#there’s only one dragon with these colors on the site and he’s exalted so I either have to wait or breed him myself

[bumpscosity]

FINALLY found someone selling the accent I wanted to use for my virgil fandragon, the gears are in motion now I just need the dragon himself…

[siaku-fr]

i have a spare uhhhh. midnight/sapphire/pearl with arcane eyes if anyone’s looking for one

there are only 7 other non-exalted dragons with these colors on the site so it’s a bit rare I suppose? not sure how much to sell em for but ehhhhhh

so here he is:

gonna be holding onto the parents cause I want them to keep their names, and they have a pretty tight color range so I don’t want to just exalt them if someone else is looking to breed a similar dragon

I’m thinking about maybe geneing them and keeping them as a breeding pair? and like. eventually making a forum thread for em. but that’s a lot of work and it would be a long while before they’re ready (I have a bunch of other projects to work on >.> and on top of that I’m only intermittently active) so for now they’re just two plentiful breeds chilling in my hibden

[flightless-rising]

Made a new Flight Rising iceberg and also wrote an explanation.. man, this took way longer than it should have.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy :D

Iceberg explanation

( If there are any mistakes please let me know and I’ll edit this asap. Also, English isn't my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical errors)

EDIT 28/06: Added some new info! Thanks to everyone who tagged and responded with new stuff to add, I really appreciate it!

The Sky

Naomi

Back in the day, whenever you bought or sold something on the auction house a message would show up in your inbox confirming the transaction. These messages were sent by one of the dragon couriers: Pearl, Spitfire or Edgar.

On January 2016, a strange glitch occurred that replaced the images and names of couriers with the ones of a female fae named “Naomi”.

It goes deeper than that, though: if you looked up her name in the user search menu, a clan would pop up with over 15 million dragons.

It was quickly discovered that all exalted dragons had somehow become part of her clan. Naomi herself apparently didn’t exist, and clicking on her page redirected to an error page. This was later fixed and the original Naomi page can be now visited.

What exactly caused this glitch is still a mystery and today Naomi is still a well-known piece of Flight Rising history.

Missing Tidelord

In the official lore, the deity of the water flight disappeared in early 2018, as described in the short story “Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow”.

In the follow up story (Mixed Elements) posted in April of the next year it is confirmed that the Tidelord is still missing, but alive. This coincides with the fact that the Tidelord account hasn’t made any forum posts aside from festival announcements.

Emperors

Emperors are a type of unobtainable dragon that are formed when several Imperial corpses are left in close proximity to each other, which then fuse forming a multi-headed chimera.

Emperors are described in the lore as having an animal-like behavior and destroying everything in sight. They are extremely difficult to kill, which is the reason why in-universe Imperials have such strange burial rites.

An emperor named Luminax is first described in the Raising a Family short story, and their sprite can be seen walking around on the world map.

The Surface

Old color wheel

Originally, there were only 67 available colors for dragons. On June 8th 2016, 110 more colors were added, meaning that currently there are a total of 177 colors available.

When making a custom progenitor dragon, it is only possible to choose among the 67 original colors because it would be otherwise unfair for those who made their account before the new colors were added.

Imperial breed scrolls

Imperial breed change scrolls are one of, if not the most, rare type of item on the site. They were given only to those who pledged 30 dollars or more on the original Flight Rising kickstarter.

At the time, this was the only way of obtaining an Imperial dragon, which meant that the breed as a whole was pretty valuable. Now that Imperials are abundant this is no longer the case, but First generation Imperials are still extremely sought and probably the most expensive type of dragon on the site.

There were also other items that were only given to Kickstarted backers, namely Skycats, Bonefiend, Golden Idol and Cogfrog familiars, and those are also pretty much impossible to obtain.

Baldwin breed change

When Baldwin was introduced in 2015 he was originally a Pearlcatcher. On September 14th of 2016 however his site art started to gradually change, until his transformation was completed five days later.

In-universe, Baldwin started to change after a lightning strike hit his cauldron during an experiment, which made him slowly mutate into the breed we now know as Bogsneaks.

Trans Fiona

When Fiona was added as a trading post dragon people speculated that she was trans, because the female pose for Skydancers only displays two antennae, while the male one has four.

Since Fiona has four antennae in her site art, many wondered whether it was an oversight or actually intended. Aequorin later confirmed in a forum thread that Fiona is indeed trans.

Boolean

Speaking of rare items, the Boolean familiar was only given to a handful of Flight rising beta testers and as such is extremely rare and valuable.

Plaguebringer coli team

On the Plaguebringer’s page she is listed as being part of a coliseum team.

As of now we have no clue as to why this is, and even more strangely she is the only deity that does this.

Boston & Hope

This story is a bit complicated. I’ve scoured the forums in search of info but it seems like there are still some pieces missing. I’ll try my best to explain anyway.

So, for a long while the Lightweaver was the only deity that had other dragons aside from herself in her lair: these dragons were a Spiral named Boston and a Tundra named Hope. Strangely, they were both Earth dragons and apparently have been there since the beginning (?). When asked why (this happened back when deities would interact on the forums) the Lightweaver responded that they were having a dinner party together.

In August 2014 during a pretty heated dominance battle between Shadow and Light Boston and Hope disappeared from the Lightweaver’s lair.

The Shadowbinder now had them, and both their elements were alsochanged to Shadow. The two deities acknowledged this and changed their broadcast messages accordingly.

If I had to guess this was some kind of inside joke that the admins had, although some people got angry that the Shadowbinder now had both Hope and Boston. Some time later(?) Boston was returned to the Lightweaver and for some reason his element was changed to wind.

I don’t have any more info on the matter but if some of you do I would appreciate it if you tell me.

Shallow Waters

Eyepocalypse

On June 8th 2018 eye type variants were introduced. This update was pretty controversial for a bunch of reasons, and the topic is still discussed today. The majority of people(?) seemed to be upset by the fact the “best” eye types (primarily goat, primal and multi-gaze) could only be displayed on dragons that were born with them, and the fact that every dragon born prior to the update couldn’t have these eye types at all displeased a lot of users.

Another problem was the fact that most of the non-special eye types (i.e the only ones that could be applied to already existing dragons using a vial of Scattersight) were not clearly visible on the grand majority of adult dragons.

A smaller(?) complaint was that two of the primal eye types, Shadow and Plague, were seen as kind of disturbing by some people.

Three years later staff attempted to fix this issue by adding Eye type vials for every available eye type. This resulted in a market crash for special eye typed dragons, as now these eye types could be applied to any dragon. The value of Scattersights also tanked, and the people bought them and hadn’t used them yet lost money as now they were infinitely less useful.

EDIT 28/06: Goat isn’t actually obtainable via breeding, faceted is. Bad mistake on my part.

Also, Scattersights were given away freely by Galore on Flight Rising’s fifth anniversary in 2018 and could not be bought afterwards. I admit that I thought people could be able to buy Scattersights due to how upset people were that the value went down, but whatever.

Courier Breed

The courier dragons (Edgar, Spitfire, and Pearl) are part of an exclusive dragon breed that is currently unobtainable. Even though their eye color still reflects the flight they were born in, in-universe they are considered to be “neutral” and they are granted free access to all domains. This raises the question as to which deity created them, as every other dragon breed (Bogsneaks being the only exception) has been created by one of The Eleven.

Multiaccounting

According to the site’s terms of service, no one is allowed to have more than one account. This is pretty standard for pet sites, as having multiple accounts grants unfair advantages and can mess up the site economy. This doesn’t completely stop people for having more than one account, and the practice as a whole is called “Multiaccounting” or “having multis”.

Some people only do this to have multiple clans or reboot their account without deleting their old one. They mostly do no harm but it is reasonable that the site wouldn’t allow this because of how easy it is exploit.

The real harm of multis comes from a practice called “funneling” which is when someone creates multiple accounts only for the purpose of giving items to their main account. This practice violates the game’s rules and can result in a ban. Funneling is not limited to multiaccounting though, and having an account only to feed another is against the site’s rules whether or not the account in question belongs to another person or not.

Some people fear of being banned for multiaccounting even if they haven’t done so, especially if they share a computer with other people.

Purble

“he purble” is probably among the most famous Flight Rising memes.

In 2016(?) a rant was submitted to the original Dramarising blog by a very angry user that wanted to buy an XXX Purple Ridgeback back when triples were pretty expensive, but got beat by someone else.

I’m not going to copy paste it here because in my opinion it’s one of the funniest Flight Rising related posts ever and I don’t want to spoil the experience of reading it for the first time. You can find it pretty easily by searching it up.

Tert Picking

This is something that refaced recently, even though I’ve seen people talking about this for a while. Some people vividly remember being able to pick their custom progenitor’s tertiary color, even though the developers have made it clear that such thing would be impossible. This is without a doubt just one of those weird situations where a lot of people somehow remember the same thing wrong.

Still, it’s fascinating just how many people claim to remember doing picking their tert.

Swiftwings

Swiftwings were a dragon breed that was scrapped in development. The design was rejected because it didn’t fit the 2 arms 2 legs 2 wings format that every dragon design had to follow before the introduction of ancient breeds.

The reason for this rule is that otherwise it would mess up apparel placement. Although the concept was scrapped, echoes of the design were scattered throughout the site: for example, the empty dragon slots that were present prior to 2019 had the silhouette of a Swiftwings dragon. They are also mentioned in the April Fool’s update of 2018.

“Real” Lore dragons

Most people don’t know that some of the dragons featured on the lore stories are actually real, and you can visit their pages. This is the case for Tetra, Cracklinne, Velya, Liefa, Garote and Mirth, which are currently chilling in Aequorin’s lair.

All of the other dragons in the developers’ lairs are not canon and are used to test bugs and features on the site.

The Middle ground

True deity names

When the site first started the deities used to have actual names instead of titles. Some of these names were based off of the site founders’s usernames on other sites.

The names are the following:

Amogayvhi - Gladekeeper Xhaztol - Arcanist Rhenik - Tidelord Akiri - Flamecaller Thrage - Stormcatcher Undel - Shadowbinder Jhortanas - Plaguebringer Ghurab - Windsinger Artaios - Earthshaker Rhiow – Lightweaver

As you can tell, Xhaztol, Akiri, Thrage and Undel are the usernames of some of the admins of the site, and the flight they are a part of corresponds with the previous name of their deity.

No leg coatls

On January 16, 2015 an iconic thread was posted in the flight rising discussion forum, which displayed a photoshopped image of a coatl with its legs removed. Quickly the thread devolved into a general photoshop thread were people took official site art of dragons and modified it.

The thread was eventually locked due to spam and quote pyramids, but spiritual successors of the original “phoatlshop” thread still exist today.

Dress slot unlocking

A thing that a surprising amount of people don’t know is the fact that when buy an additional apparel slot, the slot opens for every dragon in your lair and not just the one you bought it on.

This is something I also discovered very recently and it’s kind of funny that so many people that have been on the site for very long don’t know this.

Clanbound scatterscrolls

I think the wiki explains it best, so I’ll just copy paste this here:

“Tri-Color Scatterscrolls suffered from an issue where they would only scatter a random range from colors 1-47 (white through sunshine) rather than 1-67 (white through rose). They have been fixed and are now functioning correctly with a random range within the 67 color set. The affected timeframe was from August 15th, 2013 until September 22nd, 2013. The admins allowed users who were unsatisfied with their bugged Tri-Color Scatterscrolls to receive the same amount of them back in the form of Clanbound Scatterscrolls to try scattering their own dragons again with the full color range.”

Beta Mirrors

Ever wondered why they’re called Mirrors?

According to Undel, the main artist of Flight Rising, mirrors originally were supposed to have every part of their body “mirrored”, meaning they had two sets of eyes, two pairs of wings, two tails, and so on.

This design ended up being too cluttered and looked weird shrunken down. The name was kept the same, even though the only mirrored part of the design are the eyes.

Dragons are evil

If you read the “Beastclans on the rise” lore bit, the dragons come across as… very evil, stealing territory from the beastclans when they have been living on Sornieth way longer than the dragons have and killing them for loot.

Furthermore, in the Bounty of the Elements lore bit the Beastclan rebellion guided by Talona is seen by the dragons as unreasonable and wrong even when in canon Beastclans are framed as the innocent party.

The Depths

Scroll of Divorce

In the alpha stage dragons were supposed to be monogamous and could only breed with the dragon they were “paired” with. To break their bond you had to use an item called “Scroll of Divorce” which even featured broken marriage rings in the art.

If I had to guess, this item and the concept as a whole were scrapped because the idea of dragons having “weddings” and needing to divorce before breeding with another dragon felt kind of weird, especially in a game targeted towards teens.

First Festival

The first Holiday festival in Flight rising history was the 2013 Brightshine Jubilee. The items that were available for this festival only are incredibly rare, particularily the Light Sprite which is one of the most valuable items on the site. Apart from that and the fact that the skincent contest only had 6 winners, not much is notable about it.

Offsite drama

Flight Rising has had its fair share of drama both on and off site, but due to the fact that it’s against the site’s rule to discuss user drama on the forums most of the notable drama happened off site (mainly tumblr).

Egg rot

Egg rot was a very early mechanic that was pretty quickly removed from the site. If you forgot to incubate your eggs, they would “rot” and no longer hatch.

It’s the reason why in the nesting grounds the text reads “Eggs healthy” and also the reason why on the stats section of the Account settings it says “Eggs discarded”. The mechanic was removed because it heavily punished casual players and the frequent downtimes of the site meant that even if someone logged in every day they could still have their eggs die.

Also, the images of egg rot look extremely cursed.

Pablo

From what I could gather, Pablo is a dragon which became somewhat popular after user “Desmondtiny” wrote a very long and detailed backstory of them being the Arcanist’s lost boyfriend.

I’m pretty sure it gues deeper than that but I couldn’t find any further information. As usual, if you know something more let me know.

Latest News

On November 12, 2014, a glitch(?) occurred that let anyone post in the Announcements thread. Anything that was posted went directly to the front page, which resulted in quite a bit of chaos.

This was fixed only half an hour later, but the screenshots people have from that time are extremely funny.

Lameforger

On the 2014 Flameforger’s festival announcement Undel accidentally misspelled “Flameforger” as “Lameforger”, which prompted the official account of the Flamecaller to respond aggressively. Lameforger is still jokingly used by users, even after the typo was fixed.

Festival of one (1)

On the first day of the 2014 Greenskeeper Gathering a glitch occurred which switched the site banner for the Starfall celebration banner instead of the Greenskeeper one.

It didn’t end there, in the coliseum Magical shards dropped instead of Bladed Flatleaves, even though skin chests dropped as normal(?).

The weirdest thing about it all was Joxar’s Space inventory, which didn’t display any items at all and had glitched dialogue.

The event was nicknamed by the fanbase “Festival of 1” and even the deity’s official accounts acknowledged the incident.

Vape Juice

As far as I know the original forum thread as been lost, but the vape juice fiasco will always remain cemented in Flight Rising History.

A company called Vape Daugz was making vape juice with Flight Rising dragons plastered on their packaging, completely violating the site’s policy.

The company’s site still exists, and browsing through their products I found that the products that previously had Flight Rising dragons on them still exist, but now feature completely different packaging.

I have no idea whether they changed the packaging spontaneously or staff did something about it.

I think there’s a potentially interesting story buried down there, but we’ll likely never the truth behind the Flight Rising vape juice.

The Abyss

Humans

There’s been some speculation over the years as to whether or not humans are canon in the Flight Rising universe. Some people believe that the “Mages” of the second age in the official lore are actually humans, but we can’t be sure because they are depicted with long robes that cover their whole bodies.

The idea of humans existing in canon has spawned a couple of memes, most infamously Thomas.

Plague healers

Again, I think the wiki explains this one better:

“According to Aequorin, Plague healers are an interesting bunch because rather than administer treatments that counter illness, they use a mixture of magic and contagion that stress the affected dragon further, allowing them to reach a stronger, healed, and resistant state faster than other elements. Plague healers will treat physical injuries with sutures, bandages, and braces, but they won't clean the wounds or apply ointments."

Akitla

As described in the original thread, Akitla was a dragon that user “qunii” saw on the front page, but noticed that she wasn’t accompanied by the username of the person owning them.

After clicking on her, an error page loaded. It was discovered that putting her color combination or ID in the search bar would result in an error page. This was later fixed, and both Akitla and her mate were now displayed as being exalted to the Arcanist. T

here are some theories as to what happened to the Akitla’s user, some think that she belonged to a deleted account, others that it was the result of an incomplete account creation.

As with a lot of things on this iceberg, it will likely remain a mystery forever.

Arcane sprite book

“what is the arcane sprite reading??” is probably one of the oldest still active threads on the forums.

On September 25, 2013 user “Kaadashi” started a joke thread were they wondered what exactly is the arcane sprite reading, and playfully suggested that it could be erotic fanfiction. People went crazy of course, and started to wonder what kind of juicy secrets were hidden within the pages of that book.

I don’t want to say too much because I really don’t want to spoil the experience of reading through this very cursed tread.

Sunshine

Sunshine is one of the most… interesting lairs on the site, and certainly one of the most well-known.

They(?) have a lair (almost) completely full of triple basic sunshine dragons, most of which are Tundras. So far they have collected about 320 triple hundred Sunshine dragons, almost all of which are also named “Sunshine”. They’re not all the same, some of them have apparel, some of them are gened and some have unique art and descriptions.

They’re dedicated and I respect that.

EDIT 28/06: Apparently some people seem to think that the sunshine-dedicated lair is based on a meme concerning the announcement of the color wheel expansion, which became so discussed that the itself site broke. The two things are unrelated however, as the Sunshine lair has been around for much longer.

The announcement of the color wheel expansion was cryptic, with only a few post showing off differently colored coatls and then 3 pages of reserved posts, with no explanation whatsoever.

Simple Farmer

Another very famous thread is the “I am but a simple farmer” thread started by user “someKindOfGenius”. It’s not really about anything specific, it’s just a rather silly thread were people photoshop flight rising dragons onto various crops.

Still, this thread is iconic so I had to include it.

Dragon Deaths

Way back in 2014 former flight rising programmer Thrage revealed on a forum thread that way back before the beta, dragons could actually starve to death if left unfed.

Yep.

Obviously they had to remove this mechanic because it would have been extremely harsh to casual players and make people frustrated with the game.

Zalvador

User “manojalpa” became fairly well-known for the extremely dark lore they(?) had written for their Clan, it was so dark in fact that every single one of their dragon’s bios had to moved to their tumblr where they couldn’t be easily seen by the site’s mainly underage usebase.

Their lore centered around their progen dragon, a tundra named Zalvador, which behaved and had the same powers as a flight rising user: buying dragons off of the action house, having “breeding projects”, exalting dragons, etc.

These things seem pretty normal when done by a player, but when taking them as actual real things that happen in universe… yeah, it was way too morbid for the site.

The Pit

Black linen neck wraps

For some weird reason, the apparel piece “Black linen neck wrap” when put on a male pose Coatl wraps around the dragon’s throat instead of it’s neck. It’s kind of subtle and hard to see, but if you compare it with the female pose the difference is clear. This is probably just an art error, although it’s weird that it hasn’t been fixed yet, since linen wraps are a very old piece of apparel.

Another weird thing about linen wraps in general is that the wing wraps just sort of… go through the membrane? This is not possible. These dragons are in pain.

Icewarden ears

Another very remarkably popular thread is the Icewarden ears thread.

In 2014 user “Llanai” simply makes note of the fact that the Icewarden has teeny tiny ears.

As we have come to expect from these threads, it quickly devolved into nonsense.

Forbidden Snapper lore

Snappers used to have a way different lore section that was changed because it deemed too similar to the lore of another petsite.

This is what the original section read:

"Snapper dragons do not sleep, but exist in a constant state of reverie. They receive and catalogue all experiences and stories told within their dreams. This persistent state of awakened dreaming awards them the longest memory of any dragon species. They are living encyclopedias, and any dragon who is seeking difficult-to-obtain information will have the most luck unearthing it from a Snapper clan - provided they have the patience for it. If you want two dozen quick answers, talk to a spiral. If you want a fully developed answer, camp out around a Snapper. These dreamers move at their own pace, which varies from dragon to dragon. For some, the awakened dream can prove to be more interesting than their surroundings. This leads to a focus upon the dream, and the waking world as filtered background noise. Interacting with these sleepwalkers can be a trying and repetitive task. Other Snappers may be fairly lucid, with a focus upon their surroundings and the constant hum of the dream pushed aside."

Bee movie script

I’ve seen this story around the forums a few times but I’ve never been able to learn the details.

From what I’ve heard someone copy pasted the entire bee movie script into their clan bio in a drop down text format, which completely broke the page for anyone who visited it. This was fixed, apparently, although I have no clue as to who this user is.

EDIT 28/06: Zeus

Zeus is an XXX gold g1 permababy imperial that used to belong to user "happywing".

Their account is now locked because Zeus was created with the use of a duplication glitch on an imperial breed change scroll, which is obviously not allowed (although I've heard some people say that the dragon was hacked in altogether). Before the account was locked, people speculated that Zeus was the most valuable dragon on the site, because an XXX g1 imperial is impossibly rare.

Wegg shaming

On July 2017 user “Dreamnorn” made a thread were they(?) claimed to have a dream where everything was the same except people used the term “wegged” when two dragons would lay only one egg in a nest.

Ex. Aw man! I’ve been wegged again! = Aw man! I bred two dragons and they only had one egg!

The dream ended up being prophetic, as the term catched on and people started to use it unironically.

The practice of “Wegg shaming” I think refers to the trend of people posting pictures of the dragons that “wegged” them in order to “shame” them.

Plague nest skull

The site art of the plague nest features an unique dragon skull that doesn’t match with any currently existing dragon breed or creature: It appears to have two sets of eyes, like a mirror, but also long and curled horns.

It’s probably just for decoration and it likely doesn’t have any significance whatsoever, but personally I believe it would be pretty cool if when they eventually release plague ancient it at least somewhat resembled this skull.

EDIT 28/06: On second thought, the skull doesn’t seem to have two pairs of eyes, It just has the generic shape of a carnivore.

Rock bottom

CAPTAINPLANET

…this is CAPTAINPLANET. Somehow, user “Decres”' managed to overlay a Fae skin on top of a Tundra, creating this horrifyingly fascinating abomination.

I have no idea how she did this, and she seems pretty adamant to tell.

EDIT 28/06: People have pointed out that this skin overlay glitch was actually somewhat common (although I still haven't found another dragon like CAPTAINPLANET). What you had to do was breed change a dragon while attaching a skin to them in another tab.

This glitch has been patched and such thing is no longer possible.

Lair 46264

A cursed lair.

Dreams

I’ve seen a lot of people, both on forums and on Tumblr, sharing dreams they had about Flight Rising.

A lot of people dream of just being on the site, while occasionally weird things happen.

I’ve read of people who dreamed the distribution of a new breed, buying an exclusive item, a new Fiona feat or Swipp trade, or just browsing the forums.

The most common type of Flight rising-associated dream I’ve seen however is being caught multiaccounting and having their account banned.

I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think it’s pretty clear that these nightmares stem from the paranoia of being banned from their beloved petsite instead of showing any actual intention of doing the “crime” in question.

Anyways, I think it’s fascinating how so many people dream about this site, and it reminds me of the dreams people claimed to have about Mario 64 where completely new levels were added or a scary monster appeared.

Dragon Slime

Dragon Slime was an infamous thread which was supposed to be start off point for an ARG.

It was deleted because it was considered too “spammy” and also because ARGs are banned from the forums. The thread has been lost, unfortunately.

EDIT 28/06: Thanks to @randompurple-fr for providing screenshots of the dragon slime tutorial! You can find them here

Cucumber

Cucumber is the only dragon ever to have been exalted with a skin, which is something that should not be possible. This raises some questions as to what exactly did the person that exalted them do to achieve this, but we have no way of knowing who Cucumber belonged to.

EDIT 28/06: Actually, we do know who used to Cucumber belonged to! Its owner was Osiem: an official flight rising artist. I couldn’t find the thread where they(?) acknowledged the glitch though, if someone has it please let me know!

[brax-was-here]

Scarlet Briar: The Seeds of Life Chapter 9

Written by: Braxxus

Chapter 9: Mysteries Are Meant to Be Solved

Sometimes it’s the little things that help us

Nafiona stood on a ridge overlooking the landscape that lay before her. The jungle was bathed in a haze of gold as she stared at the gleaming palace that lay far in the distance. They had stopped to rest for a moment near a set of stone ruins.

“What do you think this monolith is?” she heard Caelan ask behind her.

“I don’t know, but you would think the pact would figure out a way to shut off this annoying buzz in the air.” Another courtier complained.

“Ordhram…” Nafiona called for her subordinate.

“Yes, m’lady?” He walked up beside her.

“What do you make of that?” She gestured to the structure in the distance.

“It looks like…maybe a castle, m’lady.” He responded. “Seemingly made of gold by the way the jungle surrounded glows.”

“That is my thoughts as well. Do you think that which we seek would be there?” she questioned, her eyes narrowing.

Ordram pondered a moment. “It’s possible, m’lady. But would the jungle dragon build such a place?”

“Not in the short span he was awake.” She remarked.

“What is that!?” she heard one of her courtiers yell. She turned quickly with weapons drawn to see an ethereal figure clad in ornate gold armor floating before them.

“You are the same as the one who watches over the egg.” It spoke.

“The egg?” Nafiona muttered, looking at Ordhram, who returned her look just as confused. They turned their gaze back to the ethereal being.

“What are you?” Ordhram asked sternly, brandishing his sword.

“I am Dansha. Exalted protector of Tarir and the lands around it.” It replied, its voice stern.

“Dansha?” Caelan asked.

“What is Exalted?” Nafiona asked.

“We are the protectors and caretakers of Tarir and Glint’s legacy.”

“Glint’s legacy?” Nafiona gave the creature a curious look. “You mean the crystal dragon?”

“The scion of Kralkatorrik. She constructed the palace of Tarir and entrusted us to safeguard her legacy from those that would destroy it.”

“So, it’s an egg, not a seed?” Nafiona asked thoughtfully.

“That is correct.” Dansha answered. Nafiona looked at Ordhram with a slight mischievous smirk.

“Can we see the egg?” she asked turning back to the Exalted.

“You cannot. Only those deemed worthy to be the eggs protector may see the egg.”

“Oh? So how do we become its protector?” she smiled.

“A champion has already been chosen. No other may be chosen.” The Exalted replied.

“A champion? Interesting.” Nafiona pondered a moment. She looked at Ordhram. “What do you think?”

Ordhram looked at the palace in the distance. “It may be beneficial to our search to visit this place.” He suggested.

“Agreed.” She looked back at the floating entity. “Dansha? May we visit Tarir?”

“Of course. You will be allowed to see the city proper.”  He turned and started floating down the pathway before them.

Nafiona smiled at Ordhram. “Let’s go, shall we?”

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orla could see the buildings of Camp Resolve coming into view as the caravan lumbered across the sand. The sun beat down upon her as she sat chained to the carriage. She pondered what was in store for her once they arrived at the camp. Reaching the gate, the caravan stopped before entering. A group of Pact guards walked along the carriages checking the supply boxes.

“What do we have here?” a guard asked as he climbed over the railing into the carriage holding Orla.

“What does it look like? I’m being held prisoner against my will.” She snapped at him.

“A troublemaker that apparently stole some armor and weapons or something like that.” the Priory member answered from outside the carriage.

“I see. And I guess we’re to keep her here then. Another sylvari to add to the cave.”

“The cave?” she asked.

“Yep. Can’t seem to trust your kind after what you all did during the fighting. Apparently, we have to keep an eye on you until you’re deemed trustworthy again.” The guard said to her as he climbed back down. 

“Alright. Bring em in!” a voice shouted from the gate. The carriage lurched forward again. Orla watched the gate slowly pass by as the caravan entered the camp. The caravan was brought to rest in front of a larger storage building. Pact members started climbing over the carriages, removing supply boxes and materials. The Priory scholar that had always been with her carriage, climbed aboard and unlocked Orlas chains from the floor of the carriage.

“Let’s go.” She ordered. Another guard helped Orla down from the carriage.

“Take her in. We’ll get someone to take her to the cave after we get everything unloaded.”

“This cave doesn’t sound like a pleasant place.” Orla spouted as they walked her into the building.

“You’ll be at home with the rest of you sylvari.” The guard responded. She sat Orla in a chair and shackled her to a building support. “I would tell you to wait here, but I don’t think you’re going anywhere.” The guard said to her as she turned towards the door.

“Oh, you are just so funny.” Orla replied snidely. She tugged at the shackles, sighing deeply. She looked around the room full of supply crates, various metal items and random parts.

“The prisoner is in here?” someone asked from outside.

“Yes. I have her shackled to the building.” The guard responded, stepping aside. Another pact soldier, a tall dark-skinned human, entered and looked at Orla.

“A thief, huh. You don’t look like a thief. You look more like…a weed that grew in the street. Put her with the others.”

Orla’s face turned sour. “A weed. I’ll show you just how deadly a weed can be.” She muttered. The guard undid her shackles once again and walked her out.

“Scholar, or you, Whispers agent. Either of you.” The dark-skinned human shouted at a nearby group that were sorting through some of the boxes.

“Yes?” one of them turned to him.

“I want you two to accompany this soldier and her prisoner to the cave. Be quick about it. We have work to do.”

The priory member sighed. “Yes, sir.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of these arrogant Vigil ordering us around.” The whispers agent spoke quietly.

“Me too.” The scholar replied as they moved towards the approaching guard with Orla in tow.

“Let’s go.” The scholar and whispers agent fell in behind Orla as the group moved to the entrance of the camp. They approached a large stone in a cliffside that Orla squinted at.

“That’s out of place.” She thought to herself. Another whispers agent appeared out of nowhere and bowed to the group. He turned and tapped on the boulder before disappearing from sight. The giant stone rolled slowly to the side, revealing a cave entrance.

“Take her inside with the others.” The scholar ordered. The agent grabbed Orla’s chains and walked her inside. The cave passage was dimly lit as they passed through. It opened into a large area littered with cots and other makeshift furniture. There were various sylvari about, some sleeping, others talking amongst themselves. Some looked towards Orla.

“Nightmare Court.” One spoke nearby. A hushed murmur went through the room.  

“What is going on here? What are you doing to them!?” Orla turned to the agent. “You keep us trapped here!?” Another agent appeared, holding a sword to Orla’s throat. She glared at him, taken aback that it was a sylvari.

“This is only temporary, courtier. We are only here until the pact is sure we are truly free from the dragon’s influence.” One of the sylvari spoke up. “We are not trapped here.”

“Hands up.” The agent said sternly. Orla put her hands up in front of her. The agent in one swift movement quickly unlatched the locking device keeping her hands shackled. The other did the same to the shackles around her ankles.

“Be warned.” The sylvari agent spoke quietly. “We are watching.” The two agents disappeared from site. Orla turned to look at the group before her.

“Come, courtier. In this room we are all the same. Come eat with us.”

Orla looked perturbed at the sylvari. “I won’t be staying here.” She muttered before resigning herself to join the others.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The jungle looks so pretty here!” Liathlas excitedly exclaimed as the trio moved through the brush. The entire area was bathed in a golden glow.

“The energy radiating from Tarir gives the jungle around it an aura.” Malyck explained. “But still, we should be cautious.”

“If the Nightmare Court came this way, do you think they would try to enter?” Liathlas asked, looking at Ceara.

“I was just wondering the same thing.” Ceara looked thoughtfully. “Malyck, what else is kept in Tarir other than the supposed dragon egg?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never entered. The few times I got close the doors were always sealed. Guarded by beings of energy.”

“Energy? What do you mean?”

“Energy. I’m not sure how to explain it. They float but have a head and arms like we do clad in a gold armor.”

“Interesting. I’d like to see these beings.”

Malyck suddenly raised his hand for them to stop. “Down! Now!” He whispered dropping to the dirt. They followed suit.

“What’s going on?” Ceara asked when suddenly an arrow penetrated the ground beside her.

“Get under cover now!” Malyck ordered. The group rushed through the brush as arrows flew passed them. They ducked behind some fallen trees and rocks, crouching down out of view. Malyck unholstered his pistol as Ceara unslung her rifle.

“What’s out there?” Ceara asked quietly.

“I’m not sure.” Malyck replied.

Ceara turned to Liathlas. “Stealth us, and let’s try to find out.” Liathlas cast a stealth field around them. The trio peered out from behind their cover, looking over the jungle.

“I’m not seeing anything.” Liathlas whispered.

“Me either, not yet anyway.” Ceara spoke.

“They are there. Whatever they are they are waiting for us to move.”

“What do we do?” Ceara asked as the stealth field faded.

“This will-“ Malyck suddenly turned a fired his pistol, striking a dark colored Itzel in the head, sending it falling backwards. Another landed on the log in front of them, brandishing two daggers. Ceara shot it with her rifle, knocking it back. Arrows started hitting the foliage and rocks near them.

“Go! Now!” The group started rushing through the brush. Their escape cut short as Malyck was tackled by another Itzel. They rolled across the ground, the Itzel pinning him down when they came to rest. Ceara turned to see the Itzel with its blade in the air about to strike Malyck when she charged it, knocking it to the ground. It rolled to its feet. Malyck fired a shot at it, hitting it in the torso as Ceara flipped her rifle around and swung it as hard as she could, hitting it in its chin knocking it backwards.

“Why didn’t you shoot it!?” Malyck asked angrily.

“Because I only have a couple rounds left and we might need them!”

Liathlas teleported backwards as another attacked her with its blade. She conjoured two illusions of herself that attacked the oncoming Itzel. It leapt at one, passing through it. Quickly it turned, only to be locked in place as a field of energy appeared at its feet. Her clones continued their attack as the trio heard the sound of a horn echo through the treetops. More Itzel dropped from the trees surrounding them.

“Well, this is…this doesn’t look good for our team.” Ceara said matter of factly.

“What do you want with us?” Malyck hollered.

“You are trespassing on our territory.” One of the Itzel remarked.

“We are just passing through. Nothing more.” He added.

“Then you wi-“ The Itzel was cut short as a spear pierced the back of his head.

“You will not harm these people this day.” The group turned to see a group of large froglike creatures moving quickly through the brush towards them. Some brandishing spears, some with bows, and others with giant Warhammer-like weapons.

“Nuhock!” Malyck shouted. He turned and shot one of the Itzel.

“This is our land, Nuhock!” One of the Itzel shouted. Arrows launched as some of the Itzel turned to attack the lumbering group. Ceara dodged a spear as one Itzel lunged at her, smashing the butt of her rifle against the side of its head. It screamed in rage as it relentlessly attacked her, a flurry of melee attacks putting her on the defensive.  The Itzel slashed at her, the tip of spear slicing her abdomen. She felt her blood start to run as an arrow from a nuhock bow pierced the Itzel’s knee, causing it to lurch in pain. With a mighty swing of her rifle, she hit the creature in the jaw, knocking it away.

Liathlas created as many clones of herself as she could. So many that even her allies couldn’t tell which was the real mesmer. They attacked every Itzel within sight as she placed fields at their feet, looking them in place. One Itzel appeared out of nowhere behind her, grabbing her by the neck. It attempted to drive its dagger into her throat, but she teleported out of its grasp.

“Not this time!” She hollered. The Itzel turned to her voice, just in time to see the end of her staff meeting one of its large eyes. She sent a charge of eldritch energy through the staff, paralyzing the creature as it yelped in pain, before it dropped to the ground. She turned her attention to Ceara, who she could see was bleeding from her stomach.

“Cea-“ Liathlas we cut off by a searing pain in her back as she felt a sharp blade plunge into it.

Malyck took aim at the Itzel that had just driven its dagger between Liathlas shoulders. Pulling the trigger, he shot the creature in the back of the head, causing it to fall forward knocking Liathlas to the ground.

“Your friends need to learn better fighting techniques.” One of the giant frog creatures rumbled as he swung his giant hammer, smashing an Itzel to the ground.

“Not the proper time for this discussion.” Malyck growled as he dodged a spear being thrust by one of the Itzel. He grabbed the haft and used the frog creature’s momentum to pull it towards him. He shoved his pistol in its large mouth and pulled the trigger, sending the back of the Itzel’s head flying in a spray of blood and brain matter.

“Brothers, sisters. We must retreat!” One of the Itzel shouted. A horn echoed once again through the treetops and the remaining Itzel leapt away, disappearing from sight. The giant nuhock formed a ring around the sylvari.

“We must tend to your friends.” One of the nuhock spoke. “Search the trees for the bracium moss.” He ordered the others. A few of the massive creatures broke from the circle and started searching through the brush, pulling up clumps of moss and dirt. They returned briefly. Gingerly, the giant dressed Ceara’s wound placing the moss across the cut, and firmly holding it in place. Ceara winced at the stinging pain she felt as the plant was pressed into her abdomen.

“Bite down on this.” Another nuhock spoke softly to Liathlas as it held a small branch in front of her. “It will help as we remove the blade from your body.” Liathlas bit down and grimaced. She felt the nuhock grab the hilt of the dagger.

“Now.” It spoke. It pulled the knife out quickly. Liathlas yelped as the pain shot through her body. She spit the branch out as she felt her own blood running down her back. She gasped as she felt the moss being applied to her wound, the sharp stinging pain as it was being held firmly to her back. “You must rest and let the moss do its work.” The nuhock spoke.

“We don’t have time.” Ceara winced again at the sting in her stomach. “We have to get south…as fast as possible.”

“I do not think you are in any condition to travel, lest your wounds will not heal.”

“Give it time to do its work.” Malyck said to her.

“But Nafiona…she-“

“We’ll get there.” Malyck cut her off. “The nuhock ha-

“Well, that’s rather rude.” She spouted. He glared at her, drawing a deep breath.

“As I was saying, the nuhock have ways of getting through the jungle much faster than over land.”

“And how do we do that?”

“The jungle provides.” One of the nuhock spoke, as it dressed Liathlas wound.

“We have burrows through the jungle floor that can take us out of harm’s way.” Said another.

“Well, that would have been handy to have sooner!” Ceara spat.

“Ceara…shush.” Liathlas spoke quietly. “They are trying to help.”

“Can you take us south, to the dragon’s domain?” Malyck asked them.

The nuhock fell silent, looking at each other. “We have burrows that lead to the south, yes.”

“Excellent!” Liathlas whooped. Her excitement was cut short when she looked at Ceara. Ceara’s face was turned away, looking at the ground. A solemn look had befallen her.

Ceara’s chest had tightened at the thought of travelling into Mordremoth’s lair. Her heart started racing as memories floated through her mind. She breathed in deep as she closed her eyes.

“Focus.” She whispered to herself. “Calm yourself.” She felt a hand gently grab her arm. She slowly opened her eyes to see Liathlas looking at her.

“We’re here.” She said softly.

“I can do this.” Ceara whispered. She drew a long breath. She looked at the nuhock standing nearby. “Let’s go.”

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This palace is absolutely stunning!” one of Nafiona’s courtiers voice shrieked as they entered through a giant set of golden doors.

“This city represents Glint’s majesty. Used to protect the artifacts that will help keep Tyria’s future peaceful and protected from the dragons.” Dansha spoke as he glided through the hallways.

“How did this place survive Mordremoth?” Another courtier asked.

“The battles were fierce and took a toll on us all. Some of us had to sacrifice ourselves to keep the city safe. Thanks to our allies, we were able to fend off the dragon’s minions during the war.”

“You mean the Pact.” Nafiona stated.

“Correct.” Dansha led them to an open chamber that glistened as the sun shone through an opening in the ceiling. Some members of the Durmond Priory were in the room, studying various etchings and markings on the walls.

“I will admit that this palace is very impressive, indeed.” Nafiona remarked, watching the Priory members. “May we see more of this place?”

“Of course.” The Exalted started floating towards a hallway.

“So, what is Glint’s legacy exactly.” Nafiona questioned.

“The preservation of Tyria and its people by replacing the elder dragons with beings that are less volatile, but still capable of maintaining the balance of magic in Tyria.”

“Less volatile beings?”

“Correct.”

“And what would these beings be?”

“Her scions.”

“Scions? You mean her children?”

“Yes.”

“That would explain the talk of the dragon egg.” Nafiona looked at Ordhram, who returned her gaze.

“The egg is one half of the most important part of Glint’s legacy.” Dansha continued.

“And what is the other half?”

“Her first scion. The dragon known as Vlast. He unfortunately has disappeared.”

“Vlast?” Nafiona pondered on the name. “I do not know that one.” She muttered. The group entered into a large circular courtyard that was open to the jungle above. It was filled with other Exalted. Some standing guard, others going about their way. There were Pact members also in the area, studying artifacts and mulling over papers.  

“This is the central courtyard of the city. Duty calls and I must leave you. You can access much of the city from this area. Please feel free to explore.” Dansha disappeared in a small flash of light.

“Well, he was rather pleasant.” Nafiona turned to Ordhram. “What do you think?”

“This dragon egg seems to be particularly important.” He remarked. “Are you thinking of trying to take it?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” Nafiona whispered, looking over the courtyard. “We would have to find where they are keeping it. It may take some time.” She paused a moment, looking over her group. “Not to mention we would be severely outmatched here if things went wrong. We don’t know what these beings are capable of, nor how many of the Pact are here. Plus, this “champion” whoever that might be.”

“And the guardian of the egg, whoever it may be.” Ordhram added. Nafiona nodded in agreement. “M’lady, it might be best to save this for another day and we focus on your prize. And there is still the possibility of Scarlet Briar out there.”

Nafiona sneered at the thought. “I’m sure the Pact has already dealt with her.” Her voice sour. “Ordhram, do you think they might have some knowledge of the seed here?”

“If this was built for this ‘Glint’s Legacy’, I would not think there is anything of Mordremoth here.”

Nafiona nodded her agreement.

“M’lady, do we have time to explore?” one of her courtiers asked.

“Perhaps another day. We should be off. Time is of the essence.” She called to her courtiers.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Not exactly the most pleasant way to travel.” Ceara muttered as she splashed water on her face. While using the nuhock burrow was somewhat faster, being in an enclosed space with a group of giant frog-like creatures did not do wonders for her nose.

“It could have been worse.” Liathlas noted. Liathlas stepped into the small spring near the burrow they had exited. “Eeesh!” she yelped.

“It is a little cold but refreshing none the less.” Ceara stepped in as well. “How’s your wound?” she asked as she slowly sat, the cool spring water was relieving against the wound in her stomach.  

“It’s sore. If we get attacked again, I don’t know how I will be able to fight. Whatever this moss is, does seem to be helping.”

“Indeed. It’s something I’ll have to take back with me and study sometime.” Ceara washed the water over her shoulders slowly as she stared at her reflection. Her thoughts drifted to the visions she had experienced.

“Ceara?” Liathlas asked. Ceara snapped back to the present.

“Yes?”

“You were somewhere else, weren’t you?”

“I was.”

“What are we going to do when we find the seed?”

Ceara thought for a moment. Various scenarios played out through her mind. “Take it home to study? Take it to the Grove? Plant it somewhere so I can have my own Pale Tree?”

“I don’t know.” She finally answered. Liathlas was taken aback at the response.

“You don’t know?” Liathlas giggled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you are usually five steps ahead everyone else with alternate plans ready just in case.”

“Well, it’s not every day that something like this happens. I came here looking for something, and now I’m looking for something else.”

“And what were you looking for?”

“The possible existence of another Pale Tree…and…him.” Ceara turned her gaze to Malyck, who was conferring with the nuhock nearby.

“Even with the jungle dragon perished, its domain is a dangerous place. Still filled with mordrem.” The nuhock told Malyck. “Our burrows can take you as far as the ruins, but you will have to travel on foot the rest of the journey.”

“We understand. We’ll have to take the risk to retrieve what we are after.”

“The sun sets. We should camp here for the night. This spring and the cave are a secluded place. The mordrem do not come here.”

Malyck nodded his agreement. “Thank you for your help.”

“The jungle provides.”

Malyck turned and walked to the edge of the water. He knelt down and looked at the two women facing him. “We’re camping in the cave tonight. The nuhock say this place is secluded enough that the mordrem never come here.”

“That’s a relief but what about food? Those pact food bricks are rather tasteless.” Ceara asked.

“I do agree with that.” Malyck replied. “A real meal would be nice to have.”

“What do the nuhock eat?” Liathlas inquired.

Malyck slowly turned to look at the giants nearby, his stomach turned at the thought of eating large insects. “I think…” He turned back to her. “I think we’re better off with the food bars.”

“Ugh.” Ceara’s face turned sour. “I was hoping for something real.” She sighed lightly as she her thoughts drifted to the vision again. She glanced at Liathlas, who was washing herself. “Do you think any other trees exist?”

Liathlas stopped for a moment, pondering the thought. “It’s possible, I believe. The jungle is vast. There could be many trees like mother. Or…she could be the only one. But you said you had a vision about a seed. If it were planted, it could grow into another tree.” Liathlas looked at Malyck. He was staring at the water; a somber look crossed his face.

“We must find it before the Nightmare Court does.” Malyck spoke softly, rising to his feet. Ceara and Liathlas nodded in agreement. “We have a long trek ahead of us tomorrow. The dragon’s domain will be very hostile towards us.” He stood, taking a deep breath, before heading towards the cave entrance.

“He told me what happened to his tree and his people.” Liathlas spoke quietly as Ceara watched Malyck disappear into the cave. “He said Mordremoth killed his tree and turned his people into mordrem. Now he searches the jungle for anyone that may have escaped, hoping to gather them and take them to the Grove.”

“Because of me.” Ceara blamed herself silently, her thoughts turning to the recent past.

The duo finished bathing. “He is very honor driven, it seems.” Liathlas mentioned as she climbed out of the spring.

“Just like Amaranda described.” Ceara replied as she stood. “She called him an enigma, a sylvari without a Dream.” She climbed out of the water. “Though the mystery around him seems to be vanishing.”

“Mysteries are meant to be solved, are they not?”

A slight smile grew across Ceara’s face. “Most of them, yes. But we should be cautious with some. They might not give us an answer we wish to find.” She spoke solemnly.

Liathlas knew what Ceara was talking about. She could tell by the tone of her voice, her smile betrayed her actual thoughts. They gathered their things and set off for the cave.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Sitting on a stone slab by herself, Orla glared at the other sylvari in the cave. Her thoughts drifted over the events of the past few days.

“I should have just killed that Amaranda.” She thought, her bottom lip twisted in disgust. “I wouldn’t be stuck here. Then I could have just easily made my way back to the arbor.” Her thoughts were cut short by the approach of a stealthed individual.

“If you’ve come to kill me, you’re going to have a tough time of it.” Her voice raised. A sylvari in Whispers garb appeared beside her.

“I’m not here to kill you, courtier.” It knelt down a few feet in front of her. “What drew you to nightmare?”

Orla smirked. “Heh, why do you ask, dreamer? Do you feel the pull?”

“I do not. But I sometimes wonder what causes some of our kindred to take such a dark path in life?”

“Dreamer, you are so naïve. The Pale Tree has blinded you to the truth, and you refuse to see it.”

“Is it because you want to be ‘free’? Free from the Pale Tree?”

“Free from the words of a long dead centaur. Why should we be bound by some laws meant to keep us in line? Nightmare has shown me the way out. Has given me a way out. I don’t follow the words of some stone tablet.”

“By joining a group led by Faolain and Cadryn? To be their pawns in their war against the Pale Mother?”

“They would lead us to freedom.”

“Would they?”

“Your days are ending, Dreamer. We will prevail. You will all see the truth.”

“I can see that you are lost.” He stood. “One day, I hope you find your way.” He disappeared from sight.

“Ugh, I need to get out of here. These dreamers are going to make me vomit.” Orla muttered to herself. She scanned around the dimly lit cavern.  “The washroom has a hole in the ceiling.” She thought to herself. Which I’m sure it’s guarded by those Whispers. But If I’m quick enough…I might be able to outpace them.” She quickly moved to the wash area. A yellow skinned sylvari was rinsing himself off in the spring water. He paused noticing her.

“Uh, nice evening for a wash.” He haphazardly spoke.

“Silence, dreamer.” She leapt in the spring after him.

“What are you doing!?” he yelped.

“Getting out of this cave and away from your ilk.” She quickly started climbing the rock face, the cold water flowing over her, giving her a chill. “Almost there.” She thought to herself. Reaching the opening in the ceiling, she peeked out. The light cool breeze in the evening air blew past her. Looking around, she saw no one, but she knew she was not alone.

“I know you’re here, Whispers. You won’t stop me.” She spoke aloud. Noticing movement among the rocks, she quickly darted away. An agent appeared in front of her, who she shoulder charged, causing both of them to tumble into the sand. Orla quickly got to her feet as she searched for the agent. Another appeared behind her, knocking her legs out from under her.

“Cease this senselessness now and return to the cave and we won’t be forced to harm you. The asuran agent said as he stood a few feet from her.

“I’m not staying here. You can’t keep me here.”

“Then you leave us no cho-“ Orla charged the asura, who disappeared as she ran by. She kept running. She quickly reached the edge of the cliff face overlooking Camp Resolve.

“You’re trapped. Return to the cave immediately.” She heard a voice behind her.

“Heh. Maybe another day, Whispers.” She leapt over the edge.

“Is she crazy!?” another agent gasped.

Running to the edge, they could see Orla making her way down the cliffwall.

“How does she…Do you think…”

“A former agent turned courtier?” Another asked watching as she leapt to a small pillar. She turned and waved at them before disappearing from sight.

[fang-fr]

Dulce!

DULCE! One of the very first dragons I bought on the site! Strap in because this is a bit of a long story (apologies to my own fictional character for deadnaming her):

So originally, Dulce was pink/obsidian/coral and I named her (at the time "him") "Gumball" after Prince Gumball from Adventure Time, bc I had this rule back then that all my dragons HAD to be named after existing fictional characters. Well...the years went by, new colors were introduced, new genes released, and I fell out of love with this dragon. BUT I didn't want to exalt her because she was my only level 25 mage. So I decided she needed a makeover. I scattered her, put some fresh clothes on her, and tried to think of a new name because she was no longer pink AT ALL lol. As I was looking at her, I thought she didn't seem like a "he" to me anymore, so I changed that too. I think I looked up female names related to sweetness and candy, and picked one that was both familiar to me and suited her.

TL;DR: it means "sweet" or "candy" in Spanish & her old name was a type of candy, so it seemed fitting

[bnha-dumpster]

stooloudarts replied to your post “do any of y’all play flight rising? i’m dead and wanna talk about...”

What's the game about? Is it mobile?

you’ve activated my trap card

flight rising isn’t a mobile app, unfortunately. i’d love for there to be a mobile app but tbh i’m already amazed and thankful of the flight rising devs for all the content they make. 

it’s on a site! the gist of it is that you create a hoard of dragons, breed them, fight with them in the coliseum- i really can’t do the game justice. the devs have made a wonderful game and the community is amazing. the artwork is fuckin fabulous and it’s so much fun! here’s some of my dragons bc i love them!!! under the cut bc it’ll seem like spam to some of y’all

this is hyltwyn!! she’s one of my progenitor dragons! basically, the first dragon of your hoard. after choosing your elemental flight, you get to have one custom dragon- pick one of the four common breeds, choose their gender, their primary and secondary colors. (hyltwyn is a female guardian!! i love her.) then your other dragon is a randomized dragon of the same breed but the other gender. i gave her a tertiary gene and she’s got an accent on with some apparel. my gal,,,,,

kyrsswyn!! she’s one of the few nocturnes i have! i’m not a big fan of the nocturne breed, it’s just my preference. but kyrsswyn???? she’s my lovely crimson daughter.

himalsyn is one of my 4 coatl dragons! i really love the pose for male coatl dragons so 3 of the 4 are male. he’s one of the first dragons i got from the auction house and i haven’t changed his genes or colors at all! he’s good as he is. never gonna exalt or auction him.

bluomsyn is a gaoler! he’s one of the two ancient dragon breeds that flight rising has. gaolers were released around june of 2019 and they’re amazing! ancient breeds can have genes that break the lineart of the dragon- modern breeds don’t have genes, skins or accents that break the lineart. bluomsyn is one of my favorite gaolers tbh

this is dornnwyn, the other ancient breed! banescales were released in in december and everyone got two eggs to hatch! of course, the banescales only have basic genes when you hatch those two eggs. banescales have cool designs and i can’t wait to add some genes to dornnwyn!! i’m debating on getting a color scroll and seeing if i can get another combination i like more.

[mobian-fr]

I had a person ask me if I’d sell Eternity to them.

That’s like 5 people now who have asked me for him. I thought it was weird that people always ask about this same dragon, so I looked into it and,

turns out he’s one of only 2 dragons on the site with that color scheme. And the only one who hasn’t been exalted. So that’s neat.

[sangombra-2]

A Friendly PSA

Before we begin, a disclaimer: We are in NO way trying to tell anyone what to do with their dragon! This is a hopeful outreach to the person who ends up winning the triple cyan g1 from the raffle. The G1 community can be harsh, and we’re hoping to prevent them (in the instance it goes to someone who isn’t familiar with g1s) from being scammed or unintentionally losing out on the absolute mountain of money they would be able to make off this dragon. (if they choose to sell) 

Which brings us to our first tip...

Don’t: Scatter him!

Trust us, he’ll only turn out ugly. If you’re not interested in his genes or breed, try different combos in the Scrying Workshop! You never know, you might find something you like! Or if you flat out don’t want him, consider auctioning him off! Triple color gen1s can go for a massive amount of cash! Usually around 50kg, but this guy is special. 

Matching eyes, triple cyan, first Roundsey dragon on site. He’ll easily go for 70kg+ if you find the right buyer. 

Don’t: EXALT HIM

He’s too good for the deities to get their grubby little hands on. But in all seriousness, you’ll get virtually nothing from exalting him, unless you’re into throwing money away. If you’re just not that into him, look into selling! I promise it’ll be worth your while!

Don’t: Breed him

Gen1s don’t have parents themselves, what makes you think they’d be good at being one? Jokes aside, I know this is a topic a lot of people take personally. I’m here to tell you that breeding a gen1 only decreases it’s resale value. This isn’t a personal opinion of mine, it is a fact of the market. I know there are people who still buy bred gen1s, and while he would still get you a good chunk of dragon cash after being bred regardless, he could sell for so much more! 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All that being said, remember: This is your dragon. We are not telling you what you can or cannot do with it. No one is allowed to do so, and if you get pms telling you otherwise, or someone harassing you over this dragon, please report and block them. This post is meant as a general guideline delivered in a cute manner, in hopes that if a newbie or someone who is unfamiliar with the market doesn’t end up losing out on all the money they could have if they end up choosing to sell him in the future. 

If you win him and plan on keeping him forever, then I would 100% suggest finding him a triple blue range mate and making pretty babies with matching eyes! Those can also rake in the cash for people who are into that sort of thing! 

You do what you want with your dragon, and I hope that he makes whoever wins him either extremely happy or filthy rich and extremely happy! 

This message is brought to you by myself and Kavalkade, who is the artist of the cute little ridge gifs in this post. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to pm me, or even pop into the G1 Discord chat! (Pm me for an invitation link!)

[magicalusuki]

progen dragon sharing, inspired by a post by @goannafr that ive had in my drafts since may 12th of this year! wow i am good at being late

varsha- custom progen

so the colors i chose for varsha.... well, i didnt choose them. which is fully. i was in school in the middle of a movie in health class, and id snuck onto my phone and made an fr account because the registration window was about to close and i was going to be busy the rest of the time it was open, or maybe i was just too impatient.

i didnt realize you could even change the colors of the dragon- i just chose the breed and my flight (wind), and actually moved to ice almost immediately after because wind was such an impulse decision. 

i actually hated her colors once i realized that i could have picked them myself, because i would have probably made a seafoam/rose dragon. but now i love her. it might have been cool if she at least had a different blue for the wings, so if i could remake her (and assume she got the same tert) i would give her storm wings. it brings out that gray tert in a really cool way and just makes her a biiit more interesting. i mean, look at that! it look great with her apparel, too.

i chose to make her a fae, because i though that they were cute. i didnt like any of the other starter breeds when i joined because i was a coward. i wanted the cutesiest dragons ever, which is funny considering now varsha is super badass

i had like... the vaguest clue of what fr was, because i was in the neopets community and a ton of the blogs i followed were into it, but i didnt really understand it in depth. fun fact! my original username was twinkling. 

exaltation

so when i first joined fr, from what i remember we had... very few tert options. i believe we had basic, crackle, underbelly and circuit? and with varsha’s tert being grey, and yukienne’s being denim... basically nothing looked even slightly decent.

on top of this, i really wasnt in the forums or community much at all- so i wasnt aware that maybe exalting your progens wasnt a great plan, and how special they can be. and i certainly wasnt thinking about future genes. i mean, its been 5 years and STILL the best tert for varsha is stained and i dont particularly love any i have for yukienne!  ive grown to like stained on varsha, but for real. even irishim couldnt save that grey tert, and i used to be OBSESSED with irishim

.im not against geneing yukienne fully and i have a few options planned, but denim is not.... its not an easy color to work with, which sucks because sky and violet work together so well, and then you have this random greenish-grayish blue. why. which is why he is not gened at all because oh my god. please fr give me something that makes denim purpley ill die for you

this is his current most likely scry but im still... not sold... at least sky is one of my favorite colors on site! hes still a pretty lucky random progen all things considered, i know some people were truly cursed. they also have a pretty okay range, so thats nice! i brought these guys back as quick as possible and was so excited i got the option so do so.

lore and clan roles

in the end, exaltation gave my progens a lot of character- although i was so upset about having done it for literal years, lol. my clan lore felt super weak up until bringing them back.

varsha is clan leader, but im undecided about yukiennes role- all i know is that he did essentially abandon varsha in exaltation and didnt actually fight to earn his right back to this plane, and she resents him for that. i can imagine they did talk initially about him rising up the politcal ladder rather than being involved in the war itself, and i imagine initially he was actually quite gentle and perhaps a bit skittish- she had more pity for him then, and understood he wouldnt fare as well. maybe she even thought it would help his confidence. but seeing him live a bejeweled life as she fought endlessly.... well, thats just not great. on top of it, he sees himself as responsible for their return, not acknowledging varshas efforts, and he does this despite the fact that there was no evidence of it.  so yukienne likely doesnt do much in the clan, and i imagine varshas bodyguard- nevara- keeps an eye on him until or if varsha decides hes trustworthy to help. in the end, he doesnt especially want to do things for the clan anyways- he doesnt feel the dedication that varsha does, and though varsha doesnt realize it hes worn himself. hes tired of lies and a political lifestyle, and i dont imagine hes as confident as he might come off- its likely more a force of habit, and in saying it was because of him they got home, he just more than anything wants validation that his suffering was just as painful and he worked just as hard as varsha. but she really cant see that. in her eyes, hes still sitting on a pedestal, lying and spoiled rotten. even if now hes just lost and tired more than anything else.

varsha obviously is very strong willed and stubborn, and sometimes has difficulty empathizing with others- particularly those she perceives as having caused her harm. shes not especially friendly, and a bit paranoid. still she cares a lot about others, particularly her clan members who she views as her responsibility, and so she pushes away her own feelings best she can. shes more prone to trust those from wind than from any other flight, and is working on her distrust of those from ice. 

she has a close bond to nevara due to her wind heritage and time spend together on the battlefield, and trusts her deeply. she also deeply trusts aer, the very dragon that first found her and yukienne, and the only from the clan at the time that did not know of her exaltation until it was too late. she appreciates the effort on her behalf to keep the clan in order and understands aer was also very hurt by what her clan members had done, and is glad to have someone from that time who had missed her. 

varsha also finds amaryllis sort of cute and charming.the wind heritage probably helps yet again in this case, but even beyond that, she appreciates someone so unfit for the role trying their very hardest to play leader to keep their clan together in her absence. she sees her somewhat like a little sibling, despite not having a large gap in age.

since mako worked so close to both amyrllis and aer during her absence, she was one of the first ice flight members in their clan that she warmed to. with her optimistic and free spirited attitude, and the fact that shes still willing to work in a political position (unlike amaryllis, who was happy to retire) she helps to balance out varshas negative views of people and also is very useful in giving intel and helping create strong bonds between their clan and others, since varsha... would probably never do so on her own, but does see the necessity.

yukienne, at this point, lives a fairly solitary lifestyle. being rejected by the person he admires most as well as feeling he betrayed and failed her, he sees himself unworthy of deeper relationships. at the same time, he is stubborn and unwilling to discuss and feels he doesnt deserve sympathy or to explain his side. all interactions and relationships he has are shallow. at the very least, he is genuinely very proud of his appearance, so thats probably the one thing he has actual confidence in.

[theonyxpath]

The above is Page 4 of the ongoing Trinity Continuum: Aberrant web comic You Are Not Alone that we started last week after a teasing build up of the cover. Long-time fans will recognize the character who comes together from vines and plant tendrils as Antaeus, who was one of the most powerful members of Team Tomorrow – at least in the first edition.

He may still be all that, or maybe not, but that’s why we’re doing the web comic as we are – to let everyone get acquainted with the world and characters of Trinity Continuum: Aberrant.

I have followed a few web comics these past few years (although right now I’m only following Stand Still, Stay Silent; a beautifully illustrated Scandinavian post-apocalyptic exploration epic – google it, it’s fantastic), and I think there’s a lot of value to them as a creator, so this very specific use as a lead-in to the new TC: Aberrant and its Kickstarter is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we could do with the format.

For now though, we’re really interested in hearing how merging the sequential story with a sequential release set-up that will start to run at the same time as the Kickstarter will work for folks. We think the web comic format is excellent (especially with veteran writer Paul Jenkins nailing the feeling of the setting, and with the multi-talented Doug Stambaugh doing the art), but most importantly, do you?

Tell us what you think as the story develops – it doesn’t matter if you never checked out Aberrant before, or if you already know who Dr. Duke Rollo is – please let us know here or in the comments of the web comic!

And who knows? If this Trinity Continuum: Aberrant web-comic works out, maybe we’ll use the format to create more sequential storytelling projects – a new Exalted 3rd comic series of short comics like from 2nd Edition, or new “Tribebook style” werewolf comics, or something for Scion or Pugmire like nothing we’ve ever done before.

There are a lot of possibilities to explore!

V5 Chicago By Night art by Felipe Gaona

Now, you might have noticed that buried up there was a mention of the Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter. It’s true, it’s going to start next week!

Just like our latest Kickstarters, we have the text completed, our Storypath experts (yes, we actually have some now that our creators have been able to pore over the Scion, Trinity Continuum, Dystopia Rising: Evolution, and They Came From Beneath the Sea! core books!) have reviewed and revised the rules sections, and we have a smattering of the art ready.

We’ll have amazing Reward Tiers: some with just the TC: Aberrant book, some with the Trinity Continuum Core book as well, and definitely the sorts of upper level rewards our backers just can’t get enough of! Plus lots of PDF packages that include first edition projects, and Stretch Goals for a staggering array of different sorts of added rewards – all themed to reflect and enhance that specific Aberrant take on the super-hero genre.

Aberrant, first edition, was both a labor of love and a nightmare of frenzied creation for me, personally, and for both those reasons I’m hugely excited about this new edition. As a very long-time comic book fan (I started collecting Marvel comics just as the cover price changed to 25 cents an issue, if you can believe that!) and a guy who did a graphic novel as his Masters Degree thesis, I was filled with ideas for how to bring a new look to comic book TTRPGs.

Not all of those visual ideas panned-out, some because we reached too far out of the TTRPG comfort zone, but most because in order to make them work we needed the original developer, the graphic designer (who also had designed the look for the Aeon books), and myself to all work together to take the writing into the different kinds of layouts and visuals needed that worked with both the Trinity series and the specifics of the comic book genre.

Unfortunately, both those other gentlemen left the project (and at least one of them left WW entirely for a while) before the book was finished.

M20 Book of the Fallen art by Oliver Specht

Basically, I had a pile of text to sub-divide as best I could into the sorts of sections that worked with the visuals. In comic book terms, I had the script and the art, but needed to combine them, but without the writer or original artist around to help tweak the two elements so they’d work together for maximum impact.

So I’d handle my Art Director and department head duties through most of the day, and then settle in and do the book layout (and coloring, and lettering, and logos, etc) into the night so that we’d get the book out on time. While I’d have really liked to make some alterations to the text, I just didn’t have the time to change it so much as to take the chunks and rearrange them.

That’s why I’m in the credits page as Art Director, and Ron Thompson is there for Layout – Ron was my White Wolf alias, and I used him when having my name in the credits too many times just looked like a bit too much me. To me, at least.

I tell you all that, so that I can tell you that this edition, Trinity Continuum: Aberrant, was not created that way at all. Or I should say, the love and excitement is still there, and not just from myself, but the creation process has been a full-team press of very dedicated creators.

From the early “big picture” talks between Impish Ian Watson and myself, to the continued “how are we going to do this?” conferences with me, Ian, Eddy Webb as Storypath games overseer, and Steve Kenson (who is THE guru of super-heroic TTRPGs) where we set up the details and changes to the setting, all the way through the confabs I had with Mirthful Mike Chaney as we picked through possible artists, this has been a fantastic team effort.

And we didn’t need to rush through any of the parts to get us here!

Finally, and in a totally different direction, here’s a teaser ad for ANOTHER cool thing happening next week in July. Keep an eye out on the Slarecian Vault community content page for a titanic (see what I did there) series of inter-connected releases that work together as an epic campaign!

And that’s it. So, so…

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Starting next week, on Tuesday July 2nd at 2pm EDT, the Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter will blast its super-powered way into our lives!

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an in-depth discussion with Dixie, Eddy, and Matthew taking a long look at harassment – a difficult subject that affects gamers and creators alike: what it is and how to deal with it!: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

The Onyx Path News returns tomorrow with a live edition on our YouTube channel at 15:00 BST! Be there for talk of new releases and project updates, as well as our next Kickstarter!

Matthew Dawkins has been uploading all the games of ours he’s been running lately, and is coming to the conclusion of the Scarred Lands actual play he ran for Red Moon Roleplaying! Here are links to the next two episodes: https://youtu.be/wKuyrVRB1EY and https://youtu.be/KxZzkpDmV-c

Travis Legge’s Scarred Lands actual play also continues apace here with Myths & Matchmakers: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmiXCaSrrCIjmCJQQ7oLwLNahmDbdn_2J There are few people who know Scarred Lands like him!

Not leaving the Scarred Lands, we also have Devil’s Luck Gaming who continue their costumed actual play: https://www.twitch.tv/DEVILSLUCKGAMING

And it must be a Scarred Lands kind of a month, because Caffeinated Conquests continue to blunder through the Gauntlet of Spiragos here: https://youtu.be/ygamfg9yBak

Now venturing into the Chronicles of Darkness, we present Occultists Anonymous‘ latest episode of the Mage: The Awakening 2E chronicle they’re running (and they’ve been very impressed with Signs of Sorcery): Episode 23: Giant Problems Songbird speaks with the Supernal being he has summoned, Wyrd makes an important phone call, and the cabal feels mighty defensive! https://youtu.be/vjarpxda1Po

Episode 24: Nosey Neighbors Following the phone call to the cabal’s new “friend”, Atratus and Wyrd discuss and plan defenses, while Songbird goes to the gym to blow off some steam. Splitting the party…https://youtu.be/WBTzpXoNQnw

And swooping over to the world of Exalted, the Story Told Podcast continue their Dragon-Blooded actual play here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-episode-8-a-journey-begins Eight episodes in and the adventure is really kicking off!

Roll the Role recently concluded their fantastic actual play of Trinity Continuum: Aeon, which is viewable on both their YouTube and Twitch channels, linked below:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvGGHFXrqTyBA2wSCCbJbRcm7XoZh_cVk www.twitch.tv/rolltherole Please do give them your support! 

And the Keeper of the Archive (a more ominous name than the Gentleman Gamer) has just started their breakdown of Scion Second Edition over on their channel, so check out part one! https://youtu.be/q2qUE0pJID4

Lots of Onyx Path content for you today!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we have two new creatures for Exalted 3rd‘s Hundred Devils Night Parade, as well as Dragon-Blooded digital wallpaper at DriveThruRPG, and Exalted Chibi style stickers at our RedBubble store!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Development

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Editing

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Post-Editing Development

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Scion Ready-Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Dark Eras 2 – More finals in and going to WW for approval.

M20 Book of the Fallen

VtR Spilled Blood – Art from A and M in, waiting on the rest.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Sketches coming in.

Trinity Continuum Aberrant – KS Sketches and finals coming in.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea – Getting it going.

TCFBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

In Layout

V5: Chicago – Starting NPCs chapter…

Trinity Core

Trinity Aeon

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel 

Proofing

WtF Shunned by the Moon – 2nd proof.

DR: E – proof back from Eddy

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams – This week.

Ex 3 Monthlies – At WW for approval

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe shipping to Studio2.

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – Shipped to Studio2.

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Printing.

The Realm – PoD files uploaded.

Trinity Core Screen – Printing.

TC Aeon Screen – Printing.

C20 Player’s Guide – PoD proofs ordered.

Geist 2e – Need to input Errata.

Book of Oblivion – Putting in errata.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs ordered.

Scion Jumpstart – Gathering errata from Backer PDFs.

Scion Ready-Made Characters – Gathering errata from Backer PDFs.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

OK- so when I don’t have something specific to put here, I go to Wikipedia and look up the date and see who is born/died or any great events on this date. Today there was this:

637 – The Battle of Moira is fought between the High King of Ireland and the Kings of Ulster and Dál Riata. It is claimed to be the largest battle in the history of Ireland.

Now as is, this might be interesting particularly for Neall and the Scion community. Except I read it as the Battle of Moria, and for a minute I wanted to know which one, and was that the battle where Thorin got his Oakenshield appellation?

[clya-lyren]

You see this boy? He is the only one on site, even those exalted! Don’t believe me? Check! He’s fire, Cerise, Amethyst and a Gen 1 :P He’s got super matchy colors too. Don’t you want a one of a kind dragon??? 

I hope so, cause he’s got an auction HERE

[whiteclericmaris]

Day 43

Rank your dragons in order of most loved/lavished by you. (At least 10 if you have more)

#10

Birthday Dragon. One of the 3 times I get a Gem gene for a dragon but also I actually love that she is Green/Red primary as it fits a sort of lore regarding my first 2 Gen 1 hatches that are also greenish/reddish complementary colors. (Basically a mercenary group with a chef).

#9

The Thundercrack Gen 1 project I did in honor of the person who introduced me to FR. Her apparel plan isn't set I just have her as the Nightfall Starsilk owner but had to take the wingdrapes out because she looked off with them.

#8

I just... really love her colors. They stick out a lot in my lair from all the keepers I have. She even has art with the skin but not the apparel because well I just don't prioritize dress/apparel plans.

#7

An oldie that came bred but one of the first I leveled to 25 on my own. I also just love how his apparel blends/meshes with his colors.

#6

(Pink therapy dragon I regened to make real)

#5

An oldie that I also leveled to 25 on my own and one of my first. I even bought him the skin when I slowly started to become active again. Apparel plan is still a wip but I'm not sure what else to add as it looks like everything is covered (just pants but not that much of a biggie without them).

#4

(Expensive pink therapy dragon named after Whirlpool Galaxies) I got her art this week before I even gened her because it was cute too.

#3

She's had the apparel for years along with the familiars since it looked matchy with her color scheme and then back in May-June I bought her the Starfall Skin and now she is my wishlist dragon because of that skin. I'm so happy I kept her even if lineage is wack.

#2

He has more art than my customizable progen (even if on purpose because I was unsure what to give my other Progen).

He also came in purple so I thought that was cool since it looked matchy with my customizable one (although I'm starting to realize after seeing some players complain about their randoms that I was a part of the "lucky" spectrum.)

Mismatched breeding from the early days but I still love them even with the tert.

#1

(This shouldn't come as a surprise)

I spent way too much gems on her already. I didn't know what I was doing when I made an account since it was just player saying they had Welcome Week back when registration to the site was limited during certain weeks.

I've said it before but her primary and secondary are based on the Arcane Banner colors that looked matchy (because I can!) Whereas Magenta because I liked it better than say Fuchsia or the more matchy Bubblegum to sort of "pop out" more.

Tert was just "they look the same no matter which color I give them compared to primary and secondary". I was thinking more pink but.. I love blue. Let's be different at least and add blue. "Hey Azure sounds like a fancy blue to have. Azure it is!"

Like Erskine lineage is wack in some cases from my early days (and I kinda do not understand "not breeding your progen cultures because that was the first thing I did + they're your progens so they are clanbound meaning you can only exalt and not sell them, like I understand other gen 1s hatched from unhatched eggs but... progens... aren't going anywhere anyway).

[spiteweaver]

For the pick a number thing 15 and 27

Under the cut for length!

(Send me a number, y’all!)

15 is Tau!

1. What is their romantic history like?

Tau has never been given many opportunities to be romantic. Following the Lightweaver’s destruction of his birth clan, he threw himself into his work and never paid much mind to any potential suitors until Copernicus came along. In his youth, he was a heart-breaker, far more outgoing and social than he is now, but I wouldn’t say he ever truly loved anyone before Copernicus.

His relationship with Copernicus is sweet and chaste. He loves Copernicus dearly, and would defy the gods to protect him. Tau will drop his proper disposition like a sack of potatoes the very instant someone says or does anything unkind to Copernicus–and no one will see it coming, because no one expects a man so prim to be able to throw hands.

So, all in all, Tau has had a fairly positive experience with romance thus far.

2. What songs would you put on a playlist about this dragon/ what songs would they put on a playlist of their own?

At the Gates of Babylon - Antti Martikainen (current theme)

Broken - Lund

Retrograde - James Blake

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Florence + The Machine

You Are My Sunshine - Patrick Dansereau

Drink the Water - Justin Cross

3. What are their guilty pleasures?

He doesn’t really have any (he’s a little too stuffy for that).

4. If they have a bipedal form, what does it look like? Do they have a faceclaim? What kinds of things would they wear?

I used this photoset as a faceclaim a while back. Tau’s eyes are gold, but, otherwise, Kwak Dong-Yeon is spot-on.

As for clothing, typically, he dresses in traditional Light attire while working. During his free time, he wears simpler robes, similar to some forms of hanbok.

5. What is their most traumatic memory?

The destruction of his birth clan by the Lightweaver, and his subsequent enlistment under Her as an exaltation specialist. She has not allowed him to heal. He is forbidden to visit the former site of his clan, or pay respects to those lost, or even to utter their names aloud.

The Lightweaver’s wrath is absolute, so She will not let those who stole from Her live on in Tau.

6. What kinds of dreams do they have?

His darker dreams are closed off even to Dreamweaver. You can guess what they pertain to.

On the rare occasion he has sweet dreams, they are always of Copernicus and his family. Often, he dreams of a world in which Copernicus could meet them, and the two of them could receive his parents’ blessing.

7. What foods do they like? Which do they dislike?

Tau eats most things, but doesn’t much care for messy finger foods. His favorite foods to eat are traditional Light and Wind dishes (his grandparents immigrated from the Windswept Plateau to the Sunbeam Ruins, so he has ties to both). Kimchi is a staple, as is rice.

8. What is their best physical feature?

Most would say his eyes. They’re very clear and striking, and they’re where a lot of his emotion shines through.

9. How do they fight/what weapons do they wield?

Although he is not a fighter, Tau has trained with a sword, as a precaution. He can fight with claws and teeth in draconic form, but, given the small size of Spirals, he doesn’t favor it.

He’s a surprisingly powerful puncher, so, in a pinch, his fists are his weapons of choice, and he will use them if you cross Copernicus or any one of his clanmates. He’d greatly prefer to settle things diplomatically, or, at the very least, with snide remarks.

10. What are their thoughts on the Beastclans? Do they like them? See them as allies? Nuisances?

Tau has no thoughts on the Beastclans. They exist, and as long as they’re peaceful, he’s happy to share land and resources with them.

11. What are they like in bed?

Shy, a little self-conscious, and highly focused on pleasing his partner. He cares far less about his own pleasure than he does Copernicus’. He’s not as versatile as some of his clanmates, but he’s open-minded enough to try most things his lover might take an interest in–and he has a terrible time saying no to Copernicus as it is.

He’s not particularly interested in sex. He’s more of a romantic. Copernicus is really the only man who can get him any kind of excited, and, once he is, he’ll keep the poor lad until well past dawn. Excellent stamina, attentive hands, and very good with his mouth.

12. What are their biggest turn-ons/turn-offs?

Turn-Ons: Copernicus (obviously); pretty much anything Copernicus does or says (obviously); lewd conversation, whispered into his ear in a public setting; teasing; T H I G H S

Turn-Offs: blood; poor hygiene; the usual suspects (watersports, scat, etc.)

13. Do they have any kinks?

You didn’t hear it from me, but…orgasm control/denial. If Copernicus were ever to edge him, Tau could die a happy man.

27 is Emil!

1. What is their romantic history like?

Emil spent much of his life in isolation, and, when you can turn a man to stone just by looking at him, you aren’t exactly spoiled for choices. Romance is still a bit of a mystery to him, but there is one person he thinks he may have loved, may still love even now, and that’s Nier.

He doesn’t expect Nier to return the sentiment, if they’re ever reunited, but it’s safe to say that Nier was his first love–and, perhaps, his first heartbreak.

2. What songs would you put on a playlist about this dragon/ what songs would they put on a playlist of their own?

The Ultimate Weapon - Keiichi Okabe (current theme)

Emil / Despair - Keiichi Okabe

Emil / Sacrifice - Keiichi Okabe

Repose - Keiichi Okabe

Ashes of Dreams / New - Emi Evans

Weight of the World / the End of YoRHa - Marina Kawano

3. What are their guilty pleasures?

None worth noting.

4. If they have a bipedal form, what does it look like? Do they have a faceclaim? What kinds of things would they wear?

He’s shorter than average, with a distinctly youthful appearance. When he wears a blindfold in place of his mask, this shows through most prominently in the roundness of his face. He’s pale, white-haired, and his eyes, though always hidden, are a very deep blue. He tends to wear his hair short, but lets it grow out now and again.

The most distinct clothing he owns is his mask, carved in the likeness of an eerily grinning moon. He tends to dress in dark, somber colors, favoring cloaks to hide him from prying eyes.

5. What is their most traumatic memory?

Most likely his “death” at the hands of Devola. He sacrificed himself in order to save his friends, and accepting death in any form is a frightening experience. His long isolation before meeting Nier was traumatic in its own way, but submitting himself to death via Shade infestation took a far greater toll on him.

In the end, he survived, but the memory haunts him.

(Even so, he would do it again.)

6. What kinds of dreams do they have?

His most common dreams are of the time he spent with his friends. They’re slow and meandering. Often, they consist of nothing but sitting atop a high hill with his loved ones, staring endlessly out into the vast blue sky. His mother and father are there sometimes, and sometimes, it’s just him and Nier.

7. What foods do they like? Which do they dislike?

Emil isn’t a picky eater, but, in line with his somewhat childish appearance, he loves sweets best of all. This is problematic, because, in his own words, he struggles quite a bit with keeping a healthy weight. He blames it on his short stature, but, really, it’s just because he eats more sweets than he should.

(Fortunately, his years of traveling helped him keep the pounds off.)

Most of the foods he dislikes are the odder ones, like seaweed or fried bugs. He’ll try anything once, but that doesn’t mean he’ll like them.

8. What is their best physical feature?

He has the most precious smile in all the world.

9. How do they fight/what weapons do they wield?

Primarily, Emil is a mage, and his magic is of a kind unique to him and to his late sister, Halua. It is incredibly powerful, enough so to level massive swathes of land–but, fortunately, it can only achieve such great power through a loss of control, and Emil, while still in need of practice, has better self-control than most.

When magic won’t cut it, he relies on his staff. It won’t damage all enemies, but it will damage enough that he feels comfortable relying on it.

He’d much rather talk things out, though.

10. What are their thoughts on the Beastclans? Do they like them? See them as allies? Nuisances?

Honestly, Emil thinks Beastclans are cute.

He doesn’t mean to offend, but he’s always had a soft spot for animals, and Beastclans are, at their core, animals and half-animals that have gained sapience. He can’t help but find them incredibly charming.

11. What are they like in bed?

Extremely inexperienced. He’s great if you’re looking for a particularly innocent partner, but you’ll have to teach him just about everything. The man thinks a kink is that thing he gets in his leg when he’s sat in one position for too long.

He knows the basics, of course. He’s not a child, and he’s fully comfortable in his sexuality as a gay man. He has no practical experience, however, so he’s not entirely sure how to go about anything. Even kissing is something that’s completely beyond him.

If he loves you, though, he’ll be very eager to learn how to please you–and how to please himself as well. He won’t back down from the challenge, even if it flusters him.

12. What are their biggest turn-ons/turn-offs?

Turn-Ons: older men; muscular physiques; deep, gravelly voices; frank admissions of attraction; kind hearts and generous dispositions; determination and self-confidence

Turn-Offs: cold or callous treatment; bad attitudes; degradation, humiliation; blood; the usual suspects (watersports, scat, etc.)

13. Do they have any kinks?

He’s about as vanilla as vanilla gets, but he has a big thing for size differences (pun definitely intended). He’s on the shorter side, and his first love was a man twice his height with muscles on his muscles, so, well, let’s just say he has a type.

[whiteclericmaris]

This is Fluffalbuns (gotta rename her soon), she is my Progenitor Dragon that I made on site almost 3 years ago starting July. While some players sometimes exalt their progen I could never do that because it took a lot of time deciding her colors. She is co founder of the lair even though she technically owned it and with the help of my random progen that wanted a Lair they started building and expanding. In her info I put the current objectives as reminder and since she is the leader it fits.

This is TwilightCloud. I don't have his lore set but basically he was mad when he first joined the clan (since I bought him in Auction House non gen 1). He would growl often craving adventure which would be Coli but he needed 2 dragons to explore with him (because Coli format party of 3). As he started exploring with both Fluffalbuns and a Coatl he soften up a bit and started viewing them as companions.

He's snarky though and leaves some off handed comments that come of as jokes. He gets into arguments a lot with a Light Ridgeback I have (because he a farm a dragon) and they usually are back and forth with each other but he remains some composure.

And this... this is Brightshine Jubilee 2019 Celebration. (I buy a Dragon usually based on genes [non gen 1 because not only pricier but most ask for gems and since the game would glitch on me that I couldn't do fairgrounds I couldn't earn gold for genes] for the elemental weeks [except Night of the Nocturne and Plague Week because poison is not an aesthetic for me]. They are all fully gened so I don't have to do the work.

I did not have a male tundra in my lair and that had me OCD so I got him along with a male wildclaw (can't say the same about Gaoler though because I kinda want to wait to be done with achievements and since they are pricier than modern breeds and I'm sure by that time a lot of breeding would be done for variety in AH.)

I'm only missing one apparel piece for him but that's in Joxar's spare inventory crate so I gotta wait for it to begin.

dragon therapy pls

I’m feeling super shitty and anxious about… nothing right now ;;

could you share your dragons with me? Your favorite ones or your calming ones or your special ones. My heart is just beating really fast and I feel like I’m about to cry?????

[mirrorseveryday]

50 Days #19

19) Post your clan’s one-of-a-kind dragon.

Harrow!

I’ve got several different dragons that are unique color/gene combos throughout the lair. Harrow, though, is the only (non-exalted) dragon of his colors at all, and he’s a first gen (who I hatched back in December to celebrate my two year site anniversary). So, yeah, no possible way to replace him, ever!

[curlicuecal]

Flight Rising infoshare

@onceuponymous wrote:

Hi!  I haven’t been on Flight Rising as much lately because my shitty internet connection makes it frustrating, but I’ll probably come into another phase of going to the site multiple times a day soon.  (I’m super upset I missed the entire shadow festival, especially because that’s MY CLAN’s element).  My username there is the same as it is here: Onceuponymous.  I can’t afford more room in my lair but I really don’t want to exalt/sell any of my babies.  I have way more familiars than is prudent.   I only wrote actual lore for two of my dragons: Genevieve (battle mum whose children keep reminding her to focus on healing please) and Eustace, the alchemist who feels weird about melting all this stuff down but also wants to Make Everything.  I haven’t written it out, but I gave Carrie a Bleak Birdskull Headdress, which the infobox says is cursed, and slowly gave her blackened accessories and Gembond.  During the arcane festival, I “exorcised” her with the runes gene and gave her a bunch of scars.  Someday, I will actually write that story out.

I started off trying to theme name my dragons with old-people names (Genevieve, Harold, Jacqueline) but quickly gave that up because Shortcake looked so much like a strawberry dessert, and Adeline reminded me of a DC comics character, and so on.  I have kind of a rule that I’ll name and raise to level three hatchlings before I exalt them.  Sometimes I get stumped for names, so a set of red and black Skydancers all got named after volcanos, and some guardians with plant crackle got the fanciest word on the wikipedia page for blackberries (Domoic, as in domoic acid) or the scientific name for orange slime mold, Acrasidae.  My sibling Casey is to blame for the one named RickGhastly, a purple ghostly looking Pearlcatcher.

Tundras and Skydancers are my favorite breed, and I love the poison genes because a) I can brew them and gift them to friends and b) colors!

Do you have any system for names?  I noticed Hal and Kurloz, and I can only assume UltraBarney is referencing everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur, but a lot of your dragon names sound like they’d fit in a high fantasy novel.

I spent like 3 days being all uptight-panicky ‘oh no i must pick the PERFECT name for each dragon’ and then I decided that was a recipe for unhappiness, so now I’m a lot more off-the-cuff.

Been doing some latin, been doing a lot of actual-word-based names (Stormcloud, Riptide, Sunscatter). The homestuck is creeping in, as it does everywhere.  

I seem to gravitate towards Mirrors like crazy, and I’m also very fond of the Coatl design.

UltraBarney is my randomly assigned progenitor.  I told my brother he could choose the name, and the dragon did indeed wind up named after the kids’ TV show.  (He...  looks like a muppet.  It’s strange and amusing.   The doofy creature.)