Quests & Challenges

[quote]first of all I spelled your name wrong[/quote] no worries!! you could've done worse: on my first day of using this name, someone told me it looked like "GRILLofSornieth" XDDD wow you're right, someone was really dedicated to alphabetizing their dragons... maybe some kind of alphabet challenge? or something to keep it organized when they fodder their way into infinity like it looks like they're doing. whatever it is, I applaud the dedication... anyway, soup. souuuuuuup my baby. soup takes my anti-capitalization writing style to a whole 'nother level and I adore them so much. XD and you just made me realize I never had a fae in my kingdom, huh. blessings be upon your little kingdom!!

[b]Day 4[/b] [item=Smooth Pebbles] going hunting today meat for the mirror why eat meat when insects are so plentiful i say but mirrors do not eat bugs the guardian will eat bugs but she also prefers meat why not go fishing i say but no one knows how to fish as though any of us knows how to hunt newbies still getting settled so it's Our King and poisonberry and me going hunting if this is our quest then i will bring home the largest carcasses for our storeroom the woods are softly lit and lovely i snap a grasshopper out of the air as it leaps across our path Our King pauses to pick plants from the trailside poisonberry is talking about meat about animals about killing and drying and preparing poisonberry stops talking we follow him silently intent and focused Our King does not search for salads i do not snap at bugs we are following a trail we must not spook our prey a faun grazes in a clearing the sun dapples down we strike poisonberry is quick and lethal there is another Our King's magical might overwhelms it there is another and another basilisks dayjars i flutter up to escape the onslaught of claws and talons i fire bolts at whatever moves everything is moving everything wants to kill us a vine reaches for me it is crushing me no vine but a strangler and my magic is depleted my wings are broken a chill blasts the strangler i fall "Soup," Our King says he is crying "Soup, you're going to be okay. Just hold on—can you hold on to me?" "as his majesty commands" it takes all my strength to speak "Just hold on, I can't run with you in my foreclaws." Our King tucks me up against his shoulder i cling to his scales as he runs poisonberry is up ahead osraed flies above calling directions my grip is weakening my wings jostle painfully with each step i cannot move them i cannot tuck them in "you must not blame yourself" "Don't speak, Soup. I'm going to get you home." "you are a great leader you are Our King continue to lead with pride i know our kingdom will be great" my grip fails he does not stop when i fall nor turn it is as it should be he must escape he must live i was never meant to live long i was meant to be soup [rule] Material: roll for your life! d20 result: 18: royal quest Pick the Royal, then pick two dragons at random. Raise them a level. Roll a d10 for each. On a 4, they died in battle. Exalt, or lose a life. If the Royal is exalted, the Heir Apparent takes the throne. If there are no Heirs, choose one of the surviving dragons on the coli team to become the new Royal. (During Quests, dragons are invincible and cannot die in the coliseum.) Random dragons: Poisonberry and Soup. All my starters are at risk! Fun drops: [item=Minor Health Potion] [item=Tertiary Gene: Flecks] even though Soup leveled up battle 1 (because of course they did) and then Frostwing leveled up pretty quickly after that, I kept them in the party until Poisonberry had also gained his level. I also didn't count battles, since it wasn't a certain number of battles, I just kept fighting till the desired effect had been achieved. and, because coli deaths don't count today, I did bring the children into the Woodland Path (once I remembered they were safe). it also made sense, narratively, to go on a Royal Quest to a new area, rather than the same old mousefields. and boy is it a good thing they were immune to deaths! cause we did die of an overdose of velvet fauns pretty much immediately. twice. the difficulty curve between these two venues is absolutely absurd. Death rolls: Frostwing: 1 Poisonberry: 7 Soup: 4 WELL. I QUIT. WHAT EVEN IS THE POINT WITHOUT SOUP. Soup, my darling, my child, nonbinary icon, discovering whether or not you were being sarcastic was our real quest and now we'll never know. We'll never know! We'll never forget you, Soup. ...all right FINE I'll roll a job for Poisonberry. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOUP job roll result: 9 9: matchmaker Up to once a week, the Matchmaker allows you to “match” dragons and create a permanent pair. Once a pair is permanent, they can breed at any time, but they cannot breed with any other dragons unless their spouse dies. On a spouse's death, roll a d6. On a 4, the pair had formed a Bond. Exalt both, regardless of extra lives. Not the most useful thing to me right now, but at least it gives me a basis for character development; so far all I have for PB is "talks a lot". tbh was hoping for Ambassador, not for the growth potential (who CARES without SOUP) but because he kind of already did that with C and S. want to know the worst part. this was all OPTIONAL. I did this as an extra day based on a Crim pull cause I just wANTED TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH SOUP so here's today's actual pull: [b]Day 5[/b] [item=Ambush] "Frostwing?" There's no answer. He's been locked in his room since we made it home yesterday, and he realized that Soup had fallen off him somewhere. Well, first he tried go to back for them, but we all—Chamois and Solarwind and Osraed and me—we all argued against it, and finally Chamois (who's the only one of us bigger than Frostwing) just laid on him till he stopped arguing. Then she made him eat, and put him to bed, and he's just been in there ever since. Even Osraed is silent in there; maybe Frostwing took off his pendant. I wasn't badly hurt. And Chamois and Solarwind are both healthy; they spent yesterday trying to learn to fish. If we're quiet, and careful, and don't walk straight into a velvet faun ambush, I think we'll be okay. Soup deserves to be brought home... and I think Frostwing needs the chance to say goodbye. We'll go and find them. Anyway, there's no one to tell us we can't. [center]----[/center] I let Chamois be the one to tell Frostwing where we'd gone, and why. Boy, that got his attention! He slammed out of his room, furious, all "You could have all been killed" and "What were you thinking"—but he got real quiet when she said, "We brought Soup home." "Take me to them," he said. I think maybe he was in love with them. We'd wrapped them in a white cloth, and he was so gentle unfolding them. He touched their face, and folded their foreclaws over their chest, and tried to straighten their broken wings. They were so small, all folded up like that, and they looked even smaller lying on the ground in front of Frostwing and Chamois, who came to sit beside him and laid one wing over his back. He leaned into her. I stopped watching, then. He deserved the chance to say goodbye. Solarwind was out at the edge of the iceberg inside which our little kingdom resides. He was attacking the ice itself, blasting it with jets of water. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Preparing for the funeral," he said, like it was obvious. "Got to give them to the sea. The Tidelord will take care of them." So I joined him to help, and together we broke off a chunk just a little under a meter wide, and carried it back. Frostwing gathered up the little bundle of Soup, wrapping the cloth around them again till they were fully covered, and laid them on the chunk of ice. He insisted on carrying it himself, to the northernmost stretch of our ice, and setting it to sail into warmer seas, carrying Soup with it. [rule] Battle items = Oh no… Flip a coin and follow the result. Coin flip results: Tails [list][*]Tails: DEATH STREAK!!! Randomly select three dragons. Fight in the coliseum at the highest dragon's level for 13 rounds consecutively (you cannot leave that venue), only quitting midway if a dragon faints. Exalt that dragon, or lose their extra life. [list][*]The Assassin is exempt from Death Streaks because of the coliseum ban. The Royal is not. If the Royal dies in a Death Streak, the Heir Apparent (or one of the surviving dragons on the coli team, if there are no Heirs) will take the throne. [*]The Death Streak is over when one dragon dies and is exalted, or when you complete 13 rounds of combat.[/list][/list] Random dragons selected: Poisonberry (5), Chamois (4), Solarwind (4) The rules are a little unclear, so I am clarifying for myself: I am allowed to stop between battles and rest. I am not allowed to quit *mid* battle unless someone is dead. Highest level 5 means we're going back into the woods. Fun drops: [item=Diseased Might Fragment] which I immediately gave to Chamois. And! We survived! Everybody survived!! C and S lvl 4—>lvl5 Chamois job roll: 18 18: teacher The Teacher can pick two dragons lower leveled than the Royal and level them up by one level under quest rules once per day, rolling a d20 to see if the two dragons are lost in training (4 for death). If there are no dragons lower leveled than the Royal, the Teacher can instead train the Royal themselves to gain a single level. Solarwind job roll: 11 11: librarian If you have a Librarian and a Scout in your kingdom, they have researched the best route through the first three coliseum venues (Training Fields, Woodland Path, and Scorched Forest). Deaths in these venues no longer count unless all three dragons faint. Librarians cannot affect Death Streaks. Seems like the Librarian and the Teacher ought to have some synergy, too, especially since the Librarian does [i]nothing[/i] on its own, but I'll spend some time thinking about what that is before I decide. In the meantime, we'll instantly trigger Chamois' Teacher ability and bring Frostwing lvl4—>lvl5. And now, because I've written up all these notes first, I have to go back and write the prose... oh Soup my beloved, how I adore thee...

DDD: SOUP NOOOOOO

...tho ngl their last words made me giggle helplessly. "i was meant to be soup" *sends you to Plaguemomma*

kidding!! I shall instead take very good care of your little one <3 and quite possibly give them a new chance at life in my 'locke, if you're okay with it. with my luck, soup might be our next ruler. *stares hard at Yseult* XD

ps: I like your version of the Death Streak. XD mine was that you could not rest until the 13-battle streak was over or someone died, hence the name... BECAUSE SOMEONE USUALLY DIED BEFORE THEN

if the rules were that they could not rest at all, then they were guaranteed to die. I wanted to at least give them a chance. imagine how bad it would feel if someone died trying to retrieve Soup!! D:

I would be delighted to see Soup live again in your 'locke! if you start running the kingdom again before you start updating the thread, please let me know what happens to them!

[b]Day 6[/b] [item=Birch Twigs] Storms have raged all night. Wind, thunder, rain. The ice and rock we stand on shakes. I cannot access my magic. I tried to ask Osraed what to do, but he didn't emerge when I put on the pendant. It's my fault. I let Soup die. I let them slip from my grasp, and I failed to even notice they were gone. I hid myself away while the others searched for them. I'm supposed to be leading this group—it was [i]Soup[/i] who called this a kingdom, called me king—and I've failed them. I don't know what to do. The Eleven are angry with [i]me[/i]; I can't let the rest of them fall victim to my hubris. I have to do [i]something[/i]. The moth that followed Soup home from the training fields flutters to me as I emerge from my room. It refuses to be shooed away. Fine; let it follow me. It and everyone should know what I am responsible for. Our iceberg has flats and peaks. The entrance to the lair is below the highest peak. I'm still injured from the misguided fight that took Soup from us, but it's only fitting that I should be hurt, while I atone. I struggle to find the right words. What words could cool the ire of even one god? "Revered Eleven," I begin, and the wind tears my voice from my throat. "I beg of thee, do not punish my—my companions! They are suffering enough from the grief. It is not their fault! I am the one who failed; please, the punishment should be mine!" The moth is still fluttering at my side, in the shelter of my wing, but the wind is fierce enough to nearly tear me from the ice into the storm. The poor moth cannot withstand the force; it's pulled away into the storm, disappearing as instantly as my voice. Another creature whose death is on my claws. But. A beam of light pierces the clouds, lighting up the ground at my feet. It coalesces into a solid form, an oval, an egg? It's glowing too brightly to see, and then it's crackling ice-blue lighting and shattering, and I'm blinking spots of darkness out of my eyes before I can see what's been left behind: A child. A hatchling only moments old, with eyes shining red as the storm clears. A gift from the Eleven? From the Plaguebringer herself? The little girl blinks at me, fluttering her wings weakly in the remnants of the storm's ravages. Death and life are inextricably entwined. I cannot let Soup's death stop me from tending to the life of our little kingdom, to the lives of every citizen within it. Including this child, this gift, Layek. 'Lead with pride'? I'm not sure I can, Soup. But for your sake, and Layek's, and everyone's, I will do my best. [rule] Material: Roll for your life! d20 result: 16: sacrifice required The Eleven are angry with your kingdom and demand a blood sacrifice. Roll a d4. d4 result: 2: You offer a familiar as a sacrifice. The Eleven decide this is acceptable. A random hatchling appears as thanks. Buy the cheapest hatchling off of the auction house. They are NOT subject to the daily rolls for survival. me: shouldn't have done an extra day yesterday, I wouldn't have lost Soup also me: hmm I think I'll do an extra day today at least it turned out well! Welcome Layek! Officially the rarest dragon in our clan so far, and our very first baby! Ten minutes old when I got her. This second pull of the day wasn't a Crim pull; I asked p to make a note of what they pulled off Pinkerton in case I got Restless and wanted to do more. And I did. so I did. I didn't do three today, ftr; I started Day 4 late yesterday, and didn't finish it before rollover, and then I wanted to post it together with Day 5, today's actual draw. So I did... two and a half. But this one was pretty quick—the rolling and mechanics were done before the Days 4&5 post went up—except the prosewriting which took frankly most of the day. I cannot do two days' worth tomorrow. I am not allowed. I have to do other things!! [sub]but i really wanna know what happens nexttttt[/sub]

[b]Day 7[/b] (Jan 5) [item=Seeker Brooch] Big Royal Meeting today. Frostwing offering to step down. A leader doesn't walk away from the pack when things get tough. He looks at me real hard for a minute. Bows his head. Makes a big speech. We're doing this right this time. No one goes out alone. We all learn to fight. We all protect each other. We fish. We forage plants and bugs. ([i]I[/i] don't. But didn't say so.) If we hunt we hunt mice, not fauns. And so on. Everybody listens. Losing Soup scared us all. Frostwing more than anybody. Think he loved that little bug. So that's how we do. Things are quiet. Little girl, Frostwing said she's a gift from the Eleven. She's an odd little thing. Most of the time, a normal kid. Noisy, curious. Sometimes? Goes real quiet. Doesn't hear you talk to her. Shakes it off a minute later. Wants to play tag. Wants to race. Just a normal kid again. Maybe she's listening to the Eleven's voices. Maybe she's a daydreamer. Wouldn't think about it. But there's nothing else going on. Just Frostwing and Chamois. Spend a lot of time together. Mostly fighting. Training. He's doing his best. [rule] Material: Roll for your life! 3: hunting trip! Choose any three dragons in your kingdom and enter a coliseum venue low enough that they won't gain XP. (If you have a Scout in your kingdom, you can enter any venue.) Battle 50 matches. You can switch out dragons in between battles. [list][*]For any familiar, battle stone, and apparel drops, give a random dragon on the team one extra life. [*]If you get special drops (such as an egg, skin/accent chest, or genes), give a random dragon three extra lives.[/list] Fun drops: [item=Scratch] [item=Minor Health Potion] [item=Vista: Training Fields II] Frostwing gains 1 extra life Chamois gains 3 extra lives Chamois lvl5—>lvl6 There aren't any venues at which we won't gain XP so I just took 'em into the training fields. Brought Frostwing, Chamois, and Solarwind. Extra lives extra lives extra lives!!! Four of them!!! I counted the vista even though vistas aren't specifically called out, because it's a rare drop and the rules say [i]such as[/i]. Like, I think it's on a level with a skin/accent chest, in terms of both rarity and my excitement for it. Oh! and Chamois will activate her ability again today to bring Frostwing lvl5—>lvl6. (I'm Not Dead! I'm hoping to post one more backlogged day today but in the meantime this one's finally ready.)

[b]Day 8[/b] (Jan 6) [item=Shadow Serpentskin] "You like Chamois, don't you, Frosty?" Frostwing glares at me. "I am the King," he says, sharp. "I can't afford to pick favorites. She's strong, and skilled; we're lucky to have her here." But his gaze shifts toward her, playing with Layek at the edge of the water. They're gonna mess up Solarwind's fishing stuff if they're not careful. "Mm-hmm." I nod. "I mean, Yes, Your Highness. Or is it supposed to be 'Your Majesty'? I was born in a republic, I don't know these things. What about 'Your'—" "Frostwing will do just fine," he says, as chilly as his magic. "Are you following me on my rounds for any particular reason, Poisonberry?" "Am I?" I pause. "Oh! Yes! Chamois. You like her!" "...didn't we [i]just[/i] have this conversation." "Yes, and you tried to give me the runaround, and then I got distracted. I can't help it! But you do, don't you? You spend almost all your time with her, when you're not patrolling, or touring the lair with Osraed, and you seem to get along. I'm just saying! You could do worse! And I think she likes you, too." "Poisonberry," Frostwing says, slow and icy. "If an Emperor came from the sea and tried to eat you, I would do nothing to stop it." And that's when the Emperor comes from the sea and tries to eat me! Well, it snaps at Frostwing, and he lunges at me and knocks us both out of the way. "Run! Get inside!" he shouts, and takes off running himself. "Chamois! Solarwind! Run!" I don't need to be told twice! I'm the fastest of us, and also the closest to the lair entrance; I make it to safety first, with Solarwind hot on my heels. But the others don't follow us. I start toward the door, and Solarwind stops me with a claw on my side. "Stay inside. You'll be killed." "What if they need help?" If I stay, I'll knot myself up so tight I won't be able to get out of it! So I shake him off and creep toward the entrance. Chamois is fighting it, by herself—mostly dodging, sending blasts of death magic at it now and then, but an Emperor is mostly made of death magic. I can see what she's doing, though: distracting it, keeping it occupied while Frostwing escapes with Layek. He barrels past me, skids to a stop, and collapses on the floor, breathing hard but not visibly injured, and Layek lets go of his mane and climbs down, shaking out her wings. Chamois is out there by herself now, and I turn to go out and join her—I'm quick, and brightly colored but small, I'd be better suited for the distraction! But Chamois, one thing about Chamois is she can take a starring hit. She takes a bad one, one that sends her right toward the lair entrance, and the Emperor stalking behind her to inspect its prey, bleeding ichor from a long gash in its side. How many heads did it have? I can't bother remembering; I'm shouting to the others to get down, to get further in, and I fly to her and twist myself around her. I can't [i]carry[/i] her, she's four times my length and maybe a thousand times my weight, but I give her enough support that she can limp inside; and Frostwing is there with us, too, dragging her in. The Emperor is still scrabbling at the lair entrance, so it looks like we'll be stuck deep, deep inside till it gets bored and wanders off. Chamois is badly hurt. It's... bad. I even quit pestering Frostwing about her, even though he's at her nestside every day, changing bandages and urging potions on her—potions we don't have many of—and making sure she eats, which. If we can't leave. We have what we have, and that's it. [rule] [b]Material: Roll for your life![/b] d20 result: 14: emperor stampede Your kingdom is rampaged by a giant emperor dragon! Roll a d10 for every dragon in your kingdom, including hatchlings. On a 4, the dragon was killed in the carnage. Exalt, or lose a life. Frostwing d10 result: 10 Poisonberry d10 result: 9 Chamois d10 result: 4, loses 1 life Solarwind d10 result: 9 Layek d10 result: 2 Chamois Teacher ability: Frostwing lvl6—>lvl7 and because she was with him, Chamois also lvl6—>lvl7 (and lost a life for dying) (the rules stated, and I don't remember if I changed this in the text or not, that the teacher [i]does not[/i] accompany their student(s) into the coli. but the rules also assumed that you had high-level non-kingdom dragons that could quickly and easily level a low-level dragon, and I don't, I only have kingdom dragons. also lorewise it doesn't make sense that a teacher wouldn't be with their student while they're teaching. but while she gains the benefit of the battles, she's also exposed to the risk, so I feel like it's fair.) Fun drops: [item=Blushing Pink Rose][item=Bluefin Charger][item=Meditate] ...I also forgot that the teacher is only supposed to train the Royal if there's no one lower leveled than the Royal? We'll call that, uh, for lore reasons, and I'll start doing it right from now on. (Why is she teaching him when everyone is trapped inside the lair and she's grievously injured? ...they're doing textbook learning for now. it's fine, go with it.)

[b]Day 9[/b] (p's draw Jan 6) [item=Snowy Owlynx] "Um, Sham?" I blink one eye open. "Poisonberry." It's sweet of him to visit me, but I am so tired, and he is... well, tiring. "I, um. The Emperor's gone. Do you, um—you were fighting it for a good minute or so. Do you happen to remember how many heads it had?" "Three. Used to be four, but I cut one off. Why?" "Well..." I can tell he doesn't want to say what he's about to say. "The head you cut off was actually... an entire Imperial dragon? And he's, um, joining the Kingdom?" I stare at him. "What." "Yeah." Poisonberry swallows. "Yeah, um, I just wanted you to know. So you weren't. Taken by surprise. His name's eurig and he's a little confused but not hostile, and um, very strong? Very strong and very big and, and once he got that ichor washed off him he's actually, like, really beautiful, and—" "An Imperial dragon that became part of an Emperor is [i]separated[/i] and [i]alive[/i]?" "And a citizen of our kingdom," Poisonberry agrees. "Pretty starring wild, huh? Solarwind and I went out to see what the damage was, and make sure the Emperor had actually left, and it had—we don't know where it went, but it's not around here anymore—and we found eurig just, lying out on the ice, asking for help. Solarwind gave him some fresh water—it's real handy having a Water dragon around here in the sea—and I went to find Frostwing and Frostwing came and met him and... he's one of us now." I suppress my limp as we approach the Empe—the Imperial. He's sparkling in the sun, like he's made of raw crystal sunshine, and he's enormous; twice as big as me, at least. But he bows his head as I approach, and says, "I apologize for the trouble I—we—I—well. For the trouble. For your wounds." And stars if he doesn't seem sincere. Even Frostwing, ever cautious, seems to trust him. I tell him, "Supplies are low. We've been trapped indoors for several days. Come help us replenish our stock." There's nothing like fighting alongside a dragon to learn if they can be trusted. It's a routine hunting trip. We're all adept enough now that the mice and hummingbirds of the meadows pose no threat. Poisonberry stalks mice through the grass, chases moths among the flowers. eurig and I focus on gathering edible plants that can be more easily dried and preserved; it's hardly a full diet but it will sustain us in lean times. Between us we collect a bounty, and Poisonberry is laughing and flirting with eurig as we carry our spoils home and put them away in the storerooms. I cannot find a way to blame eurig for his death. It was just random, unpredictable, one of those one in a million events you hear of in distant tales. One moment he was talking about an ant colony that could provide a supply of fresh insects to the kingdom; the next he was writhing on the ground; and the next, he was still, a thin trickle of blood leaking from one ear. A fatal brain bleed. Sometimes they just happen. It's not fair. We laid him to rest with Soup, out in the northern sea. Now we just have to learn to live with this: that no matter how careful or prepared we are, the specter of sudden unavoidable death is always looming. [rule] Familiars = New friend! Buy the cheapest level 1 dragon in the auction house of a specific breed. Roll a D20 to determine which breed you will get. [s]d20 result: 3 (Mirror)[/s] I wanted an imp for the Gross Lore and girlofSornieth kindly sent me one, welcome eurig! Because he's already level 5, he gets a job immediately. eurig job result: 9: matchmaker Up to once a week, the Matchmaker allows you to “match” dragons and create a permanent pair. Once a pair is permanent, they can breed at any time, but they cannot breed with any other dragons unless their spouse dies. On a spouse's death, roll a d6. On a 4, the pair had formed a Bond. Exalt both, regardless of extra lives. Chamois teacher ability: PB + eurig lvl5—>lvl6 I've STILL been doing it wrong, I forgot that the teacher ability operates under quest rules! So I'll be doing THAT right from now on, too. Fun drops: [item=Minor Health Potion] Chamois death roll: 19 Poisonberry death roll: 4 eurig death roll: 15 ...man I fucking hate quest rules. BYE PB IT WAS GOOD KNOWING YOU

oops and I forgot to self-censor. well now you know why I say stars/starring instead of swearing! it's cause when you swear it turns to stars. I DESERVE TO SWEAR THOUGH WHAT A POINTLESS DEATH

[b]Day 10[/b] (Jan 7) [item=Blacksand Barnacles] i don't remember much from before. i don't remember what war we were fighting, let alone what side i was on. what was i fighting for? what did i die for? i probably won't ever know. stars know how long i was caught in—part of—that abomination. how many mindless atrocities i helped commit. i cannot dwell on what i can neither learn nor atone for; i must move forward. this home is good. small, and in a difficult position, and beset upon from all sides by threats and dangers. but they are good people who love each other, who would give help to what by all rights ought to be a corpse. it would have been wise and just to execute me where i lay, weakened and confused. instead they gave me fresh water, and fed me, and offered me a place in their kingdom. i have been contemplating how i might add value to this community, what i might have to contribute. i have spent time exploring the space. the library is Solarwind's domain but he allows me to spend time there. through it there is another room. gleaming clean white. beakers and burners and glassware. all large enough for me to work in comfort. to work on what? Frostwing enters while i am investigating the room. Osraed flutters onto one of the tables, pecking at its surface. "When did the lab open up...?" Frostwing answers before i can. "The last time I saw it, it was still blocked off. Frozen, I think. eurig, did you melt the ice?" "i merely walked through the door," i answer. "have you come to banish me?" he blinks. "Why would I do that?" the answer seems self-evident; it takes a moment for me to formulate it into words. "i may be cursed. i may have inadvertently caused Poisonberry's death. i attacked your clan unprovoked—" Frostwing flares a wing dismissively. "Chamois is confident that you didn't. I trust her judgement. As for the Emperor attack, that wasn't you. You can't be blamed for that. I was just looking for Solarwind in the library and got curious that the door was open. A lot of the ancient lair is closed off, you know." "ancient lair?" "Once there was a great and mighty kingdom here," Osraed says. "The rulers were just and kind, and the kingdom was peaceful and prosperous, until calamity struck. Snowdrop and Poppy have been sealed away, and I was cursed to take this form, and the lair was sealed off. It only opened when Frostwing and his companions arrived." at the mention of companions Frostwing ducks his head. "Much of the lair is still sealed away, behind thick layers of ice or stone, or magical barriers. Including this laboratory, until today." "Until you came," Frostwing says thoughtfully. "Maybe you're meant to do something here, eurig." it seems as reasonable an explanation as any. why else would i continue to live after death? [rule] 11: I quit! Choose a dragon at random. That dragon hates their job and quits! Roll for a new career. (The Royal is exempt from this.) If you have a Guidance Counselor, you have the option of trying to convince the dragon to stay in their old job. Flip a coin; on heads, the Counselor was successful. Random dragon selected: eurig New job roll: 16: arcane scholar The Arcane Scholar has found the secret to eternal life! Every day, choose a random dragon and flip a coin. [list][*]Heads: The dragon drinks the Arcane Scholar's elixir and is strengthened with new vitality. They gain an extra life. [*]Tails: The dragon drinks the elixir, but the elixir doesn't work. Now roll a d12. On a 4, the dragon suffers an adverse reaction to the potion and dies (or loses a life). [/list] You must roll a d20 for the Arcane Scholar each day. On a 4, they manage to cause an explosion. Roll a d4 to see what happens. [list][*]1: The explosion was mostly smoke and a big bang. Nobody is injured. [*]2: The Arcane Scholar blows up their entire laboratory. Roll a d12 for every dragon in your clan. On a 4, the dragon is caught in the explosion and is exalted or loses a life. [*]3: The Arcane Scholar causes a MASSIVE explosion that takes out a huge chunk of the kingdom. Roll a d6 for every dragon in your kingdom. On a 4, the dragon is exalted or loses a life. [*]4. The Arcane Scholar blows themself up. Exalt, or lose a life. [/list] OH GREAT. Well I'm decreeing that no rolls are made today, because he's still getting his lab set up. ...but tbh lorewise this is a great job for him, and if we can stop STARRING rolling fours it might be nice to start gaining more extra lives. Chamois teacher ability: Solarwind lvl5—>lvl6, eurig lvl6—>lvl7 Fun drops: [item=Zephyr Might Fragment][item=Minor Health Potion] Chamois death roll: 1 Solarwind death roll: 16 eurig death roll: 2 WHEW of course we get the wind might fragment the day after Poisonberry, our windy boy, starring DIES