Deceitful Creatures [Open][Plot]

Many fear the creatures that lurk in the darkness. Or perhaps it is simply a fear of the unknown. If you can't see it, how can your rational mind judge if it is dangerous or not? You are caught in a suspense. This, sometimes, can be even more dangerous that what your actually scared of, that you're worried it might be. The mind has a diabolic habit of imagining the worst case scenario.

The unknown can drive a man mad.

Strange things have been happening around Shveki. Strange things that are making people uneasy. But at the same time, they haven't. No one knows what is going on yet, but the fear is still there.

Fear of the unknown

Who knows what one might find, on an unsuspecting hunting trip....

(The following is a kickstarter for the sitewide plot, involving the dragons from Shveki, as it wouldn't make sense for a Shveki dragon to be on Layrian without a reason. This rp, however, will take place roughly two weeks to a month after the events of Black Snow. This is completely separate, though, and could be considered a separate part from Black Snow. Takes place around dusk.)

That afternoon had been quite productive, thought Azelf to himself. He strode around town happily, his head held high. He had managed to finish all of the paper work he had needed to get done, as well as all the personal work he had needed. Not to mention life for the Valeterrene had been pretty sweet, lately. Everything had been progressing nicely. Everyone was efficient, and everyone, for the most part, seemed happy. But no one was probably as happy and self absorbed as Azelf was, as he trotted towards the edge of the town.

But alas, no one could shake that feeling.

Nobody could explain it, but for some reason, things felt off. Azelf, of course, didn't much care for these things, as they only pulled down his attitude. His naturally optimistic personality prevented him from contemplating these thoughts for too long.

At the moment, Azelf was off to retrieve something from a friend of his, Nuatuk. The two had recently been meeting about a project Azelf was working on, and he was going to collect the newest piece from her. The only problem was she lived an awful distance from the main village. Claimed she enjoyed solitude.

Azelf didn't buy that for a second!

Besides, how could someone dislike being surrounded by other draconiforms, who compliment you and give you nice things? Oh, it was simply wonderful. Azelf would shake his tail back and forth in anticipation, as he wandered deeper into the jungle.

But Nuatuk didn't just live far away from the main village, she didn't live within the borders at all. While she was technically a Valeterrene, her house was outside of the Valeterrene borders, which made Azelf a bit nervous. But nonetheless, it was her decision, so why should he argue? He distantly wondered if he should bring a guard with him, but shrugged it off. It wasn't like Nuatuk was super far from the border, after all. Plus, he'd only be a few minutes.

Growing tired of his walk, Azelf would spread his wings, launching himself into the air, and soaring through the jungle, hardly a concern in his mind.

Ooo, what pretty clouds!

This was a thought that occurred to Mina as she stared up at the sky, her eyes wide. The breeze seemed to be carrying small, black snowflakes on it. The dragoness had only gone out for a quick walk, when she had stumbled onto the breeze. It smelled richly of soot and ash, of smoke and fire. It was an unusual encounter, to be certain. She hadn't been expecting the unusual sight. All she had done was got out of her cavern bed to go get something quick to eat.

But nonetheless, it was here. It wasn't, however, noticeable, despite the unusual appearance. It only seemed to really drift lightly across the shore, and then dissipated into the air. Mina, curious, decided to follow the trail of black droplets. She didn't exactly have anything better to do. After all, she wasn't really all that hungry.

She'd start to make her way over the rocky mountains, unknowingly heading towards the border of Valeterrene territory.

Iwaizumi had felt uneasiness stirring in him for the past few days, and today had decided to go out, to walk off his worries - what was there to worry about? yet he still hadn't been able to shake off the feeling that something was coming. His walk had turned into a journey to the borders of Valeterrene territory, something he rarely did, preferring to stay within range of civilisation, and not wander out into rogue lands, but here he was, edging across the end of the space his Tribe claimed as their own. Spreading his wings, he launched into flight, flying through jungles after jungles, trees whizzing by, and soon was soaring out into the sky as he grew bored of dodging trees, towards some mountains; he did not notice a fellow Valeterrene flying in the trees below him, only a black dot on the mountain. He slowly descended, noticing details emerging as he drew closer to the dragon, who turned out to be a wingless hydra. Landing several feet away from them, he bowed down politely. "Hello," he greeted in Universal.

Artemis hung by a fallen tree, unknowingly very close to the Valeterrene. She was here because she hoped that perhaps there would be a freshly killed animal this far away from her own Xoyan territory, but this far, she had found nothing.

She huffed and walked straight ahead, away from the tree and towards water in the distance. She had yet to notice any form of oddity, though she had been feeling... off... lately. She put it to hunger, which she was currently trying to solve. Perhaps the dragoness could catch some fish in the water, if she were quick enough. Even her satchel had nothing but objects and Artemis had been unable to find any nests, bird or dragon alike, to loot for eggs. It was getting far harder for her to find things to eat. Dragons weren't even leaving around corpses of deer or bones anymore. There wasn't a thing that even a vulture could touch.

Artemis reached the sand and let out a high-pitched rumble, her imitation of what other dragons call "purring". It was warm here. She stopped dead, suddenly seeing a milky-white, three-headed thing near her.

((OOC: Azelf Agorani 72 hour warning. Failure to post will have you skipped.)

The valeterrene would continue his trek, traveling through the forest, humming to himself an old lullaby his mother had taught him many years ago. His mind was calm, not at all tense. Why should he be? There was no reason for worry. He knew this land like the back of his paw. He had been venturing around it for nearly 190 years. Give or take, dragons tended to lose count after around 100. The drake had grown accustomed to the way the land moved through his business as a royal adviser, as well. Nothing to fear!

But still. The usually confident drake couldn't help but feel an uneasy unrest stirring in his stomach. Perhaps it was merely the fact he hadn't been to this part of the forest in nearly 12 years. He never usually had to. The friend he happened to be visiting usually came to him, or they met somewhere in the middle.

It was unusual for her not to contact him....

Azelf shook his head. Ah, perhaps it was just the roguelands! Ah, yes, such things always made the valeterrene uneasy. But once he got back on a familiar pathway he'd be home free once again!

Or maybe... not yet. As Azelf marched towards Nuatuk's home, he would hear the flapping of wings, lifting his head up to see a dragon he vaguely recognized. Another valeterrene? He watched as the dragon would begin to fly down to land near another dragon.... a hydra? Azelf didn't take two steps into rogueland and he was already encountering dragons he didn't know. What luck!

"Ho there, strangers!" Azelf would bark over, striding to meet them. His charismatic smile betrayed any doubts he may have harbored previously, hidden behind a cocky facade.

Mina would joyfully continue her trek, climbing over rocks, and maneuvering past trees. She was rather happy to just wander about, climbing over rocks, and be allowed to herself to think. Mina had never been one to keep track of tribe affairs, probably one of the reasons she never considered joining a tribe herself, and thus wasn't very familiar with tribe borders. In fact, Mina had seen so few tribal dragons lately that the idea of a border she needed to avoid hardly came to her.

She began to hear the steady beat of wings, looking up to see a dragon flying towards her. She smiled cheerfully, pausing in her walk to gaze up at the other one. The first thing that Mina noticed was that the dragon had a weird smell to him. But she quickly dismissed this and took a few steps towards them. Judging by how they spoke to her, showed no signs of aggression, and spoke universal, Mina quickly determined that they were friend, not foe.

"Hello!" she said gleefully in response. She also noticed another dragon, a wingless drake, approach the two, and offered the same greeting to him when he arrived.

((You have 42 hours to post until you will be skipped, @Iwaizumi))

I completely forgot about this rp lmao, sorry. --

There were a total of three dragons he spotted, one that resembled a small crocodile which was standing near the three-headed hydra, whose details were now quite clear since they were standing very close to each other. Horns spiraled out of white heads that had green lining their tops. And another was a Valeterrene, someone he knew by name: Azelf Agorani. He'd never met the Tulyath before, though had heard of his charisma. He folded his slightly-spread wings, and smiled politely. "Hello," he said again. "My name is Iwaizumi. It's nice to meet you.

(Due to a message from Artemis, her turn shall be skipped.)

“Pleasure’s all mine, Iwaizumi. The name’s Azelf. Azelf Agorani,” the earth drake would introduce himself in universal, hoping the others would understand, puffing out his chest with pride. As a Tulyath, most dragons were almost expected to pay your respect. After all, you were the one who helped the Rissa with all her important paperwork and decision making. Heck, even being as close to the Rissa as the Tulyath was was victory enough. And no one held more respect for Prasi herself than Azelf, and thus was the cause for him holding himself so highly.

It was interesting, he had to admit, to see the three strangers. Iwaizumi, no doubt, was a Valeterrene, just by the smell. The small lindwurm, on the other hand, was no doubt a Xoyan. Azelf could smell that military tribe a mile away. They had such a distinct smell at this point, considering how old they were. Even though the Valeterrene and Xoya were suppose to be sort of allies, or at least on the friendly side, supposedly, Azelf couldn’t help but get a bit nervous. What was she doing here, he wondered? Simply wandering, like no doubt the others were? Who knew.

“I will admit, it is intriguing to see you all so far out by the border. I myself was just venturing this way to see a friend. You?” he questioned, gesturing towards the group as a whole. He wasn’t one to intrude on others’ business, but wasn’t it normal to question strangers what they were doing out in the middle of nowhere? You can never be  too safe!

Mina's eyes seemed to brighten up as she spoke to the strangers. She seemed quite happy, for a rogue surrounded by tribe dragons. Perhaps it was her blissful ignorance. Maybe she didn't even consider the possibility she could get in trouble for getting so close to tribal lands. Her smile only seemed to get bigger, in fact, when the dragons started introducing themselves.

"My name's Mina!" She said gleefully in universal, swishing her tail back and forth, staring over at the three with all three of her heads.

((Reminder for @Iwaizumi to post.))

Azelf Agorani. The Tulyath was known among the Valeterrene as a charismatic figure who worked closely alongside the Rissa; very little of Iwaizumi's Tribe did not know of him. He lowered his head slightly to Azelf, as if needing to acknowledge the other dragon's rank, and answered, "It's an honour to meet you. I've only heard of your name from other Valeterrene, but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you face-to-face." Then, turning his attention to the lindwurm, he wondered which Tribe they were from, and what they were doing so far out here, but Azelf beat him to the question.

"I felt restless," came his honest response, and he explained further, "Uneasy, actually. Mostly because of the sudden change in weather. Am I the only one who feels this way?" Finally, he got that doubt off his chest. He'd been wondering if it was just a product of his imagination, the off feeling he'd been getting recently. His attention flicked to the sky, and noticed that it was dusk, the sun slowly sliding down behind the tall peaks of black mountains, staining the sky various hues of red and orange, the occasional purple or blue interrupting the mixture of colours.