Quests & Challenges

[center][size=6]A Necrolocke.[/size] [size=1]because I couldn't fit it in the title lol[/size] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3256321/1#post_3256321][img]https://imgur.com/9b6LIHi.png[/img][/url] [i]There are many who come to the Cauldron to seek the trials of a Necromancer. Some come from a call, the need to serve Mother. Some come for power, wishing for what comes after. Yet, some still come for stranger reasons; as [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/89774991]one[/url] has chosen to put it, the raw catharsis of living. Reguardless of why they seek the Trials, they will all sit by the cauldron the same. They will either thrive, or die trying.[/i] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2889155#post_44070693][img]https://i.imgur.com/1pnNVUm.png[/img][/center][/url] [b]Festering Mirth and Boiling Blood[/b] is my own personal necrolocke log, and will contain a multitude of different individuals with different reasonings. ...I'm going to do my best to flip between them somewhat evenly, but generally I'm splitting my dragons up into three different starting groups: [LIST] [*]Festering Mirth: Peculiar dragons who follow Kessler's unorthodox rationale, coming not for power but for the catharsis of life and kinship of survival. Many who choose to become Necromancers are doing so to fill a gap in their soul, to try and tether themselves closer to the Wasteland that feels more like home. Some will leave to join Kessler's wandering, while others may choose to seek out other Factions. [*]Boiling Blood: Dragons seeking out power and strength from the Trials. May be a single-minded desire for strength, or may be born from a worse outcome. They want the infection to turn them inside-out and harden them from within. [*]Joy of the Mother: The much more usual participants, those who seek to become Necromancers from devotion to the Plaguebringer. Likely hoping to join other clans and steer them towards Mother. [/LIST] I'll be doing this [b]one at a time[/b], and if they die they die. Such is the way of the trials. I do [b]not[/b] plan on doing any hatchling runs, but I'll probably buy fodder hatchlings to use for this and just wait for them to grow up. I'm going to write so much lore for dragons who are definitely going to die. Feel free to make comments and other posts on this thread! I'd love to hear thoughts as I go through this :] [b]As per new (experimental) interaction rules, I will [i]not[/i] be using accelerated days, but I will try to interact back if you are running one!![/b] [i]Click on the various art bits to see where I got it from ! If you need the rules for the Necrolocke, click on the first image![/i] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/frd/2101626#post_25233541][img]https://40.media.tumblr.com/984e6ee95848d39ddae1486a8b4b7731/tumblr_inline_nq0r70U4Ck1syr94a_500.png[/img][/url][/center] [center][size=5]TABLE OF CONTENTS[/size][/center] [LIST] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3283169/1#post_55359059]Run 1: Ambitae, Betrayer of the Glade[/url] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3283169/2#post_55463579]Run 2: Stelsora, To Reclaim Power[/url] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3283169/5#post_56451494]Run 3: Marco, An Alluring Call[/url] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3283169/6#post_56483721]Run 4: Astralkin, Renewal and Reconnection[/url] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3283169/7#post_56568889]Run 5: Stormstruck, Claim What Is So Rightfully Yours[/url] [/LIST]

[center][size=6]RUN #1: BETRAYER OF THE GLADE[/size] [b]Ambitae[/b], a Nature Fae who has sought the Cauldron by the hand of Festering Mirth. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=151&bodygene=2&breed=1&element=10&eyetype=3&gender=1&tert=100&tertgene=6&winggene=1&wings=31&auth=659aa8d5e140e05cceaddeff60b3cb395ac2dd49&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center] She always knew, deep down, that something was lingering. Something wasn't quite right. Nature was wonderful in all it's respects, sure, but the heavily wooded trees and shrieking wilds still left something within to be desired. She had chosen to wander further, beyond the veil of greenery, when she came across a [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/89774991]peculiar Necromancer[/url] who was willing to sit next to her and talk for long hours about the stirring in her chest. Of Plague, of how the world perceived it, even perhaps of how many within the clan felt it had to be. Yet, they spoke highly none the less; that the festering wasteland was home to so much more, that fighting for survival was a bonding of it's own right. The words stirred something within her that she never understood the name for; a calling of rot and disease she had always tried to deny, yet now urged her to step ever forwards towards destiny. Their long trip together had Kessler fill in the Fae of the dangers that they were approaching, of the hardships they would have to go through to become one Like Them. They assured her she did not need to do this; but understood the need to fulfill the gap in her soul that wanted to become closer to Mother. And now, here she was. Looking at the Overseers, and a step closer to her Truth. All she had to do was prove she could survive. [i]Ambitae has [b]rare[/b] eyes, and the art of elemental transmutation comes quite easily to her. She will have an advantage on the Trial of Contagion, able to use One major health potion during the trial.[/i] [i]First day will begin once Ambitae is no longer a Hatchling.[/i]

[center][b][size=4]Day 1[/size][/b][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] Approaching the Cauldron, Ambitae chooses a middling spot, bracing herself for the trials at hand. Her run will be on [b]Normal[/b] difficulty. [item=Zeeba Horn] The Wyrmwound is caustic, and the diseased air weathers through her veins. She wonders, for a second, if her Nature birth will make her more susceptible, or maybe more weak. She forces herself to sit strong, though; if she is to receive the blessings of the Mother, she must not waver. And as vile as the air around her is, her body does not take to illness right away. [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 12 days remain.[/b]

[center][size=4][b]Day 2[/b][/size][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Banded Snail] The second day dawns, and still she sits, in silent vigil on the ring of the Wyrmwound. Though it's only been one day, she can already feel the harsh effects of the vigil; but she forces the thoughts out of her mind. She must continue; the Necromancer's call feels like the only thing that can fill the hole inside of her, and she [b]will[/b] succeed. Or die trying. She's glad she didn't sit right up against the Wyrmwound, though. The caustic air is difficult to handle even back here. She can't imagine how horrible it would feel to be taking it even harsher. She had to be careful with herself, after all; she wasn't made to be here anyways. The second day passes without illness or rash, only the reminder that she is a stranger in this land. [b]Ambitae has not received the Infection. 11 days remain.[/b]

[center][b][size=4]Day 3[/size][/b][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Rough Shalehorn] The third day dawns. She has taken to emptying her mind of anything else to try and endure the endless contagion here. If she keeps thinking, her mind fogs, her will grows weak. Nature is trying to call back to her, she thinks. Gladekeeper trying to reach out and drag her back to where she belonged. But she didn't belong. If she [i]did[/i], she wouldn't have felt such a compulsion to be here now, would she have? The third day is difficult. Perhaps mostly because of panging hunger and noxious air. Perhaps it really is more caustic to her lungs because of her upbringing. ... It doesn't matter. She fortifies her mind and pushes onwards. She will not give up until she knows she will not be chosen, or until she is killed for her attempt. In her mindless trance, the third day passes without hesitation. [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 10 days remain.[/b]

[center][b][size=4]Day 4[/size][/b][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Snapping Turtle] So the Fourth Day begins. Four days with starvation and plague festering around them, their nature-borne energy recoiling at the touch, begging her to retreat. Four days with no sign, not even the slightest boil. She almost figures that's a feat in and of itself; something so fragile like herself should've crumpled at this point. Each hour feels longer than the last. Each day ticks by, slowly and painfully, as she waits for the illness to ravage her body and either leave her dead, living and failed, or truly successful. She didn't care much at this point; she just wanted to move on from this endless stillness. Other dragons endure the trials around her. Some cough and heave, others succumb to the ordeal, and others still emerge stronger, more powerful. She has been sitting still for four days. And still, not even the slightest sign begins. ....This should've been expected, she figures, but it feels so much different when you endure it for yourself. [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 9 days remain.[/b]

[center][size=4][b]Day 5[/b][/size][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Sprightly Mushroom Frill] She tried very hard to stop keeping track of the sunrises and sunsets. Maybe, just maybe, if she didn't pay attention, the time would pass quicker, and the infection would fill her lungs when she didn't notice. ... She sat there in stubborn determination, for as much as her body wanted to reel and recoil, she wanted Mother to be the one to deny her. She would take her sign if two weeks passed, without coughing fit or rash, with no infection to stain her hide and change her into a better image. Today was not that day. She began to wonder if Mother would ever accept her, or if these two weeks would be fruitless the whole way through. It didn't matter. She just had to stay stable. She just had to stay stable... [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 8 days remain.[/b]

[center][size=4][b]Day 6[/b][/size][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Haunting Houndskull] The air was more caustic today. She was lucky, in some ways; She could see the dragons closer to the rim coughing and hacking, and more than one succumbed to the potent fumes of the Wyrmwound. Not all of them fell, and some even gained stranger mutations upon their skin, but her distance meant she had no trial at all. ...She almost envied it, in a way. If she had sat closer, maybe she'd be blessed by now. It didn't matter. She made her choice when she first sat, and she refused to let this confusing mix of envy and relief swing her back into giving up. Despite her deprivation, she was still going strong; she was still going strong in spite of the Wyrmwound's fumes bellowing around her and giving her no comfort. No illness yet. She didn't know how long it would take, but it had to be soon... right? Maybe Mother didn't want her. [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 7 days remain.[/b]

[center][size=4][b]Day 7[/b][/size][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Spectre Dragonfly] She couldn't quite tell, but she knew she had been sitting here for a while. She'd been watching others who desired the same touch arrive and be infected; those who had been here already had either succumbed and died already or been infected and were fighting the throes of the infection. New Necromancers had stepped in while she sat here, and some lucky ones even had been infected already. And here she sat, uninfected still. In spite of the caustic air and the noxious fumes, she sat here, her efforts proving futile. Had she come for the wrong reasons? Did Mother find her cause too weak? Or was this a test of her will? Was this Mother testing her determination, knowing she would thrive if only she kept going? She wasn't sure, but she'd made up her mind long ago. [i]She would stay until she became one, or died trying.[/i] ...Or, of course, until Mother had firmly denied her. If two weeks passed with no results, she would know Mother did not want her. She.. wasn't sure what she'd do if that happened. [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 6 days remain.[/b]

[center][size=4][b]Day 8[/b][/size][/center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90057505][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/900576/90057505_350.png[/img][/url] [item=Sharp Sticks] The dragon next to her had died overnight. She watched, in her vigil, as their coughs and hacks and wheezes from infection took hold and forced them to succumb. Though their infection had been quiet at first, the death throttle took hold quickly. The dragon in front of her had succeeded. Boils began to sink, and in the morning, they had stepped up to prove their mastery. She sat there, in the middle of their states. Not infected, yet also slowly withering from the sheer weight of the meditation. How long had it been since she had moved? She could tell she was starving, at this rate. The first thing she'd do once she was done here was give herself a hearty meal. ...Once she was done. Even she had to admit to herself her faith had begun to waver. Stubborn enough to stay, she was determined to wait out the trial, to be given her rejection letter handily from a sheer lack of response. She was bold, really, to assume she'd survive. She figured she had to be, at any rate. Only the bold survived on this hellish rim, and maybe if she kept convincing herself that she'd live, she'd actually do so. Maybe not as a Necromancer. Maybe this hellish urge to seek the Wyrmwound had truly been just a desire to reject her home, an othering she always felt followed in a way she never should have taken. Maybe Mother would reject her because She knew she was not meant to be here. Or maybe... Something [i]else[/i] was keeping her alive and well, knowing she would turn to it... ...The thought sent a shiver down her spine. The only force known to interfere like that was the Shade, and she refused to be dragged down by it. [size=2][i]Maybe, though, it wasn't the shade at all..[/i][/size] [b]Ambitae has not recieved the Infection. 5 days remain.[/b]