#changed the tundra to a snapper later

[sxyphen]

soooo I made some morphology's and outfits for td charcters, here’s what I have so far (warning, this is gonna be long)

Gwen: outfit (Female Pearlcatcher; teal Jupiter, obsidian Basic, and emerald Basic) This is one of my personal favorites, it's simple but it works really well, but you'll see the morphologies and outfits get more complicated soooo

Courtney: outfit (Female Coatl; sand Cherub, camo Constellation, and wisteria Basic) Another favorite, she just looks pretty :3

Duncan: outfit (Male Bogsneak, eldritch Cinder, fern Blaze, and flaxen Basic) Silly little eepy guy, I feel like this is probably the most accurate dragon of any td character i've made. not much to say about him tho

Alejandro: outfit (Male Imperial; coral Python, maroon Shimmer, and blood Smoke) This is actually a dragon that I have, you can check him out here, but it actually took a couple tries to get an outfit that I think works with him lol

Bridgette: outfit (Female Skydancer; caribbean Lionfish, sanddollar Shimmer, and cobalt Okapi) nothing much to say other than, pretty :3

Geoff: outfit (Male Pearlcatcher; magenta Clown, ivory Butterfly, and strawberry Spines) same with Bridgette, I wanted them to be matching, cause, y'know. they kiss :<, but I honestly prefer this one over Bridgette (the outfit, not the morphology)

Harold: outfit (Male Ridgeback; periwinkle Skink, orange Hex, and fern Stained) I'm really happy with how this came out, even if it took a couple redos lol, and the steampunk apparel works with Harold's, vibe

ok for some stupid reason I can't put the pictures of Beth, Justin, Katie and Sadie [im on pc], so I'm just going to link the morphologies here: Beth (Female Aether; ivory Candy, magenta Butterfly, and shamrock Wish), Justin (Male Aether; bronze Boa, hunter Daub, and overcast Flutter), Katie and Sadie (Female Aberration; brown Pinstripe, ivory Flair, and cottoncandy Koi)

Ezekiel: outfit (Male Wildclaw; algae Pinstripe, soil Patchwork, and stonewash Veined) My favorite tbh, can't really explain why it just, ✨does✨

Feral Ezekiel: outfit (Male Mirror; fern Stiched, camo Patchwork, and cobalt Ghost) yeah, i made the eepy. i changed the breed cause 1) it reflects how ezekiel changed after his mutation, and 2) Male Wildclaw's position(?) isn't creaturey enough

Leshawna: outfit (Female Obelisk; ginger Falcon, obsidian Rosette, and cerise Contour) Nothing much to say about this one tbh, she looks real pretty tho :D

Owen: outfit (Male Snapper; metals Ground, marigold Safari, and teal Koi) I like this one, it's simple but unfortunately i couldn't find anything to represent his maple leaf :(

Cody: outfit (Male Coatl; gold Swirl, twilight Fissure, and copper Contour) i'm honestly not happy with this one, specifically the outfit. might redo this one later, and remove all the autumn stuff

DJ: outfit (Male Tundra; camo Python, brown Constellation, and dust Runes) lookie, is my boy :3333333333

Izzy: outfit (Female Mirror; sunshine Clown, pear Eye Spots, and avocado Gembond) really happy with this one, it fits her well and gives off her craziness :>

Sierra: outfit (Female Spiral; jade Clown, mulberry Hypnotic, and blackberry Opal) i'm very lucky to have found the apparel that i did for her, cause if i didn't, i have no idea what outfit to have given her ;-; but yeah she pretty

Eva: outfit (Female Snapper; cobalt Falcon, sapphire Peregrine, and obsidian Spines) big buff lady :D

Tyler: outfit (Male Ridgeback; cherry Jupiter, sable Eel, and white Basic) A fan of this one, and the Love's Herald was a gift from Lindsay. and now thinking about it, i might wanna make some lore for this. it's a big maybe though

Lindsay: outfit (Female Fae; garnet Flaunt, honey Jester, and cornflower Scales) i don't know how to feel abt this one, not a fan of it. and also will probably redo the outfit. the morphology i can live with.

Noah: outfit (Male Nocturne; brown Jupiter, pthalo Safari, and crimson Underbelly) another favorite, it gives off very Noah vibes lol (and i just realized that he shares a gene with Owen. so do with that information as you will)

Trent: outfit (Male Skydancer; algae Viperia, forest Eel, and obsidian Koi) I love this one, gives off very bard/guitarist kinda vibes. and if there was lore, i imagine trent would be a nomad entertainer, playing in small towns and cities, and maybe at a bar or two

Chris: outfit (Male Fae; forest Falcon, teal Myrid, and obsidian Smoke) look, it's him, the guy!!!!/j but in all seriousness, this is literally just him. entitled little short king who slays (i also have one for Chef, but it's yucky :,<)

i had one for Heather, but I deleted the outfit for her, which was of a dragon that i already sold, soooooooo i'm just gonna make a new one for her :3 also thank you for reading this long ass post (if you actually did), it means a lot to me :3

[loverboy-ish-archive]

Ophelia -- Peredur's mate. Female Obelisk. Light Flight (now in Arcane Region). Royal Starmap + Mulberry Constellation + Midnight Underbelly (may change to Glimmer). Faceted eyes. Apparel: Helpful Healer's Trail and Beacon (may collect full set or swap out later).

Peredur -- Rosie + Florence's son, Ophelia's mate. Male Tundra. Arcane Flight. Orchid Petals + Flaxen Constellation + Grapefruit Glimmer. Unusual eyes. Apparel: Golden Harvest Vines (to collect full set).

Fiamma -- Martha's mate. Female Bogsneak. Flame Flight. Sapphire Laced + Lemon Edged + Steel Ringlets. Primal eyes. Apparel: Fire Aura and Blaze Branches.

Martha -- Fiamma's mate. Male Fae. Fire Flight. Rose Skink + Pearl Butterfly + Rose Peacock. Bright eyes. Apparel: Mage's Walnut Bag.

Garland -- Sargon's mate. Female Fae. Earth Flight. Brown Python + Chocolate Morph + Coral Koi. Multi-Gaze eyes. Apparel: Teardrop Lapis Lazuli Armlet (to collect full set).

Sargon -- Garland's mate. Male Coatl. Lightning Flight. Gold Tiger + Gold Peregrine + Grapefruit Firefly. Primal eyes. Apparel: Lightning Aura, Powered Implants, Volatic Halo.

Tambourine -- Ryland's mate. Female Mirror. Ice Flight. Mint Cherub + Phthalo Seraph + Thicket Glimmer. Uncommon eyes. Apparel: Tigerlily Corsage, Flower Crown, Flowerfall, Lei, Tail Lei, and Wing Garland.

Ryland -- Tambourine's mate. Male Nocturne. Earth Flight. Azure Ribbon + Driftwood Marbled + Olive Glimmer. Faceted eyes.

Rhea -- Nought's mate. Female Pearlcatcher. Shadow Flight. Splash Bar + Royal Blend + Steel Crackle. Primal eyes.

Nought -- Rhea's mate. Male Wildclaw. Earth Flight. Midnight Lionfish + Oilslick Basic (to change to Toxin) + Caribbean Runes. Uncommon eyes, may change to Primal.

Pembe -- Artyom's mate. Female Ridgeback. Water Flight. Abyss Basic (to change to Flaunt) + Watermelon Flair + Pink Filigree. Glowing eyes.

Artyom -- Pembe's mate. Male Snapper. Light Flight. Pearl Savannah + Cerulean Stripes + Cottoncandy Soap. Common eyes, may change to Primal.

Ruby -- Adventure's mate. Female Skydancer. Water Flight. Wine Flaunt (to change to Pinstripe) + Ruby Hex + Bronze Circuit. Rare eyes, may change to Primal or leave alone.

Adventure -- Ruby's mate. Male Spiral. Shadow Flight. Rose Falcon + Coral Breakup (change to Peregrine) + Auburn Smoke. Multi-Gaze eyes.

additional notes: Ruby was going to have Flaunt (and does), but now I think Flaunt looks better for Pembe, so... swapsies. Might be a pain because I can't remember where I got Flaunt but oh well. May also swap Photios' and Adventure's planned genes, but that'll be later, too.

to be updated as-and-when.

[pokemonbutch-fr]

Why every dragon breed can be easily autism coded by me: an autistic lesbian

I’m doing this as per canon lore in the Encyclopedia, obviously anyone can do whatever they want and this isn’t law

I’m just having a good time

Feel free to add on anything about your autistic dragons, or how autistic draconic society may work!

There will be NO clowning on this post, we’re appreciating and celebrating autism here!

And no I’m not saying that ONLY autistic people do these things, it’s just that these are all common themes I’ve seen amongst autistic people.

Bogsneaks: often isolated from each other, when interacting often fight. Autistic people who have different major languages can sometimes have trouble communicating (ex: I tend to read people’s body language more than their intonation, versus someone who has little to no body language and usually relies on focusing on someone’s voice)

Coatls: have lots of trouble understanding other breeds, often end up communicating with other Coatls and nobody else. The autistic community is often very accepting and works to avoid misunderstanding, whereas allistic people often fail to see past the way autistic people can have unique methods of communication

Faes: have a unique form of communicating tone, as they have expressive crests no other breed has, and cannot understand dragons without those same crests. Likewise, other breeds cannot understand the monotone Fae. Autistic people often have unique communication methods that don’t make sense to allistics, from non- and low-verbal people, to those who show no emotions when speaking, and so many in between

Gaolers: they’re considered children until they get a job, and have a lot of trouble understanding the current states of society. Autism is so often associated with children, that autistic adults either can’t get the diagnosis/recognition they desire, or they’re treated as young children unless they can “prove” they’re an adult. Additionally, autistic people can have a lot of trouble following societal norms and understanding how the world works in allistic people’s eyes

Guardians: they have a charge, which is something they will tirelessly protect until they can no longer do so - for whatever reason. Autistic people often have special interests, which is an intense, powerful connection/interest/etc in something. Many autistic people will also have an extremely long lasting, possibly life-long special interest that always fills a part of their heart

Imperials: emotionally distant and reserved with words, but able to passionately throw themselves into anything they care about. Many autistic people either have difficulty expressing themselves, and are low- or nonverbal, or due to the way society treats them, aren’t often very open with their feelings and interests. Though when presented with something they’re passionate about - often a special interest - they have the ability to jump into it and do amazing things

Mirrors: stick with their own kind, don’t care much for unnecessary words. Autistic people gather in groups whether or not they realize it, since they share similar communication styles and life experiences. They’re also often very happy to simply hang out in silence, enjoying each other’s company without having to talk the whole time.

Nocturnes: copy copy copy! They mimic traits and activities of any dragons they’re around, meaning to fit right in. Autistic people do this SO much, either due to fascination and the desire to share interests, or an uncanny ability to blend in with allistic people when necessary

Pearlcatchers: their pearl is essentially a part of themselves, vitally important and irreplaceable, something they value dearly. Special interests can often be a very personal thing, something so valuable to someone that it’s a part of their life. (ex: I play FR literally every day and it’s honestly a nice part of my life because of how valuable it is to me)

Ridgebacks: they borrow first and ask later, insisting that it isn’t the “stealing” the other dragons always claim it is. Autistic people often run off of different social cues/rules than allistic people, which can lead to many misunderstandings - such as borrowing something they thought was free to use

Skydancers: very good at reading emotional energies to see what others are feeling, which can benefit them in discussions/arguments, but frustrate them greatly if they can’t read someone’s emotions. many autistic people are empaths, and have an uncanny ability to feel other people’s emotions, and often share them. This comes in handy for being able to understand other people more easily, but can be tough if somebody around them is feeling bad, they’ll often feel the same emotions

Snappers: they live for routine, and know a LOT about everything you could imagine. Many autistic people love having a routine in life, and find comfort in knowing exactly what they plan to do. In the same vein, any autistic person can likely talk endlessly about their special interest, answering any questions you have and 5 more you haven’t even asked yet

Spirals: talk and move every single moment. Stimming #1, many autistic people have trouble not moving for a while and will find something to do so they can keep moving. they also often have trailing trains of thoughts, and can totally change subjects within 10 seconds because they’re talking so fast

Tundras: wonderful at sitting in silence or simply listening to others, they lack a good memory save for their sense of smell, and cherish their family like no other. Autistic people often have found families they’d die for, and take their close relationships very seriously. They also often end up with shoddy memories in one way or another, and love to sit in silence with friends

Wildclaws: their social hierarchy is based on appreciating those for their ability and what they can do. since autistic people can struggle with the way society will define worth, they focus more on someone’s personal value in what they find important. if someone is really good at identifying insects based on their silhouette, well dang that’s a really cool thing to do!

[thehalfbakedlogician]

{Project for Sicuterra discord server, a symbiotic relationship between this fly and crab {my portion of this duo was the fly, my friend made the bio for the crab}

COMMON NAME- Beanfly

ANCESTOR- Anthomyia pluvialis {a kind of palearctic muscidae fly}

BIO-

Habitat- the habitat of the beanfly and frost crabs is the northern polar wastelands of the Major Continent. This land is icy and snowy closer to the poles, yet at the meeting of temperate and polar biomes there is the tundra, a vast world of java mosses growing within both land and crystalline pools amongst mats of death lichens {evolved from the wolf lichen}. Summer is about ten weeks long and a day can last a whole 24 hours, due to being so close to the poles.

Diet- The beanfly subsists on a sugary substance called morlogus exuded by the death lichens. The frost crabs go out on excursions with their pod of flies, which ride around on the crab's back like a bunch of ducklings. Occasionally one will scurry off to go collect droplets of morlogus. Oftentimes crusts of lichen attach to the morlogus on the fly's face and later fall off, propogating the lichen. Because they are wingless and lacking in any protective defenses besides the crab, so they run as quickly as possible when gathering morlogus. the 'dewdrops' collected on their hairs are then brought back to the burrow for the flies to sip.  

Reproduction- When the brief summer arrives, their behavior changes drastically- they move at a frantic pace, collecting twice the amount of morlogus to bring back to their burrow, where they store it underground in small, permafrosted tunnels. All the female beanflies begin to emit pheremones which are very powerful in scent and can be detected from very far away. The males {about one male per two females} will then abandon their burrows and traverse the hazardous lichen and moss fields, sensing the wind patterns and aroma by their antennae. If he has managed to arrive at a burrow unscathed, he will then collect some moss to construct a nest and give an offering of morlogus to the femal. If the females are unimpressed, they will kick him out of the burrow, but if they do choose to mate with him, they can even store the sperm and decide which she wants to fertilize her eggs. The fur covered maggots will mature in about two weeks, after which point the females will die, never to see another summer. Meanwhile, the male will journey to other burrows, building nests and making offerings until he works himself to death.

Adaptations- like their relative the snapper, these flies have specialized pads on the bottom of their limbs {which for this species helps the beanfly attach to the back of its frost crab.} Their insulative hairy coating helps keep them warm. these use their antennae to sense touch {such as to locate other members of the group}, to detect motion in the air, and to smell. beanflies have quite a long life span for an insect, partially due to being a bit bigger than a typical fly {about five cm long and 3 cm tall}, living up to one year old.

[dire-vulture]

@goannafr​ had an idea for a custom progen dragon share, so here is mine!

This is Tarragon!! Picking out his name wasn’t easy, it was hard to think of something that felt fitting. I’m not 100% sure why I chose the name Tarragon tbh, I guess i just liked it. it’s the dragon herb :D

For his colors, I ultimately went with White/Jade because I thought it was a pretty and simple look! White felt fitting for a cold-weather species, and jade green is one of my fave colors. But I spent sooo long deciding colors. Over an hour probably dfadg Some other combos I considered were some sort of Pink/Yellow, and Swamp/Brown. there’s a universe where i started with a swampy boi haha… And Tarragon ended up with an orange tert which was a surprise to me. i didn’t know terts were a thing so i had not accounted for it haha. i think i lucked out though!

I decided on a tundra pretty quickly. After reading about each of the four breeds, I just liked how warm and friendly they seemed! And they’re adorable fluffy!!! And I loved the sitting pose. tbh i somehow completely forgot about choosing gender so he ended up as male by default but that is fine. I did consider fae too but honestly the tundra lore just won me over too much to choose any of the others. I wanted a happy friendly dragon! As a dragon fan I had vague knowledge of FR before joining and once even drew a couple dragons for the friend who’d later got me to join, but I didn’t have anything in mind for my lair before I joined. I was disappointed I only got to choose between the four breeds though since I knew there were many others haha. I mightve ended up picking a Snapper if that was an option. I didn’t know about breed changes haha.

Tarragon still looks mostly the same as when I got him! Sadly I never saved his official art before this year so i can’t compare. i do have that akiri art tho tbh im still kinda bummed they changed the eyecolors since the pre-2018 wind common eyecolor for tundras definitely looked nicer on him but aw well its not much of a difference. I never want to breed change him because he is perfect as a tundra! I gave him IriShim so he could be fancy without looking drastically different hahah…. any gene plan i scried felt Wrong to me. Glimmer gave him some nice orange horns though!! He’d probably still be ungened if it weren’t for a super generous friend c:

I could never even think about exalting him. he is way too important to me haha. my lair would not be my lair without him!

As for role, Tarragon is a leader of my clan! Originally he was the sole leader but I decided it made more sense to share the responsibility with other important early dragons in my lair. However, I still think the starting the clan was his idea and in that way he would be the first official member! He, his wife Moraine, and their friends Zaffre and Tamarind founded the Florabrisa clan together so they could have a peaceful place for Tarragon’s gardens (which also served as Tamarind’s charge), to raise their planned children, and to just in general have an environment dragons could come to without worries of the world or fear of rejection. I don’t necessarily have all the logistics worked out, but Tarragon is pretty charismatic and just exudes good vibes, so he and the others probably were able to work out alliances with nearby clans for protection and trading and stuff to get them on their feet?

Tarragon is very friendly and loves and wants the best for everyone. He really believes in the good in everyone and does his best to maintain harmony for dragons in the clan (even if it has to result in edicts like Do Not Bother Falcata Between the Hours of 3PM and 10 PM) Though he’s pretty easygoing and doesn’t really enforce rules much himself. As long as the community is happy, he is happy c: There probably have been a few cases where a dragon has been deemed too dangerous for the clan and had to be kicked out, and these times distressed Tarragon a ton as he is very forgiving and all too willing to give second chances, but he can understand when something really is best for the clan (and of course the other leaders are not as forgiving as Tarragon, so when it’s 3 against 1 anyway, there’s not much he can do.)

Despite this rather big role, he still would probably describe himself as just a gardener, since flowers are his favorite thing in the world and he spends a lot of his time taking care of his plants and tries to grow plants in as many places as he can. He loves to just exist in nature and tends to meditate by surrounding himself with plant-life.

He’s also very anti-violence and doesn’t like the idea of hurting anything, including bugs, inanimate objects, and especially plants. Do not harm his flowers :C An important rule he set in the lair is Do Not Eat Flowers. But most plant eating dragons in the lair agree that’s a bit excessive so most treat the rule as Do Not Eat Flowers When Tarragon is Nearby. The only punishment for breaking this rule is seeing Tarragon cry, which is definitely punishment enough. There are absolutely secret gatherings for eating flowers under Tarragon’s nose. Tarragon in general tries to see and appreciate the beauty in everything, but he is a bit squeamish and is afraid of spiders which he feels terrible about since spiders are just trying to live their best life too!

If I could remake my custom progen… Actually early on before I learned multi-accounting was against the rules, I considered making a second lair so i could have a Kyurem-colored progen with light eyes haha… I instead decided to just search the AH for one. But let’s see if I did make a new lair with all my current knowledge of the game, I’m not sure that I would end up with Tarragon. While I do still love them, I am a bit tired of my plethora of white primary dragons. Plus this time I would be aware of breed-changing so I’d have that in mind…  I’m caught between wanting to go with an icy lair or swampy lair tbh, a swampy bogsneak progen would be fun. I’d probably end up making a swampy progen in an ice lair hahah…it’d be a taiga I suppose? best of both worlds.

that said, I could never change Tarragon. I love him and he’s so important to me aaa. my own child.

[the-sarvalan-clan]

How would Dragons Drive?

I was driving along today and had a weird thought, how would Spirals drive? Which lead me to this post, how each species of dragons would drive. First off I don't think any of the dragons could drive without at least a tail hole cut in the seat but that wouldn't be enough for many of them.

Bogsneak Dragons would have trouble using a normal seat they have long bodies and short legs though so they might be able to get away with a seat that is close to the floor and pedals that were close to their feet. Thankfully they have thumbs and longish arms though so they could use just a normal steering wheel.

Coatl Dragons would have a lot of problems driving they have long bodies and tiny arms and legs. My idea of a Coatl driving seat has the Coatl lay down on it using its hands to steer, even though they don't have thumbs, and a brake pedal on one side of the seat and the acceleration on the other. If it's a manual transmission there would be either a wing or a tail switch for the clutch.

Fae Dragons are tiny but if they could find a vehicle small enough for them they could pretty much use a human seat and pedals, I think that they might use their wings to steer though.

Guardian Dragons aren't built such that driving would be easy, even if they weren't so big. Looking at them, they might want to use something either like the Coatl couches I suggested earlier or the Skydancer stands I'll mention later, although their lack of thumbs might make steering difficult. Or they might be able to sit upright, using a normal pedal arrangement, but using a pair of handles of some sort placed by their foreclaws to steer.

Imperial Dragons are way too long to sit in a chair of any kind, even ignoring the fact that they're bigger than an 18 wheeler. I think they would have some kind of harness arrangement that would suspend them from the ceiling of their vehicle and hold them in place. Once they're in said driving hammock though they can pretty much use human controls.

Mirror Dragons drive sports cars. They have thumbs and long arms and thus could use human style steering wheels. They would probably need some strange looking elongated seats but could also use human foot pedals.

Nocturne Dragons would have a really hard time driving, while they could use our steering wheels, Nocturnes have such weird little legs that I think the they would drive around with their feet curled up under them and would have to use either their wings or their tails to control their speed.

Pearlcatcher Dragons are actually relatively human shaped, I think their cars would have a slot for their Pearls in the steering wheel and a tail hole in the seats and wouldn't really need too many changes beyond that.

Ridgeback Dragons again like Imperials and Guardians have size issues. However unlike the other giants Ridgebacks wouldn't need such huge changes. For one Ridgebacks have thumbs, secondly they also have a body plan that could be accommodated by an extremely bucket seat with a tail channel. They're so spikey that that might cause a problem but otherwise I think they could use human controls.

Skydancer Dragons I think could use sort of a support that will hold their standing body. It would hold them up and let them use a normal steering wheel while their feet could reach pedals that would be similar to the ones we use.

Snapper Dragons are the hardest for me to figure out actually, their bodies are the least able to use anything like a human vehicle. I finally figured it out with some help from @snowflakeb0ttles, they wouldn't actually drive, they would have assistants to do it for them. However, safety first, so I figured out how they would stay safe. Snappers would sit on the floor of the vehicle and have a harness that kept them attached to the floor.

Spiral Dragons would use a harness much like Imperials, however they're much longer proportionally than Imperials are so they would also need sort of a sling to support their coils in addition to the general hammock. Spirals have thumbs on their feet in addition to those on their hands so I think that their vehicles would have handles instead of pedals for acceleration and deceleration.

Tundra Dragons would actually be able to use human seats in my opinion, their tails might need a little bit of accommodation but not much. I think they could also just use human pedals. The only problem is that I can't tell if they have thumbs or not. If they do they could just drive a human car, although their front legs are longer in comparison to their rear legs than those of a human. If not then they would need a steering wheel, or other device, that is both soft and thick enough for them to get their claws into it.

Wildclaw Dragons could probably use a Skydancer stand, but I think that they would probably use Spiral foot handles instead of pedals, either that or something that utilizes their claws.

[arctic-rising]

A Dark Descent, Chapter 2: A Day Out, Part 3

(( <<Previous | Navigation | Next>> )) ((Pinglist: @starry-ampelope  @jedicreed-fr @rockback-charger @blight-nymph @ashenbicornwhale)) ((Author’s Note: I really should have mentioned this earlier, but the Dark Descent series takes place a couple years before the events of Bounty of the Elements.))

       Between the earthen and shadowed flights, a fjord cuts through, clean and clear. It is flanked by ancient stone and tangled undergrowth; pine trees with thickets of brambles at their bases that glow when the moons reach their zenith and towering cliff faces. Despite this, the water is a sparkling blue- a perfect mirror of the mid-day sky for those who view it. Neither muddied silt nor blue algae lays claim to the border, leaving it as beautiful as the jewels hidden underneath the earth’s crust. Wisteria looks over the scene with a keen eye. It’s not often that she’s able to take the more scenic routes when traveling, so a part of her mourns that she’s far too curious about Kordanas to really enjoy it.

       “Kord, I’m sure you’re telling the truth, but I really don’t think regenerating into an entirely different dragon is just a weird thing you can do.”

“I am sorry, but I don’t know how else to put it.”

       Wisteria glances over at her companions. Athena has been keeping pace with Kordanas, occasionally righting herself to keep from crashing into him. The imperial -no, guardian, in question seems to be doing alright so far. He’s not lagging behind, so Wisteria is going to take that as a good sign.

       She’s not sure why they thought it would be a good idea to fly all the way home, but she’s not going to fight it. It’s a nice view, at least.

“Does anyone else know you can do this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

“I dunno, maybe some weirdo out there made you like this so you could serve them forever.”

“Athena, I really don’t think-”

“It’s a possibility! There’s some weird dragons out there! We’ve met weird dragons before!”

There’s a beat of silence before Kordanas speaks up again.

“Maybe you should stop having stare-downs with Scribbles whenever we visit Tomo.”

“He’s planning something, I know it.”

“He writes things down. How is that suspicious?”

“He writes weird things down. Why does he use invisible ink sometimes? Why is quartz cursed? He knows something we don’t, I can feel it!”

“We could say the same for any of the dragons at the trading post.”

“Uh, not really, no. It’s natural for dragons to have hoarding problems, and Pink’s just trying to keep Crim in check. Swipp has tons of connections- he’s probably in touch with some super fancy seamstress and a familiar breeder.”

“Baldwin literally changed himself from a pearlcatcher to a bogsneak. On accident, Athena. How do you breed change on accident?”

“Well you-”

       Wisteria allowed the next gust of wind to push her backward so she could glide next to Kordanas. “Sorry to interrupt. I think we are getting off track.” 

       Athena blinked and nodded. “Okay, right. So, this regenerating thing. Have you always been able to do it, or is this new?”

       “I have always been able to change when times are most dire. It, ah, it is an ability that was common in my birth clan.” Kordanas’ rumbling voice grew soft as he spoke. The wind almost drowned him out, snatching away his words. Wisteria drifted closer, her claws brushing an errant vine that curled around Kordanas’ wing. “My memory of my first home is fuzzy, but I remember our priestess telling us that our ability was a gift from the Gladekeeper. We thanked her for it every sunset by offering something in return at the old willow in the center of a forest.”

“Our ability? So there were others who had the same power?” Athena asked. 

       Kordanas nodded. “Yes, although I do not remember it being talked about outside of the offering ritual. My clan mates were very.... what’s the term? Hush-hush about it.”

       “What things did you offer to the Gladekeeper?” Wisteria had to push to keep pace with Kordanas. Despite having morphed into an entirely new dragon, he seemed to be doing just fine cruising over the rushing river. 

       “Homemade items, mostly. Figurines made from sticks and grass, flower wreaths, and carved logs were common. Occasionally someone would bring a precious stone or a clawful of coins, but...” Kordanas frowned, and narrowed his eyes in thought. Athena and Wisteria stayed quiet.

       “I think there was an element of shame for not being able to offer something made from nature. No one would say anything during the ritual, but there was silent scorn from the priestess.”

“I wonder why..” Athena mused. “Did your clanmates regenerate a lot?”

       “No, not that I can remember. There was one incident where a group went to investigate something along the border, and only one came back. But they were different; changed from a wildclaw into a pearlcatcher.”

“Did they act differently?” Wisteria asked.

“I do not think so. I did not interact with them much in the first place.”

“Do you know if other clans had this power?” Athena asked

       Kordanas shook his head, “No. We did not get many visitors. Not any that I can remember, at least.”

Athena frowned and Wisteria sighed.

       “That is a very odd power to have,” The little nocturne said. She let her gaze wander to the rushing waters below them, watching their faint shadows ripple over the waves. 

       “Yeah, Wisteria’s right,” Athena said, “I wanna know what your clan did to get that.”

“I am sorry that I cannot tell you more,” Kordanas said. 

       “It’s fine big guy. It’s just weird, ya know?” The tundra said, and gently bumped the edge of her wing with Kordana’s. The guardian smiled and nudged her back. “Every flight has their secrets. I wanna know more about this, but I’m too tired to head back into Nature.”

       “You have a good point, Athena. I too would like to return home as soon as possible,” Kordanas said. Wisteria nodded in agreement.

       The conversation died into companionable silence. Wisteria spent the majority of the time watching the glittering water as the sun rose and fell as the day dragged on. Eventually the trio came to rest along the steep shores of Dragonhome, setting up a small camp on a dusty ledge that jutted over the fjord. Athena and Kordanas focused on preparing the tent that they would sleep in for the night while Wisteria hunted for fresh food on the edge of the Tangled Wood. When the nocturne fluttered back, three walleyes, two ravens and a claw-full of tarantulas and snapdragons, the others had managed to get a fire going. Kordanas had curled around the flame while Athena was rummaging through her packs, triumphantly pulling out a package of dried stalks. 

“Athena. I already got food. We can save that for later,” Wisteria said as she ran her paw over a nearby stone and placed her findings on it.

       The tundra blinked, placed her ration back into her bag and went about helping Wisteria prepare a meal for the three of them out of her haul. Kordanas spent the majority of the evening sleeping, only waking to eat dinner and take first watch. The night went without a hitch, and Athena helped divide the left overs for breakfast.

       The rest of the travel went smoothly, the trio bouncing between Shadow and Earth for camp, and quickly heading off each morning. They were all eager for a break from flight as the mottled brown and red ground of the Scarred Wasteland came into view. The river became smaller as the edges of Earth and Shadow grew closer together, and finally the land of Plague forced the rapids to split into two, one branch leading out to the great unknown while the other fed into the Tidelord’s domain. Pale spires of wood and massive bone stretched towards the sky in the distance, and the sickly hued clouds drifting above became thicker as the group drew closer. The air grew sour with something foul, and Wisteria wrinkled her nose. She could easily imagine the grimace on Athena and Kordanas as they swooped closer to the ground. Green splotches glowed underneath mottled red land that curled like scar tissue, and if Wisteria looked hard enough, she was sure that she could make out the faint whites of bones peeking out of the twisted earth. 

“Hey! My wings are sore as hell, think we should take a pit stop?” Athena called out. 

“Soon as we find a hospitable town. I would rather continue on than get shot out of the sky or travel on foot with no directions,” Kordanas said.

“I agree,” Wisteria said. Athena nodded and the three pushed on.

       It wasn’t until dusk that they found a place that was willing to take them in. A small clan of snappers and a ridgeback that lived in burrowed tunnels granted them refuge in exchange for a portion of the tadpoles they had collected. In the morning they were able to get directions to the nearest town, and off they went.

       Time passed, and by midday the three managed to reach the front gates of Matiken; a spiraling town that lay over a hill, and was protected by a wall made of stone and curling rot, where sharpened bones jutted outwards to the unending expanse of the wandering contagion. Peaks of low buildings were just visible, while second and third story homes towered above the walls. Simple stone and wood buildings seemed to be common from what Wisteria could make out. The rough natural landscape transitioned to rugged cobble and worn paths as Athena, Wisteria, and Kordanas entered the plague town. Occasionally another dragon would pass them, but it seemed that most folks were tucked away in their dens for the time being. 

       The trio eventually reached what Wisteria could guess was the plaza of the clan. The stone path opened up in a diamond-shaped clearing, each side home to a different and equally important looking building. The tall structures loomed over the gnarled ground, casting shadows that merchants had set up shop in as they worked through the summer heat. 

       “Sooo. Who wants to haggle and who wants to look for a place to spend the night?” Athena asked. Her armor and fur had attained a layer of red dirt without her realizing, and it wafted away whenever her tail swiped across the path.

       “I can look for a room. You two are better at talking than me.” Wisteria said. Kordanas blinked and Athena pulled a face at her. The nocturne wasn’t sure what that was all about, but she wasn’t intent on finding out. “Besides. You two have the stuff.”

       “Yeah, alright. Don’t spend all our gold in one place,” Athena said. She began to walk into the plaza with Kordanas in tow. The guardian spared one last glance at Wisteria over his shoulder before turning back to the tundra. 

       It was easy enough for the little nocturne to find an affordable inn. She was excited to tell the others that she didn’t even have to trade one of their remaining tadpoles as she carefully went about settling in for the night.