An Ill Wind Blows (Side Pinkerlocke) - COMPLETE

[Varethyn]

Aaaaa I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! I was really worried it wouldn't be the climactic event you were all looking forward to. It was originally going to be a massive fight until I remembered oh yeah I can't do fight scenes :'D One thing's for sure: Amaranth being put to rest by way of Lupin's magic was set from the start. The rose was also an afterthought until my own heart burst from the idea because oh yeah rose apparel and so of course I then had to give Aster a blushing pink rose to carry with him

[Lupis]

I forgot to mention this earlier because I was distracted by being in emotional pain, but I really loved Zinnia's talk about purpose! It made me hurt for her, because she has such a crippling problem with self loathing and hearing her admit it was hard, but the idea that purpose can come from just trying to help anyway and always trying to make the world a little better for the next person is wonderful.

Also- frankly, I'm glad it wasn't a fight! I think the way it ended up was even more impactful. It really hurt to see poor Amaranth showing legitimate love and grief.

[Varethyn]

Day 49

One more for the stockpile!

Flipped Heads for the coliseum for 40-50 rounds and rolled Ilmatar, Venillia and Meifeng.

Now, the rules for WoC haven't been updated yet cos I'm lazy with that sort of thing but it works off those from IWB with the exception that WoC is testing the 3 Strikes safety net over IWB's Badly Injured one. When both stories eventually merge I'm going to do a (hopefully final) rule set overhaul to incorporate the ones that worked best. The merge won't be for some time as there's still a month or so between them with too many events in between to warrant a massive timeskip, so please hold off on tossing rotten food items at me for it until then xP

Seriously. If you guys ever do your own Nuz/Pinkerlockes do some testing with low level dragons of your own to see what rules (if you even want them) to put in place. It might be cheating slightly but it would avoid the same clusterfuckery I've gone through. But then I'm extremely paranoid and indecisive

Anyway. Dumped the team in Sandswept Delta to get the feel of things as there was a 7 level gap between Vennie and Matar. Ended up staying there for all 50 rounds. Meifeng was downed once by crits and Venilia twice by errant bright bolts when Ilmatar's Guard failed to activate. Still, they managed it. Just.

Ilmatar is lv13
Venilia is lv7
Meifeng is lv9

Coliseum loot:

- rolled 2 so didn't keep
Beltane Chest

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x3

[Varethyn]

Day 50

Fight time! Again!

Rolled Zinnia, Acacia and Hyacinth.

I need to explain something real quick. Previously, during the reader event to offer up a dragon to join my 'locke, I had chosen Krysteena's Guardian, Adarga. However, all of us failed to notice that she is lv10 and thus not allowed to join in. While I considered placing a restriction on her to finagle her in fairly we both decided instead to replace Adarga with her younger sister Acacia:



Back to the future fight. I decided to keep this team as there was no one suitable to pair Acacia with at the time and that I could take full advantage of her being immune to death/injury until lv3. Went to test a couple rounds in Scorched Forest for some good exp before going back to the safety of Woodland Path.

CRIT CRIT CRIT CRIT CRIT



Seems the centaur are getting in the action now. *Sigh*

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x3, Hyacinth Badly Injured for 7 days

[Krysteena]

Again, Hyacinth? The coli sees cruel irony in one of the medics being the one to get beaten down most often, apparently, poor boy D: Hopefully all will be okay, though! Good to see the WoC crew getting some levelling in, too, the three strike systems over there is working well

Also, completely aside from the coli stuff, love the new layouts you're using for the bios, too!

[Varethyn]

I mean, hasn't the tactic always been to kill the caster/healer first? ;D Seriously though, poor boy's wing has only just healed story-wise and now he's suffering something else! At least he'll get to spend more time with Iris since she's finally been afflicted with the injury she got earlier Indeed! It's going to be hard to decide which system to bring over in the merge. 3 Strikes allows me to keep going in the coli longer but has a bigger chance of someone outright dying, while Badly Injured helps with the story, as I tend to neglect wounds and illnesses otherwise, but cuts me off from much needed exp.

Thank you! I loved how beautiful the previous ones I was using were but they seemed too cluttered by graphics. This new set, which I'll link to later as FR is down right now, is a lot more simplistic while allowing for more information at the same time. They're all still very much WiP; I mostly got it to keep track of who was given familiars by Pink/the coliseum and those whose familiars are only there for bonding with. Acacia is the exception since she had a bio coming in

[Krysteena]

That's true, the coli enemies are apparently using tactics now He's just not having a good time, but at least him and Iris could have some good ol' bonding time, like you said~ I think both systems work well depending on what you're going for, but I do really like the badly injured one for the sake of more story-telling and dragons that feel like they really can be hurt by their environment :> the lack of exp is a bummer for that approach, though. An idea for balancing the two could be to have each strike match to a severity of injury - unless you're already on that and I've missed it somewhere, my memory can be atrocious :') might be a bit awkward to balance though so idk, you do what you gotta do!

I do like the 'more info but less clutter' look the new bios have got - lots of little fun tidbits to read once you get around to it You're more than welcome to have a tinker about with Acacia's bio tbh, if you ever do want her to match the other guys, but I do appreciate the sentiment of keeping what she's got now

[Kirrandria]

Oh no, Hyacinth! D: Poor guy.

Acacia is a really pretty dragon, holy moly!

[Varethyn]

Day 51


< Inspiration, eh? Do some more!

Chapter 17

The following days were a mixture of mourning, celebration and general busy work. Aster, understandably, wanted to spend time alone to grieve the final loss of his mate and Charge. His sadness, however, was a more contented one. Not a sadness of loss and sorrow, but of acceptance and finality. Free from guilt, of a desire to leave the mortal plane while still feeling bound to it. Aside from Gardenia, who had been allowed to stay with him, the others had left him be as he lay around the living grave of twisted vines and wild flowers Lupin had so graciously bloomed with help of his dryad familiar.

One of them, however, was not as considerate as the rest. Alstroemeria, the olive-furred dragon not unlike Lupin who turned up out of nowhere to hold back Amaranth. The one who kept calling them weird nicknames. She'd gotten so far as to tell them her name and that she had sensed “the Darkness”, of which she was tasked to rid the world. Beyond that the green dragon had not explained, preferring that all be present to hear what she had to say. Something, she had stated, was not fair when one was in mourning.

Something everyone hoped she'd spill as she sat at the most minimally respectable distance away from the Guardian and the grave. Watching them.

Besides being borderline inconsiderate in her placement of choice Alstroemeria, or Merry as the others had taken to calling her – both being easier than her full name and for her overly positive outlook, the new Gaoler was actually really friendly and upbeat. Not obnoxiously so, simply finding the brighter side of things. When not hovering a short ways from Aster she would attempt to hang out with Lupin and Willow. Likely due to being the same species. At least, that was the assumption. Lupin had only been titled such out of lack of better understanding after all. 'Attempt' being the operative word as he seemed disinterested in spending time with her.

Beyond that all was as normal. Almost. Iris' right arm had to be supported in a rudimentary sling, tightly bound in linen having landed on it awkwardly after being swatted away by the zombie, as she lay over a large rock to prevent putting pressure on it. Her cart had sustained some damage as well; one wheel snapped in half in the fall. Unfortunately for Zinnia it was the one that didn't squeak. In the meantime as the Mirror rested sulkily the wooden transport had been handed to Magnolia to tinker with.

“How is it feeling?” She barely looked up as the Skydancer came over with freshly cleaned bandages, fussing with the rough linens he'd had to make do with at first. “I don't believe anything is broken from what I felt but I still firmly believe you should rest it off before we set out next.” Without complaint or resistance Iris allowed Hyacinth to work on her forearm, though she turned her head away from him, crests closed, pressed against the sides of her bony head. It wasn't openly stated but it was clear he was avoiding the obvious question. She braced herself for it each day he visited her.

“Hurts.” Was her simple response as she rested her head on her good arm. “Better,” she amended quickly, “but still hurts.” Hyacinth bobbed his head and hummed in acknowledgement as he applied the fresh cloth wraps. An awkward silence hung between the pair as Hyacinth wrapped and rewrapped the bindings, seemingly unsatisfied with his work as he fumbled. “Cin,” Iris let out a small sigh, titling her head only enough to regard the Skydancer from the corner of her eyes, “Just... I know you want to ask. Just say it.”

Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply through his nostrils Hyacinth gripped the ends of the bandages a moment before properly securing it, replacing the sling and helping her lay her arm comfortably in it. “Why did you continue to fight against Amaranth?” The question was quiet, like he didn't want to ask but knew he had to. She knew it had to be. After all, she was the only one not to agree with Lupin. “This wouldn't have happened if-”

“I know.” Iris cut in, sharper than intended and making her friend flinch. Returning her head to her good arm the Mirror sighed again, shuffling her wings more as a distraction than a means of comfort. “I know.” She repeated, softer this time. “It's... I...” Words refused to assemble themselves into a meaningful sentence and she shook her head, unsure how to continue.

Pursing his lips Hyacinth offered, “Survival instincts? From your Plague heritage? Wanting to protect the children?” Even though, at this point, they were all barely children any more they all stumbled to find the right way to address the younger members. Especially Lupin who seemed wiser beyond his few years.

Again Iris sadly shook her head. Memories danced behind all four of her eyes of the rival Mirror pack that had attacked hers. The time she got wounded, fell into the ocean and swept away. Passing it off as being outcast from the severe injury. A shudder ran down the top half of her body as she recalled the overly savage nature of the opposing dragons. Savage even by her kind's reputation and why she tried not to be. “I'm sorry. Not now. I... I just can't right now.”

And that was that. Hanging back only to rub the bridge of his snout thoughtfully Hyacinth turned to walk out of the cave. “We're here to listen when you're ready.” he said softly over his shoulder, pausing in the opening. “Just as we did with Aster.” Then he was gone, joining the others outside.

Heaving a deep breath Iris lay still in attempt to sleep. It was difficult. Her arm hurt, she felt bad for not saying anything. And every time she closer her eyes she saw them again. The crazed howls, the bloodlust, the fight. A tear rolled down her cheek.



As the end of the week rolled around the topic was not revisited. Iris had both been glad for and resented it as the guilt began to build in her chest. A desire to explain, yet not feeling ready to share. Was this how Aster felt when he struggled to tell them about Amaranth? Having to carry so much weight within oneself even with so much support and love around them. The Guardian had bared his heart to her friends and they'd just met him. So why couldn't she?

If everyone else knew her pain they did not ask about it. Once her arm had healed sufficiently to bare weight again Hyacinth had allowed her back outside, riding on the backs of others if not laying in the grass nearby. It was revealed later that her wagon had long been since fixed, denied her by Zinnia as the squeaky wheel had not been replaced. Needless to say, when the cart was reintroduced, the black Bogsneak had found something of particular interest some distance away from them as the Mirror reacquainted herself with it.

Zinnia's complaint hadn't gone completely unnoticed however as Maggie, alongside Gardenia when Aster requested time to himself, presented a somewhat crude bow and bundle of rough arrows atop blue-coloured clothes. “She, ah, says hunting has been harder with, um, the wheel.” The Ridgeback admitted, rubbing the back of her long neck as a sheepish look crossed her pointed face, like she wasn't supposed to have said that. “But I know you like hunting. So I wanted to try something different!” Hunching over to better reach the giant white dragon nudged the wooden weapon closer to Iris.

“What...?” Taking the crude bow in her good hand the Mirror examined the weapon with disheartened curiosity. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You shoot things from it!” Maggie responded at first gleefully, large chest puffing with pride at her first try at making something like that. Only to sink back into sheepishness as Iris stared at it in puzzlement. “Um. Gardie? Could you...?”

Nodding eagerly the pale blue Tundra held her fluffy hands out to take the bow from Iris, picking up an arrow and knocking it into place in demonstration. “It's a little tricky,” she admitted, pulling the feathered shaft back against a slightly frayed string, “cos it's not made the best. At least, that's what Maggie says.”

“Also... um... size.” An awkward grin graced the Iceborne's features as her hand, fully healed, continued to rub a spot between spines on her neck.

“Y-yeah. You might find it better than both of us!” Gardenia chirped, sitting back on her haunches and repositioning her grip on the bow that was, now that it had been mentioned, too long and unwieldy for the smaller dragon. “But see, you're supposed to hold it kinda like this, pull the arrow against the string so it's niiiiice and tight and...” She let go of the arrow, which sprung in a wobbly line to land on its side about a foot away. All three of the girls stared at the pathetic shot a moment before bursting into laughter.

“You're... you're supposed to...” Snorting into her hands as she fought to hold the giggling back long enough to speak Magnolia tried again, “You shoot the arrow -snerk!- at the prey, so you don't need to -pfft!- move around so much!” Her arms wrapped around her chest as she doubled over. “I'll... I'll make a... better one later.”

Gently placing the warped, bent bow back on the clothes pile as if it were suddenly made of glass, then retracting her arms quickly as if it would leap up and bite her Gardenia sniggered a little longer before adding, “The clothes are better made, promise!”

“I believe you.” Iris replied, wiping a tear of laughter from her eyes. “I... I needed that.”

Magnolia and Gardenia exchanged grins. “Mission accomplished!”



After spending the rest of the day scavenging better quality materials to put towards the new bow, and to eventually upgrade the wagon, the following night was spent peacefully. Aster had started joining them inside the cave more often over the passing days and now slumbered contentedly alongside his new friends. He'd even stirred and risen early feeling refreshed, a new dragon.

Yawning widely it wasn't until he reopened his eyes to wander outside that it occurred to him that it was very early indeed, the blue sky still streaked with the purples and navies of night. With this revelation it became apparent that his companions were still snoozing around the cave in their various positions.

A peculiar, sweet scent wafted around him as he turned to sweep his gaze over them all, lifting his head to see a sticky, orange wad of stuff near the roof. Rivulets of sweet-smelling ooze dribbled lazily down the rock. Below it, with hands also covered in the substance, Allium drowsed atop Lupin, matting locks of his fur, muttering something to herself in her sleep. Had she been building that while he hadn't been looking? A small smile crept across his features. Of course, Fae lived in sap colonies, right? It made sense that, at her age, she'd start experimenting with her own.

Not daring to let the sweet scent send him back to sleep just yet Aster decided to make the most of being awake to take a much needed stroll around the area. For all the time he'd spent here wallowing in misery he'd not really acquainted himself with the scenery. Perhaps now, while the sky was painted in this mix of night and day, it would prove most beautiful. However as he left the confines of his stony abode to turn around the left side his vision was obscured by a wall of silvery blue.

A living wall of silvery blue.

Backing up to get a better view of his obstruction Aster recoiled upon realising it was a greattusk, an elephantine creature usually native to the prairies where Wind and Fire connected. They were nowhere near the Firelands. Why was this pachyderm here now?

Creeping around the heaving sides of the massive beast, taking care not to catch himself on the ivory protrusions that gave the creature its name, Aster was relieved to see it was as asleep as his friends were. Or so he thought. Something something large animals not being able to lay down for long? This one was clearly laying on its side. Had... had it not been there long then?

His head snapped up, fins flaring as he caught the sound of objects being moved. Lowering his entire body to the ground the great Guardian stalked his way around to the dip in the hill his cave was carved into where they'd been temporarily storing supplies. Before he'd fully rounded the curve a small, dark shape flitted away further around. He charged after it, but it was already gone.

Greatly concerned Aster returned to the stockpile to check their collection. A lot of it had been junk, stuff held onto “just in case”, with very little of worth and the food kept inside once the cave had been expanded enough to do so. The most valuable possessions had been kept on the dragons' persons. Nosing about their sparse belongings Aster was fairly confident nothing had been taken, but everything had been scattered with intent.

Someone had been searching for something.

Next Chapter

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x2 OR Gen 1 Purchase x1, Hyacinth Badly Injured for 2 days.

[Krysteena]

Ooh, lovely new chapter! My heart goes out to poor Iris, but it's really neat to see how she gets her apparel Also, consider me v curious as to who the dark shape is flitting about to look through their stuff. I'm gonna place bets on it Orchid, maybe? Lil sneaky nocturne :>

[Varethyn]

Hm... coooouuuld be. After all, the pale greattusk is her familiar! and I'm totally not dressing her up as a sneaky ninja

Also I am a derp! I said I'd link the bio templates I'm currently using! They are the venue themed ones over at Xem's Templates. They've done a fair few simplistic designs worth peeking at but I personally like the theme the template with the dragon's element if possible :3

Speaking of, I'm trying to modify them a little after seeing the player whose Pinkerlocke I'm following used a different template modified to add in familiar information. Anvindr has the non-modified Waterway template while Zelda is acting as host for my currently WiP changes (I want to add an info blurb about Nathrach but adding text breaks the layout for some reason cos I'm a noob when it comes to BBCode). I'll be playing around with it and possibly other templates/layouts, but let me know what you think!

Also also that feeling when you see people doing the Legacy challenge and decide you wanna try it too but have no lair space and a ton of other active projects ;_;

[Krysteena]

A sneaky ninja nocturne is brilliant and the same part of me that wants to implement war mammoths into my lore can't help but love the idea of said sneaky ninja nocturne riding about on her greattusk like some cool mount :0 Thank you for the bio link, too, I'll have a good look in the morning! Might also try to see if there's a way to add a bit about Nathrach without breaking the code at some point, as I love any excuse to fiddle with bio codes and ignore my own clan begging for me to stop procrastinating >:D I do like what Zelda currently has going on, though, so it's a shame it insists on breaking whenever you fiddle with it. It's simplistic but still tells you a lot, which I love. Lots of lil tidbits to read

The Legacy challenge is kinda cool tbh (even if I have forgotten I'm supposed to be doing it with one pair I've got), and I admire those who can keep it going Saw someone making a whole thread with the lore of their one at one point, which was really neat!

[Varethyn]

Day 52

Round X. Fight!

Rolled Magnolia, Hyacinth and Aster.

I was legitimately worried for this given it's the last day of Hyacinth's injury and he is still without a familiar, so there was a very good chance he could die today. He didn't thankfully but i will leave you with this:


Yeeeeeaaaaaaah.

Maggie and Cin are now lv8, Aster lv7.

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x2 OR Gen 1 Purchase x1, Hyacinth Badly Injured for 1 day.

[Krysteena]

Oh no, that's dangerously close @-@ The bookworm pulled through, though! Good to see him and his buds getting some levelling in, too! The sooner you can get away from the centaur the better, I think

[Ana]

Close call! !

[Varethyn]

Day 53

ALL the writing!

Except...

I rolled a 47!

Reader Event

It's your turn to write for me! Ask questions, write short stories, send me/one of my characters a letter from yourselves or your clan/a particular member, write songs or poems... the choice is yours!

And as always, if you want to contribute in some way but have no inspiration then consider sending a gift! I could really use some more potions...

EXTRA NEWS

I knew this would happen. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. I've been scavenging for items to unlock hibernal den slots and wouldn't you know it



Cos this story can't get enough dragons apparently. And no, I didn't get the item I was scavenging for

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x2 OR Gen 1 Purchase x1

[Lupis]

HOW ARE YOU SO LUCKY that's amazing, congrats on YET ANOTHER egg!!! Also- I am so glad Cyn isn't dead because dear god, buddy, that as close. Finally had the time to read the latest chapter and loved it, of course- I'm especially interested in this Nocturne and her Greattusk! I love the idea of a dragon using a familiar as a mount!

[Varethyn]

I know! What's up with them all? It's not as many as some runs I've looked into but yeesh.



Day 54

Getting curious about the increased number of coliseum items I'm getting, Pink.

Rolled Zinnia, Wisteria and Allium. I did a couple rounds in the Woodland Path for safety reasons, as Allium was still lv5, but the amount of exp you get there with a lv8 in the party is almost non-existent. So I reluctantly went back to Scorched Forest and very carefully picked my fights, sticking to packs of two only. It's a real juggling act between survivability and experience gain in these challenges. Those of you who decide to try it yourselves may want to err more on the side of caution than my impatient ass. It was going surprisingly well, managing 20 rounds in the Scorched Forest after 4 in the Woodland Path, until Wisteria got double-crit from full health in the same turn. The curse of the Sedona build in a Nuzlocke environment.

The sooner you can get away from the centaur the better, I think

Continues to hold true. You just watch though; I'll have a herd of centaur familiars by the time everyone outlevels Scorched Forest to spite this

Wisteria does have a familiar but I decided to keep the familiar-protection rule as a last-ditch bid for survival. That is to say I'll only use it if the dragon would otherwise die and so Badly Injured does not count. Wisteria is now lv7 and Allium lv6.

On a different note, I said I'd hatch eggs immediately, didn't I? Well, here's a bright boy ready for your judgement~

Inventory/Notes: Breed/Gene x2 OR Gen 1 Purchase x1, Wisteria Badly Injured for 7 days.

[Ana]

He is so pink! !

[Krysteena]

The centaur really don't like you, do they? D: Or maybe it's just tough love, idk. Good to see Wisteria still lives - can't have her possibly dying before she's officially introduced. The new boy you have is a very pink lad indeed, goodness! Kinda struggled to come up with a scry I really liked for him, but I think this looks aight :>


Also, for the reader prompt yesterday, I promise I'm getting to it today! Just been a bit busier than I first thought this weekend :>