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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 10, 2023 20:38:39 GMT -5
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Astrid and Blue Raspberry walked along the outside of Skypeak Village, their armor clinking and clanging as they made their way around the perimeter for... how many times had it been? For the billionth time, probably. "Astrid, this is so boring." Blue looked to their small companion, their incredibly bored expression hidden by their helmet, but their body language and voice said it all. They'd been on guard duty for hours! Why were they doing this again? Something about safety or something? The ooze felt like they were about to collapse into a puddle from the sheer boredom of walking back and forth repeatedly. "I thought you said we were supposed to be fighting things, like bandits and monsters! We've just been walking back and forth for hours!" BLue Raspberry sighed. Of course, they weren't angry at Astrid. They were just... sooo... bored. They thought this job would be a lot more exciting when Astrid had told them they needed to do it for a day. Where were all the bandits and monsters!? Even the sky looked like it fell asleep, not a single bolt of lightning streaking across the sky or striking one of the lightning rods! Quest Name: Patrol Duty Reward: +10 Security for selected Region (+10 more if your home region) Chapter: One Description: The wilderness is full of wild, dangerous creatures, and enemies of the realm constantly lurk in the shadows, waiting for their chance to make a strike. You can assist your region by patrolling the borders, standing guard in a village or town, even venturing into other regions to keep an eye on things. You can detail your patrol however you like, throwing any kind of obstacle your way.
Requirements: Requires exactly two people (you and one other, if the other participant does not qualify, they will not gain the reward) You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words Must guard, patrol or scout out a region and protect it Once you complete this mission, you have completed this quest and may turn in the mission Can be repeated for a different region
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 20:59:03 GMT -5
True, today has been an unusually quiet day for Sky Peak Village. Actually, it's been a quiet day for Dragon's Cradle in general. Usually, thunderstorms threatened at any moment. Not today. Of course, the day they volunteered to do a patrol things would be dead silent. It is boring.
Astrid lets out a sigh. "I know, I know," she says despondently. "We're doin' this after Mister Count asked us ta do it, ya know, ta foster good faith or whatever." Really, she thinks the warrior Count is a bit paranoid and itching for a fight. To be fair, she is too in this moment. "I thought we'd get ta do somethin' interestin', but... I guess it's better that nothin' happens. It means stuff is safe, ya know?"
Astrid looks at Blue Raspberry beside her, admiring her own polish job on their armor. Dang, she made that breastplate as reflective as a mirror! The convex bend of the metal makes her reflection bend and warp in a funny way, and she makes a silly face into it before she lets out a giggle. At least they can make their own fun together!
Then something reflects in the cuirass. There's a bright red streak in the malformed clouds. Confused, Astrid looks to the sky and sees the stormy gray clouds alight with a pinkish-red light high up above. Well, there's their interesting sighting today!
"Look at that!" she exclaims, pointing to the fast-moving red, flickering light.
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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 10, 2023 21:33:00 GMT -5
"Hm. I guess so." Blue Raspberry replied, shrugging. They knew it was a good thing for it to be quiet. It meant it was safe. But still, they wanted some excitement. They just weren't made for boring stuff like staying in the same place all the time. It was one of the reasons they liked to go out on adventures. They just couldn't take being cooped up in the house all the time, even if Astrid and Cantio were there, and they loved them both.
Blue looked down to see Astrid making a funny face at them and started making one back, though it was hidden by their helmet. It was a good thing it was, or someone else in the village might have seen just how silly a face an ooze could make.
Blue looked up at the red thing Astrid was pointing to, their head tilting a bit. What was that? And was it getting bigger? As it approached, Blue finally realized what they were looking at. It was a giant bird! And one that was sparking with red lightning all over! They'd seen a big, stormy bird on their travels before, but it definitely didn't look the same as this one did! They could only tell one thing. Something exciting was finally happening! They didn't have to walk back and forth forever anymore!
"Woooah, finally! Ah, I mean, oh no! It's coming this way! We'd better fight it!"
Blue Raspberry's armor was quickly engulfed by blue ooze seeping through all the gaps in the plate. Their form morphed and twisted, their arms stretching out into a pair of wings and the front of their head elongating into a point. In a flash, a giant blue eagle stood where the knight had been just a moment ago.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 22:36:45 GMT -5
Astrid squints her eyes, looking hard at what's in the clouds. Finally, she makes out the shape of a huge red bird, lightning flickering off of its wings. Wait, could that be- Before she knows it, the ooze knight transforms into a blooze eagle, ready to fly. Astrid looks at them, finally processing what's going on. "We shouldn't fight it!" she says. "That could make it attack the village!" Her eyes turn back up to look into the sky at the thunderbird. What is that thing called again? She can't remember, but she's read about it! Maybe it'll come to her later. "Well, maybe we don't fight it, but we could get a closer look at it!" she offers up, knowing that Blue Raspberry is just as bored and tired of walking as she is. She clambers up onto their big eagle back and hold on tight when they take off into the air heading toward the eagle. The red bird sends a gust of wind through the clouds with each powerful flap of its huge wings. Each time, they get a better look at it. Its wings conduct electricity and make the bird's red feathers appear to glow. Its tail splays out like a fan. Its movements are graceful. "We shouldn't get too close," Astrid says, tempering her excitement. "I think they're pretty peaceful birds, but man... look at it! That's incredible, ain't it? Makes me think of Avasha!"Suddenly, her demeanor falls. Avasha... right... The gods aren't really real, are they? Or at least, they've been dead for centuries. Somehow, her connection to the sky domain feels empty. What struck her in the lightning fields and created that spark that unlocked magic for her wasn't some act of god at all, was it? It was just a freak accident... talesofcharon.proboards.com/post/17203
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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 10, 2023 22:58:44 GMT -5
The giant eagle flew through the air, keeping a fair distance from the giant, electrical bird. It was definitely a sight to behold. Blue felt exhilarated just looking at it, and they weren't even religious. They had never worshipped Avasha or any of the other gods, but the sight of this creature was simply awe-inspiring. It really was incredible. Blue Raspberry felt something almost like a rivalry with the bird. Maybe one day, they could be that powerful! They had lightning magic and could turn into a bird, why couldn't it be a goal of theirs to turn into something like that one day? Of course, they wanted to become a real knight first, but maybe after that! They could have more than one goal!
They looked up at Astrid excitedly, but they also lost some of their excitement when they saw her looking a bit downcast. Something was definitely bothering her.
"Astrid...?" Blue's voice came quietly from the open beak. Talking while shapeshifted into an animal had taken a bit of practice, but they'd gotten the hang of it once they actually realized they could do it.
They wanted to know what was wrong and try to cheer her up. Astrid had said this thing was peaceful, but they should still watch it just to be safe, right? They were on patrol duty, weren't they? What better way to patrol and watch out for dangers than from the air? With a quick shift in direction and speed, they began to follow behind the giant bird from a distance.
"Why don't we patrol from up here? It'll be way more fun than walking back and forth, right!"
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 23:12:18 GMT -5
Blue's voice is so garbled from trying to speak as a bird that at first Astrid doesn't quite hear it. She's a bit distracted by the thoughts going through her mind. Ever since that whole situation with the cultists in Arid Mesa, she's tried not to think about all the things they learned. Most of the world doesn't know the truth and has carried on as if nothing ever happened. It almost made her forget about it. Still, she can't push it down forever.
"Huh?" She's pulled from her brooding by Blue's offer to patrol from above. Astrid looks around at the horizon, the mountains breaking up the world around them and looking like teeth against the cloudy sky. Being up here feels pretty nice. The wind is freeing, and it's much more interesting than walking around on the ground. A slight, melancholic smile crosses her face. "Aye, we could patrol up here. It's a better vantage point, after all, ain't it?"
Electricity crackles above them, and she looks up at the giant lightning bird again. Suddenly, its name comes to mind. "Oh, it's an Arcuila!" she exclaims. "It's like a big lightnin' phoenix. I wonder if people worshipped 'em a long time ago. Maybe Avasha was one of these."
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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 10, 2023 23:32:54 GMT -5
"Arc Uncle Leah....?" Blue mumbled, looking up at the giant red bird above. They'd never heard the name before. That was a pretty amazing creature to have as an uncle! Probably. They still didn't have the best grasp on what an uncle was, but they were still learning about family from Astrid. Now they knew that a dad was the man parent and a parent was someone who took care of you, like how Cantio took care of Astrid, so he was her dad. They still had a lot of lessons ahead, but they felt like they were making steady progress.
"I don't know a lot about Avasha. You said she's a big bird and that you made your armor at the ball look like her, right? You like her a lot?" Blue asked, trying to remember as much as they could about anything Astrid had said about them. Their memory wasn't the sharpest, but they remembered how much Astrid talked about her armor on the way to the Black Harvest Ball, how proud she was of it, and how it was made to look like someone named Avasha.
As they flew behind the Arculia, Blue Raspberry started to inch a little bit closer to the giant bird.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 23:44:09 GMT -5
It brings a sort of warmth to Astrid's chest that Blue Raspberry remembered something from what felt like ages ago. She knows they're not the best at remembering things, but the fact that they hold on to some of those memories feels good. It feels like they've both had impacts on one another's lives. They have, though. They're best friends, two unlikely companions with comparable appetites. There's a lot they've been through together, but there are plenty of things they didn't do together too. Her adventure through the lightning fields is one of those times.
So, she tells Blue Raspberry what she knows of Avasha. "Aye, Avasha's a big bird," she says softly. "A big lightnin' bird. She's the goddess of the sky domain! Or at least... she was. Guess she's been gone a long time, just... no one knew it." Astrid lets out a sigh and leans forward to sort of lie on Blue Raspberry's bird neck.
"Did I ever tell ya about how I got access ta sky domain magic? Me first bit of lightnin' magic?" The red lightning of the Arcuila crackles in her eyes as she watches it soar above. "It was here in Dragon's Cradle. I was on an adventure escortin' some stuff fer Miss Veliky. Our first day in the Lightnin' Fields, I got struck by lightnin'! It definitely hurt a lot, but I was alright. Maybe part of that was cause those leggin's ya gave me helped conduct some of the electricity. There's always been a bit of slime I could never really get offa them. Figured I don't mind all that much cause it's like carryin' a little part of ya with me all the time..."
After she trails off, she gets back to the story. "All this time, I thought maybe Avasha's the one that struck me with lightnin', maybe ta help me find some of me potential. But if she's been gone... Guess I just made it all up..." It wouldn't be the first thing she fantasized about in her life. Might as well just add it to the list of hopes she held that weren't true.
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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 11, 2023 0:09:07 GMT -5
"Oh... Right." Blue had also been there, fighting Ziev. They had heard all about the gods being dead, Scern's backstory, Ziev's betrayal. It hadn't had nearly as much of an impact on them as it must have had on Astrid. Blue Raspberry hadn't worshipped any of the gods. They barely even knew anything about any of them, really. But it obviously had hurt Astrid to hear such a thing. Avasha was important to her. The ooze didn't know how to help. They couldn't bring a god back to life, and after fighting Ziev, they weren't sure they'd want to.
In all the stories Astrid had told them about her adventures when they weren't together, she'd never mentioned getting struck by lightning before. They'd never really thought about how she got her lightning magic. They'd always had it themself, so it just seemed so natural for her to have it too.
They drifted slowly closer to the Arculia and suddenly had an idea. If Astrid had thought the lightning bolt that gave her her lightning magic had been from Avasha, from a big lightning bird, why don't they just go actually get electrocuted by a big lightning bird! They started flying faster, toward the Arculia.
"Hey! There's a big lightning bird right here! Gotta be some lightning magic potential in there somewhere for you to find, right?"
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 11, 2023 0:45:08 GMT -5
Blue's course shifts to approach the Arcuila with more intention. "Huh? Wait, Blue, what are ya-"
It's too late, the ooze bird is approaching. The air around them becomes statically charged and tinged red. They are tiny in comparison to the enormous majesty of the elemental thunderbird. It doesn't need to flap its wings often, and they're glad it doesn't because one motion would buffet them like a storm and likely throw them off course. Blue flaps to keep up, and before long, they're directly under the Arcuila. It's a sight to behold.
"Whoa...." Astrid breathes, a smile pulling across her face. This is really cool! Red electricity arcs off the thunderbird's wings and leaps into the clouds. Flashing white and pink light ting the world around them. Astrid is totally absorbed by the scene. For a moment, they're not flying over Charon, they're flying in the shadow of a creature of majesty.
She wants to touch it.
Carefully, Astrid stands up on Blue's back, surfacing in the atmosphere, her hair standing on end. Blue pushes her up closer, and her fingers just brush the down feathers of the Arcuila. Avasha may not be alive, but this creature appearing in her image is. Things seem well again.
At least they do until a stray bolt arcs away from the bird's body and makes contact with Astrid and Blue Raspberry. Powerful, pure elemental energy courses through them both. If they weren't both well acquainted with the element, they'd likely perish. Instead, they get a taste of the true power of the elements. They taste metal on their tongues and feel a buzzing in their bones (or they would if they had those things in Blue Raspberry's case). For the brief second that the energy courses through them, they almost feel as if they are creatures of lightning and electricity. They're free of their bodies. They experience the elements as the world does. It's primal.
Noticing that it has uninvited guests, the Arcuila's massive head turns down to look at the big blue bird with the small girl on its back. It screeches at them, a deafening warning. Its voice could be the very thunder of Dragon's Cradle itself!
"We should go," Astrid says slowly, her voice feeling ethereal and disembodied. She takes a seat again, just letting the feeling of the thunderbird's lightning run its course through her.
The two of them drift back to land, returning to the edge of Sky Peak Village. Their hair stands on end. Astrid's been wide-eyed through the whole experience. With their feet on the ground, the lightning has a proper place to ground and exits their bodies.
"That was...." Astrid takes a breath and blinks away the adrenaline. Then she looks at Blue Raspberry. "That was awesome!" She throws her arms around the ooze's waist and hugs them. "A real thunderbird! Up close! It was incredible!! Great idea, Blue. Thanks!"
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Post by Blue Raspberry on Feb 11, 2023 18:55:01 GMT -5
As they were struck by lightning, Blue could feel the energy buzzing through them, every last drop of the ooze tingling all over as energy almost overwhelmed them. It was invigorating. They could feel the lightning in their core, clashing with their own electrical power for a moment. The two energies felt like they'd tear the ooze apart for a moment, but then it was like they suddenly intertwined, the two energies weaving together and encasing the little sphere at the center of the ooze, their very core. A latticework of lightning forming a basket to safely nestle the core inside.
They suddenly heard a tremendous screech, the loudest sound they'd ever heard, and their mind was brought back to reality. The Arculia didn't look happy to have them so close. Blue immediately veered away from it, not wanting to make enemies of the creature who merely touching seemed to have had some strange effect on them.
They landed on the ground and felt the excess electricity discharge into the ground. They shifted back into their humanoid form, their metal armor reemerging from them. They were a bit worried. The excess energy had gone, but they still felt that odd change in them, like the red lightning had been integrated into them, woven around their core. They looked at Astrid. What did they just do? Was she alright?
But Astrid suddenly hugged them, seeming happier than ever! Their fears lessened. She was fine! It didn't look like there was any harm done to her. They knelt down and hugged her back. They'd have been devastated if she'd been harmed by that. They hadn't thought it through at all, just wanting to cheer her up and thinking that was the best way to do it, but not thinking things through usually came back to bite them in the ooze. Thankfully, this time seemed to have ended alright.
"No problem... I'm just glad you feel better!" Blue said as they began to laugh.
A tiny bit of red lightning arced between the back edge of Blue's helmet and the edge of their cuirass.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 11, 2023 22:37:53 GMT -5
"Aye, I do feel better," she says, stepping back a bit sheepishly. "I didn't mean ta get all... I dunno... Sometimes people think of stuff that makes 'em feel kinda sad. That happens ta me sometimes. I don't mean ta make ya worry."
Astrid looks up at the clouds, watching the red glow of the Arcuila drift away into the distance. It seems so small from way down here. It's hard to imagine how large it is up close. Maybe she's projecting a bit, but it felt so familiar to her to her. Bits of red lightning linger around her fingers, and she clenches her hands to quench the electricity.
"I think that made this patrol a lot less borin' though," she says, smiling again. "We've only got a couple more hours ta keep walkin' around. When we get done, we can head home an' eat a big meal together! Make it a reward fer a day's worth of hard work! Come on!"
With that, Astrid starts along the path around Sky Peak Village again to continue her patrol with her electrified ooze knight. They've had a lot of cool experiences together, but that one takes the cake. She wonders what other weird stuff they'll see in the future.
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