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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:23 pm
Arbre smiled happily, despite the fact that he was still limping. One last corner, and he'd be in the valley. One last corner, and he'd be home.
"Stay close, little one," he said gently, and rounded the last corner.
It was beautiful. Breathtaking. It was home. A natural amphitheater, surrounded by mountains on all sides, but large, green and healthy with numerous mountain rams, if you knew where to look, and scattered caves throughout. And the springs, the sacred springs... Arbre smiled to himself, wondering if someday Abalis would stand by one of those springs, ready to become a full member of the pack. Although that was getting ahead of himself, Abalis already had parents, somewhere out there.
I hope they can be found, for Abalis' sake. But first, I need to lie down. The journey was harder than I thought it would be.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:56 pm
 Abalis followed Arbre, his eyes widening at the sight of the valley. Arbre's home... and maybe Abalis's home? It all depended on whether or not Arbre's pack could find Abalis's parents...
The journey up the Mountain Path had been terrifying. After a few days, Arbre had been well enough to travel. So they'd headed up the mountain. As they grew nearer, Abalis could see that what he'd always thought of as a simple cliff was, in fact, a path... A sick path. A dieing path. It crumbled beneath their feet, and Abalis was forced to walk on the heels of Arbre at every turn. At one point they'd passed an exceptionally thin portion of the path, and Abalis had looked down and realized that they were at the place where Arbre had fallen...
"Wow," Abalis breathed now, looking down at Arbre's home, "It's amazing... Beautiful... How long has all of this been here?"
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:56 pm
((Still a WIP, but the map might help a bit with the RP. I still need to add some forested areas, and caves everywhere.)) "As long as I can remember, little one," Arbre said gently, "and longer still. It was here before even my most distant ancestors arrived, and we have lost all the tales of our arrival. This is my home, it was my ancestors home, and it can be your home too. Even if we find your parents. I want you to remember that, for when you come of age. Should you show any signs of, oh, unusual promise with magic, come to us, and we will train you. It is what we do, after all."
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:03 pm
((Ooooooh... Pretty map. ^^ ))
"Wow..." Abalis breathed as he looked out over the valley. His brow furrowed when Arbre mentioned 'magic', a term that most hatchlings associated with things other than what it actually was. "Magic... You mean like flying, and shooting fireballs, and being invisible and stuff like that?" Abalis frowned slightly. It certainly would be cool, but... "What would make you think that I would have any special talents doing all that stuff?"
Immediately, Abalis worried that he might've offended his current guardian.
"I-I mean, if that's what this pack is all about then... Cool, I just..."
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:11 pm
Arbre smiled at Abalis' questions about magic. "No, little one," he said, "that's not what magic is about. Magic... well, there are the basic spells, that all dragons can do, like make themselves warm and dry off and hatch eggs, but you're too young to do any of those. And there are more complex spells, that some dragons are born with and other dragons have to learn. These include healing, talking to ghosts, turning the air cold, reading the weather, reading the ground... there are many, many different types of magic, but I have yet to see a dragon fly or spit fireballs."
Arbre shook his head at Abalis' comment. "I shouldn't have said that," he said, "about that being what the pack does. It is what we do, train dragons to use magic, I mean, but it's not the only thing. It is simply what we are best known for. In this pack, there are no ranks, so don't get any false ideas. If you learn to do magic, well and good, but if you don't, don't let anybody look down on you. I've gotten along fine without any major magic for my entire life."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:09 pm
"Oh," Abalis replied, glad to have an explanation. His ears went down and a worried expression came onto his face. "Um... Did you say... G-Ghosts?"
He didn't much like the idea of ghosts... They seemed... Scary. Abalis had never seen a ghost, but he could imagine them... and he thought to himself absently that he wouldn't really like to meet a ghost...
He also wondered if his parents were ghosts... and if Arbre would've been a ghost if Abalis hadn't come along.
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:07 pm
"Yes," Arbre said gently, "ghosts. Dragons who have died, and wander the hidden lands, waiting to be reborn. Some... some linger longer than others, and the Guardian Ghosts linger longest of all. But do not be afraid, little one, for only Ghost Speakers can part the veil between the living and the dead, and ghosts... well. Here, at least, the only ghosts are those of ancient members of the Mountain Road and those they deem trustworthy. They watch over us, always, and in the days when we still had ghost speakers... in those days, they gave us advice. Wise advice, ancient advice, and it served us well."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:25 pm
Abalis relaxed a bit at this explanation. It sounded a lot better than what Abalis had thought of at the mention of ghosts...
"Trustworthy, huh?" Abalis repeated thoughtfully, "Well, I think you'd be a ghost then, Arbre... I-I mean, if you hadn't... Well..."
Abalis frowned awkwardly, mentally slapping himself in the forehead. Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut?! He had probably said entirely the wrong thing... Arbre had almost DIED. Of course he wouldn't want to be reminded of that...
"So, um... Where to now?" Abalis asked quietly.
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:29 pm
Arbre frowned and looked away, unwilling or unable to talk about his recent near-death experience. Near death... near Nari.
"Over there," he said, jerking his head towards a cave on the far side of the valley. "It's a bit of a walk, but it's cozy inside. I used to share it with my mate..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:36 pm
Abalis paused, sensing the tension... Then he gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Of COURSE it's a bit of a walk," he said loudly, "we've been walking for AGES! Why WOULDN'T we have to walk?" Then he smiled to let Arbre know that he was joking around. He began walking in the direction Arbre had indicated.
Abalis desperately wanted to ask about Arbre's mate... But he'd already said enough stupid things for that day.
He'll tell me when he's ready, Abalis thought to himself as he walked.
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:21 pm
Arbre chuckled. "It's a large territory, meant for many dragons... and the road keeps us protected. It also ensures that only the worthy pass through, those willing to do what it takes to learn. Or join the pack or visit a family member." Arbre smiled gently at Abalis and led the way down the remainder of the path. His shoulder still hurt, but he already felt like he could walk with a spring in his step once more. Home. He was home.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 2:25 pm
Abalis was still smiling, but his brow furrowed a bit in confusion.
"Arbre?" he began curiously, "if this place is meant for many dragons... Where are all of them? Does this have anything to do with that plague thingy you mentioned before?" Abalis's smile faded. "You still haven't told me what a plague is..."
Abalis didn't like talking about a plague... It seemed scary... Scarier than ghosts, even... But he had to know.
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 2:47 pm
Arbre winced. The plague... the little one had never even heard of the plague. And he was to take that innocence away.
"The plague... was a bad time for all of the dragons. It started... well, no one's entirely sure why it started or even how it started. There are theories... but it's not my place to discuss them. And it happened a very long time ago, so few remember it now, and those that do are either very, very old or were mere children when the plague started. I wasn't even hatched, my mother had just met my father... but that's beside the point. Only the dead know what happened, and there are no ghost speakers left to tell us their tales.
"Because, you see, the ghost speakers were the first to... fall ill. That's what the plague was, a mysterious illness that claimed many lives. A shift in the balance. But beyond that, I do not know. I only know the story of the pack.
"Back then, we were a numerous people, and prosperous. We had many Keystones (healers) and Gemstones (those that can do magic) as well as Riverstones, Whetstones (guards), students, and pebbles (little ones, like you). Many dragons had heard of us, and all was well, the guardians were just and we were even honored by a brief visit from Sitara, one of the mountain Guardians. Then the plague struck.
"The ghost speakers were the first to sense that something was wrong. They called an assembly, said they were leaving, heading south to undo a terrible thing that occurred. All of them! It was unprecedented, even the students and pebbles with the gift wanted to go... and most of the Keystones wanted to go to. Several Whestones left, to guard their backs, and a number of the Riverstones and other Gemstones.
"Somehow... somehow nobody suspected the plague would be as bad as it was. The Ghoststones knew, but it was hard to believe their urgency. Or... rather, that it would affect the entire pack. That it would affect everyone.
"We were fairly isolated, even then, but the plague still struck us, and struck us hard. Dragons sickened and died within days... and there was famine, easily preventable disasters and accidents. The Keystones were overwhelmed. But the pack pulled through. Mostly.
"For, you see, very few of the dragons that had left returned. None of the Ghoststones did, not a single one. They gave up their lives to save ours, or so the story goes. Either way, they were very brave."
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:07 pm
Abalis frowned, his tail twitching slightly as he listened attentively. It was... worse than he had thought.
Definitely worse than ghosts.
"What's a guardian?" Abalis asked after a moment. Those sounded better than things like ghosts and plagues. They kind of brought a warm feeling to his chest... like... he felt safer.
He liked the idea of being safe. Not just him, he liked the idea of everyone being safe... Safe... And healthy. Sometimes at night he dreamed of Arbre, remembering how he had looked right after his fall... Sometimes... His parents took Arbre's place in the dream. He imagined them injured and dieing... Sometimes he imagined them sick... And no one was around to help them.
Abalis didn't like that idea at all.
There should always be someone to help the injured or diseased.
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:20 pm
Arbre smiled, only too happy to change the topic. "Guardians are those who have been chosen to look after us. There are two for each race, one male, one female. So there are two northern Guardians, who look after dragons like us, and two mountain Guardians, who look after our southern kin. I've heard rumors of other races as well, but I don't believe them. I've only met northern and mountain dragons... but anyways.
"Guardians are selected by Guardian Ghosts, and only the wisest, kindest dragons are chosen. They usually have some kind of powerful magic that helps them look after the rest, like healing. Guardian Sitara was a ghost speaker... I wish I could have met her, she sounds like quite the character.
"The main duty of a Guardian is just that, to Guard. To Guard the people, to Guard the land. They are very powerful, although their power can be stripped from them at any time if they fail in their duty. They are also of all packs and none, for they must wander the lands, tending to their people and the earth."
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