Quests & Challenges

[center][b]Day 43[/b][/center] [center][i]Trinket[/i] [item=Balanced Walking Sticks][/center] [rule] [b]Roll. Food day roll: Plant. Loretta, Naal, and Glidra head into Wilderness.[/b] [rule] "We won't be doing this everyday, so please collect enough to keep for a while." Loretta nodded, darting between the trees as she piled large chunks of charcoal into the satchels at her side. Prosperity flew above the trees, flitting over to those that had dropped branches or sections of their trunk onto the ground. Naal hovered nervously above his sister, eyeing the horizon and looking between all the members of the party, occasioning firing off blasts of mana to keep creatures at bay. Loretta could feel the tension floating about him, but Prism had very firmly told her to not ask her brother about the issue. He said he would explain it later, but he too had seemed uneasy speaking about it. She hadn't mentioned it again. She could feel the aura about Props brighten, and she turned her gaze over to the bird, seeing that she had spotted another large fallen branch of charcoal. She grinned, pouncing onto the log and breaking it into the smaller pieces that could be added to a satchel. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a few vibrantly green shoots growing near the base of the tree's trunk. She turned her head up to the sky, where her brother hovered just a few lengths above her, "Naal! What are these?" she questioned, flicking her tail in the direction of the leaves. A series of interesting emotions rose through the cracks of his expression, but she could feel them all clearly. Excitement. Enthusiasm. Joy. Pride. Hurt. Conflict. Resolution. "..That's ginger, Lor. Go ahead and dig it up- the main part is under the ground. Vincente could probably make something great with it." She wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but something about the plant seemed to make her brother happy- his mood had settled away from the stinging, darker emotions and had rested at happiness and nostalgia. Loretta would have to find more of this before they left for the day. She was sure Vincente could be convinced into several meals of it.

[center][b]Day 44[/b][/center] [center][i]Trinket[/i] [item=Duelist Hilt][/center] [rule] [b]Roll. Battle Item roll: Tails. Nothing happens.[/b] [rule] Gonna use this day to give me a little catch-up break; So many trinkets at once, and I can only work on one drawing at a time! Space me out a little, Pinkerton [emoji=ridgeback tongue size=2]

@Gathouria I'd love to be put on the pinglist for this!

Today's posts begin with [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2800082/5#post_42191283]Day 41[/url]. The drawing for Day 40 is still in progress, as I had some... technical difficulties. [rule] [center][b]Day 45[/b][/center] [center][i]Food: Plant[/i] [item=Lucky Star][/center] [rule] [b]Riln, Glidra, and Roen head into Wilderness.[/b] [rule] Her mother hadn't agreed at first, and her son hadn't exactly been.. enthusiastic about the idea, but at his age, he needed to learn to defend himself. The land that they lived in was dangerous. He had to ingrain his abilities now, make it instinct. Icewarden knows it's the only thing that saved Loretta. Though he stuck close to her side, she could see the power behind his magic. He took heavy hits, but with a mere touch he could send foes 15 lengths into the air, plummeting downward. Though he shied away from using his claws, his potential was limitless. Even though cautious, they swept through their enemies after a nerve-wracking period that seemed to span out for far longer than it actually was. She would have to confront mother about that nervous time-slowly tick of hers. There was only so much of the battle stress that she could take. But the Wind showed her true, and she delivered a powerful blow to the owlcat before her. It took her a moment to realize that the enemies in the clearing had all been slain, and Roen was nudging her shoulder with his head, trying to get her attention. "Mom, will I be able to do that, someday?" She smiled down at him. Perhaps he had some fight in him yet. She untangled the wing piece from the owlcat, securing it about his shoulders, "That and more, my son. Just you wait."

@Snowfoot Can do! :)

[center][b]Day 46[/b][/center] [center][i]Food: Insect[/i] [item=Mobile Stick][/center] [rule] [b]Riln, Glidra, and Vincente head into Wilderness[/b] [rule] "But what can we do about the instabilities? The Hollow is safe, protected-" "We go west." Glidra stopped, turning to her daughter, "..the entire clan cannot move west. It is secure here, our supplies are plenty and well-protected, and it has become our home." "And it is my home. Our home." The other Guardian sighed, looking to her mate, "..it won't be forever, or for long. Just until they hatch." She didn't like the idea. Her daughter so far away from her, just herself and her mate, defending a clutch of newborns. But it could be the only chance that they had.

Today's posts begin with [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2800082/6#post_42213388]Day 46[/url]. A new clan-specific rule has been added! In accordance with lore and in order to have a more varied set of elements in the Pinkerlocke dragons, egg survival rate will be increased when the nest is hosted by another element. This nest is being hosted by Ice with @minervamaga! [rule] [center][b]Day 47[/b][/center] [center][i]Apparel[/i] [item=Daisy Flowerfall][/center] [rule] [b]Riln and Vincente have a clutch of 2 healthy eggs.[/b] They journey to more Ice-covered lands. [rule] "It will be a quick journey. The less of us there are, the less likely we are to be noticed." Loretta frowned, but allowed Naal to gently pull her back to him. Vincente exited the lair, checking that the satchels at his sides were secure. "-I've packed enough food to allow us to stay inside the cave Prosperity scouted, so we shouldn't even need to leave. We'll be hidden and safe." He looked to his mate, nodding in resolution. They were ready. Riln approached her mother, who had tucked herself behind the rest of the send-off party, closer to the cavern entrance. The younger Guardian pressed her forehead to her mother's reassuringly, "Thank you, mother. I promise you we'll return safely." Glidra's eyes flickered briefly to the ground before unwaveringly meeting her gaze, "I'm holding you to it, my child. [i]Both[/i] of you will return." Riln smiled, pulling back and giving her mother a last fond look before turning to the rest of the group. Naal may be the emotional one, but rather than saddened, he too felt the determination that she and her mate had taken on. This nest would make it. All of them. "Ready, love?" "Ready as I shall ever be." The Guardian and Tundra took to the skies.

[center][b]Day 48[/b][/center] [center][i]Food: Seafood[/i] [item=Snowflake Eel][/center] [rule] [b]Loretta, Naal, and Roen head into Wilderness.[/b] [rule] Mama and Papa wouldn't be gone long, but the thought still made him uneasy. He was alright- Aunt Lor said the centaurs were gone, and grandma and uncle Naal are really strong. But who would look after mom and dad? He knows they're both really strong, too. Mama's got incredibly strong Wind magic- he's seen her use it!- and she says Papa took down a huge horde of the centaurs on his own. But they left to watch after the eggs. They'll be distracted, and they'll come back tired. He'll just have to get strong enough to protect them when they return. He double-checked that the feathered tassels Mama had given him were securely fastened to his wings one more time. He couldn't lose his good luck charm. --- Loretta could tell that Naal was on edge. Well, she could always tell when anyone was on edge, she supposes. But it was much worse today than when they typically headed into the scorched lands. Though they had wiped out the hostile centaur herds that had once ruled this region, rival tribes had found that there was now land free for the taking. They brought with them their mercenaries, and the fighting had become that much more difficult in the charred terrain. The aura signatures from beastclans were different from that of the deity-blessed dragons', so unfortunately, her magic training would not help her here. It did, however, give her intricate detail on the moods of her party members. While Naal's aura was frayed and staticky, Roen's was a clean mist, fine and soothing, if not a little scattered at the edges. It was only natural to feel a bit of fright in this haunting landscape, after all, but his aura was one that calmed her. He held himself well, and his response to distress was courage. It was all the more noticeable, then, when that mist went dark. She reeled back from the strike on the bonepriest before her, spinning around to the young dragon. His eye were far too wide, and far, far too pale. She shrieked, launching herself at the Wintermane clansman posed for a finishing blow. And in her blind fury, probably drew much, much more blood than had been necessary. But Prism's ethics lessons would take a seat today, because she could not feel him. She could not feel him at all. --- Naal felt as if he had his mother's powers of time in that moment, as he watched the bolt of ice strike through Roen's heart. His senses didn't seem to be working. His mind didn't seem to be processing. He couldn't even tell if he was breathing. And then reality came crashing forward. He let out a deep, bellowing roar, charging forward with his claws ripping up the packed, clay landscape below him, his jaw dripping with raw mana, poised to kill. But it was a fatal mistake. The bonepriest that Lor had just moments ago been wrestling had taken its aim and landed a direct hit to his skull. His vision blurred. He scrambled over his front legs, his sense of coordination insisting he was spiraling even though his blackening sight told him otherwise. He forced his way forward, past the nausea, past the blindness- he had to get to Roen. He needed to help him. He needed to protect him and he [b][i]hadn't-[/i][/b] He could hear Lor somewhere behind him. The ground was red, so red, it was slick and difficult to grapple. There was something at his shoulder, grabbing him, pulling him back, he reeled back, jaws open, hearing his sister in muted sounds. "We have to go, Naal! We can't take it, they signaled for backup, we need to move-" He struggled against her grasp, pulling forward, dragging himself, "Roen, we need to-" "Naal, we can't, we have to go now-" "We can't just least him here-" "JUST LET ME GET AT LEAST ONE OF YOU OUT OF HERE ALIVE, NAAL" His focus was bleary, but the only thing he could hear anymore was his sister's choked words, ripping through the deafening silence of the world around them. "He's gone, Naal. He's gone."

[center][b]Day 49[/b][/center] [center][i]Trinket[/i] [item=Pulsing Relic][/center] [rule] [b]Reserved for Art[/b] (other piece is almost finished!) [rule]

[center][b]Day 50[/b][/center] [center][i]Battle Item[/i] [item=Ambush][/center] [rule] [b]Tails. Nothing Happens.[/b] But half a family mourns. [rule] Glidra hasn't moved from her spot in the alcove since yesterday. She's having Ice give her time to cope. But her children are in mourning as well. They need their mother. Loretta is tucked next to his side, head resting across his tail. She had been the most attached to Roen, and he was the closest to her age. He frequently observed them playing and practicing magic in the fields just beyond the Hollow, Roen much more energetic when there weren't as many watching. She had lost more than a relative- she had lost a close friend. Prosperity continued to be occupied with trying to stir Glidra from her Ice-induced haze. Since he could not "speak bird" as Loretta so often claimed to, he could not ask of her to stay with the young dragon as she processed the events of yesterday. Perhaps Shadesong's loss had broken Glidra in a way that left her unsuited to adopt Loretta when she had come to them. She recovered from grief much slower, spent much longer in shock before she was able to tend to her children. Naal was still recovering in the back room, where Prism himself had set up a makeshift nest away from the tumultuous emotions of the main cavern. He had been unconscious by the time they had arrived back at the Hollow. Prism glanced with his fore-eyes back down to the Nocturne tucked under his wing. She stared blankly into the distance now, but he knew that she was still thinking. Feeling. She had spoken briefly to Prosperity earlier, after which the bird had taken off for a short while, likely to scout for the body to bring home. "Loretta," he leaned in closer, lowering his head to hers and softening his voice, "The guilt in this cavern, do not take it onto yourself. It is a normal emotion following sudden loss. While you may still feel it, know that you are not at fault. You are strong, you are brave, and you are the reason that your brother is alive. The guilt of a family is not yours to bare. So please, breathe." The Nocturne takes a deep, shuddering breath, and for the first time since she had returned to the Hollow, he sees her cry.