Quests & Challenges

[center] [b]edit 9/12/21[/b]: unfortunately i'm calling it quits on this project, i've gone too long without updating and now i'm totally lacking the motivation to continue. i did enjoy working on it though, and i'd love to do another pinkerlocke in the future, so perhaps i'll see you again someday! in the meantime i'll leave this one up as an archive :) [img]https://i.imgur.com/ib6TCUv.png[/img] [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol][center] [i]how could everything have gone so wrong, so fast?[/i] those were the words that kept ringing in the mirror's head as she stared out at the land that made up her home. or what used to be her home, anyway. before the flash. only this morning, everything had been fine. [i]gods, this morning.[/i] to her, it was a lifetime ago. an entirely different world, one where her clan was safe and her family was alive and she wasn't alone. she didn't understand what had happened. all she knew was that one moment her world was perfect, and the next moment she was the only one left standing, surrounded by the bodies of the dragons that she loved. there had been a flash of light - overwhelming, destabilizing, blinding [i]light[/i]. and when the light faded, and she could open her eyes again, she was the only one left alive. [i]why me?[/i] she wanted to scream, at the skies above or at the gods themselves. [i]why me and not any of them?[/i] what had she done, to be spared such a fate? what had they done to deserve it? did this mean she was meant for something bigger, something greater? or was it simply pure random chance? she didn't know the answers to any of these questions. all she knew was that this was no longer her home. and so, all alone, she took flight and fled the area, as far as her wings would take her, with the sun behind her setting on a changed world. [/center] [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] yup, it's another [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/1904162]pinkerlocke[/url]. i'm following the original rules pretty closely, using easymode for the coli battles. i'm really more interested in the lore than the actual nitty-gritty of the playing rules though. hoping to use this as an excuse for writing practice. will hopefully be updating daily with my pinkerton drop, and the effects it has on the alliance - gonna aim for at least a paragraph or two. we'll see how this goes! ----- [img]https://i.imgur.com/73MWRDP.png[/img] a dragon that faints in the coli is dead. exalt. daily activity depends on pinkerton drop, details below. flip coin for new hatchlings; heads they survive, tails they don't. any found eggs will be hatched, and are not subject to the coin flip. dropped items from coli & gathering (except eggs) are irrelevant. battles are done in the stage equal to the level of the lowest-level team dragon. two-dragon teams can go a level below, single dragons two levels below. genes found in the coli can be applied immediately, without waiting for a gene day. ----- [img]https://i.imgur.com/2z1BhAv.png[/img] [columns][color=transparent]..[/color][nextcol][center] [b]food[/b] coliseum battles! plants x10 insects x20 seafood x30 meat x40 [nextcol][color=transparent]..[/color][nextcol][center] [b]materials[/b] creative time. draw something, or write something (in addition to the daily logs) [nextcol][color=transparent]..[/color][nextcol][center] [b]familiars[/b] buy new dragon! [size=1] fae | guardian | mirror pearlcatcher | ridgeback tundra | spiral | imperial snapper | wildclaw nocturne | coatl skydancer | bogsneak [nextcol][color=transparent]..[/color][nextcol][center] [b]apparel[/b] nesting time! breed two dragons. if none are available, buy an egg. [nextcol][color=transparent]..[/color][nextcol][center] [b]battle items[/b] flip a coin, death streak on heads. fight in coli until a dragon dies, or until they win ten in a row.[/columns][/center]

[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/oXOkEEu.png[/img] [columns] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [center] [b]tyren[/b] male nocturne joined day 1 hatched from an abandoned egg in the ashfall waste, tyren is the first dragon to have joined luriske's alliance. wandering and fighting is all he's ever known. like many nocturnes, he is prone to mimicry, and has picked up on many of luriske's traits because she was his only companion during his early life. after her death, he vowed to continue her mission - seeking out the source of the flash, finding the answers that she never got to have. [/center] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [right][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/627188/62718728_350.png[/img][/url][/right] [/columns] [columns] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [left][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/63685411][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/636855/63685411_350.png[/img][/url][/left] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [center] [b]kii[/b] male imperial joined day 20 having spent his early years wandering the continent with only his mother for companionship, kii is very familiar with the nomadic lifestyle; after losing his mother to a pack of beastclans, he spent a few years entirely on his own, before eventually joining up with a group of similarly-alone dragons. he first met tyren on the day of luriske's death, saving him from a pack of scavengers. tyren spent some time with kii and his group before eventually leaving, and kii decided to go with him. [/center][/columns] [columns] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [center] [b]dari[/b] female bogsneak joined day 24 supremely strong and deceptively clever, dari was hatched in kii's small, nomadic group. when kii and tyren set out to figure out what happened to luriske's clan, dari joined them. [/center] [nextcol] [color=transparent]...[/color] [nextcol] [right][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/68992945][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/689930/68992945_350.png[/img][/url][/right] [/columns] [/center]

[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/r0qroqN.png[/img] [columns] [left][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/625934/62593305_350.png[/img][/url][/left][nextcol][center][color=transparent].......[/color][nextcol] [center] [b]luriske[/b] female mirror [i]day 1 - day 19[/i] the only survivor of a thriving wind clan, luriske lost everything in the flash. once a bright and lively dragon, she is now haunted and wracked with survivor's guilt. she wants nothing more than to know what happened during the flash, and why, so that she may finally find peace. she was killed in battle on day nineteen, protecting tyren from a pair of clown chargers in the sunbeam ruins. [/center] [/columns] [/center]

[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/GoZD0Vv.png[/img][/center] [size=2]     [b]01[/b]:  in a wind flight clan, a mysterious event known as [i]the flash[/i] kills every dragon except a mirror named luriske. horrified and heartbroken, she flees to the ashfall waste, where she discovers an orphaned hatchling named tyren and decides to take him with her.     [b]02[/b]: luriske and tyren continue traveling through the fire flight territory, running across a pack of wild beasts. luriske fights them, killing several, but incurring several small injures.     [b]03[/b]: luriske decides they should head towards the light flight. she has several small run-ins with beastclans along the way, but no major injuries.     [b]04[/b]: the pair cross out of the ashfall waste and into the shifting expanse, with luriske continuing to fight beastclans as they travel.     [b]05[/b]: while sleeping in the shifting expanse, luriske is approached by an owlcat that had lived in her clan, and it chooses to stay with them.     [b]06[/b]: luriske and tyren continue to fight their way north towards the light flight.     [b]07[/b]: tyren begins helping luriske in battle, deciding that he's old enough to be a fighter.     [b]08[/b]: in an attempt to improve his camouflage, tyren stains his scales with a snakelike pattern.     [b]09[/b]: the pair continue traveling, seeing the light flight in the distance.     [b]10[/b]: tyren ponders his future.     [b]11:[/b] luriske & tyren have a series of difficult battles, with a near-death experience for tyren.     [b]12:[/b] after finding shelter for a day in a crumbling tower, the two continue deeper into the sunbeam ruins.     [b]13[/b]: the two dragons fight off more enemies.     [b]14[/b]: on a quiet starry evening, tyren and luriske discuss their future.     [b]15[/b]: tyren carves a likeness of him and luriske into a piece of old stone and leaves it in the ruins, for future passerby to see.     [b]16[/b]: luriske muses to herself about their situation.     [b]17[/b]: another day, another battle. tyren wants to retreat but luriske charges in.     [b]18[/b]: on a quiet morning, luriske thinks about her place in the world.     [b]19[/b]: the pair face off against a horde of beastclan creatures, and luriske is killed while protecting tyren from a clown charger.     [b]20[/b]: an injured tyren is rescued by a mysterious dragon.     [b]21[/b]: tyren meets kii, the dragon who saved him.     [b]22[/b]: tyren joins up with kii's group.     [b]23[/b]: months later, tyren leaves the group, and kii decides to go with him.     [b]24[/b]: kii volunteers a young bogsneak named dari to join the pair on their quest. ------ [center][size=2] [img]https://i.imgur.com/zCS3hXM.png[/img] let me know if you want to be added to the pinglist! @/VeniVidiVici @/Stelvu @/linaface @/MonsterBoxxer [/size][/center]

[center] [item=damaged battlehorn] log entry one / writing [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         fleeing the destruction of all she had ever known, luriske did not stop flying until she was physically unable to go any further. gasping for breath, her heart racing and her wings aching, she had no choice but to come down for a landing. daylight was approaching now, the first rays of light burning off the early morning fog. she had flown all night.         the moment her talons touched the ground, she collapsed, her body shaking with silent sobs as the reality of the day finally hit her. she wasn't sure how long she had lain there - minutes? hours? - when there was a noise like crunching ground behind her. she lifted her head up, instinctively flaring her crest out to scare off potential predators. but this was no beast - the creature that met her gaze as she turned around was a hatchling. a dragon hatchling. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=75&bodygene=0&breed=11&element=11&eyetype=1&gender=0&tert=66&tertgene=0&winggene=0&wings=52&auth=af421d3b442d999e63341ba09cf215fa6957b680&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url] [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         blinking, the two dragons stared at each other for a heartbeat. luriske tilted her head, ever so slightly, and the hatchling - a nocturne, she was pretty sure - mimicked her. slowly, luriske got to her feet, and the nocturne stretched out to copy her body language. she let out a shaky laugh, despite herself.         [b]"hey, there,"[/b] she whispered, her voice hoarse. [b]"where'd you come from, huh?"[/b] the hatchling's big orange eyes never left hers, and for the first time luriske took a moment to glance at her surroundings. she stood on packed, dark earth, strangely warm to the touch. not too far away, she could see the glow of molten rock, and mountains in the distance. she had ended up in the ashfall waste, she surmised - home of the fire flight. [b]"you got a family around here somewhere?"[/b]         the nocturne gave a squawk with no intelligible words. it was young, she realized, far younger than she had thought. it had likely hatched no more than a few hours ago. in the flat land of the ashfall waste, luriske could see for miles and miles, and there were no signs of any other dragons. he was alone.         she could have laughed. she had lost her entire family, and he had never had one. but...         [b]"why don't you come with me?"[/b] she said, quietly. she was nowhere near old enough to be this hatchling's parent - she was barely older than a hatchling herself - but at least she could take care of him. at least they would have each other.         settling her wings down at her sides, luriske stared off into the distance. [b]"i don't know where we're going,"[/b] she said, her voice still shaky. [b]"but... at least we're not alone anymore."[/b] [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center] [item=wisp bug] log entry two / battles x20 [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         oh, how luriske [i]wished[/i] they were alone now.         they had been, for most of the day, and the whole of yesterday too. just her and tyren - which was the name she had given the nocturne hatchling. he was growing fast, and had even begun speaking. barely any words, of course, but enough for luriske to understand his needs. she had been able to scavenge some food for the two of them, although she had barely any appetite herself.         but food was not the only thing she had found. she had been peering over one of the craggy, rocky outcroppings of the ashfall wastes, and had seen... [i]something[/i], coming towards them, fast approaching. something large, and something fast.         as the [i]something[/i] grew closer, she realized it was actually many, [i]many[/i] things. creatures. beasts. dozens of them, heading straight towards her and tyen. luriske froze, instinctively, momentarily breathless. they didn't seem hostile, more like they were fleeing from something. but still, many of them were larger than tyren, and if they were hungry enough...         she flared her crest out. they would have to go through her first.         and as the horde of beasts approached, some of them did indeed turn towards the two young dragons, eyeing them beadily. and despite having never been in a fight before, luriske's mirror instincts took over. all at once the world simplified; there was only her, her ally, and her enemies. and so she attacked.         when the hoards cleared, she was still standing, and tyren was unharmed. several of the beasts lay dead around them. luriske moved towards one of them and then paused, wincing. talon marks on her shoulders slowly leaked blood, and the edge of one wing membrane was tattered.         she was injured, yes. but at this moment, in this place, she was alive. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center] [item=mire chestnut] log entry three / battles x10 [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         they spent the next several days traveling north, trying to get out of the fire flight territory. luriske walked or ran across the hard packed ground, while tyren flapped unsteadily behind her, or rode on her shoulders if he was weary - although he was rapidly growing, and soon he would be too big for her to carry.         they were met with some adversaries along the way - beastclans, mostly. scavengers hoping to grab a piece of the two young, hungry dragons. luriske fought them off too. something in her was beginning to enjoy the battles, to feel a thrill of excitement rather than fear when an enemy approached.         [b]"where we going?"[/b] tyren asked, sleepily, after several hours of uninterrupted walking. [b]"loo-rith sleep?"[/b] she had been able to teach him some words, but he hadn't quite mastered the pronunciation of her name.         luriske hesitated before responding, trying to figure out how much to explain to him. [b]"we have to keep going,"[/b] she said, eventually. [b]"there's somewhere i need to go."[/b] they were heading towards the light flight - at least, she was pretty sure they were going in the right direction. she had only seen a map of sornieth a handful of times in her home clan, and the details were fuzzy in her mind.         but, she reasoned, if any dragons knew about light - especially blinding, horrifying flashes of light that killed anyone they touched - it would be the ones in the light flight.         and so, onward they went. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url] [/center]

[center] [item=goat] log entry four / battles x40 [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         another difficult day for the two of them. luriske was starting to lose track of time, the days all blending together. how long had it been since the flash? how long since her clan had been slaughtered? several weeks, she surmised, but the specifics escaped her.         they had crossed into the shifting expanse earlier this morning, the home of the lightning flight. something about the fire flight had deeply unnerved luriske, in a way she couldn't quite put a talon on. so it was a relief when the shining obsidian and glowing magma began to turn to dry land speckled with succulents and shrubberies. but with a change of territory came a change in enemies, in the beastclans that roamed the area.         she had no idea that there were this many beastclan creatures out there. she had been taught sornieth was a place ruled by dragons, overrun with them. but she and tyren had been traveling for weeks now and they'd barely seen anyone else. a couple dragon-esque silhouettes far up in the sky, one or two on the horizon maybe, but none nearby. none close enough to talk to.         part of her wondered if there were any dragons left. if the flash had wiped out not only her clan, but every clan, leaving only a handful of survivors to fight for their lives in a broken and empty world. it was an eerie thought.         trying to shrug off her fears, she rolled her shoulders and stretched her wings. it had been a while since she'd flown for any long period of time, having found it preferable to run. but all at once she felt as though she needed to get off the ground, to clear her head in the wide open sky. she glanced back at tyren; he was now nearly as big as she was, and it looked as though he still had more growing to do.         [b]"let's go higher,"[/b] she said, turning her gaze up at the sky again, gray with clouds. [b]"get a better look at what's ahead."[/b] she beat her wings hard to get herself up off the ground, feeling a little out of practice. tyren leaped up into the sky after her, eager to take a break from walking.         and so they flew, together, into a world unknown. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url] [/center]

[center] [item=fluted seashell] log entry five / writing [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         living on edge the last few weeks had certainly sharpened luriske's senses. it was the middle of the night, and she was dozing on the sandy ground near some shrubberies, drifting in and out of sleep. but then there was a slight sound behind her, like the sound of shifting pawsteps trying to find purchase on loose ground, and suddenly she was wide awake.         her head snapped up, her crest flaring out automatically. it took a moment for her four eyes to focus, but when they did, she was met with the sight of a creature about a dragon-length away, staring at her with bright amber eyes. luriske shifted into a crouch, moving slowly, her muscles coiled. she let out a quiet hiss, hoping to startle the creature away without a fight, but it did not move. it continued to meet her gaze calmly, fearlessly. luriske was puzzled.         then something occurred to her, and she paused. she recognized this creature. [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/familiar/art/601.png[/img][/center]         it was an owlcat. dark fur, a splash of bright orange on the wings, and a ghostly pale face. but not just any owlcat - she knew this one. it had once belonged to the leader of her clan, a ridgeback with speckled green and yellow scales. even as a hatchling she didn't understand the attachment he had to this creature. the owlcat had been nasty to luriske, hissing and scratching at her if she drew too close. as far as she could tell, it had treated all the others like that as well - aside from their leader, apparently.         it seemed like too big a coincidence, too small a chance. her clan was wiped out. she was miles and miles from her birthplace. yet somehow this creature had found her.         for a moment she was sure she had made a mistake, and this was some other owlcat entirely unrelated to the one she had known. but no, when it turned its head she could see a notch in its left ear from where one of her siblings had clawed at it (a poorly-attempted act of revenge, which resulted in said sibling being chased out of camp by the furious owlcat), and distinctive markings on the backs of its folded wings that had always reminded her of teeth. this [i]was[/i] the same owlcat.         and then she could have laughed. her whole family - her whole [i]clan[/i] - had been wiped out. she had been there, she had seen the bodies, she had stayed by their sides until they grew cold and she could no longer handle it. why was it that good, kind dragons had been killed but this territorial, nasty beast had been allowed to live? how cruel the universe was.         but all the same...         it was strangely relieving to see a familiar face. after weeks of traveling through unknown territory, feeling desperate and overwhelmed, the owlcat's appearance was almost a reminder of what she was fighting for. it was a keepsake from the clan she had loved.         she tilted her head at the owlcat. it stared placidly back. [b]"you're not leaving, are you?"[/b] she asked it. the creature responded by turning in a circle and lying down on the sand, its back to her.         it looked like, at least for now, the beast was here to stay. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url] [/center]

[center] [item=hypnotic scallop] log entry six / battles x30 [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol]         another day, another fight.         luriske was desperate for a battle partner, for someone to help her fend off the attacking beastclan creatures. but her only companions were tyren, who was still too young - he would be slaughtered! - and the owlcat, who couldn't care less about her.         [b]"damn beast,[/b]" she muttered, but she had more important things to worry about.         meanwhile, tyren had situated himself on the top of a cactus, coiled like a cat, the thin needles scratching his scales. he watched anxiously as luriske fought, wishing he could help her. or at least, wishing she would run away. she couldn't fly very fast, but it didn't matter - most of the beastclans couldn't fly at all. tyren didn't understand why she wouldn't just lift off for a while until they had gone. the two of them could soar over the approaching army, only coming back to the ground when it was clear again.         but luriske seemed adamant that she fight them off instead of fleeing, even when fleeing seemed the vastly superior option.         there was a lot about her that he didn't understand. [nextcol][color=transparent]..........[/color] [/columns] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62593305][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/625934/62593305p.png[/img][/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62718728][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/627188/62718728p.png[/img][/url] [/center]