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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 21, 2016 9:45:51 GMT -6
Well... practice makes perfect, as they said. Nayru made the world's most impressive combination of a grimace and a smile at Aeos's offer, not particularly eager to make a fool of herself in front of another dragon but forced to admit to herself that it WOULD be the smart thing to do. Purely on a pragmatic level, the really stupid move would be to turn him down; opportunities to practice with another native speaker didn't come around that often. But she didn't have to like it, dammit. "I'll take you up on that offer, but... please bear with me if the wording is a little off at times. This is a little embarrassing." She bowed her head slightly. Hopefully this wouldn't go to ass too quickly. It was kinda funny to think that Aeos had almost the same struggles with Common that she had with Low though. "Maybe we can practice on each other a bit then, eh?"
Huh, seemed that wings had their own problems. Nayru didn't have a lot of experience with wings, both for obvious reasons and because even in Arcadia it wasn't like most dragons were transformed and flying around regularly... also for obvious reasons. Her experience was basically Erim and Aerious, and both of them had had fairly appropriate wingspans given their size and mobility. Erim was more slender and mobile, Aerious was of a power fighter, and it reflected in their bodies. "Bolt of lightning, huh?" It did sound cool... and Nayru had always thought it would be cool to actually embody her element a bit more. But she couldn't actually turn into a bolt of lightning, she'd tried that and it hadn't gone well. So taking Aeos's idea at face value probably wasn't happening. But the inspiration it brought helped to get her started on the problem a little more seriously than she really had before.
Unfortunately, that probably wasn't going to pay off with any immediate dividends, so while she kept it in the back of her mind and devoted one thread of thought to it, Nayru otherwise moved on to Aeos's comments about halfshifting. She realized that the nomenclature could be a bit of a problem; 'halfshifting' was a very vague term for what was a far more complex system of approaches to modulating one's power. [Interesting.] Trying to heed Aeos's offer, Nayru deliberately switched to dragontongue. She had to think through her words carefully anyways, what was one more layer of bad ideas on top of the usual?
The irony of that statement was unfortunately lost on her as she continued. [These are my observations and estimations, not official names and numbers. I have found very little writing on the subject.] The dragon paused to think as she tried to effectively summarize her findings. Easier said than done considering she was nowhere near mastering things... but someone had to start at least. After another moment of thought, and as much to help herself focus as to make effective visual aids for Aeos. She didn't mind explaining, but it would be ideal if she didn't have to explain the explanation too.
[First tier. 10% power.] Very little visibly changed in her arm, aside from maybe her veins growing slightly more pronounced, but her skin physically hardened from human to something far harder, and she could feel the relatively small amounts of essence passing through her skin, though not so much the rest of the arm. [We channel some power to harden skin and boost strength. This I know of all dragons.] Nayru clenched her fist, and the white tattoo covering much of her raised right arm began to glow in intricate patterns, more growing across much of the skin compared to the original tattoo that had only covered her forearm. [The second tier. 30% power. Visible changes. For some, scales. I know one who did. For me, no scales. But obvious. Not normal. Humans notice.] Before the events in Sacae, it HAD been scales, but now the tattoos covering her arms seemed to act as regulators when only channeling relatively minor amounts of power. By her standards. She could easily punch through a wall... or a man right now.
[Third tier.] Pointedly leaving out her approximate of power, Nayru focused more on her task, carefully channeling essence through the seal primarily to her arm, trying not to enjoy the rush of phenomenal cosmic power TOO much. In response, her arm changed, warped, golden scales extruding slightly faster than she had planned for a gradual transformation - she still wasn't great at modulating it. The massive increase in weight of her arms was compensated by the phenomenal increase in strength; she had left craters when striking with that power before, and what it did to human bodies was far worse. There was a distinctive scent of ozone in the air and static electricity that crawled through the hair, but no visible electricity aside from subtle arcs occasionally coursing down her arm. [Stage three halfshift. Close to a full shift. Only for part of body. Still human scale. Aids in channeling element in human form.] As if to emphasize her words, a staccato pulse of electricity crackled loudly and harshly in the quiet of their abode, as bright as it was loud. Both light and sound drowning out that of the crackling fire for a second before disappearing as quickly as it had come.
Dismissing the limb in a horde of golden flakes, almost like fireflies, the remains of her scaled arm drifted harmlessly upwards and dissipated before hitting the roof. The actual arm was back to looking human. Having the decency to look a bit ashamed of herself, Nayru continued. That, and she had only used it a few times now, and only even learned it in Bern versus the chimera.
[Yes. I am Arcadian. ...Was. Left over three centuries ago.] Growing frustrated at her inability to think of the descriptive words she wanted to quickly enough, Nayru returned to Common without warning. "It was a beautiful place, full of magic and power. The air was alive with it. Supposedly closer to pre-Scouring Elibe in climate, at least a bit. I wasn't alive for that, just what I hear. But humans and dragons living together... Arcadia is a utopia. But a bubble utopia. It relies on secrecy from outsiders. Even most dragons." She smiled fondly, almost a little wistfully. "But it is also why I think there is hope for Elibe. And why I do not hate humans. It's hard to live with people and still truly hate them."
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Aug 21, 2016 19:46:35 GMT -6
Ooc-Everything in purple is low draconic for this one post due to mobile browser issues.
Aeos watched as Nayru demonstrated her abilities. She explained the differences in power levels between shifting. From her explanations he started to mentally work out what percentage was what when it came towards his own shifting. The light coating of scales and minor changes towards the tips of his fingers and toes seemed to reflect him using or rather tapping into roughly ten percent of his stones capability. Thirty percent appeared to be what he normally used or rather what he felt he used when he changed his hand into a five fingered claw hand thing whenever he needed to grip something. This effect could be seen in all four of his limbs, especially when climbing. He knew this form ruined shoes and shattered gloves. He assumed that when it was all four limbs all at once that he was borrowing roughly forty percent of his power. It wasn't quite a full half shift.. as his size could still pass for human so long as he was covered up. Although this shift wasn't limited towards just changing his limbs. He knew scales morphed into his skin. He could feel it under his clothes. Sometimes with a clawed limbs sometimes not. But, this would be something obvious humans would notice.
He watched Nayru 's arms. He felt the charge of electricity in the air. He could smell the power coming off of her. The scent was stronger than the demonstration in the village. This scent to him smelled more like acid. It reminded him of an old method of putting gold onto silver. A trick his father taught him as a child. the process involved a ceramic pot, some lemon juice or wine, a few rods of iron, and a thin wire of metal. This smell mixed with the scent of the sky. A scent only he could smell when he was very high in the mountains or simply flying in the air above the clouds. It was a unique and memorable scent.
This level and control of shifting was something he had not experienced. At most he assumed he used was about fifty percent of his stones abilities. His self dubbed “lizard man” mode. In this mode his body changed significantly enough for him to appear a bit monstrous. He was covered in scales, his eyes were reptilian, and he had full human hand like claws and legs. His head would have a small series of nubs on its forehead indicating where his tiny horns would be if fully changed. This form gave him the most maneuverability. He could walk on either two or four limbs. He could flip around. Move and dodge things in manners that were not human. He could lift things that were heavy. Withstand blows that would kill a lesser men. Granted that blow would hurt like heck but he'd still be alive. His temper changed when he was at that point. That form of himself the power and change was circulated throughout his body. It was never fully concentrated into one place like Nayru demonstrated.
But that was the most he could tap into without going full dragon. Anything beyond that fifty percent lizard man phase put him into full scale dragon mode. Even when he tries his hardest to hold it back. He just couldn't really grasp that 60-90 percent use of his stone. And if he did he was probably not aware of it. Or perhaps he was under too much emotional or physical stress for him to truly grasp it. After Nayru finished her demonstration. He did his own. He showed her his own version of his half shifting. He mimicked her.
He showed her his ten, thirty, and fifty percent shifting. However none of them were as dramatic as Nayru 's versions. He explained in short sentences what he felt he could do with each of his own “level” of stone tapping.
“Ten percent gives me a bit more of a heightened awareness to things. My hearing improves. My nose finds smells better. My eyes can kinda see a bit farther. Little things.” He explained and made a motion with his hand. He pressed his thumb close towards his index finger leaving a tiny gap in between them.
“Thirty. Gives me hands and feet.” He showed her. He even pulled up his sleeve to show her the trail of his human skin colored scales as they trailed up his arms. He showed her his neck too. It also had the same scale like effect.
“Helps to keep me safe. Blows hurt a bit less. I hit a bit harder. It is mostly what I use to climb the mountains. Humans can see it.. I go through great lengths to hide it. socks.. gauntlets.. cloaks.” He counted off on his “hands”. They were three pronged. Two sets of his five fingers pressed together to show off the claw like effect. However each finger could still be seen. Although they were scale covered and with long black nails on them.
“Half. Or fifty..” He tapped further into his stone's power to show him his full lizard man mode. It was similar towards his third percent but much more noticeable. The scales were more pronounced. His sandals snapped into pieces. He was just a tad bit taller than he was before. He grabbed her hand and put it on his head so she could feel the little horn nubs that were tucked under his hair.
“I cannot go past this point without it becoming full dragon.” His voice was raspier than it had ever been.
“I feel.. wings wanting to come out.. but they never do. Those bastards.. it is as if they mock me and my desire to soar.” He muttered as if he was upset or angry. He then held his hand over his forehead and started to change back.
“50% me.. brings out a change in my head. Things.. words.. that I should not say.. I say. I curse. I anger. I say uncivilized things. Things that would have gotten me killed should I say it out loud. I don't know why. It wants to take risks and do things that are not good for my well being. Like run into a horde of monsters… or call my human friends idiots…” He shook his head.
“Dragon me is just as bad. Sometimes I remember civility other times I act like an animal. On a whim.. it decided to fly towards the peak of a high Ilian mountain. We killed a wyvern in a display of dominance… before my body remembered we were on a freezing cold mountain and completely shut down..” He sighed.
“It has been improving. But, I think it is duality between civility and base instincts that.. prevents me from understanding my own capability. It might also be a clash of fear and pride..I don't know.” He then looked up at Nayru.
“I see, you left Arcadia. I have intentions of going there one day. Perhaps an elder could help me understand this problem of my powers. The air there sounds wonderful. Kinda like the air on Vinland.. The era before the scouring sounds.. nice. From a breathing perspective.” He smiled softly.
“Hope.. sounds nice too. My folks call me their own “little hope”. I haven't met any truly bad humans yet. So far only two know what I really am. And I'm not dead yet. So that is a bonus!”
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 21, 2016 21:28:49 GMT -6
For her part, Nayru was happy to shut up and let Aeos respond in kind, moving her raised right arm to stroke her chin as she watched him display his own abilities. She tried not to react too much but there was definitely something resembling girlish glee dancing in her eyes when Aeos revealed he could do something roughly akin to what she had dubbed the third stage - though intriguingly enough his was quite different than hers, far more complete in terms of body changes but slightly less over the top on changes to specific parts. He displayed the bits of horns and she let him control her hand, not particularly threatened but definitely fascinated. Even Aerious had never managed that - or never done that - she wasn't sure. It was hard to tell EXACTLY what dragons were capable of when they had all the incentive in the world not to show off too much. But Nayru thought that if Aerious had known how to do that he would, she had only really seen him use the second tier of halfshift.
What was really interesting was his issues with control though. Nayru unconsciously leaned forward, completely forgetting the whole 'cool disaffection' thing she had been trying to keep going to look vaguely smart. It was fascinating to hear Aeos's problems! Er... it wasn't that she was HAPPY he had similar issues, she didn't wish it on anyone. But it was nice to know she wasn't totally alone with that issue. His seemed to be more of a mental block whereas hers had been physical, which was an intriguing difference. Did it mean they were fundamentally different issues, or was there a common theme that simply manifested differently by dragon?
[You too?] It didn't occur to her until she had already started talking that she was... trying to open up to him about her own problems, something she had hidden as best as possible even from Remus and Veigue. Wilting slightly, Nayru averted her eyes, crossing her arms under her breasts a little self-consciously as she tried to force herself to continue. Even with Aeos being so... friendly and nice and easy to get along with, even knowing that this might help her learn more about herself, so many centuries of hiding it was a level of conditioning difficult to break through. [For a long time. If I allowed emotion to build up too much and lost control. Or anytime I called on too much power. I transformed and became... bestial.] She sighed. [Berserk. I-] The events of Sacae came to mind, and Nayru recoiled a little bit, swallowing as she tried to force herself onward.
She wasn't entirely sure how to describe what had happened there. And she wasn't sure what it meant. But it felt as though it was important. [In Sacae, I fought myself to gain control. In Bern, the two of I became one to protect a friend. I think. I do not hear her voice anymore. But I have her power. I can't feel her anymore save through it. She is either dead or part of me. Maybe both.] It was odd. Almost ironic. Nayru felt worse about that than the idea of the mirror her having done so many horrible things with her body in the past, or even trying to kill her - this Nayru - in Sacae. Whatever had happened in Bern had, honestly, been more of the other her doing something she didn't understand, rather than any real breakthrough on Nayru's side. It had felt so much like self-sacrifice... something she still couldn't really do.
Returning to Common as she struggled to find the correct words, Nayru was able to face Aeos again after a moment to compose herself. "I - don't think we have the exact same problem. But there are fundamental similarities. Perhaps... to truly master human form, we must earn the respect and understanding of the dragon form. My... condition made it more difficult, but if you can transform and stay yourself, I think it should be easier for you. I have never heard of dragons truly trying to master their human form other than us - most view it as simply a cloak for their true form - but I believe now that to truly master our abilities as dragons, we must accept that the two sides are mirrors of the same existence. There is no human Aeos and dragon Aeos - simply Aeos."
Not sure if that was profound or really stupid, Nayru grinned sheepishly. "Well. That's the theory anyways. We have a sample size of two, which isn't ideal, but we'll make do. Right, angry Aeos? Be nice to squishy Aeos. You need him to not get Marcus'd." Okay... admittedly, that joke had goen better in her head and just sounded really disrespectful to a dead friend now. And also possibly completely unintelligible. "Er. Marcus was the dragon who got killed in the arena in Bern a few months back. I met the guy maybe half a century back. Good kid. Lotta anger issues. Possibly crazier than me, and that's saying something." Ah yes, self-flagellating humor, her specialty! Nayru smiled a bit more genuinely in the aftermath of that.
"Two humans though, huh? Funny, that's the number I'm at too. A Sacaen swordsman named Veigue, and an Etrurian priest named Remus. Veigue's pretty quiet, but very earnest and kind. even when I was lashing out and dangerous, he cared enough to try to bring me back... and helped me snap out of the berserk state for the first time while risking his life for me. Remus is more moral support, or at least was, now he has laser magic and fucks up gargoyles casually. They're both magnets for disaster, even worse than me, so I have my hands full trying to keep 'em alive - but it's not a bad life. Veigue and I are monster hunters now! We killed a chimera in Bern, that was my first full power transformation too, and people there like us now. Got me thinking that it was a good way to use my power in general rather than just wandering around. What are the two you know like?"
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Aug 22, 2016 12:10:43 GMT -6
He took a moment to relax and regain his composure. Suddenly going from fully half shifted to mostly human took a toll on his head. He didn't notice when Nayru, moved a bit closer to inspect him. He managed to return to reality when Nayru spoke to him again. She told him of her struggled with power. With her own mentality and the struggle between what he perceived to be personalities. The other half of him was listening as well. The part of him that wanted to keep Nayru out of their life, and protect the secrecy of their home, was oddly quiet. But, he could feel it listening. He too was listening. Watching. Waiting.
“Berserk..” He whispered under his breath. He knew the word. And quite possibly the knew the feeling. He remembered the first few transformations shortly after forging his stone. He remembered standing on top of a mountain in the morning than waking up again elsewhere in the mountain at night. No knowledge of what happened in between. But, those days were long gone. Now he was mostly conscious during transformations. Aware of his situation and standing.
“I think I understand. In my case.. the other part of me. The dragon half.. we talk. In here.” He pointed to his head.
“We work out an understanding with one another before we take on power. Usually. When I first learned to change.. I had no memory of the incident. I was so deep in the mountain ranges no one could see me. So no one could tell me what I had done.. or what I was doing. When I returned to my family and told them this.. they suggested I try to meditate. For the first fifty years.. it didn't do much. I still blacked out in between sessions. Woke up in random parts of the Nabatan mountains.. lots of destroyed rock around me.. But.. something clicked.. right around fifty five years. I gained a bond with the other me. The me that is trapped in stone. Or at least what my mind thinks is the me that is trapped. A reflection of the inner dragon..” He shook his head. He hoped he was explaining it right. He hoped he explained it in a manner Nayru could understand with her rusty dragon tongue.
“This.. human guise of myself.. just wants to live in peace. To see the world and what it will become. The dragon part wants to challenge the world.. usually in questionable ways. Some days we agree.. other days we are opposites. But, we are slowly learning to become.. one.” He made a motion with his hands. He interlocked his fingers together.
“I have a long way to go.. but I hope one day “squishy” and “angry” can just be “Aeos”.” He sighed softly. That was a lot for him to say.
“It is weird.. it seems all dragons have some issue with the mind. Or an issue with their power. Locke told me he has problems keeping it contained. You.. had to fight yourself for the greater good of yourself. Marcus.. had anger issues.. And I have this duality in me. I wonder.. if we are in the grand scheme of things ..just naturally this.. chaotic.” He shrugged.
“The humans who know of me are ok. Lady Bee is a mage who loves fire. Perhaps a bit too much for her own good. And Euphemious is a man who loves Bern. He had an encounter once with a dragon before I met him that ended poorly. But.. we have talked, had adventures, and have saved each other's life. I have other human friends who.. do not know yet. At least I don't think they do. A taguel kinda sorta knows.. but I think they think me some other rarer taguel. I didn't exactly go full dragon on the island for them to figure it out. Too many Elibe humans around.” He looked out the window.
“I have met more than my fair share of monsters. Let us continue this talk up on the roof. The meteor shower will soon be upon us and I missed seeing it last time. I bought some rolls and water. It will be like the courts with their “dinner theaters”. He grabbed a torch and used the fire in the fireplace to light it. He motioned Nayru to follow him out the door and towards the side of the shack. A ladder was there. Aeos hooked the torch in its place holder on the wall and climbed up.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 22, 2016 17:27:25 GMT -6
"I theorize," she began thoughtfully in the wake of Aeos's revelations of his own past, "That it has something to do with dragonstones. It is said that in the time before the Scouring, assuming full dragon form was as natural as breathing. Given that they act as a seal on our power, perhaps it manifests differently for individual dragons. Perhaps it is not so widespread because so few dragons nowadays really try to grow understand their power. Elibe is not kind and many are content to simply live in peace. Maybe we're just the few crazy enough to actually try."
As with most of Nayru's theories, it sounded good on paper, to her at least, but it would be... difficult to test to put it lightly. And that wasn't really the point anyways. It didn't matter if it was actually right, what mattered was that they move closer to a correct understanding. If it happened to be her theory, good, but if not, understanding WHY her theory had been wrong could itself push them further to the correct answer. Maybe dragons were just naturally crazy, or maybe Elibe's atmosphere was poison and caused mental issues. For now it was just important to begin to try to explain it rationally, and then try to test or disprove the hypothesis. Maybe she'd even be right for once!
Haha, it was good to see that her sense of humor was improving by the day.
"The Taguel are certainly perceptive. And strong. Vinland was a hell of an experience. I think I'd like to go back sometime, sooner rather than later, it's an amazing place to train." She grinned. Her little adventures on the island could have gone better... but they could also have gone a lot worse, and Nayru had learned a great deal during her experiences. All things considered, not the worst result. "We'll have to compare notes on what happened there, but another time. For tonight let's just enjoy what we got going."
Nayru didn't raise any objections to Aeos's proposal, not that it would have mattered that much, he was apparently pretty interested in that thar meteor shower with or without her. Not that she minded! She was more of an outdoors kinda girl herself, always had been even as a kid. And it sorta reminded her of that rooftop heart-to-heart with Elly back in Ilia, just with less of Elly saying really derpy things... probably. It remained to be seen if Aeos could pick up that torch. For now though, time to scale Mt. Cottage. Following Aeos outside as obediently as a puppy, albeit with a bit of a stretch when they were out in the fresh hair to limber up a bit, she followed him up without further ado. "Meteor showers, huh? Haven't seen one of those recently."
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Aug 24, 2016 12:16:30 GMT -6
“I think anyone would go a bit crazy if they were denied breathing. I mean, you need that to live.” He paused. And he thought about it some more.
“Actually.. I think.. you may be onto something...with the air. Perhaps it has something to do with the magical air of Elibe. Sort of like how humans have a hard time breathing in high mountains. The air in such an altitude..is too thin for them. They suffer physical damages.. The magical air for us.. is too thin.. and we suffer mental issues as a result.” He paused again.
“It might just be those of us with stones who suffer the effects. Imagine having to breathe thin air.. through a thin tube.. we might suffer damages faster because of it.” He clutched his hand over his stone.
“My folks.. don't have stones.. and they don't seem crazy. I mean they might make my life a bit crazy.. but they are parents that's like their job description. They have their personality.. but it's no different than humans. But, no talking to weird voices, being super repetitive, or murderous.” He made himself comfortable on the roof top. The sky above them was clear. The stars were shining in all their glory.
“I really liked Vinland. I've already got plans to return. I just need to come up with the funding and maybe a partner. They had some monsters.. different from our own. I wonder why.” He pulled out the roll and water jug from his pouch. He casually started to munch on his roll. He looked up occasionally at the sky.
“Monsters..” He sighed.
“I've ran into.. a few. On both Vinland and Elibe. On Vinland it was a doog and a bael. The bael was already dead. Both of them made for a tasty dinner. The.. Elibe ones..” He took a bite out of his bread. He was thinking of the words.
“I met a creature.. that wore black armor. It had a spear that could make undead. It.. seemed obsessed with my stone. It was.. sentient. Intelligent. And it’s killed a whole lot of people..” He offered Nayru the bread roll he brought for her.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 24, 2016 19:23:49 GMT -6
Huh. That was a pretty interesting thought from Aeos. Nayru's opinion of him rose a few notches. Perhaps it was simply the nature of their discussion, or perhaps it was a bit of a reaction to Aeos doing it, but she unconsciously lifted her hand to carefully caress the underwhelmingly small amethyst gem hanging from her neck on a tight necklace necklace. It always rested atop her sternum, with minimal room for movement - the last thing she needed, especially when moving around in a fight, was to have her goddamn dragonstone pop off and leave her helpless. She had never really considered... not having one. The vast majority of Arcadia's dragons simply had them from before the Scouring after all. "...Wish I'd had a choice in the matter." It wasn't whiny, exactly, but there was a plaintive hint to her tone before Nayru continued as if she hadn't said anything. "Though... I don't think I could give it up now. There are too many people I have to protect."
Really, if she had ever truly WANTED to give up her power, she could have done it anytime. Nayru had always known that the dragonstone was the source of her power. She could have just thrown it in a lake somewhere and died 'normal.' But... she hadn't For a long time, it had simply been cowardice; the fear that she would need that power to protect herself, to stay alive. Now... well, still a bit of that, admittedly. But she couldn't leave Veigue and Remus to their own devices. She couldn't fight monsters without it. She wasn't really much of anything without it. Funny how that worked. "It's strange, isn't it? Something so alien and unnatural has become... natural. The defining aspect of a dragon. Can you imagine describing Dragonstones to someone before the Scouring? We'd get laughed out of there. Now, it's just a fact of life for anyone who wants to defend themselves. Honestly, I can see how dragons old enough to do it without a stone could have trouble adjusting. We have it pretty easy in comparison."
Raising her arms over her head, touching together, to stretch, Nayru then laid back on the roof as close to horizontal as she could get and crossed her arms beneath her head. She'd always kinda liked rooftop vigils. That was where she and Elly had had their first real talk too. "Vinland monsters are different. They seem more like animals. But still dangerous. Elibe's monsters..." The dragoness chuckled darkly, accepting Aeos's proffered bread without complaint and taking a bite as she composed her thoughts. "I've fought enough Baels that I'm sick of them. Can't imagine eating one, the ones I fought had acid blood." The story about the black-clad warrior was intriguing though, she hadn't made the connection at first, but actually she DID know something familiar. "You know though, I saw something... very similar to what you mentioned, too. Black armor. Intelligent. Hateful. He used a sword seemingly forged of darkness and had incredible strength, along with deadly ranged magic. Saved some Sacaen girl from it - him - but it fled when I called on my power. I've never seen anything like it, before or after."
To be honest, at the time Nayru had just assumed it was some human sword user with crazy dark magic control, but the more she learned about magic weapons the more she felt like it was something more than that. And Aeos's story confirmed it. "Another dragon I talked to a while ago said that the return of monsters was just the prelude to something much worse. You think these shadow guys are related? Stronger monsters? Possessed humans? Vanguard of a full invasion force? And... if there are shadow humans, are there shadow dragons, too?" Sky above but she hoped not, both on the dragons and the human thing, but mostly the latter - just the one had hit hard enough to have easily killed her if she hadn't blocked it and taken the fight damn serious from there. She didn't want to imagine another couple thousand of them.
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Aug 25, 2016 19:28:03 GMT -6
Ooc- purple text later cause I'm tired.
Aeos smiled at Nayru 's comment about protecting people. He knew exact what she meant. There were people in this world he was attached to. People he wanted to defend from all manner of dark monstrosity that lurked in the shadows. People he wanted to see live in a peaceful future.
“There be people I want to protect too.” He closed his eyes. Aeos thought of his parents. Then of Bee, Euphemious, Gar, Locke, Nayru, and himself. Followed by a whole slew of other random people he had worked with or showed him kindness over the years. Whole crowds of them. He then thought of the world and it's natural wonders. He thought of the taguel and of Vinland. He opened his eyes once more. He felt warm, like he had done a good deed and was thanked for it. Even though he hadn't done anything at all.
“Try explaining a dragon stone to anyone.” He thought. He then raised his hands up and began pantomiming.
“Hey, human. This stone is a part of my soul.” A piece of bread was used to represent the stone.
“Yes souls are real...and apparently able to become physical objects. What? No I'm not a soulless monster because of it.. put that weapon down. Anyway.. with it I suck the magic from the air and turn into a huge dragon.” He stopped and put his hands down.
“It does sound pretty strange. I guess with pre scouring dragons it would be more like…” He raised his hands again.
“Hey you know how you used to transform before the war? Well you can't do that now. Now you have to syphon your magical energy through a rock.” He made a cheesy grin that quickly faded. He let out a slightly defeated sigh. He stared up at the sky in a bit of a daze. The first few shooting stars started to streak through the sky. He kept looking up at the sky while Nayru spoke about black skinned monsters. Demonic weapons.
“Vinland's monsters seem to have a place there. Like the taguel. They are both the hunters and hunted. It is quite the dynamic. I assure you the Vinland variants are safe to eat. The Eliban ones.. seem to serve some other purpose. Born from foul magic rather than nature… Some act as if controlled by something dark.. and that is a scary concept. Monsters.. that are the precursor so something greater.. and now you tell me that there is possibly a second human like monster with the same dark magic and intelligence as the armored one. These.. be ill omen's.” He shuddered at the thought. And yet he felt something some sort of truth to Nayru 's words. The world had something in the air. The same sort of something one could feel in the air before a rainstorm. But much more sinister. It was similar to the foul wind that first brought him out of the desert and forced him to explore.
“I.. think there is a relation between the Shadow Men like monsters.. and the other monsters of Elibe. The one I met had a spear that made more undead.. that's a direct correlation right there.” He paused one more. The gears in his head were starting to turn. He felt like he was on to something of his own. A theory regarding monsters and dragons.
"I.. have a thought. Dragons are creatures of magic. We are essentially beings of elements.. in a classification w the human mages call anima. Except, we have an extreme focus towards one element.. because it is the way of our species. There be Air, Earth, Lightning, Fire, Water, Ice. Like.. all things we have a time.. and place in nature. We have weaknesses and strengths.” He wished he had more bread to break apart and demonstrate his point.
“In nature.. when something is removed the whole food chain suffers. Order is ruined and chaos is allowed to roam free. Usually, in the form of death or destruction.” He took a deep breath and exhaled from his nose. He needed to be calm and choose his words carefully.
“The law Trinity of magic, states that holy beats dark and dark beats anima. Things are balanced when the rules are applied. What if.. these things.. these monsters born of darkness are our anti-element. The chaos to our order.. If that dragon you spoke to is to be believed.. then this event with dark monsters happened before right? Perhaps they are taking advantage of the lack of dragons.. the lack of anima...the lack of balance.. and are resurging as a result.” He cupped his hand to his chin.
“A resurgence of dark monsters.. the timing could not be better. The collective human population of Elibe seems to be feuding with one another. A world war or a series of wars would distract humans enough from being devout. From being orderly.. Light magic.. as a whole.. suffers.. with no anti-thesis to darkness… the darkness would run rampant.” He stopped talking and lied down on his back with an unimpressive ploof. A small dust cloud was kicked up as a result.
“Or maybe I'm just talking with out any knowledge of things.. I feel like there are some large holes into this theory, but I am just glad to have spoken my peice to Someone. Like a big weight has been removed from my chest. Now I can be quiet and focus on the sky.” A rather large shooting star flew by.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 26, 2016 3:18:11 GMT -6
"Pfft." Nayru snorted in what was quite frankly very far from a ladylike manner, managing to contain herself in its wake for a moment before her efforts waned and a a chortle or two followed in their wake. "Ha. Hahahaha!" It wasn't the kind of gut-wrenching, side-splitting guffaw that portended complete breakdown of the funny bone, but definitely some sort of genuine giggling despite her best efforts. Aeos's mimicry spoke to the awkward truths they both knew, masked in humor - for what was comedy if not poking fun at the darkest truths of life? That they were forced to live as they did was no joke, but to live on in spite of it, to enjoy that life regardless of what curses came attached. That was something worth laughing about!
But no king lasts forever, and jokes tended to have a bit less staying power than even that. Aeos turned to somewhat more serious thoughts, and then very serious commentary indeed. And while Nayru had... sometimes... been accused of being a little tone-deaf, she wasn't daft enough to miss the need for something resembling a little more levity here. Gnawing the flesh of her, uh, bread roll, the lady dragon listened quietly to her companion's theory. It was interesting, as much on its own rights as the... familiarity it held to both her and Aerious's separate theories. Aeos had mentioned that he'd never met another thunder dragon so it was pretty clear he didn't know Aerious, but there were similarities nonetheless. At least in the theory. Not so much the person, and thanks be to the Sky, the Earth, and everything else for that.
"You know... I think you might be on to something there, Aeos. I've heard a similar theory from an acquaintance, and believe something roughly parallel myself." She paused to take another bite from the bread, not in any particular hurry to infodump all over the poor innocent precious thing beside her. "Our kind were once the guardians of Elibe, from threats within and without. We helped supply the world with magic. We defended it. We shepherded others. Without dragons, Elibe is vulnerable again... and whether through dark intent or simply natural balance, this world is feeling the repercussions of the Scouring still. As you said, perhaps the worst is yet to come."
Of course, that was the nice way of putting it. Dragons rule, humans drool. She didn't entirely believe it. Not in that regard anyways. "Though... I wonder," the dragoness continued a bit more carefully, aware that her thoughts were not necessarily exactly what a dragon would want to hear, and looking neither to offend or enrage him particularly. But she did think they needed to be said. "If dragons had held to their charge as guardians, rather than rulers, could war have been avoided?" Getting accurate stories of the world before the Scouring, without the bias of a dragon who still wasn't happy about their entire race being massacred, was difficult. But she had tried, and Nayru had not liked what she had seen and heard. Mighty dragon tribes who rules huge swathes of Elibe with little concern to the human cattle beneath them. Brutal suppression of mortal uprisings. The belief that dragons were the divine rulers of Elibe.
Stretching one arm into the air as if reaching into the sky itself, not for the first time, Nayru wondered who in the hell SHE of all people was to judge anyone else for their actions. But from the safety of her ivory tower, she knew that she never wanted to repeat those mistakes. When she continued a moment later, her voice was much quieter. More subdued. It wasn't a bold proclamation, more of a question aware of the heresy inherent to its direction. "In the end, was the Scouring as much our fault for failing to know our place, more than that of humans for not recognizing theirs?" She closed her hand into a fist. Trying to envision grasping the stars. Holding them. What did those tiny pinpricks of light look like up close? Was the distance so vast that they too might be vast, the size of all Elibe perhaps, from who far off they were? Or was the sky simply a tapestry woven by some far-off god looking down on them and despairing at what his creations had wrought?
The hand fell to her chest. In the end, she didn't know. About any of those questions. Maybe they never would. Maybe someday dragons and humans alike would fly to the stars. But for now, all they could do was wonder. "...And if so, wouldn't that mean it is our responsibility to solve this riddle?" Nayru sighed, realizing belatedly that she had probably said a bit too much. It wasn't good dining conversation material, that was for sure. Angling her head a bit more towards Aeos, she smiled wryly, though whether or not he saw it in the growing darkness was entirely up to chance. Her tone was a lot more conversational, but also a bit chastened, as she finished her little diatribe. "Sorry. That was probably uncalled for. It's just something I think about."
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Aug 29, 2016 11:27:11 GMT -6
Well, he made Nayru chuckle. That was a good sign. It meant she was having fun and he wasn't failing in his duties as a host.It also meant that his sense of humor and communication was improving.
“Oh, good. I made sense with my words! At least enough to grasp the theory I have in my head.” He smiled softly.
“Guardians of Elibe and creators of magic. That has a nice ring to it.” He mused out loud. His gaze was still focused on the millions of stars that illuminated the sky.
“Who's to say? War has multiple factors that start it. Maybe dragons did something humans didn't like. maybe humans did something dragons didn't like. Maybe it was darkness or chaos manipulating both sides. Or maybe someone kicked another's puppy… All I know is that war has two sides one winner. And many unhappy people in between.” He took a deep breath in and gently exhaled it. The subject of war was difficult for him to talk about. Mostly due to the injustice of it all. Or due to the fact that he did not understand it. He was long lived and he had seen many battles. Talked to many people and yet he couldn't understand why humans so willingly threw themselves into battle for their country or liege.
“I once asked my human friend what was the point of war. In the end time claims it and history moves on. People change. He told me war is more than just people killing one another.. it's about keeping an idea alive. And something about the mortality of things.. something about humans being short lived. I cannot really remember the full conversation at this second. But, we had very different ideas. And we learned something off of each other.” His voice trailed off. A sad thought emerged in his head. That he would eventually outlive his human companions. He knew this from the beginning and yet the thought of losing them was hitting him now. The young dragon was quiet for a bit. He was simply staring up at the sky trying to organize his thoughts and feelings. The tiredness of the day's events was manifesting itself. A sea breeze blew by giving both dragons a refreshing bit of sweet salty air.
“People die. Dragons die. But ideas are forever. They are immortal as long as people remember them.” Guess I will just have to do my best to remember my human companions. Maybe I can get a painting commissioned.. where would I even put that? And have it survive the test of time..
“What a riddle it is! It is like one of those math problems the students are asked to solve. The ones with the many words that forces the student to work backwards to find an answer.” He tilted his head to see Nayru. Her comment about riddles made him think. He was usually good at riddles.
“Except in this case we have only half the problem.. we cannot solve for x. We are missing too many factors. The bits about the past… the details of the new enemies.. the rising darkness.. what are they.. are the negatives, positives, and how does it equate to the world.” He changed the subject from math to science. He returned his gaze to the sky.
“These stars have seen so much.. I wish a scholar would create a device for speaking with them. Maybe they have the answers we seek.” He thought about it some more.
“Or maybe not. They are too high up..”
“When I am really high into the air.. I cannot see the details of the world below. Trees become blobs of green. Mountains look like giant scabs of the earth. Stars.. are even higher then my wings can carry me.. they might be so far away.. that they see this world as another glowing dot.” He scratched his chin.
“Maybe we could ask the sun. That one seems close enough it might actually see the details.. or the moon. I hear it has a face. Although tonight it seems to be hiding.” He made a mental note of the lack of moon.
“To be honest I am more curious to figure out the riddle of our belongings. Like.. where do our clothes go during transformations? What else can we put in that mystery space.. Can we put snacks?”
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 30, 2016 9:50:47 GMT -6
Ideas are forever, huh?
Nayru found that she liked that wording a lot. It wasn't a new concept for her ideology, but the phrasing was new, and more importantly - succinct. It captured the concept in few words, without extraneous qualifiers and caveats. Sure Aeos added a few afterwards, but they weren't necessary to the core point itself. It aligned with what she had always wanted to think, and now believed much more strongly; that just as prejudice against dragons had survived so long, so too could tolerance be learned.
And just as importantly, if humans could learn that dragons were not all monsters... dragons could learn to let go of their hate for humanity. The Scouring had been a thousand years ago, and aside from one, they had all been dead for forty, fifty generations. An unthinkable amount of time by human standards - the equivalent to... honestly Nayru could hardly even think of a real comparison in draconic culture. Estimates to Elibe's entire age ranged from five to ten thousand years, though they weren't necessarily accurate, and there were dragons who had been alive for as long as five thousand years, supposedly. Normal dragons hardly reproduced every 500-1000 years if that and very few even lived to be 2000, but that was still an incredible chunk of history comparatively. Fifty dragon generations would be perhaps fifty to a hundred thousand years, far older than Elibe. But they had the opposite problem to humans; they did not live too short, but too long, and so ancient grudges lived on when humanity could easily give up on them.
Aeos had given her a lot to think about but she didn't think she could respond to all of it, so Nayru decided to just hone in on what she could. "Sure does make you wonder what there actually is above the sky when the stars seem just as far away from up there as they do down here." It was perhaps not surprising that Nayru couldn't grasp the sheer vastness of space, but bereft of a modern perspective all she could do was rage uselessly against her ignorance and dream of knowing more. Frustrating, and yet necessary. For now. She believed that given time, civilization would advance to the point that they could indeed gambol between the stars... and Nayru for one was determined to still be alive then.
She giggled at Aeos's little joke at the end there, intimately familiar with just how badly transformation could go in that regard. "The shift before last didn't end well for my clothes. Veigue - one of the humans I traveled with - had to carry my unconscious, butt-naked ass back to his village. I wish I'd been awake for that, the reactions must have been priceless." A normal woman might have been a little more horrified at the thought, but while she was by no means a streaker, Nayru was also a lot less shy about the human body than most, as she had proven repeatedly in the past. "I think I drooled on him a bit too."
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Sept 6, 2016 12:25:49 GMT -6
“What is above the sky? Hmm.. I don't know. I've tried to find out but after a certain point I am forced to turn back. The air becomes too thin and too cold even for me.” He kept looking up at the sky. He wondered now what was beyond the stars. Beyond the sun. Beyond the planets. His attention was redrawn back to Nayru at the mention of her clothes. The thought of Nayru in the nude brought a small blush to his face. Then a fit of muffled giggles. He tried to compose himself.
“Oh gods.. I bet that must have been priceless for Veigue. The shock of you naked and having to bring your naked self to his friends and family. I am not sure what's was worse...the action or the explanation. Doth he be the serious type? Because that would have made that moment all the better..” He tried to hide the grin that was plastered on his face. Aeos was comfortable with nudity, usually. Group baths were an uncommon occupancy but it was something he had been exposed to. He knew it was usually taboo in most human cultures and that was what made Nayru 's comment so funny.
“Oh man.. I kinda hope I have a moment like that. If anything have more than one person so that when I wake up they tell me how the reaction was.. so that I can laugh.” He was still grinning but it was slowly subsiding.
“Ah.. what in the world were you fighting? Was it the Chimera?” He asked. He then tugged at his own sleeve looking at it. The fabric was pretty sturdy for the most part. He knew it wouldn't break easily unless something sharp cut it. Or he got it caught by a nail. It was sturdy enough to not get shredded by his scales, usually. And yet this fabric seemed to appear and disappear will when he changed. To a place unknown, though not always. When he is stressed or if the transformation is too rapid he noticed tears and holes. He put his hands back down.
“Did they explode off of you due to the lightning?” He thought out loud. Nayru had a pretty interesting life. With cool friends and abilities.
“Uhm.. by the way what's a Chimera?”
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Sept 15, 2016 14:55:37 GMT -6
"Yeah, he's about as serious as the Ending Winter." From a purely... objective view that was perhaps not one of her more tasteful jokes, but it did set the vibe up pretty well. And it wasn't like irreverent jokes were anything new for the dragon's warped sense of humor. "Very earnest as well. The sorta guy you just feel like you can trust. He's cut from the same cloth as his grandfather, emotional but level headed, crazy-strong willpower too. I think it's a Magnus thing, they either go really good or really bad with nothing in between." Nayru trailed off a bit as she realized she had been blathering a bit, uncertain what to make of her sudden case of diarrhea of the mouth. She... rarely if ever talked about people she knew, but all that about Veigue had just come pouring out without a thought. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign - that he had made that much of an impression on her - or if she was just going senile in her old age.
...Probably both.
The thought of Veigue's family did help to curb any mirth that might have struck her though, remembering the tales she had heard of what her best friend's father had been like - when he had nearly killed Veigue, for starters. It seemed the young swordsman had come to terms with his father somewhat in death... but Nayru didn't know if she really could. The dragon wasn't exactly known to be super worried about what happened to HER, but she didn't have many friends and had a tendency to be very protective of the few she did have as a result. Even if Veigue's dad's actions weren't as terrible from his perspective, that didn't mean she had to like it. But neither did she hate him. She didn't know what the story was, and it didn't matter anyways, with him being dead and all.
Talk of chimeras was a much easier subject to get into and Nayru shelved her previous thoughts entirely in favor of the new topic of conversation. Though... as for what they had been fighting, well, the honest answer was - her. That had been the fight when she first willingly transformed to try to give Veigue and Hayle an avenue to escape... and the idiots had come back to try to save her, despite her berserk state, and dragged her back to humanity. She couldn't exactly be angry with them, but - dammit yes she could, Veigue had nearly gotten himself killed doing that. Bah.
"It was - a bandit fortress in Sacae," the dragoness eventually responded blandly, perhaps a touch evasively, not really delving too far into the subject. She didn't particularly want to explain it. At this point she just hoped no one had noticed the unnatural thunderstorm in Sacae at the time. "The chimera was in southern Bern some weeks later. I've read about chimeras before - they're apparently unnatural creatures forged by magic, fusions of multiple creatures... usually some combination of goat, lion, snake, dragon heads." Nayru's voice unconsciously switched from the careless manner of speech she usually held in conversation to a more coherent, technical cadence that betrayed her descent into actually using her brain for once. She also hoped no one had noticed the sky exploding in Bern during THAT transformation, but that was a lost cause given the scale. She continued anyways. "They're extinct, but that one apparently missed the memo. We're still not sure exactly how it got into Elibe though, it was the strongest opponent I've ever faced. It pushed my development forwards immensely though, allowed... and forced me to learn a full-power transformation, and even then it still might've won if not for Veigue helping me out a few times. Probably a good thing, my ego was getting a bit too big for its britches."
...She hadn't really thought about it at the time, but looking back, that level of opponent had been exactly what she needed to grow. Whatever it had triggered in her, between the... other her helping out and the necessity to let loose at full power, had awakened the angry red energy, the adaptive scales, and the new transformation itself. Perhaps she should be grateful to it. It was a strange feeling, almost as strange as it had been at the time to realize she felt no rancor for it, but instead a strange kinship she couldn't explain. The events in the underground lair afterwards certainly hadn't made matters much clearer. She shook her head. Thinking was hard and confusing, punching was much more relaxing. "I tell you what Aeos, I don't know what the f**k the deal with Elibe is these days, but there's a LOT of crap out of legends coming back. Monsters, Arum, chimeras, taguel... and dragons. I don't know if it's cause-and-effect or if it's just a natural reaction to the other things, but there is definitely a lot more draconic activity these days too, and a lot less subtle." Not that she was in any position to judge, granted. "I don't know where things are headed, but this is all going to come to a head eventually, and the world will change in its wake. A lot of me just wants to hope it all works out... but I think we're going to have to work to make sure we get our happy endings. When humanity as a whole realizes dragons are back, things are liable to get messy."
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Aeos
Dragon
A Nabatan Dragon in human guise, with a love of food and traveling.
Posts: 441
Profession: Wandering Dragon
Affinity: Light
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: Aeos Profile
OoC Alias: Twilightfairy
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Post by Aeos on Sept 18, 2016 9:26:02 GMT -6
“Ah.. yes.. the ending winter.” He sighed softly. Aeos only knew of the ending winter as the death of most things magic. A period of magical decline, natural disasters, the weakening of dragons, and the inevitable rise of humanity. Aeos was not born during that time but his parents would tell him of it. The struggles they saw in what few dragons they knew that had survived. They were not immune to the unnatural effects of the ending winter. Their forms grew weaker to the point that even the most basic of weapons could hurt them.
“A Magnus thing? I assume that’s the family name.” He scratched his chin.
“It’s funny.. I think Euphemious is the same. He is a man dedicated to Bern.. to bringing and restoring honor towards his family name. A defender of the innocent and kinda mule headed too. His dedication to Bern be double edged. He hates Ilia.. and while I understand where his hate came from I am afraid of it. Hatred blocks... rational thought... which might get him killed. Perhaps... I am just being a concerned friend… or maybe I really don’t know what it’s truly like to hate something with that intensity.” He mused.
“I know I dislike certain things... like bitter turnips. But I am not one to declare war on all things turnips.” Turnips are food. One should not hate food. Food is needed to live. This line of thought continued until Nayru spoke of Chimera’s. He had forgotten he had asked about that. Her description of the monster was pretty tame. As she spoke about the monster and it’s components his mind tried to piece together what it looked like. He imagined something with a dragon’s head, a lion’s body, a goat’s legs, and it was covered in snake scales. For some reason he imagined it to be cute. Like a baby form of all those monsters mashed into one. Perhaps he thought it that way because of the lion’s body. Comparatively a lion was smaller than a dragon. But then Nayru spoke about how it took all of her power just to whittle it down and inevitably kill it. The image in his mind changed to a larger beast with venom dripping from its fangs and hissing like an angry cat. Monsters that forced dragons to fight at their fullest. Monsters that were supposed to be extinct. He was starting to dislike monsters more. But, then he remembered Vinland and how those monsters had a place there. Perhaps the world before the Scouring.. one of the ancient past was one full of monsters. Monsters that were the checks and balances to the dragons. The predators to their prey.
“I haven’t seen to many dragons to warrant any increase in dragonic activity. I shall take your word for it. You are right though.. there be an increase in things that be deadly. The taguel are ones whom mostly inhabit Vinland.. and yet I fear it is only a matter of time before something evil graces their shores. I cannot describe it.. but I feel what you mean. My element... allows me to sometimes... read the spirits of the wind.. and lately.. I have heard nothing… as a matter of fact it has been mostly silent. Which is worrying. They are usually such a vocal bunch.” He frowned. He missed the tiny voices of the wind spirits. Those that told him of good laundry days and who brought with them the prospect of rain. There were exceptions to this silence. His encounter with all of the trapped wind spirits in the ruins, with Gar was an exception. They were all so very loud. So very eager to talk to someone who could hear them after so long. Aeos freed them of course.
“If things.. are a mess.. then we should sweep.” It sounded like total gibberish. But he had a point to this.
“If.. our kind were once guardians… Then we should resume that role one more. Become brooms.. so to speak. To fix the mess that the world has become… to fix the relations between humanity, dragon, and taguel. Yes.. I think you are right. We deserve to have a happy ending. We deserve to fight for that happy ending.” He sat up.
“Nayru, You and I should train!”
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Sept 18, 2016 14:44:06 GMT -6
Nayru found that she did not truly have an answer to Aeos's comments about this 'Euphemius' guy. Her first reaction, of course, was to defend Veigue. He's nothing like that, she would say. He doesn't hate. But the words died in her throat as she recalled some of her conversations with Veigue. He didn't hate, perhaps, but the resentment to his father was a powerful force indeed, and he had spoken of a darkness inside him. Was it actually that different from Aeos's friend? Was her jumping to defend Veigue just the automatic reaction of an overly defensive friend, rather than a factual retort? She didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she could.
It was interesting that he could communicate with the spirits of the wind. Reminded her of Mana's weird sword thing. Another entry to the long list of things that normal dragons could do that she couldn't. Oh yes, how great she was, could punch things but not even do normal dragon stuff. The great Nayru, ladies and gentlemen, queen of the circus. The dragoness chuckled a bit at her self-deprecating humor, mostly, but segued into responding to Aeos quickly to obscure any question of what she had actually found amusing. "Hey, that's pretty impressive. I can just smell storms. I believe it, though, there's definitely something rotten in Elibe. Whether it's just the Arum or something else behind the scenes, I dunno, but it's a problem that needs fixing."
She wasn't... entirely on board with the sweeping analogy. It mostly brought to mind a mental image of her straddling a broom, flying through the air and cackling like some sort of stereotypical witch. Which... actually sounded pretty fun, to be honest, but Nayru didn't think she could rock the cackling thing very well. And she didn't have nearly enough warts, nor was she confident she could keep the hat from flying off when airborn. Actually, how DID witch hats stay on? Was that some kind of magic too?
Er, anyways. Right. Mature, adult conversation. "Haha, Locke said something similar. To be honest, I didn't think much of it at the time, but... maybe the two of you have a point." Nayru trailed off a little bit, looking up without moving beyond the risee and fall of her chest as she breathed. "I guess I've always, uh, avoided Elibean politics and major events... for obvious reasons," she said with a cheeky grin as she turned her head towards Aeos - neither of them needed much help to grasp the vibe that being obvious dragons in Elibe was not a good long-term survival strategy, "-but also out of... I don't know, fear or immaturity or something. I spent a long time running from my problems, and it only exacerbated them. Maybe it is time I try to do some good."
Easier said than done, though. What was she going to do, march up to Kraft and politely ask him to stop being a jerk? Ask Aerious to pretty please be nice to the humans who had killed his daughter? Suggest to the overly nationalistic Clair that maybe Elibe was more important than Ilia? Talk was cheap and ideals were a dime a dozen, as unrealistic as they were impossible. Actually changing the world - that was the trick of it, and it was something Nayru, for all her age, didn't really have any experience with.
All she could really do for now was keep on punching the bad guys and helping the good guys.
"Training, though? Now you're talkin' my language!" Nayru shot up like a beansprout in the wake of Aeos's suggestion, grinning like a loon. Ok, so maybe Zahhak had rubbed off on her a little, or she had caught the battle maniac thing from Veigue, but there was nothing wrong with a little nonlethal fighting. And it wasn't every day you had a chance to fight an actual dragon! Ok granted she WAS a dragon, but she meant another dragon. One that... hopefully... wasn't too much stronger or weaker than her. He had been kinda vague about that. "I accept your offer and will meet you in glorious combat, but in return, you gotta tell me, why the sudden idea?"
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