Roleplay

(OOC: Well, for you lurkers out there--don't worry, I like to lurk too--I don't do 1x1's often, but I thought "why the heck not?" here. @CayCay Also letting you know this now exists. Sorry for the long post, my starter posts are ALWAYS long.) In the Misfits' part of the Wandering Contagion, food had been usually plentiful here. Plenty of fish swimming through the waters, prey and insects running and flying around the decaying landscape, and plants and fungi growing in the fertile ground. Rotting flesh [i]does[/i] make excellent fertilizer, after all, if the flourishing life here is any indication. Which is why Seraphim had been surprised when he first heard the news. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33679878] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/336799/33679878_350.png[/img] [/url] The stone and blue Tundra had been working on his latest project. He was going to try the most recent of his attempts to fuse magic and technology that could be used in every day-to-day life that can make dragons' lives a little easier. And plus, Seraphim just wanted to see if such a thing is possible. Sure, magic and technology had been combined before, but he was looking for a new use of such a thing. In this case, the gadgeteer had been hoping to utilize Ice magic. While he had visited the Southern Icefield to meet with a blacksmith there for alloys, the Plague Tundra observed that the food went bad much slower than the food back home, and figured that it might be the cold climate. Using a container-like machine, it would have a long-lasting source of Ice magic to preserve food, which would especially be useful for dragons living in the Ashfall Waste or the Sunbeam Ruins. But first, to build such a storage. He was interrupted when the dragons that had come out for gathering today had came to his part of the lair. Odd, Umbreon usually handles the public hoard, but Seraphim remembered he went out on a run for medicinal herbs. "Hello, friends. How was today's gathering?" There was five dragons that went out: Forti, Hyacinangelus, Aequor, Lapide, and Aurum. All of them looked nervously between each other, before Aequor, the deep blue Snapper, stepped forward. "Not very good," Aequor replied, lifting up his thick front foot. In his grasp was a clump of wilting plants, already brown and crumbling. "What...?" Seraphim took off his goggles, revealing his crimson eyes, to see if his eyes were deceiving him. They weren't. Aequor cleared his throat before continuing, "All the plants in this area are dying. None of us know why, as they were green and healthy yesterday. Believe me, I go out there to fish all the time." This was very bad news. There was a lot of Tundras in this clan, and they can only consume plants. If they all died here, then there's no food for them. "I'm going out there to see what is the problem," Seraphim said, remembering he had a device that could test acidity. "I won't take long, friends." The Tundra put on his goggles, brought out his device (which was a long, narrow stick meant to be stabbed into the ground), and headed out.

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=26288709] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/262888/26288709_350.png[/img] [/url] Lily was barely ten miles out and flying fast. Vokun didn't raise many crops, but many of them had already been dying. This was a problem for anyone in the clan who could stomach the greens. There would be famine for many of the clan members, including its leader Chaos, if she didn't figure out what was happening. Chaos had sent her out that morning, telling her what needed to be done. Locate the cause of their dying crops, then destroy it and restore the vegetation in the Tangled Wood. She had no idea how to do that, but after consulting an Oracle, Lily was told she had to go to the Plague territory, where the vegetation was already short to begin with and dying fast. As she flew she let her mind wander. Never a good idea for her. She always thought back on her children. The only thing she'd always wanted was to be a mother. She'd be adopting a child in a few months, and though she would love it dearly, she would never raise a child she'd brought into the world herself. The thought made her resent Harper, the clan hatchling caretaker, greatly. Lily hated thinking back on these things. But long flights on her own were usually the time to do it. Her mind never listened to her much these days. Sadly the Wildclaw turned her attention to the ground, wondering what would have happened if she'd done things differently. (Understandable. :) I'm glad to finally see it's up and going. Now let's get this party started. Sorry, I'm horrible.)

Even as Seraphim stepped out of the boundaries of his clan, he could already see the poor condition of the plants. Browning plants crunched underneath his feet as he walked through the area, the acid detection device in his mouth. If the fleshy soil is acidic somehow, he'll have to contact Nature mages in one of the neighboring clans to fix the composition of the soil.

After arriving at the spot where plants are most abundant, or at least used to be, Seraphim took the device out of his mouth and threw it at the ground as hard as possible. After waiting for a few minutes, the device began beeping. The Tundra pulled it out of the ground.

It showed that the soil was actually perfectly normal. How? There was no drought or too much raining, as the current weather is being completely stable. What could be possibly causing these plants to die? The only theory that Seraphim had that they were disease, but no disease could spread that fast and taken effect that quickly.

Lily decided to land to take a break. She'd been on the move for hours. She had just entered the Scarred Wasteland, and already she didn't like it much. There wasn't much water, nor was there much vegetation. Just like in the Tangled Wood, dry, blackened plants wilted at her feet. She immediately pegged it as strange, but she was also distracted by the heat of the sun. She needed to find a place with water.

She walked forward a bit, smelling at the ground curiously. The ground was wet enough to house plants, despite the fact it looked like it hadn't rained in a while. No botanist they'd consulted had been able to tell them what was wrong, considering the conditions for growing the plants were the same as usual.

Lily shook her head. It was all so strange. She continued on her way, looking around for water. Instead, she saw a dragon in the distance. A Tundra by the looks of him. She considered ignoring him and just continuing, but as she moved slightly closer, she saw his eyes catch a red glint under his goggles. A Plague dragon no doubt. He probably knew where good water supply was here.

Then again, Seraphim was no botanist. He just eats the plants, not learn everything about him. If anything, Hyacin probably knows more about flora. As the Tundra put away his device, he made a mental note to consult her later.

Seraphim was about to head back when he caught sight of a Wildclaw. She had a scent that wasn't familiar, but it smelled like she came from the Tangled Wood. He wasn't rude though, so he approached her.
"Greetings friend," Seraphim greeted her in his typical warm tone, "What brings you all the way to this humble part of the Wandering Contagion?"

Lily shook her head to clear it when the Tundra called out to her. Well he was... social. At least compared to the dragons Lily typically dealt with. And compared to the stories she'd heard about the Scarred Wasteland and all it had in store for visitors. Nonetheless she knew she had to ask.

"My name is Lily. General of Clan Vokun, located on the far side of the Wispwillow Grove. I've come here for information about a possible escaped disease? One that targets flora local to its respective area?"

She add almost as an afterthought. "That and of course, I was wondering if you knew where the nearest fresh water supply was located. I've been flying for hours."

So this wasn't the only area affected? Seraphim thought. But he probably knew about as much as she does.
"I'm Seraphim, one of the three leaders of the Misfits, which isn't far from here. We had only recently found out about the plants dying around here, or at least I have. I know little of what exactly is going on, but I'm planning on consulting our resident gardener."

Upon hearing the inquiry about a source of water, Seraphim had answered, "We actually have a lake not far from there. I believe it's up north from there, just stop at the large pink stone and then turn left."
His son Sanguis actually had a theory that this area was previously part of the Starfall Isles before it was overtaken by the Wandering Contagion, hence the pink rock. Seraphim was rather personally proud of his intelligent son, but he should be focusing on these dying plants right now. He'll let his chest swell with pride later.

Lily listened politely through the introduction, noting his body language. He was obviously being sincere and open about their problem, which was a good sign. Typically though, the Wildclaw was suspicious about strange dragons, especially those raised in the Scarred Wasteland. The Plague dragons of Clan Vokun had created quite a reputation for themselves.

As soon as he answered her question, her head perked at the thought of water. Seraphim described where it was, but Lily found herself zoning out a bit, dehydrated and a bit dizzy. She wondered to herself how often it rained here. Mainly she heard something about a pink stone.

She didn't want to admit that she had no idea where the heck she was going because she hadn't been listening, so she smiled at the Tundra. "Sounds good. Will you join me? I'd like to know more about this dying plant situation here in the Scarred Wasteland, if you would care to speak about it?"

Seraphim didn't notice that the Wildclaw had zoned out a little. "I'll be happy to walk along with you. Though I know about the diseased plants as much as you do. Though this may cause a famine if the disease isn't cured or rid of. Not just for plant-eating dragons such as myself, but the prey that are around here will reduce in population too."

"As mentioned, we do have a gardener that has some experience with the flora around here, and quite a large library too. That could potentially shed some light on what is going on," Seraphim continued. "And we do have some water there as well, carried from the nearby lake itself, if you find that of convenience. Of course, if you wish to go anywhere else, I'll be more than happy to, as I'm quite familiar with the immediate vicinity."

Lily listened to him go on, unable to hold back a smile. The Tundra talked as much as Eclipse did. Maybe more. She missed Vokun, despite the darkness and violence there. She even missed dragons she never thought she would. Like Gladion. Three days away from home was more than she would have liked to stand. The Wildclaw looked down slightly.

As he finished, Lily smiled and looked at him. "I was sent here with this," she held up a small device. "Supposedly you put it at the route of a plant and it scans it for common diseases. If it is something common, our healer and botanist would be able to whip something up in a few days. After getting a quick rest, I'd like to take a look at some of these plants."