Pretty sure they're in Warhammer Fantasy near a Lizardmen city. Giant T-Rex is a Carnosaur.
Meddle not...
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Hey, brains are extremely energy demanding for their size.
If you have a lot of things to supply power to and the budget is limited, you have to compromise somewhere.
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
I keep telling the engineers that Cognitive function is important. You need to notice that prey you are about to attack, thinks your Hilarious.
34
Reality crashed back around me and I rested on my wings, looking down at the massive forest below.
It was just as I remembered. Trees, kilometres tall. Taller, the trunks just went down into the darkness below. But the canopy teemed with life.
I dove down, beneath the uppermost leaves, some of them as big as I was. Slowly I circled the massive trunk before I went down for landing on top of one of the big branches. My claws scraped against the thick bark.
Turning my head, I lifted the soulstone from one of my bags, giving it a small burst of magic, causing Zrazta to reform from fire and smoke.
She stumbled, spreading her wings for balance as she almost fell.
I nuzzled softly. "Okay?"
Zrazta nodded and struggled back to her feet. "...Yes. That's not any more pleasant in my real form."
She was right about that much. I experienced it once, it was… well, it felt like being set on fire from the inside out. Just for a second.
She gave me a small nuzzle before she looked around. "Big tree."
"The biggest, I think." I agreed and started to look around. "Never seen a Plane even approaching this in the past."
"Is everything this big?"
I nodded and stretched. "Last I was here, I hunted down a squirrel-like creature. It was about as big as I am."
"Hmh," She said and clawed at the bark, folding her wings. "So where do we find the tribe that helped you?"
Settling down on the branch, I sniffed at the air. Something had passed here, not too long ago. One of those squirrel things.
We ate a couple of days ago, though, so no need to hunt yet.
"Almost impossible. From what they told me, their village is semi-permanent, but they move when they need to. When the prey moves away, when the things that hunt them start getting too numerous."
"But you have a plan?"
I gave her a draconic grin and rolled onto my side, stretching before relaxing again. "You know me so well. Their leader has a dagger. As some small thanks for saving me, I enchanted it for him. Glows in the dark with magic, hard to damage, self-sharpening… and a tracking spell."
Zrazta chuckled and settled down next to me. "So you can track them."
"As long as they keep that dagger." I agreed and then rolled onto my paws, sitting up. "Give me a second."
Closing my eyes, I focused on weaving my spell, channelling what little mana I had regenerated into it. Luckily, scrying spells don't take that much magic to do. At least when they have a strong anchor at the other end and when I didn't need to dig through interference.
Besides, not like I needed an image or something, just a direction.
I finished weaving the spell and sent it out into the world, searching for the anchor… and connected. I felt it, shining like a star in my mind.
Opening my eyes, I turned to the right. "There. That direction. Several days flight from here."
Zrazta looked over and stood up, stretching her wings. "Will be nice to just fly for a while."
"Mmm," I agreed and copied her. "Let's go."
Taking a couple of steps, I jumped off the massive branch, spreading my wings and turning the dive's speed back into altitude as I beat my wings, rising above the canopy.
I glanced back, seeing Zrazta rise above the green behind me and I did a quick roll before climbing again.
I slowly circled higher as I waited for her to catch up. I didn't need to wait long, her larger and stronger wings giving her better climbing speed even against her additional mass.
Soon she was flying next to me. "This way," I called to her and banked east before resting on my wings, the thermals from below strong even with the dense forest.
Slowly rising, we floated above the forest.
Things felt great.
Even so, I kept an eye out both above, behind and below. Nothing said that there weren't also giant fuck-off birds here. I really didn't want to be eaten by a two hundred meter hawk if I could avoid it.
"Only one problem with this Plane." I commented as I glanced up towards the sun.
"What's that?"
"It's too hot! Would some snow be too much to ask for? Some ice?"
Zrazta just laughed. "Blues!"
Laughing, I swooped at her. She rolled and we twisted in the air, spinning before returning out previous course.
I needed this.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
It was just as I remembered. Trees, kilometres tall. Taller, the trunks just went down into the darkness below. But the canopy teemed with life.
I dove down, beneath the uppermost leaves, some of them as big as I was. Slowly I circled the massive trunk before I went down for landing on top of one of the big branches. My claws scraped against the thick bark.
Turning my head, I lifted the soulstone from one of my bags, giving it a small burst of magic, causing Zrazta to reform from fire and smoke.
She stumbled, spreading her wings for balance as she almost fell.
I nuzzled softly. "Okay?"
Zrazta nodded and struggled back to her feet. "...Yes. That's not any more pleasant in my real form."
She was right about that much. I experienced it once, it was… well, it felt like being set on fire from the inside out. Just for a second.
She gave me a small nuzzle before she looked around. "Big tree."
"The biggest, I think." I agreed and started to look around. "Never seen a Plane even approaching this in the past."
"Is everything this big?"
I nodded and stretched. "Last I was here, I hunted down a squirrel-like creature. It was about as big as I am."
"Hmh," She said and clawed at the bark, folding her wings. "So where do we find the tribe that helped you?"
Settling down on the branch, I sniffed at the air. Something had passed here, not too long ago. One of those squirrel things.
We ate a couple of days ago, though, so no need to hunt yet.
"Almost impossible. From what they told me, their village is semi-permanent, but they move when they need to. When the prey moves away, when the things that hunt them start getting too numerous."
"But you have a plan?"
I gave her a draconic grin and rolled onto my side, stretching before relaxing again. "You know me so well. Their leader has a dagger. As some small thanks for saving me, I enchanted it for him. Glows in the dark with magic, hard to damage, self-sharpening… and a tracking spell."
Zrazta chuckled and settled down next to me. "So you can track them."
"As long as they keep that dagger." I agreed and then rolled onto my paws, sitting up. "Give me a second."
Closing my eyes, I focused on weaving my spell, channelling what little mana I had regenerated into it. Luckily, scrying spells don't take that much magic to do. At least when they have a strong anchor at the other end and when I didn't need to dig through interference.
Besides, not like I needed an image or something, just a direction.
I finished weaving the spell and sent it out into the world, searching for the anchor… and connected. I felt it, shining like a star in my mind.
Opening my eyes, I turned to the right. "There. That direction. Several days flight from here."
Zrazta looked over and stood up, stretching her wings. "Will be nice to just fly for a while."
"Mmm," I agreed and copied her. "Let's go."
Taking a couple of steps, I jumped off the massive branch, spreading my wings and turning the dive's speed back into altitude as I beat my wings, rising above the canopy.
I glanced back, seeing Zrazta rise above the green behind me and I did a quick roll before climbing again.
I slowly circled higher as I waited for her to catch up. I didn't need to wait long, her larger and stronger wings giving her better climbing speed even against her additional mass.
Soon she was flying next to me. "This way," I called to her and banked east before resting on my wings, the thermals from below strong even with the dense forest.
Slowly rising, we floated above the forest.
Things felt great.
Even so, I kept an eye out both above, behind and below. Nothing said that there weren't also giant fuck-off birds here. I really didn't want to be eaten by a two hundred meter hawk if I could avoid it.
"Only one problem with this Plane." I commented as I glanced up towards the sun.
"What's that?"
"It's too hot! Would some snow be too much to ask for? Some ice?"
Zrazta just laughed. "Blues!"
Laughing, I swooped at her. She rolled and we twisted in the air, spinning before returning out previous course.
I needed this.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I feel Atregos' pain.
People tell me, "Oh, that place has terrible weather! It's so much colder than here!" in the middle of summer when I am busy being miserable in the heat.
I was in Alaska in the winter once. It was very cold. I quite liked it.
It's nice to just have a little bit of dragons-hanging-out-and-flying-together. Despite being drawn from Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft, there's no push to constant fighting. (And Atregos does some pretty stupid things when subjected to constant fighting anyways; he's much better at pulling out bags of tricks for shorter engagements.)
People tell me, "Oh, that place has terrible weather! It's so much colder than here!" in the middle of summer when I am busy being miserable in the heat.
I was in Alaska in the winter once. It was very cold. I quite liked it.
It's nice to just have a little bit of dragons-hanging-out-and-flying-together. Despite being drawn from Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft, there's no push to constant fighting. (And Atregos does some pretty stupid things when subjected to constant fighting anyways; he's much better at pulling out bags of tricks for shorter engagements.)
As someone who just moved from Arkansas to Washington state... I feel cheated. I was promised cold, and rain. Instead I've gotten the pleasure of this ridiculous ongoing heat wave. I think it's rained less than 5 times since I moved in 3 months ago.
So yes. Cold good. Heat bad.
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
As someone who moved from Arizona to Washington State, I also felt cheated. I was promised constantly cloudy skies, and rare sunny days.
Malbutorius
C'est le bien qui fait mal
As someone who's lived in Washington for the past twenty years I can agree, I fucking hate the heat. It's normally rainy and cold and awesome, but now it's tormentingly hot!
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
For me, the sun is far worse than the heat. I'm extremely sensitive to light -- even indirect sunlight causes me a fair amount of pain. When it's sufficiently overcast, I can actually go outside during the day and not hate life.
as I recall, it was back when he set off that bomb that took a chuck out of the plane.
edit: actually, come to think of it, was it when he was captured and tortured for a bit?
edit2: yep, directly after he got tortured, he escapes by walking and ends up here by accident. Before Dawn | Page 17
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35
Jerking awake, I blinked in the dark. The dark forest was alive with the sound of its inhabitants.
No fire. No demons around.
No Dark Titan.
No elf with a knife.
Zrazta shifted in her sleep next to me and I slowly let my breath out, forcing myself to try to relax and to get my heart to slow down.
Just a nightmare. Been a while since I had one of those, at least one that bad. Movement in the dark drew my attention, but it was just the guard I summoned to keep watch. Rogue was standing with her back against the tree trunk, slowly carving a piece of bark into a shape as she looked around.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and shifted a bit closer to Zrazta's side. It must be this forest that does it. It's a reminder of what happened.
But it's over.
I won. I killed the elf and then I killed his god too just to be sure.
Can't hurt me or anyone else again. The Dark Titan is dead.
I slowly relaxed again before I blinked and frowned, digging my claws into the thick bark. But… did that mean the Burning Legion was over? It didn't, not really. They controlled hundreds of worlds.
Sargeras might be erased from existence, but that didn't mean they were no longer a threat. He was by far the most powerful, but there are plenty of demons with a lot of power that could try to take his place.
No, they were still dangerous. Azeroth would still need to keep an eye out and so would I.
But I didn't need to think about that now. Azeroth could handle itself. There were plenty of people there that were stronger than I was, that stood watch against the Fel.
Putting my head back down, I closed my eyes and tried my best to get back to sleep.
In the end, it turned out to be a very long night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, one thing was for sure. Tonight I was going to sleep well. Getting half a night's sleep last night followed by a day of flying after flying all day yesterday pretty much guaranteed that I would drop like a stone tonight.
Not that it made me feel any better right now.
Stupid bright sun.
Still, not far now, just a kilometre or so. I rested on my wings, slowly sinking lower through the air towards the green below and quickly glanced back to check that Zrazta was following.
When she noticed that I checked, she did a quick roll and folded her wings into a dive, passing me in seconds.
Grinning, I folded my wings and followed her down between the branches. A flock of small birds scattered as we passed by.
Zrazta spread her wings and swooped through the air. I waited a split second longer before spreading mine, turning my downwards velocity into horizontal speed.
Moving past her, I beat my wings hard as we rounded a massive tree trunk. Not far now… there!
In the slight twilight formed by the massive leaves, I spotted the telltale buildings around one of the massive trunks, rope ladders and bridges forming a bit of a net between the different branches.
The village was like I remembered it. The elves ran to cover as the alarm went up. They were paying attention. Good.
We circled above the village for a moment and the yelling in alarm quickly silenced and the elves slowly emerged back outside.
Not with bows and spears, but with cheers.
They were yelling and cheering for us.
Circling once more, I started to sink lower until I went in for landing close to the edge of the village, my claws digging into the bark.
The elves approached as Zrazta landed next to me, her wings folding as she watched them. They looked quite primitive, barely any clothes at all. Most wore a loincloth, but not all. But then again, they lived in a warm jungle, even at night it never got cold, barely even got cool. All clothes would do would be to make you sticky.
The crowd parted to reveal a woman. She smiled as she walked up, her long hair filled with more beads and feathers than when I saw her last.
As she got close, she knelt down and spread her arms, "We welcome you back to our village, Great One."
I lowered my head and bumped my snout against the top of her head, "Thank you, Maliga," I answered, "It is good to see you again. Your people seem to be doing well."
"We are, Great one. The hunts and harvests have been plentiful this season," she answered and bowed slightly.
I raised my head to look around, "Tasian?"
She shook her head and looked up at me, "My father went to the spirts two seasons ago, Great One."
I dug my claws into the bark. Damn it.
"How?"
"A hunt. He fell badly when the elder shot snout tried to escape. I now lead our tribe, I carry your gift."
Bad luck. My friend died from bad luck. Damn it.
I lowered my head and sighed, "May he find peace," before I turned my head to Zrazta, "Maliga, this is Zrazta. My third Consort. Zrazta, Maliga and her tribe were the ones that nurtured me back to health when I was injured."
Zrazta moved close and gave Maliga a big lick, causing the rather surprised looking elf to fall over.
"Thank you, for making sure he got back to us," Zrazta said quietly, "I will forever be in your debt."
AN// Many thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section. And boot.
No fire. No demons around.
No Dark Titan.
No elf with a knife.
Zrazta shifted in her sleep next to me and I slowly let my breath out, forcing myself to try to relax and to get my heart to slow down.
Just a nightmare. Been a while since I had one of those, at least one that bad. Movement in the dark drew my attention, but it was just the guard I summoned to keep watch. Rogue was standing with her back against the tree trunk, slowly carving a piece of bark into a shape as she looked around.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and shifted a bit closer to Zrazta's side. It must be this forest that does it. It's a reminder of what happened.
But it's over.
I won. I killed the elf and then I killed his god too just to be sure.
Can't hurt me or anyone else again. The Dark Titan is dead.
I slowly relaxed again before I blinked and frowned, digging my claws into the thick bark. But… did that mean the Burning Legion was over? It didn't, not really. They controlled hundreds of worlds.
Sargeras might be erased from existence, but that didn't mean they were no longer a threat. He was by far the most powerful, but there are plenty of demons with a lot of power that could try to take his place.
No, they were still dangerous. Azeroth would still need to keep an eye out and so would I.
But I didn't need to think about that now. Azeroth could handle itself. There were plenty of people there that were stronger than I was, that stood watch against the Fel.
Putting my head back down, I closed my eyes and tried my best to get back to sleep.
In the end, it turned out to be a very long night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, one thing was for sure. Tonight I was going to sleep well. Getting half a night's sleep last night followed by a day of flying after flying all day yesterday pretty much guaranteed that I would drop like a stone tonight.
Not that it made me feel any better right now.
Stupid bright sun.
Still, not far now, just a kilometre or so. I rested on my wings, slowly sinking lower through the air towards the green below and quickly glanced back to check that Zrazta was following.
When she noticed that I checked, she did a quick roll and folded her wings into a dive, passing me in seconds.
Grinning, I folded my wings and followed her down between the branches. A flock of small birds scattered as we passed by.
Zrazta spread her wings and swooped through the air. I waited a split second longer before spreading mine, turning my downwards velocity into horizontal speed.
Moving past her, I beat my wings hard as we rounded a massive tree trunk. Not far now… there!
In the slight twilight formed by the massive leaves, I spotted the telltale buildings around one of the massive trunks, rope ladders and bridges forming a bit of a net between the different branches.
The village was like I remembered it. The elves ran to cover as the alarm went up. They were paying attention. Good.
We circled above the village for a moment and the yelling in alarm quickly silenced and the elves slowly emerged back outside.
Not with bows and spears, but with cheers.
They were yelling and cheering for us.
Circling once more, I started to sink lower until I went in for landing close to the edge of the village, my claws digging into the bark.
The elves approached as Zrazta landed next to me, her wings folding as she watched them. They looked quite primitive, barely any clothes at all. Most wore a loincloth, but not all. But then again, they lived in a warm jungle, even at night it never got cold, barely even got cool. All clothes would do would be to make you sticky.
The crowd parted to reveal a woman. She smiled as she walked up, her long hair filled with more beads and feathers than when I saw her last.
As she got close, she knelt down and spread her arms, "We welcome you back to our village, Great One."
I lowered my head and bumped my snout against the top of her head, "Thank you, Maliga," I answered, "It is good to see you again. Your people seem to be doing well."
"We are, Great one. The hunts and harvests have been plentiful this season," she answered and bowed slightly.
I raised my head to look around, "Tasian?"
She shook her head and looked up at me, "My father went to the spirts two seasons ago, Great One."
I dug my claws into the bark. Damn it.
"How?"
"A hunt. He fell badly when the elder shot snout tried to escape. I now lead our tribe, I carry your gift."
Bad luck. My friend died from bad luck. Damn it.
I lowered my head and sighed, "May he find peace," before I turned my head to Zrazta, "Maliga, this is Zrazta. My third Consort. Zrazta, Maliga and her tribe were the ones that nurtured me back to health when I was injured."
Zrazta moved close and gave Maliga a big lick, causing the rather surprised looking elf to fall over.
"Thank you, for making sure he got back to us," Zrazta said quietly, "I will forever be in your debt."
AN// Many thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section. And boot.
Someone remind me - why do the elves here call him "great one"?
- Location
- with internet
It's in the update jaelin910 linked and the one right after; the elves were praying to their spirits for some rescue when he crashed out of the Blind Eternities and killed the predator preying on them (while he was, to his limited recollection, unconscious), and then the fact he could talk despite being a large predator himself confirmed what they were thinking. He tells them otherwise, but to them he is, and will always be, a Great Spirit.
It's one of those sorts of coincidences that suggests his Plane-targeting was actually boosted by losing consciousness.
(Edit: Breaking and fixing my links.)
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36
I watched the roaring fire and listened to the sound of the drums and chanting as the elves danced around the flames. Meals were being prepared, the big squirrel-thing having been taken apart.
When we found out about the feast, Zrazta and I went hunting, bringing one of the big things back to the tribe.
Only polite, after all.
So now they were cooking, the smell of burning meat filling the air. I preferred it raw, but a little variation is always nice from time to time.
Zrazta looked at me with an amused look. "Looking good."
I preened, told her "Thank you," and glanced up at the flowers draped across my horns.
Chuckling, she nosed at my neck.
"Great Ones," Maliga said as she approached and bowed, offering large bowls of cooked meats and fruits. "Please, accept these offerings."
"Thank you, Maliga," I answered and nodded. "But you don't need to call us that. We are Dragons, not spirits or gods."
She smiled and bowed again, putting her big bowl down before me as her two assistants put another one down before Zrazta. "Not for us, Great Atregos."
I sighed softly and bumped my nose against the side of her head.
As she retreated with another bow, Zrazta shifted slightly next to me.
"These people, they are like the dragon-kin used to be in the stories Grandmother has told me. Like the mortal servants are now. Let them believe what they wish, Atregos."
I frowned and sighed. "I can't help but find it slightly creepy."
"Eat and relax," she purred. "Let them have their beliefs. I'm not sure you can convince them otherwise in any case."
She was probably right about that.
Shaking my head, I dug into the food on the bowl and found it quite good, especially the fruits. Fruits is not something we normally ate. Dragons are predators, not omnivores, but they tasted nice and sweet.
The elves could believe whatever they wanted, it might make me a bit uncomfortable, but as long as they didn't start knocking on peoples' doors or start holy wars, it was their own business.
Giving the bowl a lick, I raised my head and looked around. The forest was dark around and filled with sounds even through the drumming and singing. A pretty nice place to live, even if personally, I thought there was too little snow.
Even so, I wanted to help these people. Maybe… teach them how to build better, how to hunt better.
How to write and read and how to become… more. They were hunter gatherers, as much prey as they were predators.
They lived in huts, clinging to the side of massive trees. They could build spires to the skies, their magic was strong, if primitive.
They might not have access to metals, but they had magic. Magic could make wood as strong as steel. Shape these trees into a real city, help them grow food, protect against any predator. Even if they only had access to Green mana, all that could happen.
All that was needed was a start. They needed to learn magic for all that to happen, but I didn't have time to stay here to teach them.
They couldn't read so leaving them books wouldn't work, and I couldn't stay here to teach them that either.
"What are you thinking about?" Zrazta asked, putting her head across my front legs as she nudged the bowl out of the way.
Sighing, I draped my neck across hers. "Maliga and her people. They could be so much more if we could just teach them. But there isn't time."
"So? Why not find them a teacher?"
I blinked and then looked at her. Why not find them a teacher? Sure, nobody else spoke their language and they would need to learn a brand new one, but there had to be thousands of people willing to teach them just for the chance to study their culture! It didn't even have to be a dragon, it would even be better if it wasn't!
Someone from Earth would be ideal even. Sure, it would probably be English, but that's fine. There were drakes who knew that by now as they translated things I got back from earth, I could get them to start translate some of the things I needed. Or just write things down myself, not like it would need much.
I just needed to get them going, they were smart, they could figure things out. Even better, once it was all done, I would have a contact on Earth that wasn't Alexis and her family. I wouldn't need to trouble them when it came to my business there.
"Zrazta? Have I told you that you are as brilliant as you are beautiful yet today?"
"Not yet." she purred and nuzzled me.
"Well, you are."
This could work. Stay another couple of days, then back to Earth the way we came. Then find somebody who was interested and who could do the job.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
When we found out about the feast, Zrazta and I went hunting, bringing one of the big things back to the tribe.
Only polite, after all.
So now they were cooking, the smell of burning meat filling the air. I preferred it raw, but a little variation is always nice from time to time.
Zrazta looked at me with an amused look. "Looking good."
I preened, told her "Thank you," and glanced up at the flowers draped across my horns.
Chuckling, she nosed at my neck.
"Great Ones," Maliga said as she approached and bowed, offering large bowls of cooked meats and fruits. "Please, accept these offerings."
"Thank you, Maliga," I answered and nodded. "But you don't need to call us that. We are Dragons, not spirits or gods."
She smiled and bowed again, putting her big bowl down before me as her two assistants put another one down before Zrazta. "Not for us, Great Atregos."
I sighed softly and bumped my nose against the side of her head.
As she retreated with another bow, Zrazta shifted slightly next to me.
"These people, they are like the dragon-kin used to be in the stories Grandmother has told me. Like the mortal servants are now. Let them believe what they wish, Atregos."
I frowned and sighed. "I can't help but find it slightly creepy."
"Eat and relax," she purred. "Let them have their beliefs. I'm not sure you can convince them otherwise in any case."
She was probably right about that.
Shaking my head, I dug into the food on the bowl and found it quite good, especially the fruits. Fruits is not something we normally ate. Dragons are predators, not omnivores, but they tasted nice and sweet.
The elves could believe whatever they wanted, it might make me a bit uncomfortable, but as long as they didn't start knocking on peoples' doors or start holy wars, it was their own business.
Giving the bowl a lick, I raised my head and looked around. The forest was dark around and filled with sounds even through the drumming and singing. A pretty nice place to live, even if personally, I thought there was too little snow.
Even so, I wanted to help these people. Maybe… teach them how to build better, how to hunt better.
How to write and read and how to become… more. They were hunter gatherers, as much prey as they were predators.
They lived in huts, clinging to the side of massive trees. They could build spires to the skies, their magic was strong, if primitive.
They might not have access to metals, but they had magic. Magic could make wood as strong as steel. Shape these trees into a real city, help them grow food, protect against any predator. Even if they only had access to Green mana, all that could happen.
All that was needed was a start. They needed to learn magic for all that to happen, but I didn't have time to stay here to teach them.
They couldn't read so leaving them books wouldn't work, and I couldn't stay here to teach them that either.
"What are you thinking about?" Zrazta asked, putting her head across my front legs as she nudged the bowl out of the way.
Sighing, I draped my neck across hers. "Maliga and her people. They could be so much more if we could just teach them. But there isn't time."
"So? Why not find them a teacher?"
I blinked and then looked at her. Why not find them a teacher? Sure, nobody else spoke their language and they would need to learn a brand new one, but there had to be thousands of people willing to teach them just for the chance to study their culture! It didn't even have to be a dragon, it would even be better if it wasn't!
Someone from Earth would be ideal even. Sure, it would probably be English, but that's fine. There were drakes who knew that by now as they translated things I got back from earth, I could get them to start translate some of the things I needed. Or just write things down myself, not like it would need much.
I just needed to get them going, they were smart, they could figure things out. Even better, once it was all done, I would have a contact on Earth that wasn't Alexis and her family. I wouldn't need to trouble them when it came to my business there.
"Zrazta? Have I told you that you are as brilliant as you are beautiful yet today?"
"Not yet." she purred and nuzzled me.
"Well, you are."
This could work. Stay another couple of days, then back to Earth the way we came. Then find somebody who was interested and who could do the job.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Hope the Elves keep their treetop lives even when uplifted....
shaping the trees themselves into massive living skyscrapers....Treant guards that can Scale the larger trees with ease and rapidness, plugging into the larger trees to absorb nutrients, Leafy Winged vaugly dragony mounts that can carry the elves around, blending into the treetops, with smaller symbiotic winged creatures that act like parachutes and can assist in climbing
shaping the trees themselves into massive living skyscrapers....Treant guards that can Scale the larger trees with ease and rapidness, plugging into the larger trees to absorb nutrients, Leafy Winged vaugly dragony mounts that can carry the elves around, blending into the treetops, with smaller symbiotic winged creatures that act like parachutes and can assist in climbing
Now how to find one... Just take out an ad:
Wanted: Scholar willing to teach an unbiased basis of civilisation, science and philosophy to an indigenous tribe. Minimal support and no emergency services available, potentially decades long assignment. Willingness to let go of preconceived notions a plus. Non-zero chance it's a one way trip due to transport limitations.
Wanted: Scholar willing to teach an unbiased basis of civilisation, science and philosophy to an indigenous tribe. Minimal support and no emergency services available, potentially decades long assignment. Willingness to let go of preconceived notions a plus. Non-zero chance it's a one way trip due to transport limitations.
Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Put that in the right place and you'd get all sorts of takers. We get folks signing up for hypothetical one way Mars trips IRL.
Hmmm.
I'm rather confused as to why Atregos decided specifically on someone from Earth.
The technological base Earth is familiar with isn't really very compatible with the resources available to these Elves.
The best choices available as far as I can tell would be an Elf or Dragon from Azeroth - someone from a society whose technological base is founded on artisan enchanting work first, industrial material sciences much further down the list.
I'm rather confused as to why Atregos decided specifically on someone from Earth.
The technological base Earth is familiar with isn't really very compatible with the resources available to these Elves.
The best choices available as far as I can tell would be an Elf or Dragon from Azeroth - someone from a society whose technological base is founded on artisan enchanting work first, industrial material sciences much further down the list.
Malbutorius
C'est le bien qui fait mal
Oh! He could ask a Night Elf! They're amazing with nature!
37
I crashed back into reality and spread my wings for balance before blinking as I looked around. The fuck?
I was back to the world with jungle and lizard people, but there were neither jungles nor lizard people. I was in a field and there was a barn over there and shit!
Hitting the ground as quickly as I could, I pressed against it, keeping my wings down. I was in the middle of a field, during the middle of the day and there was the sound of people in the distance.
I knew it! Sooner or later I would Walk back into reality and end up in the town square! Son of a fucking-
Focusing, I dropped the bag with Zrazta's soulstone and quickly turned back to mortal form. Crap, crap, crap!
She went into it in her real form and she is massive! Shit!
Looking up above the high wheat, I didn't see anyone by the house or barn. There was the sound of children playing, but nobody in sight.
Okay, quick!
I touched her soulstone, causing her to reform in fire and smoke. As soon as she did, I grabbed her nose horn. "Mortal, now! Exposed!"
Zrazta froze for a second before she nodded. A second later there was a burst of spell smoke and she was kneeling on the ground. "W-what?"
"We walked into some poor bastard's field. There are people less than a hundred meters away," I told her quietly. "Now listen, see if we were spotted."
We stayed down, stayed quiet and listened.
No change in sound levels, no yells of surprise or anger. We stayed down for quite a long time.
Zrazta finally risked peeking up. "Nobody saw us."
"Don't think so, either," I admitted. "There would have been pitchforks or at least yelling by now. I'll have a look around." I said and quickly started to weave a scrying spell, sending the viewpoint high into the air to scan around.
There was a town in the distance with a castle and a thick wall. Farms and some ranches all around, in the far distance there was a lake and a forest.
Pretty much the ideal human living habitat. I could see a pair of kids working at picking berries a couple hundred meters away.
And we were smack dab in the middle of the damn place. Yes, we could probably fly out but without knowing exactly how good the mages were around here… for all I knew, they could see through my illusions and blast us out of the air.
"Let's go," I said quietly to her and started to crawl through the wheat in the direction of the road. "We should be able to get to town before dark."
Zrazta frowned and scooted along. "Should we? Wouldn't it be safer to move towards somewhere with less humans?"
I grinned back at her. "Are you kidding? This is amazing. Who knows what we can find there!?"
She rolled her eyes. "Blues."
I glanced back at her again and smirked. "…and you should probably get dressed in something too."
"While crawling through a field? My dress would be ruined instantly!"
Okay, that was a good point.
Nodding, I continued carefully to the edge of the field before looking out. The road was empty for now. Well, you could not really call it much of one, the Romans would be ashamed to call this a road.
More like a muddy path.
I quickly scooted from the field and clambered over the low, piled-up stone wall before summoning a pair of horses.
"Bag?"
Nodding, I tossed my bag back to Zrazta so she could get dressed as I walked up onto the road, leading the horses along before looking down the road towards the town.
As long as we weren't wearing the colours of some rivalling nation or something, we really should be able to get away with this. Travelers really weren't uncommon in most societies.
Zrazta climbed over the low wall before smoothing out her white dress and walking up to join me, following my line of sight. "…Wow."
"Not much to look at," I agreed and sighed, crossing my arms. "But looks might be deceiving."
She frowned. "Really think so?" she asked and walked up to take the reins of one of the summoned horses.
I frowned at the town far into the distance before I sighed and shook my head. "No. But we have a week and we might get lucky." I said before I moved to climb into the saddle.
Zrazta pursed her lips and then climbed into the saddle with a nod. "If I get lice, I'm burning the inn down."
"…I'll put up some vermin repellent enchantments," I said and checked my satchel. I still had some gold left, should be enough to find us one of the nicer places to stay.
Not that that was a bad idea in any case. Didn't see anything obviously magic from here and medieval cities like that were notoriously filthy. Dragons may be resistant to diseases, especially Reds, but that didn't make it any less icky.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I was back to the world with jungle and lizard people, but there were neither jungles nor lizard people. I was in a field and there was a barn over there and shit!
Hitting the ground as quickly as I could, I pressed against it, keeping my wings down. I was in the middle of a field, during the middle of the day and there was the sound of people in the distance.
I knew it! Sooner or later I would Walk back into reality and end up in the town square! Son of a fucking-
Focusing, I dropped the bag with Zrazta's soulstone and quickly turned back to mortal form. Crap, crap, crap!
She went into it in her real form and she is massive! Shit!
Looking up above the high wheat, I didn't see anyone by the house or barn. There was the sound of children playing, but nobody in sight.
Okay, quick!
I touched her soulstone, causing her to reform in fire and smoke. As soon as she did, I grabbed her nose horn. "Mortal, now! Exposed!"
Zrazta froze for a second before she nodded. A second later there was a burst of spell smoke and she was kneeling on the ground. "W-what?"
"We walked into some poor bastard's field. There are people less than a hundred meters away," I told her quietly. "Now listen, see if we were spotted."
We stayed down, stayed quiet and listened.
No change in sound levels, no yells of surprise or anger. We stayed down for quite a long time.
Zrazta finally risked peeking up. "Nobody saw us."
"Don't think so, either," I admitted. "There would have been pitchforks or at least yelling by now. I'll have a look around." I said and quickly started to weave a scrying spell, sending the viewpoint high into the air to scan around.
There was a town in the distance with a castle and a thick wall. Farms and some ranches all around, in the far distance there was a lake and a forest.
Pretty much the ideal human living habitat. I could see a pair of kids working at picking berries a couple hundred meters away.
And we were smack dab in the middle of the damn place. Yes, we could probably fly out but without knowing exactly how good the mages were around here… for all I knew, they could see through my illusions and blast us out of the air.
"Let's go," I said quietly to her and started to crawl through the wheat in the direction of the road. "We should be able to get to town before dark."
Zrazta frowned and scooted along. "Should we? Wouldn't it be safer to move towards somewhere with less humans?"
I grinned back at her. "Are you kidding? This is amazing. Who knows what we can find there!?"
She rolled her eyes. "Blues."
I glanced back at her again and smirked. "…and you should probably get dressed in something too."
"While crawling through a field? My dress would be ruined instantly!"
Okay, that was a good point.
Nodding, I continued carefully to the edge of the field before looking out. The road was empty for now. Well, you could not really call it much of one, the Romans would be ashamed to call this a road.
More like a muddy path.
I quickly scooted from the field and clambered over the low, piled-up stone wall before summoning a pair of horses.
"Bag?"
Nodding, I tossed my bag back to Zrazta so she could get dressed as I walked up onto the road, leading the horses along before looking down the road towards the town.
As long as we weren't wearing the colours of some rivalling nation or something, we really should be able to get away with this. Travelers really weren't uncommon in most societies.
Zrazta climbed over the low wall before smoothing out her white dress and walking up to join me, following my line of sight. "…Wow."
"Not much to look at," I agreed and sighed, crossing my arms. "But looks might be deceiving."
She frowned. "Really think so?" she asked and walked up to take the reins of one of the summoned horses.
I frowned at the town far into the distance before I sighed and shook my head. "No. But we have a week and we might get lucky." I said before I moved to climb into the saddle.
Zrazta pursed her lips and then climbed into the saddle with a nod. "If I get lice, I'm burning the inn down."
"…I'll put up some vermin repellent enchantments," I said and checked my satchel. I still had some gold left, should be enough to find us one of the nicer places to stay.
Not that that was a bad idea in any case. Didn't see anything obviously magic from here and medieval cities like that were notoriously filthy. Dragons may be resistant to diseases, especially Reds, but that didn't make it any less icky.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.