But it's always possible to have too much of a good thing.
If there was anything that did not match the lithe green dragon to the whimsical god it was their personalities. Windsinger joked and laughed. Saba demanded and snarled. Windsinger sang and wrote. Saba barked commands and avoided responsibility. Windsinger loved to explore, learning new ideas. Saba was perfectly content at home doing her own thing.
This did not stop the Spiral from proclaiming herself "true" descendent of the winding green Deity; where all Spirals like herself and those posturing peacocks called Skydancers were modeled in His image and all blessed by His element were considered His children, she had everything He had. And that made her His successor one day.
And He did not like that.
It did not seem by chance that an errant gust sent her tumbling into the large, orange arms of the Guardian who had taken her as his Charge. The garishly bright dragon with the appalingly dull wings by the name of Rabi who followed her every move, making sure she was safe.
She was Windsinger's essence incarnate, she needed no Guardian to protect her!
And yet, here they were; him holding her close as their eyes inadvertantly met. It was with fear and disgust that Saba squirmed free of his grasp upon realising he was trying to embrace her. It was no secret that he was entirely smitten with his Spiral Charge, and it was for this reason Saba did her utmost to avoid him. Yet something, or someone, was toying with her today as another strong eddie thrust her straight back into the firey-hided dragons arms once more.
"I think Windsinger approves of our relationship." Rabi crooned at her, running a rough tongue over her smooth hide lovingly. Pulling with all her might the Spiral resisted his grip, eventually pulling free once more but daren't hover too much father away in case it happened again.
"I think Windsinger is trying to annoy me." Was her sharp reply, undulating as she was in the air ahead of the Guardian. It was so comical, their size difference. How Guardians and even larger breeds managed to procreate with other dragon species was nigh incomprehensible. And disturbing, Saba noted as she shook her wedge-shaped head hard and fast to rid herself of any unwanted images.
"Then why would He push us together so?" Her large eyes rolled in their sockets as Rabi once again attempted an advance. The action made her flinch away once more only, as expected, for yet another breeze only just strong enough to send her wheeling back into the stocky Guardian's embrace.
Shooting out of the way of the male's arms before he even had the chance to close them the Spiral glared at the cloudless skies overhead, raising her voice to its maximum and shouting, "What's the big deal?!"
Nothing happened at first, leaving the Spiral simmering in frustration where she hung. With the lack of noticeable response Saba threw up her thin yet well-muscled arms and turned with intent to leave.
Only to freeze as a soft wind carried the sound of audible laughter past both their ears.
"See? We're meant to be!" Rabi bounce up to her side, staring at her pleadingly. Why was he so intent on this? On insisting they were a pair?
Parting her jaws to retort Saba's voice was ripped from her throat as the winds grew stronger around them. Literally around them; circling them, guided, intended. A faint outline of what initially appeared to be a giant Spiral wrapped loosely around the pair, almost nose to tail, enveloped in the zephyrs. "I must say, I do agree." An ethereal voice quipped in amusement as the gales continued to whip about. "A story waiting to be written. The plot is set, the characters in place. The first lines need only be scrawled."
Neither Guardian nor Spiral moved an inch as the Windsinger Himself wound around and around, laughing all the while. "I've been watching you, little pretender." He said in a singsong way, His voice a chiming melody. "And truthfully, I do not care for your claims." There was no malice, only humour as the whispy figure launched itself to twist and turn and twirl above their heads, revealing himself in full. "I must agree with your large friend: the two of you make the finest couple."
"As if!" Saba spat out of sheer disbelief for what was happening to her, forgetting momentarily who she was arguing with.
"Tsk tsk." Windsinger tutted, waggling a long finger at the impersonator. "And here I was going to such lengths to bring you two closer." He shrugged, let loose another gaffaw as He once again wound His sinuous body around the bewildered dragons, resting his head in His hands as he rested His front half on the ground alongside them, back half still weaving and waving. "Little Saba," the Spiral all but fell to the ground at being directly addressed by her Deity, narrowly avoiding being supported by Rabi, "you have done me both a great service and a great disservice at once. You train and build your strength to fight within the ranks of my army. And yet you meander about my lands, the lands I gave to you, claiming to be my own flesh and blood.
"I do not care for this."
All humour vanished from those words along with His smile, the winds roaring into unrelenting gales that would sweep away the largest Imperial should they stand in the way. It was only the safe eye the Windsinger had created in the centre of the maelstrom that prevented Saba and Rabi from doing the same, though they were still buffeted greatly by the force.
"Saba." Windsinger's words suddenly sported a hint of amusement again, his eyes narrowing and brow raising as if planning some prank or game. "I wish to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" The Spiral repeated, far more scared than she had ever felt in all her years battling against monsters and beastclans and encroaching wilderness, shaken by the gusting cage she had been trapped in with the absolute last dragon she'd want to be there. "What... what do you mean?"
The great Deity relaxed, allowing His long body to flow serenely once more, though the whirling walls remained as violent. With a smile cracking his lips He replied, "I wish for you and Rabi to start a family together."
"WHAT?!"
"You do?!" The orange-scaled Guardian chimed in, his joy matching his Charge's horror.
"I do." Windsinger replied with a nod, a mischievous glint in her eye. "However, there is something I want you to do for me."
Saba swallowed hard. "Anything o Windsinger." With all her antics she had not intended anything like this to happen and was intent on getting back into her Deity's good graces. Although... I should not have said that. She thought sullenly as she remembered the first part of the agreement.
"Really now? So you agree?" She did not like the way He said that, the way He was looking at them. Before the Spiral could amend her statement Windsinger continued, "Oh joyous day! Then you will be willing to send all of the children from your clutch to aid my armies?"
All their children. All of them. He was pushing them together, forcing them to start a family just so He could take it away again?"
"Of course I should leave you with one in order to continue your lineage." Windsinger mused thoughtfully, as if the idea only then crossed His mind. "In which case, I ask the same of them. Start a family, send the offspring save one to join the cause, repeat until I am satisfied."
It took some time for this to sink in, Saba finding herself exchanging a glance with an uncomfortably happy Rabi. "And if I refuse...?"
His gaze darkened once again and a sudden gust sent the Spiral to the floor. "THen I shall reclaim my essence from you and exile you from the Plateau."
Start a family with someone she disliked and giving up most of her progeny or lose her magic and be cast out from her homeland. A shudder ran down the length of Saba's snakelike body, not keen on either choice.
"Please Saba, let us do this." Rabi's face filled her vision as he stood protectively over where she had fallen. "Let us appease Him together. You do not deserve to be stripped of your powers." Then he bowed his head solemnly. "But let it be known that if you choose the latter after all I will still follow and protect you until my dying breath."
"Aww, how thoughtful and curtious!" Windsinger beamed, clutching his spindly hands together and gazing down at them like young hatchlings.
Either way she was stuck with him. Great. Taking in a long, deep breath to steady herself and think clearly Saba weighed her options. At least if she had to nest with the big lug she would still be aiding the Windsinger by giving up her children to fight for Him, she supposed.
"I do not like either choice," the Spiral started, picking herself up and pushing away from Rabi, "but I agree to your terms, o Windsinger. My descendents-" the Guardian snorted behind her. "Our descendents," she corrected dourly, "will be your soldiers."
No more words were spoken. Windsinger let out an exuberant bout of laughter, lifting Himself into the sky and spiralling up and up and up until He could no longer be seen, taking with Him the swirling barricade.
"I guess this is my life now." Saba lamented even as Rabi took her into his arms once more.
WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF
Seriously I have enough projects going here, there and everywhere and yet as soon as I see something interesting I have to try it for myself *Flops in a corner.*
So yes, I "misclicked" while browsing the auction house earlier on and I guess I have a challenge pair now. No, I do not know where the above RP came from. Do not expect much, if any, more in future updates unless my mind is inspired as heavily as it was tonight. All that creative energy is reserved for my Pinkerlockes!
"But what is a legacy of war challenge?" you might be asking. Well, first and foremost this is by no means my own idea. It is inspired by Sabariel's Legacy of War challenge which in turn is a variation of the original Legacy challenge. The original challenge sees players breed several pairs of dragons, one side of which being the offspring of the previous pair, for 10 generations with the aim to go from an ungened starter to an attractive triple-gened dragon.
A Legacy of War challenge sees the offspring of a pair fight to the death in the coliseum to determine the "heir" of the challenge, as opposed to the Legacy challenge's rule of the Firstborn automatically taking that role. The siblings fight until they are KO'd - the last one to be KO'd being the heir. No breaks, no healing, no giving them stat points. This gives more variety in what kind of heir you get while also potentially making some money from the levelled siblings that don't make the cut. The goal is the same - go from an ungened starter to an attractive triple-gened dragon.
I shall be using Sabariel's modified rules for this to make it longer and more (hopefully) interesting.
I realise it's a fair bit to take in, but it'll make more sense as I make progress. Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully. I have no idea. On to my founders! Rabi the Guardian, my triple-basic plentiful G1 and Saba the extremely reluctant Spiral, who only cost 7k.Sabariel wrote: These rules have been pulled from Dreamnorn's old thread.Basic Rules wrote:1. Begin with your founder -- a triple-Basic dragon with a plentiful breed (Fae, Guardian, Mirror, or Tundra). The other challenges recommend buying or hatching a G1, but you could be lazy like me and buy the cheapest triple-basic plentiful dragon on the Auction House.
2. Buy the founder a mate. The only rules here is that they must be breedable with the founder and cost 10kt (or its equivalent in gems) or less!
3. When they're both RTB, breed them. Only their first nest for any given breeding counts for this challenge, but don't worry if you get one-egged. In a way, you're considered lucky for that....
4. If you had a one-egg nest, then congratulations! That hatchling is your heir by default, and there will be no bloodshed in this generation. However, if you had two to five eggs, go to the heir selection quote box below this one. Follow the instructions there.
5. Once your heir has been selected (or defaulted to), buy them a mate. This mate must be worth 10kt times the current generation number or less off the Auction House. So for Gen 2 your price ceiling will be 20kt, for Gen 3 it will be 30kt, and so on.
6. Continue until the tenth generation's nest has hatched. The final survivor will be the winning dragon! I will be utilizing one of the Optional Rules (specifically All From Nothing) stated in the last quote box with my goal.Heir Selection (For Nests with 2+ Eggs) wrote: Wait for these dragons to grow up because they need to be adults in order to compete in the Coliseum. Do not sell or exalt any of them in the meantime. Once they are adults, they will be forced to battle in order to determine who carries on the legacy -- and yes, this includes the dragons that made no genetic progress!
Some general rules for these scenarios are as follows:
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1. You must keep a battle streak going, even if your dragons level up between fights. This is to prevent you from inputting points into areas that would allow one contender to be more likely to succeed over another.
2. You cannot use any sort of potion or spell on your contenders to heal them or boost their stats temporarily.
3. You cannot alter the contenders' starting battle stones.
4. When a contender faints, they are considered defeated or dead, and thus disqualified from being your heir.
5. For most of these scenarios, a third level-one dragon may join in at least one battle streak. This will be called a "coach," and if they faint, it has no effect on what happens. You may also alter their battle stones beforehand, if you so wish. This is optional, as you can go into a battle with less than three dragons, but recommended to extend the drama.
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Now, depending on how many hatchlings your nest had, here is how the battles will occur...
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1. Send both of the contenders (and the coach, if using one) to the Training Fields. Begin your battle streak. If you use a coach and they faint first, keep going; they have no effect on the final outcome.
2 Eggs
2. Keep going until one of the contenders faints! The survivor will carry on the legacy.
3 Eggs
1. Send all three of the contenders into the Training Fields. Begin your battle streak.
2. When one of the contenders faints, keep going. They may look alive, but they have been officially disqualified.
3. When another contender faints, you may stop! The survivor will carry on the legacy.
4 Eggs
1. Send the first two contenders by birth order (hatchlings 1 and 2) into the Training Fields (with a coach, if using). Begin your battle streak. If you use a coach and they faint first, keep going; they have no effect on the final outcome.
2. Keep going until one of them faints. Set aside the survivor for now.
3. Repeat step one, but with the final two contenders by birth order (hatchlings 3 and 4). If you used a coach for the first round, you may either re-use the same one or pick a new one.
4. Keep going until one of them faints. Set aside the survivor for now.
5. Take the victors of the first two battle streaks into a new streak (with whichever coach you prefer or a fresh one, if desired). You can only give a coach stat points before this final round!
6. Commence the final battle streak with the winners from the first two and keep going until one of them faints. The survivor will carry on the legacy.
5 Eggs
1. Flip a coin. If it lands on heads, then the middle hatchling (3) will be in a trio with the first two hatchlings (1 and 2). If it lands on tails, then the middle hatchling will be in a trio with the last two hatchlings (4 and 5).
2. Whether the trio goes first or the duo and the coach go first depends on which group the middle hatchling ended up in. If the coin landed on heads, then the trio goes first; if it landed on tails, then the duo goes first. Either way, the group with the first two hatchlings in it goes first.
3. Perform the battles in each group as follows:
4. Once the two survivors in each trial have been selected, bring them (and the coach from the duo group, if applicable) to the Training Fields once more. Begin your final battle streak and keep going until one of the contenders faints. The other one is the sole survivor and will carry on the legacy.
- For the trio group, take the three contenders to the Training Fields and begin a battle streak. Like with the 3-egg nest, the first fainter isn't ushered out between streaks; though they will appear alive, they are disqualified upon fainting. Keep going until a second dragon faints. Set aside the survivor for now.
- For the duo group, take the two contenders (and a coach, optionally) to the Training Fields and begin a battle streak. Like with all battles that may have a coach, whether they faint or not doesn't matter. Keep going until one of the contenders faints. Set aside the survivor for now.
Optional Rules wrote: All from Nothing: Instead of having a ten-generation limit, your Legacy of War lives on until you have bred a dragon with a rare breed (Coatl or Wildclaw) and triple gem genes who can trace their lineage back to your triple-Basic and plentiful founder. If you use this optional rule, I suggest also using The Chosen One optional rule.
The Chosen One: If you bought a mate that has a rare breed (Coatl or Wildclaw) and/or any number of gem genes, it's unlikely that those traits will pass down even if your current heir has a limited breed or gene in their corresponding slots. If such a dragon is born against all odds, they are declared "the chosen one" for that generation and are automatically made heir, regardless of whether or not you prefer their siblings (for any reason) over them.
- If, through a miracle of the RNG, you end up with multiple dragons in a generation that could be qualified as chosen ones, then the one with more upgrades of this kind will win automatically. If they have the same number of upgrades of this kind, then they must fight it out the way traditional heirs would, but only between other chosen ones. Dragons that aren't chosen ones are still disqualified from being heir for that generation.
Saba is 2 days off being RTB so the first update will be very soon as we see how many eggs they have! I don't know yet what my final goal will be; Sab's is a Primal rare dragon with gem genes and Stormcatcher's official colours. I considered the same except with Windsinger but while I'd like this to last I also want reasonable expectations