dragoncalled | Welcome, New Scions.

Entry tags:

!introduction

Welcome, New Scions.

Here, There Be Dragons

New arrivals:
The dream you wake from is an unsettling one that feels like a memory. It sits out of place and too far forward in your mind, yet feels as real and clear as any other could be. It's the shadow of a massive creature blocking out the sun, skyline, or similar entity. A roar that shakes you to the core and and a feeling of dread and loss weighing heavy on you. Whatever the feeling or vision that comes across, it brings with it a sense that your world is no more.

A voice, reassuring and almost motherly in nature urges you gently to wake from your sleep. Rise from the ashes, little one, The voice calls in a whisper of wind and crackling fire, There is need of you, yet.

As the voice fades and the world of the waking returns to you, you are greeted with the sounds of faint bustling and the bounce of wooden wheels on stone or the sight of Upper Nuren's winding streets and open squares. A cloud passes by slowly near one of the stone pathway ledges and the sounds of nearby Touched and Remnants at work or leisure filter through the calm, cool air.

Whatever you had previously been wearing or carrying has been replaced. You might now find yourself garbed in a cloth tunic, pants or shorts, robe, dress or skirt, and sandals or boots if you wore clothing. A sash around your shoulders or a belt at your waist contains a small but weighted purse of gold coins, enough to acquire some materials, new clothing or food from the market and craftsmen in the city.

Current Scions:
Concern over the mild Winter has begun to spread through the city. The chill air should have come with the nearing end of the harvest, and so far the weather remains only pleasantly cool. The air barely passes the gentle cool of Autumn.

Nuren's citizens are spreading rumors that mountaintop ice and snow have begun to thaw, causing mudslides in the mountains. The thaw has displaced the Ice and mountain creatures, leaving them irritable and unpredictable. The sailors mention that the Frozen Shore has also begun to melt, and the waters around the Frozen Shore and the mountain areas have grown treacherous and unseasonably cold.

Throughout the city, activity springs to more vibrant life, with Scholars of the Cycle of Life and Scholars of Knowledge claiming that Benra has blessed the city again, bringing more Scions to help protect the great city. The rumors put the city's citizens into higher spirits, and music fills the cool air, spreading from Lower Nuren both up and down the mountain.

The Heart of Nuren

After waking, a pull starts from within your chest, growing stronger with each passing moment until it becomes the only focus. It tugs insistently once, then twice. A need to follow the pull curls around and through you, urging you toward a wide and torch lit staircase that leads down into the heart of the mountain. The steps are wide and sturdy, and the further down them you travel, the clearer the call becomes until you can almost hear it.

At the bottom of the steps, the large cavern beneath the city is revealed. The floor beneath your feet is warm to the touch, and the magic in the air calms your mind and fills you with a strange sense of safety and peace. No magic or harm can be done within the cavern. The cavern's floor is covered in circles of runes carved into the stone that surround small depressions in varying sizes, from a coffee cup's rim to that of a small circular table. Some of the depressions contain dormant dragon eggs of various colors, shapes and sizes. The runes surrounding them glow faintly with a magical light. Only the Scion who is bonded to the dragon within the egg can pass the runes.

Upper and Lower Nuren

Once you emerge from the cavern, the strange spell that fell over you fades. The bond between you and your egg or hatchling remains but your command of your own decisions and actions return and you are now free to explore, question and move about.

The streets of Upper Nuren are sparsely populated with Remnants, Touched and other scions with their eggs or dragons. Questioning any of the citizens leads to a variety of answers. You are a Scion of the Great Beasts. You were brought to the city from the ashes of time and space by the Great Phoenix known as Benra and the Great Serpent known as Mouros.

Pressing for more information will reveal that there are five Great Beasts. They are Benra the Phoenix, Chelba the Stone Giant, Renzu the Griffin, Mouros the Serpent, and Lysheu the Chimera. They are said to represent Mortality, Order, Knowledge, Time and Chaos.

You are in the great Mountain City known as Nuren, and its people are the last remaining vestige of civilization on this wild and dangerous planet. The Touched and the Remnants share an alliance and work together to keep the city protected and its citizens alive and fed. According to these citizens of Nuren, you are here to help them defend the city, unite the remaining races and restore balance to the elements.

Soon after the first Scions awake, the city begins to buzz with the news and gossip that more scions have arrived. The curious and braver citizens make their way to Upper Nuren to get a look, and the rumors spread like wildfire through the city that Benra has come again.

Outer Nuren

Although those rumors make their way to Outer Nuren, the citizens there show far less interest in making the long trek up to Upper Nuren. The unseasonably warm winter has done wonders for the fishing in the bay, and the docks are alive with intrepid fishermen and ship crews interested in making extra gold while the fishing is still good.

The taverns fill with activity and the markets are livelier than ever in the hopes of selling more of their wares and merchandise before Winter's chill catches up with the passing seasons.

Evening

When night settles on the city, the taverns, inns and squares fill with curious citizens hoping to meet the new Scions or catch a glimpse of the Scions they have already managed to glimpse a few times before. Food is offered freely, as well as blankets to guard against the cool night air.

The night sky fills with beautiful displays of magic from the Fire, Light and Energy Mages, the Osaaru equivalent of fireworks, though far quieter. Several Scholars in bright and colorful robes can be found approaching the new scions and older ones alike, offering to tell them more about the city, Osaaru and the Great Beasts. Mages of similar garb guide scions to the cavern homes, and help where they can in making the scions more comfortable.

Small comforts of food, pillows, decorative crafts and other small tokens are offered to visible Scions by the citizens of Nuren in hopes of earning their favor and friendship.

Notes

Please direct Introduction questions to the Plotting Post Q&A
As a Reminder: Bahemait is not one of the Great Beasts openly discussed or mentioned by the Citizens of Nuren who believe the Great Dragon is little more than an old legend.

We would also like to emphasize that the Spirit energy within every resurrected character is required to use all magic in Osaaru, even that which is brought from their own world. The drain of powerful or excessive use of magic will lead to exhaustion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hm? Oh. Hey Chiaki.

[She really isn't awake, and Sync can't help an amused look at that. Gale chirps a greeting, glancing at the two before the magic catches her attention again, looking up at the sky and crooning softly]

I guess so...I haven't seen anything like it before.

It kind of makes me wish I'd wound up with light or fire or energy magic...although maybe we'll see displays like this from other disciplines later?

[ it's hard to say, although either way she can admire the magic in the sky. ]

It'd be fun to learn to make something so pretty...I think.

Who knows...the others might be better in the daytime.

[He's not sure how wind would work with such a thing though]

I've never really thought of abilities being used to make something purely to entertain others. It almost seems a waste of energy.

[But at the same time, he can't help but watch Gale and feel her sense of wonder across their bond at the display. Sync could almost say he likes seeing her like this]

But there is a reason to do it, isn't there? It's to welcome the newcomers, and make them feel better...it's for morale, if you need to put it like that.

[ chiaki smiles, though. ]

...Well, and also just because sometimes, beautiful things for the sake of them are their own worth.

A morale boost...that makes some sense, I suppose.

[Put something into military terms and suddenly Sync could understand a little better. It's not how he would have done it, but then most people were used to having lives outside the military. Perhaps it would make them feel better]

That just sounds weird though, things for the sake of them. Everything has a purpose behind it or to it. Nothing just exists for the sake of it.

I think enjoying something for the sake of it might be its own purpose? That is...hm. I suppose it depends on how you look at a thing? For example, watching a sunset. The sunset is happening because of a lot of scientific stuff...but you don't really get anything from watching it happen. So even though it exists for a reason, watching it...it's just for your own joy, right?

[ she's not sure how to explain it, but it doesn't bother her to try. ]

...It's that sort of thing that's worth doing but might not have any real "reward" other than happiness, I guess?

Happiness...maybe.

[It makes a little sense in its own way, but not enough that he can really accept it. Happiness is not something he's ever really felt, not purely. Always twisted in some fashion.

Gale chirps at him, twisting around to tilt her head at him. Absent mindedly, he lifts a hand to pat her head gently] Doing simple things for emotional reward...I suppose I can understand that. [It's not like his revenge was anything different, really]

I'm glad...hey, Sync. You met a lot of new people today, right? I wonder how often people will be called here...

[ there hasn't really been a "pattern" so far to her knowledge. ]

A couple, and I noticed there was a fair few around. I don't know, but it makes sense. If the Great Beasts are really wanting us to deal with something as big as it seems, they're going to need more people.

[It's too soon to say if there'll be a pattern of any kind, but Sync is expecting more people will show up over time]

That's true. I wonder how they choose, though...three of my classmates are here, now.

[ it's half sharing information and half a warning; it wouldn't be too surprising if people from his own world showed up, as well.

...and she's not sure he'd entirely enjoy that. best to make sure he was aware it could happen. ]

Who knows? They seem to pick at random, not everyone really seems the type for it.

[Himself included. He's no hero.

But he does think on people that might arrive from Auldrant, and that makes his eyes narrow a little. There is no one from that world he wishes to see again]

Just so you know...those people are Hajime Hinata, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, and Peko Pekoyama.

[ and natsumi kuzuryu, but she hasn't figured out fuyuhiko's sister is around yet. she feels like sync may as well know in advance who else is from her world, although she doubts he'd really do anything with the knowledge. ]

It's true that not everyone really seems like they'll adapt that easily...but then, it did take a lot of the others time to accept our worlds being gone, too. It's a lot to ask of anyone.

[He doesn't overly care, but then, given how some people are, the names may be good to know in the event one of them bothers him]

Anyone who cared, you mean.

[Sync is kiiiind of glad Auldrant's gone. He never considered it his world or was a part of it, so hearing it's been destroyed is kind of a vicious pleasure to him. It's what it and the people on it deserved]

...Yes. I think a lot of people did. Though...for myself, my world was already in a very bad state, so it wasn't surprising news beyond the fact that it of course was.

[ because you never expect to hear your world has ended even more permanently than previously assumed? ]

But many people had no such indication their worlds would end.

Makes me glad I didn't care about Auldrant. Though it was going to end up a dead world anyway.

[Either a replica world, or the Score would end up prevailing. He didn't really believe that if the main party won, that the Score would just stop being true]

It's a good trade off for most though, since they cared. Help the Great Beasts, get the worlds back. Not a bad way to get people to help.

Helping to fight a world-destroyer...I'm not sure any sort of reward would be needed for me to do that much, although I'm still not sure how much help I'll be.

[ a sigh. even if sync has taught her staff basics by now SHE'S NOT REALLY...A FIGHTER... ]

...Oh, but I will be getting some more water magic lessons from a priest of Mouros.

[He shrugs a little]

Most people would say something like it's the thought that counts or whatever. Every little bit adds up eventually.

[Sync isn't sure how much he believes that, but eh. Whatever worked, he supposed. It was how things sometimes won through force of numbers]

A priest of Mouros?

Yes. His domain is water and the like...although I'm not sure if all his followers are water-aligned? But Farron, the man I spoke with, is a water mage and offered to teach me.

[ so she'll do her Best so she can be the best healer slash water mage she can be! hopefully. ]

I'm not sure which of the great beasts is most associated with wind...

Huh. That's interesting. He's the serpent, if I remember right...

[Learning something about the Great Beasts had been high on his priority list]

Wind...probably Renzu, the griffin. The phoenix would be my other thought, but it seems to be pretty clearly fire and light.

That sounds about right...then maybe the priests of Renzu would be more useful for learning wind magic from, if you wanted to look into that?

[ though it's hard to say if sync...cares...chiaki wants to learn the magic system of nuren to the best of her abilities. ]

Maybe. I have my own abilities that I can use, but it might be worth it if Gale starts trying to use it.

[Sync...really doesn't care too much right now ~~though once he learns some of what wind magic can do~~ but he knows Gale kind of is, so for her it might be worth at least figuring out, even if he doesn't use it much himself]

If they can use our magic...then training in it and training with them is definitely gonna be important.

[ she hasn't really tried to cast with landia yet, but maybe she should...? ]

...I wonder if that's part of why they need Scions, and not just dragons.

It would make sense, otherwise they wouldn't have been saying that we share an element with our dragon. Dunno how much they can do when they're young, but as they get older, who knows?

[He shrugs a little, unsure about that]

If it's magic that's what they supposedly need, and the dragons alone can't do it, then maybe. Either that or having a Scion as well just doubles the amount of magic, so it boosts how fast they get the magic amount up.

...I guess it's something that doesn't matter too much just yet.

[ since their dragons are still Tiny. chiaki tips her head back to watch the fireworks more. ]

Hm...beyond all of that, the only other thing that happened today was hearing people worry about the winter.

Not yet, but worth keeping in mind, perhaps.

[He watches the fireworks as well, absently petting Gale as his dragon curls up on his lap, starting to doze off]

I heard about that as well. The winter being late, and the fishermen have been talking about ice melting that shouldn't be. Like the cold has gone out of the world somehow.

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