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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [open]  Ice cream, you scream
    #1
    Leilan
    It was no surprise to Leilan that they’d eventually come. From what he’s seen of the young dragonling, it is no wonder that his equally hot-blooded offspring is (sent?) here to burn a quarter of Beqanna. He does wonder where the man himself is, though - but he’ll probably find out soon enough.

    His transformation comes easy enough now, perfected over the last few years. As a full-sized dragon, his shadow passes wonderfully silently over icy seas, watching the chaos that has ensued in Nerine with mild interest.

    The ice dragon leaves his nest and flies south, knowing that the Isle can’t be destroyed much further anyway (especially now that frost covers all of it,) and that while the defenses of Nerine may contain these fires, they will soon lose the southern half of Nerine and the Easternmost part of Taiga to the fires, regardless of if he chimes in or not.

    Besides, Nerine is a land or rocks and moors, and it is winter. Next spring, it will be as it was before. Fire doesn’t change a tundra into something new.

    It’s not that he’s actually opposed to this fire, though - in fact, he already laughs internally at the disappointment the dragon children will face. Did anyone down there truly think that northlings will bow to fire? That with their home burned, suddenly they will become submissive? Would want a life in the heat instead of the cold? Really, those people would have moved to Tephra long ago. He knows his kind - stubborn as the cold rocks they live on.

    His people would need a different kind of persuasion than “surrender or die”. They would die, in fact. But give them something that actually benefits them, too, and then we’ll talk about it. Not that unreasonable, right? But right now, they all run to defend their homeland, as if it’s an instinct they cannot deny. Maybe it is. He did the same thing, once, when Castile wrecked the Isle.

    He’s not that extra useful here in the north, he decides. He might be able to pluck Yadigar, Phyx or Virgil from the ground like a hawk does a snake due to the size difference, true. But that doesn’t fix anything. Let them rage and lose control.

    They never were in control, he thinks.

    Unlike most, it isn’t defense that’s on his mind, as most of the northerners have that covered; it’s a rather pointless fight, and lacks purpose, but he would argue that that is not his problem to fix. In fact, when he races through the sky past Beryl, Brennen and the rest of their audience, he only grins at the magic entity there as he recognizes her (if she even sees him, he cannot tell, but from the questions and dreams she had whipped up, he deduces that she would love any and all kinds of chaos; so it’s a knowing grin he glances her way, even if she doesn’t look or pay attention). Oh, @[Straia], aren’t you bored with this yet? Over and over, the same war, power is all they ever want. Wasn’t that what she had tried to teach them once? He wonders if she remembers anyone else but Sochi, to whom she pledged the gift of the flaming tree from the Chamber. He’d never seen it, but really, he too misses the magic of his childhood. When it was a gift from the land one was pledged to, and not this individual madness. This land has too many dragons in it - it’s too easy to breed them, nowadays. He too has it, he knows, and made the same mistake, but no longer does he hurl them into the world by the tens and hundreds. Seems that Ghaul did, though.

    But pining after a history that is no longer, trying to reverse past actions, none of it helps. Now is the time to recreate Beqanna. This war brings opportunity for those who’ll grasp it. Chaos as a way to fight your way forward.

    Ah, and it seems so unfair that only the North should burn and be reborn - scratch that; the North and Loess, he notices on the way south. Well, well - it’s half the world on fire, then.

    Would half the world be enough to form a new Beqanna, though?

    What a shame that so many fire-lovers won’t get the experience of a home destroyed, that they get no chance to be reborn themselves. How sad that when Beqanna gets a makeover, the Eastern lands get no part in it!

    Leilan was never one for rules and boundaries anyway. Chaos calls to his blood, the defiance against the kingdoms and laws is something he admires. The barely adult horses down there? They seem… what’s it called - naive. They’re all so naive. Thinking they need to defer to a ruler. Thinking that what they do is good and cleansing, while in reality, the only change is that more people will hate them in the end.

    No, the ice dragon doesn’t linger in either Nerine or Taiga, especially when another shadowy force shows up; he just about spies a shimmering @[Izora Lethia] flooding a few trees before he leaves - ah, yes, water. That’s what he needs right now. He makes a quick dive down, this time unworried by the scars she still has: his claws are now raking across a scaled skin instead. ”We’re going to have some fun elsewhere,” he rumbles towards her, and then he flies her south-east as fast as he can. He takes the shortcuts through the Hyaline mountains that he knows well, passes that he knows from when he was still earth-bound; following the light of the morning sun.

    They arrive in an eerily empty Pangea, though he doesn’t honestly believe it truly is empty. But the skies are reasonably clear right now, and that’s really all he needs.

    Dragons aren’t an uncommon sight in Pangea these days. The land is dry and scorched enough to show it.

    Two that spew a flood of water followed by ice instead of fire, are.

    He makes as quick work of it as he can; no intention to linger where he shouldn’t. It is, after all, the message that is the goal. A message that they may probably misread, though. Perhaps they’ll think of it as retaliation. Some sort of defiant act against their rule.

    Nothing could be less true, but it is what it is.

    Pangea is made of red stone and dust, the few plants growing there digging their roots into the dry, dry ground. When the water starts to flow, it is almost immediately sucked up through the cracks in the rocks, filtered into the red sands in the canyons. Gone almost as soon as Lethy can spew it.

    Only, when he follows it up with ice, the rocks start to crack. Water expands when it freezes, the land gets torn apart from the inside. Where rocks and plants had been sucking the water up, now they burst with ice, the CRACK louder than even he had anticipated.

    It is a lovely day, and a lovely sight to behold.

    He hopes they’ll try to melt it with dragonfire, but that’s none of his business.
    I am the dragon
    and you call me insane

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA

    Lethy powerplayed with permission. She’s his personal super soaker for the moment.

    OOC note: Leilan feels bored and thinks the war is useless up north, so he decides to spice things up in Pangea instead, to spread the fun to other lands. No reason to be so exclusive after all (:.
    The river gets frozen, canyons get flooded, and when the water, sucked into the rocks, freezes, it expands, so expect some large cracks in the rocks and in general ice, snow and hail on the ground. He has every intention of being quick with it and destroying changing what he can.
    This attack comes from the northern side of Pangea. Hyaline and the Cove may be partially affected if you wish, since water flows where it will! I don’t personally expect them to be able to alternate the whole of the land, but it can also be fully turned into some weird sort of tundra-canyon landscape instead if you wish it to.

    Have fun!
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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    #2
    is this the end of everything?
    STRAIA
    or is it just a new way to bleed?
    Of course she senses him. She senses everything in Beqanna, a sixth-sense that is constantly on high alert. That is part of the gift (or the curse, depending on how you see it) of becoming something both more and less than mortal. For she is not mortal at all anymore (even the immortals of Beqanna are still mortal, in their way). She will exist, at least in the form of the tree, for eternity or until the faeries call her back. Her magic is the magic that flows through Beqanna now, and she can feel the heartbeat of it.

    Did you not hear what I said, @[Leilan]? she sends back to the dragon, speaking in his mind as he had called to her. Sometimes war is a means to an end, and nothing more. I need the attention of Beqanna and now, I have it. This would have happened with or without me, but with me, something so much greater can be born. I can show you what the world used to be like. We can remake it together. She does not ask for his loyalty, because she does not need his. All she needs is for him to want what she wants, and a willingness to help make it happen. A greater world. A better Beqanna. The implications that he could be made greater still with it should be obvious enough.

    She does not stop him either. She could rip him from the sky like one swats away a fly. It would be easy, truly. But she doesn’t care what happens to Pangea. She can undo whatever damage he might do, but she would remake the world anyway. If they wanted to destroy it first, it was no matter to her.

    So she lets him go, and continues fighting for her own cause.

    Just responding to Leilan, nothing exciting otherwise and she's still technically in Nerine.

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

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    #3

    you can run but you can't hide
    breath on your skin, I've arrived

    She had not intended to shed anonymity so soon. Had thought perhaps her absence would prove less inflammatory than her presence. But it seems that is not the case.

    She doesn’t try to stall the Pangean’s chaotic march to the North. Though she watches, she knows Yadigar is beyond reasoning. But the magicians that follow are certainly irritating. She considers moving North then, wondering if perhaps it may be worthwhile to open a discourse with them. But as the scene unfolds and Lilli attempts that very thing, it is clear that, despite their ancient roots, they have the mindset of children. As though they could relive history in a world too vastly different from theirs.

    They might once have been able to easily reign terror on a world with fewer gifted, but the world had changed since then. Power is no longer scarce, nor does it hold the intimidating weight it once did. They were fools to think the threat of burning would inspire surrender. Fools to think that a land made mostly of rock and stone would cave to the threat of fire.

    But it seems that, while they had all arrived en masse to the north, they had left their own home unguarded. How terribly foolish of them.

    Well, two could certainly play the game they wished to.

    Her family had barricaded themselves behind their shadows in Taiga, so her presence is unneeded. But there is one she would take with her. It is easy enough to appeal to Haunt’s sense of chaotic mischief. Easy enough to convince them of the allure in going to Pangea while the Pangeans all gathered here.

    As they step through the portal, it is immediately clear she is not the only one with the same idea. Seeing Leilan brings a smile to her lips.

    It would be curious to see how much they could destroy before the Pangeans realized the attack. And Haunt, nearly vibrating with excitement, grins from the shadows. Ether’s idea had been an intriguing one, but they do rather wonder what might happen if you just… neglected to close it for a bit.

    And so, as Heartfire joins Leilan in destruction, Haunt rips open the ocean into Pangea. Eventually, they would grow tired and the portal would close. But how much of Pangea would be under water by the time that happened?

    @[Straia], if you wish to negotiate now, come back with new terms. The thought rings clearly. Whether Straia would hear it is uncertain, but Heartfire could not make it any clearer how unacceptable the previous were. After all, if Beqanna were to be remade, it would not be with Straia alone at its helm.

    heartfire



    TL;DR - Heartfire is here to destroy things and she has brought Haunt who is currently doing their best to turn Pangea into a giant body of water
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    #4
    SIXTEEN
    please don't go. i'll eat you whole, i love you so.
    Pangea, being the desert that it is, has been unbearably hot. Even in the winter, Sixteen prefers lounging in the shade with his sister close beside him. He doesn’t mind the heat so much as he wishes there would just be a different kind of weather sometimes. He’s seen rainclouds gather over the Cove and Hyaline to downpour. Sometimes they even get snow! But he could never leave Catryn just to go play with the other children who reside there; she relies on him to be her eyes and keep her safe from their mother.

    He lifts his head from his nap to watch the dragon soar over them. Such a large shadow, he thinks with a tilt of his head. Teeny has yet to master his craft and so he feels a thorn of envy prick at his heart. Soon, a few other northerners follow close behind, and he watches them begin to flood the dry red clay.

    Catryn! They’re making more water!” he shouts excitedly as he nudges her shoulder perhaps too roughly. “Oh! Oh there’s ICE, Catryn!

    He quickly rises up and prances in a tight circle around his sister as he waits for her to do the same. Virgil had said that playing in the snow was fun but he would like to see for himself. Sixteen extends his small wing across his twin’s back as he guides her to the swelling river’s edge. The boy extends his hoof and sucks in a sharp breath.

    If we stay over here, the current is gentle enough. It’s cold though, so you need to ease into it. Draco says you shouldn’t jump right into cold water,” he explains with a nod. Carefully, gingerly, he wades into the water with his wing tucked around Catryn to keep her close. He isn’t able to fully change himself yet, but his body grows warm enough to keep them each comfortable in the ocean water gathering in their river. Sixteen looks back to the northerners with a wide grin before taking a mouthful of the salt-water and spitting it at his sibling.

    Look! I’m a water dragon too!” he squeals with a fit of laughter. Of course, he has no idea what sort of dragon he is, but he can dream just the same.
    @[Catryn] splish splash they're takin' a bath.
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    #5

    s t a l a g .


    He watched with dark, impassive eyes as the dragons came.  Yet he did not take off in pursuit of the creatures.  Mother-master had not yet called him forth to act.  So far, he sees no reason to do so.  The attack has been feeble.  It would not be the first time Pangea has flooded, nor would it be the last.  But it would certainly ensure a fruitful spring.  The equine part of his mind mulls over the futility of this action - knowing very well that all that was done could be so easily un-done.

    The monster doesn’t care either way.  It simply hisses at the foreign scents filling his nostrils - wanting nothing more than to separate flesh from bone and feast upon those who are not welcome here.  He presses down the instinct.  Now is not the time. Not yet, at least.

    It would be foolish to think that Anaxarete would leave Pangea undefended. And while Stalag watched as the children - children that shared a blood relation to him through the shadowmare herself - splashed in the swelling river he did not summon his Monster-mother and her other companions who still lingered here in Pangea.

    It would certainly be foolish to assume that aliens could not swim.

    He stands upriver of the children - unwilling to ruin their fun but staying close enough to intervene if there is trouble.  He can taste the salt on the air.  Idly, he spears a large, saltwater fish with his knife-like tail, throwing his catch to the shore with a single flick.  Sharp, other-worldly teeth tear into the flesh of the rare delicacy provided by the invaders.  He readjusts his great leathery wings against his armored sides - watching, waiting, and silently pondering whether or not he should take advantage of the opportunity for another saltwater snack.


    the beast howls in my veins. 

    image by squirt!! <3  



    Tl;dr: Stalag is here watching. He’s mentally connected to Anaxarete and is just keeping an eye on things. You know, in case he has to call his relatives to an impromptu family reunion. Smile
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    #6

    Catryn’s world consists of her brother but if he ever asked if he could go play with other foals that weren’t her, that didn’t have a tendency to stumble and bring the games to a halt, she would. She’s sure that she would be okay for however long it took, that she could take care of herself just for a little bit. They have guardians too, she knows - acidic smelling creatures that have hard-sounding bodies that don’t linger close but lurk nearby, especially at night.

    If she could see them, maybe Catryn wouldn’t feel safe, but in her dark world, she thinks them angels watching out for them when their mother did not. Little does they know they’re blood relatives too.

    She’s daydreaming, listening to Sixteen breathe when suddenly he begins to shout excitedly. It doesn’t startle her because she could hear the intake of breath beforehand and she laughs at him because she can already feel his infectious personality seeping into her and waking her from her waking slumber.

    Her sides are always warm but there’s an added comfort to having Sixteen’s wing draped over her as he guides her to whatever wonderful thing he is seeing. One of the acid-creatures is nearby, and between them and her brother she knows this is safe. Sixteen won’t let anything happen to her - and though there are chaotic noises in the distance she’s not worried about it. There’s always someone causing some sort of bother nearby. 

    “OH!” She exclaims when the cold water first touches her skin and she recoils slightly - but she is determined to do whatever her twin does and if he can go in further she can too. So she wades in slowly next to him, grateful for her twin next to her helping to ease away some of the chill.

    When he spritzes water at her and tells her he’s a water dragon, she rolls her eyes and knocks her side into him to nudge him. “TEENY you know I can’t look at anything, you brat. You're a bother dragon.” She admonishes him but she’s laughing a lot when she does it - thoroughly enjoying their swim even if she was going to need to lie in the sun for hours afterwards to warm up again.

    Before the laughter dies, she scoops up a small mouthful of water and sprays it out in front of them with a giggle, enjoying the splashing noise. “What kind of dragon am I?” Catryn asks in a bright, curious tone.



    @[sixteen]
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    #7
    is this the end of everything?
    STRAIA
    or is it just a new way to bleed?
    Another call to her, as if threatening to flood Pangea was a good bargaining chip. It’s cute, really, how they try so hard. Straia responds, as she did for Lelian, though she meets @[Heartfire]’s thought with a chuckle. Who are you, Heartfire, that you have any power to negotiate? You may be of Nerine, but you do not lead it. In fact, I have not even seen your leader in all of this.

    What a shame, but perhaps it proved her point. These lands were not even worth defending to their own leaders. There are no alternative terms, but perhaps I was not clear. I seek your loyalty not to turn you into something you are not, but because I would prefer your willingness. I want to work with Beqanna to recreate what this place has lost. It was beautiful and alive once. Kingdoms stood for something. They flourished. They were not left to be defended by children alone. Beqanna could be that again. Yes, I do intend to lead that, for all movements need a leader. But I will do so together, with those that join the cause. The rest...well...you can come easily or painfully.

    After all, she now had Brennen, Nikkai, and Anaraxette on her side. There were other magicians in Beqanna, of course, but none of them were fighting to defend Beqanna as it was now. Those that stood against them could only stand so long. Still, Straia is giving them the choice, when in the end, she hardly even needed to give them that. 

    Just responding to Heartfire

    Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission

    Reply
    #8
    I know I'm jumping, but I just wanted to wrap up Heartfire's little plot tangent here

    you can run but you can't hide
    breath on your skin, I've arrived

    It would have been amusing that Straia mistook her actions here in Pangea as the bargaining chip were it not so disappointing. No, like Nerine had been to Straia, Pangea is only a means to an end.

    The bargaining chip is cooperation. Perhaps Straia had the power to pull them kicking and screaming along with her plan, but Heartfire sincerely doubted she had the foresight. A fact she had already begun to amply demonstrate.

    There are always other terms, she replies. Straia waxes poetic on the beauty of the lands of old. Lands Heartfire had been born into. Lands with which she had once been intimately familiar. But it is not the lands that make greatness.

    Straia lives in the past, but Heartfire has always sought the future.

    So it’s truly a shame that Straia had missed the mark so wholly. Their partnership could have been a great one. If you cannot discover who I am to have the power to negotiate, then you are not nearly as powerful as I imagined. Ego had gotten the better of the raven magician it seems. Still, Heartfire had achieved what she wished for the moment even as she lays her own framework for the future. Either that, or you are less intelligent than I gave you credit for.

    She moves then to call Haunt back. The shadow creature is disappointed, and for a moment considers refusing, but in the end, growing weariness triumphs over the continued wreaking of havoc. With a disappointed sigh, they close the ocean portal and open another for the Northern party to step through.

    If you wish to prove me wrong and have the North to back your efforts, I imagine you can figure out how to find me.

    heartfire



    @[Straia] sorry, she's being a raging bitch lmao, but if you want to continue, I figured we could start a different thread
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    #9
    It had been her duty as Matriarch, mother of Taiga, to defend it as well as she could. How her heart ached to go to Nerine and help with the efforts there but she knew that though the old and wise reds would not fall the new growth could be consumed easily by the wayward winds that had pulled fire towards her borders. She had perfected her new gifts enough to douse as much of the border as she could, focusing her energy on the saplings and semi-new red woods along with the other more vulnerable foliage that was just as much part of Taiga's growth as the inhabitants that faught for it.

    The dark shadow of dragon that passed over her as she found her way to a rather large, but rather empty, meadow drew her attention away from her current work. She smiled a quick half smile as the realization that it was Leilan took hold. She had already adorned her glimmering set of black and golden amber scales when she had gotten close to the traveling fire as so when he swooped in to pick her up she did not flinch, or refuse his efforts. She allowed herself to relax, and craddle comfortably into his claws.

    More fun somewhere else.

    As the wind smacked rapidly against her cheeks she let the cloak of peace slip from her. She would need all the anger, frustration, abandonment, hurt, and confusion to take hold of her in order to let herself destroy the south. To cut down someone elses lively hood. Their home.

    When they arrived at the border of the desolate desert, the quietness was almost to much for her. Would this be as rewarding as she thought with no one around to defend it? Was it right? And then almost unexpectedly that quietude made her grit her teeth and scowl. Her amethyst eyes deepened ablaze with an anger so fierce it would be a hard match compared to the fires that attempted to burn her home to the ground. She followed Leilan's lead. When he dipped close to the canyons she breathed her fire into the smallest cracks that only the desert bugs would find solace in. She drowned the large caverns too of course and she found glory in the booming cracks that followed Leilan's ice.

    Their land.

    Their home.

    Split apart by water and ice.

    This would be enough for now, enough to suffice the feeling that threatened to consume her. The feelings she had kept locked away.
    forget me not; but never remember
    Lethy


    @[Leilan] sorry shes late to the party!
    IMG-20190524-092123-677
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    #10
    Leilan
    It is a cold Pangea today, of the kind their hot-blooded inhabitants don’t usually appreciate.

    He notices the ocean-portal and the destruction his niece brings with a devilish delight. They'd always been more similar than either would admit, perhaps, that hey had come to the same conclusion. Fighting Ghaul's barely-adult children in the North would destroy more of Nerine than just their fire, and besides, they are too young. But destroying their home might perhaps help them realize why nobody liked their visit in the first place.

    The second thing he notices is the movement along the river, and that’s the sight that finally makes him decide that this is also starting to grow pointless. A low grumbling sound escapes him, and he finds that behind him the portals have changed. Either Heartfire has had enough, or something has appealed to her somewhere else, and he decides the war is over. It’s all about the message anyway, and even if the Pangeans don’t get it, the magicians might. And if they don't well - he suppose he tried.

    It's perhaps the thing that Straia said. He has her attention now, doesn't he?

    He drops Lethy - too heavy - in the river near the ocean, near the second portal. It's about his own size, and he gives Haunt an appreciative glance as he goes. Pangea had never truly interested him; Loess had one day held that honour, but even they haven't lived up to their potential (not that he's disappointed that they haven't, as that would have meant the end of the kingdom he now rules). Perhaps Straia is different and perhaps she is not, but if she wants to rebuild, she'll have to come up with better terms than turning Nerine's meadows to ashes.

    He's already rebuilding an island full of ash, after all, and Nerine will be even quicker restored.
    I am the dragon
    and you call me insane

    Image commissioned by Vanilla, made by AshesDrawn on DA


    Some sort of a wrap concerning Leilan, but if you want to continue go ahead! ^^
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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