it that's totally fine, and
I don't care about prizes or anything, either... I just figured asking couldn't hurt I guess? >.<

Either way, I really, really, really loved this event; it was definitely one of the favourite festival events I've taken part in so far. That system you came up with is amazing, and I can't imagine how much work all the matching and editing must have been - thank you so much for all your efforts!

@felistopaz No need to feel bad, it's a legitimate question!

Some (many, actually) of the groups did in fact collapse the ceiling on the creature at the start of the final battle with the beast, but only if they had a dragon with the Strength skill.

The rest either backed out or decided to just "go for it." It seems your dragons fell into the "just go for it" category.

You should have gotten the Hall of Mirrors log between the two, in which your dragons head upwards through the ceiling and watch the monster a whole bunch more (let me know if you didn't) and ultimately decide that combat of some kind is inevitable. (If you got shorted a paragraph, it's probably in this one.)

If you did get everything as you should have, this is unfortunately one of the sticky situations that came out of the format, which was incredibly difficult to write for. I couldn't actually *mention* the ceiling bit beyond the Close Encounter log because different groups arrived at the same point from many different places (so a considerable number of people would have been confused when they hadn't even seen the monster before that last fight, let alone thought about collapsing the ceiling).

Everything was generated by a script that slapped together paragraphs, so I tried to "test read' as many different possibilities as possible, but sometimes the progression just isn't as natural as it would have been if all of the logs were simply "written" like normal.

Teams could get to the last fight from three different directions:

1) They were down in the nests the day before, snooping around
2) They backed out of the dusty caverns and decided to go elsewhere - meaning they didn't get the close encounter log and hadn't seen the monster before encountering it in the Hall of Mirrors log.
3) They saw the monster after following the strange tunnel and headed upwards. Some of these teams had a thought about collapsing the ceiling, but not all of them.

(Prizes were generated separately and aren't influenced by the log's content so you don't need to worry about that!)

@squidragon

Oh wow, thank you for the thorough explanation! I should have gotten everything then, I just didn't know about the Strength test :)
That's really cool though about the script O.O I'm amazed how neatly everything fit together for most of the time. Congrats on a great event, and thank you!

[center][size=6][font=Comic Sans MS][b]Logbook of the Vortex Squad[/b][/size][/font][/center] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/18#post_25112117]Team[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/56#post_25227466]Entry 1[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/67#post_25260927]Entry 2[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/85#post_25318701]Entry 3[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/93#post_25412175]Entry 4[/url ]| [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/96#post_25471355]Entry 5[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/2089268/99#post_25525256]Entry 6[/url] | Entry 7[/center] [indent][size=4][font=Lucida Console][b]Entry 7 - Lost in the Ice[/b][/size] [font=Lucida Console][b]Date[/b]: Feb 11, 2017 [font=Lucida Console][b]Location[/b]: Outside the Caves - The Clan Camp[/indent] What I... no, what we three remember most of our time in imprisonment is that [b]piercing cold[/b]. It slowly soaked through our bodies and souls, until nothing remaind. Forgotten where the soft breezes of our homeland, the gentile rays of sunshine every mornings and the warm laughter within the family circle. We where alone in this freezing prison. [indent]The only good thing: dragons are hardy creatures. We are built to survive in the harshest of environments, some swimming in lava, some roaming the plaguelands, some dwelling deep beneath the sea, and some sleeping in very, very cold places. Wherever we go, dragons are good at surviving--and, primarily, good at sleeping.[/indent] Most older dragons have known a good year-long hibernation period, and some have slept for decades. Sometimes you just need a [i]good [/i]rest, and although what we were engaged in was not a good rest, it was--nevertheless--a rest. Sort of. Today, we like to think of it that way. We, [b]The Vortex Squad[/b], don't want to let our time as genuine 100% dragon popsicles get us down. The first thing we noticed after a long, long time was a rather warm tingling in our toes. The warm tingling began to spread to our legs, and our tail, and soon we realized we could move... [columns][img]http://i.imgur.com/KD7CN8l.png[/img] [nextcol]. [nextcol][size=4][b]Loki [/b]was the first to open his eyes, soon finding himself staring directly into the face of... our entire clan. Yes, the [i]entire clan[/i] had noticed we'd been missing for a few weeks and decided to came down to dig us out. [i]What an embarassment![/i] All of those dragons making a big trek into the cave, dropping whatever important [i]surface things[/i] they were doing [b]just [/b]so they could dig their neighbors, friends and family members out of a trench. So, when we had finally all melted, dried off, and begun to recover, our clanmates told us of the [i]immense trouble[/i] they had gone through in cutting us out of the ice like some certified fresh ice cubes and hoisting the blocks of ice up through the trenches, out of the cave. [i]And that's not even considering the weeks it took to find us![/i] They were happy to have the information we had gathered, [i]although [/i]it certainly felt like they didn't even need it. With the whole clan there, they had no problem taking down the big monsters. But they didn't save us any of the goodies. Well, we got a few things each, but... it wasn't the same. At the end of the day, we don't regret our quest into the cave. We don't even really regret getting frozen and failing miserably. If we hadn't needed a good rescue, the clan wouldn't have been able to find nearly as much stuff because most of them would have never bothered to enter the cave. We only regret that we didn't get to keep any of it because we should '[i]be thankful they didn't just leave us there[/i].'[/columns] Well, it's been an amazing adventure and we'd do the journey again the same, [b]absolutely[/b]!! Signed, [b]The Vortex Squad[/b] [indent][size=6][font=Trebuchet MS]Aztec[/size][/indent] [indent][indent][indent][indent][size=7][font= Haettenschweiler]Lance[/size][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [indent][indent][size=7][font=Monotype Corsiva]Loki[/size][/indent][/indent]

OK I do actually want to finish writing out my logs so here goes, finally and very belatedly! :S



The Lundlaevungar:

Skadi The Huntress

Mimir The Pirate

Bucky The Winter Soldier

Scenes from Day 6




The three members of the Lundlaevungar stood around the opening that let down into the cavern, preparing themselves. Mimir shivered and pulled up the collar of his coat. He knew that the whole party has slept badly once again and they were no longer in peak condition - but there were dragon eggs (and not to mention probably untold treasures) at stake. They had to at least try. Even his rakish sense of honour told him that, and he could see from Bucky and Skadi's determined expressions that they wouldn't be deterred, even if he suggested that they turn back now. He wasn't sure his own conscience could rest easy with that, in any case.

"So?" he whispered, glancing at the other two dragons.

"Ready," Skadi said, hunkering down on the edge of the opening and preparing herself to leap down. They had been over the plan time and again: Mimir's plan, though now that it came to the execution, he had little more to offer. He wasn't a particularly strong fighter, not like the other two - his strengths lay more in tactics.

Bucky nodded in silence and Mimir took a deep breath. He had no idea if they could actually succeed against the monster they had found - he knew only that they had to try. He drew his cutlass and raised it.

"On my mark," he said. "Three. Two. One!"

Bucky leaped through the hole and immediately flipped onto his back to bound at the ceiling of the cavern with his powerful legs and claws, bashing it even with his shoulders as he drove his solid body into it again and again to destabilise the structure. Chunks of rock started to rain down as the ceiling crumbled, crashing down onto the creature and bludgeoning it.

Skadi dived down towards the nest, following the curves of the wall and using the camouflage she had created earlier to hide until she was up close to the monster. As she moved, she drew on her breath, whispering spells to the ice around them, calling on it to help them in their time of need. She flicked her tail to direct the magic and the icicles began to spray from the walls, growing like needles and pinning the monster's smaller tentacles to the ground.

Mimir went into the cavern after his companions, and watched as both Bucky and Skadi finished their primary attacks before turning on the monster itself. The falling rocks had crushed some of the tentacles, and the ice had immobilised more of them, but it wasn't enough: there were still too many limbs free, and even as they rent at them with teeth and claws, Mimir could see how it would all end.

His every instinct told him to run, but he couldn't abandon his Clanmates to the beast now - not when it was his plan that had failed. With a desperate, howling cry he threw himself into the fray, his cutlass whirling around him and glittering in the lamplight.

Mimir lost track of Skadi first, and then of Bucky. All he could see, all around him, were the horrible flailing limbs of the monster they had decided to fight. How had they ever thought they could defeat such a thing? Why had they not simply left the caves when they had the chance? Gone for help?

It was too late for such contemplation - and his thoughts turned out to be his downfall. One thick, thrashing tentacle thumped heavily into his side while he was distracted.

He couldn't even cry out as his small body was propelled into an icy wall, crumpling his wing and winding him completely. A moment later, one of the huge tentacles curled around his body, wrapping him up in its grip, and flung him down a long, dark chute into a prison made entirely of ice.

Mimir had barely made it onto his knees to crawl out from under the mouth of the chute when Skadi landed with a heavy thump behind him, almost crushing his tail, and after only a few seconds, Bucky followed her down. They were both even more badly injured than he had imagined: exhausted from the fight, bleeding from a myriad of cuts, bruised and battered, and now thoroughly addled from the tumble into their new prison.

The space was barely large enough to fit the three of them inside, and as Mimir looked up he could see that the chute was already icing up: within moments, the hole was gone completely and before he could even find the breath to warn his companions, the ice that had covered it over had turned the same dark, impenetrable shade as the thick walls around them.

Mimir started to shiver as he sat back on his haunches, still trying to find his breath. They had failed. They had failed, and now they were trapped.

It was an ignominious end to what was supposed to be a great treasure hunt and adventure.

Skadi had by this time righted herself and Bucky and had propped the two of them against the curved wall. She looked over at Mimir, then reached out and unceremoniously dragged him across to sit at her other side, close enough to share her warmth and the advantages of her Tundra coat.

"We'll die down here," he said eventually when he could talk again. His ribs ached with every breath, and already he couldn't control his shivers.

"We are not dead yet, little pirate," Skadi scolded him, giving his shoulders a gentle shake.

Yet even she sounded like the last of her hope had faded, and slowly the three of them began to freeze ...

Thank you so much squidragon for an entertaining and thrilling little adventure (that also turned into a personal writing exercise/challenge)! ^-^ I loved reading the logs and finding out all the different parts of the story in the thread.

It was bothering me an incredible amount that I hadn't finished this, even though I'm adding nothing to the 'story' at this point. But the final log absolutely made this event for me, after being incredibly disappointed that my dragons Failed in Log 6! XD So here we go, Part Seven of the Saga - featuring cameos from various members of the Lundlaevungar ...



The Lundlaevungar:

Skadi The Huntress

Mimir The Pirate

Bucky The Winter Soldier

Scenes from Day ...?




Bucky didn't know how long he and Skadi and Mimir slept in their tomb of ice. He was aware, dimly, of the passage of time and of his own slowed heartbeat as he let himself fall into something like hibernation. It was the only way to survive in the harsh conditions of their prison. Their only chance to extend their lives for as long a time as possible - in the vain hope of rescue.

Not that any of them really expected it. Bucky perhaps least of all - which made it all the more surprising when his toes began to tingle with warmth, spreading up his legs and tail. Almost as if the ice, which had slowly closed in around them over time until they were completely encased, was being lifted away ...

Then beside him - impossibly - Skadi moved. At first a small shift, and then a great heave, as if she was sitting up.

Bucky forced him eyes open, and then had to blink hard in surprise. Skadi was indeed sitting up next to him. She was pulling Mimir upright on her other side. And in front of them, in spite of his expectations, was the entire Clan. The whole of the Lundlaevungar, standing around in the icy surroundings of the caverns, all wearing winter gear and looking expectantly at them.

"Finally!" said a very familiar voice as Bucky's best friend Cap stepped forward from the group and reached out to haul him to his feet. "We thought you were going to sleep all day!"

Bucky stumbled on frozen feet as Cap helped him towards the campfire that someone had started nearby, while others helped Mimir and Skadi out of the hole in the icy wall. When the three of them were sitting at the fireside, they were plied with hot food and warm blankets as they began to properly defrost from their ordeal.

"We should leave," Skadi protested, trying to push the plate of food away when it was offered to her, her claws shaking. "There is a creature -"

"Oh, that?" said Loki in a light tone, a smirk playing around his mouth as his frills rippled in amusement. "Is that thing what caused you all this trouble?"

"You need not concern yourselves, friends," Thor said in a ringing voice, clapping Bucky and Skadi on the shoulders. "We defeated the monster with no trouble, there is no danger here."

Bucky hung his head, feeling more ashamed than ever that their plans had failed. Thankfully, Thor didn't stick around to rub it in, and although Loki continued to smile in a disconcerting manner, he didn't make any more comments. Bucky was grateful for that. He felt deeply embarrassed that they had had to come at all - especially when the caves were so dangerous.

"You wouldn't believe the trouble we had to go to, getting the three of you out of there," Stark said, coming over to loom over Bucky's shoulder. "Do you know how long it took even to find this place? And then find you in it? And then we had to dig you out."

"We're never going to hear the end of this," Mimir groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

"Nah, mates," Sparrow said, coming over and patting his fellow pirate on the shoulder, then producing a handful of shining coins and jewels from inside his coat. "We should be thanking you for the hoard o' booty we found down 'ere."

Mimir's head snapped up and he made a grab for the largest jewel, but Sparrow snatched it away with a laugh.

"Oh, I don't think so, mate! Finders keepers, an' all that, and since we were the fingers, we'll be the keepers I think," he said with a grin, and then gestured towards one of the corners of the cavern that the Lundlaevungar had carved out, where there were sacks of loot piled up ready to be shipped out of the caves.

Mimir leapt to his feet, frills waving angrily, and launched into a rant that was clearly going to get him nowhere, judging by the nonplussed expressions of the dragons around them. The rest of the Clan obviously considered the haul no less than their due for coming to rescue the three of them from the caves - which Bucky personally agreed with, for all that Mimir might claim it was unfair.

Skadi let out a deep sigh and shook her head as she hunkered down deeper into her blankets. "At least this journey was profitable to the Clan, if not to the three of us."

"I guess," Bucky replied. He leaned his head a little closer to Cap and lowered his voice to murmur, "Thanks for coming to get us."

Cap nudged him gently with his wing. "Any time."