On Magnate's Scales (Dragonriding Quest)

[Eventua]

The late winter air bites through the layers of leather that keep you safe and tied to your mount, and part of you wishes you were still able to safely rest by the fireside with the others. It'd certainly be warmer, and more... human, to spend more time with your own kind.

Rell, the thought cuts across your own with a rumble, I'm going to dive. I think I can sense something vibrating between the edges of the valley.

Underneath your flying mask and windscarf you can't help but crack a smile. As if time itself were stopped you feel the world beneath you shifts, as if you were ascending, jumping into the open sky... and yet just as suddenly as the moment comes, it passes. You are screaming downwards to the crack of lightning. Your ears fill with the wind's howling, your heart hammering, and your vision blurs briefly as you wonder if your skull might escape your skin.

Instinctively your grip on the harness shifts, and you lean into the dive, following through as the dragon shifts and curves into a gentler swoop. Your stomach lurches, but holds.

Please thank Milo for me. I appreciate that his cooking makes this easier for you.

You can't help but narrow your eyes at that comment, after all...

PICK ONE:
[] Ozerilet has never really been the thankful sort! It's really not her style, especially regarding non-riders.
[] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?
[] O-Cobalt knows her place, even to a relatively young rider like yourself, or the cook. It's totally out of line.
---- PLEASE NOTE: This option will lock your later background choice to the Accionite Empire, a great military power famed for their cruelty towards conquered peoples that refuse to join them willingly - and the subjugation of dragons as weapons of the state. Be aware that if you choose a different option, the Accionite Empire will still be available as a background choice, but referring to your dragon by its true name is likely to get you in serious trouble if others become aware of you doing so.

 

[Eventua]

CHARACTER SHEETS ALLIES INVENTORY QUESTS WORLD JOURNEL

• Name: Rell ???? and Ozerilet
  Background:
  --- Born into the Heritage Clan, the chosen people, on a most auspicious night - the laying of a clutch of new dragon eggs. At the age of three, Rell was weaned and taken for the hatching, where Ozerilet hatched and chose to bond with Rell, creating a pact that has forever bound their hearts.
  --- Rell has been given the elixir of the ancients, and thus has biological immortality - once Rell reaches about the age of twenty-five, they'll stop aging.
  
  RIDER (Rell)
  Age & Appearance: 19
  Skillsets:
  ---- Riding (Novice)
  
  Strengths:
  ---- Passive Sensesharing: Since Rell and Ozerilet made their pact at such a young age, their base degree of sensesharing is higher than that of riders from other societies, where pacts are made much later in life.
  
  Weaknesses:
  
  DRAGON (Ozerilet)
  Type: True Dragon; Middle-Weight, approximately 8 meters long
  Age & Appearance: 16
  Diet:
  Senses
  --- Sight: Shared+
  --- Sound: Shared+
  --- Taste: Shared+
  --- Touch: Shared+
  --- Pain: Synchronized
  --- Balance: Shared+
  --- Thought: Shared+
  --- Purpose: Shared+
  
  Strengths:
  --- Jack of All Trades: Her balance of weight and power lets her use her inner fire in a wide range of ways; and has a good balance of speed and agility in the air.
  --- Passive Sensesharing: Since Rell and Ozerilet made their pact at such a young age, their base degree of sensesharing is higher than that of riders from other societies, where pacts are made much later in life.
  
  Weaknesses:
  --- Master of None: Against lighter dragons she could be outmaneuvered, while against larger dragons she risks being outpaced and overpowered.
• Essme and Saernaulinos
  Marr and Tornaulimet
  ???? and ????
  Milo
  Anne
• RELL
  Trainee - Riding Clothes (equipped)
  Flight Mask
  
  OZERILET
  Riding Harness (equipped)
• [TO BE UTILIZED IN FUTURE CHAPTERS]
• The Heritage Clan
  Rell's people, an ancient but somewhat isolated culture most famed for their long history of dragon riding and the religious significance they place on it. Dragon eggs can take a number of years to mature and hatch, so when a child of the clan is born on the same day as a new clutch of eggs, they are weaned after several years and brought to the clutch. When it hatches, one of the newborn dragons will form a pact with the child, and they will remain partners for life.
  
  The Taslodite Pactlords
  A heavily divided people whose noble lineages control vast territories across the globe through their dragon riders, the Pactlords, the Taslodites are ancestral enemies of the Heritage Clan who have settled into an uneasy peace where neither side bothers the other - despite each seeing the way the other handles dragon riding to be absurd or heretical.
  
  The Accionite Empire
  A nation that only recently came to power but has conquered vast stretches of territory between and beyond the mantlejaw mountains to the Heritage Clans' east, thanks to their recent and mass-enslavement of dragons. They are a dangerous enemy and currently at war with several Taslodite houses, as well as with your people.
• [TO BE UTILIZED IN FUTURE CHAPTERS]

 

[Demonic Spoon]

[X] Ozerilet has never really been the thankful sort! It's really not her style, especially regarding non-riders.
Dragons care not for your petty human relations mostly.

 

[DangerKitty]

[X] Ozerilet has never really been the thankful sort! It's really not her style, especially regarding non-riders.

Dragon pride

 

[sportoner]

[X] O-Cobalt knows her place, even to a relatively young rider like yourself, or the cook. It's totally out of line.

 

[Prefixmancer]

[X] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?

 

[SpacePaladin]

[X] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?

 

[GAWR]

[X] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?

 

[Solarstream]

[X] Ozerilet has never really been the thankful sort! It's really not her style, especially regarding non-riders.

 

[Mars]

[X] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Result & OOC

[4] Ozerilet has been super worried since we got here... her focus has been entirely on the movements of the enemy. Maybe it's a sign she's learning to be more open and relaxed?

Also, thank you so much for the many kind votes! Been a while since I've been this excited for a project ^_^

Your gaze softens under the flying mask, and so you gently reach forward, patting one of Ozerilet's scales between her neck and shoulder. She shuffles a little, and you can sense it helps ease her anxiety - just a bit.

I'll pass it on, your mind whispers, as soon as we figure this out first.

Plus it's reminded you how much you like Milo's cooking and you could really do with another bowl.

Ozerilet rumbles an agreement and shifts to the right - to an outside observer she would be practically invisible, faster than any bird of prey a quarter of her size and with the tone of her scales blending into the cloud cover... but it's an almost leisurely glide by dragon standards.

But just as quickly as your and Ozerilet's hearts begin to calm a little, her gaze snaps to attention, focusing on a series of cliffs running around and into one of the taller peaks - maybe just a few minutes flight away.

There it is! Rell, you must feel this as well? I can sense something is... her heartbeat quickens and her directed thoughts slow, her mind no doubt racing for an explanation, cutting, the sky? I don't know how else to describe it. It looks, sounds and feels like nothing I've ever encountered before - like the first roiling of a thunder storm, but focused into a single line.

You furrow your brow and grip the harness a little tighter. Some sort of weapon?

You consider entering one of Ozerilet's senses to get a better idea of what she's describing, but it's always a tiring process - and don't even think of accessing multiple senses at once. Last time was lesson enough, thank you very much.

PICK ONE:
[] Ask to access Ozerilet's Sight. What she's talking about sounds like something visual, though accessing sight is always the most disorientating and leaves your vision blurry for a while afterwards.
[] Ask to access Ozerilet's Hearing. Honestly, with this wind it's hard to hear much of anything... for human ears. Though you don't look forward one bit to the dizziness and weaker hearing that always follows.
[] Ask to access Ozerilet's Touch. Her whiskers are always a funny thing to adjust to, and accessing her sense of touch wont mess with your own senses afterwards to anywhere the same degree. That said, your skin always feels a little numb afterwards.
[] Don't access any dragon senses.

As you make your decision, Ozerilet's attention turns to you.

Rell, what do you think we should do? I was worried about the rumours of the enemy, but this... I don't know if this is something I can fight with claws or fire. At least, not alone.

PICK ONE:
[] Get closer to investigate this "cutting" and what's causing it.
[] Return to camp to share what's been found and get help.
---- NOTE: Doing this will take up more time, and it's unclear how long whoever - or whatever - is causing this will stick around for.

 

[Demonic Spoon]

[X] Ask to access Ozerilet's Sight. What she's talking about sounds like something visual, though accessing sight is always the most disorientating and leaves your vision blurry for a while afterwards.

[X] Get closer to investigate this "cutting" and what's causing it.

 

[lelenoi]

[X] Ask to access Ozerilet's Sight. What she's talking about sounds like something visual, though accessing sight is always the most disorientating and leaves your vision blurry for a while afterwards.

[X] Get closer to investigate this "cutting" and what's causing it.

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Result

[2] Ask to access Ozerilet's Sight. What she's talking about sounds like something visual, though accessing sight is always the most disorientating and leaves your vision blurry for a while afterwards.

[2] Get closer to investigate this "cutting" and what's causing it.

You pace yourself, matching each breath to Ozerilet's own, and gently close your eyes. The cold evening gray is clamped shut, and only darkness remains.

For a moment, the rushing of the wind gets a little gentler - your grip on the harness lessens, and you aren't being carried through the sky. You are carrying yourself, your skin tingling like scales... then calms again, as if you were simply asleep.

It's peaceful, here. There's no danger.

No war.

Rell?

Yes, Oz?

Are you ready to see what I see?

You smile again. It's a little funny - Ozerilet always seems to know what you want before you've thought it to her. And yet, she always asks first. A very polite giant of the skies.

Yes please.

The darkness immediately lights up with a sharp blue light. It's a powerful effect - beneath your flying mask the evening clouds and mountain air had been stifling, forcing you to trust Ozerilet's eyes. Seeing things from her perspective, you know there's nothing to see. In the smallest detail the world beneath her is revealed, sharp clarity cutting through the clouds and highlighting the trees growing throughout the valley as if there were bright moonlight illuminating them from behind.

But there's something else. As you blink in time to her - once, twice - your attention is drawn upwards.

Bizarre, Rell. What do you think it could- careful!

You have to shake your head slightly, and Ozerilet's body lurches - just a little - as she adjusts to compensate you throwing her eyesight off.

Sorry, sorry! Always takes a little getting used to. And that...

Ozerilet wasn't lying when she described it as the sky being "cut", but that feels inadequate. Like pulling apart the two halves of a fish after it's been gutted, what to your eyes was simply the edges of some darker than normal clouds reveals itself to be...

A wound? A wound in the world?

Something unnatural has torn a hole into the sky, and drifting down from it is a haze of soft, purple fog. It drifts in streams, and as you focus her vision... it's touching the ground, and disappearing. Ozerilet shudders at its movement, and you can't help but shudder along with her. Whatever it is, you need to know more - you can't waste time getting the others when for all you know it could disappear as suddenly as Ozerilet had felt it.

We'll go closer then... but, Rell...

You lean in, just a little closer - as if somehow that will let her thoughts be a little more her own.

If it gets dangerous, promise me you will ask us to leave? Whatever's causing this is beyond even the empire.

PICK ONE:
[] I promise, I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to.
[] Don't worry, Oz! We can handle it.
[] I can't promise that. You know our purpose.

Ozerilet sighs, nods her head, and follows your lead as you lean into another, softer dive. You stick with using Ozerilet's dragonsight for the time being - better to rest well back at camp afterwards, rather than risk going half blind mid-flight and mid-investigation.

You whip through the wind, Ozerilet's vision following the "sky wound" and its fog, and it soon becomes apparent that the fog is concentrated into... streams? Like a cord of purple light, a shimmering chain where each link folds into and over the others. There's a few points down the side of the mountain where smaller chains seem to be... rising from? But the largest is at the cliffside closer to the peak, and its not far to land.

The cliffside... it's a cave, Rell. I could potentially land, it looks a bit like the entry to an old dragon's mou-

You reel, your knuckles gripping so suddenly and sharply that you might have almost felt them cutting against the inside of your skin. Of course, that's a minor sensation right now - more concerning is the strike across Ozerilet's side, a sharp pain that cuts into your guts and the base of your ribcage. The faintest smell of charred meat and something... poisonous, leeches its way past the edges of your scarf and at the edge of your tastebuds.

Thankfully, Ozerilet doesn't let the pain distract her and she arcs, twisting herself nearly 90 degrees, spiraling out of the way as some sort of purple light - like a faster, sharper form of whatever made the wound in the sky - arcs through the air past Ozerilet's right wing.

Ozerilet?! Oz, what was that?

Our culprits, I think! We should get the others!

You take a deep breath before coughing, the acrid taste of... something, soaking through the edges of your scarf and mask. Whoever these people are they're not playing games, but you're a dragon rider! Perhaps they need a lesson in picking easier fights...

PICK ONE:
[] Swoop around and attempt...
-- [] ...a landing at the abandoned dragon's mouth
-- [] ...a counterattack on the abandoned dragon's mouth
[] Swoop low and attempt...
-- [] ...to safely land in a covered area, close to one of the smaller purple chains near the base of the mountain
-- [] ...to dive in and attack one of the smaller purple chains near the base of the mountain
[] Return to camp to get backup
[] Write-In

 

[Demonic Spoon]

[X] I promise, I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to.
[X] Return to camp to get backup

Never gonna let you down~

 

[sportoner]

[X] I can't promise that. You know our purpose.

[X] Swoop low and attempt...
-- [X] ...to dive in and attack one of the smaller purple chains near the base of the mountain

 

[Solarstream]

[X] I promise, I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to.
[X] Return to camp to get backup

 

[DangerKitty]

[X] I can't promise that. You know our purpose.
[X] Return to camp to get backup

 

[Eternal_0bserver]

[X] I can't promise that. You know our purpose.

[X] Swoop low and attempt...
-- [X] ...to dive in and attack one of the smaller purple chains near the base of the mountain

 

[Zaealix]

[X] Don't worry, Oz! We can handle it.
A middle-ground, and I kind of like the idea of the rider being young and full of hope.

[X] Return to camp to get backup
We seem to be something approaching a scout and this is beyond our paygrade If we don't even know what it is.

 

[TheCount]

[X] I promise, I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to.
[X] Return to camp to get backup

Hostiles detected, and the dragon might be poisoned? But injured at the least.

 

[Eventua]

Spoiler: Result

[3] I promise, I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to. Conflicted.
[5] Return to camp to get backup

If it gets dangerous, promise me you'll ask us to leave?

You want to reassure her, but the thought hesitates. Your responsibilities were always supposed to come first, it's your purpose - as is hers, and she knows it. But the tenseness in her scales reflects itself in the hairs on your skin, and you direct the thought to her that she needs to hear.

I promise, Oz. I'll never ask us to stay in danger if we don't have to.

And sure enough, as this rancid pain begins to eat away at the edges of your senses, you keep your promise. You push away the colder part of your soul that asks if you're fleeing out of tactical soundness or earnest concern for her wellbeing, but you just shake it away.

It can be both, can't it?

You can feel a change in Ozerilet's heartbeat as you will her to return to camp, and her relief crosses your face in a smile, even as you trust in Ozerilet's other senses to avoid the handful of trailing purple bolts that rush past you during the retreat. As she weaves out of view of the mountain the bolts slow and then stop, and in half an hour you'll be back at the camp. You adjust your position in the harness, taking your time to enjoy seeing the world through her eyes while it lasts.

Even with the pain in your side, and the wind picking up into a winter storm, the world beneath you stretches out like a canvas of possibility. Your mind wanders, and for the briefest moment you could swear you saw another dragon, standing atop the highest peak - with shimmering golden wings, and whiskers that arc over its eyes and crest like the edges of a prince's robes. For the briefest moment it's like the clouds around it are completely parted and the sun was shining like a new dawn.

The proudest dragon you've ever seen.

But something about the image confounds you - when Ozerilet cuts it off, adjusting her flight.

Curiosity overcomes you, and without hesitating to wonder if it's the right sort of question your mind reaches out with - What was that?

Her response is slow to cross your own, but when it does it's accompanied by a stillness in your throat.

PICK ONE:
[] "It's the memory of someone I haven't seen in a long time, that's all."
[] "It's a dream I keep having. Sometimes it enters my mind's eye as if it were really happening, sorry."

Your mind races with curiosity at her answer, but something about the tone of Ozerilet's 'inner voice' when she says it tells you it might be better to ask about it another time.

The flight back is largely silent as you settle into a more leisurely glide to conserve energy, and simply follow Ozerilet's vision of the world, but like all good things it must come to an end. As the valleys beneath you give way to thicker forests, passing over small farming communities and hamlets ignorant of the chaos that's just unfolded, you arc around to the edge of a wide, craggy clifftop. And there at the edges of alcoves, tents, and hastily assembled spike formations - dimly lit and obscured by coverings against the wind - are the soft light of the campfires.

Seeing it this way almost throws you off your balance. It's so much clearer, more alive! The campfires spark and roar in vivid tones of gold and blue, and the smoke forms into sharp particles that drift away into the sky.

The first thing that stands out to you seeing it like this are...

PICK ONE -- FACTION/BACKGROUND CHOICE:
[] ACCIONITE EMPIRE: The packs of mantlejaws in the feeding pits, the first sign of this being a well-equipped imperial encampment and the foundation for a new outpost.
--- You are a loyal citizen-soldier in the imperial army, selected at a young age for your early signs of becoming a capable dragon rider - not the most well-respected position in the army, but certainly one of the most exciting! Ozerilet was assigned to you, and officially her designation is O-Cobalt - she's not a person in the eyes of the law, she's a weapon of the state. You are one of three dragon riders sent to this outpost, but none of you are very high up the chain of command - as soon as you arrived you were under the authority of the encampment's commander.

[] TASLODITE PACTLORDS: Your brother's tent, almost twice the size of everyone else's and beautifully decorated for what is supposed to be a scouting mission.
--- You are the youngest scion of House Hazzivh, chosen to be a dragon rider after your late aunt died and you inherited the responsibility of being Ozerilet's rider. Dragons are entrusted with the duty of protecting the Taslodite people in exchange for tribute and deference. You are here under the tutelage and command of your older brother, the only other dragon rider here, as something of an extended training exercise that he doesn't seem to be taking seriously at all.

[] HERITAGE CLAN: The group of three dragons and their riders surrounding the central fire, playing games and singing songs.
--- You were born to the chosen people under a most auspicious night - the same day as a new clutch of dragon eggs was laid. When you were weaned from your mother you were there for Ozerilet's hatching, and Ozerilet chose you. Growing up together, you were given the elixir of the ancients, and thus the privilege to live as long as Ozerilet can. Your people see dragons and dragon riders as sharing their souls. If either of you dies, the other will shortly follow, one way or another.

[] MERCENARY BAND: The eclectic variety of survivalists and soldiers, ready to move at short notice.
--- You were born to sailors of the Nevian Caravanites, until one day your ship was raided by pirates. Washing up on shore with nothing to your name and no family left, you were saved by Ozerilet and offered to be her rider. She saw this as mutually beneficial (at least in part because her lack of purpose had grown boring, and you were eager for adventure). You've gotten your fair share of mercenary work before, but this is definitely the coldest environment you've ever had to fly through. You're one of two dragon riders signed on to this contract.

****
PLEASE NOTE: Additional info on the effects of this choice, and what it means from each faction/background option, are HERE

 

[Demonic Spoon]

[X] "It's a dream I keep having. Sometimes it enters my mind's eye as if it were really happening, sorry."
[X] TASLODITE PACTLORDS: Your brother's tent, almost twice the size of everyone else's and beautifully decorated for what is supposed to be a scouting mission.

Heirloom Dragons sound amazing.

 

[sportoner]

[X] "It's the memory of someone I haven't seen in a long time, that's all."
[X] TASLODITE PACTLORDS: Your brother's tent, almost twice the size of everyone else's and beautifully decorated for what is supposed to be a scouting mission.

 

[TheCount]

I do not like the empire.... Feels too.... Cold

I'm thinking either mercenary or heritage clan.... Any ideas what the benefits are, aside from the number of other riders?

[X] "It's a dream I keep having. Sometimes it enters my mind's eye as if it were really happening, sorry."

[X] TASLODITE PACTLORDS: Your brother's tent, almost twice the size of everyone else's and beautifully decorated for what is supposed to be a scouting mission.