Quests & Challenges

Doing a [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3102226/1]kingdomlocke[/url], read the rules there. Only modifications are that I'm doing it as and when I feel like it and the royal will gain a crown matching their element to easily mark them. Let's see if I can keep up with this one. Lore will be emergent over time, low effort at first. ----------- [center][b]Round 1, Founders:[/b][/center] [columns][center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/59682383][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/596824/59682383p.png[/img][/url][/center] Saffron (Royal) Founding a kingdom to escape the heartache of his wife of many years leaving him. Any kindness and mercy has been excised from him.[nextcol][emoji=gem size=1][nextcol][center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61584100][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/615842/61584100p.png[/img][/url][/center] Helixa, an ambitious young dragon wanting to get in on the floor of something greater[nextcol][emoji=gem size=1][nextcol][center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/86349083][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/863491/86349083p.png[/img][/url][/center] Alpheratz, a cousin of Saffron, who joined him under the guise of helping him but wants to take the kingdom once it's been established.[/columns] --------

[center][b]Day 1:[/b][/center] [center][item=Rotting Leather][/center] [center][b]Material:[/b] Roll for a challenge![/center] [b]11. I quit.[/b] Choose a dragon at random. That dragon hates their job and quits! They roll for a new career. The Royal is exempt from this. Rolled Helixa but nobody has a job yet. ------------ "I'm tired. I quit," Helixa griped. "You don't even have a job yet," Saffron snapped. "You wanna just go home?" "No," Helixa huffed, "but if this was a job, I'd quit." Alpheratz tittered as she dug at the rude little burrow that marked their 'kingdom.' "Soft little girl, aren't we? Says something about your taste in women, Saff. First June, and now--" Alpheratz got a knife held to her throat for her trouble.

[center][b]Day 2: (Crim roll)[/b] [item=Musk Scrapper] [b]Food:[/b] Coliseum time! [b]Meat:[/b] 40-50 matches[/center] You must select coliseum challengers in your lair using a random number generator.(If a knight is in your kingdom then any dragons can be selected) Then, select the coliseum arena that corresponds to the lowest level dragon of that group. (If a scout is in your lair then any venue can be selected.) If your dragons level up while in an area, you can still stay there for the whole day. You can quit your battle streak at any time to regain health, and flee from battles if it is appropriate. (Went [b]50[/b] rounds; I'll never have XP this easy again. Warrior's Way and the double XP is so clutch.) ----------- None of the three had any experience in combat, but they needed to eat, and in the Southern Icefield it was all too easy to lose calories just keeping warm. The festivities of the Warrior's Way allowed them to learn much more from all the experienced battlers than they would be able to through trial and error on their own. Alpheratz decided to hone her magic. Having a way to weaken their enemies would be useful, and according to her, "Someone with a little intelligence should do it." They were careful, always, but close calls were inevitable with such an inexperienced troupe. A beautiful horse covered in immaculate burnished armor followed the trio home, whether impressed by them or just friendly, it was impossible to tell. It was too small for an Imperial to ride but would have looked lovely in a garden. [center][center][item=courageous warhorse][/center][/center] "Shame we don't have a familiar-keeper," muttered Alpheratz. "Shame we don't have a building to keep him in, or enough food to feed him," agreed Helixa. "Shame we're so hungry," remarked Saffron. The three stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Helixa grabbed Saffron's trusty knife, and did what they all knew had to be done. Alpheratz collected the beast's blood in a bowl. Feeding three hungry Imperial mouths, nothing could go to waste. A bonding experience in rough survival. On the other hand, the large meal did them good, and gave them enough energy to learn useful skills from the more experienced dragons around them. Saffron learned better tactics for leadership, Helixa decided to learn how to scout, and Alpheratz wanted to learn to grow plants. The loss of the horse hit her harder than she wanted to admit. --------- Roll 1d20 when a dragon reaches level 5 to get them a career. [b]Saffron:[/b] Already the [b]Royal[/b] [b]Helixa:[/b] 10. [b]Scout[/b] - [i]What is that over there?![/i] lets you choose what area in the coliseum you battle in. Scouts cannot choose areas for DEATH STREAKS. [b]Alpheratz:[/b] 13. [b]Gardener[/b] - [i]Nature holds the key.[/i] If you have a gardener and a doctor in your kingdom, you’ve discovered good plants that can act as medicine and can cultivate it! During plague events, any dragon who rolls a 1 can flip a coin. On heads, the medicine saves them and they are cured of the plague!

[center][b]Day 3:[/b] [item=seeker orb] [b]Material:[/b] Roll for a challenge![/center] [b]18. Royal Quest time![/b] Pick your Royal and then two dragons at random. They have to go on a quest now. Raise them a level. Roll a 10-sided die for each. If it’s a 1, They lose a life or they’re exalted as they were lost in the mission. If your Royal is exalted, choose a new royal from the remaining Coli party. During Quests, dragons are invincible and cannot die in coli. Saffron: 8 Helixa: 7 Alpheratz: 3 ------------ Digging out a protected nesting area was a team effort that exhausted all three dragons, but it was well worth the effort to help protect the hatchlings they'd have in the future. There was always the possibility of a cave-in, as there were no ridgebacks or sandsurges in the group, but luckily nobody got hurt. A few finishing touches, and Saffron and Helixa would be able to nest soon.

@Casmira Hey, thank you! Glad you like! :D

[center][b]Day 4 (Crim pull):[/b] [item=Demise of the Big Game Hunter] [b]Trinket:[/b] Roll for a challenge![/center] 16. [b]The Sacrifice[/b] The 11 are angry with your kingdom and demand a blood sacrifice. Roll 1d4 for an event. 2. [b]You offer a familiar sacrifice.[/b] The 11 decide it is merely acceptable. A random hatchling appears as thanks. Buy the cheapest hatchling off of the auction house. [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/88263284][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/882633/88263284p.png[/img][/url][/center] [size=2]Welcome, Aloft! An extremely energetic Skydancer from a surprisingly isolated Wind flight kingdom, he is abjectly unwilling to go back and excited to the core to live life on the frontier. We'll see how long that enthusiasm lasts.[/size] --------- Alpheratz's smug self-assurance hadn't dropped since the three started this venture, not even for a moment. But the golden imperial's head hung low in her garden, her wings clamped tightly in anticipation of... something. "Trouble?" Helixa asked. She appeared out of seemingly nowhere, making Alpheratz jump. Helixa couldn't help her own smug smile. "The Eleven are restless," Alpheratz replied. Helixa looked skeptical. "How do you know?" "I just do, okay? The Gods are the essence of magic. I can feel it when I cast." Alpheratz shivered as the frozen wind picked up. "We need... when one founds a kingdom, it's traditional to offer a blood sacrifice. Evidently, Saffron didn't. They're... perturbed." Helixa shuddered. "Well... what do we do about it? I suppose better late than never?" "Better late than never," Alpheratz agreed. "Let's get Saff and see what we can scrounge up." They couldn't manage to get something warm-- a dragon was best, but there were only the three of them, and they couldn't afford to spare anyone so early. They weren't strong enough to ambush a centaur or longneck herd yet... but the dryads were weakened by the incessant cold of the Southern Icefield. Three dryads' viscera spilled across the altar, one for each of them. Three heart-trees burned behind, releasing their souls as ambrosia for the gods to consume. It wasn't much. It wasn't [i]good[/i]. But the sacrifice was [i]adequate[/i]. Some time later, though not much, the trio returned to find an extremely skinny hatchling nibbling at the dregs of their offering. Skydancers didn't digest meat well, as a general rule. This one was probably starving. Judging by his bright green eyes, though, this one had been blown extremely far off course. He could not have made it this far South on his own. The cold alone would have killed him. [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/88263284][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=74&bodygene=1&breed=13&element=3&eyetype=1&gender=0&tert=2&tertgene=7&winggene=1&wings=3&auth=ac57fc380c1a754cccb0cbd5f24855edc5bfecac&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center] Saffron picked him up in one meaty claw. The hatchling immediately started struggling, pecking and biting any bit of flesh he could get his beak on. "Hey. Hey. Calm down. HEY. If we were gonna kill you, we would have already," Saffron snapped. "What are you doing here? [i]Where are your parents?"[/i] The skydancer chick shook like a leaf, but the question was... normal. Angry Adult was normal. "I... I... [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/13827560]Mama[/url] told me to get back to the caverns... but I didn't listen... I can't go back! I just can't! If I go back, [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/17973584]Sain[/url]'s gonna climb outta the Empty an' kill my mama! I know 'cause... 'cause [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/38901999]somethin[/url]'.... was talkin' to me... an'... an' it didn't feel like killin'... but it wanted a game... and..." Saffron rolled his eyes. "What in the deepest mushroom-filled caverns of the Shadowbinder's great cloaca is a [i]Sain?[/i]" Helixa shrugged. "Might be a regional term for the Shade? You think he's cursed?" Alpheratz shook her head. "No. Quite the opposite. The Windsinger seems to have thrown us a bone. Or, rather, a bag of bones." Saffron scowled down at the hatchling in his hand, who had redoubled his efforts to escape. "We can't take care of a [i]child."[/i] "We [i]also[/i] can't refuse a gift from the Eleven," Alpheratz told him pointedly. "You there. Boy. What's your name?" "Aloft, ma'am!" the chick answered immediately. "Aloft, then. You said you can't go back, and you can't survive out here on your own. But if you want to stay here, you have to be [i]useful,[/i] do you understand?" Aloft started wiggling again. "Oh yes ma'am! I'll be the most useful you've ever seen, don't you worry!" Eager to please, in the manner of most adolescent boys everywhere. Saffron snorted. "Well." He dropped the tiny skydancer, who squawked and glided to the ground. "At least his flight feathers have already grown in." "Oh yes sir they have! I'm a real good flier! I can ride the wind like nobody you ever saw!" Helixa herded the tiny ball of energy over to their food stores, and in the process got a university-level lecture on the culture and religion of his previous Clan. Apparently, he came from a place called the Empire of Talakot, which worshipped a sort of sun deity named [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/19054271]Rashka[/url] and a deity of void named Sain. Helixa barely paid attention. Small local religions popped up all the time, and whether or not it was true, Aloft seemed eager to learn about the Eleven. "Bother Alpheratz about it. I'm busy."

[center][b]Day 5:[/b] [item=Murkbottom Kelp] [b]Food:[/b] Coliseum time! [b]Plants:[/b] 10-20 matches ([b]20[/b] matches done; can't pass up that sweet WW XP)[/center] [center]Hatchling roll (Aloft): [b]2![/b] The boy survives![/center] ----------- "We have to hunt and gather materials. You will stay here making no noise and pretending you do not have a mouth," Saffron snapped to Aloft. "Oh! But Mr. Saffron, Sir, I can be an asset! Honest I can! I can come along with you guys and--" Saffron grabbed Aloft's head in one massive claw. "This is not the Windswept Plateau, boy. Everything is hungry here. Everything. If you die due to your own stupidity, you could impact our food stores, killing all of us with you. I should leave you to die of exposure for your insolence." Aloft stopped struggling. As soon as Saffron let him go, his entire body flattened in deference to the older male. For once, he opted to listen. The hunt went well, if uneventfully. When the trio returned, Aloft started chattering again, [i]thrilled[/i] to see his new friends and Clanmates. He cut himself off midway, grinning ear to ear at something that had chosen to follow behind the party. [center][item=trumpet porcupine][/center] "Rashka's Grace, [i]what is that?!"[/i] the young Skydancer asked. He bounded over and scratched under the creature's chin, beaming at how friendly it was. "You're so pretty! Who are you? You should come live with us! I'll keep you in my den and we'll be best friends and go on adventures and..." It took Aloft a solid minute of chattering to notice Helixa kneeling next to him, waiting for the boy to acknowledge her presence. "Little one, we have no familiar-keeper. And there isn't enough food to go around." Her voice was superficially gentle, but the young chick could sense the steely inevitability underneath. "But... he's so friendly! He's not hurting anyone! Maybe he could find his own food! And act as a lookout for us!" Helixa didn't, quite, glare. But he could feel her wanting to. Losing patience. "Little one. We have no familiar-keeper. And there [i]is not[/i] enough food to go around." Aloft felt a dagger, much like Saffron's (but smaller), pressed into his claws. Helixa slid a small bowl under the porcupine's forelegs. The creature snuffled around eagerly looking for food. The young skydancer stared down at the knife with dawning realization and horror. "Wh... why do I gotta?" "Because," replied Helixa, "life out here will require you to take a life sooner or later. Better to learn now so that you know how when the time comes you [i]need[/i] to. Unless... you'd rather go back?" Aloft swallowed and gripped the knife white-knuckle tight. Sain would take his mother, kill her, crush her soul into nothingness, if he went back. He couldn't go back. "There you go. See this spot here, on the neck? Cut quickly, with a sharp blade, and he'll scarcely know what happened." --- The boy got the lion's share of the porcupine once Alpheratz finished cleaning and cooking it, but he had no appetite. His antennae flattened to his head, and tremors wracked his tiny frame. Saffron, despite himself, sat close by. "The first one is never easy," he remarked, by way of... sympathy? Conversation? Aloft's hunger overcame his disgust. He picked at the meat. "Helixa [i]lied,[/i]" he finally spat. Saffron tilted his head. "Pardon?" "Helixa [i]lied[/i]. She said he wouldn't feel it if I cut quick. That he wouldn't even know. But [i]he knew the whole time[/i] it was happening. He was so scared... and he thought I was his friend." Aloft's glare was positively venomous. "Ah." Saffron settled in his spot, starting in on his own meal of fish. "You're a skydancer. All this time I've been thinking of you as a spiral, as much as you talk." Aloft's claws went for his little knife. Saffron chuckled. "Put that away, boy. You don't mean it." Aloft's claws balled into a fist. Saffron was right. "You know... I was born in Shadow territory, but I spent much time in the Scarred Wasteland as a boy. When we made our first kill, we were given a knife to mark our passage into adulthood. We gave thanks to the Plaguebringer for giving us the ability to take life to sustain our own. That knife is yours now. Would you like to join me in giving thanks to the Plaguebringer for giving you strength enough for a hard land?" The quick prayer, and small ceremony, seemed to give the young chick some of his strength back. He was able to eat more, then eventually go to bed long before the adults. It had been an exhausting day. As soon as Saffron returned to the fire and Aloft was sound asleep, Alpheratz shot Saffron a dung-eating grin. "...didn't know you were such a devoted Plague-priest, Saff. How long did you spend in the Scarred Wasteland again?" Saffron shot a grin right back. "Never been. Heard it sucks."

[center][b]Day 6:[/b] [item=maple leaf] [b]Food:[/b] Coliseum time! [b]Plants:[/b] 10-20 matches (10 matches done in the Woodland Path due to Helixa's Scout job; 10 very careful matches in the Scorched Forest once Alpheratz learned Aid for the WW XP) Saffron and Helixa nested! Hatchling roll (Aloft): [b]5![/b] The boy survives![/center] ---------- The boy's sullen silence set the tone for the morning: leaden-grey and drizzling. "We need more supplies for your room. You will sit here and pretend you do not have a mouth," Saffron told him again. Aloft just grunted this time. While he and Helixa had been focusing on their new arrival, Alpheratz had been studying during the downtime. She hadn't quite gotten there yet, but Alpheratz promised "something big" when the three of them got out into the wilderness. Helixa just trotted off ahead and sniffed the air. "Wildfire up ahead. Smells like scentaur activity. Let's stay clear for now. Centaurs suck." But around noon, Saffron took a pretty nasty hit from a dryad, then felt his wounds knitting back together. His cousin shot him a smug, self-satisfied smile. "Well, if you can do that... maybe we can ambush the centaurs." There were a few close calls. Fighting in a burned-out forest with tough enemies wasn't fun, by any means. Alpheratz's new healing abilities made it survivable, though, if they were careful. The adrenaline must have caused some sort of change in their new king, though, because after dinner he and Helixa were acting a bit more playfully than usual. Alpheratz shooed Aloft over to her garden, teaching him which berries were poisonous and which were good to eat. "Hey, Alph... why are you being so nice to me today?" the boy asked. "Because there needs to be new babies for our kingdom to grow. And your breed is given to magic. If I am to have some tolerable company around here, it only makes sense that I take an apprentice and teach him how to [i]think[/i]." For the first time since arriving, Aloft sensed a bit of affection, and glommed on just as hard as he could. "...thank you. I'll make you proud."

[center][b]Day 7:[/b] [item=seeker orb] [b]Material:[/b] Roll for a challenge! 15. [b]Royal’s Illness[/b]. 2. [b]Your royal is inflicted with madness![/b] Choose a random dragon and flip a coin. On heads, the royal kills them. Flip an additional coin to see if the royal is cured of madness. On heads, you target another random dragon. Any tails mean your Royal snaps out of the madness. 4. [b]Aloft[/b] is the target. [b]Tails;[/b] The boy survives, and Saffron snaps out of it![/center] ------------ (Burnout today; will write the aftermath next post. Gist of it is that Saffron got bit by a tick carrying a Madness Virus TM, went nuts, Aloft is a teenager and used his agility to get away, Aloft got closer to his mentor Alpheratz, Helixa got angry defending their nest, and it was all a disaster. They know about the madness tick and Alpheratz blasted it off him with her magic. She makes some snide comment about his brain being soft. Aloft hides behind her. Helixa suspects a plot by Alpheratz to take the throne but can't prove it)