Quests & Challenges

[center][size=4][b]Day Fifteen[/b][/size][/center] “Alright, I think that’s the last branch that needed to be put in place,” Treasure stepped back away from the now finished room, admiring it. Their home was what the group called finished now, a humble little home with a main room with four side rooms, one for each dragon, with Spore and Margaret sharing a room after Melancholy’s passing. The main room encompassed a majority of the structure, with a decent-sized pit for their evening fires. The room that was initially going to be a nursery for any eggs that the group found had been refashioned into Splash’s room, complete with extra growing room for the Guardian. From what Margaret had told the gold dragon, the breed was one of the largest known on Sornieth (which Treasure now understood as the name of the world), and it wasn’t likely that Splash would be on the smaller end of the breed. The area around the group had now been stripped of trees as well due to this project, and Margaret had begun tasking Spore and Onyx with removing some of the undergrowth so they could eventually expand the house further. The Longneck also stated that it would be nice to eventually be able to add other rooms on as well, such as a ‘vault’ room of some kind for all of Treasure’s, well, treasures, and the planned nursery, but for the time being, this was enough. It was small, and it wasn’t the best structure to ever be built, but it would keep everyone relatively dry, and was sturdy enough to survive most storms that came through the area. “So, what now?” Onyx asked, looking over his home with joy in his eyes. Margaret thought for a moment before responding, “I reckon ya guys should try and set up a territory for yourself.” Treasure shot her a confused look, “Territory?” “Well, ya got yourself a home now, but no one else around ya knows that,” She sighed as the confused looks didn’t disappear, and she knew she was in for giving the group a lecture. She found the boulder she normally would rest on, beckoning the others to sit around her, “This is going to take a bit of explainin, so I hope you’re ready.” “I’m not too familiar with the customs of dragons, even with how many years I have on my belt, but there are a few things I’ve picked up on from my tribe’s experiences. First, it’s that new groups of dragons can sprout up at any time, and as such, it’s important for those nearby to know as well. Much like with groups of my kind, it’s polite to let any other tribes know you’ve made a home in the area so you don’t trespass on their grounds.” Spore interrupted, “But how do you know we haven’t done that already?” Margaret smiled, “Nothin passes your gaze, huh? Well, we would’ve been attacked and driven out by now if there was a larger group of dragons in the area, and from what I’ve seen, some of my kind frequents the area. This either means there isn’t a set group of your kind around here, or we’re on the outskirts of the territory of one, where they don’t bother to check very often.” “So, how do you suspect we let them know we’re here?” Treasure inquired this time, a concerned look on his face, “I doubt we can just walk up to a clan and ask if we can claim some of the area as our own.” “This is something I’m not fully certain of,” Margaret paused, tapping her staff on the earth beneath her as she became lost in thought. After a few moments of silence from the Longneck and muttering amongst the dragons, she finally gave a response, “I believe there should be a communal area where dragons meet up, like a market of some kind. There might be a dragon there willing to help you, but it’s all I’ve got.” “When should we leave to find such a place?” the Nocturne in the group asked, excitement in his voice as he thought about travelling. “I would start as soon as possible, but with Splash here now…” The Guardian perked up at the sound of his name, squeaking happily before bounding towards the Longneck, only to be stopped by Treasure. She thanked the Skydancer before continuing, “Due to our new member, I wouldn’t feel safe with ya guys gone from here.” “I can go alone,” Treasure offered, “I’ll go along the shoreline, since I can find my way back to here in that direction.” “But ya also can’t fly,” Margaret pointed to the gold dragon’s small wings with her staff, “If there was one thing your ‘parents’ made sure you couldn’t do, it was that. If ya get in trouble, you’ll have to run to safety.” “So what do we do then?” “I’d say we wait until the Guardian’s a little older. After that, feel free to search with Onyx or Spore for someone to help us,” something crossed the Longneck’s mind suddenly, “I’ve got an idea for tomorrow.” “Well, what is it?” Treasure inquired. “Like I said, tomorrow. Give me time to think,” she didn’t say anything more than that regarding her idea, “In the meantime, I’d like for the three of ya to continue ridding the area of the underbrush and dead leaves. That should keep you busy until this evening.” There were grumbles among the dragons before Onyx gave way to excited chatter about what would happen in the morning. Treasure was more than excited as well. For once, everything was beginning to look up for the group, and he felt like he had finally found a place he could properly call home. --------- @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula [item=Black Hainu Collar] Okay, so apparently I just have a couple hours I can be on the Wifi each day, so I'm going to try and use that time to work on this the best I can. In other news, there will be new rules added in my next update, and these are going to be major ones! I won't say anything now, but I'm very excited to finally have gotten to the point where I can add these, as this is going to be the major part of my Pinkerlocke coming into play! This means that tomorrow's update will likely be shorter just so I can go on explaining these rules. Oh, and I got a Fire Egg from the Coli yesterday, so I guess that just means another GenOne for this when I get another Familiar pull. Maybe this time I'll actually hatch a female. I'm tired of all of these boys. Also, when did this become a regular Nuzlocke? Last I checked, I'm supposed to be buying dragons from the AH, not hatching a dragon from an egg every time.

[center][size=4][b]Day Sixteen[/b][/size][/center] Treasure was woken up abruptly by Margaret the following morning. The jabbing from her staff was a bit more forceful than normal, and there was urgency in her voice as she spoke, “Treasure, you need to get up!” “What is it this time?” He grumbled, half-awake. He knew he had something important to do today that involved the idea that she had thought up last night, but the sun was just beginning to rise. Certainly he could sleep a little longer before taking care of whatever she had planned. “I can’t find Splash, and there’s a flock of owlcats in the area.” She paused, jabbing him again, “And before ya ask, I found fresh prints outside. Looks like it rained some last night.” The Skydancer swiftly rose to his feet, shaking the lightheadedness out of his body before responding, “And Splash?” “I found his prints as well. The owlcats seemed to have started followin him, but it’s clear they’re taking caution in their approach. Must’ve stumbled across a Guardian before.” The calmness she briefly shifted back to one of urgency, as she jabbed the gold dragon a couple more times, “Now, hurry up and hunt him down! I’ll get Onyx and Spore up here shortly!” The Skydancer stretched his wings and yawned before starting towards the entrance, “Which way do I need to go?” The Longneck gestured in the direction of the path they took before retreating into Spore’s room, and the Skydancer took off. Lucky for Treasure, he found Splash frolicking in a bunch of standing water before the owlcats did. The Guardian, with what little he could speak, apparently left while it was still raining some, and had stopped to enjoy the puddles he could find. He had enjoyed the activity so much that he didn’t realize he had wandered off completely until Treasure came looking for him. However, the Guardian wasn’t completely out of harm’s way yet, as the Skydancer soon found himself fending off weird creatures he assumed were the owlcats that Margaret had warned him about. They weren’t too harmful to the golden dragon, whose crystalline body protected him from most of the damage. What they were though, was persistent, and they didn’t stop attacking him and the finned dragon until they reached their home, where Spore and Onyx quickly took care of them. Splash quickly received a scolding from Margaret, but his time feeling bad as brief. Onyx ordered his Ragepuff with a couple of chirps, and soon the small bird was busy entertaining the blue dragon. With one problem taken care of, the black dragon turned his attention to the Longneck, “So, what did you want us to do today?” She smiled, “Well, I’m glad you asked.” She returned to inside their home, gesturing for everyone else to follow as she found the stump she normally sat on. Once everyone was inside and sitting around the fire pit, she began, “First, I’m going to need Treasure to search for a path that looks like it’s commonly used by dragons.” “And how will I know how to spot a path like that?” the Skydancer inquired, “It’s not like I have too much experience with dragons outside of you guys.” “It’ll be a wide, trodden path, full of footprints and possibly lines like this,” the Longneck drew out two parallel lines, “In case you’re wonderin, these are made by carts. You’ll know what they are when ya see one.” “What do I do once I find one?” “This is where Onyx comes into play,” She motioned to the direction of the Nocturne’s room, “I’d like you to join Treasure. Bring your collection of feathers with ya. I’ve noticed you’ve got quite a natural compass in ya, and when you start workin your way back here, stick the more colorful ones onto trees and parts of the underbrush.” “But why do that?” The bat-like dragon took up a defensive stance, “I’ve spent a long time getting those you know!” “Because I don’t know how long it will take to clear a path between here and that trail. Also, not everyone is as good at finding their way as ya, so they’d need some sort of marker, and that’s the best I’ve got.” “Alright,” the Nocturne grumbled, “So, want us to start now?” “Preferably yes. Spore and I will stay here with Splash while we wait on the two of ya. I expect you to start making that trail as soon as I know you’ve found it.” The two quickly acknowledged the last remark, Onyx rushing inside the home to grab many of his feathers, wrapping them in a bit of cloth before joining the Skydancer. They quickly disappeared into the trees, the Nocturne wasting no time fluttering around the gold dragon and chattering about what they may come across. “I really hope they find a trail,” Spore spoke up from his perch on the house. Margaret slouched, sighing as she watched Splash lay down, exhausted from playing with Burr, “I hope so too.” ----------- @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula [item=Pleco] Me: I'm going to type something short for the Pinkerlocke today. I have to write my really complex rule. Pink: Have a fish and then almost lose Spore in the battles that follow. Luckily, no one actually died, but I hated that I had to write some sort of peril about it. Anyways, nothing to note here other than with the finding of the trail (it's off-screen so I didn't have to type more than I already had), I can finally introduce the main part of my Pinkerlocke! [quote=New Rule!] Okay, this is a bit complex, but this is why the Treasure Pile exists. First off, in order for me to get new permanent dragons, I now need to 'buy' the slot using earnings from the Treasure Pile as a way to show that they are buying the materials. Unlike in-game lair expansions, these don't increase in price over time, but the price does depend on the size of the dragon, stated here. [center][b]Small:[/b] 7,000 treasure [i]Breeds:[/i] Faes, Tundras, Spirals [b]Medium:[/b] 10,000 treasure [i]Breeds:[/i] Pearlcatchers, Skydancers, Mirrors, Wildclaws, Snappers, Bogsneaks, Nocturnes, Coatls [b]Large:[/b] 15,000 treasure [i]Breeds:[/i] Guardians, Imperials, Ridgebacks [/center] Secondly, I can now 'upgrade' the house. These cost a lot more treasure to do, but allow me to expand on the types of rooms the house can have, as well as 'level-up/upgrade' existing rooms. This will also take a specific amount of days, and those days only go down as I actively post. In other words, these upgrades only progress if the story does. Third, as mentioned above, I can now build new rooms for the house. Each room has a list of materials and a cost in treasure that need to be met before it can be built. The materials may or may not make sense, but the materials will have to come from the coliseum (with exceptions, but that's a ways off). These also have a timer for how long it takes to be built, but unlike upgrades to the entire house, these count down even while I'm on hiatus. There's another catch to these rooms though. In order to receive the benefits of the rooms, there has to be a qualifying dragon. For example, a room for alchemy may require that I have a dragon that uses Contuse, comes from the Arcane Flight, or is a Fae. Other requirements my be that the dragon is a certain level or has reached a certain number in a stat, such as requiring a Strength of 40 or higher. These rooms can also be upgraded/leveled up, but there are requirements here too. The house has to be a certain level itself, it'll cost more treasure and more materials, and in order to use the upgraded functions, the qualifying dragon in charge of the room must also be capable of using the new functions added. Should they not meet the new requirements, they can still use lower level functions. The higher level functions will still be available, but unusable until that dragon meets the requirements. Finally, my dragons can only have one 'job' at a time, and can only switch their job once a week. This is so I don't abuse them to gain multiple benefits during a week. [/quote] If you'd like examples, I'll probably be posting current room ideas here soon, and I'd be willing to write out some examples for explanation. Also, feel free to recommend me ideas for rooms. I've only got a couple at the moment, and while I have future rooms planned, I don't quite have cost and materials planned out. This new rule will be added to the first post of the Pinkerlocke, in the additional rules section. Potential rooms and house upgrades will be added to the Pinglist/Tally Post in their own little section. As it will take a while to type out these rooms, don't expect them to immediately appear there.

[center][size=4][b]Day Seventeen[/b][/size][/center] “Look Margaret! I gotta friend!” The Longneck shot an annoyed look in the direction of Splash, only for it to shift to one of mild surprise when she saw that the Guardian had in fact made a friend. It was a strange creature, resembling a large, juvenile frog, and it didn’t seem to struggle as the dragon clumsily carried it under one foreleg. She had never seen anything like it before, but it didn’t appear hostile, so she didn’t immediately shout for the blue dragon to put it down. She relaxed, “Where did ya find such a thing? Also, what did I tell ya about running off without Spore accompanying ya?” He frowned, “But I didn’t go running off without Spore! It’s not my fault he’s so slow!” his gaze shifted back to the strange creature, “The pond isn’t even that far away…” “Pond?” Margaret moved herself from the boulder where she was sitting, “What pond?” “Come on! I’ll show you!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile, Onyx and Treasure were hard at work clearing the path between their home and the trail they had found the previous day. It was incredibly difficult work, and they had only been clearing out the underbrush so far. The two dreaded when it came time to clear the trees, but for the moment, they were making the best out of it. Lucky for them, the trail they had found was already proving beneficial to their progress, and was giving them hope for what was to come. A small cart had wheeled its way down this trail while they were at work, pulled by a breed of dragon Treasure hadn’t seen before with a Tundra walking beside it. Both were various shades of green with equally rich green eyes, and as they passed by the two, they called out to them. The Tundra, after a bit of small talk, offered to take some of the foliage they had removed in exchange for a cloak that they said would look nice on Onyx. The exchange was quickly made, and now the Nocturne proudly wore it while they worked. It wasn’t long until progress reached beyond the sight of the trail, but even with that physical indicator of how much the two had done, it was hardly a dent in clearing it back to their home. Eventually, Treasure called for a break, and the two wandered home to give an update on their work to Margaret. What greeted them was quite a bit of chaos. Splash ran circles around their home, chasing after a strange creature while Burr did his best to stay airborne around the Guardian. Spore was nowhere to be seen, but Margaret stood outside the entrance to their home, speaking into the home while also occasionally attempting to stop Splash. Treasure sprung into action, quickly stopping the Guardian in his tracks. Onyx rushed to the Longneck, and after a few inaudible words were exchanged, he also went inside. Margaret moved from where she stood over to Splash, quickly scolding him before turning her attention to Treasure, “So, how’s progress on the path?” “That’s what’s you’re bothering with? What’s going on inside?” The Skydancer took a glance inside, and, after seeing nothing unusual, returned his attention to the Longneck. “It should be under control now that Onyx is here. Now, how’s the path?” Treasure sighed, “We’re about halfway through with clearing out the underbrush. I take it Onyx told you about the cart that passed by where we got that cloak?” The Longneck nodded, “Sounds like the two of ya ran into pair of Nature merchants.” “How do you know that?” “Simple, the green eyes. Wind dragons have pale green eyes while Nature dragons have a deeper green.” The two were interrupted by Onyx and Spore suddenly rushing out of the house, chasing after something that was covered in fabric. The Nocturne quickly caught up, swiping the cloth to reveal another Guardian, this one red and blue. It froze as the cloth was removed, fear in it’s orange eyes as it discovered it was surrounded by other dragons. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=98625&tab=dragon&did=42158091][img]http://flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=59&bodygene=0&breed=2&element=11&gender=1&tert=39&tertgene=0&winggene=0&wings=149&auth=120dcfec58e65322b20fdc90cfcaab99de87f758&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url] “So, when did you find that?” Treasure glared at the Longneck, “And please don’t tell me you stole it from somewhere.” “Long story short, her name is Ember, and we found her at a pond near our home,” she looked over at Splash for a moment, “he saved her from drownin after she was chased by a Podid.” “Let me guess. You want me and Onyx to take a break from the path to build a room?” “Yep,” she paused briefly, “And let Splash help this time.” -------------- @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula [item=Palefoot Tadhop] Thanks Pink. Right after I implemented my new rules. Well, thankfully, I decided to grind Flatleaves to get Onyx the special apparel from this year's Greenskeeper Gathering, so I had a lot of treasure from selling loot I got from that. Also, FINALLY I have a GIRL for this Pinkerlocke. It means I've actually got a reason to build the Nursery now, and I can actually try to make a couple. Again, I am always open to suggestions for room ideas, so feel free to send ideas for rooms and how many potential upgrades you'd like them to have, if any. For reference, I plan for the house itself to have 10 upgrades, but I'd like no rooms to be based around the final upgrade for plot reasons.

@Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula
Sorry, but there's probably not going to be a written update today. I've had a pretty bad headache for most of today, and because of it, I've been creatively drained. I did do the required battles from my seafood pull today, and I'll either do a dual update or a single update depending on what I get tomorrow.

I will be on raising fodder tonight since it doesn't really require me to think, so feel free to shoot me ideas for rooms. Or, because they're the one thing on my mind today, give me ideas on what would be good ideas for 'rooms' that would grant my dragons the ability to use what I get from my gathering turns. All of them would have three levels (5, 10, and 15 gathering turns used respectively), but the only one that has a name is the "Garden" for Foraging turns, and none of them have the materials I would need to buy/build the rooms planned.

[center][size=4][b]Day Eighteen and Nineteen[/b][/size][/center] Despite his size, Splash was a wonderful aid in building the room for Ember. He could knock over the trees nearly as well as Treasure, who quickly became the one to dig out the tree roots as soon as the Guardian felt confident in being able to do it on his own. Meanwhile, Onyx took up the job of digging foundation holes, and Spore returned to gathering more moss to cover the floor. Most of the trees that were removed came from the direction of the pond, which, after a quick search, proved to be much closer than anyone had suspected. Through the process of gathering the material to build the room, a path was cleared to the body of water, and once that had been done, they moved onto removing trees from the future path that lead back to the trail. Margaret would often spend this time playing with Ember while everyone was busy. The newcomer was much kinder and gentler than the rest of the bunch, and while she still had the energy of a hatchling, she was much more reserved with it. She was more than willing to listen to whatever the Longneck spoke about, and rarely interrupted. She had quickly picked up on a lot of things the rest of the group didn’t know or hadn’t learned yet, but her young age meant that she could only remember the basics of everything. However, much like how everyone else had been so far, the red dragon was fascinated with Treasure’s origin and who, or rather, what he was. While she didn’t bother the Skydancer while he worked, she would admire him from a distance, and more than once, she would join him on breaks. The two would cheerfully chat for almost the entirety of these breaks before the gold dragon would return to his task at hand. That night, after everyone had gathered up for the night around the fire, there was a brief discussion on the progress, before focus suddenly turned to Spore. The Fae had been rubbing his claws the entire night, but no one had spoken up until this moment. When Margaret demanded to see what was bothering the small dragon, he initially refused, but one stern glare later, he showed them to the Longneck. She wasn’t surprised to find them covered in many small cuts, some old and some new. He was rubbing at some of the older, scabbed over injuries, breaking them open and causing them to bleed once again. After a quick scolding, it was revealed that the Fae had been removing thorny vines and loose thorns from the moss for the past few days. He insisted that they weren’t that dangerous and the wounds were nowhere near serious, but Margaret had other ideas. In the light of a now-dying fire, the Longneck took out some cloth from the bag of healing supplies she had come to carry around with her, carefully wrapping it around the Fae’s injured claws. She gave him a wordless stare of concern before retiring to her room, the dragons quickly following suit. The second day of work on the room was much faster, as any missing trees for the foundation and walls were quickly taken care of. The two Guardians spent most of the day swimming in the pond while Margaret looked over them. Onyx, Spore, and Treasure could quickly sort out the materials and start building the large room, connecting it to Splash’s to allow the best overall support to the structure. The day was relatively uneventful while everyone worked, the only thing coming close to dangerous being when Ember disturbed a family of River Flights while swimming closer to the center of the lake. Splash managed to pull the younger Guardian away before the webbed creatures became too hostile. While Spore never said anything about what had happened the night before, his progress with gathering the required moss was much faster than the previous day. By the time night fell, Ember’s room was nearly finished, and the red dragon was quick to lay down and sleep in it, skipping that night’s gathering to enjoy its comfort. It was agreed that the group would continue working on the path the next morning, while Margaret would attempt to teach Ember and Splash how to fish. While the younger of the two was most certainly a dragon of the Fire Element, she didn’t fear the water, nor did she seem physically bothered by it, likely a side-effect of the breed she was. Treasure was always happy to see that the group had a new member, and everyone else seemed to enjoy her company as well. Especially Onyx, the Nocturne showing an intense amount of interest in the Guardian, often handing her the red feathers he would gather from where Ruby Webwings and Webwing Alphas would nest. His reasoning was that they matched wonderfully with her main body color. Everyone was unsure as the fire died down, but while the emotion in the black dragon’s eyes shone clearly with admiration and adoration, they were almost certain the Nocturne was already beginning to fall for the hatchling. ---------------- @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula [item=Sunset Sea Dragon][item=Discipline][item=Black Linen Arm Wraps] Thank goodness I flipped Tails on the Discipline. If it were heads, I would have 100% lost someone because I only had two eligible dragons at the time. Also, we have our first Apparel backlog item! Spore is wearing the Arm Wraps proudly now. I do live, and I apologize for not posting anything yesterday. While I wasn't feeling well the day before, yesterday I got kicked from my Wifi before I could even begin typing. In other news, Splash has now grown up, and I'll begin training him here soon enough. I'd hate for him to die the first time I have mandatory battles. I've also added some new rooms for future use, but they are still missing the items they require, as well as descriptions. I should hopefully fix that soon.

@Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula
Sorry, no update today. Something happened and I'm a bit too shaken to think about writing. I'll hopefully be back to update tomorrow though.

In the meantime, enjoy that I pulled a Weary Focus from the pile today and slapped it on Onyx because he was the only one that didn't look absolutely ridiculous in it. I'll add it to the apparel backlog shortly.

@Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Crassula
I will try to get an update out tonight! I haven’t forgotten about this, I’ve just been busy between irl things and the Anniversary. Here’s hoping I don’t get kicked from my Wifi and can’t post.

@Chloecat194 please update your pinglist from Crassula to this sn, thanks!

[center][size=4][b]Day Twenty[/b][/size][/center] A storm rolled in that afternoon, the group noting the front moving into the area as they scrambled about in preparation as for what was to come. While Treasure and Onyx had spent those hours cleaning up their path to the merchant trail, finally removing the last of the loose leaf litter and moving on to clearing out the bushes and shrubs that grew in the areas left open in the canopy. Most of what they removed had been thrown deeper into the forest as they hadn’t wished to bring it back up to the trail, but what they did bring was gone by the time they went to check on it before the storm. In the torn foliage’s place was a small leather pouch, filled with gold coins and an apologetic note about being sorry that they couldn’t wait on anyone due to the approaching storm. Splash and Spore finished up Ember’s room in the time the other two were at work on the path, finishing the last few structural additions as well as decorative pieces. The younger Guardian immediately entered once it finished, enjoying her own little room briefly before returning to the pond to play some more. Ember was much easier to handle than Splash was, and it seemed to be a much needed relief on Margaret. The Longneck wasn’t spending the past few days chasing around rowdy hatchlings, only making sure the red dragon didn’t wander off or anger any nearby wildlife while she chatted with Ember. When the front was finally overhead, the group sought refuge in their home, picking up a few branches to use as firewood while they would wait out the storm. It wasn’t long until the wind picked up, but despite the rattling of the entire structure, the house stood strong. When the rain began to pour though, water would leak through the roofing, and before long, everyone had repositioned their things away from the leaks. There was next to no chattering as the storm began to pick up, everyone holding their breath through the initial downpour and the crashing thunder from lightning that was too close for their comfort. As the storm finally began to die down, the group lit the fire in the main area, using the gathered branches from earlier combined with a bit of dry bedding from one of the rooms and Ember’s fire magic. There was quiet chattering about the conditions outside, but there was little else said throughout the night. “Sometimes, these things happen,” Margaret said through the other’s complaints about not being able to do anything, “It’s just a natural part of life.” ------------ @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Jaspernoir [item=Weary Focus][item=Red Linen Fabric Scrap][item=Bonepriest Venom] Guess who got kicked off their Wifi with this half-finished, only to forget the second half of what was supposed to be here? My internal anger towards my family aside, I really did have something longer planned for this day, but I just couldn't remember for the life of me today. Hopefully, I won't get kicked off today so I can actually write what I got for today's pull. This should be fun, and I'll be attempting to write things that involve updating at least one dragon's inventory this time around. Also, I forgot weather existed again, which is 80% of the reason why this specific scenario ended up happening. The other 20% is because it was storming all day today where I live.

[center][size=4][b]Day Twenty-One[/b][/size][/center] The task for the group the following morning was cleaning up the mess the storm had left in its wake. While Splash and Treasure worked together in moving fallen trees and large branches, Onyx and Spore removed any foliage and smaller branches that had taken residence on the roof. Meanwhile, Ember and Margaret walked down both paths the group had made, making sure to let them know of trees that had fallen along them. These newly fallen trees, while much harder to prepare due to their unusual positioning, provided a nice start to a new pile of trunks to use for building new rooms. The branches removed also added to the ever-growing pile of firewood, ensuring that it would be a while before the group found themselves without a warm fire to chat around at night. Despite the issues left in the aftermath of the storm, what proved to be the most difficult for the group to handle was the humidity combined with the hot air. The sweltering day was making it hard for anyone except Treasure to work, the dragon construct tirelessly working despite his attire covering most of his body as well as the metal becoming searing-hot to the touch as it was exposed to the sun. It lead to him being the talk of the day, the other dragons admiring him from a distance as they cooled off in the pond. Or rather, he would’ve been the talk of the day if he didn’t return at some point with a look a fear on his face. He looked everyone over before speaking up, “Splash, Margaret, I need you two to come with me. I’ll explain along the way, but I need you both now.” The two quickly got up, following the golden dragon as he darted down the path leading towards the trail. He looked around briefly as the three ran, “I don’t know if any are alive, but I found a nest crushed by one of the trees while I was attempting to remove branches. From what little I could see, they look like whatever breed my ‘father’ was.” The two following the gold dragon exchanged looks of shock before Margaret spoke up, “How close to the trail was this?” “A little over halfway. We’re almost there now.” Sure enough, a couple minutes later, the three stumbled across a fallen tree that had yet to be removed. The Skydancer quickly moved towards the top of the tree, stopping where a small crater in the ground had been dug out to hold eggs. There were no sounds of distress, but there were signs of hatchlings beneath, a thin tail ending in a bundle of fur sticking out from beneath the trunk. “Splash, Treasure, the two of ya need to lift this tree now!” Margaret shouted, looking over the nest for signs of life. Without a word, the two propped themselves under the trunk, Splash placing himself closer to the roots while Treasure prepared to lift the thinner end. The Skydancer started the lift, slightly struggling under the weight, only to be relieved of the pressure as the Guardian was able to play his part. The two soon had lifted it enough for Margaret to look at the hatchlings beneath, but it was hardly the good news the group had wanted. “Oh,” Margaret placed her free hand on her mouth, “Oh no, the poor things…” No one said anything about the corpses. The three, despite their valiant effort, were not ones who should have been the ones to see the broken bodies. Four Pearlcatchers, huddled together for warmth from when the storm was raging, crushed and crumpled from the weight of the tree that had unfortunately fallen upon them. There were heavy, disheartened sighs from the three, Treasure almost immediately looking away from them. However, despite everything before them, Margaret still took a moment to look over each body, searching for any glimmer of life in the hatchlings. This notion paid off though, because as she moved and prodded at each one-by-one, a single female, determined not to face death so young, cried with what strength she could find. She clutched her cracked pearl weakly, her left hind leg shattered and her one horn chipped. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=98625&tab=dragon&did=42374262][img]http://flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=16&bodygene=3&breed=4&element=2&eyetype=1&gender=1&tert=139&tertgene=0&winggene=1&wings=82&auth=c9002b8772fb9b36a518f9d2b7cf1f8a8a07c10e&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url] Treasure and Splash practically threw the hoisted tree away from the nest as the hatchling showed signs of life. The golden dragon aided the Longneck in placing the Pearlcatcher on the Guardian’s back, Margaret quickly joining to help keep the young dragon from falling off as they rushed back. “Hang in there little one,” Margaret rubbed a hand across the young dragon’s back, “You’ve made it this far. Don’t die on us.” ------------ @Kittychat47 @Insectoid @Jaspernoir [item=Ruffletail Tadhop] Yep, I got a new dragon today! I'll be subtracting the required treasure for her room here shortly when I go to update everything. But yep, I'm a horrible person for introducing her this way, but it was all I could think of. Here's hoping I can get back to my regular updates here soon...