Quests & Challenges

[center][b]Day 27[/b] [item=Deep Sea Lobster][/center] Zylen spent his morning and afternoon the same as before. Cataloguing books, doing minor research for Elanor, spending a couple hours with Jeremiah as company, pausing for breaks and lunch, the works. The day dragged on with nothing to truly entertain him, and he and Elanor had yet to find any new leads in regards to the many mysteries the Fae had compiled. The Tundra appeared annoyed as well, and with how much documentation was held in the archives, she was clearly overwhelmed. Luckily her new assistant helped shoulder some of her burden. If only Zylen had the same support now. His day diverted from the usual when he decided to spend the rest of his day outdoors. He knew Clancy and Eowyn would return soon, and whether that was tonight or early tomorrow, he didn’t want to be burnt out from writing. Anytime Eowyn was involved in a job, she wanted the report for it written asap. Zylen wished it didn’t have to be that way, but the Coatl decided to interact with him as little as possible a long time ago. When Howl approached the Fae suddenly, he tensed up. He had spotted the Tundra patrolling earlier, but hadn’t expected to run into him. The guard normally ignored others who lived in the mansion who passed by him. Naturally, Zylen suspected he’d wandered somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, and Howl was ready to tell him to leave. “I promise I didn’t mean to be here,” he began, but the Tundra instead shot him a confused gaze. “I’m here to say hello,” Howl took a moment to sniff Zylen before quickly backing off, “I don’t see you much, but you belong here.” The Fae stared for a moment, dumbfounded. Did he not spend as much free time as he thought outside? “Well, I’m happy you picked up on that,” was all he could respond with, unsure where to take the conversation. “Want to walk with me?” Howl offered, “You look lost.” Zylen let out a nervous chuckle, before responding, “That’s one way to describe it. Sure, I’ll join you. Nothing better to do anyways.” “Wonderful,” the dark Tundra turned around, “Come then. I’m sure there’s a lot of catching up we need to do.” The two conversed about small mundane things for a couple hours, pacing the mansion grounds as they did so. Howl had zero interest in Zylen’s work, but appeared happy that the Fae had something to enjoy in his spare time. The Tundra was used to not having the luxury, so he’d taken to turning his occupation into something he enjoyed. He didn’t understand why others treated him strangely for loving combat, hunting, and training, but he tried not to let it get to him. After a bit of awkward silence between the two, the Tundra suddenly turned his attention to a gated area they were approaching. He wore worry on his face as he stated, “I forgot to check out the graveyard!” before bolting off, quickly entering through the ornate wrought iron entrance. Zylen followed after the grey dragon, wondering why missing an area in his patrol was making the Tundra so alert and antsy. A narrow stone path led into the graveyard, ancient trees growing out around it. Some younger trees populated the area, placed there when the older ones died. The graveyard itself was nothing too out of the ordinary, minus the fact that the mansion had one to begin with. Headstones, most as old as the trees around them, were arranged in neat rows, the space between them smaller than one would expect. The Fae knew little about the area and traditions for burying the dead at his place of work. He hadn’t bothered to look into the macabre process, especially after asking a staff member about the graveyard. The equidistant placement was believed to be because mansion residents only buried the skulls of dragons who died, using the rest of their bodies as fertilizer for the rest of the grounds. Regardless of this being merely rumors from younger staff or truth, he didn’t want to entertain the idea that the mansion grounds held the bones of hundreds of dragons under its soil. Reminding himself about the rumor sent a shiver down a spine. Graveyards had never scared him. It was always what living dragons did that gave him those feelings. Zylen continued to wander the place where the dead rested in silence, looking and listening for any sign of Howl. With no sign of his warrior companion, he began to glance over the headstones, searching for familiar names. He hadn’t expected to find one for Meir. It was out of place among the earlier, weathered headstones, clean and smooth. The stone that had been used was a dark marble with swirls of white within, and it had been carefully chiseled out with steady claws. It was odd to see something like this created without magic, adding to the sentiment that Zylen wasn’t the only one hurt by the loss of the Mirror. Meir’s name had been placed in a carving of a book, with his date of birth and date of death on the same “page”. The opposite side held the words, “A short story we’ll all miss.” reminding Zylen that the researcher was hardly an adult when he passed. A dry, hushed voice shattered Zylen’s mourning, “It’s such a shame, but it happens to all of us eventually.” There was a short pause, before it spoke again, lacking any notable emotion, “Sadly, some earlier than others.” The Fae froze upon hearing the voice, not wanting to turn around and face the speaker. Was this why Howl was in a panic? Was this an intruder he had chased off earlier returning to where they entered from initially? There was something horribly off about the visitor as they spoke. Something Zylen swore was eerily familiar, but couldn’t recall in his scattered thoughts. He remained silent, wondering if whoever was behind him would continue speaking and give time for the absent Tundra to appear and confront them. “You give a lot of respect to those who have passed,” the voice continued, “Unlike that Tundra. Loud and sprinting without a care for those who rest here.” There was the sound of lightly treading steps and the brushing of fabric as the speaker moved. They weren’t drawing nearer, but with Zylen refusing to look towards the source of the voice, it was now moving to be in front of him. [img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/scry?sdid=1298333&skin=0&apparel=37380,32719,32721,1551,2973&xt=dressing.png[/img] A roughed up Bogsneak was the source of the speaking, face covered in cloth save for two sunken blue eyes. Without facial cues to work off of, Zylen was even more fearful of the voice’s owner as he spoke up once again, “I’m certain we will meet again. Whether in life or not is the real question. Until that time comes, farewell. Perhaps we’ll have the privacy for a proper conversation some other time.” And like that, the Bogsneak left as silently as he arrived, disappearing into the treeline. Howl arrived on the scene not long after, asking if Zylen was alright and demanding he return to the mansion. The Fae agreed, and the two started back, filling the Tundra in on his encounter with the strange dragon. Howl confirmed having heard someone in the graveyard earlier, even picking up on their scent, but was never able to track them down. The two arrived back in time for dinner, and the group was reunited with Eowyn and Clancy, both looking rough. The Coatl was distraught, feathers ruffled and ungroomed while her gaze never appearing to stay in more than one location for the duration of the meal. Meanwhile, the Pearlcatcher had bandages wrapped on her forearms and right cheek, her outfit torn and slightly scorched. Neither wanted to talk, even when Zylen brought up writing the job report. Deciding not to press the two, Zylen went to the library briefly to attempt to find something useful for his personal work. When the effort inevitably turned up fruitless, he went to bed. While getting to sleep was still rough, for once it wasn’t due to his wandering thoughts about Meir. Instead, he found himself wondering just what Clancy and Eowyn happened across on their task. Hopefully the two would be more open to talking in the morning. ---------- @Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne No deaths this time! Clancy, Zylen, and Jeremiah were my team this time around, and while I had some [i]very[/i] close calls, no one actually died. Clancy and Zylen are level 8, and Jeremiah is level 6. As a note, Eowyn was slated to get marked tonight (flipped a coin for her and Clancy on who got marked from the mission), but with how late it is already, I didn't want to risk writing more than I already had. Anyways, a bunch of small things today. Finally got to somewhat introduce Howl, as well as a currently unnamed NPC (to you guys). NPC will get his spot on the cast page after this post. To add on to something I wasn't able to touch on here, Meir's body was sent back to his home clan after being put in a casket, but to honor the loss of an employee on mansion grounds, he has a headstone in the graveyard. Also, new irl update: Turns out my area works a specific part of post sort this week starting tomorrow. Due to that, I'll be getting out later than usual, so that may effect if I'm able to write and get a post out on time. I apologize if a day or two ends up being missed because of this.

@Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne
Sorry, but between poor sleep last night and today being as bad as I thought work-wise, I won't be posting anything tonight. I mostly want to lay down and relax, and get to bed decently early in hopes I sleep okay. I'll hopefully be back to posting tomorrow!

[center][b]Day 28[/b] [item=Advisor Footies][/center] “I know you’re both still recovering, but please, start from the beginning.” Zylen was seated across from Clancy and Eowyn, which, while rested and cleaned up, were still tensed up from their days away from the mansion. Clancy had a fresh change of bandages, nervously keeping a claw on one in-particular. Eowyn’s usual sideways glances at the bookshelves were more frantic and common. The Fae waited for her to bolt for the door, but she remained composed enough to stay seated. She shakily voiced her concern after a moment of silence, “C-Can’t we do this somewhere else?” Zylen faced Clancy, preparing to have her translate his words in a more comprehensible tongue, “You’ve been fine before despite your distrust of me and the room. What’s different this time?” There was another period of quiet before Eowyn spoke this time. Her feathers flattened, voice low, and eyes suddenly focused, “The lines…….” She swallowed, recomposing herself, “The lines are too similar to [i]that[/i]. I don’t want to be around them. Never again after what I saw there.” “Of course,” was all he could respond with. It was best to follow the Coatl’s wishes today. From now on for that matter with how unmoving she was with her decisions. After a bit of asking around, the three decided to continue their conversation in one of the personal dining rooms. There, Eowyn relaxed some, her panic replaced with her usual glare in the Fae’s general direction. Zylen even managed to convince the staff to bring in some leftover muffins from that morning’s breakfast for the two larger dragons, as well as some water. Something told him that getting details about the past few days was going to be a long and arduous task today. “Anyways,” he began again, pen ready, “Please start at the beginning. Take your time.” “The beginning was as boring and uneventful. As most of these damn tasks have been,” Clancy snapped, irritated. “We exited the portal outside some ‘Ironclaw Forge’ or whatever its name was. Portal was being protected and we were escorted in the general direction of our target. Spent half a day walking until we happened across a clan, and [i]that’s[/i] when the details that matter to Professor Saile begin. He knows the portal system. He knows how we’re always escorted out. He knows we wander in a general direction of our target until we get there. That doesn’t matter to this report or [i]any[/i] report we give. Only what we find when we get there.” Having finished her rant, Clancy gripped the table with her currently free claw, scratches forming on its otherwise pristine surface as she dragged her talons across it. The outburst was enough to have the other two staring at her, Zylen in shock and Eowyn with empathy. The Fae, unsure what to write, instead asked another question, “Do you want to elaborate on what you learned from this clan?” Clancy rapidly copied his question, leaving the answer to Eowyn. Sighing, the Coatl complied, “The clan had lost an entire hunting party two days before our arrival. Surprise surprise, they were planning on hunting around where our target area is. Now the clan is in a bit of a panic and it takes us two hours to convince them to show us where this area was.” The Pearlcatcher continued from there, eyes filled with fear now, “We should have never left that morning. Or passed that border. Or stayed to see those…..[i]things[/i] do unspeakable things to those poor dragons. I have no idea…” “Slow down Clancy,” Zylen interrupted, main fans half raised and one small fan fully raised. “I know it’s a lot, and that recalling these events is clearly stressful, but I need it a little at a time. We still have all day, so if you need a minute, take it.” His words calmed Clancy some, and while she recovered, Eowyn took over. “I know you’re going to ask about the lines. I’ll explain more when we get to…” her gaze shifted downwards as she recalled something horrible, “[i]that[/i]. At the border of this supposedly inactive clan, there were traces of some sort of enchantment. Broken lines and ribbons that denoted traces of magic, but nothing too harmful. From what little I could read, it was residual magic of the land sticking to parts of the land and not anything directly draconic in origin.” “The lines became more and more intact the deeper in we went, but nothing ever completed into an enchantment we’d have to be on the lookout for. At least, not until we hit the remains of that clan.” Eowyn turned her attention to Clancy, “You feeling well enough to continue, or would you like me to? You know I’m going to be out of information soon.” “Please,” the Pearlcatcher responded, voice hushed, “The less I have to say about what happened to me, the better.” The purple dragon nodded, looking sympathetically at her companion, “You’re fine. I’ll say what I can.” Zylen halted the conversation briefly for a question, “For better understanding, what I’m hearing is that you two got separated?” A quiet nod from Clancy, “I know you asked it because of the report. It was almost for a full day. Eowyn…Eowyn....” she began to choke back tears, “I...I...I didn’t…” “Clancy, calm down. You’ll have time later,” the Fae patted the unbandaged shoulder of the Pearlcatcher. “If I need to extend this until after dinner or even tomorrow, I can.” “T-Thank you Zylen,” Clancy’s voice remained shaky, but it had calmed some, “I may end up having to at this rate.” “Anyways,” Eowyn disrupted the moment, waiting for Zylen to return to his paper. Once he reorganized, she proceeded where she left off, “The clan was as deserted as told to us when we arrived. There were traces of residence in the stone dens that filled the place, but no living dragons. I saw stronger traces of residual magic here, but it did nothing other than point us in the direction of what I assumed was the ritual site. We found no bodies, no real belongings, no traces that anything had been there.” “Before we headed deeper into the clan, I let Clancy get a good look at the stonework.” “I can say this part if you don’t mind,” the earthy dragon spoke up, a bit of confidence in her voice. “It’s my field of expertise, and if I’m going to contribute anything meaningful, it’s going to be this.” She cleared her throat, taking another sip of water, “The dens were of a modern angular design. The style is most commonly seen in Dragonhome, but The Molten Scar uses it almost as often. Dens are carved from durable stone, and depending on the age, ranking, and family of the owner of the home, reliefs are carved into it. These buildings tell entire stories of dragons, from their hobbies, to mates, to battles, to even that dragon’s death. While not important here, deaths usually mean a blank slate for the den, but the name and a basic carving in regards to the previous resident are left behind.” “What struck me as odd in this clan were the names and depiction of the den owners. When not in a strange runic language I didn’t understand, the names were a mess of letters, as if someone scrambled the original name of the dragon that had once lived there. As for their carved depictions, I thought they had been vandalized at first. I honestly would continue to believe that if not for what I would come to witness later that same day.” Her claw returned to her bandaged left shoulder again as she returned a troubled gaze back to the Coatl, “Eowyn, could you fill in on the rest of your end? I need another moment. Sorry.” Eowyn nodded, sipping her own water before stating, “Not to disappoint you, but I don’t have much more to add.” She herself appeared despondent at the words, “As much as I wish I could tell you about a ritual site and all of what I saw there, that’s not what happened. The two of us started in the direction of where the lines lead me, but before I could get close, that’s when we were attacked. We split up as soon as we heard the sound of something headed straight towards us, Clancy taking to the air while I ran into the sparse woods surrounding this place.” “One of them chased me for a good while. I….you know what, nevermind that detail. It’s not important to the report. I think it wanted me to get lost, but I was able to use the lines from the residual magic as a guide to escape. I may have gotten out safely, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I had lost Clancy until I made it back to the clan that had accepted our visit.” Eowyn was looking anxious now, “I went back out to look for her yesterday afternoon, despite the [i]many[/i] warnings against the decision. Normally I would have listened, but I didn’t want to come back without having tried. Inaction would have made me look terrible.” Another drink of water, “I’m happy I did, but I regret ignoring what Clancy told me about not looking back.” Zylen lowered his fans as he disrupted the Coatl, “Do you mind explaining what you saw?” She shot a glare, but the Fae could see the fear she tried to hide and her crest feathers shook slightly with her growing unease. Breaking eye contact to speak, she looked into her glass, “You [i]need[/i] to know about the lines, and only I can tell you about them.” She took a deep breath, returning her focus to the smaller dragon, “I’ve never seen anything like them. Deep orange but what I can only describe as being infected with black. They were jagged, as if about to shatter, but it also appeared to bleed into the environment around it. All the while I couldn’t read a trigger or what a response to the trigger would be. And the [i]thing[/i] it was wrapped around.” She shuddered, “I [i]want[/i] to call it a dragon. I really want to. But it wasn’t. It just....[i]wasn’t[/i]. I don’t know. It’s all a blur and the instant Clancy and I could, we ran back here. Anything to get away from that place.” “Thank you Eowyn. If you’d like to stay while Clancy…” “Not tonight Zylen,” Clancy was shaking, gripping herself tightly. “Eowyn’s account is enough for now. I need a bit to gather my thoughts. If not a verbal report, I’m sure I can write you something.” “Then you are free to leave as well.” Zylen smiled, raising his fans pleasantly to reflect the positive tone he wanted his words to carry. “We can try again in the morning.” --------- @Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne God there was so much italicizing to do for this. In other news, got this out despite another rough day at work. Tomorrow being Friday (my really easy day) probably helped motivate me. Dragon with immunity to a potential mark tomorrow is Elanor (Sykion)! As for today's post, it's part one of Zylen interviewing Clancy and Eowyn! I realized how long this was getting and decided to cut it short. You guys will get some [i]fun[/i] lore bits tomorrow, since this is something that will [i]definitely[/i] return in the future. There's a couple little things in here as well, but not nearly what I'm going to try and get to tomorrow. Anyways, with another 7 days of writing done, here's a document update! Can't believe I've already done about month of this, and that there's [i]this[/i] much to it. [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/588558275830611978/802027574603415562/Screen_Shot_2021-01-21_at_11.10.46_PM.png[/img]

[center][b]Day 29[/b] [item=Scholar] [b]Warnings: Mutilation, mild gore, branding, body horror, implied mass death[/b] [/center] “You ready Clancy?” Zylen questioned, a stack of blank papers in front of him. The Pearlcatcher had joined him in the library today, not feeling as antsy around the books as Eowyn. She appeared better than yesterday, with some of her lighter injuries going unbandaged. Her left shoulder remained covered, and she still reached to cover it with a claw from time to time.. From what the Fae had gathered, it was by far the most severe of the ones she received. “As ready as I can be,” she muttered, turning her focus from the tabletop to look at the Fae. She took note of Zylen’s staring, and mustered a small smile, “I get to put apparel back over it tomorrow. It’ll be nice to hide this.” “Will you be explaining what’s under all those bandages?” He inquired, “I take it that whatever caused it gave more than physical trauma.” A swift nod, “We’ll get there. I’d like to focus on where you’d like me to start first please.” “Start when you and Eowyn were attacked and separated.” Zylen directed, gesturing with a free claw, “That’s where your stories diverge, and you’ve already provided your personal insight into what you saw before this.” “R-Right.” Clancy took a deep breath, composing herself, “Like Eowyn said, I took to the air. I was taught that in open areas like this, if something were to happen to you, take to the air for the best chance of being spotted by nearby dragons. While I know of the negatives to this, I also knew the nearby clans were friendly based on talking with the one we arrived at. I’m not the best when it comes to fleeing either, so it’s not much of a surprise that I got caught.” “I was knocked out before I got a good glimpse at my attacker. I assumed them to be a dragon based on the vague outline I saw. When I came to, I was alone, bound to a pillar of stone.” She paused, taking a couple minutes to calm her shaking as it began again. When she recovered, she pulled a claw to her shoulder, gripping it, “It doesn’t take a genius to know I was in the ritual site. The ground was littered with stone carvings of strange symbols, arranged very deliberately. That wasn’t the only thing covering the ground around me though. By the Eleven I wish it was.” Zylen opened his mouth to ask, but Clancy continued, eyes widening with fear, “Bodies. Well, remnants of them. I could see entire skeletons picked clean around the stones, but there were individual bones around me as well. A skull here. A leg there. All of them completely stripped of flesh. Unlike the skeletons, these still gleamed white. Fresh. I didn’t think it at the time, but with what I’ve been through now, I believe I was seeing what remained of that missing hunting party we heard about.” “Then there was the [i]smell[/i]. I’ve been around a dead body or two in my time. It’s not uncommon to find a carcass of some unfortunate beast travelling through the woods or whatever. This wasn’t rot I was smelling, at least, not fully. The air was thick with the smell of blood, and there was that decay, but there was also what I think was the smell of burnt flesh. It smelled like something burning, but there was another aroma with it, like some sort of perfume or oil.” “It was around this point that I realized the pillar and the ground around me was stained with blood. From how many dragons I don’t know, but I was far from the first. The pillar was also covered in strange carvings that all pointed towards me. I never got a good look. A bit more important matters on my mind, like...like…” She grew silent for a while, voice unsteady and quiet when she broke it, “Sorry, this is where everything goes awful. I don’t want to recall, but you [i]need[/i] to know what happened.” Clancy shot a glare when she saw Zylen open his mouth to speak, “Don’t fight me on this. You like your mysteries and I hope you can do something about this one.” Despite her best efforts, the Pearlcatcher was unable to continue until after lunch. Zylen wasn’t too surprised to not spot Eowyn yet again, the Coatl back to regularly avoiding interaction with him. He was hoping she was doing alright herself, knowing that while she suffered far less trauma than her companion on their job, she was still shaken by what she saw. After a much more mundane conversation about the rainy weather and how Clancy had caught Howl complaining about it, the two returned to the library. Zylen was sure to bring a pitcher of water along this time, knowing that the Pearlcatcher was likely about to describe the source of her injuries, providing information was only going to get more difficult. Half-coherent statements and most of a glass of water later, the Pearlcatcher appeared to have finally broken through the mental block keeping her from conveying what happened to her. “I heard those things before I saw them. They may walk like a dragon and have a partially draconic appearance, but what I saw was [i]not[/i] a dragon.” She swallowed, “There were only two of them. They were covered in stone. The exact same as what I had seen all around me. I thought them to be golems at first, but the more I looked at them and the more I took in, I wished that’s all it was. I so desperately wish that’s all they were. Morbid stone approximations of dragons. But they weren’t.” “I’m not sure how to describe the other parts. Someone had injured the smaller of the two, chipping some of that stone skin they wore. Underneath….Underneath,” Clancy held her mouth, retching. She quickly finished her water, pouring another glass and drinking most of that one as well. “The inside was [i]flesh[/i]. It [i]writhed[/i] in a way that couldn’t be natural. Sometimes blood would trickle out, staining the stone beneath even more. Then there were their limbs. Mismatched bones that had been haphazardly covered in more flesh that was messily stitched together and covered in more stone.” She was shaking again, and so was her voice, “Their eyes, or rather, the stone carvings with tarnished metal where the eyes should be, looked me up and down. They did this for who knows how long, “talking” in a mix of gurgles and scraping rock. I could not tell you what about. I was merely trying to stop myself from screaming in terror. When they stopped, they turned to leave, and my poor foolish mind hoped this meant I had been spared for the time being.” “I was so, [i]so[/i] wrong.” At this point, Clancy stopped talking entirely, fear-filled eyes staring distantly into the surface of the table she was at. One of her claws had dug itself into her bandaged shoulder, drawing fresh blood and reopening the wound underneath. The action was enough to send Zylen to find one of the staff, taking the two of them into the infirmary. The Fae respected the Pearlcatcher’s wishes to not be seen getting the bandages changed. It was another hour before Clancy had calmed herself the best she could. The two took their conversation to a vacant guest room now, staying close to the infirmary in case she claws at the injury on her shoulder again. “They grabbed some sort of awful implement,” there was still a tremor in her voice, but the panic and fear had faded. “Infused with fire magic I think. They first burned my skin to ensure it was working, then carved most of the cuts you see on me. I think they wanted to hear me scream and cry for those and nothing more. When they had finished with those, there was more chatter, and from what I saw in their movements, they appeared almost excited.” Her eyes grew wide again, “Then they dug into my shoulder. They carved into it over and over and over. Deeper and deeper until I swore they scraped bone. The same meticulous pattern that I still don’t want to look at. They cauterized it and left me there. I was there until the following morning, and as much as I wished all I had to suffer with was my fresh wounds and the ache of staying there immobilized, that wasn’t all I dealt with.” “I-I don’t know how to describe what I felt. Something, I’m assuming relating to the magic in the air around me, started clawing into my wounds. It burned far worse than the shoulder wound, slowly flowing into the rest of my body and attempting to claw its way deeper and deeper. It felt like it was aiming for the core of my being, trying to twist and contort the fundamental magic.” She was shaking again, “I don’t know what caused it to stop. One moment it was there, gouging into my very being, and the next it was gone. The residual pain wasn’t gone by the time those things returned. This time they were angry, but I had enough at this point.” “I managed to shatter the pillar with a surge of my Earth magic, and I got the hell out of there. I don’t know when I ran into Eowyn, but the smaller of those two things was still on our tails as we left the territory. We didn’t stop until we were back at that clan, and you know the rest. We were both treated and escorted back to the portal, and the staff cared for us on return.” Zylen took a moment to hold one of Clancy’s claws, the Pearlcatcher letting out a heavy sigh before shaking again. “Thank you,” he raised his fans, waving the lower pair once to express gratitude, “This means a lot. I’m not sure how much help Elanor and I will be with what you found, but we’ll try our best. Now please, get some rest.” There was a sudden surge of energy from Clancy, “One more thing. I may not want to look at it, but could you take a picture and draw the injury? It may be of some help. Just...be gentle okay?” “Of course,” Zylen floated over to the injured shoulder, gingerly peeling away at the fresh bandages, “I’m not sure staff will be okay with having to dress this [i]again[/i], but I’m sure they understand.” “They better,” Clancy chuckled, “Otherwise I’ll make them.” The injury was about how the Pearlcatcher had described. A strange symbol had been very deeply carved into her shoulder, the area still inflamed. It was slick with medicinal ointment and oozed blood, both slowly being absorbed into the cloth. First sketching the symbol and then finding a camera for a photo, Zylen made sure to take as little time as possible with it exposed to the air. Exchanging another round of thanks, the two left soon after, Clancy back to the infirmary and Zylen to the archives to inform Elanor of finishing the report. Dinner that night was largely uneventful. Eowyn’s continued absence began to unsettle him, but as the night courier brought in the envelope containing the details about their next job, he shook the Coatl from his mind. He already knew both her and Clancy weren’t going to be a part of this one. In typical fashion, the letter was short, informing the group that a strange piece of “art” had cropped up in the Starwood Strand less than a week ago, and it was causing a great deal of unease among those living nearby. Zylen and Jeremiah were to locate the assumed art installation, and take notes so that a demolition party could swoop in and destroy it. Apparently while Arcane dragons normally loved strange occurrences such as these, something about it prioritises its destruction over research. Zylen finished the copy of the report for the archives that night, handing the original over to the night courier for delivery. Clancy’s interview disturbed his ability to sleep that night. While the details were certainly gruesome, between what she described and her injury, something was eating away at him. What had the ritual been for? Were the strange figures Clancy encountered a part of the ritual or a result of it? What about the clan? It sounded decently large, but Clancy only recalled a couple complete skeletons around the ritual site. Where did the rest go? He’d have no time to research tomorrow, but he’d talk to Elanor about it. Maybe she could do some digging while he and Jeremiah were gone. --------- @Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne Before I get into the commentary on today's entry, I want to explain what happened today and how it introduces a new rule I was going to implement at some point. First, my team today was Zylen, Jeremiah, and Eowyn in the Scorched Forest. Fully expected a death, but I was prepared to make sure no matter what, I wasn't going to go down easily. Two battles in and I'm doing decent, thinking I might be able to survive. The third battle ends up being two Centaur Archers and a Wintermane Bowman. This is where things came to a halt and stopped being fun/tense because there is no way among those three that I can take out the archers without losing a dragon. What ended up happening is that I basically kept Zylen and Jeremiah at higher health than Eowyn so that Eowyn would die since I liked her less. I do [i]not[/i] want to do this ever again. At least, do this and expect to write a death. This isn't fun. This is cheap and unfair on my team because I'm essentially choosing who dies. So, from now on, when this happens, instead of a death, I'm having a dragon get critically marked (details down below). This does not apply to every coliseum death (obviously), only those that result from a Death Streak situation such as this. If a more "random" death happens in a Death Streak, it will still count as a full death. Speaking of critical marks, I wanted to give Clancy or Eowyn a mark from the last task, and I finally found a way to! Long story short, Clancy's experience left her with [i]two[/i] marks from the Extinction instead of the usual one mark she'd get. Since Eowyn suffered the way she did via a Death Streak, she will also be getting critically marked, so you'll see that in a couple days. This entire day is just full of yikes. I feel so bad for Clancy for going through what she did, but hey, she's alive. She's going to have a scar from an Extinction influenced ritual on her shoulder for the rest of her life, but she's alive. Anyways, the actual critical mark rule: [quote=Critical Marking] Sometimes, a fear entity etches itself more deeply into a dragon, resulting in two marks. This can come about in one of three ways. [u]Rolls [/u]- Anytime a dragon gets marked by a fear via a Trinket, I roll twice. If I get the same number twice (not counting "Nothing" results), they are critically marked instead. [u]Lore [/u]- Depending on the severity of a fear's influence and the trauma a dragon experiences during a job, there is a chance they get critically marked. This is largely lore based, with some dragons lending themselves more easily to different fears based on personalities, fears, hobbies, etc. Sometimes a dragon is just plain unlucky. [u]Death Streaks [/u]- This is situational. In the event that I have a team in a round where I know someone is going to die, and I essentially have to pick who that is, instead of dying, that dragon is critically marked. This is to prevent Death Streaks from being ruined by me being unable to do anything to make it through a round unscathed. It stops making the Death Streak the anxiety-inducing fun that it should be for me. [/quote]

@Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne
Sorry, but no post tonight. I need to rest after this week due to awful sleep, plus I forgot what I pulled and don't feel like RNGing a roll. I'll continue tomorrow. Sorry for being a bit inactive this week. I couldn't get good sleep and that combined with a rough work week that included post-sort made it hard for me to stay motivated to write, even if I had the inspiration.

No need to apologize! This is easily the top most pinkerlocke I've seen with the most amount of writing in the shortest amount of time.


I hope you get some good rest and sleep! Take a break.

[center][b]Day 30[/b] [item=Steelscale Chest Guard][/center] Zylen found out that morning that Eowyn had gone missing. He had thought her absence was simply the Coatl ignoring him as usual. However, his morning conversation with Elanor broke the news to him. She had gone missing at some point after lunch, assumedly through the portal room when Howl was called upon. The Tundra didn’t recall seeing the Coatl at all despite being around the entrance at the time of her disappearance. While he attempted to pick up her scent in the portal room, those belonging to the others muddled any trace of Eowyn having been there. Talking to Clancy was little help, and the Fae was left hoping the Coatl would come back safely, if she did at all. After Elanor agreed to look into some of the questions he had last night, Zylen prepared to leave. Packing his usual survival supplies to last a couple days outside of the mansion, he moved onto his personal additions. Plenty of paper and ink were as expected, but he was also using this task to start a new habit of packing collection vials and packets. They may not serve much use here, but with how common strange items and materials had shown up, he decided they had become necessary. Whether to deliver to Saile for his institute to research or for Zylen to personally look into, the containers would preserve what took back with him. Jeremiah agreed with this idea when brought up, and soon the Banescale had also grabbed a couple vials for himself. The portal trip proved uneventful for once. The destination was Yvnael University, an incredibly old school that predated most educational buildings. The portal wasn’t in pristine condition, but unlike any others, there had been no repairs made, making all stone seen original. Even the pedestal and a couple decorative columns made entirely of the same stone circled the portal entrance. While in it’s own room, the portal was certainly public use, though as Zylen left, he spotted where those wishing to use it had to log their use of it and destination, with allowed locations listed next to it. He briefly wondered how many he also was allowed access to, but quickly refocused on why he had come there. A Snapper greeted them both at the university’s exit, acknowledging their positions before discussing the location of the believed art. The nature of the magic surrounding Starwood Strand meant that dragons could wind up lost and confused. The bulky dragon provided them with some basic advice against getting lost, as well as medicinal herbs to help combat the negative effects. Unfortunate that they didn’t get a guide this time, Zylen understood that most had been very wary about approaching where they were headed. As curious as those in Arcane got, most didn’t purposefully endanger themselves in their pursuit of knowledge. Advice in hand, the two of them set off into the sky in search of the nearby clan that had reported the piece. A brief introduction and exchange of names later, they set off into the woods. Warned about the dangers of entering the area from above by locals, Zylen wanted to play it safe. If the area or those within it had proven dangerous, and one method of reaching the area was safer than another, rumored or not, the Fae would rather be safe than sorry. Especially after what had happened to Clancy and Eowyn in the last job Saile assigned. The distance from the clan to the supposed art was a lot shorter than he expected. What he didn’t know how to take in was the clearing it was held in. A literal maze of scorched lines covered the ground, as did many skeletons belonging to wildlife. Zylen made out no dragon bones among the remains, easing some of the stress and tension in his body. What was truly odd was that there was no living plant life. Trees, shrubbery, and grass had all been burned to ash and charcoal, and what hadn’t was long dead, painting the scene in a dreary black, grey, and brown. In the center of the cleary, Zylen could make out some sort of structure, but it was too far away for him to see clearly. Jeremiah appeared to have noticed as well, spreading his wings in preparation to fly over to the object. Zylen was quick to stop him, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he uttered quietly, “Something tells me the air isn’t safe simply because we’ve reached here.” “You and your suspicions,” the Banescale grumbled, “You don’t really think we’re going to walk through that scorched maze do you? We’ll be here all day.” “I’m afraid that might have to be the case,” Zylen scanned the line patterns on the ground, “We should find out how many entrances there are, if there’s more than one.” It was around then that him and Jeremiah both caught on to how quiet the area was compared to the beautifully eerie sounds of the woods they had emerged from. Sure, there were to be less living somewhere devoid of life such as this, but nothing dared to pass through. The Banescale looked skyward in his revelation, Zylen’s eyes following. The two legged dragon then let out an unexpected roar, startling the birds in the trees near them. Most steered clear of the burned area as Zylen expected, but as one dared to pass above, both watched in horror as it suddenly burst into flame, falling to the ground. Soon all that remained was charred bones like those littering the dead grass. Both of them remained silent as they took in what they had experienced. Procuring a piece of paper and ink, Zylen shared a sudden idea aloud with his companion, “I’m going to map the path to the center. If they’re going to send in a demolition party, they may need it.” “No kidding,” the Banescale had already recomposed himself despite what he’d witnessed. He adjusted his satchel, shooting an impatient look at the Fae, “Well, you gonna lead or not?” “Right,” he replied bluntly, taking a moment to get his bearings floating above the ground. Immediately assuming the lines themselves were the danger, the Fae made quick work of locating three entry points. The first quickly ended in two dead ends, but the second showed promise. As he encountered dead ends, he found most usually ended in enclosed symbols, each holding a jar of an unknown liquid. Rarely he’d spot an object floating within, but the largely opaque fluid made it hard to distinguish what they might have been. Many twists and turns later, and the two of them entered the center portion. The lines were absent minus symbols here, which the two wisely avoided. Able to get a better look at what lay in the center, Zylen partially wish the display itself had been surrounded in the same black lines. Carbonized bones of dragons had been partially painted over, carefully arranged, and assembled to resemble an abstract pillar of fire that extended at least thirty feet into the air. Some were suspended through magical means, and the entire sculpture radiated heat. Circling the structure, taking notes of the symbols around it as well as attempting to estimate the number of dragons and breeds used to make it. At some point, he heard Jeremiah speak up, but failed to understand what was said from within his focus. “Sorry, what did you say?” “I said,” Jeremiah made eye contact, “You think we can chip off a piece to bring back?” “I don’t know,” Zylen answered, “Let me try something first before we jump to that conclusion.” Fetching one of his pens from his bag, he slowly moved to touch one of the floating parts of the sculpture, half-expecting it to melt and bubble from an enchantment placed upon it. When he retracted the pen, he found it warm, but intact, although he didn’t risk writing with it anytime soon. “I take that as a yes?” Jeremiah inquired, having watched the Fae. “Yes it is. I’m going to try and sample the paint if you want to get bone chips.” Taking out a metal implement and opening a vial, he gently scraped away at one of the bones. While soot inevitably joined in with the paint he chipped away, recovery was uneventful. The heat was uncomfortable but not unbearable, and nothing he removed ended up affected by the heat. That alone was cause for suspicion, but Zylen took it as a partial positive for their task. When the two finished, they began their trip back through the maze. This time Jeremiah took the lead, using Zylen’s map as reference. After adding missing paths and a few additional notes to make travel easier on the demolition crew that would follow them, the two found the map sufficient, making two extra copies. One was on a larger piece of paper meant for the demolition group, and the second was to be sent off with the eventual job report, the original being kept for the archives. As they turned to leave back into the forest, the sound of something shattering rang out. Zylen, fairly certain what the source was, smacked Jeremiah to get his attention, shouting, “Run!” before dashing deeper into the woods. The Banescale caught onto the warning, dashing forward and ahead of the Fae. Moments later, a massive wave of heat sent him careening into the ground, nearly knocking him unconscious. Jeremiah carefully carried him in his mouth the rest of the way back to the friendly clan. Based on the movements made by the Banescale’s head, he didn’t dare look back, only stopping when they had arrived at the clan’s border. They were approached by the Fae that had given them directions earlier, fans partially raised out of concern. “You guys okay?” “Yeah,” Jeremiah answered as Zylen shakily rose to his feet, grumbling as he noticed his glasses had fallen off and been left behind in the woods. Vision now blurry, he squinted in a poor attempt to better focus. “We’ve made a map that the demolition crew can use when they get here.” “If they’re even needed,” Zylen groaned, “Something tells me you and I just triggered something to destroy the area when we walked out of there.” “Still,” Jeremiah pulled the larger duplicate map from his satchel, offering it to the other Fae, “In case they need it, here’s this.” “Thank you,” the paper was accepted, but as the small dragon put it away, he pulled out an envelope, “I found this addressed to you when I returned to my den. I don’t know who wrote it, or how it got there, but it’s probably best I give it to you.” “Well, um, this isn’t concerning at all,” Jeremiah looked at the envelope with unease, then back at Zylen, “....You wanna grab it?” “Oh come on it can’t be [i]that[/i] awful,” Zylen snagged the letter, showing gratitude to the other Fae with his fans before they flew off. Holding the envelope uncomfortably close to his face, all he found on the front was his and Jeremiah’s names. Instead of ink, the lettering had been lightly scorched into the paper, and the method had made it impossible to pinpoint a breed among the jagged lettering. Using his decorative claw, he cut open the letter, pulling out a lightly scorched sheet of paper. Unfolding it, the two found three sentences. [i]Thanks for participating! I hope you enjoyed the beauty to be found in destruction. I look forward to our next encounter. ~ Ouroboros[/i] “Now this,” Zylen swallowed, “[i]This[/i] is concerning.” -------- @Galehaut @TrashMomma @Spectator @megara17 @Jetdrana @CirrusAscending @Tynethyne With some rest [s]and a bit of procrastinating[/s] I'm done! Took a minute to get back into the flow of this through the soreness I've been dealing with all day, but I'm happy to write this! Elanor demanded immunity again. Apparently she either doesn't believe in fear or has found the secret to not getting marked. At least by trinkets. Today, I introduce a new unseen NPC, as well as an idea I can't wait to bring up so I can flesh out some more. I had a lot of fun coming up with the concept, so like many other things I have planned, I look forward to see it return. [s]Also, Eowyn's gone missing. That's not good.[/s] Anyways, another quick job done. It seems like a one day job, which it kinda is, but since the day before was supposed to be when it was assigned, it technically took two. That means another free day of rest for tomorrow, followed by the next job! Please give me more dragons Pink. I need more dragons I can send out on tasks with Zylen. With Clancy out of commission for the most part, that leaves three dragons. Jaxon and Elanor aren't supposed to leave the mansion that often due to assigned roles, so Jeremiah is most likely to be included now. (Tynethyne, I did see your comment but apparently my response never sent. Thanks for the praise! I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I love this Pinkerlocke too much to just let it die. At most I need to rest like with yesterday because work can be mean sometimes.)

Hey there, could you add me to the ping list? I've been reading your pinkerlocke over the past few days (currently at day 18) and I really enjoy it so far. ^^

@Drachenschwinge
Added! Glad you’re enjoying the Pinkerlocke! I know it’s a lot, but it makes me happy for a table of contents for once. I’ll hopefully have today’s post out decently early as opposed to the late night ones I generally post due to work.

I love reading so I'm actually kind of happy you're writing so much xD Feels like reading a novel.