Day Six:
Crim roll 1/5
The fates decree:
A questionable mercy, a change in tide.
Blackstone, gentle heart that he is, chances his luck and wanders from the settlement in search of food for a hungry Berwyn. With the tiny Mirror tottering out with him, they venture out and find—a nest. Not belonging to any one pair, if Blackstone has to guess; the mixture of hatchlings is a few too many to explain.
Gentle, unthinking, naive heart that he is, he brings the four of them back with him, securing a satchel of assorted foodstuffs along the way. Sirrah nods in approval at the appearance of, to her, potential assets to the settlement.
Dusk, perturbed by the sudden boom in hatchling population, seeks assistance from the nearby village. Word of a sacrifice and a cursed hatchling have reached the ears of the village before her—she returns with marred scales and shaking limbs in place of an ally.
Nocturn looks on with a cold indifference at the conflict between innocent optimism and bloody reality in their would-be village square. From somewhere behind him, the nest of two he had fostered with the Royal begin to stir.
Two more mouths—six more, thanks to Blackstone—to feed. Six more tiny lives hanging in the balance.
By nightfall, the newest hatchlings fail to stir again. Four mouths it is, then. So be it.
End report:
- Apparel roll; in place of a nest as no dragons are eligible to breed, a collection of abandoned hatchlings is found instead:
Sycora,
Corela,
Miyasi,
Meinwen
- Dusk is attacked during an ambassador trip, but survives (does not lose a life)
- Sirrah and Nocturn’s nest of two,
Farain and
Linden, hatch. Neither make it past the first day
Day Seven:
Crim roll 2/5
The fates decree:
A familiar face.
Nothing stops Dusk. While she yet breathes, she will not stop. She will drag herself halfway if she must, but continue on she will—and she does. With uneven wingbeats and pangs of pain lingering from yesterday’s attack, she tries again in the neighbouring village.
They are less keen to chase her out this time. A face in the disinterested crowd lifts above the rest. As the others disperse, a Guardian stands her ground beside an Obelisk who refuses to meet her gaze. Of the two, Dusk recognises the taller dragon as a dissatisfied onlooker from yesterday.
“We know your story,” the Guardian says plainly. “We would join it.”
Her voice does not match the delicate air about her. Dusk approves of her outright.
The Obelisk, though he has yet to say a word, deflates upon entering the would-be kingdom’s borders. A despondent Blackstone huddles with three hatchlings. A Skydancer carries away the limp corpse of a fourth.
Life here will not be easy, and yet life here is the path he has chosen. There’s no turning back now.
End report:
- Familiar roll; a random Obelisk,
Jayce, joins the kingdom
- Dusk’s ambassador trip is successful;
Nakia also joins the kingdom
- Miyasi does not make it
Day Eight:
Crim roll 3/5
The fates decree:
An unrighteous, lopsided duel.
From the scowl in his muzzle and the growing deadened look in his eyes and the cold tone of his voice, they should have known. They should have seen it coming.
The screeches of pain are heard first. A barely-grown Berwyn thrashes under the jaws of Nocturn. By the time Blackstone makes it to the scuffle, the Mirror no longer struggles.
Sirrah is as heartless as her would-be mate. To quell Dusk’s outrage and need for justice, the Royal sends her down a different road in attempt to replace the life that has been lost. It brings only more fury, and her bitterness gets the better of her when it matters most.
Rather than gaining a new ally, Dusk invites a bloody scuffle, and her wounds are grievously reopened.
End report:
- Nocturn kills Berwyn
- Dusk loses a life during an ambassador trip [1 remaining]
Day Nine:
Crim roll 4/5
The fates decree:
A test of strength, loyalty, and will.
The would-be kingdom learns a harsh lesson: neighbouring villages are not the only potential enemies. Opposing dragons are not the only beings whose attention their actions may attract.
A beast clan raids the settlement. Perhaps they’ve caught wind of last week’s sacrifice. Perhaps they’ve merely identified an easy target. With spears to make up for the mercy they lack, chaos rages. Fires burn—both on the ground and in the hearts of those who fight.
In the scramble for survival, some hide. Blackstone guards his hatchlings as best he can, and yet still in the haze of smoke that rolls from the nearby fires, Corela is separated. A Raptorik raises a spear. Blackstone shouts.
Jayce intercepts the strike.
A roar of agony and and determined fury silences the settlement-wide scramble. From a heavy paw, the Raptorik responsible for the spear jutting from the Obelisk’s shoulder falls.
As the tribe retreats, Jayce slumps to the ground beside the immobile hatchling. He turns just enough to face them—and finds they share a similar wound.
“All for nothing,” Nocturn scoffs. “What point is there in playing the hero?”
To lose another hatchling so soon, Blackstone is beside himself with grief. When the dust settles, Dusk barely only finds it in herself to refrain from ending Nocturn herself.
“A life for a life,” Sirrah speaks up from behind her.
The Spiral is almost too stunned to comprehend what’s being said, and so emotionlessly.
“Keep going,” Sirrah tells her. “You’ve a job to do. Go again. Do not look back.”
Overcome with a roiling concoction of rage and despair, Dusk tears from the settlement to the next. She returns unsuccessful with no one new at her side—better alone than with a new scar, and yet still she seethes.
End report:
- Corela is lost during the raid
- Jayce loses a life [2 remaining]
Day Ten:
Crim roll 5/5
The fates decree:
Illness, an uprising.
When requested to venture out in another attempt to recruit another member to the waning kingdom, Dusk feigns loyal compliance. The moment her back is turned, she bares her teeth in a hateful scowl.
She returns not with another dragon, but with secrets.
By nightfall, Sirrah is too weak to move unaided. Poison, Nakia suspects. Claws are pointed at Nocturn—a vengeful, darkened soul as of late. He vehemently denies.
Blackstone has his own suspicions, but not the heart to tell them. Jayce, yet young and dutiful, has no such reservations. From his own sickbed in recovery, he traces the facts back to their true culprit: Dusk herself.
She does not deny it. Nay, she argues her defense, her justification: Sirrah, cruel and heartless Sirrah, is unfit to rule. None save the newcomers necessarily deny it. A tension settles heavy in the air; in a kingdom split evenly down the middle, no one mourns the potential loss of their leader, and no one takes action against the perpetrator.
Some sigh with relief when Sirrah pulls through the night. Some look the other way and hide their grimaces behind their meals.
Blackstone, apart from the turmoil, is forced to bury another hatchling. With wet eyes and a trembling jaw, he pleads Meinwen to make it just one more day. One more night. Let her, at least, the singular survivor of an already forsaken clutch, make it.
End report:
- Dusk attempts to poison the Royal. Sirrah survives, and Dusk is discovered, but escapes punishment
- Sycora does not make it
x4
