Quests & Challenges

@Raptondragon
Bold of you to assume that I don't already have a hungerlocke planned for when I finish this kingdom... IF I finish this kingdom. XD (It's going to be civil war themed, and theoretically if I want I could keep cycling back and forth between Dynastylockes and Warlockes for the rest of eternity.)

@girlofSornieth

OH MY GOODNESS SAGE IS HERE HECK YEAH!!! Is made me almost cry when she mumbled out names of her family, such beautiful writing! Fingers crossed she stays alive in your 'locke!

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/15#post_51638500]Previous[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/16#post_51660778]Next[/url][/center] ----- [center][size=1]@ANT4RES @AngstOnTour @Raptondragon @Petall @SufferingCity @ShiftingFoxx[/size][/center] ----- [center][size=4][b]Tulip's Journal[/b][/size] [i]Day 28[/i] [item=brilliant bobtail squid][item=immaculate tablet][/center] "I think I can see the future," Tristan told me. "That's nice," I said. "Shame you couldn't have warned me about Mict before he, you know, [i]kicked my butt.[/i]" We were in my room, trying to be as quiet as possible around the still-sleeping Guardian and not doing a great job of it. Mostly because I kept groaning; Mict had asked to spar with me in the training hall to let off some steam, and then proceeded to use me as a scrubbing brush for the ground there. Miryam, who was training Tristan on the other side of the room, was less than sympathetic. Tristan was more so, and he'd come to my room to help apply snow to my very sore back. "It doesn't work like that," Tristan said. "It has to be about something big." "Bigger than me getting my butt kicked?" I asked. I didn't have to look at him to feel him roll his eyes at me. "It's like – I see flashes of things," he explained. "Really big things. Like, I had a bad dream before Yseult died, but I thought it was just a dream, you know? And then right before the tower fell, I saw something in my head, like a big bang of red light and Larch was running towards it. At the time I didn't think it was real, but I keep thinking about it and – also, how are you just taking this so calmly? Miryam didn't believe me when I told her." "Miri is a very sensible Tundra," I said. "She hated those fairy tales I used to read to all of you. She said they couldn't be real, so what's the point? I never told her that sometimes real life can be stranger than fiction. Like how my parents might have made my egg after they died." "They did [i]what?[/i]" "S'a long story. I'll tell you about it sometime." Technically, it wasn't in the journal, but I'd done the math on my age and figured it out for myself. I yawned; I was about ready to go for a nap after all that training this morning. "Are you going to tell Ysabel about this? Seems like you've got a useful skill, I'm sure she'd want to know." "I'm not sure," Tristan hummed, sounding thoughtful. "How useful it is, I mean. What's the point of knowing the future if you can't change it? If I could have known a little earlier, maybe I could have stopped Ysabel from sparring and – " I looked back at Tristan when he suddenly froze, and saw the same thing I had seen that day in the graveyard when the tower collapsed. His eyes, as white as mine, somehow turned even whiter for a flash of a second before returning to normal. "Duck," he said. "What?" I asked, before a tail that was neither of ours struck me in the back of the head with so much force that I went flying into the wall. What happened next is still a blur for me. I was halfway knocked out from the impact, Tristan told me afterwards, so it was up to him to wrestle the now-awake stranger back into the nest we'd made for her. He says she is very strong, and it took everything he had to keep her from lashing out at us again. The first thing I remember is my own voice grating out, "Thought you said it had to be bigger than me getting my butt kicked." "Your head is bigger, let's face it," Tristan said. He sounded out of breath. I blinked a few more times, and slowly the three of him standing over the two prone Guardians in the nest resolved into one over one. "Are you okay?" "No," growled a deep voice from the nest. "Get off of me!" "Wasn't talking to you," Tristan informed her. "I was talking to my friend who you so rudely threw into a wall." "I'll do worse if you don't let me go," said the Guardian. She sounded cold, and furious. "Where are you keeping my daughter?" "Listen," I said, once I was steady enough. I padded closer until I was right in front of the other Guardian's face. She kept thrashing around beneath Tristan's weight, and refused to meet my eyes. "I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding," the Guardian snarled, and thrashed harder until Tristan grunted and sat down on her with his entire body. "[i]Misunderstanding![/i] What's there to misunderstand! You're holding me and my daughter prisoner!" "Uh," I said. "First off, we found you alone on the mountain. I don't know about your daughter, but she's definitely not here." The Guardian roared at me, but I kept going. "And second, you're our guest, not our prisoner." The Guardian sneered. "Do you always keep your guests in the dark? What, are you afraid I might see your face?" "What do you mean, there's plenty of light and I'm standing right here in front of – " And then I looked closely at her face for the first time, and that's when I realized that this Guardian wasn't avoiding my gaze on purpose. Her eyes, a smoky gray color I had never seen on any dragon before, kept flitting past me in either direction, trying to pinpoint my location based on my voice and never finding it. She was blind. Iorwen soon joined us; she'd heard all the emotional noise, and had come running armed with several sleeping potions. We got them into the Guardian with Tristan's help, and finally she calmed down enough for Iorwen to telepathically explain the situation before she fell back asleep. Iorwen doesn't think the Guardian was blind before she came here, since all her thoughts can be seen in full color, but she doesn't know if the condition is permanent. She also can't explain the color of the Guardian's eyes. It's like she lost all of her elemental magic, or it was drained from her. Miryam refuses to come within ten feet of my room, saying the Guardian still reeks of death. I wonder if it isn't death, but something else. Mict thinks I might be right, because he's heard of something like this before, but it happened a long time ago and occurred very far away from here. He says he'll try to do some research in the library tomorrow, with Miryam and Tristan to guard him, on what he refers to as "the Shade." I might help him, or I might not. It depends on whether or not this headache I got from headbutting the wall goes away by tomorrow. I'm going to sleep now. Ow. ~ T. [center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/8943dc8281f741582a319f116b63f3c9/tumblr_inline_nl9cnutn5W1qb2yyz.png[/img][/center] [list][*][color=royalblue]daily teacher training = tristan & miryam +1 level[/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]tristan 15[/color] [*][color=royalblue]miryam 13[/color][/list] [*][color=royalblue]food = coliseum time![/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]seafood = 35 battles[/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]tristan +1 level (tulip & mictlantecuhtli +0 levels)[/color][/list][/list] [*][color=royalblue]trinket = daily roll![/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]rolled a 11 = I quit![/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]random dragon = 7 (tristan)[/color] [*][color=royalblue]tristan job roll = 19 (soothsayer)[/color][/list][/list][/list] [color=royalblue]Tristan outgrew the questionable life choices he made in his youth, hooray! And what a job he rolled for now. Never had a Soothsayer before, so this will be interesting. He's also one of the few dragons without extra lives at the moment, so I am definitely going to reserve his special skill for dire needs only. [s]Yseult could've used a Soothsayer haha[/s] Today's coli run was Tulip and Tristan duking it out in the Scorched Forest. They got some good XP, but man. That was hard. Had a few close calls, but Mict was a real VIP and kept healing everyone just before they got KO'ed. I need more scratchers, because I keep randomly getting Mict on my team and it throws off where I can fight and still gain some experience for the babies. Hope everyone has had and is having a good Brightshine week! Lightweaver hates me so much, she only gives me chests after I already spent an hour grinding for the alternative pass items and am on the last item AND THEN THE CHEST IS A DOUBLE OF WHAT I ALREADY HAVE. So, par for every BSJ I've had so far, really. *fistshake* No wonder Ivrai left that place. [b]replies:[/b] @/Petall :DDD I AM PRAYING FOR HER CONTINUED WELLBEING! Especially since I'm taking her story so slow, lmao. I'm using the time to reread her old lore entries in your 'locke, and I'm falling in love with her all over again. <3[/color] ----- [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/15#post_51638500]Previous[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/16#post_51660778]Next[/url][/center]

@girlofSornieth
One of your dragons is just radiating luck like a beacon, I know it
Ooooo possible shade stuff? I do be exited

@girlofSornieth

OMG OMG OMG OMG I LOVE THIS TURN OF EVENTS FOR SAGE, IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE GIVEN HOW SHE EXITED MY 'LOCKE!!! I can't wait to see more!!!!!

@Raptondragon
I think the line of Yseult is blessed by Azimyth. ;) Also, the 'locke that Sage is from is the origin of the Shade plot, I recommend giving it a read!

@Petall
:DDDD AAAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am trying to make it as smooth a transition from yours to mine as possible, so I'm very very happy that it's working for you so far <3

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/16#post_51651731]Previous[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/17#post_51668990]Next[/url][/center] ----- [center][size=1]@ANT4RES @AngstOnTour @Raptondragon @Petall @SufferingCity @ShiftingFoxx[/size][/center] ----- [center][size=4][b]Tulip's Journal[/b][/size] [i]Day 29[/i] [item=red-crested tweeter][item=immaculate tablet][/center] When I was still a hatchling, Yseult was very careful to map out multiple contingency plans should the kingdom ever fall victim to a disaster, natural or otherwise, or even an attack by beast clans like what happened when I was hatched. It was drilled into all of us, and we practiced it as part of our daily training. I don't think I could forget it if I tried. Protect the hatchlings. Protect the weak. Defend the kingdom, but do not be ashamed to flee if needed, because the kingdom will not survive without us alive. The problem is that Yseult never planned for what we should do in the event of Him attacking Us. We should never have buried him with the others. We forgot, in our grief, that while there are no other Imperials who've died in our kingdom, Gwenivere and her unhatched sibling shared half of his Imperial blood. And that is how we woke this morning to the very earth shaking beneath our feet as a three-headed creature clawed its way out of the ground. Yseult's head was in the middle, still mostly recognizable and undamaged. On either side of him were his two children. Bogsneak heads on an Emperor look very very strange, but Yseult's magic aura was apparently strong enough to make the disparate pieces function as one. I recognized Gwenivere, barely, but the other one was much smaller and half-melted from whatever happened to it in the egg; both heads had no life left in their eyes, as opposed to Yseult's that burned blood red with a fiery, hellish rage. It was such a terrible sight. I will never forget seeing the Emperor, once our king, storm through our courtyard and crush most of our storehouse to smithereens. [s]He[/s] They were twice as large in death as they were in life, and none of us were big enough to do much damage to him. There was Tristan and I, and Miryam, and Talulah who was laughably small as she divebombed Yseult's head in an attempt to distract them. Not even Ysabel was big enough, even if she hadn't blanched and hid herself in the inn at the sight of her dead father and sister. No one blamed her, as I'm sure we all would have done the same in her place. Iorwen stayed with her, protecting the eggs and patients inside; and Mict was outside the inn, frantically warding it should the worst come to worst – which it looked like it was quickly coming to, because three young dragons plus one Harpy were not nearly enough of a defense against a furious Emperor. The tide didn't turn until Larch at last dragged himself out of the inn with his forepaws alone. Even without hind legs strong enough to bear his weight, he held his ground and spread his crumpled wings and screamed into the Emperor's faces as it advanced on us. Maybe the Emperor was cowed by the appearance of something so similar to itself. Maybe Yseult, even in death, remembered the voice and face of his old friend. Whatever the reason, the creature took heed of Larch's warning call and lumbered away, smashing our front gate to pieces as it made its way down the mountain. I'm sorry to anyone unlucky to live below us, but there wasn't much we could do. We're just glad that it isn't our problem anymore. "For now," Larch had wheezed as we helped him back into the inn. His useless back legs left twin trails in the dirt behind him; Iorwen was never sure if he would be able to walk or fly again after the tower fell on him, and this comes as close to answering that question as we've ever seen. "He might be back if he still thinks of this as his home. Also, Tulip, please remember – if anything happens to me, I want my body burned as soon as possible." I promised him that I would, and he happily passed out as soon as we got him back to his room and into his mother's worried care. Tristan was knocked out cold by a single swing of the Emperor's tail, and he still hasn't woken up yet. Miryam managed to keep her distance from the worst of it, but Yseult's head sent a breath of magic so foul that she almost immediately came down with some kind of pustulent illness and has quarantined herself in her room. I can hear Ysabel sobbing down the hall, and Iorwen's fear from the day's events is telepathically spreading through the rest of us. And then there's me. I've been trying not to think about it, but I came as close to dying today as I ever have before. I was dodging the same tail swipe that knocked out Tristan, and ran right into the Emperor's claws in my haste. I remember screaming in agony. I remember lying on the ground, dazed, unable to move from the horrific pain in my side, and certain that at any moment Yseult's giant rotting paws would drop on me and squash me out of my misery. But instead, a different weight stumbled on top of me. I felt something paw at me blindly before draping itself over me and shielding me from the rest of the battle and from any falling stonework thrown about in the Emperor's path. It was the new Guardian. She must have woken up because of all the noise, and had followed the sounds and the screams outside, and had found me. I don't know if it was on accident or on purpose, because she never told me. She only hummed a low, soothing note into my ear, until my pain subsided enough for me to get up again, and then she followed me without a word as I guided her back to the safety of the inn before I rejoined the fight. By the time I limped back to my room after helping clean up some of the damage the Emperor left behind, the Guardian was asleep. Iorwen had already patched up the few injuries my protector had received while shielding me, all thankfully superficial, and had given her another sleeping potion. I wanted to ask this stranger why she saved me, but maybe it's for the best this way. If she were awake, I might've been tempted to ask for permission to curl up beside her and bask in her warmth for a bit while I licked my wounds. I'm not going to now, obviously. I'm not a creep. But for some reason, I have a feeling her answer would have been yes. ~ T. [center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/8943dc8281f741582a319f116b63f3c9/tumblr_inline_nl9cnutn5W1qb2yyz.png[/img][/center] [list][*][color=royalblue]daily teacher training = ysabel +1 level[/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]ysabel 14[/color][/list] [*][color=royalblue]food = coliseum time![/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]meat = 50 battles[/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]tristan & miryam +2 levels, larch +1 level[/color] [*][color=royalblue]larch +1 apparel[/color][/list][/list] [*][color=royalblue]trinket = daily roll![/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]rolled a [s]10[/s] 14 = emperor stampede! (no dragons qualified for boot camp)[/color][list] [*][color=royalblue]ysabel 2[/color] [*][color=royalblue]larch 3[/color] [*][color=royalblue]mictlantecuhtli 9[/color] [*][color=royalblue]tulip 7[/color] [*][color=royalblue]miryam 5[/color] [*][color=royalblue]iorwen 1[/color] [*][color=royalblue]tristan 2[/color] [*][color=royalblue]sage 1[/color][/list][/list][/list] [color=royalblue]AND THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS WHY YOU DO NOT BURY AN IMPERIAL KING RIGHT BEHIND YOUR STOREHOUSE. Man, this was a hard update to write for some reason. I was all set to write more Sage/Tulip, but then BAM Pinkerton decided to throw a wrench right in my face. Because he still has no chill. The joke's on him, I wrote Sage/Tulip anyway. :p And no one died! Hurrah! Good job, me, maybe my dice rolling skills are improving. More coliseum time today! Never had so many food items in a row before, but look at me not complaining. The younguns are moving up in the world, Larch saved everyone in the Scorched Forest thanks to his Eliminate, and he even got some fancy spiky shoulder guards to boot. Gotta get more grinding in before BSJ is over, and oh god I just realized that our characters never celebrated the festival in-story. Unless you count the sudden appearance of a Light Flight problem as a Brightshine reference. *head in hands*[/color] ----- [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/16#post_51651731]Previous[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3140606/17#post_51668990]Next[/url][/center]

An emperor attack, what a great way to celebrate Brightshine! Luminax would be proud!

@Petall
XD If you look at Yseult right now, he's doing a bit of a Luminax cosplay...

[quote name="girlofSornieth" date="2022-07-02 23:10:21" ] @/Petall XD If you look at Yseult right now, he's doing a bit of a Luminax cosplay... [/quote] @girlofSornieth Aw. *Pats his rotting undead heads* Your dragons must be doing something right, they did better with an Emperor attack than a plague! Ysabel really has her work cut out for her, though, once she can finally catch a break, and poor Tulip just keeps ending up a punching bag. At least "unnamed Guardian" is starting to help her with that, rather than contributing now