Quests & Challenges

[CENTER][b]HEXLOCKE[/B] [size=1]Link back to main [p] thread: [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3038258/1#post_3038258]x[/url][/size] Hi! This is my first attempt at a pinkerlocke! At any sort of -locke, actually. So, um. Heartbreak ahead? Originally I had this in my general personal quests thread, but most folk seem to create seperate threads for their -lockes, and I get why. This is already a labour of love and writing (though not [i]extremely[/i] lore heavy...yet anyway) and it's definitely gonna need the space to grow. I'm following the pinkerlocke rules from [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/1904162#post_1904162]this[/url] thread, with the exception that if I'm feeling particularly inspired I'll use crim pulls too. So - welcome! To Hexlocke. I'm honoured you've checked out my thread :) ------ [u][i]Directory[/u][/i][/center] [columns] [LIST] [*] Clan Roll Call [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692246]x[/url] [*] Clan Graveyard [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692251]x[/url] [*] Days Survived Diary [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692257]x[/url] [*] Growing Pains [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_53515831]x[/url] [/list] [nextcol][list][*]'Royal Contempt' [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52785013]x[/url][*]'Terran Tonic' [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692259]x[/url] [*]Banked [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692260]x[/url] [*] Andros Art [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_54763476]x[/url] [/LIST] [nextcol][list][*]x [*] x [*] x [*] x [/list]

[CENTER][b]HEXLOCKE - CLAN ROLL CALL[/B] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/1904162#post_1904162][emoji=ancient size=1][/url] ------ [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/79848868][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/798489/79848868.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/76414436][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/764145/76414436.png[/img][/url] [i]original founders[/i] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/82035568][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/820356/82035568.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/82371445][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/823715/82371445.png[/img][/url]

[center][b]HEXLOCKE - GRAVEYARD[/b] --------- [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/81584377][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/815844/81584377.png[/img][/url][nextcol][emoji=gloom tile size=1] [nextcol]Perished through valiant battle, day one.[/columns] [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/82371447][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/823715/82371447.png[/img][/url][nextcol][emoji=gloom tile size=1] [nextcol]Succumbed to heatstroke as a hatchling.[/columns] [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/82323750][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/823238/82323750.png[/img][/url][nextcol][emoji=gloom tile size=1] [nextcol]Died in battle.

[CENTER][B]HEXLOCKE - DAYS SURVIVED[/CENTER][/B] [columns][IMG]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/food/124.png[/IMG][nextcol]Day One. [i]Establishment of the clan, through necessity if nothing else. Fortune brought Berwyn, Andros, and Poppet together as they fought tooth and claw through heaving, snarling crowds of beasts bearing down on them, pouring out of the tree line like a never ending tide. Unfortunately, not all can survive the trials of the world...and those left alive have no choice but to lick their wounds and carry on. A tenuous tie remains between Andros and Berwyn.[/columns] -------- [columns]Day Two. [i]Dawn lightens the sky, slowly. Battle wounds heal even slower. Injured and nursing distrust, yet bound together by fighter's luck, Andros and Berwyn take the day to learn about one another. As much as mostly-still-strangers can, they develop a tentative sense of true alliance.[/i] Short bios added, reflective of their relationship. [nextcol][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/trinket/10222.png[/img][/columns] ------------- [columns][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/food/13397.png[/img] [nextcol]Day Three. [i]Healed. Enough to move at least, slowly and laboriously. Straggling monsters nip at their heels, but Andros proves capable of killing them with ruthless efficiency. Berwyn, leg worryingly uncooperative, makes do with flanking attacks. It sets him on edge, but most things do. Evening sinks its warm fingers into the sky as the duo stagger, slightly worse for wear than that morning, into a scraggly clearing. It'll suffice for the night. Neither are sure where they're headed, anyway.[/columns] ------------- [columns]Day Four. [i] The clearing is bigger than they thought. It tunnels through undergrowth, broadening into a wide open cave of sorts, surrounded by the thick trunks of dark trees, and covered overhead by a warm thicket of brambles, moss, and dead leaves. Small bundles of bioluminescent plant matter cast dim light. Andros thinks they've ended up in Shadow territory. Berwyn thinks it's better not to ask. The day is spent turning it somewhat liveable. Any den is better than none. The question of them separating is not brought up.[/i] Portraits added to bios. [nextcol][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/trinket/16439.png[/img][/columns] ---------- [columns][item=high-voltage almonds] [nextcol]Day Five. [i]The glade-cave is safe but utterly scare of food. Left with no choice, Berwyn and Andros return to the outside world. The exit tunnel they take is different from the one they entered in, narrow enough Andros has to wiggle through, uncomfortable and pinched. The monsters in these deeper woods are...different. Tougher. Meaner. Berwyn's leg, still, won't move. He jokes fights would be easier if they just cut it off. Andros doesn't laugh.[/columns] ------------ [columns]Day Six. [i] Their glade-cave is almost beginning to look passable. Berwyn is beginning to look...peaky. There is a pulsing infection rooting itself deep in his injured foreleg. He attempts another scathing joke: at least it's not my dominant side. Andros still doesn't laugh. If it gets any worse, she says, we might have to cut it off. We have no medical supplies, she continues. I'll have to castrate it with fire. Berwyn laughs; then sleeps.[/i] Writing added [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692259]here[/url]. [nextcol][item=bottled bones][/columns] -------------- [columns][item=extinguished jackalope] [nextcol]Day Seven. [i]While morning brings little light to the body of their glade-cave, frequently it brings other surprises. Today: a [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_52692259]healing paste[/url] like none Berwyn has seen before (though he makes no mention, beyond gratefully catching Andros's eye), and a hatchling. It stumps them both. The child is a curious thing, and abandoned. Gleefully, in stuttered starts and stops, the hatchling tells them how it tumbled through the tunnel last night, after following Andros home. They have no choice but to take it in; Lertor won't leave them even after being fed. [/columns] ------------- [columns]Day Eight. [i]Another mouth means more food - means more time spent prowling around the dangerous woods outside their den, scavenging for what they can. Beasts are hard to avoid. Andros takes a heavier beating than she'd like, but notes with some relief that Berwyn's leg moves easier than it did the day before. They don't return until enough fish is found to satisfy even Lertor's endless pit of a stomach. The hatchling's ambitious plans to accompany them out tomorrow are, to his eternal disappointment, shut down. [nextcol][item=Stonecorn][/columns] -------------- [columns][item=depleted sacridite] [nextcol]Day Nine.[i] Just as hatchlings are wont to do, Lertor grows at an increasingly rapid pace. In line with his appetite, the young dragon doubles his weight each day, perpetually wobbly and gangly-looking. Along with this physical change comes an internal one; slowly, Lertor grows into himself. [/i]Short bio added for [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/82035568]Lertor[/url].[/columns] --------- [columns]Day Ten. [i] A sense of normalcy settles over the den, the blur of day-on-night punctuated only by the ruckus of a growing Lertor. Luckily (or unluckily), he isn't short on it. Fuelled by indignation and hormones, an uprising is attempted, watched, and squashed. Delicate strings are tested, and found strong enough to last. [nextcol][item=toridae chew toy][/columns] ------- [columns][item=leon mask] [nextcol]Day Eleven. [i]In a surprisng turn of events, Berwyn turns out to be humorous. Or rather, he likes to think he is. With three now fully grown (or near enough to) dragons, their once cozy den was starting to feel a little...cramped. Loathe to move, and realising the debris walls extended further into the undergrowth than first realised, the trio began to hollow out private cubbies and smaller rooms off the main chamber. Though a dirty and somewhat rough going process, it was rewarding in more ways than one. Buried, forgotten treasures were unearthed as silt and dirt crumbled away from the walls - one of which, a gleaming leon mask. Berwyn took great joy in comparing it to the long-suffering Andros, declaring them twins.[/i] Art added for Andros.[/columns] ------ [columns]Day Twelve. [i]It's a bit of an irrefutable fact that in life, nature will find its way. Some dragons might wax poetic about frogs, others about fish, and some will even bring up these...dinosaur creatures, to the great confusion of those around them. But, no matter the metaphor, it's generally true. Just - sometimes, nature finds its way, and neither dragons want to ever talk about how it happened ever again, thank you. No, Andros, stop looking at me.[/i] Nested Berwyn and Andros. [nextcol][item=Pink Daisy Cabbie][/columns] ---------- [columns][item=ram] [nextcol]Day Thirteen. [i]Dawn breaks the sky over the shadow lands; weak, hazy rays of white light filter through the murk, and it only seems to highlight the gloom and doom of the surrounds rather than cast away the darkness. The land is still with anticipation. Creatures rustle in the bushes - then scatter, a quiet [/i]poof[i] of air and breath and adrenaline. The very trees seem to hold their breath as, from the underbrush, three unlikely dragons prowl out into the woods, wisps of darkness clinging to them. One in particular seems to be vibrating with tense excitement, teeth bared long and sharp in the dim light. Finally - Lertor's day has come. [/i][/columns] ----------- [columns]Day Fourteen. [i]Young dragons are prone to mistakes; for all of Lertor's pride, he is but newly grown. Showing up with a nest in tow from an ill-advised tumble is, in all honesty, something Berwyn and Andros should have expected. Still, it takes a while for balance to be restored. In the meantime - careful claws and eyes watch over fragile, precious eggs. [nextcol][item=Blue Birdskull Headdress][/columns] ------------- [columns][item=Fractured Tusk] [nextcol]Day Fifteen. [i]With two nests ready to crack, their den - recently expanded as it is - will soon be overrun with hatchlings of all sorts (Lertor remains tight lipped about his ill-advised fling). Even the premature loss of some eggs, a fact of nature Berwyn and Andros take stoically, do not change the incoming tide of scales, scampering claws and whiny brats. Berwyn takes it upon himself to dig a hatchling den.[/i] Writing added [x].[/columns] -------------------------- [columns]Day Sixteen. [i]Even as an adult, Lertor still grows steadily into his appearance. As haughty now as he was as a child (if slightly more gracious about it), Lertor picks dramatically over his appearance. Royal blue beeswax (sourced [i]only[/i] from the best arcane traders he stumbles across) becomes his new best friend. Finding yourself is hard when you're a young dragon who lives in a dirt hole with two much older adults, and have hatchlings on the way. [/i] Art for Lertor added. [nextcol][item=Demise of the Big Game Hunter][/columns] --------------------------------------- [columns][item=hematite] [nextcol]Day Seventeen.[i]The nursery - hollowed and hallowed, stuffed full of soft, prickly materials and the warm thrum of hatching eggs - has become the new nexus of their den. Lertor, Berwyn, and Andros all take their turns guarding the nests with a sharp eye. As only fitting, Berwyn and Andros are mid-switch off when their nest starts rocking with the wild energy of waking hatchlings. Andros is only glad she'd managed to finish the batch of hematite trinkets just in time.[/i][/columns] -------------------------- [columns]Day Eighteen. [i]With two new mouths to feed, and growing ones at that, food seems to slip through their ever-graspnig claws. Time is not kind, and nature will halt for no struggles. It seems to have been only a matter of hours before the adult dragons have no choice but to leave the hatchlings unattended while they hunt. Luckily, the far off crow of a Tolbunt Rooster signals that perhaps, food is closer than they thought. [nextcol][item=Tolbunt Rooster][/columns] --------------- [columns][item=desert diadem] [nextcol]Day Nineteen. [i]They name the two new hatchlings Dorre and Lorus. Both are healthy and hearty, eating all that they put before them. Fitting for the season they hatched in, if not a bit...disquieting for the surprisingly squeamish Berwyn, Lorus seems to be fascinated with the swarms of insects that swamp the world at this time of the year. Rooting around for crawlies in the dirt unearths a particularly shiny desert diadem. It's successfully pawned off for some stores of food.[/i] Art for Lorus added.[/columns] ----------------------- [columns]Day Twenty. [i]Lertor's nest hatches - two more healthy hatchlings join their growing clan. Dorre and Lorus are slyly put to work 'digging more room!' with podid claws while the three adults fuss over the baby dragons. Lertor is (rather reluctantly) emotional over the two hatchlings that bear the colour of his scales. He doesn't leave their side all evening. Andros hopes it will curb his irrational need to prove himself while hunting.[/i] [nextcol][item=common podid claws][/columns] ------------------- [columns][item=bubbly buddy] [nextcol]Day Twenty-One. [i]The four hatchlings get along like a house on fire. Though only three days older, the rapid growth rate of dragons sees Berwyn's clutch take on the role of an older sibling (yet, ones still endearingly young and gangly themselves). The terrible foursome take every opportunity they can to dodge the watchful eyes of the adults. Lertor is mortified when he confines his frustrations to his fellow adults, only to realise that he was far, far worse when Andros starts to laugh.[/i]Art for the two new hatchlings added.[/columns] ------------------- [columns]Day ??? [i]The heat crept up on them. Like an putrid exhale from the Plague beast herself, a dull blanket of sweltering[/i]warmth[i] covered the land. The dull buzz of flies and opportunistic insects became a sickening symphony as plants, dragons, and beasts alike succumbed, one by frail one to the unceasing humidity of a forest under sun-glare. The burgeoning clan became grateful for the relative cool their semi-underground den provided; and sickened, when hardening clay and mud moved from blissful relief to stifling hotbox. It was the hatchlings that were most affected. To the grief of all the adults, only 2 of their 4 survived - Azuolas, and Lorus. Neither Andros or Berwyn had ever stayed anywhere long enough, until now, to have a home - and now the fickle hands of fate had given them a graveyard, too. A little more hardened, and a little more tightknit, the newly titled HEXLOCKE clan face Sorneith two dragons stronger.[/i] [nextcol][item=ruffled extract][/columns] ------------------------------------------------- [columns][item=honeycomb fragment] [nextcol] [i]Slowly, the heat blanketing the land lifted. Critters and beasties of all sorts began to emerge from the shade, blinking wearily at the sky and shaking off the lethargic aura that had subsumed them for so long. Hexlocke were no different; as soon as it were safe to venture outside for more than minutes, Berwyn and Andros began to run logistics. Hiding from the sun for such length of time, even the moon on those particularly stifling days had taken its toll. Beside the near permanence sun grimace they now wore, the food stocks were....startlingly low. It was time to hunt. Lertor volunteered to take Azuolas and Lorus out; their first hunt. But nature is cruel, and the young dragons were weakened from weeks of sunstroke. Azuolas only lasted moments. [/columns] ------------------------------------ [columns][i]The death of one so young sent the clan back into semi-isolation. Lertor in particular grieved the loss of his hatchling, taken from him before he could ever shine in his role as a father. The clan fed on what food Lertor and Lorus had brought back, and bid their time while their strength slowly came back. [/i] [nextcol][item= barnacle-encrusted relic][/columns] ---------------------- [columns][item=orthoclase] [nextcol][i]The death of a clan member is always hard, even for dragons who were only there long enough to begin to know. A sad, dreary melancholy descends on the dragons; to have survived the harsh summer, and fall to the coliseum seems a cruel joke from Sorneith itself. There are only meagre benefits to be found in the rubble Azuolas left behind - Lorus took it upon themself to learn combat magic, figuring it combat that got Azuolas killed; and Berwyn told Andros about the dearth of the damage to his leg.[/i]

[b][size=4]Terran Tonic[/b][/size] [size=1]return to directory: [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_3183853]x[/url][/size] At night, the glade-cave sweltered with heat. Layers of rotting, moist detritus cradled them from in from all sides, and Andros could feel the sweat matting the fur to the back of her neck. Berwyn didn't know how easy he had it, with his glossy scales and birdlike bones. Heat like this - dark, tight spaces like this - were what he was built for. Sculpted by the hands of the Shadowmother herself to live in conditions just like it. And yet, Andros had to admit, his meagre weight was working against him tonight. Even from some distance away, she could practically see how the infection taking over Berwyn's foreleg pulsed and glowed with with a vicious, seething anger. Andros feared she would never be able to wash that day from her eyes. It was so...primal, so full of fear and frantic and bloodrage. If she concentrated hard enough, she could recall with perfect clarity the way that webwing had first torn apart Poppet and then descended on Berwyn with a terrifying shriek. How he'd been to slow to dodge. Too distracted tossing Andros a health potion, to move away from the webwing's razor beak and unforgiving claws. Andros would certainly never forgive herself if Berwyn lost his leg because he had been helping her. To say what she said earlier - that she might have to [i]amputate[/i] - her own lack of manners appalled her. Surely, surely, this is not how her mother had taught her to behave. She may not have picked up on the same medical skills, may not be able to wield bandages as well as she could her claws but -- There has to be something she can find. Anything that might help. [center][item=bottled bones][item=bottled bones][item=bottled bones][/center] It looked odd, that much Andros could admit. To an unknowledgeable eye, it looked like a lumpy, coarse clay, and probably something that would make an infection [i]worse[/i] rather than better. But truly, Andros felt nothing short of smug looking at it. She had been unsure it first, seeing the pink glow filter through the silt of a murky river. Unsure, and disbelieving. If it was -- if she had really found it, here of all places -- Well. She had. Maybe their luck was turning around after all. Bottled bones of this ilk, infused with magic and fermented through eons, were...potent, one could say. In the wrong hands, they were deadly. In the right, nothing short of a cure all cast. Her mother's had been the right hands. Andros supposed [i]hers[/i] were the right hands now, too. She just hoped Berwyn didn't do something so gauche as thank her when he woke up. The mortification alone might finish them both off.

[size=4][b]Royal Contempt[/b][/size] [size=1]return to directory: [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853/1#post_3183853]x[/url][/size] Rules - when created without Lertor's input - were worthless. Inadequate. [i] Impractical[/i] one could even say. What was the point - the purpose! - of creating a rule forbidding Lertor - [i]Lertor![/i] - from doing an activity that he knew he was good at. Had, in fact, objective evidence of excelling in. All because, what, he was still a youngling? This awful, middling time between hatchling and adult? Lertor was a smart dragon. A strong dragon. One very, very capable of venturing out with Andros and Berwyn for hunting, if you asked him, which Lertor fervently wished everyone would. Instead of just...assuming that because he wasn't [i]fully grown[/i] (or whatever) he was some sort of 'liability'. Okay, so, yes, there was that time where he had snuck out one night behind Berwyn and nearly got them both beheaded by that giant plant monster. And, right, Lertor could admit that that [i]other[/i] time he tried to follow Andros and ended up tripping over a root and snapping one of his claws was painful(ly embarrassing). But!! But. Lertor would not be swayed by the foolish actions of his younger self. He was different now. Quick. Shrewd. [i]On the ball[/i], as it were. Andros and Berwyn will bow at his feet for the haul -for the [i]bounty[/i] - he will bring in from the wilds. [center][item=toridae chew toy][item=toridae chew toy][item=toridae chew toy][/center] There are some rules, Lertor reflected, wisely, that ought to exist and be followed. This was an irreputable fact. One of them: don't wake Andros before sunrise. This surely is a universally acknowledged command. One does not simply [i]wake[/i] Andros, and if one does, then one better be prepared to have the sky come down on their head. World balance can only be maintained with 8 hours of noninterrupted rest, Andros told Lertor, and the young dragon has taken it as gospel ever since. Another: always floss your teeth. Lertor would not consider himself [i]vain[/i] (overly much anyway) but he had a certain appreciation for his appearance. A dragon as smart, strong, and wise and himself should always reflect that outwardly too. Or so Andros told him anyway, when she helped him learn to polish his scales. And of course: don't disturb a toridae. Or if you do, hope and pray to your god that it is not a teething one. Admittedly, Lertor was not informed of this one [i]per say[/i] but he overhead Andros saying it sternly, authoritatively, to Berwyn one night. And what Andros says, goes. Which perhaps should have applied to the rule about not leaving the den to go 'foolishly hunt down your death for your pride', as Andros has put it. Lertor, as a wise and shrewd and on the ball young dragon, can admit his mistakes. No matter the sting to his pride. And this was certainly a [i]mistake[/i] - stuck as he is in a tidepool with nipping, snarling toridae nibbling the precious polish off his scales. It was only Andros - Andros who had noticed him leave, followed him, allowed Lertor to step into this mess in amusement and disdain - that saved Lertor from having the toridae nibble through the polish and right to his scales itself. Only Andros who was able to banish the toridae with an irritable whip of her tail while Lertor cowed behind her considerable bulk. Only Andros, scooping him up roughly in her claws, that was able to remember the short and winding path home while Lertor shivered miserably and dripped muddied water to the ground. It was to only Andros that Lertor apologised to later, having spent the evening huddled up beside Berwyn in miserable exile. In a feat of incredible strength (maturity! growth! emotional vomit!) Lertor threw himself at the feet of Andros and mumbled his sorries into the dirt, grudging and pleading all at once. To Lertor's immense relief (though of course he wasn't afraid, that's such a [i]hatchling[/i] thing to do) Andros merely hauled him up, dusted him off briskly. There was a fondly exasperated look in her eyes, though when she spoke it was edged with a steel that Lertor yearned to have in his own. "Perhaps now," Andros said. "You will realise that your royal contempt gets you nowhere. Work with us Lertor, or you will not work with me at all."

Growing Pains return to directory: x

Rock scraped under claw, damp dirt clinging thickly to dark scales. Berwyn's leg lagged under him like a wooden weight. Though it no longer pained him, and moved well enough, he had neglected to tell Andros the feeling that was quickly draining from the limb. As long as it worked, Berwyn didn't care how little he felt.

As long as he could move, it was...fine. At night, a roiling, tingling sensation plagued his leg, catching him off guard in seizures as sleep attempted to roll him away on it's dark waves. This work was good. Distracting. Let him ignore the odd, twitching that was both sensation and non-sensation, a hellish limbo that left him sweating and numb.

Let him ignore the reality of what this digging was for too. Berwyn had never thought he'd have hatchlings. The idea was...conflicting. A burden. Mouths to feed, slowing down the clan, slowing down him. And yet. Hatchlings are sly, cunning things. Easily trained, with sharp eyes and sharper teeth. A menace, yes, but the promise of a worthwhile companion, always. It made him nervous, to have yet more dependants land in their claws. Berwyn had never meant to stay this long. Him and Andros had never meant to stay here this long.

Not that they had any other plan. Or he.

The dirt was a cold and soft comfort under his claws. It crumbled away easily, eagerly.

[size=5][b]Andros Art[/b][/size] [size=1]return to directory: [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3183853#post_3183853]x[/url][/size] [br][left][img]https://i.imgur.com/6X34kAA.png[/img][br] ----------------- [br][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QHHWgj1.png[/img]